#it would help if my anxiety would let me actually finish something though y'know

[xviruserrorx]

Haven't written in little under a week and I feel like I'm withdrawing

[little-lego-ninjas]

lightning in a bottle (burning full throttle)

Guess what I just posted on AO3 guys???? Are you excited, because I am! I'm actually really proud of this monster (it's 12.6k words h e l p), and I hope you guys like reading it as much as I liked writing it!

Fair warning, this is filled to the brim with queerness (as a queer myself, I could not resist the fruit ninja), so read with caution ig lmao.

Gun tw, and some minor injuries (somebody gets shot, but it's minor), slurs (not actually written bc i am too soft for it but wanted to include it bc i have had bad race-related encounters lately, and i protect my friends from toxic people as much as possible), ptsd, anxiety, anxiey/panic attack, gender issues, y'know the works.

There's probably a few more i can't think of rn, but all the tags are on AO3 if you feel the need to check! Nothing super insane happens (no weird age stuff or sex), so enjoy!!

AO3 link in case you wanna read it over there or leave a big comment or something i dunno. For you <3.

Fic below the cut bc it's too damn long.

"Okay, have we all got our roles down?" Lloyd asked at the head of the dining room table, papers and maps and blueprints scattered around him. His hair was a mess, blond waves tangled together and falling into his face. No doubt from staying up all night, finalizing and piecing everything together.

Cole nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. "I've got mine."

"I do as well," Zane added, his fingers threaded together atop the table.

Kai sighed before anyone else could say they had everything ready. "Why do I have to go in disguise? Shouldn't we let Zane do it?"

Pixal answered before Lloyd could open his mouth, her green eyes hard. "Kai, we have already discussed why you and Jay are going in disguise. Zane's cloaking software is down, mine is nowhere near the level his is, and Cole is going in disguise too."

She arched a brow at him. "I don't see the issue."

Kai gestured around the table, chest tight. "I'm going to be in a party while Nya, Lloyd, and you," he shot a blatant look at Pixal, "try to stop an assassin."

"Sorry for worrying like a good brother would," he grumbled as an afterthought.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, making him glance over to see who it was. Nya looked mildly annoyed, but mostly sympathetic, which was a good sign. "Kai, you know you aren't just going to a party."

"I know, I just-"

"Get worried." Jay finished, his chin resting in his hands. "We know. But this is serious stuff, me and you are going to protect Cyrus Borg."

When his name was uttered, Pixal looked down at her hands. Zane reached across the table, taking one of her hands. "We will not let anything happen to him, Pixal."

Pixal looked up, nodding. She didn't say anything though. Kai could understand her concerns, considering it was her father that they were attempting to save from an untimely death. Kai couldn’t imagine having to be in her position, and it only gave him more empathy towards her for being so strong about the entire subject. It couldn’t have been an easy thing to listen to, or talk about.

Cole nudged Zane’s shoulder, his expression a mixture of his usual soft one and a slightly more serious one reminiscent of his younger days of leading the team. “Besides, we have more help too. Skylor and some of the other elemental masters, right Lloyd?”

Lloyd nodded, digging through the scattered papers until he could find the one he had written all their names on. “Most of them helped with the resistance, so we’re in good hands. That assassin won’t know what hit them, Pix.”

Pixal pursed her lips, then stood. “Fantastic. I’ll go ensure my weaponry is ready and functional.”

Nya’s gaze followed the girl who had taken up her old mantle, the blue in her eyes holding a depth Kai had begun to notice whenever his little sister looked at Pixal. Nya sighed, pushing her chair away from the table. “I feel so bad for her.”

Zane nodded, his fingers threaded together again, something the nindroid had begun to do after his time in the NeverRealm. “I do as well, but we mustn’t let our worries consume the mission. We cannot fail.”

Cole rubbed Zane’s shoulder. “We won’t, Z. We won’t.”

Zane didn’t look convinced, but he did shoot Cole a smile that the other boy returned. Kai watched them all silently, his chest still tight with the idea of letting them risk their lives while he stayed inside at a party. It felt wrong and like he was slacking off, even though he knew he had an important role to play. A hand ruffled at his hair, snagging his attention. He shot a glare at Jay, who had an impish little smirk on his lips.

“Don’t you ruin this for me, Kai. It’s the anniversary of Borg’s empire!” Jay sighed with delight, earning several eye-rolls that he ignored. “What a legend.”

Kai scoffed, standing up. “Remember that we’re there to protect Cyrus, not party.”

Jay waved his hand. “Duh. Just think it’s neat.”

Lloyd hummed, shifting through his papers again. “Since it’s a pretty exclusive party, I think you two should really dress the part. High-class and stuff.”

Kai grinned. “I have just the suit.”

///

Kai tugged at his tie in mild annoyance, shooting a glare at his reflection. He didn't like the idea of just sitting on the sidelines while everyone else ran around playing hero. It didn't sit right with him to not be in the heat of the matter, but rather going incognito to better blend in.

Granted, Zane was pretending to be the intern who double-checked invitations, and Cole was one of the guards at the entrance, but still. If the news from Skylor handed down to her through the pipeline of elemental masters was true, which it was, Cyrus Borg was set to be a prime target to be assassinated tonight during his company's anniversary party.

Kai wanted to be the guy beating up the assassin, not hiding in a crowd of rich tech-heads, but he had to begrudgingly agree with Lloyd's plan. It was the best course of action, the best set-up to ensure Cyrus Borg and everyone attending the party would be safe. He just hated the idea of his family risking their lives without him beside them.

Heaving a sigh, Kai glanced at his reflection again, tugging at the cuffs of his sleeves. He had to admit, he looked nice. The suit was a bit darker than he would have chosen for himself, but it wasn't too terrible. It was fitted just enough to benefit his shape, but not overly so. His hair was what was bothering him the most, if he was being honest.

Instead of its usual spiked style, his hair looked much like it did when he was wet, falling into his eyes enough to bother him. Kai scrubbed his fingers through his hair again, grumbling under his breath as he did so. Maybe Nya was right when she said he needed a haircut.

"Kai."

Kai met his sister's eyes in the mirror. She was in her gi, only serving to remind Kai of the danger she was about to put herself in. "Yeah?"

Nya's lips twitched, as if she was fighting off a smile. "Have you been brooding this whole time?"

Kai opened his mouth, then clicked his tongue. " No ."

His sister stepped closer to him, turning him away from the mirror. "I know what you're stewing over, okay? But I think you need to see your boyfriend."

Kai knit his brows together. "Is Jay not helping me survey the party in disguise?"

"No," Nya said with a shake of her head. "He's still helping you, but I meant see like look at him because, uh."

Her cheeks pinkened. "He looks great."

Kai snorted, elbowing Nya. "You are such a bi disaster."

"Wha- says the pan disaster!" Nya sputtered as Kai left his bedroom, heading for Jay's.

He chuckled under his breath at the sound of Nya's grumbles, stopping before Jay's door. Knocking, Kai opened his mouth to ask if he could enter, but Jay interrupted him.

"Come in!"

Kai pushed the door open, a smile on his face and words on his tongue, only for his mouth to go dry at the sight of Jay in front of his bedroom mirror. Now, Kai had no doubts in his mind that Jay was attractive- and super fucking adorable -but he'd always seen Jay as pretty, or cute.

Drop-dead gorgeous was not a term he used lightly, and in this case, he meant it as if it was a precious sacred statement by the First Spinjitzu Master himself, which was to say, he was not anywhere close to joking about it. Jay cleaned up nice, and Kai had never really gotten to see it before.

Now though, Jay was fiddling with a silver hoop earring as Kai openly gaped at him, eyes drinking in every inch of his boyfriend. When Lloyd had suggested that Kai and Jay go together as a rich couple, Kai hadn't disputed the rich couple part, but he had figured it would be him and Jay in suits and showing up holding hands or something.

He had not expected to find Jay in a dress.

Not just any dress, no. Jay had found the most beautiful shade of midnight blue to ever exist, the color making his eyes that much more electric and enticing. The dress itself was fitted all the way down to the hemline, going to the top of Jay's toes. It had a sheath neckline, the material lying around Jay like a necklace, forming an upside down v that covered his chest entirely, but left part of his collarbones free.

Where sleeves would be, fingerless gloves of the same material encased his wrist up, stopping at the middle of Jay's biceps, freckled shoulders on full display. Jay smiled at his reflection, fingers playing with his silver hoop earrings before he noticed Kai had stepped inside of his bedroom. Jay's cheeks colored. "O-oh. I thought you were Nya."

Jay turned to face Kai, and Kai got a wonderful view of the thigh-high leg slit the dress had. If his mouth had been dry before, it was dust now. Just the sight was doing something to him, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Is it too much?" Jay asked, fingers playing with each other. "I figured fancy party meant fancy, and this is the fanciest thing I've really got so…"

Kai found his voice when Jay trailed off, looking so defeated that Kai wanted to punch whatever had made him feel that way. Since he was pretty sure he had done that, Kai decided that punching himself before going undercover was a really stupid idea. He didn't want to sport a black eye and draw attention to himself. 

"No!" He exclaimed, grabbing Jay's hands, noticing blue nail polish on his nails, matching his dress. "No, you look… wow."

Jay's blush worsened, his smile a little embarrassed. "I thought you'd think my hair was stupid."

Kai knit his brows, studying the usually messy curls that were in some semblance of order. And they were longer than Kai recalled them being just three hours ago. Curious, he shifted his fingers through the chestnut hair, amazed that the curls stretched down to the base of Jay's neck before springing back up to rest lightly under his earlobes.

"It's beautiful."

Kai cleared his throat when he saw how soft Jay's gaze had turned. "Uh, I mean, not as good as mine, you know. Still good though."

Jay's smile shifted into a smirk. "Uh-huh."

Not wanting to give Jay more ammo than he already had, Kai gestured at Jay's dress. "So, any particular reason for that? Asides to be sexy, I mean."

Jay flushed terribly at that, swatting at Kai's shoulder. "I figured a guy and a girl would be less attention-grabbing than two guys for us going undercover."

Kai must have made a sour expression because Jay shook his head. "No, I made the choice, I'm fine."

Kai pursed his lips. "I know you, Jay. If you look the tiniest bit uncomfortable, we're finding you the manliest suit ever to bash any dysphoria, got it?"

Jay laughed at that, drawing Kai's attention to his face, the way his freckles bunched up whenever he laughed, along with the delicate black lines surrounding his boyfriend's eyes. Jay had actually gone and put makeup on, which Kai hadn't seen in a very long time. Heat pooled into Kai's body, his lips itching to meet Jay's. "I- I'm serious. No dysphoria will ruin your night on my watch."

Jay nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Thanks, but I'll let you know if it gets to be too much, okay?"

Kai sighed, but relented at the lightning ninja's pointed gaze. "Alright, fine. But seriously, if you get misgendered, I might hit someone out of reflex alone."

Jay snorted, moving around Kai to get to his bed. Kai watched him, unsure of what else to say. Another compliment? Jay tugged a pair of strappy black heels out of a box from under his bed. "Restrain yourself, babe."

Kai stiffened at the word, every nerve alight with want. In the end, he was a weak man, a man who just wanted Jay to feel comfortable in his skin, to kiss on Jay and touch him reverently, and breathe promises of love against freckled skin. Kai crossed the room to Jay easily, the lightning ninja still busy putting on his heels.

(Which were also unfairly attractive on Jay, but Kai would circle back to that later.)

Jay glanced up when Kai tapped his bare shoulder, his expression playful. "Hm?"

Kai scowled at Jay, nudging his boyfriend backwards until he could pin him against the mattress. "You know what you're doing."

Jay laughed softly, twining his arms around Kai's neck, fingers playing with his hair. "You look hot too, by the way."

Kai winked, "You know it."

Jay rolled his eyes and Kai locked their lips together, not entirely aware of the world around him anymore. Jay was more important than the world, clearly and obviously. He pulled back only to dive right back in, tongue running along the ever-soft lips of his lover, Jay making a delicate sound underneath him. Kai felt a heel nudge his hip, hands tightening in his hair.

The kiss deepened, Kai's tongue tracing the inside of Jay's mouth, small shocks crossing from Jay to Kai, barely there moments of electricity that made Kai shudder and kiss Jay harder, eager for a bigger reaction. Before he could cross that line, Jay pushed him up and away from his lips a little, blue eyes meeting amber.

"Kai," Jay whispered, lips so pink and plump and Kai really didn't want to stop. "The mission?"

Kai pursed his lips, then kissed Jay again, a soft peck instead of the passionate one he wanted to continue. "After, if we aren't exhausted, I'll pick up where we left off."

Jay nodded, cheeks flushed but his eyes bright with excitement at the promise. "Sounds like a plan."

Kai crawled off of Jay, halting halfway off at the sight of Jay's leg being mostly uncovered from the slit in the dress. Teasingly, Kai drug his fingertips against the soft skin as he finished crawling off of Jay, hearing his boyfriend gasp prettily. Kai adjusted his suit jacket, then ran his fingers through his hair again.

He shot Jay a puzzled glance that was mostly fake. "Are you coming?"

Jay looked breathless, cheeks even darker than before. "You- You fucker."

Kai, unable to help himself, shot Jay a wink as he made his way out of the room. "I do try."

Kai got smacked upside the head with Mr. Cuddlywomp, but hey, it was worth it in his eyes. He needed something good to keep his mind away from the dark thoughts of potential failure tonight.

///

Kai had to gape at the light show that was occurring at Borg’s tower, the building glowing in prismatic colors and holographic words that screamed the reason for the party. He had to admit it was pretty, but with Jay on his arm, it wasn’t comparable in the slightest. Shooting a glance at his boyfriend, he found Jay’s electric blue eyes alight with wonder, his lips shaping words that Kai could barely hear.

“What was that last bit?” He asked, grinning when Jay flushed.

“O-oh.” Jay twirled one of his curls around his finger, nervous. “Just… it’s pretty.”

Kai nodded, nodding towards the line of equally lavishly dressed individuals, pointing Jay in the right direction. His boyfriend was a little overwhelmed by the lights and the people, and Kai was one-hundred percent okay with being the grounding point for him. Quietly, Kai ducked his head to whisper against Jay’s ear as they got into the line. “If you feel bad, let me know.”

Jay nodded, his eyes darting from one head to another, analyzing and categorizing them the way he did. Kai hadn’t understood it at one point in his life, thinking Jay was just easily distracted (which was true), but now he knew it was how Jay dealt with getting overwhelmed. He counted how many other people he might have to interact with, how many blinding lights would flash, how they spoke or reacted so he could match them.

It was how he coped, and Kai could see why. He had done it a couple of times, only to find it very helpful. Granted, he sucked at mimicking other people, but he did try his best if his unhoned skills would be useful. Sometimes he looked back to the time he pretended to be his father and cringed. How Nya had perfectly emulated their mother’s voice was lost on him, but it was impressive all the same.

Turning his attention back to the line, Kai found two security guards only a few people ahead of them. One was a nindroid, the other was Cole. Cyrus Borg was only loosely aware of the threat looming over him when Lloyd had contacted him prior to the party about the lead they had, but he hadn’t disagreed with anything the ninja had suggested they do. As long as they didn’t destroy his tower or harm his guests, the scientist was okay with them playing dress-up.

Kai understood why Lloyd had ultimately decided against telling Borg the entire reason they were attending his anniversary party incognito. If Cyrus Borg knew about the threat, he would cancel the party and force the assassin to try another time, which would leave Borg paranoid and the ninja in the dark about when the assassin would try again. That didn't mean Kai liked withholding information though.

When Jay tapped at Kai’s arm, he felt a brief second of worry, only to find a small smile on Jay’s lips. The lightning ninja was holding back a giggle. “Kai, look behind us.”

Curious, Kai did as he was instructed, almost laughing himself. Directly behind them stood Dareth, dressed surprisingly nicely with an invitation in his hand, holding a conversation with a rather wealthy-looking elderly couple that looked entertained by him. Kai snickered under his breath, setting off Jay’s giggles. “How on earth did he get an invite?”

Jay shrugged. “I think he won the civilian raffle for invitations? He’s like Borg's biggest fan.”

Kai arched his brow. “But baby, I thought that was you?”

Jay’s blushing cheeks were a perfect reward, and he didn’t get a chance to retaliate before they reached security. Kai showed both Cole and the nindroid their invitations, then pocketed them again. The nindroid studied them, then shared a glance with Cole, who shrugged. 

“Hate to be that guy,” Cole started, pushing off of the door jam he had been leaning against, “but I need to check for concealed weapons.”

Kai made a big show of sighing loudly, unlinking his arm from Jay’s. “Oh, if you must.”

Jay opened his purse, revealing a rather nice wallet and some miscellaneous items. “Nothing but my emergency make-up.”

Kai almost jerked his head around at the sound of Jay’s voice, so light and airy. Cole looked momentarily stunned too, clearing his throat awkwardly. “Er, yeah. You’re good.”

The nindroid nodded, gesturing to the open doors. “Please enjoy your evening.”

Kai shot him a grin, sliding his arm around Jay’s waist. “I’m sure we will.”

The entryway had been filled with streamers and balloons, all sorts of people wandering around and laughing together before they headed for the elevators. Before he and Jay could get that far though, their invitations would be checked for authenticity by the intern at the front desk, who happened to be Zane in disguise. It wasn’t as effective as his cloaking device, but he still looked every bit the part of the nerdy guy who ran the desk.

Zane had even modulated his voice to better fit the role, slightly nervous at being handed so much power and responsibility by someone so high above him. “May I see your invitations?”

Kai handed the papers over, feigning indifference while Jay looked around with wide blue eyes. Zane nodded after a moment, “You’re on the list, thank you for attending!”

Jay smiled sweetly and Kai nodded, both of them making for the elevators. The party was held at the top floor, normally Borg’s office but remodeled for a skyline view and filled with hors d'oeuvres and champagne for the occasion. Kai couldn't quite understand how the assassin could get a shot with all those windows, but he wouldn't underestimate the possibility.

He hoped everything was going well on the other end of the mission, and that Lloyd, Nya, and Pixal had managed to get into position with no issues. He wouldn’t be able to check his comm until later, after he could make for the bathroom without drawing suspicion.

When the elevator doors closed, Kai slumped slightly. “Who knew I would already be tired?”

Jay shrugged, a tube of mascara in hand, squinting at his reflection in the elevator’s mirror. “Pretending is hard.”

There was a depth inside those words that Kai wanted to understand, but he decided to broach the topic later. Instead, he watched as Jay messed with his eyelashes, even though they were fine. “Jay?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t be nervous.”

Jay laughed, capping the tube and dropping it back inside of his purse. “That’s difficult for me.”

Kai nodded, taking one of Jay’s hands, pressing a kiss to his palm. “I know.”

Jay rolled his eyes, watching as they climbed floors. “Ready to do some more pretending, hot stuff?”

Kai laughed, pulling Jay flush against him for a split-second, relishing in the closeness before he shifted their positions again, arm around Jay's waistline. “Always.”

Jay was flushed when the doors opened, shooting Kai a dirty look that made him grin. His grin faltered when he caught sight of Cyrus Borg, falling back into mission mode with ease. The inventor was holding a glass of champagne in one hand, laughing with a group of people Kai had seen around the building, no doubt some of his employees.

Kai and Jay stepped out of the elevator, and Kai skimmed the room, mentally labeling anything that could be useful. He faltered at the crowd though. There were so many people all dressed so nicely that it left Kai reeling, so many sparkling bits of jewelry and finery that was foreign to him.

If he felt broke, he had no idea how much worse Jay felt. Kai knew how the lightning ninja got sometimes, wishing he had enough money to give his parents everything they deserved to have. Kai felt the same way sometimes, but he knew it lurked in the back of Jay's head more than his own. After so much time, Jay still felt as if he had something to prove, to show he wasn't just some kid from a junkyard.

Why? Kai wasn't entirely sure. Kai tightened his hold around Jay's waist, getting his boyfriend to look up at him, inquisitive eyes meeting his own.

“Split up?" He suggested, watching Jay closely for any sign of distress.

Jay nodded, nudging Kai towards the table with hors d'oeuvres and flutes of champagne. “Go be a gentleman and get me a drink.”

Kai bowed playfully, taking Jay’s hand and pressing a kiss to his ring finger. “Of course, darling.”

Jay laughed softly, shoving Kai away. Kai watched him for a second, then made for the table, scanning the faces around him. Any one of them could be the person after Borg, even if they would have had hell getting past both Cole and Zane. He couldn’t let his guard down, not even for getting in-character. To passerby, he would simply look a little nervous, something many people around him would relate to.

The table held more than just drinks and hors d'oeuvres upon closer inspection. It also held all sorts of pastries that made Kai's mouth water. It took more restraint than he had hoped it would to prevent himself from sampling them all. Maybe it had been for the best that Cole wasn't at the party, considering his rather glaring weakness for desserts.

Kai snagged two flutes of champagne, then glanced out at the sea of posh strangers, his heart beginning to thud against his ribs. What happened to his charisma? He could handle this. It wasn't hard, putting on a fake front, he had done it multiple times over the years. Somehow though, the idea of faking for multi-millionaires felt… dangerous.

It hadn't stopped Jay from immediately becoming popular though, several ladies dressed in their own stunning finery had surrounded him, complimenting his dress and asking him questions that he answered easily. Kai pursed his lips, glancing back at the table before he snagged one of the pastries, shifting the glasses to one hand as he placed it on a napkin to take over to Jay.

Jay tended to do better if he felt secure and had someone he cared for close by. Kai knew the pastry would be an added bonus, considering Jay's love of desserts. The champagne was a pretense, something that might be sipped once or twice, but ultimately ignored. Kai scanned the crowd again, plotting out the exact path he would need to make it to Jay.

"Huh, didn't think you'd be here."

Kai flinched at the words, nearly spilling champagne on the floor. His gaze landed on an all-too familiar face, one that made him a little happy, a little angry, and mostly confused.

"Ronin?"

///

Cole tried to maintain his focus as he watched Jay and Kai vanish inside of the building, but it was hard. He had no clue what to expect, and honestly the evening had been borderline boring. It would have been completely boring if the adrenaline from the idea of an assassin trying to kill Borg wasn't at the forefront of his mind, but still. He was growing impatient just standing in place.

He almost choked when he saw who was next in line, Dareth grinning at him before his brows dipped together. Cole watched as the nindroid examined Dareth's invitation, assigning a name with a face, but the brown ninja's gaze remained locked on Cole the entire time. Cole couldn't help but think of the last time he had seen Dareth in disguise, how easily the older man had seen through it.

This time, it seemed, was no different. Dareth snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Cole! I knew that was you!"

Cole pressed his lips together tightly. "Hey Dareth."

"When'd you get a side gig?"

Cole shrugged, gesturing for Dareth to come closer so he could check for weapons, which he heavily doubted he would find, but protocol was protocol. After ensuring the man was weaponless, he gestured through the open doors to the desk where Zane was stationed. "Have fun Dareth, you're cleared."

Dareth grinned at him, happily crossing the threshold. "Thanks dude!"

Cole shook his head with a small smile. Sometimes Dareth was just the thing that helped them ensure everything went according to plan. Maybe this was one of those times. After all, Dareth was the man who had done everything in his power to help them anyway he possibly could, no matter the risks he faced because of it.

"A hem."

Cole snapped his attention back to the world around him, rather than the one inside of his head. He found an elderly couple sharing aggravated looks between one another, and his nindroid companion looking exasperated.

"Sir, it's only protocol," the nindroid started, only to be cut off by the man, who flicked his hand at both the nindroid and Cole.

"Nonsense is what it is! An over-analytical farce that is as unnecessary as it is uncouth."

The woman by his side nodded, her expression pinched. "We never carry weapons." She said the word as if she could think of nothing fouler in the world, which made Cole bite back a sigh.

While he agreed weapons were a last result form of attack, that didn't mean they were inherently bad. It was a tool, depending on who used the knife made the knife either good or bad. That didn't make the knife inherently evil if it was used to harm someone, but some people just couldn't see it the way he did.

Different opinions were important, but not over something that was simple protocol. Now, if the protocol had the couple stripping down to their underthings? That Cole could see as bad. This was more of a minor annoyance, rather than something truly terrible.

"Sir, ma'am, this is simply to ensure not only Mr. Borg's safety," Cole looked pointedly at both of them, "but also yours."

The man looked downright insulted, tugging at the cuffs of his sleeves. "You have no right to speak to me."

Cole knit his brows, entirely lost for almost three seconds. It hit him when the man's wife moved to hide behind him slightly. A stab of guilt jabbed its way into his chest, even though he shouldn't have felt it at all. It wasn't his fault his skin was darker than theirs, or that he was taller than them, or stronger and more muscular.

It hurt though, to be looked at and only seen as a threat rather than a person too. Even the nindroid looked stunned, but the man continued. "Not only are you going to place your hands upon me and my wife, but you are asking for us to let you do that. My answer is no ."

"Would you change your mind if he was white?"

Cole snapped his gaze back, finding Dareth in the doorway, looking more furious than Cole had ever seen him. The commotion and hold up had snagged a lot of attention, the people in line whispering to each other and shooting glances at Cole. It made him nauseous to have so much attention on him, and not for the first time, he wished he was smaller.

The man looked stunned. "I- what are you implying?"

Dareth stepped forward, moving to stand between Cole and the wealthy man. "If I were the guard, would you listen?"

The man shrugged. "I do not rightly know, since you aren't. I do not feel safe with-"

"Do not say that ." Dareth hissed. "Don't you dare."

Before the man or his wife could speak again, the nindroid stepped forward, his hands raised placatingly. "If you will not allow us to check for hidden weapons, then we must decline your entrance to the building. Deeply sorry."

The man huffed, snatching his wife's arm. "I am as well, for having to deal with that -"

Cole's ears were ringing after the word was uttered, one he hadn't heard in a very long time. It reminded him of the first time he had learned what it meant when he was little, how his mother had clutched him close and whispered that it was just a word while his father raged at the parents of the little girl who had said it. While he didn't remember her name, he remembered her smug face when she had said it.

Almost like she had a right to call him that, to tear him down because he looked different than she did.

The world slammed back into focus when he felt a hand on his arm, the touch that normally would be grounding painful. There were so many voices, all saying different things, and his vision was a blur at best. Cole closed his eyes tightly, trying to breathe, but it felt like he was seven again, trembling when the teacher snapped at him for missing the "very easy steps", the words he muttered unkind and as horrible as what the little girl had said.

It was part of the reason he ran away.

The world around him was falling in and out of focus every time he opened his eyes, so just kept them shut, trying to control his breathing. Everything began to shift though, the loud voices falling away and the touch that had felt like fire now a more bearable presence, one he accepted readily now. He knew he was moving, the hand on his arm a guiding light, but he still didn't open his eyes.

He was almost afraid too, after what had happened the last time he had opened them. He had to get his head back in the game, back into the role he was playing for the mission, but if he opened his eyes and could only see the past, how could he help in the present?

///

Perched on the edge of the roof, Lloyd surveyed the city below and around him, the lights always brighter than needed. They never bothered him too badly though, so he didn't mind them. Better lighting made it easier to track down the villains than poor lighting did anyway. Unable to find anything out of the usual, Lloyd lowered his binoculars with a sigh.

Minus Cyrus Borg's anniversary party happening across from the skyscraper he was perched on, the city was in a normal state of function. Families were eating dinner, shifts were being switched, the neon lights alive with the night and the city they lit up. There was no sign of an assassin who wanted Pixal's father dead for reasons no one had managed to crack.

Lloyd shook his head, turning his gaze down to his sleeve, which he pushed up and out of the way. Tapping twice at the bracelet on his wrist, he watched the holographic main menu pull up, which he swiped through until he found contacts and communications. He double-checked that his settings were correct and ready to go, then he patched himself into the comm network he, Pixal, Neuro, and Nya had thrown together.

"Anyone hear me?"

Several voices answered, little blips showing their positions on his digital map. Lloyd felt a little of his tension ease at the sight, everyone was in position and ready to go. "Give me sights, what've we got on our hands guys?"

Nya's voice crackled to life, her words sure and holding the annoyance that came with her impatience. "Nothing but traffic, it's driving me up the wall."

Lloyd almost laughed, but refrained, recalling that he was supposed to be the leader right now, not Nya's little brother with a bad sense of humor.

"Nothing here, Lloyd," Skylor said, her words carrying an easy flow that he had grown accustomed to hearing.

"Nothin' here either, kiddo." Turner added quickly, not wanting to be the last to speak. The man was rather competitive when it came down to it.

"Karloff has nothing- ah!" Static flooded the line for a second, and Lloyd's feet were already in motion when Karlof said, "False alarm, sorry friends."

Lloyd skidded to a stop before he leapt off of the skyscraper he was perched atop, sighing. "Thanks Karloff. Anyone got anything?"

"Hate to break it to you," Tox said, "but I think your lead sucks."

Lloyd pursed his lips, unsure how to respond. He was almost thankful when Neuro's voice drowned out everyone else's. "I am afraid that the target may know we are onto them," Neuro's voice warned, his tone grave and serious. "I can't read too terribly far out, but everyone within twenty-clicks of my position isn't a threat."

Neuro was just outside of reading Lloyd and probably Pixal, who was driving her car down back alleys and checking for any trace of a threat. She was anxious and doing her best to hide it, and Lloyd could understand the feeling entirely. Hell, he felt anxious just thinking about his own father. With a shake of his head, he detached from that thought. The last thing he needed was to be distracted.

Lloyd sighed again, glaring at Borg's tower across from him, the large windows betraying the exact floor where the party was being held. He could almost make out the faces and people inside of the room without his binoculars, and his chest tightened with anxiety. If the assassin succeeded in killing just one person, they would fail. Lloyd refused to let that happen.

It didn't help that no one had checked in from the tower, not even Zane, who had promised to check in every half hour. It had been almost an hour since the last check in. Surely the last of the guests should have been inside of the party, freeing Zane to help them scout around the outside of the tower along with Cole. It was part of their plan, and Lloyd couldn't act on it if Zane wasn't responding.

They were running out of time, and Lloyd couldn't wait around for Zane and Cole, or Jay and Kai. They were busy with something else, no doubt important. Or their comms had been shut off, or glitching. Maybe they didn't work with Cyrus Borg's fancy Internet servers or something. The point was, Lloyd needed a new strategy, and he needed one pretty fast.

"Pix, get Neuro in your ride." He flicked through his holographic map, finding Pixal and Neuro relatively close to one another. "Help him survey the city for our hitman."

"Affirmative, moving now."

"Understood."

"Lloyd?" Nya asked, and Lloyd could almost see her expression. "What are you thinking, talk to us."

Lloyd opened his mouth, only to freeze. Something had moved behind him, and it wasn't the wind. He made no sudden moves, hoping to keep the other being on the roof thinking he had no clue of the other's presence. He slowly reached for the hilt of his sword, flinching into action when he heard something behind him go click ka-chunk.

"Lloyd?"

"What's goin' on, kid?"

"Lloyd, what was that noise!?"

Lloyd turned just in time to make out a dark-clothed figure with a rifle in hand, followed by a bang that made him instinctively reach for his ears and duck. That was not the right choice when one is holding a sword or being shot at apparently, because something made his world rock, pain shooting from somewhere and making everything blur for a second.

Lloyd forced a breath through his gritted teeth, blearily finding the person across from him reloading, a gruff voice shooting curses rather than bullets. At least he hadn't gotten Cryus Borg. Lloyd glimpsed at himself, finding blood on his upper arm. He could handle a flesh wound. Switching sword hands, Lloyd shouted, "Found him!"

///

Kai was still reeling at the sight of the thief, but he managed to find enough of his words to actually speak. "How did you even get invited?"

Ronin shrugged languidly, nabbing one of the pastries off of the table. "'Invited' is a strong word. Let's go with 'got let in'."

Kai opened his mouth, but Ronin continued on. "Helps if you know your forgeries and the guard at the front entrance, along with the intern at the front desk."

Kai knit his brows. "Why'd Zane let you in if your invite was fake?"

"Because I have some info that might keep Borg alive tonight."

Kai shifted the glasses in his hand slightly, boring his eyes into Ronin's form. "I feel like I should ask you to dump your pockets, but if you actually have something helpful, I'd love to hear it."

Ronin swallowed his bite of pastry, nodding. "There's more than one guy gunnin' to put a bullet in Borg's head. It's a group, as far as I know."

Kai stiffened, the situation far worse than it was moments prior. If there was more than one, that changed the entire mission. "Does Zane know?"

The second the words left his lips he knew Ronin already had told Zane, or else he wouldn't have been let up to the top floor. If Zane knew, that would mean the nindroid could alert Lloyd to the growing danger. "Nevermind, if you're up here he knows."

Ronin studied him for a second, making Kai's hackles raise slightly. The older man nodded towards the crowd. "Who's the dame headin' for you?"

Kai shot him a puzzled glance and Ronin sipped at his own glass of champagne. "Just askin', not trying to steal her from you."

When an arm slipped into his own, Kai knew exactly who Ronin had meant. His boyfriend's cheeks were flushed, and there was a smile on his face, but Kai could feel how tense Jay was against him. Jay offered Ronin a darling smile, then Jay's facade of a rich girlfriend disappeared when his blue eyes found Ronin's, his expression slipping into shock. " Ronin?"

Ronin's eyes widened, then he looked between Kai and Jay for a second. "I- Jay? That you?"

Jay nodded, curls bouncing. "Yeah."

"Damn."

Jay snorted, then beamed at the sight of the pastry Kai was still holding. He took it, along with one of the flutes of champagne Kai had in his other hand. "Thanks, also how the hell did you get in?"

Kai answered before Ronin could. "He had info, Zane let him in, there's more than one."

Jay froze, pastry halfway in his mouth. After a second of debate, Jay bit off the bite, his brows knitted together as he mulled the situation over. He swallowed, tilting his head. "How do you know that, Ronin?"

Ronin sighed. "I'm not in on it, before you even ask because I can tell where this is going. I don't do murder."

Kai was acutely aware of the eyes and ears around them, so he chuckled as if Ronin had made a joke, then dropped his voice to a murmur. "Talk later."

Ronin shot him a wink. "You got it."

Jay nodded, smiling politely at Ronin as Kai led them away from the table. Kai opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted before he could even make a sound.

"Oh! Albie, bring your partner over here!"

Jay's head swiveled around, making Kai follow suit, finding a group of well-dressed twenty-something-year olds. The group looked like a few couples who were all friends, beckoning Jay over. Kai let Jay take charge, ducking his head to whisper, "Albie?"

Jay smiled awkwardly. "Fake name," he murmured, but something in his tone indicated it was more than that.

Kai wasn't entirely sure what was said after that, or who was speaking to him. All he could hear was the little wobble in Jay's voice when he had said it. The way he was acting as if nothing was out of place, as if he wasn't a boy pretending to be a girl, falling back into his repertoire of jokes and fronts to hide any of his true feelings from the world.

Kai could feel his temper flaring, but he wasn't upset with Jay. Downing the last of his champagne, he ducked his head to whisper against Jay's ear. "I'll be back in a minute."

Jay smiled at him, and then shoved him off. "Oh, get lost already, you'll be back in like two minutes!"

Kai laughed, but his heart throbbed in pain at how Jay had fallen back into that airy voice, so delicate and so unlike himself that it hurt. Kai made his way to the bathroom in the corner, making sure it was empty before he locked the door. Shoving his sleeve out of the way, he tapped at his comm. "Lloyd? Nya? Anybody?"

"Hey, hot stuff," came Skylor's slightly labored voice. There were shouts in the background, making her voice difficult to hear through the din of battle. "How's the party going?"

"Guess you know about how there's more than one guy now, huh?"

A shriek, followed by Skylor's muffled laughing. "Oh, you bet ."

Kai chewed his lip, then glanced around the bathroom. "Do you need backup?"

"Zane and Cole should be here in a minute, I think you and Jay need to focus on Cyrus Borg. We have no idea how many-"

" Sky !"

A shink of metal, ending with Skylor calling out a thanks. Kai closed his eyes for a second. "Please be safe."

"I'll try."

Kai closed the line, mind whirring with options. It was then he realized that the comm hadn't exactly been quiet. Someone surely would have gone to check if anyone was being murdered. Kai unlocked the door, eyes going wide when he registered the shrieks and shouts of alarm. Kai dashed out of the bathroom, finding the window shattered and people with guns moving through the partygoers, a flash of green darting after them.

The sight alone was alarming, but finding no sight of Cyrus Borg anywhere might have been more so. Kai slammed his fingers against his comm, tapping furiously until he managed to hit the right numbers on the digital keypad. “Ninjago City Police Department, what’s your-”

“Borg’s tower, top floor, armed and dangerous individuals attacking, send help!” Kai didn’t wait around to hear the response, diving head-first into the fire of battle, heart thundering inside of his chest. He hoped Jay was okay.

///

Zane turned to Cole, who had been sitting in the office chair that had been Zane's to begin with, but was offered when Cole had started to fall apart. After admitting the last guest, Zane knew it was crucial to proceed with the next phase of the plan, but he couldn't just ignore what had happened with Cole.

It was difficult to have such a righteous sense of morals, torn between saving Cyrus Borg and saving Cole, both from vastly different things, but both important in their own ways. Zane shot a worried glance at Dareth, who had stayed beside Cole the entire time, helping the earth ninja remain calm while Zane all but speed ran the last invitation background checks.

He still ensured they were done correctly, but still. He had moved fast. Dareth smiled at Zane, nodding towards Cole as he stood up. "I think I'm going to head upstairs, hope you guys work everything out."

Cole mumbled something, no doubt a show of gratitude for what Dareth had done. Zane voiced his own gratitude, taking one of Dareth's hands. "Thank you, you did not have to do that."

"That's the thing, kid." Dareth patted Zane's hand, something in his expression sorrowful. "I really did have to."

Zane watched his friend head for the elevator, then turned his entire focus onto Cole, who hadn't looked at him yet. "Cole?"

Cole hummed, but otherwise was unchanged in his position. Zane pursed his lips, then knelt down before Cole, placing his hands on Cole’s knees, catching his attention. “Darling?”

Cole’s cheeks pinkened slightly, which Zane took as a win considering it was a reaction. “Z?”

Zane nodded, ducking his head a bit to meet Cole’s gaze. “Yes, Cole. It’s me.”

Cole pursed his lips, then shook his head slightly. “Sorry for shutting down, I-” Cole sighed, cutting himself off. “I don’t know what happened.”

Zane didn’t like that answer, so he stood up, feeling Cole’s eyes on him. “What happened was you were treated poorly, and reacted the way anyone would in that situation. It was wrong and rude, and I am happy it did not require a physical fight.”

If Dareth hadn't intervened, Zane would have, and he was pretty sure one of the outcomes involved a version of himself he had tried to bury. He couldn't help but wonder if Borg needed some very realistic ice sculptures in the future.

Cole sounded tired. “But, I just-”

“You got upset, and when you get upset you shut down.” Zane turned to look at his boyfriend again. “It is how you function. You cannot blame yourself for that.”

Cole opened his mouth, but Zane covered it with his hand. “Correction, I will not allow you to blame yourself.”

Cole’s lips moved into a smile against Zane’s hand, his eyes locked onto Zane’s. After a moment, Zane removed his hand from Cole’s lips, only to have Cole reach out and snag his hand. Cole pressed a kiss to his inner wrist, making Zane flush himself. “Thanks, Zane.”

Zane cleared his throat. “Yes, well, we should con-continue with the mission.”

Cole looked much happier, as if making Zane flustered was a mood booster. Perhaps it was. Whatever the case, Zane forced himself to refocus on the current issue at hand. He and Cole would talk more after Cyrus Borg and his guests were all declared safe. Zane was not about to let Cole just shut down the topic and never bring it up again.

It was a nasty habit his boyfriend harbored, and it broke Zane's heart watching Cole continuously shelve his agenda for the sake of others, but never take any time to deal with what he had shelved. Zane suspected it was from how he had been raised, which only served to make him feel sadder anytime he thought about it.

Zane rolled back his sleeve, unable to meet Cole's eyes as he spoke. "We should check in with Lloyd, then follow through-"

A crash shook the building, making Zane stagger into Cole, the pair of them falling against the office chair, which cried in protest at their combined weights being forced upon it. Zane shot a worried glance up at the ceiling. "What do you think that was?"

Cole copied Zane's motion, his eyes flicking upwards before they landed back on Zane. "Probably the guy who wants Borg dead."

Zane bolted to his feet, pausing for a second when he realized where he had been sitting was not the chair. Rather, it had been Cole's lap he had been resting upon. His face felt far too warm, as if his cooling units, along with his elemental power, had left him. He allowed himself a second of flustered shock, then shoved the emotions out of the way.

Zane leapt over the front desk, using spinjitzu mid-jump to change into his gi. When his feet hit the floor, he was fully geared up, Cole landing a second after him, dressed accordingly. Cole flipped open the comm channel, chaos sounding. "Uh- Nya? How's it going?"

A shout followed by a pained grunt was the response, making Cole and Zane share worried glances. While Cole tried to get a response on his end, Zane tapped directly into Pixal's comm. "Pixal? What is happening?"

"Zane! Get to the top floor now. "

Zane flinched at her tone, chest tightening with worry. He tugged Cole's arm, already moving. "Heading up, but-"

"Lloyd's got six or- or seven- they're all armed -"

Her voice slipped out of range, leaving Zane panicked. "Pixal!"

Cole's comm chose that moment to send a voice through, Nya's usually collected voice left in stressful tension. "Get Borg outta there!"

Cole broke into a sprint for the stairs, Zane right beside him. As they flew up the steps, Zane could only hope his brothers could handle the chaos before back-up arrived.

///

Jay ducked when artillery fired, tugging down the people closest to him. "Dammit," he muttered, peeking over the overturned table to try and get a read on positions, only to find a gun in his face, making him yelp. That was the wrong move, the owner of the gun lowering the muzzle, their face hidden by their ski mask. Jay watched the mask move though, and knew the thug was smiling.

Major ew.

Jay did his best to play the panicked rich person, but it was difficult when he could have the guy disarmed in seconds. Kai wouldn't hesitate the way he did, he would have already knocked the guy out and moved to the next lethal target. Kai didn't play a role when he was needed, he didn't sit and wait for the action to come to him.

But Jay wasn't like Kai, he wasn't out to the world. People saw the lightning ninja and said he was a man who could wield lightning, that he was funny and friendly. They didn't know he was trans, they didn't know he hid himself everyday or battled against his reflection continually. Jay wasn't brave enough to even think about coming out to the entire world, and if he disarmed the gunman before him, he would.

So he stayed still, heart beating against his ribs. The thug's eyes drifted to his lips, then the gun was in Jay's face again. "Get up."

Jay swallowed and did as he was told, nervous. His words were failing him, and for once, he couldn't think of anything to say. The gun was pressed under his chin, jerking his head upwards to meet the other person's eyes, which twinkled with mischief. Those eyes then drifted lower and lower, tracing Jay's shape as if he wanted to touch him. The thought made Jay light-headed.

He could almost hear the hearty laughter of pirates, the silky voice of a djinn, the constant hum of The Misfortune's Keep. Jay squeezed his eyes shut, but that just made it worse, phantom sounds shifting into memories that shouldn't exist, but they did and they scared him. Jay forced his eyes open, chest heaving as he tried to gulp down a breath, making himself count anything.

The gun went flying and Jay counted how long it flew. Four seconds. He turned his attention back to the owner of the gun, finding them unconscious on the floor, Kai standing over him. Kai turned to Jay, and Jay burst into tears, unable to stop the flow. Kai hadn't been on the ship, he hadn't been there, he was here. He was real and alive, not a timeline that never existed.

Kai's arms were around him, his voice gentle. "Oh baby, no I'm sorry I wasn't listening. I'm sorry."

Jay realized Kai was responding to his words, which had finally come back to him. He was apologizing, no doubt for being so scared and useless and-

"Jay no, you're so brave, stop."

Jay sniffled against Kai's shoulder, then shoved him back, panicked. "Wh- Cyrus Borg!?"

Kai pressed his lips together just as the stairwell door flew open, Cole and Zane dashing in. Jay suddenly realized that the threat had been neutralized while he had spiraled, Lloyd standing a bit behind Kai. When their eyes met, Lloyd waved. Jay waved back, sniffling. Zane made for Lloyd, immediately asking him questions, while Cole made for him and Kai.

Cole's arms wrapped tightly around him, and it took all of his willpower not to cry again. Cole pulled back, then yanked Kai in for a tight hug too. "You guys are okay, right?"

Kai nodded. "There's a few wounds, but nothing grievous. I got 9-1-1 punched and dialed before I went to bashing heads."

Lloyd then joined the conversation, asking what Jay had a moment ago. "Where's Cyrus Borg?"

Kai looked torn between smug and upset. "Ronin took him out while me and Jay were running survey."

Jay gaped, then snorted wetly. "Sounds like him."

Lloyd looked lost. "Ronin? Why was he here?"

Cole shook his head. "Who cares as long as he helped?"

Zane looked the tiniest bit sheepish, and Jay shot him a smile, knowing that feeling all too well. Zane had let Ronin up, and Jay wasn’t about to snitch on him. It had served to help in the end, and that was what really mattered. Instead, he straightened his dress out a bit, still feeling the phantoms of other hands against his skin, even though it wasn’t real. “Where’s everyone else?”

Nya chose that moment to fly in through the window, landing right beside Lloyd with a flip. She glanced around then took her hood down. “Uh, am I that late?”

Lloyd giggled. “A little bit, yeah, sorry.”

Nya groaned and Kai laughed. Jay found himself grinning too, relieved to be done with the chaos of the evening.

///

Lloyd had never been so done with people in his entire life, which was saying a lot because he despised big crowds all vying for his attention at the same time. This situation wasn't any different though, which only served to heighten his already overly tense mindset. He needed a minute to collapse and regroup, not be thrust into more crowds and answer more questions.

How Gayle had even shown up before the ninja had left was beyond him, but then again, Cyrus Borg's anniversary was a pretty big deal, so maybe she had already planned to cover it on the news. The other newscasters though? They had definitely only shown up because of the disaster that had struck during the party, getting witness reviews along with the police.

Lloyd had hoped to avoid the microphones and the probing questions altogether, but wearing green tended to stand out a bit too much to most people, considering the color was correlated with him now.

"Were you aware of the threat beforehand?"

"Why were these gunmen after Mr. Borg?"

"Were they all captured?"

Lloyd opened his mouth to answer one question, only to be thrown off by another. He was tempted to ask them to take turns, but he was pretty sure his voice would be drowned out by their own questions, their voices loud and demanding his attention. He couldn't give it to them, however, not when his team was tending to the finer details while he played newsfeed.

It didn't help that he couldn't answer half of the questions anyway, since he didn't know the answers. He didn't know why the men were after Borg, other than the hunch of them wanting to throw his company into chaos. He wasn't sure how many were involved to begin with, so he didn't know if they had all been captured. Sure, he was aware of the threat beforehand, but that really didn't mean much.

The questions started to blur together, the voices melding into one annoying hum that made him tempted to flee the scene entirely. But he couldn't do that, he was the green ninja, he was a beacon of hope and everything good in the world.

At least, that's what everyone said.

A gruff voice cut through the din, the police commissioner moving between Lloyd and the reporters. "Alright, you had your fun. Now please stand back ."

Gayle narrowed her eyes. "I am only trying to ensure the people are aware of any danger."

The commissioner didn't look too impressed. "We have taped off Borg's tower for security reasons. You are crossing the boundary. For your safety, stand back."

The reporters grumbled for a moment, but eventually backed up to the sidewalk. The commissioner adjusted his lapels, then turned to Lloyd. "I hope that helps."

Lloyd nodded. "It does, thanks. But I really don't have a lot of answers, and no one will until we interrogate the criminals."

"Exactly." The commissioner adjusted his hat. "News can't have news until the truth is out. I don't know why they try to rush things."

Lloyd shrugged, regretting the motion almost instantly because ow. He forgot he'd been shot at, and maybe even successfully struck with a bullet. He would have to get Zane to look at him later. Speaking of, Lloyd stood on his toes in an attempt to see over the crowd, trying to spot his team anywhere. He found Skylor's burst of red hair, which he decided would be a good start.

"Is everything under control, Commissioner?"

The old man nodded. "If you and your ninja are needed elsewhere, go ahead. We have the gunmen taken into custody, and Cyrus Borg is safe and well."

Lloyd smiled. "I'll have to thank Ronin for that."

The commissioner looked torn between respect and like he had eaten something very sour. "Yes, I should too."

Lloyd offered the commissioner a wave, then made his way through the crowd. He was slowed down by police escorting party guests out of the way, several of the guests breaking away and thanking Lloyd profusely for his efforts. Lloyd did his best to smile and keep going, but there were so many that he started to feel trapped. It felt like every single guest was out to thank him personally.

Lloyd darted his gaze around, realizing he was all but surrounded by thankful guests and disgruntled police officers. His heart was pounding so loudly he was sure they could all hear it, and he knew he must look far too pale because he felt dizzy, like he might pass out. That wouldn't be very green ninja-y. Someone would take a video and post it, and then he'd be a meme forever, a joke.

Just a kid trying to save the world, passing out from… anxiety? Stress? Claustrophobia? He had no clue, actually. Something.

"Hey, hey."

Lloyd blinked when something moved in front of him, a wall of muscle and a sleeveless gi before him.

"Let's not suffocate him, yeah?" Cole said to the crowd, shooing them back a bit.

He took Lloyd's arm (not the injured one) in his hand, leading him away from the crowd, toward the rest of the team, who were all by the police cars. Lloyd let himself breathe a sigh of relief at the sight, the elemental masters and his family all getting along well and congratulating everyone on a job well-done.

"Thanks Cole," he said softly. "I didn't mean to just stand there."

Cole stopped walking, and turned to face him. He offered Lloyd a smile. "We've had a pretty crazy night, stress'll really mess you up. I'm happy I could help."

Lloyd nodded, then kept going toward the police cars. "You all did great."

Toxikita rolled her eyes. "Of course we did, we aren't losers."

Kai snickered. "Yeah."

Zane rushed forward at the same time Nya did, both of them zeroing in on the red coloring his green gi. "What is that?" Zane asked.

"Who's blood is it?" Asked Nya, her eyes searching his face for an answer.

Kai gasped softly, then rushed forward too. Lloyd did his best to hold back a sigh, already tired of the eyes on him. "Guys, yes it's mine, I'm fine."

Cole knit his brows, concern etched onto his features. Jay wasn't any better, his big blue eyes shimmery with worry. The rest of the elemental masters didn't look much better. Pixal was by Nya's side, her green eyes laser focused on his arm, no doubt scanning him for damage or something. Unable to handle the upsetting looks any longer, Lloyd backed up a few steps.

"Let's just call it a night and go home!"

He tried for a happy tone, but it came out strained, anxious sounding. He winced at the sound, trying again. “Look, let’s just go home.”

Nya pursed her lips, looking like she was about to say something when Pixal stepped forward, pointing to the entryway of Borg’s tower. “My father is inside with Ronin, and I would like to ensure he is well before I return to the monastery.”

Lloyd nodded, waving her off. “Go for it. Message if anything goes weird.”

Pixal smiled, then glanced back at Nya for a second, then looked away. Nya sighed, then rubbed Lloyd’s uninjured arm. “I’ll stay with her.”

Kai opened his mouth, then shook his head. “Yeah, go on sis.”

Nya jogged for a second to catch up with Pixal, the pair of them sharing soft smiles before they vanished inside of Borg’s tower. Cole scrubbed a hand through his hair, then turned to the other elemental masters. “Thanks guys. Head home, okay?”

Skylor nodded, shooting Lloyd a smile. “Be safe guys.”

Karloff made certain to hug them all before he left, leaving Jay gasping as he always did. Everyone else simply left with waves or well wishes, heading home after the evening of fighting. Lloyd couldn’t blame them because he felt three seconds away from collapsing entirely. He couldn’t do that though, so he forced himself to stand upright. “Let’s go.”

“Lloyd,” Jay said. “Maybe you should sit for a second?”

Lloyd shook his head, typing into his comm to bring his car over. “I’ll be fine.”

Kai shook his head, snatching Lloyd’s arm. “I’ll come with you then.”

Lloyd sighed, but nodded, too tired to even argue with Kai. He just wanted to be home.

///

Zane sighed softly as he dug through the medical supplies in the monastery, feeling Cole’s anxious hovering more than seeing it. The Earth Elementalist wasn’t even inside of the med bay, yet Zane couldn’t shake his presence. Perhaps his sixth sense was just deeply attuned to his surroundings today. (Pixal would laugh at him and say it was because he liked Cole, quite a bit actually, and Zane would quickly find a way to reroute the conversation. She was far too good at teasing him, and he was starting to wonder if she secretly enjoyed making him flustered.)

“I have brought the tea,” Master Wu intoned, drawing Zane’s attention towards him. He watched as the old master handed his nephew the cup, his expression torn between conflicting emotions.

Zane understood the feelings well, he was very proud of Lloyd, but he had gotten shot and didn’t think he needed to tell anyone about it. He was never exactly not worried about Lloyd, not after everything the poor boy had been through, but he still hated to think too much about the reasons behind Lloyd hiding injuries. He wondered if there was a way he could phrase a conversation that wouldn’t cause the blond to build higher walls.

Lloyd smiled at his uncle, “Thanks.”

“Master, could you go see what we have in the kitchen for a meal?” Zane asked, if only because it had just crossed his mind. “Even if it is something quick and easy we need to eat before bed.”

“Of course,” Master Wu said, patting Lloyd’s knee before he left the med bay.

Zane did his best to appear calm and like he didn’t want to ask any questions that could rock the already rocky state of Lloyd’s mind, but unfortunately, he was glaringly obvious to literally everyone else. That sadly included Lloyd.

“Zane, just spit it out,” Lloyd grumbled, sipping at his tea slowly, cringing after every sip. “I know you’re upset with me.”

“Not with you,” Zane quickly soothed, setting his medical supplies down beside Lloyd, picking up the scissors so he could get to Lloyd’s arm. “Just that you got hurt. I am sorry you got wounded, not mad at you.”

Lloyd arched a brow, looking strikingly like his mother. “Really? I figured you’d be upset that I didn’t mention I was wounded.”

Zane huffed out a half-laugh, half-sigh. “Well, not exactly. I admit to a bit of anger about you trying to brush off your injury, but I expect it from you. You’ve never enjoyed the med bay.”

Lloyd stuck his tongue out teasingly, and Zane laughed as he cut off Lloyd’s sleeve. The younger ninja mourned his gi, watching Zane fold up the ruined sleeve with a sort of detached sadness. “I liked that sleeve, damn it.”

“Hey, no cussing in front of Zane,” Cole said, stepping into the med bay. “He’s sensitive.”

“I am far older than either of you, I have heard much cursing.” Zane set the scissors down, moving back to the medical supplies, gathering the cleaning liquids. “I just choose to use it sparingly, to further showcase my intelligence to others.”

“He just called Kai stupid in like five languages,” Cole stage-whispered to Lloyd, who broke into a fit of giggles.

Zane smiled softly at Cole, silently thanking him for boosting Lloyd’s mood with a well-timed wisecrack. Cole smiled back, returning to heckling Lloyd until the blonde could scarcely bleed. He was so distracted by Cole that he missed Zane cleaning and bandaging his wound, which was better for everyone involved. Lloyd wasn’t a bad patient, but he was…

Zane would say traumatized by his many, many, many runs into the med bay from normally near-fatal injuries. Or comas. The poor guy had been through a lot.

“All done,” Zane said, patting Lloyd’s knee to get his attention. “You can go.”

Lloyd looked mildly confused, then he grinned. “Cool. I’m gonna go call Nya and Pix, make sure everything’s still good.”

Cole waved as Lloyd left, turning to Zane the moment the door was closed. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Zane balked, in the midst of putting the med kit away. “Oh? About what?”

There were certainly many intriguing topics they could discuss, anything pertaining to the evening, or maybe something entirely different as a palate cleanser. To be honest, Zane had no clue what Cole was going to ask. He was unpredictable sometimes, despite his steadiness.

Cole rung his hands together, leaning awkwardly against the examination table. “Uh, I was wondering… Well, maybe hoping, I guess, if you’re cool with it, of course! If you would like to, uh, shit.”

Zane watched as Cole dug himself into a stuttering hole, voice going lower and quieter as he tried to talk to himself. It was cute, in a silly way. “Darling?”

Cole flushed, jaw clicking from the force he shut his mouth. Zane rolled his eyes, putting the kit away so he could take one of Cole’s hands. “I would enjoy snuggling, if that was your suggestion. Perhaps a movie to wind down?”

Cole beamed brightly, and Zane knew he had understood exactly what the Earth Elementalist was asking. “Yeah. That’d be nice.”

The moment was destroyed when Lloyd threw the door open, panting. “Guys! Uncle Wu’s trying to fucking cook .”

( Somewhere nearby, Kai had an aneurysm at the feeling of his baby brother cussing. )

Zane felt faint at the mere thought, and Cole actually shuddered. “Oh hell no, Lloyd stop him!”

Their fearless leader made a pathetic whimpering sound, dashing back down the hall. Cole was right behind him, shouting orders. Zane hadn’t personally eaten any of Master Wu’s cooking, but he knew Cole had lived with him before anyone else had, and the experience was apparently… an adventure , to say the least.

Then Zane recalled Cole’s own culinary skills and fell over laughing, unable to stand any longer. The irony was not lost on him, and that made everything even funnier.

///

Jay stretched, flopping back against his bed with a sigh. It was far too late at night, somewhere between three and four in the morning, but he was over the world. He couldn’t sleep though, which was really annoying. He rolled onto his side, tucking his arms under his head, staring at the wall. He really should be sleeping, but he just couldn’t get his mind turned off.

He grumbled under his breath, sitting back up, resting his hands in his lap. With another sigh, he climbed out of bed, bare feet silent as he walked over to his dresser. If he couldn’t sleep, he might as well just start his day, right? That sounded right to him anyway. Jay tugged out a shirt and pair of sweats, then paused for a second.

Should he wear his binder too? Jay chewed his lip, torn. He didn’t really feel terrible, but he knew he’d circle back to the more traumatic moments from last night, and then he’d really want his binder on. He grabbed it too, heading for the bathroom. Since it was so early, no one else would even be awake yet, unless they were struggling too, so he could have his morning rather peacefully.

He stopped when he spotted Kai leaving his bedroom, the fire ninja running a hand through his messy hair. Kai stopped when he saw Jay, knitting his brows. “Hey, babe?”

Jay jerked his gaze to the floor, clutching his bundle of clothes tight to his chest. “H-hey.”

Kai moved to him, gently ruffling his curls. “You okay?”

Jay shrugged. “Was gonna shower.”

“You feeling bad?”

Now how did he answer that? Sure, he didn’t feel fantastic, but he didn’t feel like trash. Maybe. Ish.

“I don’t know.” He eventually murmured, unable to meet Kai’s gaze. 

Kai solved that issue by gently lifting his chin upwards, his soft amber eyes meeting Jay’s blue ones. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Jay blinked quickly, trying to stop the overwhelming feeling of tears. “I- I don’t know?”

“Okay, that’s fine.” Kai pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. “Go shower, I’ll make you something to eat.”

Jay nodded, staying still and rooted in place until Kai was out of the hallway. He sucked in a deep breath, forcing his feet to move forward across the floor. It was only a shower, he could do a shower. Kai was being nice too, offering to make him breakfast when he didn’t even have to, so why did he feel so anxious? It wasn’t like Kai would dump him for being trans, because they already had that conversation ages ago.

Maybe he felt so anxious because of how he had pretended to be a girl last night, dressed and looked the part. At the time, he didn’t feel bad about it, but looking back at it, how could he have been so stupid? He knew how he did with crowds and so many eyes on him, but he still made sure to put on a show for them all, so they’d pay even more attention to him. Had they all known he was faking it the entire time, but they didn’t want to say anything and offend him?

Jay sniffled, swiping at his eyes. They probably had known, and all the whispers behind their hands had been about him. There was no doubt about it. Someone had probably figured out who was too, and posted it online and then there’d be uncomfortable questions about him being trans and then he’d have to confirm or deny the claim and then the world would flame him or- or want him deemed unfit to protect Ninjago or maybe even want him dead-

“Jay, Jay, hey, look at me okay?”

Jay flinched at the sensation of fingers on his arms, jerking backwards and away from the touch. Something slammed into his back, making him drop his clothes on the floor, the world swaying wildly around him. “I- I’m- I didn’t-”

“Jay, it’s okay. You're okay. Can you tell me where you are?”

Jay squeezed his eyes shut. “M-monastery?”

“That’s right, that’s good Jay.”

Jay sucked in a breath, forcing himself to focus on anything. The pressure of someone holding his arms, the pain in his chest as he forced his lungs to breathe, the rough wood against his back and the dull ache in his spine from hitting the wall. There was so much, but not enough, and he could feel his body losing control, falling down into the spirals he tried his best to push away until he couldn’t anymore. He shouldn’t be like this, all shaky and scared, he should be better.

He had saved the world countless times, so why couldn’t his body and brain get with the program and fucking like each other?

“Jay?”

Jay swallowed as best as he could, slowly lifting his gaze from the floor (when had that happened?) to meet pretty amber eyes flooded with warmth. “Hi.”

Kai smiled softly, running his thumb over the swell of Jay’s cheek. “Hey there.” The Fire Elementalist was so gentle, his normally brash and bold actions gone, replaced with a softness that made Jay melt into his touch, sighing quietly. “You need anything?”

Jay nodded against his hand, pushing himself closer to Kai, relishing in his comfort. “You’re good.”

Kai laughed softly, brushing a hand through Jay’s curls. “Alright, we’ll stay put for a minute.”

Jay buried his face in the crook of Kai’s neck, content and for a few minutes, happy right where he was. He wasn’t needed anywhere, he didn’t have to do anything, no one was watching him. It was just him and Kai, and Kai was so warm. Jay loved it, cuddling tighter, enamored by his boyfriend.

He’d be okay.

[parttimepuff]

Oh so beep gets a slap on her nonexistent wrist? That’s it? No wonder she does whatever she wants

Having made it back to Lor, the atmosphere was... relieved, but very awkward. Beep had gone to sulking in the shadows while the adults tried to process what to do next. At least Orbee was asleep in their pillows and didn't have to listen to this. "Hey. Quit getting on her case. She doesn't deserve that." Reverie sternly admonished, though the comment could just as easily be scolding him rather than her.

"Yes I do." Beep muttered from her shadowy corner. "No, you don't." Reverie told her, not sure where exactly to look. "But, to be clear, it's not just going to be a slap on the wrist, either." He added to his daughter's dismay. "nnnnnnnnn…" She groaned, anxiety bubbling up. He'd never really been upset with her like this and it scared her. "Are you going to get rid of me?" The Matter asked.

That question cut him deep, his serious expression cracking entirely. "What?? Beep, why do you think I would ever do something like that??" Reverie implored, though it pained him even more that he could think of a reason. "Because I did something bad." Beep answered. "Sweetheart…" The Dream Fae murmured. He couldn't feel fear like his brother could, but he could very clearly feel an absence. She didn't feel safe.

Crouching by her shadow, he fought his own building guilt to support her. "I'm not going to leave you behind for a mistake. There is nothing that could make me do that." Reverie promised sincerely. This kind of thinking couldn't be left alone, so Lor chimed in as well. "Beep, mistakes are there to let us learn. It’s alright>" She insisted. The Matter was quiet for a moment before addressing her father again. "…you’re still upset." Beep pointed out.

Reverie sighed. He couldn't hide that from her and there was no point in trying to. "Yes, I am upset. I did tell you not go off like that. I'm disappointed that you risked your safety." He detailed. Magolor, who had been trying to pretend he wasn't there, winced in sympathy. "But, I just wanted to help." Beep mumbled. It always seemed like things went wrong when she did that. "There’s ways to help that don’t involve that risk, Beep>" Lor advised her.

"And I'll try to be more open about my ideas for that. I'm sorry you felt like I wasn't doing enough to change things and I understand why." Reverie continued on from the AI. He wished he could just make things better, so she never felt the need to put herself in danger. "…so you aren’t getting rid of me… what are you gonna do…" Beep muttered, resigned to whatever he had in mind.

Reverie paused, finding it more and more difficult to stay firm. "I, was going to ground you." He replied. "Really?" Magolor piped up, raising an eyebrow only to receive a harsh glare from the Dream Fae in return. "A-ah, I mean, you do have a room you can stay grounded in, um… It's not completely finished, though." The Halcandran backpeddled, not wanting to further upset anyone.

"So I have to live underground?" Beep asked, confused by the concept. It might be funny in another situation. "No, it just means you have to stay in your room for a certain amount of time." Reverie explained. "…so like living in the cave." She summarized. Had that been a punishment, too? "Beep, think of it like this, you can spend that time helping Magolor finish your room? Give it the personal touches you want. It’s not great, you did do something, not great, but it doesn’t have to be all bad>" Lor tried to soften the blow as well as she could.

"Yeah, exactly!" Reverie exclaimed, more and more thankful to have some help in this. "Er, just, y'know. Still a punishment." He added. Beep stayed silent for a minute, not particularly cheered up about any of this. "…where’s my room…" She finally asked. Feeling like he could actually help out, Magolor floated over to her. "I'll, uh, just show ya there. I was hoping to get your input on it, anyway, so this works out." He told her, beckoning her to follow him which she did, though refusing to leave the shadows.

After the two had left earshot, Reverie slid to the floor. He wondered if he was really cut out for fatherhood if just grounding her made him feel this terrible. Hopefully, he was actually doing the right thing.

[catboyantichrist]

hello! i saw that you were taking requests for headcanons and oneshots! could i ask for some headcanons on either a gn or male MC bringing a brother along to get their first tattoo? as in the MC getting their first tattoo and having the brother come along because they’re secretly nervous lol….. thanks so much! <3

Aaa! Of course! I originally planned to write this as a M!MC but it ended up completely gender neutral. Also this idea is so creative so thank u for asking me to write this ^^

☆ The Brothers Coming With GN!MC to Get Their First Tattoo!  ☆

You finally did it! You gained the courage to finally get your first tattoo. You've been wanting this for awhile, it's just external forces always made it difficult for you to get one. I guess the brothers really helped with your confidence huh? Well the days leading up to the appointment your nervousness started to get the best of you. What if it hurts too much?

Not wanting to cancel the appointment, you decided to ask one of the brothers to come with you! Just for fun y'know... not because your scared or anything.

Lucifer:

-When you walk into Lucifer’s office asking if he’d come with you to get your first tattoo, he was more than happy to accompany you.

-But he also wanted to have a bit of fun.

-When you go to the shop he immediately noticed that you were nervous, and he started lightly teasing you without hesitation. 

-”Are you nervous MC?” He smirks.

-”No! Why would I be?” You were shaking.

-Oh you’re shaking. Maybe toning it down would be a better idea.

-When the artist comes out and actually begins, Lucifer just puts you on his lap. The pure shock from that would just get rid of any pain in that moment.

-While you’re getting the tattoo, Lucifer’s getting work done on his phone. There’s never a bad time to do work after all! Ignore his massive undereye bags.

-You need a distraction? MC why don’t you start on that potions homework from awhile ago?

-Once the tattoo is completed, Lucifer help you with the aftercare. Once it's healed he will begin to lightly graze his hand over it when he’s close to you.

Mammon:

-You wouldn’t even need to go to him to ask, he’s already going to your room to ask if you can hangout. So when you ask if he could come with you to get your first tattoo, he immediately agrees.

-When you go into the tattoo parlor, he’s just as excited as you are. After all, his human has been talking about this for weeks!

-When the tattoo artist comes out to ask some general questions, Mammon begins to notice your anxiousness. When they leave to set up the work area, Mammon leans over and puts his arm around you.

-Don’t worry MC! You’re the strongest human I know! Plus you have the great Mammon to protect ya!

-When the tattoo artist brings out the needle, Mammon is scared FOR you. But, keeping his word he shakily grabs onto one of your hands.

-“Only focus on me ya hear! It’ll be over before ya know it.”

-The only thing that scared Mammon more then the tattoo was the price OF it.

-He’d contemplate+ getting matching tattoo’s with his human, but needs to check if that would get in the way of his modeling career... just kidding. He doesn’t care

-”Oi MC! We’re gonna match one day. Ya got it?”

Leviathan:

-Convincing Leviathan to go outside can be sort of… difficult. Especially to a place he’s never been to before.

-When he sees how fidgety you are when you ask though, he sighs and agrees. “Fine but only because you’re my Henry”

-When you go into the parlor, he immediately goes to see if any of the tattoos are themed after any anime's. If there are, you will have to drag him away from them so that you can actually get the tattoo.

-When he turns away sad, you grin and offer to come back with him to look at the art another time.

-Depending on where you’re getting your tattoo he’d either play games on his phone with you or you’d just watch, so that there’s something to distract you from the pain. 

-If that doesn’t distract you enough you two will just start rambling about whatever anime you’ve watched last.

Satan:

-He was intrigued that you wanted him to come support you out of everyone. This seemed more like a job for Asmo. You’ll just ask Lucifer instead? Well you should’ve asked for him to come sooner!

-Before even going to the tattoo shop, Satan was doing as much research as possible to make sure you were prepared.

-He brought water and pain killers just to be safe. Yes the water was in a cat themed water bottle. I will not take criticism.

-When you go into the parlor Satan will watch the artist with intrigue and possibly even ask questions about being a tattoo artist.

-Satan will sit beside you and probably read with you or to you. If your handling the pain well enough Satan will probably just hold your hand and continue with the previous conversation he was having with the tattoo artist.

-Once the tattoo is finished Satan will research the best possible tattoo aftercare routine (and obviously talk to the artist about it as well)

-He found the whole experience fascinating, and contemplates maybe even getting a tattoo as well one day. Obviously just to spite Lucifer... no other reason. (-Cough- MC’s approval -cough-)

Asmodeus:

-“OoOo MC where are you getting the tattoo 😏”

-Okay jokes aside, of course he’d come with you! He’s supported tons of his friends and admirers when they were getting their first tattoos! These may or may not have been his name and/or face

-I’m not saying he’d do the same and try to convince you to get a tramp stamp of his name but I’m saying that’s exactly what he’d do 

-Although at the end of the day, no matter what you chose he’d love it!

-When the artist starts working Asmo immediately grabs onto your arm (or whichever arm isn’t getting tattooed) and starts talking about whatever gossip that’s going around currently.

-Every time the artist says “5 more minutes” (which is at least 10 times) Asmo puts his hands through your hair and praises you on how well your doing. Damn even the tattoo artist is blushing.

-Once the tattoo is finished he’d be so excited to take pictures of it, and he’d waste no time finding clothing pieces that would show off the tattoo even more! He'd also ask the artist for tips with aftercare and what skin products are okay to put on the tattoo.

Beelzebub: 

-You want Beel to come with you to get a tattoo? 

-“I mean if it makes you happy MC! Can we go to Madame Screams afterwards?”

-You walk into the tattoo shop and decide to look at some of the designs with Beel

-You turn for a second because you saw an amazing design. Although you nearly had a heart attack when you turned back.

-No Beel wait the food designs aren’t actual food!!

-Because of the amount of exercise this man does, and some not so... happy issues. Beel knows some very effective breathing exercises! Before and during the beginning of the tattoo he’d lead you through some breathing exercises to help you through the pain and any possible anxiety.

-He’s already holding your hand (if you allow it) and if the pain gets to be too much he gives you 100% permission for you to squeeze his hand, he’ll barely feel it anyways. Once the tattoo is finished Beel grins at the sight of it.

-”Wow MC it looks great!”. If the tattoo involves food in anyway, you may need to remind him that it’s not real as his stomach growls almost immediately. 

-”Could we go to Madame Screams now?”

Belphegor:

-“Why don’t we just take a nap instead?”

-When he realizes how much you really want this tattoo he begrudgingly agrees. Although he immediately cheers up when you offer to cuddle with him when you both get home.

-You go into the shop and he wants to get it done as fast as possible

-When the tattoo artist begins, Belphie was originally holding your hand.

-Now he’s just found anyway possible to cuddle with you... oh nope now he’s just asleep.

-On the positive side it gives you the opportunity to put your hands through his hair to help calm down. You kind of start drifting off yourself...

-Next thing you know you’ve woken up with the finished tattoo. Belphie eventually wakes up as well and lets out a long yawn.

-”Wow MC... it looks great. Do you wanna go take a nap at the planetarium?”

[writingsfromthegrave]

Good morning/afternoon/evening!

First off, my name is AC Apologies in advance for my bad English lol. I saw that you are making matchups with Monster Prom characters and I wanted to give it a try.

I am a cis female (she/her pronouns), I am not sure of my sexuality, but if I had to label it right now it would be omnisexual. I have around 5'3 feet (161 cm), I have ivory skin, brown but also yellow-ish hair (cant label its actual tone) and green eyes. I am also chubby, if that adds something.

I like to read. Quite common thing to say but I really love it. It can be books, news, discussions on internet, anything.... I just like to absorb knowledge, y'know? Same thing for watching youtube videos. I do enjoy watching informative videos but also see people roasting movies. I also am a huge fan of mythology (greek and norse are the ones I know better rn, but I am starting to study chinese mythology). I also am an aspiring artist who mostly draws fanarts of games and animes. And, lastly, Literature and Arts were my favorite subjects at school

Dont let this nerd-ish side of me trick you. I am a dumbass. I mostly dont say things because I am afraid of what people will think (you can tell Im quite shy and awkward), but when I open up I may start saying crap. So, most of the time I dont say nothing, unless I know a bit about the subject, then I open up more.

It is quite hard for me to socialize. I have anxiety issues and they take the best of me. I take time to warm up to people, but once I do it things change, I guess. Most of my friends call me cute and sweet and sometimes even smart.

I guess this wasnt really requested, but I am mostly attracted to smart people. It is not like I am not willing to date people less smart than me, but I cant help but have a soft spot for people with knowledge.

Thanks in advance for accepting my request. And also sorry for the big text lol

wow we have a lot in common lol !!

anyways, i match you with . . .

[⚡] Vicky Schmidt !!

♡ The first time you two had met was probably in the library, most definitely looking for the same genre of book. And no- you didn't happen to find yourself in a cheesy scenario where you reach for the same book. No... Vicky couldn't stop herself from wanting to talk to you!

♡ And with that moving forward, you two were the bestest of friends. She had a similar interest in the genres and books you did, which made for long and riveting conversation! Though you two most definitely looked like nerds to everyone else.

♡ Vicky would invite you over to hang out pretty frequently and would do most of the talking to ease your anxiety- if you so happen to be in public with her; She completely understands how you feel and lets you take your time, even though she may be overbearing sometimes.

♡ She'd sometimes rant to you or just straight up ramble about her interests, knowing you'd definitely listen. Vicky appreciates you being there for her, and constantly lets you know she'd do the same for you too. Any time you want to talk? She's always right there, encouraging you and cheering you along the way, no matter what.

♡ Def buys you things to help your anxiety, such as fidget toys !! She saw them in the store and was instantly reminded of you, hoping you'd appreciate her little gifts and more so hoping it'll help calm you down when she's not there.

♡ Is the biggest supporter of your art, 100%. Will ask for updates and how things are going, even if they're not remotely finished. Has a bunch of praise and compliments ON HAND for you!! Vicky has def suggested you make posters and whatnot for your campus. She'd be so happy to have a lil reminder of u<3

♡ Down for just playing games w/ you and watching anime, she's as into it as you are! She'd probably play something similar to Minecraft or Slime Rancher, although she'd never play solo games with you. Prefers to play creatively and watch your talent shine through on sandbox games!!

♡ Reassures you abt opening up to people and w/ her. Always excited no matter what amount of progress u've made!! Offers to help in any way she can, and if she knows you're overwhelmed, she'll softly hug you until you're ok :)

♡ You like smart people? Well, you're in luck. Vicky is the top of her class and shows it. You two are probably known for being the smart couple, always asked for homework answers and test answers ofc ofc.

♡ Offers to style and/or play with your hair. She's very touchy and one thing she does love is giving u random hairstyles she thinks you'd look adorable in !!

♡ Vicky always makes sure to check up on you and make sure you're okay, even if she's busy. Loves you to DEATH and is always patient with you no matter what. You've always got a shoulder to cry on, and a lovely girlfriend to trust and rely on with your entire soul, and she makes sure you're very much aware of that.

[impala1967dwinchester]

so sorry to be a bother, would it be ok to put in for a request? if you could, could you please write jared X wife reader where his wife is the one that gets to cut his long hair? it can be because of his transition from sam to walker or for a completely unrelated reason in a completely unrelated time period with a completely different hair length hehe. the details can be entirely up to you. thank you for taking the time to share your beautiful writing with the world and offering your talents to requesters like myself. take care! :)

Always okay to put in request. I may not get to them automatically but I will eventually get to them. I absolutely love this idea. Something so sweet. Thank you so much!

Jared Padalecki: Scissors

Pairing: Jared P. x Wife!Fem!Reader

Pov: Reader

Summary: After ending, 'Supernatural' Jared is tired of the long hair, and asks his lovely wife to cut his hair.

Warnings: Cuteness; love; mention of anxiety; mention of not being able to let go of things; mention of pregnancy (but not vital to the storyline)

A/n- @firefly-graphics for dividers

WC- 1.1k

Main Master List// Requests Master List// Jared P. Master List

Jared's has finally finished his time with the supernatural production, but he still looks like Sam, and not saying that I don't like the look I actually really do like the look, but I think Jared's having a hard time letting go of the show because of his look.

"Honey?" Jared said last night as he was making dinner. I hummed and looked up from the computer. I was trying to figure out the best schools to put our daughter in. Even though we still had months left before our daughter was here I still was worrying.

"Do you think I'd look bad without my long hair?" He asked. I dropped my shoulders and looked at my husband. My husband of five years now had always had issues with his appearance, and the show somewhat helped him, but now... Now it was doing the exact opposite.

"What are you asking dear," I said crossing my fingers together before resting them under my chin on the counter. He looked down at the floor, before answering my question fully.

"I'm asking you if you think I should cut my hair, to try and process the idea that I'm done with Supernatural. I don't know if I should, or if you'll even like it." My husband said rushing his words from his mouth.

"Baby, it shouldn't matter what I'll think of you after or even if you want to get your hair cut You should know that I'll always support you no matter what," I said getting off the stool and walking towards my tall husband.

"but there's something holding me back from growing and moving on to another shower like 'Walker' y'know." He rested his hands on my belly, before looking towards me. I smiled, reaching a hand up to his cheek.

"How about this. Tomorrow we can cut your hair here at home, so if you hate it you can blame me." I said smiling at him. He leaned into my touch and laughed before leaning down to kiss my forehead and got back to making dinner.

The following morning, Jared was up early. Already finished his workout and had made me breakfast. I woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon from downstairs. When I got downstairs Jared was swaying along to the music coming from his earphones. And flipping a pancake.

"baby?" I asked. he turned and took out the earbud before and coming kissing my lips and grabbing my hand to drag me over to the kitchen table. "breakfast will be ready in a second." he said before rushing back into the kitchen and bringing me my morning water since I was pregnant I didn't do coffee anymore.

We sat in comfortable silence before Jared brought up the subject of last night's dinner. "You sure you're still okay with me cutting my hair dear." He asked. I set down my glass of water before answering him. I smiled and spoke. repeating my phrase from the night before.

"Jared if you want me to do it. I will, but know that no matter how you look I will always love you because of your heart, and soul." I said reaching over and placing my hand over his.

He smiled, "And we do it now?" he asked as I shoved a fork full of pancake into my mouth. I giggled and shook my head. He got up and got a pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer. He set them on the table and slipped his shirt off. Always so damn hot.

But that's how we got here with me being five months pregnant, so focus y/n. He sat back down looking more happier than he had been in the past few weeks since.

I got up taking a long sip of my water. Grabbing the scissors from the top of the table. I took a deep breath, "Honey grab me your brush." I said to Jared, he was out of the chair and back into it quicker than you could nougat.

After brushing his hair, and making sure his hair was pretty unknotted, and perfectly laying on his shoulders. I grabbed the scissors, checking once more with my husband. “Jar are you sure that you’re okay with ME cutting your hair?” I asked before I just started chopping at his long locks.

Jared smiled before answering me. “Of course I trust you baby.” He said kissing my hand that was on his shoulder. Taking a deep breath I left Jared’s shoulder, now behind him, I petted his hair down one last time. Loving the texture of his hair under my fingers, loving the way it drug through my fingers. Loving the crisp wintery smell that always wafted from him as he walked around the house.

I settled down after taking in the last time I’d be seeing my husband with long hair for a while. I grabbed a section of hair at the certain of his scalp and took my scissors to town. Chopping and cutting letting the hairs fall to the floor and before I knew it I had done all of his head. A large pile sat at the bottom of the floor.

“I really hope you like it,” I said dragging my finger through his hair before shaking off any regiments of longer hairs onto the floor of our dining room. “Let me go grab you one of my compact mirrors for you to use,” I said taking the scissors with me and putting them back into their respectful place before grabbing my compact mirror from my pocketbook at the front door.

I clicked it open loving the sound of the snap. I handed it to Jared awaiting an answer a comment literally anything. My anxiety getting the worst of me I started to panic. “I knew you weren’t going to like it,” I said stomping my foot on the hardwood floor.

He turned setting the compact mirror on the table. “Y/n I love it.” He said standing up letting the chair hit the floor with his fast motion before grabbing me for a huge and long embrace.

Warm and safe

“Thank you so much, baby! You don’t know how much you just saved me.” He said kissing my forehead before reaching his pointer finger under my chin and bringing it up to look up at him.

“You did fantastic baby.” He said before taking my lips with his. Soft warm and safe was Jared Padalecki and damn was I happy to be married to one and be a part of the marvelous family we already had and we currently creating.

Stanford Tag List: @wonderfulworldofwinchester//@samsgirl93//@stoneyggirl2//@rach-12//@kazsrm67//@ijustlearnedtolove-beep-bop-boop//@mrspeacem1nusone//@hobby27/@flamencodiva//

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

A Little Closer

[Raphael x fem reader]

sfw, apocalypse AU, 2012

The city that never sleeps.

They jinxed it, you thought as you dragged yourself along the street, Raphael at your side. The city wasn't only sleeping—it was dead.

You and him were alone, trying to get back in touch with everyone after getting split up. The team had been separated by unfortunate circumstances, nothing short of Murphy's Law. If you hadn't believed in the law before, you did, now.

But Raph could and would plow through a horde for you. He had to; he was your friend, the protector, at the moment. Because while you were able to handle yourself to some degree, ultimately, Raph was the one defending the both of you. And not even because you told him to. He took the role up himself, assumed it silently and never complained. You couldn't quite tell if it was because he felt obligated, or if it really was just his nature.

"You see that building up ahead? The tall one." He pointed toward a particular rooftop rising high among the ones around, and you nod. An infected ambled around in an adjacent alleyway. You glanced over at it anxiously, while Raph seemed completely unbothered. He was focused mentally planning their route. "That's our checkpoint. From there, we'll rest and see if we can regroup with the rest of the team."

The infected, a slower, pustule-covered form, started coming toward the two of you, stumbling out with quiet gurgles. "Raph," you said softly, with a tap on his hard shoulder. He glanced back at you before pulling out his sai, running at the infected and quickly dispatching it by a stab right in the eye socket. He avoided the sickly green caps.The creature fell heavily, and some of the pustules popped on the pavement, squeezing out a foul-smelling concoction of mutagen and infector cells. It amazed you every time just how fast he could get it done, the killing. And without fear—a few infected were more of an inconvenience to him than anything. He got in and got out, all the while you were left in awe at his ability to work on autopilot.

"Actually," he muttered, stepping around the body and into the alleyway the Infector had just come from. He noticed the fire escape and decided they'd take it from there on the rooftops. "I think we can get there from here. Feel like a little roof-running?" he asked you, throwing a subtle smile over.

Anything to get off the streets. Down there, it was bad. You had to look around every corner, watch your back even more carefully, and even then, straggling infected would still manage to slip under the radar. Though, luckily, Raph often was able to predict the movements of groups, which was what made you avoid the building horde making its way through the city. It was still a major scare to think you were clear and suddenly have a hunter-class infected jump out at you.

"Yeah," you answered him, following into the alleyway. "Yeah, let's do that. There are way too many Infectors down here." A shudder crawled up your spine to think about what the ooze those things carried could do to people.

He leaped up onto the railing, while you took the stairs. "It ain't the Infectors you have to worry about. It's the Hunters," he replied, pulling himself into the edge of the roof. You finished your ascent up the staircase as quietly as possible, and he met you at the top, grabbing your hand and helping you up the rest of the way. "But don't worry; I'll make sure none of 'em get you." You leaned forward and looked at him with a small smile, noting what he said. And that he still hadn't let go of your hand. "Or me," he added quickly as he released your hand and turned away to survey the series of buildings ahead.

You laughed, "Well, I'd be pretty screwed if I lost you, Raph. I kinda rely on you, y'know?"

Unknown to you, those last words would stick with him. For a long time.

"Yeah…" he trailed off. He didn't know how to respond to that. Of course, he'd been relied upon before; by Mikey, especially. He knew what that felt like. But protecting this girl? There was a new sense of pressure. Even Mikey could handle himself well enough alone. But there wasn't anything for you to fall back on, should he be out of the equation. No ninja training, not much knowledge of how to use a melee weapon aside from the basics, and guns were few and far between. Very far. A gang would trade you one, if you were lucky. Most people weren't lucky in that regard. Raph didn't want you anywhere near those thugs, anyway.

Between the two of you was nothing but the sound of the breeze. The city was almost dead silent, save for the occasional racket of survivors, or feral animals. Both were in low numbers; most of the city—the country—had been turned. The rate at which the infection spread was astonishing. Only here and there would a lonely human cause ruckus anywhere.

Raph cleared his throat, "We should get moving. Sun's going down and we need to hunker down for the night, the Hunters will be wakin' up soon."

"Sounds good," you said as you stretched your tight muscles out. Hours of almost nonstop walking and jogging could really work up some nasty knots.

You moved forward, him naturally taking the lead as you both made your ways across the roofs, him helping you along when you needed it, and you keeping watch for stragglers while you were at it. Sometimes, there would be other people up there. Other times, former people.

Coming up to a run down building, Raph made the last jump across, expecting you to be able to handle it. But you were hesitant, your body worn and weary from days of over exertion, and today was the straw that broke the camel's back. After all this time, you just couldn't muster the strength to clear the gap yourself.

Raph was about to go on ahead when he noticed you hadn't made it across yet, and he called out, "Y/N, what're you doing over there? Come on, this is our stop."

You wanted to do it, for the sake of his convenience, but it was too far. You could have over or underestimated and plummeted down into the alley below, gotten incapacitated, and became even more baggage. He watched as you backpedaled from the ledge. "I can't," you answered, slightly ashamed, "it's too far of a jump. I can't do it."

You watched as Raph easily bounded across, landing in front of you. "Here," he motioned for you to step in, and you did, where he then picked you right up into his arms and started backing further away. He'd lended you a helping hand before, a catch, sometimes, but never had he picked you up like this. "Wrap your arms around my neck, this is a little dodgy," he instructed you. He tried to ignore the fluttery feeling it gave him when you did what he'd said to do, wrapping your arms around his sturdy neck as he got ready to leap the gap. You were comfortable enough—Raph was strong. Really strong. But the threat of you both falling still have you anxiety, and for that, you had to clamp your eyes shut.

Without a word, he took off in a dash, one powerful leg launching the both of you off the edge. His arms tightened around you somehow more than they had been before. And for a brief second you felt wind. You still couldn't open your eyes, only focused on the feeling of almost absolute security in Raph's grip. Next was the hard landing, which jarred you out of your brief moment of warmth. He grunted, following through into a crouch and setting you down on your feet.

"You alright?" you asked him, concerned, placing a light hand on his shell.

He had a level of endurance that far exceeded the average person's, but even Raph was getting tired. He despised feeling weak, but his body was now actively working against him. He felt slow and heavy for his standards, running on fumes and secretly desperate for rest. As good of a sleep as he could get without worrying about being ambushed by something, be it human or otherwise. He knew he'd be back to the grind soon enough though because you needed sleep, too, and he would die before leaving you undefended in such a vulnerable state.

You realized then just now exhausted he was as he rose, taking in a deep breath. "I'm alright, let's just...clear the place and get in there," he said.

He approached the door into the stairwell and listened for a second before trying the knob. Locked. He was impatient to get in and finally be able to rest, so he just kicked the door in with everything he had, deciding to deal with anything that might be in there as they came. You grimaced; stairwells were awful places to fight anyone or anything.

Collecting yourself, you came over and peered in along with him. "Easy there, shouldn't we be quiet?" you questioned him in earnest.

He never intended to be rude to you, but his mood got the best of him, and he snapped back with a sigh, "Look, I'll get rid of them, okay? It's not like you're the one going in and killing them, so just stay out of the way and let me get it done."

You backed out of the doorway and shot him a look as if to say, are you serious? You knew Raph was prone to moodiness, but you'd never expected it to be targeted your way.

Shit. He slapped his hand onto the doorframe and leaned his forehead on it, groaning. Not even at you, but himself, because he'd just snapped at his only friend and ally out here at the moment. Seeing the flash of the look of hurt on your face at his words made him feel like a total asshole.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled after a minute of uncomfortable silence. He looked back at you, eyes falling on the sombreness of your expression. "I'm just tired. I'll be more careful here on out, if it makes you feel better. I know you're just trying to look out for us, trust me. I do."

"It's okay," you said softly. "Don't worry about it. Let's get in there now, yeah?" you nudged him, stepping in. You looked over the railing in search of anything suspicious. Oxidized blood, the hybrid mutagenic fluid that the Infectors secreted. No, it all appeared clean. But that didn't mean it was safe. Raph descended the stairs slowly, listening for anything he could pick up on. The two of you were surprised that it seemed clear, maybe even skeptical, but it didn't stop you as your paced picked up. Raph kept you behind him at all times with his sai out and ready.

"You think it's good?" you whisper, leaning your head over his shoulder. His eyes scanned the surroundings in the hallway you had just been lead into, still searching for any red flags.

There was nothing. No sounds, no signs of infected, and deathly quiet. The lack of noise disturbed Raph more than anything, but if it meant one night of peace, he'd take anything he could get.

"The residents must've abandoned this place when the evacs happened," you noted.

"Everyone should have stayed. Maybe then we would have had a chance of actually containing this thing and Donnie wouldn't have to be busting his ass to save us all. If that's even possible at this point."

He let his guard down a little. All he wanted to do was pick out any random apartment and take it over for the night. Trying the one on his left, the door slowly opened to reveal a messy studio, papers strewn about, cabinets still open, things discarded on the floor. He almost melted just seeing the couch, let alone a bed.

You were watching the hall just to make sure, but felt his calloused hand land on your forearm, pulling you in.

"Wow," you breathed out. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see such a mess. I feel like I haven't slept in three years," you muttered to yourself, shutting the door behind you.

Raph wandered around the room as he made his last checks behind the counters and such before he finally relaxed and slid his sais back into their holders. "No kidding," he commented. "I'd bet there's nothing to eat in here, though."

"Can't hurt to try."

Turned out that there wasn't anything but a couple of granola bars and a single bottle of water you'd found under the kitchen table. Probably rolled under there and the owner never noticed, but you were running low on your water supply, as your backpack was starting to feel light.

Raph kept the blinds closed tight in fear of being spotted from the window, even though it was practically a wasteland out there, but you couldn't help but part them a bit to catch a glimpse of the sun going down. That beautiful, warm glow that the Golden Hour produced, and the way it painted the sky. Though, it wasn't all that visible from where you were.

Sunset came and went and gave way to night. It was dark in the apartment; no electricity was being routed there, and so the only thing that lit up the area was the lone lantern you had sitting on the coffee table. Your eyelids were becoming so heavy that you couldn't stop to care if the furniture had bed bugs or other gross stuff. It was comfortable on your aching back, that's what mattered. You lay down on it and was already dozing off when Raph padded by. He stopped. You were so tired, he could see that. He could stand to stay up for a few more hours, he told himself—he would do that.

As you slept, he spent his time cleaning his weapons, adjusting his gear, snacking on what little the two of you shared. Also thinking. About how tired he was in that moment, his brothers (wherever they were), and finally...you. He found his gaze shifting from the knife in his lap that he'd been sharpening to you, sound asleep on the couch and for the first time in days, looking at peace. You had dark circles under your eyes, bumps and scrapes all over your body, yet for a little while, you'd forgotten all about it. Because you were asleep, obviously, but even though he was downright beat, he couldn't bring himself to disturb you. Not yet, at least. The clock on the wall was still ticking on. It was quiet, except for that—Raph couldn't complain. He softened watching you. There was something comforting to him about being able to drop the act and just observe you without having to talk. He wasn't always good at talking. He judged that perhaps you were only trying to fill the silence when you kept rambling or muttering, which was understandable. It made him wonder briefly if you felt awkward when he was quiet.

Raph was on his proverbial last leg in terms of his wakefulness when he heard your voice, the slightest call that was almost inaudible. He set his gear aside and shifted towards you where he sat on the coffee table, trying to figure out if you were only dreaming, or if you really needed something.

"You awake?" he whispered.

Arm dangling off the couch, you rested your face on your other hand. "Yeah," you answered through a dry throat. He remembered the bottle of water from earlier and reached into the backpack at his feet, handing it to you. He'd already drank over half of it.

"How long have you been laying there awake while I could have been getting some shut-eye?" he jested. You did your best to muster a smile, but it wasn't going. It wasn't like you to be so solemn.

He spoke again as you downed the rest of the water, "Uh...joking. Are you—"

"Can you hold me?"

You weren't looking at him. Your eyes were closed, and on the inside, you asked yourself why you'd said it. Maybe it was the mid-sleep grogginess, or you had just lost all care in the world. He was staring at you, but in the low light, you could hardly see his expression. He swallowed; oh, how this had taken him off guard.

"Just for a little bit."

He was going to stammer out something, he wasn't sure what, but anything to relieve the mix of awkward embarrassment he was feeling. He wanted to crawl into that couch with you, to feel the warmth of your body against his cold one—why couldn't he move? Why was it so hard to just say: "Yes, I can hold you."

He could fight. He could defend. What he couldn't do was comprehend his own emotions.

"I, uh…do you feel unsafe, or something?" He felt stupid to ask that, but that part of his mind wanted to rationalize your request. He would feel vulnerable in your shoes. He knew that for a fact. But really, he was aware that wasn't the case, you feeling unsafe; he was there. Your sentinel, willing to push himself as far as he possibly could, and then some.

A sigh left you, and the single word, "Please."

No more thinking. Just do.

He sat up, tentative in his approach to your tired form. You shifted back as far into the cushions of the couch that you could, offering him the space on the edge. He climbed down, and after a minute of trying to situate all of your limbs, he was finally comfortable. He would be lying to say his heart wasn't beating faster, that it didn't feel weird to drape his arm around you the way he did, being pressed against your back like that. Despite everything, it felt natural. Right. Like he'd been missing something that whole time, and as soon as he had pulled you into him, he had a revelation.

There were no words exchanged. Just the sound of the clock ticking and the both of your breaths as you were lulled back into sleep. He couldn't sleep yet. You still had an hour to go before it was his turn. Not that it bothered him. Not then; he wanted to be conscious for this, the feeling of fullness he had with how you seemed to fit against his body so well. The contrast of soft skin to his scales, his lean, solid muscles compared to your own less-developed. His fingers brushed along your wrist in some of the lightest touches he'd ever administered. His leg found its way over your own.

What started rigid and awkward now had melted him. His body hadn't felt that loose in a long time.

Whatever the next move was, he was fine with it. The team was close to finding each other after four days of separation. There was a horde forming outside, gathering up to blow through the city in one last sweep. But as long as they got where they needed to go, he didn't mind it at all.

a/n: i 100% did not feel like explaining how or why they got separated from the rest of the group just be along for the ride bby

[mesozoic-system]

Bakugou Katsuki is not as bad as he seems.

Okay, fine. That's a lie. Bakugou is a loud and obnoxious asshole with little to no character development and will snap at anyone who breathes on him the wrong way.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to why he's like that.

You all know what PTSD is, yeah? If not, it stands for "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder". It's something that causes panic attacks, unnecessary aggression, trust issues, nightmares, anxiety, depression, and more. People will develop it after a traumatic experience. It takes years of therapy to recover... actually, most people never recover from it.

Fun fact: Katsuki canonically has PTSD. It's confirmed, and you know what? After everything he's been through, it's not much of a surprise. He's been through one tragedy after another and never seems to get a break.

When we first met Bakugou Mitsuki (Katsuki's mother) in chapter #96, we instantly realized how aggressive she was. I mean come on! She talked smack right in front of him and his teachers- in front of All Might who she knew her son was very fond of. Katsuki may be irritable, but to have your own mother backhand you in front of your own role model is a little much.

Later on in chapter #165 during the Provisual License Exams, we get a little more information that only points towards more abuse- and this time it's not so verbal.

Most people paid no real attention nor gave it a second thought in these panels, but remember when Katsuki suggested to use violence against the kids? Of course, you'd look at it and wave it off as "normal Bakugou behavior", but what he says next took me by surprise:

That's right. He was raised that way.

Which means either Mitsuki or Masaru (or both) had struck him in some way multiple times as he was growing up, and I doubt it was Masaru.

"Spoiled" my ass. He might have a strong quirk, but people don't turn into little monsters just by being praised. It'll definely boost his confidence, but not dramatically. This could also explain his aggression toward Midoriya. He realized how helpless he was and had power over someone else for once. But that's just a theory.

Okay, let's fast forward a bit. He's finishing up his third year of Middle School and is preparing for the UA entrance exams. He's pushed away his childhood friend to follow his own dreams and tells him to jump off the roof.

Literally.

And then he walks out the door only to regret it much, much, muuuch later in the series- y'know. The "character development" I was talking about.

Next time we see him though, he gets what he deserves.

One panel he's tramping through an alley with his friends, and the next, he's being swallowed alive by the most perverted-looking slime monster I've ever laid my eyes on.

While Izuku's dreams are being crushed by his own hero, Katsuki is fighting for his life in the middle of town. He's struggling, but all he could do was look back at all the dozens of fearful eyes...

Right there. Right now. Look at him:

He's terrified. He's humiliated and afraid and hurt and despite all of the heroes that were there, none of them had even attempted to save him.

And this is where it really starts. This is where it all begins. Next thing we know, Izuku's running straight for him... The boy Katsuki's bullied almost all of his life is risking his own in order to save him.

You know the story from there; All Might trains Izuku to withhold his power, they get accepted into UA, and then comes the Sports Festival.

Katsuki's already made up his mind: he's gonna win. He's willing to give everything he has to show the country what he's made of, and this may be his only chance to make up for the mishap several months ago. And Monoma, being a professional at making things worse by opening his mouth, rubs salt in the wound.

It was pretty easy to predict Katsuki's reaction: pissed off and more than ready to prove him wrong. He does, but it cost him his "first place" during the Calvary Battle. But that's okay 'cuz it's not over yet!

Welcome to the next and last stage of the festival: The Battle Tournament, where all the kids get to beat the shit out of each other until only one remains.

Turns out, Katsuki does win. It was a foolproof plan: get Todoroki to go all out on him so he can make a final impression before the end of the day. But it was obvious that Shouto was still unsure of himself, so Katsuki did what he did best:

He had to piss him off.

But instead of getting angry and bursting into flames like he had planned, Shouto threw away the battle at the last second, and everything Katsuki had worked for with it.

No shit he's gonna be upset! He worked his ass off to get where he was, and the whole point was to leave himself a footprint! His entire life had been dedicated to that moment, and it faded away right in front of him.

Midnight put him to sleep and he woke up and threw a temper tantrum.

Now this is was UA did wrong:

Why would you do that?! They were all aware of what happened to him only a few months ago, he obviously hasn't properly recovered from it, and they restrain him in front of thousands of people. They cover his mouth and gag him, lock his hands in a tiny metal box and expect him not to go insane. Helloooo?! Wake up! He's just a kid!

Several months go by and now it's time for camp. Katsuki is tired. They all are. It's been a long day of training and training and training, and suddenly villains come out of nowhere, and nobody is prepared. And who shows up? The League of Villains, and they're after certain students...

Tokoyami escapes safely, but Katsuki isn't so lucky.

Just think about that for a second. When we see Shigaraki holding a picture of him, it's the one where UA tied him up. He knows what this child has gone through and he pities him. To be honest, I think the LoV treated him much better than anyone ever has (except maybe Kirishima). They're hesitant, but they treat him with kindness. They didn't just want him for his quirk. They saw what the heroes did to him and wanted to help him get the revenge he deserved.

But when All Might showed up (more like "burst through the wall like the Cool Aid man"), Katsuki is instantly teleported in the strangest way possible... and the most traumatizing.

He chokes out this weird slime-like substance that devours him within seconds. Thankfully it only last that long, but then again, the Sludge Incident, remember?

Yeah, bet that brings back some memories.

But what must have hurt him the most was All Might's downfall and early retirement. He said it himself:

After several chapters, he finally burst. He's been holding all the pain inside of him until it bubbled over and he couldn't take it anymore. So he went to the only person he could- the person he hated and yet trusted the most.

Maybe the Class 1A concert helped him in a way. It seemed like it brought him down and maybe even relaxed him a little. And something incredible happens. Something we haven't seen from him at all until now...

(From here, I'll try to keep it short to avoid as many manga spoilers as I can. That and I'm tired...)

He began to change; started to support Izuku... in his own twisted way, of course. As chapters went by, he started to open up little by little. He admitted what he had done to Izuku in middle school to All Might, which had brought him some peace of mind. It wasn't quite the apology we had hoped for, but I guess it'll do.

And during the war, he made the greatest sacrifice, finally unlocking his quirk's full potential. Despite being unable to move, he used his quirk to throw himself in front of Izuku without thinking, taking a blow to his stomach. To his stomach.

He was impaled.

Holy shit.

Last time someone had been impaled was Nighteye, and he died from his wounds.

But Katsuki somehow managed to survive... And woke up ready to beat Izuku's ass if he didn't wake up.

Anyway, that's all I have to say (so far). However, I'm excited for Season 5 of the anime series! Can't wait to see our new story animated! I mean, I've been watching the episodes as they come out, but still.

-Blightcon

[narrators-journal]

A small alteration

So! This part is the...second or third to last part, so we’re getting to the end bois. After this, I’ll likely die, or at least not post daily like I have been, so if you guys want more content after this, remember to send in an ask for me to answer! Request stuff, ask me questions, joke around with me, whatever yall want. It’ll hold this blog over until I finish this second fic and can start posting/editting it here!

cw: lightly goes into detail on torture, hisoka, that’s about it I think!

Previous part: here

First part: here

Thankfully, Hisoka didn't stop by after his phone call, but Illumi still took no chances when he went onto jobs. Along with Milluki using the spy cameras Illumi had placed earlier, the long haired assassin made sure at least three butlers were keeping an eye on you whenever he couldn't.

That precaution kept you far away from the blood hungry magician for a week, much to Illumi's relief. Hisoka was a pest, a thorn in Illumi's side through and through, so the last thing the assassin wanted was for him to meet his future wife. Especially now, when you were just too desperate for human contact, and he couldn't risk you getting attacked or manipulated by Hisoka and forcing the assassin to kill such a useful nen user. Or worse, risk you meeting him and growing to love the magician instead of him, so he was dead set on never letting you two meet.

So, instead of risking it, he made sure to keep you as secret as possible, at most giving vague answers to keep the violent hunter at bay when he found him on jobs or something and asked, but confirming or denying little to nothing. Aside from that, Illumi also let the man help him on missions a bit more, both because the assassin could hide things better than his butlers when questioned, and because, though annoying, the vibrantly colored man offered some sort of entertainment on otherwise painfully boring jobs like assassinating businessmen, ex-lovers, or runaway spouses. Though, Hisoka simply popped up sometimes too, either being in the right place at the right time to join on kills, or somehow seeking Illumi out, like a risky, aggravating jack-in-the-box. That habit had gotten him a trip to the Zoldyck basement and torture rooms recently, though it was also a reason Illumi humored the magician when he got bored and asked for help more.

        "Please make this simple and tell me where you put the money taken from Mr. Mori." Illumi told his target, a rather pretty young woman he'd been tasked to interrogate, torture, and kill by her ex-sugar daddy.         "Is she under-aged, is that why you won't tell me about her?" Hisoka asked, sitting on the table of menacing torture tools in a dungeon of the Zoldyck estate, having talked the assassin into letting him out to help in this little chat. Illumi was beginning to regret his decision to humor the magician though. The tall assassin glared at the other man for his interruption, only getting an innocent smile in return,         "No, she is not under-aged." He said curtly, and his companion snickered,         "Well, when can I meet her? I'm dying to know what type of woman a Zoldyck lusts after~"         "Never." Hisoka pouted at his flat refusal, but the assassin simply returned to questioning his captive, only turning back to the pink-haired man to grab some pliers from the table,  "Now, I will ask this once more, if I don't get an answer I'll tear out your finger nails until I do. Where is your ex's money?" he warned the woman, who was sobbing and pleading to be freed from the cold, dark room. When she didn't answer his question though, he kept true to his word, gripping one of her nails with the pliers and pulling until it came away from the nail bed. The monotone assassin continued pulling out his target's crimson-painted fingernails while she tried to lie and say she had no idea where his client's money was. No matter, when he ran out of fingernails, he could always move to toenails or teeth.

Hisoka held a metal bowl that Illumi put the dislocated fingernails in, adding a soft clattering noise to the soundtrack of the woman's sobs, screams, and the lazy buzz of the one lantern that hung from the stone wall until he stood up in the partially lit cell to get another tool from the table.          "mmm, she seems quite fun to torture~" Hisoka observed, getting a twisted grin across his face as he looked down at the restrained woman,          "She's unbearably loud," Illumi sighed, looking around on the table of tools until he found a rather simple salt shaker, ignoring when Hisoka leaned a bit too close,          "Y'know, I bet I could get your girlfriend to be just as loud~" he hummed, and something inside of Illumi seemed to snap for a moment. His aloof air instantly changed to palpable malice and he whirled around on the magician, punching him in the face hard enough to send him sprawling across the cold stone floor. The assassin didn't even give him a chance to react once he landed though, in a flash he was on top of him, holding him down by his throat while his knee pressed down on his ribs,           "if you so much as look at my wife, Hisoka, I will fucking kill you before your heart gives another beat." he snarled, tightening his grip on the man's neck until he was gasping and wheezing for air. The pink-haired man gave a nod, a  smirk tugging at his lips still, but the feral murderer didn't let him breath until that coy look finally left and he saw panic replace Hisoka's usual mischievous glint in his gold eyes. When Illumi did finally let him up, the magician was gulping down air and glaring at him instead of his usual knowing, coy glance,           "Jesus Christ Illumi, learn to take a joke. You know my humor can be perverted, there was no need to nearly kill me!" he snapped, the magician's flirty act falling away, but Illumi didn't respond, he simply checked on the woman he'd been tasked to torture. Sadly though, she was now dead from the amount of malevolence  in his nen,          "Great, because of your 'joke' my job just got harder." Illumi said, his voice back to being cold,          "That wasn't my fault, you were the one who didn't just use one of your needles on her to begin with." he pointed out testily, getting glared at by the man,         "The client wanted me to specifically torture her, my needles would have been redundant and not what the client asked for. Of course, I didn't know you were going to be this annoying, or else I would've gotten the information from her at the start." he hummed, and while his voice stayed flat and his face stayed rather aloof, Illumi was boiling with wrath on the inside. Being a pest was one thing, but now Hisoka had actually crossed an important line. So, Illumi simply found the woman's phone in her purse and than called in some butlers. He gave one the cellphone, sending it to Milluki to make use of himself and scour through, than he turned to Hisoka, who was standing in a dark corner across the small cell glaring at them, mostly Illumi.  "Now, I will say this nicely only once," the man said, though his words held no kindness, "please return to your cell with the butlers without a fight, or else I will be forced to call my family and drag you back." The two men stood there for a moment in a heavy silence that seemed to bring down the temperature of the already cold cell further. Illumi wasn't very expressive, he purposely added inflections and overt body language to himself when speaking to you, but Hisoka didn't get that sort of kindness, he simply got stared down by bottomless eyes and a deadpan assassin he knew very well was competent enough to stand up to him. So, he simply grinned a predatory grin at the long haired murderer,        "Fine, I'll go back to my cell peacefully," he relented, putting his hands up with a mischievous smirk. One of these days Morrow, I'm going to finally kill you. Illumi thought as at least three butlers escorted the magician back to where he'd been held, but he didn't say or show the annoyance as they passed.       "Oh, and Illumi, dear? Do tell (y/n) hello for me~" Illumi's aura became malevolent again at that, but the butlers and flamboyant pain in the ass were able to avoid dying from it thanks to their training. Instead, all it did was let slip just how fart Hisoka was under Illumi's skin, making the hunter laugh as he was herded away down the dark hallway, leaving the assassin to simmer in his temper before stalking out of the basement. His first stop once upstairs was Milluki's bedroom.        "How did Hisoka find out anything about (y/n)?" he asked, his voice's flat, monotonous tone coming off as more menacing when paired with how he slammed his brother's face into his trash-littered desk,        "I don't know! Why are you asking me?" the pudgy man hissed out, barring his teeth at his older sibling when he tightened his grip on his hair,       "You are the only person on this mountain aside from Mother who knows about (y/n), and unlike mother, you are the type to tell that bastard about her for a cookie." he pointed out, and Milluki couldn't argue, he did have pretty flippant loyalties when it came to secrets like this.        "Alright, fine, but I promise I didn't. I haven't been in the basement since Hisoka got here." he explained, and after a moment of harsh scrutiny, Illumi let him go and left his nasty, anime-littered room. The tall man then went to his wing of the home, thinking of what to do now. Hisoka knowing (y/n)'s name is bad. If he can figure it out, more people could. He mused, a wave of possessive anxiety washing away his rage for the time being. I can't leave her alone anymore. He finally decided as he reached his rooms and turned around to instead find his mother.

[naancypants]

maybe this is perfect

Alright here is my finalized repost of the fic I accidentally published yesterday, LOL. If you enjoy, I'd love some support on Ao3 (work link is below)! I wrote this after 2x12 (+ updated to reflect news about 2x13 & 2x15, hehe) as a sort of speculative, "personal ideal" confession scene for the finale episode.

Ao3 | 2,051 words

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

"Hey," Nancy says from behind, twisting both hands around the strap of her messenger bag. "Can we talk?"

At the sound of her voice, Ace straightens from in front of his locker. He lets out a close-mouthed sigh as the question sinks into his stomach, and when he turns towards her, the discomfort she's feeling becomes evident in her body language.

"Yeah."

A beat passes where neither makes a move.

Nancy, however, is the first to take a step, drawing in a shuddering breath. "You've been avoiding me... for a while now. Ever since the whole life-and-death thing with Daniel West. And I'm sorry that I was willing to let people die to save you. I thought you would understand, that you would've done the same thing-"

"It's not about the list," Ace cuts in with a shake of his head, "That was a long time ago."

In reality it had only been a few weeks since Nancy and Grant traded a hit list to a professional killer to spare Ace's life, but time seems to move inordinately slow in Horseshoe Bay.

"I know. But that was also the same time I called in for a favor with Celia Hudson..." she allows her sentence to drift off there, urging Ace to connect the unspoken dots.

He hadn't tried to hide his feelings on the whole Celia situation, especially whenever he and Nancy talked one-on-one; yet still, her ability to pinpoint the root of behaviors she already notices in him never fails to surprise.

"I just... wish you would have consulted me before you made a deal with the devil."

Nancy recalls a talk during which she was alone with Ace, where he'd briefly confessed his dismay at her recent dealings with the Hudson matriarch.

A string of monotone words all run together as she attempts to explain, "We already went over this, Ace. I-I-I had to figure out how to save you, there was no time to consider my options."

"Maybe it wasn't worth it."

Within a second, revulsion twists every feature on Nancy's face.

"I'm sorry, what?" she demands.

Ace doesn't elaborate. Instead he lifts his raincoat from its hook and shuts the door to his locker, staring down at the garment in his hands with a shamed expression. It isn't long before Nancy has his elbow in a firm grip.

"Hey," she convinces him to whirl around and face her. "You're worth it to me."

You're always worth it to me. You're worth everything to me. A thousand times over, she wants to say. But she doesn't.

"I guess that's my problem."

"Your problem is that I care about you?"

"I don't want to be the reason you sell your soul to the Hudsons."

Nancy blinks, her ferocity weakening as she pulls away. "Aren't I allowed to make my own choices?"

"Of course. But... that doesn't mean I have to like them."

The way he says it is so casual, so lacking in venom that it makes her stomach wrench. He doesn't realize that the only approval Nancy craves is his; she is willing to stand up against even the closest of people in her life - Nick, George, her own father - but not Ace. His opinion of her serves as a compass whenever Nancy is too tired or worn down to trust her own judgment. His opinion is the one that matters most.

"Then what do you want from me? Tell me what I can do to make it better."

It's the most fragile, the most desperate she thinks she's heard herself. Nancy Drew is independent and decisive and strong. So whose voice is it that wobbles in fear, laying down her pride in the hands of another?

If there's anything Nancy can't stand, it's being clouded over with emotion, but the tightness in her throat only warns of an oncoming flood.

"Honestly, Nancy, I don't know right now. Maybe just... help me understand why before you make these kinds of decisions. I don't want you to get hurt."

Their eyes linger for what feels like an eternity, distanced by walls that neither of them know how to tear down.

When Ace moves, he turns decisively away.

Panic beginning to swell in her chest, Nancy pushes past all the other emotions running through her mind - fear, guilt, uncertainty - and takes one last step into the room before he has the chance to get away.

"I did it because I love you."

If anything could stop him cold in his tracks, it's that particular confession. His eyes meet the floor in front of him, speechless and calculating, each second ticking by in tense silence. He turns to face her once more.

There in the center of the room she stands, the bold and courageous girl detective herself, looking smaller than ever. Her voice is barely above a whisper now, eyes in danger of spilling over, "Ace... I think I might be in love with you."

Ace stands motionless in awe, save for a swallow and quick shift of his weight.

When Nancy gets nervous she often rambles to relieve some of her tension. "I didn't know how to say it before, and I- have never actually been in love so maybe I didn't even know what I was feeling until recently, but, you were with Amanda Bobbsey and not in love with me and it's all... very confusing..."

Breath leaves her lungs as quickly as words leave her tongue, anxiety shaking her down to the core. She blinks when the self-awareness sets in; lowers her gaze to the floor for a length of awkward silence.

"Nancy."

Eventually she looks back up to find him just a few feet away now, having crossed the room sometime after she finished prattling on about nothing. His raincoat hits the bench.

"There are.. a lot of reasons why I can't do this right now." He indicates himself with a curved hand to his chest.

Though her heart sinks, Nancy's eyelids still flutter. "But you- you would? Hypothetically?"

His mouth flattens into something that's not quite a smile, eyes as earnest as ever. "It's just that... y'know, Amanda's only been gone for a week. And I don't want to lose what we have - what all of us have."

"You won't," Nancy states with a furrowed brow, "Why do you think you would lose us?"

He bobs his head a bit. "Things could get complicated between us. Especially considering... things."

"What do you mean? What kind of things?"

"Well, I'm not trying to point fingers, but... there is your track record. With relationships."

It doesn't escape her attention that he refuses to make eye contact when he says the last part. She tenses up and repeats, "My track record?"

Ace opens his mouth to soften the words, but the look on his face is enough to suffice as an apology. Nancy retreats on her own as three particular guys - Ned Nickerson, Owen Marvin and Gil Bobbsey - flash through her mind's eye. Guys she had used as a distraction, a rebound, and a means of sexual gratification, all of which Ace witnessed firsthand from the sidelines.

"Yeah I deserve that, don't I," she says quietly.

"No, you don't. That part's fine. It's about everything else."

"Everything else being the Hudsons, Amanda, and losing what we have."

He offers only a nod. Draws in a breath. "Nancy, I want to love you too. And I'm not saying that I don't, but..." his voice breaks, just a bit, but enough for Nancy to notice.

"...It's not the right time," she finishes for him with a resigned nod; "yeah," under her breath.

This time it's Nancy who won't meet Ace's eyes. She darts them all across the room in avoidance, lips pursing together. "I'm- I'm sorry. This is.. not really who I am and I probably shouldn't have said anything to begin with, but-"

"No - no, don't apologize," Ace says with the usual gentle firmness and a slight tilt of his head. "I'm glad you said something. Really glad. In fact, um, if you're not opposed... there is something I wouldn't mind trying before you go off to Columbia."

"Ha. Who says I'm getting into Columbia?" she asks sardonically, crossing her arms.

Ace gives a subtle grin of support. "You'll get into Columbia."

She stops to consider his words, but then emits a soft chuckle, smiling gratefully at her best friend as though there were no mistakes, no confession of feelings, no heartbreak to contend with.

Time drags on as his vague statement from before remains unaccounted for, though almost as if pulled by gravity, there's a mutual instinct that draws them closer together.

Along with instinct, however, is hesitation - a slowness in the way they line themselves up, a caution in the way they read each others' eyes. Gradually his hands find their way to her jawline and before she knows it, in stark contrast to their prior pace, her back is up against metal with the most satisfying warmth she's ever known on her lips.

Nancy's entire body lights on fire, so much that it takes a dazed moment before she is able to react. Her eyebrows lift as she takes full advantage of the moment, kissing him back with the fervor of months worth of pent-up feelings all finally coming to surface; hands crawl upwards from his arms, to his shoulders, and eventually land on either side of his neck.

For a few rapturous seconds, they allow themselves to melt entirely into each other with the realization that things won't be like this again for a while; not until they're able to overcome the doubts, the obstacles, the emotional walls that they both know would cause more harm than good if they were to pursue this now.

Maybe this is perfect. Maybe one kiss - one blissful, ravenous taste of just what it is they're missing out on is enough to satiate their appetites for the time being and prepare them for what's to come.

With one last surge forward, hands sliding down his chest, Nancy realizes that kissing Ace never felt this good in her dreams.

Then, sooner rather than later, it's over.

Though their lips disconnect, everything else remains. A breathless minute comes and goes before either have any words to speak.

"Are you- are you sure you don't want to change your mind?" Nancy finally asks through her teeth, eyes drifting down to his mouth more than once.

A smirk tugs at his face as he steps back, hands remaining on Nancy's forearms for perhaps a touch longer than necessary. "Few more of those and I might."

Nancy gives a wistful giggle, using her shoulders to launch herself away from the lockers right when her phone buzzes.

Ace watches with curiosity as she opens her latest text notification, but waits silently to be filled in.

"It's George. She says they're waiting for us at their place," Nancy murmurs with her brow lowered, looking at Ace for a potential answer to her confusion.

Rarely one to disappoint, Ace nods in recognition. "Oh yeah, they took it upon themselves to reschedule game night. I was supposed to tell you."

Nancy raises her eyebrows in good spirit. "Ah. Well, I'm sure glad you told me in plenty of time."

"Come to think of it, Bess pretty much insisted I be the one to tell you. The whole thing must've been a ruse."

Nancy shrugs. "Eh, you know what they say. What's done is done." she waits a beat before thumbing towards the back door over her shoulder. "Join me?"

"Yeah," Ace agrees as he grabs his raincoat and the pair start walking out. "Yeah but I have to warn you, none of what just transpired is going to have any affect on how badly I demolish you in Absurd Code Word."

"Wow, Ace, I think you're underestimating my game night abilities. Have you ever seen me in Absurd Code Word?"

"Don't need to."

"I see. Is it because I'm a girl?"

"C'mon, Nancy. You know me better than that."

The ease with which they're able to shift gears serves as a delicate reminder of how intrinsically they are connected; of the level of comfort and stability within their potential when the time is right.

Whenever that may be.

[cofe-doodles]

✨Buff Boyfriends Prinxiety✨??

But like, they're not boyfriends anymore,,, cause they gettin' married👀

Imagine.

After they ditch the wedding and run away together they decided to just NOT stay in one place

So,, road trip!

Virgil buys a van and Roman would get to decorate it

✨Bonding time✨

After that, they settle in and start their new adventure together!

After months of staying on the road together (don't worry there's no more angst,,, unless?? Jkjk,, but??) Virgil just:

👀✨Proposes✨👀

"This is lovely, love" Roman said with a gentle voice as he watches the sun sets over the horizon and the gorgeous view of the hillside. Virgil smiled fondly at his boyfriend and hummed, slipping his hand in his hoodie pocket, making sure the velvet box was there, secure and ready for him to pull out and open. The usual anxiousness Virgil had in moments like these were all gone, just the look in Roman's eyes when he and Virgil watched that movie from last night, the boy was proposing to the girl under the moonlight and Roman had said he wanted that. Virgil was waiting for the sun to fully set and the moon to rise over their heads. He was ready. He wasn't anxious nor nervous, he was just pacing around in his mind. Okay, maybe he WAS nervous. Who wouldn't be? He was about to propose to the man he had fallen in love with. "Why exactly are we here, Virge? I thought you didn't like the sun?"

"I don't." Virgil replied, turning his head towards Roman who quirked an eyebrow at him, confused. Virgil smirked, "But you do."

Roman giggled, nodding as he leaned his head on Virgil's chest. "We could have just stayed inside, y'know? I would be equally as satisfied watching from the window, love."

Virgil hummed, resting his chin on top of Roman's head. The two watched as the sun set over the mountains. Watched as the sun descended, watched as the clouds and sky darkened. Virgil grinned watching the moon rise. It was almost time. "Do you want to bring the blankets out and have supper here, Ro?" Roman turned to face his boyfriend with a bright smile, he nodded. "Go ahead and get your pillows then, I'll go heat up some lasagna, yeah?"

"Okay, V!"

Maybe it was Virgil's imagination but the way the moonlight shined directly towards them, making the shine highlight Roman's features - melted Virgil's heart. Roman was drop dead gorgeous. His hair was swept to his side in a messy way, but it was still as perfect even though there wasn't any fuss nor gel on the strands. His cheeks were tinted with a hue of pink, cuddling close to Virgil's chest as they watched Disney+ on their laptop outside. His body was wrapped in a fluffy blanket, highlighting Roman's childishness - Virgil couldn't help but melt at the natural beauty his boyfriend had. More reason to put the ring on it.

"You okay, Love? You've been staring." Roman whispered as the movie ended, the moon was right above their heads but a couple more minutes in the warmth of the moment couldn't hurt.

Virgil hummed, shifting their position so that Roman's legs were lazily wrapped around his torso, making it easy for Virgil to cup Roman's face. "Can't I just stare at my boyfriend?"

"You can." Roman smiled, leaning to place a delicate kiss on Virgil's lips. "But I'd rather you voice out those thoughts you have."

"Hm?" Virgil raised an eyebrow.

"I know you too well, Virgil." Roman chuckled, tapping Virgil's temple. "You were making your 'I'm thinking about something but I can't tell Roman' face."

Virgil laughed, shaking his head. Kissing Roman's cheek before placing a longer kiss on the prince's lips. "Don't worry about it, Babe. I'll tell you.. in about thirty seconds."

"Thirty seconds? That's so specific." Roman jokingly said, looking at the sky, his eyes shining in delight. Virgil smiled at that. The way his boyfriend's eyes shined with the stars of the dark night was enough to make him sure of this decision. Virgil slowly moved his hand away from Roman's waist to get the velvet box from his jean pocket. "The moon's so pretty."

"She got it from you." Virgil muttered in a fond voice making Roman smile at him with blushing cheeks.

"That was cheesy."

"I've been hanging with you too much then." Virgil teased, kissing Roman's cheek before shifting and standing up, holding on to Roman's waist as he stood straight. "I'm not complaining though.."

"Flirt." Roman giggled, wrapping his arms around Virgil's chest. Hearing his boyfriend's heart beat that always calmed him down. He smiled to himself, completely oblivious about how Virgil's hand - that was on his waist - shook with anxiousness. Virgil swallowed that familiar feeling of anxiety and looked up at the sky, the moon was directly centered above their heads.

Perfect, Virgil smiled.

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Virgil whispered directly at Roman's ear. Roman slowly pulled out of the embrace to look up at the moon that shone with beauty. Roman let a small gasp out, the moon WAS really beautiful. He nodded and blushed, the poetic line always had made him melt and he knew Virgil knew that too well.

Virgil smiled at the small look of awe and adoration Roman had on his face. Virgil slowly kneeled down on one knee and gently took Roman's hand. Roman slowly looked down from the moon to see his boyfriend.. on one knee, smiling at him. Roman gasped once again, his free hand going to his parted lips. He felt his heart beat faster as Virgil pulled out a velvet box. Roman couldn't help but smile under all those tears that streamed down his red cheeks. "I can die happy now."

Virgil smiled, letting go of Roman's hand to open the box. Revealing a diamond ring, the words 'the moon is beautiful, isn't it?' engraved on the inside. Roman smiled at that and waited for the question. "Well, Ro? Will you marry me?"

Roman chuckled and nodded, "Yes! Of course I will!"

The two lovers crashed mid way as they embraced each other. Virgil slipped the ring on Roman's ring finger and slowly moved that hand to kiss the prince's knuckles. Roman giggled, noticing a shiny ring on Virgil's finger. "..you got two?"

"Actually, these are costumed made." Virgil smiled, looking down at their rings. "I called in Patton - he was a friend of mine back in highschool - he's an expert in jewelry making. I was going to give this to you as a promise ring but.. the events that trailed up, the challenges and all the shit that had happened. I just couldn't give this to you without it being amazing, without it having more meaning. And it would be stupid of me to NOT marry you. I told him to redesign it, I kept the second ring and.." Virgil cupped Roman's cheek, a smile on his lips his eyes smiling as well. Roman just knew this was the man who would be by his side. Forever. "Now that it was finished. I couldn't wait anymore. I heard that the moon would rise, clearly, here and well.. with that movie and all? Decided to rip the bandage off."

Roman smiled, looking at the ring on his hand. "The moon is really beautiful." Roman looked at his.. fiance. His fiance! He moved his lips to be right beside Virgil's, the two's eyes slowly fluttering close as they lean closer. "Just like you, my Love."

[lilyclawthorne]

Keeping Up A-fear-ance's Thoughts

I finished writing this shortly after 3 am after watching the new episode like three times because I simply had too much energy about it and I have so many thoughts because I simply live for clawthornes and also I tried to break it up with more photos this time sorry not sorry if it's a lot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

YOUNG EDA!! let me just say I am quite a fan of opening with a flashback like we've done here and the last episode

"we have never seen a curse like this before" Lilith you had shit luck picking out curses huh

"cut it out if we have to" goddamn Gwen let'a calm the fuck down a bit.

anyways we've only really seen young Eda as a wild and confident and happy little child so I appreciate seeing this side of her with the anxiety and fear she's feeling here. I love seeing what the curse stuff was like for her as a kid

Gwen: I raised a perfectly fine kid

Me: no you didn't look at her she's got anxiety

I'm guessing this is their backyard or just some woods behind their house?? wonder if the portal was placed there by another elder family member.

lmao I can't even begin to imagine what small Eda experiencing the human realm was like for the first time

Gwens giving me "I can't accept that my child is disabled/chronically ill/etc." here. y’know the kinda parent that'll put their kid through hell over something they probably will find a way to learn to live with (which Eda did do)

ok that's it I humbly request to know the story behind the fang now (also the noise she made when she put it in was freaking cute)

new dress! new boots! new dress! new boots!

..yikes that fridge is empty

"calm down the curse acts stronger when you're stressed" Eda do you know who you're talking to here

confirmation losing limbs is in fact a side effect of the curse!! (y'know since Eda originally said it just happens when you get older)

please I love these sisters they're so sweet and make me wanna go 🥺

"suddenly curious about my past" "always. always curious" Luz says exactly what we all think

witchlet?? sweet flea?? she's got pet names for them 🥺 (although idk how much I'd like to be referred to as any kind of flea sorry Lilith)

ok Gwen is very much not close to what I expected and I'm kinda grateful for that

she's more like super caring but still managed to royally fuck up which was my original head canon for clawthorne parents so uh that's cool. but literally, look at their body language, Eda's pissed, Lilith's sad and making herself small. she's clearly messed up with her parenting on both of them along the way.

"who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" mama clawthorne would be a fucking anti-vaxxer wouldn't she

ok I side with Eda here more than Luz and Lilith. just because Luz misses her mother, or Lilith hasn’t seen their mom in so long doesn’t mean Eda has to feel all grateful for the presence of Gwen, especially if the woman has caused her a lot of trouble over the years

I feel like the fact that its actually both Lilith and Gwendolyn have spent their whole lives dedicated to trying to find a cure could probably have held some kind of weight on Eda at some point. Even though she shouldn't feel guilty or responsible for that, I still feel like it's gotta suck knowing these people have spent so much time on something you know is likely never gonna happen, all for you.

Lilith 😞 her mother really just didn't pay attention to her all these years

hey if this guy does some next level healing magic then why isn't he more well-known, huh? why’d it take so long to come across him?? Gwen do you know what the fuck you're doing cause I think you don't

Lilith just because you're depressed about your mom doesn't mean you have to bring king down too 😠

SUPER irrelevant but is anyone else just bothered by the way Lilith is holding her spoon?? that doesn't seem like a comfortable way to hold a spoon. also is she left handed??

"knife season came early" EDA WHAT DOES THAT MEAN. is this a boiling isles things or is this a it’s common for people to throw knives at you thing

also I want to be surprised Eda fell for the apple blood signs but I am not 😔 

Luz please trust you're gut on this one and not mama clawthorne

ok now I need to know why the fridge was empty but they had 18 cartons of ice cream this is why you guys don't have food you're wasting it all on ice cream.

wow never thought I'd see the day hooty became the voice of reason

also, night market ice cream?? are they implying this ice cream is like, edibles of some sort?? Lilith does seem kinda high here ngl. idk man but at least she wants to stand up for herself so good for her.

PLEASE kings just offering her ice cream while she transforms

"first in a series" Gwen honey oh no. you've been duped. I think we can see where Lilith got her naïveté from huh.

Also, nice snatch Luz 😊

anyways love how this show is basically making fun of moms who refuse to give their kids proper medical treatment or listen to medical professionals here

EXCUSE ME why do we know Gwen's palisman's name before we know Lilith's?????

"I am a mother who'll do anything for her daughter" you're mom who's suffocating obsession with one daughter has left the other neglected and is currently causing her to turn into a full on beast ya dummy

Eda DOES have a right to be upset. it sucks that her own valid emotions that she should get to feel will cause her while body to betray her.

PLEASE I’M SO GLAD LILITH’S BEAST DESIGN LOOKS LIKE HER AND IS NOT THE THING FROM THE TRAILER THAT IS ACTUALLY IN EDA"S HEAD WHEN SHE’S TRANSFORMED

but also why is she SO massive?? also anyone concerned that this is her first transformation and the light glyph trick wouldn't even work??

Gwen look at what you've done, you've fostered feelings of inferiority in one daughter causing her to feel the need for sibling rivalry that the pure instincts of the raven beast cannot suppress no matter how much their sisterly relationship had improved.

HOW COULD YOUR OTHER DAUGHTER ALSO BEING CURSED BE A PART OF THE PROCESS GWEN??

"after Eda was cursed, I joined the beast keeping coven" woah woah WOAH. you're telling me you only joined because of trying to help Eda. that covens existed, before Eda got cursed, and you very much weren't a part of one. combine that with "some words for belos" she has and do I smell wild witch theory still plausible???

anyways at least mama clawthorne is getting some sense into her head here

Morton c'mon help a girl out, that's some dang good art too what the heck dude

ok fine mama clawthorne to the rescue

no pls not raven beast Lilith crying im crying now

Gwen: I raised a fine and self-sufficient child

Me: no you didn't look at her. she's got, SO MUCH.

GODDAMN THATS SOME POWER. ngl this only adds fuel to the fire in my head that there was some kinda reasoning these sisters were torn apart, that someone felt they'd be too powerful together (and they were probably right)

"I heard you but I couldn't stop myself, I couldn't do anything" may be just because she's not used to the curse but again part of me is concerned that because she couldn't pull herself out of it even a little bit like Eda did that there's something wrong there. but she also could've been stressed beyond reasonably calming herself down too.

ok but this is sweet

NOOO im so sad Lilith's leaving :( I literally cried ok

"you lived here?" fine OKAY king that was hilarious even if im sad about this

"reconnect with dad" excuse me where the fuck has this man been in the middle of all of this. curse shit is going DOWN and he's just chilling at home.

I am curious about people's thoughts regarding the whole Lilith regression thing and the fact that she's literally going to be living with her parents again. I feel like it could help nurture that inner child she's been reverting back to and help her out a LOT. but I could also be concerned about it feeding into the regression and making it worse?? idk and this show probably ain't getting that actually deep into psych anyways

"some day my hair is gonna be big enough to do that too" Luz I cannot wait for the day. also mood, I wish I could do that too.

alright who's holding the fucking pen for hooty we need a volunteer RIGHT NOW so we can remain in contact with Lulu

NOT THE ONLY HUMAN? my bets on the real azura rip never mind she said he

Titan’s Blood?? interesting. If the blood of the titan is around I wonder what that means regarding the titans existence, and how long its been since the titan fell.

AHH BABY LUZ PHOTO

ALSO WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?? They're really gonna spring that on us like this??? Camila's gotta notice somethings wrong right??? Unless any differences she just chalks up to the camp?? oh god :(

well, anyways lumity shippers come get yo juice next weekend

anyways im gonna need to add a NOT canon compliant tag on that one Gwendolyn fic I wrote because it definitely do not comply anymore

[neighbourskid]

Dave? Dave.

It's been quite a bit since I've written anything here, huh? Well, I guess as it has been for pretty much everyone, life has been kinda strange for a while now. Despite vaccine roll-outs and continually changing safety regulations, there's still a global pandemic on, and everyone is trying to navigate this reality the best they can. For once, we are all, generally speaking, in the same boat now (sure, there are huge differences between countries because capitalism fucking sucks and rich greedy humans are once again proof that things need to change asap, but overall, we all have to deal with this pandemic).

But I don't actually want to talk about the pandemic, it just exists as a frame of what I do wanna talk about.

As I have mentioned before, when the pandemic hit, I was in the last semester of my undergrad studies and writing my Bachelor thesis. Or that's what I was supposed to do, anyway. I did do a lot of reading for it, early in the first lockdown after university closed and we were all attending from home. I was lucky, I had no classes, I only had like three scheduled meetings to check in on progress of the thesis, but otherwise I was free of zoom calls and attempting to attend university digitally. So I read.

After a while, reading became taking a book with me into the sun, glancing at one or two pages, and then just napping for most of the day, and spending my evenings either playing video games or watching some tv show or movie. At some point, I felt like now was the perfect time to rewatch all fifteen seasons of CRIMINAL MINDS, so I did that, instead of writing my thesis. I still occasionally read, but most of the days I just felt exhausted and unmotivated so I stayed in bed and binged my crime show.

As the deadline for the thesis started approaching, and the time I had left fell under a month, a switch in my brain seemed to be activated and, oh, hello, suddenly there was a certain drive there for that thesis again. Which lasted exactly until an email from university dinged into my inbox a few days later, informing me that I would get another month for my thesis, due to the pandemic. And away that motivation and drive went, immediately.

Not much later I had a session with the therapist I was seeing at the time, because of the hormone treatment I had started early that same year. I had talked to him about my concern that I might have ADHD before because I didn't feel like there was anything we needed to talk about related to my transition, so I brought it up again here. I told him how my thesis was going -- or rather, how it wasn't going at all -- and finally, as I told him about some of the issues I experienced while trying to do work for it, he acknowledged that I may indeed have some attention regulation issues. He prescribed me medication to try out, and -- wonder oh wonder -- suddenly I was writing my thesis. I ended up finishing it on time (even though a week before I had a moment of "all of this is garbage, I will never pass, I should start the whole thing from scratch") and got a decent grade for it, too. I've been on those meds since.

Over the last, I don't know how many years, I've always known that there was something a bit wonky about my brain. There were always these things that seemed to come so easy to other people, and try as I might, I just couldn't make them happen. I, presumably, had a lot of neurotypical friends. I also have friends with depression, BPD, anxiety disorders and other neurodivergencies. I have family members with autism. I know my mom suspected I might be on that spectrum as well.

Reading up on many of those things I never felt like any of them described what I was experiencing. There were certain traits, sure, but mostly there was a lack of what I actually did experience in most of them. Even ADHD, when reading about the "required" issues and traits, doing those self-diagnosing questionnaires, I just never saw what I felt represented. And then I started reading about what people with diagnosed ADHD had to say about how they experience things. I ignored the more medical or clinical information, and just looked for people talking about how they navigate their lives with ADHD. And then all of a sudden it was, oh, yeah this, this is relatable. This is where my brain's at.

Suddenly it made sense that caffeine didn't do nothing for me, that a nice, warm cup of coffee put me right to sleep. It made sense how, after only a month, suddenly a well beloved hobby or tv show was suddenly of no interest whatsoever. Staring at the wall for three hours instead of doing a simple task. Drawing in class so that I could pay attention to what is being said. The inability to remember much of my life before 6th grade. Having to bounce my leg so I could read a simple text. Needing to visually break a book down into chapters with colourful post-its to keep me from being overwhelmed by the length of the book. And so many other things. Suddenly, there was a reason for that.

I've always liked doing personality quizzes. Or doing stuff related to my zodiac sign even if I don't believe in astrology per se. Finding out what my Enneagram number is. Or my Myers-Briggs type. Not because I think those things define me or describe me to a T, but because they give me a vocabulary. They give me options. I love answering a bunch of questions and then getting a wall of text telling me This Is Who You Are and then I get to pick out what is accurate and what isn't. It gives me words to describe who I am that I didn't have before.

And it is the same thing with posts or videos of people with ADHD. It gives me a vocabulary for the things I experience and it lets me express those things in a way I wasn't able to before. Before, I was like, doing things that my brain doesn't want to do, feels like running headfirst into a wall because there is no way above, around, or underneath it. There is no door, no ladder, no tunnel, no nothing. There is only running headfirst into it until maybe, hopefully, it cracks. Preferably before my head does. But that is exhausting and most of the time, I prefer to not get through the wall at all, if what it takes is going headfirst through it. Now, I know that what that is, is a dopamine deficiency. The task that needs doing, the task that this wall is, doesn't give my brain enough dopamine. There is no satisfaction, there is nothing to gain from that task, so the brain isn't interested.

One of the things that I recently discovered and helps me a lot in this quest of figuring out how my brain works, is this guy Connor on tiktok, who also has ADHD. His videos are both hilarious and informative. And also incredibly relatable. They might be silly haha funny videos on the dear old internet, but I walk away from most of them going, oh! oh that makes sense, good to know.

He occasionally talks about how ADHD is completely misnamed and how Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder does not actually accurately describe what exactly people with ADHD lack. In one of his videos, he calls it DAVE instead. It's silly, and sounds a bit dumb, but I kinda like it. Dave. Dopamine Attention Variability Executive-Disfunction. Dave. I like Dave.

Y'know, I don't mind having ADHD. Presumably, I've lived with it my whole life so far. And it's annoying as shit some of the time. Especially when things need to get done and they just won't. But I don't mind that, especially now that I know that this is what it is. I've always feared that if I finally do go to a therapist and try to figure out what my brain is up to, they'll just tell me that I'm fine and there's nothing to worry about. And at first, my therapist did say I was psychologically unremarkable. But I guess if you've lived like this your whole life and nobody has really picked up on it, even a therapist doesn't notice (it's called masking, I've learned, thanks Connor).

But knowing is good. Knowing means I can learn things that help. I can take medication when needed. And, looking at the grades I'm currently getting in my graduate studies? Hells yeah, taking that medication and knowing how to deal with certain aspects of my brain helps a lot. It is incredibly funny to me that the best grades I have gotten in my entire academic career have been achieved in my Master's studies during a global pandemic. There is currently an actual real possibility that I may graduate summa cum laude. In my MA. That is insane!

Anyway, I am avoiding tasks by writing this right now. Oh, the irony. I'm gonna try and do those tasks now. Y'all take care. Cheers!

[anystalker707]

the famous living dead

Pairing: Gerard x Reader Genre: Fluff/Angst Word count: +- 4 000 Summary: [Corpse Bride AU] Gerard is suddenly married to a corpse Requested on Wattpad

[3rd person pov]

Gerard sighed in frustration as walking between the trees. If anything, the melancholic vibe of the woods matched his feelings exactly. Apart from needing to deal with the annoying bride, Eliza – who didn't do anything apart from complaining since they met each other earlier that day –, he couldn't memorize the vows, what increased his stress.

Running a hand through his hair, he tried repeating the vows just to mess up with it once more. Another frustrated breath escaped his lips.

The repeated fails left him in the verge of giving up, but Gerard was determined to get it right. A few crows rested on the old oak tree he stopped next to, pausing. Gerard took a deep breath before he started talking.

"With this candle, I will..." He trailed off, suddenly met with a blank in his mind that he wasn't ready for. Shaking his head, he sighed. "I will set your mother on fine," he finished in frustration, facepalming, and sat down on the fallen trunk that laid not too far from him.

Gerard took the wedding ring from the coat's pocket and stared at it for a moment. It didn't bring him any happiness and shared no differences with a chain, in his perspective. Remembering how annoying the bride demonstrated gave him great stress, certain desperation even, since it was clear he was going to be stuck in a predictably deplorable marriage for most likely the rest of his life.

Well, if that was going to happen anyways, he better do it properly.

He took a deep breath as standing up, the ring between his fingers like if he was to slip it in the bride's finger already. "With this hand," the words left his lips with confidence, in a way it even looked like he was in the ceremony already, "I'll lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine."

As Gerard spoke, he gradually gained more security, moving his hands and turning on his place dramatically. Saying it correctly brought him a momentary pleased feeling as he tossed the ring in the air before catching it again with a smile. He raised his eyebrows, nodding at himself with approval, looking around as the imaginary people – who were actually just the trees – praised him.

He leaned down as breaking a stick from a fallen trunk's branch.

"With this candle," Gerard said, pretending the stick was a candle and 'lighting it', throwing it aside right next. "I will light your way in the darkness. With this ring," he held up the wedding band, kneeling down in front of what seemed to be more dry branches, though in the shape of a hand. "I ask you to be mine." He slipped the ring on the dry wood, smiling with another wave of pride hitting him.

Reality suddenly hit Gerard again and he was slightly startled by the wind suddenly howling and the crows growing agitated. Worry started filling his chest with the birds weirdly observing him. Birds didn't act like that... did they?

His attention was held enough for him to not notice the 'dry branch' moving, but also enough to almost give him a heart attack when it wrapped itself around his wrist and started pulling him down.

Gerard gasped as trying to pull away from the grasp, not knowing if he should be more worried about it or the birds starting to fly around. In panic, he started trying pulling his arm out of the hole it had been stuck in and, when he finally did so, a terrified scream escaped his lips seeing how the hand gripped around his wrist, noticing it wasn't wood at all.

He shook his arm until the hand let go and Gerard's attention was suddenly snatched by the place where the hand had originally been in. The dirt moved like if there was something under it, making him freeze, terrified in anticipation.

[Your pov]

I struggle a bit to bring myself out of the hole, even more without half an arm, but the excitement motivates me into doing it. My eyes land on the guy who said the vows with certain anxiety and I contain a smile as looking down at his scared form.

"I do," I say, making him gasp and start backing away as I reach down a hand to help him up. Unfortunately, he continues too scared; he quickly stands up and starts running away. Well, it's not like he'll get out of here easily, so I follow him calmly, grabbing my hand back in the way.

The guy ends up tripping when going down a rock, his head hitting against the gravestone, but he doesn't seem to mind the pain, sitting up with his back against it. His wide eyes observe me walking after him with fear. He continues with the scared gasps as clumsily backing away until he's up to his feet again.

He runs. And hits a tree.

Seeing me approaching, he tries to run just to hit it again. Great job.

Our chase continues until he reaches the bridge, probably thinking I ended up losing him. The crows continue cawing behind him, more of showing me where he went before returning to the woods. His terrified face gains relief as he leans back against the wall of the bridge, looking around frantically.

A last sigh comes from him, calming down with thinking I really stopped chasing him. The look on his face, however, when he notices me right behind him is hilarious, but I say nothing, setting my hands on his shoulders and leaning in for a kiss.

.

"A new arrival," Frank says in amusement as Gerard's eyes open; a drink in hand as Frank stands beside me, observing the other intently just like me, Ray and Bert. Or maybe everyone else in the bar.

"He must've fainted," I add, like if Gerard was still out. Carefully, I reach a hand under his neck – his eyes go wide at my exposed bones. "Are you all right?" I question, worried.

"What-? What happened?" He asks, still looking around in panic.

"Oh, looks like we've got ourselves a breather." Frank comments in amusement. "He's still soft," he said. The poking on Gerard's chest scares him, sending the living man backing away once again, struggling up to his feet.

"A toast, then," Ray says with a lazy grin, raising his glass lightly in the air. A clinking sound comes from it as it touches Bert's, both grinning. "To the newlyweds."

"Newlyweds...?" Gerard asks in confusion.

"In the woods," I tell him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "you said your vows so perfectly." A smile curls my lips up as I show him the wedding band around my boney finger.

"I did?" He asks hesitantly before a wave of realization – or is it defeat? – hits him. "I did!" With a sudden motion, his hands hold onto the counter. "Wake up!" He tells himself repeatedly, slamming his head against the wooden surface.

From this, things just turn into a momentary chaos; Gerard starts walking around, bumping into the others, more gasps coming from him as he jumps like a scared cat. It earns him a few concerned glares.

"K-Keep away!" He stutters and, in certain desperation, tries to get the sword lodged across Frank's torso. Not being able to remove it makes him a bit nervous, but it holds it towards everyone the same way. "I've got a- I've got a... dwarf. And I'm not afraid to use him." He tries to point the sword to towards the people next to him, sending Frank stumbling. "I want some questions. Now!"

Frank's face goes from confused to annoyed with Gerard's words. "I'm not that short, y'know? And you actually want answers, you dumb fuck, not questions." He rolled his eyes, playing lightly with the stitches starting in the corner of his mouth and following up his cheek. He's got a weird habit of playing with the stitches.

Gerard rolls his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Where am I? Who are you?" The last question is directed to me.

"Eh," I twist my mouth lightly, shrugging a shoulder. "It's kind of a long story."

"Yeah, a good story, tho," Frank nods, looking back at Gerard, showing him thumbs up. With a yelp, he immediately lets go of the sword.

~

"Gerard? Where are you?" I ask as walking around the city, looking for him among the dead walking around. "Gerard?" I ask again, sighing, but a smile makes its way to my lips when I notice him in the corner.

Gerard runs around frantically and, though he can hide, there's the advantage that I obviously know the city better than him. It's also easy following his scared gasps and cries. I chuckle and, noticing him climbing to the cliff, I already wait for him there. He gasps when noticing he grabbed my ankle.

"You could've used the stairs," I tell him with a chuckle, reaching down to help Gerard up. "It's beautiful up here," I say, extending a hand towards the city below us. "It always takes my breath away. Or would, if I had one." A laugh escapes my lips. "Come on," I take his hand in mine, pulling him along with me to sit down on a bench.

"Look," Gerard says hesitantly once we sit down on the wooden bench, still seeming disturbed. "I'm terribly sorry about what's happened to you and I'd like to help, but I really need to get home."

"This is your home now!" I tell him, stating the obvious.

"But I don't even know your name," he throws his hands in the air lightly, furrowing his eyebrows. The scared air continues over Gerard's features and in the way he jumps lightly whenever I do something.

"It's (y/n)." I say with a smile; he repeats it slowly, almost absentmindedly, while looking at me, like if finally taking in all the details of my face. It does make me a bit flustered. We're stuck there for a long moment with our gazes locked, until reality hits me again.

"Oh, I've got something for you!" I say with a smile, grabbing a box I've brought and handing it to him. "Consider it a wedding gift," I wink, not minding how tense he still seems to be.

Gerard hesitantly takes the box in hand and undoes the ribbon before opening the box. He grabs the pen, that's shaped like a bone, but probably doesn't understand what's it. "Erm," an awkward glance is thrown my way, "thank you...?"

I roll my eyes, "I found out you liked drawing and I got you this." Opening the box properly, I show him the sketchbook and the ink he ignored. "It's some sort of special ink and paper. You'll find out later when you use it." I smile, scanning Gerard's face to see if he liked it. There's a hint of happiness under all the confusion.

He took the ink flask in hand, removing the cork to take a look at it and smell the liquid briefly before returning it to the box. Then, Gerard grabs the sketchbook, rubbing one of the pages between two fingers as analyzing the texture – he lets out an interested hum. The items are certainly nothing like whatever he's ever seen. Well, in that state, actually.

"Mother never approved me drawing..." Gerard trails off, sadly. "But then again, she never approved of anything." His lips press together in a sad smile.

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow, unconsciously mirroring his smile. "Do you think she would've approved me?"

"Heh," he shoots me a side grin as closing the box again. "You're lucky you'll never have to meet her." There's a pause and he hums thoughtfully, setting the box aside. "Well, actually..."

~

"Okay, so," Ray raises a hand to scratch his head, consequently getting a few of his curls messy – he looks at the strands with a frustrated frown, trying to fix them, but gives up and looks at the book in his hand again. "Are you sure you want to get up there? I mean-" He pauses hearing the sound of a pile of books falling, "Frank, I already told you to stop!" A grumbling comes in response from the same direction, but all Ray does is to roll his eyes.

"Ah, yeah, it's important for me," Gerard says with certain anxiety. "Us." He adds after seeing me looking at him, pressing his lips together in a smile.

Ray slowly nodded, shrugging a bit though he clearly seems to not understand the purpose of this yet. "Well, I've got something here. You just need to say hopscotch if you want to return."

.

"I spent so long in the darkness," I say with a smile as looking up with a smile, "I'd almost forgot how beautiful the moonlight is." A relieved sigh escapes my lips as I look around the place; well, it's not exactly that I missed the land of the living, but it's a nice place. Grinning, I take Gerard's hand in mine and start walking, but I'm forced to stop noticing he hadn't moved.

"Erm, hold on," he placed a hand on my shoulder, pushing me gently to sit down on the trunk of a fallen tree. His hand goes from my shoulder to my face, cupping it lightly, making me a bit flustered and kinda happy with it. "I guess I should prepare mother and father for the news. I'm going ahead and you wait here, okay?"

"Well, okay." I smile again, raising my eyebrows lightly. I've gotta admit it does make me a bit anxious.

"I won't be long," Gerard reassures me, observing me for a few seconds and starting to run off after I nod in comprehension.

And I wait. Wait. Wait.

Maybe... something happened? – The though crosses my mind as I look around, seeking for a sign that he's coming back, but I'm met with nothing. I guess I should check on him and it won't be that difficult with all the footprints.

Eventually, I find Gerard. He stands outside the door of a house, seeming to listen to what's going on in there before he goes to climb up the balcony. It takes me a bit of struggling, but I eventually do the same, a bit confused and kind of angry for being left there for so long.

Well, maybe I shouldn't be so angry. Gerard talks with two other people – his parents? – and doesn't seem to notice me just yet. However, my feelings return when I hear his faint voice coming from the inside.

"I- I don't really know what the fuck happened. It was unexpected, accidental, I swear," Gerard said in obvious desperation, tugging lightly on his own hair then throwing his hands in the air. "Suddenly, I'm married to a corpse." The tone he says it in isn't very... pleased; it makes my heart sink. "I- Damn, I don't know how the fuck I get rid of-" He freezes his eyes widening once landing on me.

Gerard obviously notices my angry gaze, what brings a worried air to his features. A few terrified cries echo in the room once I suddenly walk in, marching towards Gerard. He tries to stutter a few excuses, but hopscotch leaves my lips before he's actually able to do anything.

Suddenly, we're back to Ray's place, with the usual bickering in the background, of Ray telling Frank and Bert to not touch his things and more books falling to the floor.

"You lied to me!" I tell Gerard, throwing him away from me; he loses his balance, taking a few steps back. "You were trying to get away from me!" I say indignantly, sighing sharply as turning my back to him. Trying to not let my tears escape my eyes, I wipe them away before they can even fall, but it sends one of my eyes to the floor. Damn, I waited for so long and when I finally find someone, they try to get away from me.

A sigh comes from Gerard, followed by a few footsteps before he's right behind me. "You don't understand," he says softly, touching my shoulder, "this just can't work. The circumstances we're under..." He trails off, gazing at me expectantly, but I do nothing asides from taking my eye back. "We're different!"

"And?" I raise an eyebrow at him, "you should've fucking thought about that before you asked me!" I shoot him a glare, raising my left hand momentarily.

"Can't you fucking understand?" He snaps in disbelief, eyeing me amused. "It was an accident! I wouldn't ever marry you!"

His words are like a bucket of ice throw on me. I freeze, not knowing what to say nor wanting to say anything. Sighing, I just turn around to walk out of there, with my heart heavy in my chest.

"Look, I'm sorry for earlier." Gerard says regretfully, sitting down beside me. His voice is quiet under the piano notes as I continue to play the instrument, not wanting to hear whatever he's got to say, not even looking up from the black and white keys. A sigh comes from Gerard.

"I'm really sorry, I said that without thinking, I don't mean it," he insists. "I don't even know you properly and, by what I've seen, you're an amazing person." By the corner of my eyes, I'm able to see him smiling at me, his eyes flickering over my face, searching for a response to his words, as minimum as it may be. There's none.

Apparently, Gerard gives up on trying to apologize, his attention averting to the piano. He takes in a deep breath before starting to play with me. The new notes are like a perfect complement to the ones I play. I even let myself appreciate the combination of both for a moment before starting to play faster, trying to cut him off.

Gerard is surprisingly able to keep up with me, looking at me with a smile that I have to hold myself back to not mirror. At some point, my forearm ends up detaching from me, it goes down the piano, playing the notes I'm not able to reach from my place and crawls up Gerard's arm. He doesn't seem bothered by it, smiling as seeing my arm go the way up to his shoulder.

"Sorry," I say, kinda embarrassed, "I got a little bit too excited."

"It's fine," he chuckles, taking the part of my arm and putting it back on place. His hand goes down my forearm until meeting mine and holding it. "I like your excitement."

Again, Gerard's eyes lock mine in a strong gaze, though now he tries more of transmitting comfort than analyzing me this time. His gaze is kind of shy, like if finally allowing himself to act normally around me and know me; what I highly appreciate. It seems like he's about to say something, but someone shouting by the other side of the bar startles us, breaking the mood we're set in. Both of us chuckle lightly as moving away, our eyes lingering over each other before we look away.

"So..." Gerard starts, looking at me again with a smile. "Tell me about yourself..."

.

"And then he asked me to tell him about myself, we spent a long time talking and... Now here I am." I flash a small smile to the three, glancing at them before my eyes fall back to watching my hands on my lap.

We're sitting on the ground in the kind of alley behind the bar, talking with each other while having a few drinks. It's quite pleasing and calming, after all the stress.

"Things seem to be going on very well, that's amazing!" Ray smiles at me, looking up from his book for a second. "And to think he was throwing all that tantrum some hours ago..." He raises his eyebrows lightly.

"Damn, true, what the fuck." Frank says in an indignant tone, furrowing his eyebrows at the nothing as he thinks. "Though he was mostly scared and surprised earlier. It's a good thing he stopped to think and all, tho. He'll see you're an amazing person," he grins and I smile shyly as thanking him.

"Whatever goes through the living's heads, huh," Bert says, his voice distant as most of his attention seems to be focused on balancing a glass over his knee.

"Not like you weren't alive at some point," I reply, rolling my eyes with a chuckle.

"Eh, it's been so long," he furrows his eyebrows in frustration, turning to me. His intention of continuing to speak is ruined when the neglected glass falls from his knee, cracking as hitting the ground – all of us laugh at his pout.

"Happy ever after," Frank tells me after a few silent seconds. "Until death do you apart... Or something like this." His words make both of us laugh and, as the laughter dies, reality hits me.

"Well, until death do us apart..." I say thoughtfully and it takes a moment, but he understands it too.

"Ah, yeah, exactly this point that I wanted to discuss with you," Ray speaks up, adjusting his position as looking at me. "Well, you know the vows and since you're already dead, so... it kind of doesn't count, y'know...?" He says carefully, a bit awkwardly, like if afraid of my reaction.

A gasp escapes me after I reason it. "Oh, fuck, true." I curse, suddenly growing a bit desperate. "And how-"

"But," Ray cuts me off, "there's a way to fix it. To repeat the vows. The only problem is that... he would need to be dead." He raises his eyebrows with certain worry, though I think most of it is about my response.

"Eh, but- No, hell." I stutter, stumbling over my own words while trying to process it all.

"Oh, murder? Sign me in!" Bert says, not even paying proper attention to the conversation again. The comment earns him a slap on the back of his head coming from Frank – I would've laughed at them if my worry wasn't so overwhelming.

"That's too much, I wouldn't ask him to do it to himself..." I sigh, holding my head in my hands as looking down, my fingers tangling with my hair in stress. "He wasn't even happy with marrying me, I don't think he'd take it to this level..."

"Then I guess I'd like to surprise you." An awkward, new voice reaches my ears, making me tense up a bit. "I'm up to doing it. I'm up to marrying you, whatever it takes."

In the brief moment of silence, Ray, Frank and I look between each other – both of them shoot me rather happy, encouraging looks. Still a bit insecure, I look back to Gerard. He's about to continue, but pauses seeing Frank and Ray standing up to leave, dragging Bert along with them.

Gerard sighs before he carefully sitting down beside me. He takes my hand in his, playing with my fingers, until he starts talking again.

"I believe I should give you a chance because you're a wonderful person," he says, his eyes still not meeting mine. "Not to mention, I believe it's much better to stay here with you than anything else. My bride... Eh, not anymore. Eliza seems to be batshit crazy and no one I know understands me as well as you do, even if we haven't known each other for long." He smiles genuinely.

"You make me feel well, to a point I didn't even know to be possible, so..." Gerard trails off, finally looking up at me, though there's clear insecurity behind his eyes. "I'm staying. With you."

Knowing this makes me extremely happy, though I'm still a bit afraid it might not be the right choice. Before I'm able to question anything, I'm surprised – once more – by Gerard's lips being pressed to mine in a loving kiss that reassures me he's certain about his choice. I try to kiss back with the same feeling. I'm usually not able to feel cold and heat, but I'm able to feel how warm his lips are against mine.

"Thank you," I mutter as pulling away, grinning stupidly.

"You don't need to thank me," Gerard furrows his eyebrows lightly at me. He smiles before pulling me to another kiss.

[bellalikeskitties]

tattoos and tea ☾

pairing: nakamoto yuta x reader

you work at a flower shop and a tattoo artist from across the street comes in to practice drawing flowers for his next tattoo

word count: 1.9k+

genre: fluff,fluff,fluff tattoo shop au, flower shop au

It started as something simple. A customer emailed, asking for an elaborate tattoo. The whole shop was in shambles because the request was something they weren't quite used to. They tattooed blood, curse words, and even dicks. They were surprised when they were asked for a tattoo of flowers. Everyone was ready to refuse the customer, but Yuta was always one for a challenge.  

"Yah! Don't worry! I'll take this!". He was confident, his skills as an artist never let him down. All his customers and co-workers said his work was fantastic and he was ready for this one to say the same. 

Unfortunately, this task wasn't an easy feat. He scoured the internet for a usable reference, but for some reason, none of them resonated with what he wanted. That's when he approached you. You owned the flower shop and cafe just in front of theirs. He didn't know you personally but you did give them a bouquet as a present for their grand opening. 

He fixed his hair again before he pushed the doors to your shop. A bell chimed and your head rose out from the corner. "Welcome! Are you here for the flowers or some tea?". You beam at him and he stops momentarily. He wasn't used to smiles and sweet greetings. 

"Uhm, hey. I'm from, uh-". You move closer and notice his fidgeting. "I remember you! You're from up front, aren't you? Go take a seat, I'll get you something". He nods and waits until you retreat to the back before letting out a breath. 

He knew you were a kind person. He sometimes sees you handing out roses to the old couples or small daisies to the kids who walked by after class. He just didn't expect you to be out-going as well. Yuta set his sketchbook and utensils on a table before slipping into the lush seats. 

His eyes wandered over the shop. It looked like his grandmother's house, but more sweet-smelling and flowery. Flowers lined on one side of the shop and the other was filled with jars of dried tea. His gaze lingered on the flowers. Watching how the light hit them, the curve of their petals, and the assortment of colors. 

"I guess you're here for the flowers then?". He falls out of his daze, not even realizing that he had started sketching one flower he couldn't name. "I didn't get your name earlier?". He coughed and set his pen down "It's Yuta". You smile and place a small cup on his table. "It's chamomile tea. I figured it would help your nerves. I'm (y/n) by the way". He gazes at the drink and takes a sip, "Even the cups are pretty, huh?". You tilt your head and giggle. "Thank you, Yuta".

He takes another sip before speaking. "I'm actually here for a favor. Would it bother you if dropped by from time to time? My customer asked for a tattoo of flowers and we don't really deal with stuff like that and-". "Sure! You can come to hang out". "What?".

Your eyes glance at his drawing. "Sure! I'm fine with it. Just as long as you taste test some of my new tea!". Your smile blinds him and at that moment, he thought you were a literal angel. "Deal". He extends his hand and you reach to shake it. Before he could even continue, his phone buzzed. "Looks like I need to go, thank you so much (y/n)". He gathers his things before heading to the door. "Your tea was delicious by the way!". You wave and watch him cross the street to his shop.

The next day, he's back. This time he isn't stuttering. He's ready and you are too. "Here, it's white tea". You press the tray to your chest and he takes a sip. "I'm not sure about adding it to our menu since it looks too bland". 

Yuta sighs at the warmth. "It's filling, it would be nice to drink with something though". You take a seat in front of him and lean closer. "Like cake or cookies?". He purses his lips and thinks for a moment. "I think a cake would be better". You hum and mentally note his comment.

"Anyways, what's this called?". He picks up a bundle of violet flowers. You prepared a handful of flowers for him to examine while you had prepared his tea. Remembering how his eyes sparkled when you said they were for him. "Those are Sweet Peas, take a sniff". He looks at you questioningly before taking a whiff. "Woah! Sweet indeed!". He quickly writes on his sketchbook before reaching for another flower. 

It was a fun activity for both of you. Asking each other questions on end. For you, it helped you add more things to serve and to share your knowledge. For Yuta, it helped him broaden his artistic skills and hopefully help your pretty shop. 

"I'm so nervous. They're coming in tomorrow y'know". It had been a week or so since you started your everyday fun. He was comfortable with the ins and outs of your shop now. Sometimes even helping you take orders or serve. A few of the ladies now come to your shop just to watch Yuta. 

"I know, you told me yesterday". You struggle to reach for a mug on the shelf and he moves behind you. "Need this?". He holds the said mug out and you flush. Even you couldn't help but follow him when he attended to your customers. He looked fitting next to the flowers, his smile refreshing and pleasant. He was really a beautiful man. No one would believe you if you said he worked as a tattoo artist, his looks would make you think he was a model or celebrity.

You thank him and continue to make another cup of tea. Yuta just watches. The last time he tried to help you, he burnt the tea. He chuckles as he recalls your panicked expression when he called for help. Your pouting face engraved in his head. To him, your daily hangouts were precious. He'd never met anyone like you. You and your love for flowers and fragrant teas. 

"So, what are you planning to give them?". You hand him the now tea-filled mug to serve. His face scrunches and he sheepishly laughs. "I'm not sure. I guess I'll just do it on the spot". You gasp and almost spill hot water on yourself. "What do you mean 'I'll just do it on the spot'?!". He smiles at one of your customers before looking at you. "I mean, I'll just know when I see them". Your hands find your temples and you rub them in frustration and panic.   

He laughs at your irritation. "Aw, c'mon (y/n). I'm not a bad artist at all! Don't worry! I'll even show you a photo of the finished product!". He ruffles your hair as you sigh. "How? You don't need to come here anymore after tomorrow". You mumble. His hand rests on your head. He realized that too. He doesn't have a reason to come over. After tomorrow, he didn't need to have flower lessons anymore.

He huffed. "What do you mean? Aren't we friends now (y/n)? I'll come over and hang out again. I promise!". A smile graces both your lips and you shuffle back to work. Yuta was determined not to let you go that easily. After tomorrow, he'll ask you out for sure. The bell chimes and he smiles, "Welcome!".

Finally, the day arrived. Yuta sat in his booth, glancing at his wall. It was filled with the sketches he made at your shop. Each flower was to his liking. You taught him so much, that he could probably be able to open a shop for himself. He scans over them again before checking his watch. "They should be here by now?". At that his buzzer rings and he jogs to the receiving area.

He wondered what his client looked like. He expected maybe a young teen wanting something simple for their first time or a middle-aged man wanting something to talk about to women. What he didn't expect was your smiling face as your were talking to Taeil. You were wearing a yellow summer dress and your hair was up, revealing the nape of your neck. You looked so perfect to Yuta. But it didn't explain why you were there.

"(y/n). What are you doing here? The tattoo isn't even done yet?". You scratch your head and glance at the man on the counter. "Oh? You know her? That's perfect then. She's the flower, Yuta". Yuta's eyes widen at the code name. You were his client? You, Miss "I-won't-even-hurt-an-ant", were getting a tattoo? "Oh, uh. Sure, follow me". You smile at Taeil before following Yuta to a more secluded room.

"Are you mad? I was going to tell you, but I didn't really know how to tell you". You walk next to him and peek at his face. He sighs. "I'm not mad. Just surprised, I guess. I never thought you would ask for it. It's my fault for not checking the name anyways". You enter his booth and gasp. Staring at the sketched on the wall while Yuta prepared a few more things. 

"So you saw me, and you met me, and you even worked with me. What are you going to do?". He gazes at you and the wall, contemplating. Just imagining you inked with his work made his heart swell. He wanted to mark you with all the flowers he'd seen, but he knows just what do to.

"You'll see. Sit here". He tapped the leather chair and you obliged. "Will it hurt?". He laughed and you whined. He moved around before settling himself on your wrist. "You ready?". He starts the initial sketch, eyes focused on your skin. His needle hits something and you wince. He lifts his hand momentarily. "So, why'd you decide to get a tattoo?". He starts a conversation, hoping to take your mind off what he was doing to you.

"I have a friend, you might know him actually. He's Thai and he got a tattoo here once. He showed his tattoo to me and I thought it looked pretty". His lips curl into a smirk. "Thai? You're friends with Ten? Didn't expect that. I do all his tatts’". You snicker. "Oooh, that's cool. I really liked the thing on his chest by the way". 

The pain suddenly stops and you turn to him. "How'd you even-? Are you dating him?". His eyes show anxiety and you realize what you said. "What? No! Ten just likes wearing flashy clothes. I just happened to see it". He sighs and continues to work on your wrist. "Wait, is this why you were panicking yesterday?". You groan and this time he laughs.

You continue chatting. You were amused at how Yuta had a steady hand, even as he laughed at your first meeting, but in your view. "I only gave you the pretty flowers to give you inspiration, I swear!". He chuckles and finally lifts his instrument. He gives your skin a few wipes before asking you if you wanted to take a look before he added the ointment. 

"Woah! It's pretty". On your wrist was a red chrysanthemum in its prime. It looked like it belonged in your hand, the red petals complimenting your skin. You trace the lines in amusement. It actually looked like it was glowing. 

Yuta watched you stare at your wrist. He felt like he was in heaven. You looked so pretty right there and then. "But doesn't this mean?". You feel Yuta's gaze on you and flush. "Yeah, you taught me yourself. So, uh, do you maybe want to get dinner after this?". He held your hand and you trembled a bit.

"Sure I would love to".

~

another yuta one 😔😔 and a flower shop and tattoo shop au!

btw red chrysanthemums  mean love or i love you 🤭

[inabottlelikelightning]

Hi do you mind answering a characterization question? Bc I've been thinking about this for a while and I can't decide if Theo is as reserved naturally as he is in canon - honestly he comes across as more of a natural performer, y'know? Someone who loves entertaining people and would probably enjoy a career in some form of athletic performance (figure skating, pro dancing, something like that). The fandom seems pretty solid on the Theo-as-an-introvert headcanon, which I can totally see, but i think its definitely an acquired introvertism (is that a word? It is now). He's also a gigantic nerd like, canonically, and it is hilarious, so I get why people think this, and I love nerd!theo, but he's sort of a bit of both sides. Idk if this really makes sense, but your characterizations of Theo are some of the best I've read and I was wondering if you had any thoughts about the whole introvert/extrovert dichotomy and where he fits in, bc I'm still trying to figure this one out :)

i NEVER mind answering characterization questions and I’m HONORED you thought to ask me!! i’m so glad you like my theo :) <3 thanks for the ask!

okay here we go, let’s take a journey through theo raeken’s id

okay, so thanks for sending this because I actually had to think about it a lot!! he’s so much more nuanced than most of the characters just because so much of what we see of him is faked.

Fandom does love their nerd!theo, but to be fair, fandom also loves their popular boy!theo. I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle, to be honest.

My instinctive response was that he’s sort of like me -- naturally an introvert, but an extravert out of necessity. I’ve moved a lot and I kinda just had to ignore any social anxiety I had so that I could make friends, and over time it just kind of went away (a classic fake-it-until-you make it. no, I do not have a psychology degree, thank you for asking), and he seemed to be the type who was kind of reserved unless he was “acting” like when he was manipulating the mccall pack and faking confidence in front of the dread doctors and the chimera pack

But the longer I thought about it, the more I started to agree with you. Introverts are people who prefer to be left alone, and extraverts are people who are fueled by being around people. We saw theo in s6, when he was lonely as hell, and he did not look like he was enjoying himself at all. He lost the dread doctors, his chimera pack, even the interactions he had with the mccall pack, and the lack of actual positive interactions (see: lack of any interactions that aren’t just a deputy knocking on his window and telling him to move the fuck on, or hunters shooting his truck up) seem to kind of make him uncharacteristically reticent, like a shell of a person.

He gets a lot better, more lively, when people start talking to him again, like in the rest of 6b, when Liam keeps dragging him into his idiotic plans (and Theo tries to help in the ways he knows how, by manipulating the hunters at the zoo (which Liam wouldn’t think of), by offering to help Liam hide Gabe’s body (which Liam couldn’t think of)), and he seems to be more or less back to his usual bravado, even though it’s more earnest and genuine rather than put-upon this time.

wow that was some long-ass rambling, but I guess, in summary: yeah, you’re right. Theo’s totally a natural performer, he’s fueled by interactions with and validation from others, and when he goes too long without being with other people, he does weird shit like try to simulate human contact via a spider crawling all over his fucking hand. He has some interesting self-worth issues, but he wants to be needed, which is why he keeps helping the McCall pack in s6, even though he could totally just skip town.

my fanon analysis is the reason that so many people write theo as an introvert who doesn’t like interacting with people is because the people in question are usually the mccall pack, who he thinks fucking HATE him. I can see why he’d be reticent at a pack meeting where everyone would be out for his blood if he stepped a single toe out of line, and why he would try to avoid drawing attention to himself. But if he was in a new place, with people who didn’t know him, I have no doubt he’d make tons of friends, because even though he’s a snarky asshole deep down inside, he’s totally a natural performer and he knows how to be charming as fuck, and that’s really all an extrovert is.

also, fun fact: after I finished typing this all out, out of curiosity, I took an MBTI test for theo, and this is what he got. you can read more abt the personality type here, it’s pretty interesting, ngl