#it's my excuse to torture that blonde man

[shamedumpster]

[Sprints up and drops a fic for the first time in 8 months and then sprints away]

Summary:

Enjolras is trapped in a hyper-realistic dream. 17 again, he's forced to relive the last few days before Grantaire left the ABC. He must figure out how to wake up, and get back to his life and his family, or risk being stuck in this literal nightmare for good.

(An INtSA-Verse spinoff fic, this time from Enjolras' POV)

[eetherealgoddess]

ꨄThe Bulliesꨄ

Oneshot - Semi Dark Content - College Setting

❦Baji and Kazutora have always been assholes to you. Can Chifuyu help?❦

Matsuno Chifuyu, Baji Keisuke, and Hanemiya Kazutora x Female Reader

❣︎Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics. Might be slightly ooc. Honestly thought the Haitani brothers would’ve been a better fit for bullies but here we are❣︎

Not fully proofread

MY TR FANDOM WORKS ARE ONLY ON TUMBLR, WATTPAD, & AO3 UNDER EETHEREALGODDESS! REPORT IF YOU SEE IT POSTED UNDER ANYONE ELSE BUT ME!!!

I apologize if I get any Japanese etiquette or culture wrong, I literally have to research the culture for some of my fandom stories so if anything is wrong, please excuse my ignorance.

Notice:

✩Y/n is 18+. I picture her as a black female but you can see her however.

✩Some parts of the story may not be realistic or factual. After all, this is a work of fiction.

✩Although it's a dark 'romance,' I do not condone any of the behavior displayed.

✩Dark content such as: gore, violence, triggering topics, graphic scenes, vulgar language, explicit sexual content, etc.

✩There may be scenes that involve non con and/ or dubcon so don’t read if that makes you uncomfortable.

✩Characters are 18+ as always.

✩That being said, this story is for 18+ only.

Enjoy!

The Bullies

“Stop it!” You hiss before snatching your arm out of the omegan’s grip, causing you to lose your balance and fall. Your behind lands on the floor as you angrily glare up at the culprits. Bruises are layered all down your arms and legs from the impacts of their daily antics. The cold from the tiled flooring freezes the bare skin of your thighs and legs. Your bottoms were snatched off at the beginning of the torture session, leaving you in nothing but your panties. Your top has been torn in half, the fabric now fitting you as a vest.

Your eyes squint when the flash of the phone glows in the dark, empty auditorium. You curse under your breath when you realize another picture has been taken of you in a vulnerable position. More leverage to use against you.

“God, betas really are weak. Look at you.” The solid black haired omega eyes you with disgust, hands shoved in his pockets. The man with his hair pulled back in a bun brings a finger to his own blonde strand of hair and pulls it behind his ear before bending to your level.

“This must be embarrassing for you! Imagine being so useless. You can’t even fight back,” he beams with a wide, close - eyed smile, “…I guess you really can’t help it, can ya?” Kazutora’s arm reaches for you before you smack it away, causing him to chuckle.

You hear a buzz and watch as they both straighten their stances and eye their devices. They grin before turning their attention back to you.

“Alpha’s callin.’ We gotta go.” Baji says before turning on his heel, not giving you a second glance. Kazutora follows before stopping and turning back to you with amusement gleaming through his eyes.

“Good luck walking through campus like that.” He dangles your pants before tearing the fabric and tossing it to you. The door shuts behind them as you're left with tears at the corners of your eyes. You slowly pick yourself up before limping to grab your phone. You call a friend to help you out of this situation.

“Man, what happened to you?” Chifuyu, one of your close friends that you met on campus a year ago asked as he walked you to your dorm. A couple hours after you called, he brought you clothes and first aid. You were thankful, but very exhausted from the circumstances you’ve been dealt.

“Look Fuyu, I-I’ve kept it from you for a while now because I didn’t want to make anything weird, but I’m honestly sick of it.” You stopped walking down the path before he halted in his steps and turned to you with curiosity on his expression.

“Your omegas are major assholes. They’re the ones who do this to me all the time. They’ve physically assaulted me in numerous ways and harassed me. They even took pictures of me after tearing my clothes off and threatened to post them. It’s like they take pride in humiliating me just because I’m a beta.” Maybe they don’t like your friendship. You have no idea, but it started ever since you and Chifuyu became friends. The closer you two got the more ruthless they became.

You didn’t think it could be jealousy considering you’re not an omega and alphas usually prefer them over betas anyway. You’ve never been courted and they’ve been together for so long. Long before you and Chifuyu met. You have no clue what their problem is. You would’ve told him sooner if the slight jabs stayed light, or if they hadn't threatened to post all those naked pictures of you.

You become slightly nervous as you watch Chifuyu’s blank expression. You worry that you’ve done something wrong and may have ruined their relationship because of his reaction. That is, until he seems to come back to reality and gives you a slight smile.

“I’ll take care of it.”

The next day goes very smoothly. No forced interactions with the omega males, nor any harassment or anything else you experience each day from their torture. Unfortunately, you hadn’t seen much of Chifuyu either but evidently he must’ve meant what he said considering nobody bothered you today. Your phone buzzes in your pocket, causing you to grab the device and eye the notification that states, “come to my apartment.” Your eyebrow raises at the lack of context Chifuyu gives but you don’t really worry about it and head over.

When he lets you in, you couldn’t help but smell the strong pheromones in the air. As a beta, it doesn’t affect you the way it would an alpha, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to the scent. Its strong cinnamon and earthy fumes remind you of burning incense. You follow Chifuyu through the living room to the hallway in confusion.

“Hey, what’s going on?” You asked as the smell became stronger. You wondered how Chifuyu didn’t go into a rut himself with how overwhelming the scents are.

“Relax, Y/n. You’ll see. It’s a surprise for ya.” He smirks back at you before reaching the wooden door. He grabs the knob and pushes the door in, gesturing for you to walk in first.

You gasp at the display of Chifuyu’s bedroom. Your face heats up at the view of Baji and Kazutora bent on all fours with their naked asses in the air. They wear ball gags in their mouths as well as thick plugs in their behinds. Their cocks are swollen, leaking slick on the comforter. At this angle, you couldn’t see their faces but could only imagine how red they were. Chifuyu gently pushes you in the room more before closing the door behind him and walking towards the omegas.

“After you told me about my mates acting up, I decided to have a little chat with them. I need to explain something to you…” He rests an arm over Baji’s lower back before bringing the opposite limb down for a swift and harsh slap against his ass cheek, causing a moan from the omega’s throat, “…a few heats ago, I guided them through it like I usually do. What I wasn’t expecting was a piece of your clothing embedded in their nest.” Your eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment.

No way.

Chifuyu makes his way over to Kazutora, giving a slight squeeze to his testicles which causes him to whimper against his ball gag. “Honestly, I was a little scared that you guys were having an affair since they wouldn’t stop asking about you so I made them give me their phones.” Your eyes continued to stay wide throughout the calm speech Chifuyu was making. You can’t believe how casual he’s acting. Alphas are known to be territorial creatures. You have even seen him knock some guys out for making perverted remarks about his partners. It’s insane he never confronted you about it.

“Chifuyu, I-!” You didn’t want him to think that you did anything wrong so you were going to explain what really happened, until he cut you off.

“Seeing some of those pictures of you made me realize that maybe I don’t mind the connection between you and my partners. Maybe I wouldn’t mind mating with you either.” He smiled. Your jaw hangs open at the statement.

“Holy fu-!” You're cut off again as he continues.

“Since I didn’t mind it. I was gonna give it time. Let it play out and deal with it head on when it’s time. I understood that you were probably too intimidated to tell me anything so I let it slide, but before I could court you…” Kazutora yelps once Chifuyu snatched the plug from his ass, slick oozing out as he looks down at the object in his hand.

“…I didn't know that the pictures were against your will. And worst of all, that they had been abusing you.”

“A-Alpha, please…” Although the ball gag muffled Kazutora’s speech, you could hear the begging clearly.

“Fuyu…I’m s-!” Before Baji could finish his muffled plea, the plug was also snatched from his ass as well as a harsh slap meeting his cheek.

“I didn’t say either of you could speak.” Chifuyu wears a stern expression on his face before commanding them to kneel on the floor, facing you.

You flinch before awkwardly facing down at the vulnerable omegas kneeling in front of your feet, the jingle of Kazutora’s earring sounding like a collar. You played with the hem of your shirt, not knowing what to do, especially with the intense eye contact they’re both giving you. You could tell they were in a forced heat by the sweat on their bodies and the dimness in their eyes. This is such an embarrassing situation for you, and yet you could see the excitement within their flushed faces.

“So on behalf of my omegas, I am sorry for their dishonorable behavior. They don’t know how to express themselves emotionally. They tried to do that shit with me and I fucked the shit out of both of them. It’s how we mated.” Chifuyu shrugged before walking to stand behind his kneeling partners. He placed his hands on his hips before giving you a wide smile.

When he unclips the ball gags from their heads, you eye them with shock as they place their hands on their laps. Both men apologize with Kazutora crying and Baji with an embarrassed, yet pouty expression on his face.

“It’s fine, I guess. Just don’t do that shit again.” You said, scratching the back of your head.

After that, you don’t really know how but before you could leave, you let Chifuyu talk you into getting your vagina eaten out by his partners as a way of a meaningful apology, and they lapped that shit up like it was their last meal. You honestly couldn’t believe it. You almost didn’t accept it until he made his claims. Next thing you know you had Chifuyu’s cock inside of your pussy from behind as you sat on his lap, his hands spreading your legs as your juices were still getting lapped up.

All in all you didn’t leave that room until you were bonded to the pack, the bites having been slightly painful and yet arousing. Honestly, you hadn’t even known you were fully mated to them, mentally checked out until Chifuyu caught your attention and told you to bite all of them back.

You didn’t really have a choice but to accept your fate. It wasn’t so bad, the abuse stopped though the omegas still teased you. Chifuyu makes a great alpha when it comes to relationships and there was definitely a lot more romance in this partnership than you expected, although you didn’t really expect to be in a relationship with any of them in the first place.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

A Guiding Hand 2

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, age gap, parental neglect, depression, inference of self harm, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: your online academics are affected by your personal struggles but your professor won’t let you give up so easy.

Characters: Raymond Smith, Lee Bodecker in the background

Note: I think my back is ok now.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Tuesday comes too quickly. You don’t sleep the night before. It’s more than just Lee and your mother arguing that keeps you awake. The anxiety of your meeting bears down on you like an open maw, ready to devour you.

You don’t expect it to go well. You’re not even sure why you’re doing it. 

That one thought repeats over and over. You don’t have to. You can cancel. You can make another excuse and stay a loser. That’s easy. Maybe that’s why it’s so scary. Because new things are hard. 

You languish in bed as the time ticks by. You got to get up and get moving. Soon, you’ll do something. Soon. 

You roil in the trepidation. Each move, each little thing, is a gargantuan task. You sneak out to wash your face and make yourself as presentable as you can. You waited too long. You have five minutes to put something on that isn’t wrinkled and stale. 

You put on a black sweatshirt, hoping the little balls of lint aren’t visible. Maybe you can get away with just turning the microphone on. You open the computer and shift in the chair. One minute. 

You find the email and scroll down to the link. You hover over it and stare. Noon on the dot. Your hand falters and you click the Zoom meeting. It opens in the browser and your breath traps in your chest.  

The little box in the corner is black as you leave the red line through the camera icon as the mic catches the rustle of your shirt. There’s a man on screen. He sits before an office backdrop but you can’t tell if its digitally generated or real. His blond hair is combed back and he sports a thick beard and glasses. He wears a wool sweater over a collared shirt and stares down the camera. 

“Hello,” he speaks, “anyone there?” 

You clear your throat and croak, nearly choking on your own spit.  

“Here,” you manage to squeak. 

“Ah, hello there, may I ask you turn your camera on?” His voice is low and lilted, almost smoky in a way. 

You hesitate and scratch your neck, letting your fingers wander up to your scalp. The itch spread, making sitting still unbearable. You wince as you hear someone in the kitchen, the fridge door closes heavily and a dish clinks on the counter. 

“Hello?” The voice comes again. 

You panic and hit the keyboard. You steady your hand and tap the camera, shying away as you slouch in your chair. The dim glow of your bedside lamp leaves you in shadow. Still, you feel exposed. 

“Better,” he says but with little enthusiasm, “well, I suppose we best get to the meat of things,” he adjusts his posture. 

“Okay,” you murmur and cross your arms, looking evasively at the wall. 

“Good to finally meet. I’m Professor Smith,” he introduces himself and calls you by name. 

“You too,” you utter out of courtesy. This is torture to you. 

“Now, you’ve done very well on your completed work,” his eyes scan as he looks at the screen before him, "you’ve shown improvement up until a few weeks ago. You do have a lot of potential to be successful here--” 

You nod and hunch down further. You just feel worse. You’re a lazy slob. You didn’t finish your work just like you never finish the laundry or cleaning your room. 

“Irene!” Lee’s voice booms on the other side of the wall and you wince, looking over your shoulder then back to the computer. You huddle closer, hoping he didn’t hear that. Your mother’s drone responds to the holler. 

“Perhaps it is the format? We could explore another option for your remaining assignments. I can accommodate where necessar--” 

“Fuck off!” Lee shouts and a loud bang hits the hallway wall. You gulp and your lips part. 

“Lee, please, I didn’t-- I wouldn’t--” 

“Should’ve known better than to trust a whore!” Lee barks. 

You cover your face and shrink down. No! Not now. 

“Is everything alright?” He asks and you separate your fingers, looking through them. You drop your hands and nod. 

“Sorry--” 

Another loud thump, this time against your door and your mother sobs loudly as she slides down the other side. You stammer and your lip trembles as you stare mortified at the lens in the frame of the laptop. This is awful. 

“What is happen--” 

You wiggle your fingers on the touchpad and hit End Call. You retract and wrap your arms around your head, folding over your lap as you rock. How humiliating. You can’t believe that happened. Well, you can. It’s what always happens. 

Your mother and Lee continue to argue, their fight just outside your door. You shake your head as you stay curled over. You don’t know why she does this. These men come around, call her names, knock her around, and she lets them come right back. 

A tinkling noise comes from the speaker. Professor Smith is calling you. You decline the call. An email chimes in at the corner. It’s from him as well. You see the preview, a response to his last email. 

‘Please respond or I will call authorities to confirm your saf....’ 

You click on the notification to expand the full message. You sigh and don’t bother reading the rest as you hit reply. 

‘Everything is fine. I will take the fail. Thank you.’ 

Another call comes in. Just leave me alone! You hit the red button again and delete his last email. And he calls again. Ugh. What does he care. You’re sure he has lots of students to worry about. Another email and another call. Back and forth until you accidentally hit the wrong key. 

He appears again, closer to the lens as his forehead lines, “hello, hey, hey,” he sits back, holding up a hand as you scramble, panicking as you fidget and try to figure out what to do, “don’t hang up, alright? Don’t, or I will be obligated to call the police.” 

As he commands you, your mother and Lee continue their sparring in the hall, voices raised though not as clear from the front room. You sniff and rub your cheek, soothing yourself as you bring up your other hand to chew on your sleeve. 

“Are you in danger?” He asked pointedly. You shake your head. “What is all that then?” 

He’s quiet and you are enveloped again in the chaos outside your room. You shrug and tilt your head to one side. You look down. 

“My mom...” 

He sighs, “look, I wouldn’t have taken the time to call if I didn’t think you could do this. Perhaps, this was the wrong avenue. So, is it possible we meet somewhere neutral. In person?” 

You shudder and sit up as much as you can, wringing your hands, “I... I... don’t drive.” 

“That’s alright, is there a library near you, yeah? I can find my way.” 

You frown and flick your lip under your teeth several times. You see yourself in the little box. You look scary as your eyes are pools of shadows. 

“Uh...” you pull your hands apart and open a new tab, happy to have your image off the screen. You type into the search. You think there’s a library close by. “Yes, um, there is...” 

“Send me the location. We’ll reschedule. When are you available? Thursday? I’m afraid tomorrow I’m booked up.” 

You switch back to the video call. You feel tears tightening your throat and ready to spring. You shake your head and paste the URL of the library branch into the chat. His eyes flit down to read it. 

“Thursday,” you repeat but it’s not as much a question as you mean. 

“Thursday is good. Can we do earlier? Ten?” He asks. 

You don’t know. You’re not used to making decisions. You don’t get asked for your preference ever. 

“Sure,” you answer, just wanting to end the call and hide in bed. 

“Alright, I’ll pencil you in,” he says, “shall I stay on the call until that...” he pauses as Lee continues to bluster, “subsides?” 

“No,” you shake your head. 

He stares at you, his forehead lined with disapproval. Why does he care so much? He doesn’t know you. 

“Are you certain?” He intones. 

You nod, “I have to go.” 

You end the call and shut the computer. Your stomach is a jumble and you’re jittering with adrenaline. All your life, you’ve hidden behind these walls; you’ve hidden all that goes on there. To have someone witness it is worse than the yelling and hitting itself. 

You ignore the chirp from the laptop and throw yourself into bed. Thursday. So, another torturous purgatory begins, waiting to face the professor and your incompetence once more. 

📓

Thursday comes too quickly. 

You sit in your room and convince yourself to go. It was easier when it was just a computer screen, though even that was difficult. Only for you because you’re so messed up. Because you can’t do anything. 

What else can you do? The whole night you were awake thinking about how you would tell your mother. If you flunk out, you default on the student loan and you’re even deeper in the pit. The true consequences of your laziness are clearer now and you can’t let your sloth bury you again. If you do, you may as well give up on everything. Even life itself. 

So, you have no choice. You’re being given a last chance. Again. You’d feel even worse for not taking it than you would for failing at it. 

You pull on a hoodie and grab your house key and your knapsack with your computer and notebook tucked inside. That’s all you really have. No phone, no wallet. Just the bare minimum.  

You shuffle to the door, standing just inside as you muster your courage. You check your digital watch, an old Casio you’ve had for years. The numbers are dim and hard to read in the dark. You have to get going. 

You emerge and go down to the kitchen to sneak a sip of water before you go. Your room is always so dry at night. You drain a glass and rinse it out, leaving it beside the sink. As you turn around, you hear your mother’s bedroom door and the slap of her slippers as she slinks in. 

“Ah, honey,” she smiles dopily. You can smell liquor from there. She might even still be drunk as her hangovers usually keep her abed. “There you are! Oh, gosh, are you going somewhere?” 

“Mm, library,” you answer, “for school.” 

“Oh, smart girl,” she slurs. You try to smile but it’s shaky and weak. Your mom tries, you know that, so you can’t hate her. “Can you stop by the shop on your way? I got a twenty. Wouldn’t mind some vodka.” 

You pick at a fingernail, “mom, I don’t... I don’t like buying that stuff.” 

“Mm, I know, but I...” she sways on her feet and belches into her fist, “never mind. I’ll just ask Lee when he comes by.” 

“He’s coming?” You ask warily. 

“Sure, sure,” she turns and staggers to the fridge, “he must be missing me by now.” 

She bends, leaning on the door as she opens it, and peruses the mostly empty shelves. You leave her and go down the hall. You grab your shoes and slip them on, once more stopping at the threshold. Keep going. You made it this far. 

You let yourself out and lock the door behind you. You take the stairs down to the first level and continue out onto the street. You keep to the edge of the pavement as you weave around other pedestrians that pass. 

Your lips move as you recite the directions to yourself. You were sure to memorise the route as best as you could. You get turned around but right yourself and make it to the corner when you can see the grey brick of the library. 

You wait at the light before you cross and your heart begins to race the closer you get. Oh no, you don’t know if you can do this. You want to just run away. What if he sees you and changes his mind? I mean, look at you. You’re not some perky coed, you’re... you. 

You stare up at the facade and the large letters over the entrance. You take the first step, then the next. You focus on that. Right foot, left foot. Little things, one at a time. You can do this. You have to. 

[aspiring-writer-hidden-voice]

🚿

[Katsuki pov]

“Oi…” my voice whispers into your ear, allowing my heated breath to waft it as I come up behind you, allowing a slight rumble to enter my voice as my bigger form looms over yours from behind. “What do you think you’re doing simping for those damn extras when I’m right here?”

One of my hands rises, gently combing its fingers through your hair in slow strokes as I growl softly. The fresh shower I had just taken is allowing my natural musk to fill the air, surrounding you in its scent and permeating every single molecule in the air as I brush my lips against your earlobe when I prevent you from turning around to face me. “You got some damn nerve, you know, thinking I wouldn’t catch you…”

The palm of my hand slipping around your waist to rest against your stomach gives a slight squeeze as I activate my quirk just enough to heat your soft skin; it’s not a threat, as I’ve taught you before so many times, but it does convey when I am feeling jealous. My heated breath wafts your sensitive neck as I press my temple against yours while my other hand falls to your hip to keep you facing away.

“Don’t you dare try to turn around again until I say so. I’m not done with you yet.” I press my entirely against your back, smirking when I feel you tremble when you realize I didn’t have anything other than the towel wrapped around my waist, allowing the leftover spray from the shower drip from my blond hair to trickle down my built body and absorb into your clothing. “This is killing you, ha? Not being able to look at me in my glory knowing I just showered…”

I growl lowly when you try to speak in your defense, catching the lobe of your ear in my teeth. “I don’t want to hear your lame ass excuses.” A huff sounds from my throat when the hand I have on your stomach lowers to your abdomen as the heat it’s producing grows. “You really think I’m going to believe that? No way in hell.”

The smirk raising my lips becomes devilish as your squirm when my heated fingers sink beneath your waistband and touch your folds. Another growl slips from me and into your ear as I find you completely soaked to the point where my fingers instantly become coated in your essence. “Fuck, baby, you’re so wet…” I exhale hotly into your ear as I give a slow grind of my pelvis against your ass in slow motions, my cheeks dusting with heat that wasn’t from the shower when feeling you press back against me with a moan. Using my heated fingers I find the sensitive little clit you’re trying to hide by shifting in my hold and give it a firm press as my teeth scrape along the side of your neck, giving a rough thrust with my hips so you feel my now raging erection. “You should’ve said something instead of fantasizing those other weaklings…when you needed a real man to fulfill those wants, those desires that only I can satisfy.”

My hand that had been on your hip suddenly rises to gently cup your throat and jaw when you try to look at me. Thanks to my quirk the pads of my fingers and palms are calloused slightly, rubbing and tantalizing your being in a torturous way that I know you secretly love as I exhale with a growl into your ear. “Be a good little brat and face the wall until I tell you. Don’t make me anymore pissed than I already am.” A brush of my lips makes the fine hairs across your body rise, the pulse in your neck quickening visibly, and I suppress a groan at the sight of your being starting to tremble. “That’s it, forget all of those wannabe weaklings…focus on the man who has you in his arms…”

(I really hope it’s okay I tag you here, I’m still learning! I hope you enjoyed!)

@zazter-den @bakubunny

[lucysarah-c]

Levi getting overwhelmed with ladies attention

This is an upcoming part of my multichapter Levi x reader fic but you don't need much context to understand it. It takes place before Levi becomes a captain but after the events of ACWNR. He's dating YN in secrecy, almost nobody knows about it. Except Y/n's friends because... girls tell eachother everything lmao.

That's it. That's all.

The garrison division of the main city of Wall Rose was a busy place, always crowded and loud. When Erwin decided to show the place around to Levi, the shortest one thanked the scouts was a quiet place. The number of affiliates couldn’t even begin to compare and, yet, it was just a division. There were plenty of more members across the walls.

“Levi!” a brunette girl called, making both of them turn around. Erwin curious on who could know the former thug. Levi followed the calling voice at the distance and saw a young nurse talking to other girls with the pristine white uniform before rushing to them.

“You know her?” the yet to be commander inquired.

“I’ve no fucking idea who she’s,” Levi murmured because the girl, with another 5 quickly appear.

“Hi, Levi!” “Hello!” “Levi! how are you?” all of them joined in chaotic greetings as they surrounded the brand new scouts. Pushing Erwin out of the way, who moved reluctantly and the shorter youthful girls ignored him completely. 

Erwin, who was completely lost in the sudden popularity, searched for the black haired man expression in the wave of girls. He couldn’t help but to chuckle on the back of his throat to admire the usual stoic expression of Levi, changed into a complete confusion and scared state. ‘Like a cat when there are too many children around,’ he thought.

“You haven’t forgotten us, haven’t you?” A short blond girl wondered, faking taking offense.

To which Levi, not even trying to fake interest or politeness, replied “I don’t even know who all of you are?”

Erwin was well aware how much desire nurses were in the military, most soldiers died for their attention and grimace to the idea of Levi, who was single as far as he was aware, completely neglected the female attention.

However, they all chuckle as one. White pleated skirts moving as they turned to look into each other, convinced in the hilarious moment.

“He’s a keeper!” they all said as if it was inner code that made the short black haired guy frown even deeper, confused, lost, scared.

“We are Y/n’s friends! Do you remember us? We were helping in the tents during the last expedition!” The brunette, who seemed to be taking the lead of the assault, explained. Levi drew his eyebrows even more together, if that was even possible, and once again they giggled “You’re too busy, don’t worry!”

As if they were creating their own excuses in favor of the poor black haired man.

“Are you joining the garrison?” One ginger asked and touched his right arm softy, catching his attention Levi turned right, frowned, and moved his arm out of the way trying to erase the hand “No,”

“Why are you here then?” Another question, this time by a blond girl with big brown eyes. She also touched his arm, but the left one.

Levi was trying to remain as friendly as possible, knowing that they were, probably, his girlfriend’s friends. But he wasn’t used to the free affectional touches and he wasn’t found either.

“Extra hours on free days,” He explained quickly, wishing this sort of torture to end.

He was, over all, not a really social person. He didn’t enjoy the crowds, the attention and, less, the sudden highly affectionate friends of his girlfriend.

“Oh! So we will see you around!” One replied and they all smiled brighter “Make sure to pass by on our facilities,”

“No, thank you” Levi was quick to reply.

Another blond chuckled “He’s funny! Can you stay for tea?”

All the five girls nodded enthusiastically “Yes! We have biscuits!” The brunette insisted “Y/n told us you don’t have that many friends in the surface yet, we can be your friend,”

Another squeeze on his arm, friendly.

“Don’t touch me,”

He was getting too overwhelmed, internally wishing to be outside the walls facing titans than be cornered up in a social interaction inside the walls. Gray eyes moving from one place to another, not knowing which girl paid attention as they all talked. Quickly, he turned to Erwin who was chuckling at the scene and made a desperate call of “COME AND HELP ME” with his overwhelmed facial expression.

The blond, entertained, decided to give away the other man his help. “Sorry, ladies, but I need to bring him back to the scouts. I promise to borrow him another afternoon,”

“Oww,” They complained out loud “alright” The agreement sounded less enthusiastic.

One by one, they all smiled. White teeth shined through their red lipsticks that matched the red cross on the uniform. “Goodbye!”

Each faraway came with a subtle kiss on the cheek, Levi almost parting his face in disgust of the physical touch. He didn’t even have time to try his best friendly tone to beg for them to not do it.

Once the group walked away parting, waving a goodbye to the tallest of the two. White mary jane heels echoing against cobblestones. Levi’s breath was rushed as he finally felt free but he turned around confused and overwhelmed when Erwin began to chuckle loudly.

“What?”

“You should see your face” 

Loud and deep groans of complaint came from Erwin’s attached bathroom, at his office. Meanwhile, the blond was slacked against the green stuffed chair laughing his ass off. Mike, who joined at some point when he heard the laughter, was chuckling.

“This shit doesn’t come off!” Levi screamed from the bathroom, only making the other two laugh loudly.

Levi was hurtfully scrubbing a towel against his cheeks, they almost burned on the pressure but the red lipstick wasn’t going anywhere, only mugging around into an intense stain of red on both of his pale cheeks.

“Oi! Give me something!” He complained to Erwin, owner of the place.

“What do you want me to give you?” He said between chuckles “I have already given you all that I own! Soap, a towel, shaving cream, after shave tonic!”

Indecipherable groaning complaints filled the room as the other two blonds laughed.

“I’ll never understand what women like nowadays,” Mike commented “Why are they so interested in a man under 1.80?” 

Both of them, unaware of Levi’s brand new relationship yet and that relationship connections, imagined that it was sexual attention from the nurses.

“Tell me a period of time when you ever phantom what women like,” The future commander argued back.

“Touché”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Levi!” Erwin shouted from his desk, making the short man peak through the door’s frame. Red cheeks making both of them chuckle again.

“What?” The moodiness was almost palpable.

“Why don’t you ask a female cadet if they have something to take that off?”

Levi’s frowning eyes quickly turned to Mike who was in a relationship with Nanaba, silently asking.

“Don’t look at me, Nanaba doesn’t like to wear makeup,”

Levi refused to wait until Y/N came back to take that off from his face. Also, another reason was that he feared that the girl would misread it if she found him with his face covered in another woman’s rush.

A knock at the door and then it opened.

“I brought some papers from Hange,” Moblit spoke up to Erwin then turned to his left and saw Levi still trying to scrub his face with soap “Woah, what happened to you?”

“Levi got attacked by a group of feral nurses,” Erwin commented entertained.

All of them began to chuckle again and the future Captain was cursing them under his breath, ashamed at this point.

“Do you want me to ask Nifa for a makeup remover? That is not going anywhere, probably waterproof”  Moblit gently asked.

“Look at that, Moblit knows a lot about women’s lipstick,”

“We are surrounded by lady killers, Mike”

The two oldest men in the room were immersed in their own conversation.

“I have 2 older sisters that forced me to play with them,” Moblit commented as an excuse.

Levi sighed loudly and said “please,”

[theodorecanaryhood]

The tale of the Robin who never loved

Jason Todd x Male Reader (including swearing and sex)

Happy pride 🏳️‍🌈

A dark abandoned warehouse filled with the screams of Jason Todd, the second Robin. The angry teenager who got too cocky.

Joker had just about done all methods of torture on the young man, laughing hysterically the whole time. Fear and sadness was all Jason could feel right now.

Jason never loved his whole life, his parents were just as bad as most of the scum who roamed the streets at night in Gotham. Jason lived in the streets, then being adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Jason found it hard to love the man he now calls Dad, feeling like he was only adopted into the Wayne line to replace his older brother, Dick. Not there because Bruce loved and cared for him.

So, here it was now in present day Gotham City, with Jason, or rather currently Red Hood, dishing what he was given all his life.

His unhealthy amount of anger was fostered by a pair of personas, until the day it was finally released on anyone who crossed him the wrong way.

Jason was not a happy man nor was he an empathetic man, at least not to those he didn’t care much for. He, of course, would make it very obvious. If Jason didn’t like you, there was no changing it, he did not like you.

Half the time there was no reason behind it, he just didn’t want to be open to new people. So used dislike as an excuse.

One particular humid night on patrol, humidity, heat and anger are never a good mix FYI, Jason was just not in the mood to give in. Patrol was rough, and criminals would be on the receiving end unfortunately.

The night club was loud tonight as the music blared, so loud the floor vibrated violently. Though no one cared, alcohol mixed with lights. People were never caring to complain the nightclub music hurt their ears.

Jason in particular stood out as he sat alone at the bar, drinking neat whiskey, more neat whiskey, shots, neat whiskey.

Was he drinking to forget? Feel better? Sleep better?

Jason didn’t know at this point as he poured the booze down his throat, waiting for the affects to kick in. One thing from the pit, was his tolerance got better, would drink way more than the average man and still had no affect. Drunkenness was not easy to come by.

The music was a good choice as Jason just listened and hummed along, to himself and just enjoyed the feel and the beat.

‘Hey handsome’ a woman smiled as she approached Jason.

Not unattractive to be fair as she stood a good height, roughly about 5’6, blonde curly hair, night dress. Great legs and soft skin. Big, blue eyes, not overdone with the fake tan and makeup.

‘Hi’ Jason side smiled, the woman placed her hand on Jason’s bicep, having a good feel.

‘I’m Elena, wanna dance with me?’ She asked, not letting go of Jason’s arm.

‘Sorry, Elena, I’m not really a dancer’ he replied politely, trying to pull his arm out of her grip.

Jason had his admirers but never cared much to let it go anywhere. To be fair, Jason knew his type, he just never met anyone from that.

‘It’s ok, we can have some drinks and see where the night goes’ Elena continued, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

‘We can have a drink, I really don’t mind. Could use company’ Jason agreed, Elena getting happy as she sat next to him.

The two spoke for a while as they got past the first name basis, talking about music interests, different types of cocktails they liked.

‘So, you wanna have that dance now?’ Elena asked after a minute of talking about random music choice.

‘Still not a dancer, sorry’ Jason reminded, Elena smiled as she shrugged.

‘No problem hotness, we can go back to my place and have a different kind of dance’ Elena laughed.

‘You are a very beautiful woman Elena, but you’re really not my type’ Jason responded as politely as possible.

Elena looked at Jason annoyed as she sighed, looking him the eyes.

‘What would make me your type?’ She asked, Jason chuckled a little.

‘My type is toned, dark haired, nice eyes, great smile, male’ Jason informed, Elena clocked on and nodded.

‘Got it’ she said, sliding off the chair and walking away with her drink.

Jason laughed a little as he started on his next drink. Not paying attention to anything as he found humour in the situation he was just in.

That’s when he knocked someone’s arm and spilt their drink all over them, Jason’s eyes shot wide as he turned to them.

‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry, so sorry’ Jason apologised profusely to the male figure standing next to him.

‘It’s ok, really I didn’t look where I was going’ you said, seeing as Jason stared at you.

Call it enough and it’ll happen as Jason looked at you, toned, nice eyes, great smile, dark hair and male. Shit.

‘Let me buy you another drink’ Jason said as he urged you to stay next to him.

‘It’s ok’ you placed a hand on his shoulder, Jason insisting.

‘No really, it’s only polite, I knocked your drink out of your hand the least I should do is buy you another’ Jason kept insisting as he got the bartender over.

‘Hey, can I get another…uh’ Jason looked at you, you laughed.

‘God father’

‘Right, another one please’ Jason said to the bartender as he paid for the drink.

‘Feel like I should take you out to dinner’ you chuckled to Jason as he handed you the drink.

Jason looked at you with his eyebrows raised, smiling a little.

‘I mean, you brought me a drink so I should get you dinner’

Jason kicked the bar stool next to him to invite you to sit down, which you did.

The two of you sat for ages as you laughed and talked about life, having quite a deep conversation. You couldn’t deny this handsome stranger was quite intriguing.

‘I’m Jason Todd by the way, just realised I haven’t told you my name’ Jason held out his hand.

‘Y/n y/l/n’ you shook his hand with a bright smile.

The night got late as you looked down to see it was almost 1 in the morning, you didn’t even register how late it had gotten.

‘Crap, is that the time?’ You said looking at your phone screen.

‘Curfew?’ Jason asked jokingly as you smiled, nodding.

‘Something like that, was telling my roommate I wouldn’t be out too late tonight’ you stood up as Jason looked a little upset.

‘Well, if I give you my number will I get that dinner you promised?’ Jason asked, holding your hand.

‘Yeah, here’ you pulled a marker from behind the counter and wrote on Jason’s arm, your number of course.

‘Don’t wash that arm till you save my number’ you winked as you have Jason a kiss on the cheek.

Jason was almost floating the whole way home as he kept thinking about you, literally all he thought about for the 15 minute walk was you.

Your laugh, your smile…everything about you, Jason just wanted to go see you now.

‘What the hell?’ Jason said to himself as he got to his front door, wondering why he was like this all of a sudden.

First date was great, you gave Jason what he promised. Second date, Jason promised to kiss you spontaneously. And he did.

Jason stood with you under an archway as he took your hand in his, pulling you in and giving you a deep kiss. The kiss almost made you stop breathing as your heart stopped too, for about 30 seconds.

The kiss was all Jason could think about for the next couple of days, he couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. How good it made him feel.

It had been so long since Jason had kissed a guy he was sure he’d do something wrong, but you were so laid back. It took the pressure off.

Jason stood staring at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his shirt collar, he sprayed himself again. Thinking about how the next part was coming.

You entered Jason’s apartment after he kissed you at the door, all Jason wanted to do was kiss you. All the time.

There was a nice candlelit dinner with some light music on in the background, though no one paid attention to the music.

Jason couldn’t help the aching twitch in his pants as he looked at you, holding your hand from the other side of the table.

You weren’t doing much better either as all you could concentrate on right now was the same thing, the twitch.

Jason stood up as he took your hands in his and stood you up, kissing you passionately all of a sudden. A kiss you welcomed.

You pulled Jason in and pressed yourself up against his body, a body you’d been dying to see.

Jason slid your shirt off as you didn’t even register he’d unbuttoned it, you unbuttoning Jason’s. Running your hand down his torso, looking down and almost gasping.

‘Wow, you’re ripped’ you smiled.

A sigh of relief came from Jason as he pulled you in for another kiss, a relief that you never once commented on the scar filled body.

Jason lifted you up so your legs were wrapped around his waist, taking you to his room. Throwing you on his bed.

Jason pulled your pants down, your underwear and greeted your throbbing, hard dick with his mouth.

You threw your head back into the pillow as you moaned out, a breath escaped from your mouth in sheer joy.

Jason worked on your shaft like a pro as you moaned out, Jason held your hips in place as he went to work.

The bliss from his new found hobby was a feeling you didn’t know you could have, Jason holding you down so he could do all the work.

Jason came up to your face as he gave you another deep kiss, his tongue tasted of your pleasure. Though he wasn’t ready for you to finish yet.

He rolled you onto your stomach as he pulled your legs apart, Jason’s tongue tearing into your hole. Giving kisses to your ass cheeks, along with bites.

Jason was so hard it was hurting him but he wasn’t ready until you were, he wanted you to tell him how much you needed him. Jason was polite like that.

Jason dug his fingertips into your cheeks while his tongue devoured the hole, you gasping in pleasure.

‘Jason, I want you’ you breathed out, you felt Jason smile while his face was against you.

‘You sure?’ Jason asked, you grabbed at Jason’s leg, urging him to come closer.

You rolled on your back and kissed Jason deeply again, his lips were something special. You’d never had kisses like his before.

His kisses were hungry almost as Jason would grab and pull you close, yet he was also light when kissing, he would lightly peck before getting deeper.

‘Holy, wow’ you gasped as Jason took off his underwear.

There it was, Jason’s prize for your patience, his hard and throbbing dick, at least at a good 9/10 inches.

‘Come here baby’ Jason said sweetly, pulling you closer to him.

Jason lay you on your back while he kissed you, laying in between your spread open legs. Jason was lined up and ready.

You guys had spoken about protection already, you telling Jason you’re allergic to latex, so Jason took the responsibility to get latex free condoms.

Jason slid into you slowly, you buried your face into his shoulder, taking deep breaths. Jason entered and stayed there for a few seconds.

‘You ok babe?’ He asked you, you nodding as you breathed your way through it.

‘Yeah, feels amazing’ you smiled, Jason pecked your nose.

‘You want poppers?’ He asked sweetly, you shook your head.

‘No, just fuck me’ you urged as Jason began to move slowly.

Slow and small thrusts to start as No to brag, but Jason was aware he was quite big in the genital department, so he usually had to take his time when having sex with someone new.

‘Oh God, that feels amazing’ you breathed out, Jason smiled as he saw your face. Biting your lip, closing your eyes while your head was back in the pillow.

‘My sweet Angel’ Jason whispered as he picked up a quicker pace.

It had been a while for Jason so he was aware to take it slow, not to finish too quickly. Also, he was enjoying the view of you.

‘Jason, oh God’ you couldn’t find words as Jason began to move faster. Testing how fast he could go with you.

The more Jason sped up the more you loved it, so Jason began going quicker to a point where he was slapping against you.

‘I wanna sit on you’ you said as you urged Jason to roll on his back.

You slid back onto Jason’s dick while he lay down, you sitting on top.

You slid up and down slow for about a minute, running your hands up and down Jason’s arms and chest, then you began to go quicker.

‘Fuck, baby, y/n’ Jason almost shouted as you began to bounce quicker, allowing Jason to go balls deep inside you.

Jason took his hands away from your waist as he put one hand under his head, laying back. The other hand resting in your thigh.

Your hips moving as you began to jerk yourself, Jason taking his time to let you finish first.

‘Oh God I’m so close’ you moaned as you lay down on your back, your seed spilling everywhere. On Jason’s chest, the bed.

Jason chuckled as he started to pick up a quicker pace, you sat back up straight, feeling Jason inside you still.

‘Oh fuck, fuck’ Jason growled as he began to feel himself getting closer and closer.

‘Come in me’ you called out, neglecting the fact that the neighbours could hear you two.

Jason lifted his hips off the bed slowly and sharply as he got the end. Throwing his head back into the pillow.

You lay next to Jason as he caught his breath, while you kissed at his neck and shoulder.

‘I really need to clean up’ Jason smiled as he kissed your head, rolling out of bed.

Time went on and the two of you became more and more inseparable, after about 6 months Jason asked if you wanted to move your stuff to his apartment. You of course, accepting.

‘I really want to suck your dick’ Jason randomly said to you while you were cooking dinner, you smiled a little.

Jason lifted you off your feet and rested you on the counter, pulling your pants down as he went to work. Swallowing the load that came out.

‘Save the energy for dessert babe’ you smiled, Jason slapping your ass, pressing himself into you.

The two of you just had so much fun together and Jason was not even surprised or scared the first time you told him you loved him. He just wrapped you up in a hug, telling you he feels the same.

There was more to the relationship than just spurts if sex in the day, night and other times. Mean, you and Jason had sex nearly every night.

The other parts of the relationship was Jason surprising you to a trip away, Bruce’s beach house, a weekend getaway trip, a shopping trip. There really wasn’t anything Jason hadn’t surprised you with.

You introduced Jason to all the local Gay bars, you took him on his first pride March. Most precious to Jason, you just loved him hard. Probably the hardest anyone has ever loved him.

Jason Todd, the Robin who never loved, had changed dramatically and was mad at himself for so long going without you, for himself refusing to love and be loved. You helped him as he was now able to not only love you, but himself.

[rockingrobin69]

Insistently, Stickily Sweet

It started raining outside, a constant patter hitting the window, tap-tap-tapping away merrily. Inside, cocooned under a thick blanket, only a smattering of blond hair and the tip of a nose visible: “Is it finished,” a husk of a voice. He’d fallen asleep sometime during the second episode. Harry didn’t have the heart to wake him.

“Yes, sweetheart. Shall we call it a night?”

“No,” grumbling, fighting tooth and nail to free an arm, then another: emerging from the fuzzy material all mussed-up and bright, and lovely. “No, we said we’d watch them all.”

“Darling,” laughing, “you can’t even keep your eyes open.”

Draco stuck his nose up, the gesture slightly ruined for the pink of his cheeks. “I don’t need to see it to follow. Quiz me, on any part. I’ll tell you exactly what happened.”

“Oh no, I believe you,” Harry said quickly, half an excuse to wrap his arms around him, to press a mollifying kiss to his cheek. Pulling closer: “Come on, baby. This is stupid, and it’s getting late. Let’s go to bed.”

“No,” Draco still insisted, although he burrowed into him, leaned his head back. “Come on, press the button-thing. I have to know what, ah, Monica said to—Jerome.”

“Not even close,” Harry chuckled. “Did you catch any of it?”

“Of course. I caught it all. Come on, Harry, we’re not getting any younger, and I will not be the one to let our friends know we haven’t—argh!” when Harry grabbed him, “stop, stop, you goon, ah, the—fuck, Harry, with the tickling, have you no shame, a man comes to you vulnerable in half-sleep and you torture him, ah, ha, stop, stop!”

The words becoming shriekier and shriekier, delivered directly in his ear, and Draco was squirming in his arms, was too—an exhale, slightly shaky on how much, on how terribly much… buried his head in Draco’s neck, in the tacky warmth and the smell of the blanket and Draco’s shampoo.

“You’re impossible,” Harry said, muffled into his skin.

“I know,” with a smile so thick in his voice it was honey, it was gold. “So, what do you say. Another episode, no? Come on. Be a good boy for me, we both know you want to.”

“God, shut up,” just as it occurred to him: I’m going to spend the rest of my life with this man. The rest of his life. It felt bigger than a Wednesday-night, past eleven, Chinese takeout still sitting on dirty plates and re-runs of a silly 90’s comedy series on the telly. This, his Draco, with fluff from the blanket in his wild hair: it was so much bigger than anything he could have imagined.

“Fine,” helplessly, “one more. But just the one, Draco, I mean it. And then we go to bed.”

“Deal,” he smiled easily. Too easily: they’ll have the exact same argument when the episode’s over. Draco was a menace and Harry couldn’t wait.

Smugly, “Pansy will not be able to say she’s more well-versed in Muggle culture than I am.” Draco tucked himself under his arm, grumbled until he had the other one wrapped around him. Then the blanket, to cover them both, then his feet on the table, right in front of Harry’s face, obscuring half the screen. “All right?”

Breathing in deep: “Yeah, all right.” Pressed the remote control, and the sound of canned-laughter filled the living room.

Outside, the rain was still pouring, a continuous happy song Harry’s heart echoed. Inside, it was Wednesday, they both were so tired, and over-warmed, and massively, stickly, stupidly happy.

(Flufftober day 2. Find the soft AO3 collection here).

[jbuffyangel]

The Love We Deserve: Arrow 2x06 Review (Keep Your Enemies Closer)

This is the episode I knew the writers were going THERE with Olicity. I wasn’t sure about endgame. I certainly did not know how Oliver and Felicity’s story would unfold, but “Keep Your Enemies Closer” confirmed we were in this, fam. We were in this all the way.

2013 Jen's live reaction:

Let’s dig in…

Olicity

The first scene immediately sets up this juxtaposition between Felicity, Oliver and Isabel and it carries through the episode. It’s not a love triangle. Isabel doesn’t matter enough to warrant a point on a triangle, but they use her (quite effectively I might add) to show Oliver and Felicity are anything but “just friends.”

Isabel is bitching at Oliver for whatever-he-failed-to-do-this-week and Felicity is trying to get his attention for some arrow (Roy Harper) related business. Initially, she tries using “Mr. Queen” in a very boss/employee way, but ultimately is fed up with being ignored and yells “Oliver!”

Isabel barely tosses Felicity a glance, but Oliver ends the Co-CEO argument to leave with Felicity. Trust me when I say, Isabel clocks this decision.

Source: @okmcintyre

Oliver and Felicity join Diggle in his search for Lyla Michaels. She went to Russia to search for Deadshot and now she’s missing. Oliver uses a Queen Consolidated subsidiary in Moscow as their cover story and use of the company jet. Unfortunately, Isabel tags along. She believes Oliver is meeting with their overseas partners behind her back. Once she discovered Oliver didn’t have any meetings planned with their subsidiary in Moscow, her accusations shift to Felicity.

Oliver: I’m not this person you think I am.

Isabel: That depends.

Oliver: On what?

Isabel: On if I think you used the corporate jet for a weekend of fun with your assistant.

Oliver: Excuse me?

He does his very best to look incredulous at the idea of hooking up with Felicity while on a romantic weekend in Moscow. I really wouldn’t put Russia on my Top 10 list of romantic getaways. Tahiti made a lot more sense, but whatever. The point is – Oliver’s feathers are immediately ruffled. Did I see him blushing? Oliver lies all day every day both professionally and personally, but this line of questioning has him quite tongue tied.

Isabel: A blonde IT girl all of a sudden gets promoted to be assistant to the CEO? There are only two ways that happens. One is nepotism and she doesn’t look like your cousin.

Source: Paigeota

It absolutely should be happening, Oliver.

Isabel: What were her qualifications aside from an abundance of short skirts?

Source: Paigeota

This scene is incredibly important because A) it’s hilarious and B) this is the first time Arrow has addressed OUTLOUD Felicity Smoak as a love interest for Oliver Queen. Everything up until now has been gazing, fervent glances, shoulder touches, soft tones, sexual innuendo and the electric chemistry between Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards. But Isabel puts her money on the table and flat out accuses Oliver of sleeping with Felicity.

We, the audience, know Oliver and Felicity are not having sex (much to our horror and disappointment), but Isabel presents the one question we’ve been dying to ask Oliver – does he WANT to sleep with Felicity? And his answer is… glorious.

First he laughs, uncomfortably, like this is the most INSANE line of questioning to ever take place. Keep in mind this man was tortured on Lian Yu for information about bombs, planes, the location of a Chinese archer and Japanese soldiers bones from WWII. But nope, Oliver is shocked – SHOCKED I TELL YOU – that anyone would ever think he’s having sex with Felicity. Methinks he doth protest too much.

But Oliver trips up at the mention of skirts. He stutters his way through defending Felicity. It is damn near gallant of him to argue they are an appropriate length. No ma'am, the skirts are not too short. Not for Oliver Queen!

We can chalk this up to Oliver being a flesh and blood heterosexual man. The day they stop looking is the day they die. But this is the first time anyone has asked Oliver if he is sexually attracted to Felicity. He blushes, laughs, protests and stammers his way through his answer like a 13 year old boy.

Also, it’s extremely important to remember one episode prior Oliver was rejecting Laurel Lance in her apartment hallway after she tried to kiss him - his primary female love interest. Then the very next episode, the writers are crafting a scene forcing Oliver to address a romantic relationship with Felicity.

Is it a funny scene? Yes, but the real win for Olicity shippers is the question is being ASKED. The answer is even better. Yes, Oliver has noticed the skirts and the spectacular legs that go with them. You don’t say that about a character who is going to remain a platonic, comic relief Girl Wednesday.

We are so far from done. Diggle infiltrates the Russian prison where Lyla is being held while Oliver and Felicity meet up with Anatoly to purchase a Russian police car as part of their escape plan. Felicity is extremely anxious about Diggle, so Oliver offers her some witty banter and a shoulder touch as reassurance.

When the Russians try to fleece Oliver he threatens to make their children orphans in Russian.

It’s all very Bratva Oliver and menacing, but with Felicity he makes a little joke and winks! One could say his demeanor is quite light hearted – dare I say flirting?

Source: Paigeota

Oliver returns to the hotel and has a drink with Isabel. Bizarrely, he brings up Felicity again – unprompted. He couldn’t wiggle out of this line of questioning fast enough and now he can’t stop bringing it up! Pick a lane, my dude.

Oliver: Does everyone really think that Felicity and I are…

EXPLAIN THE DOT DOT DOT OLIVER! LET'S BE SPECIFIC!

Isabel: No. Just everyone who works at Queen Consolidated.

My kingdom to hang out by the water cooler in that office.

More with the loud chuckling. Nothing to see here but friendship. Look at all the friendship. Hardy har har.

Isabel: You don’t seem like the kind of man who has female friends.

That’s the understatement of the century. Putting Oliver’s sexual partners aside for the moment - Felicity is in a unique position. Oliver doesn’t have a lot of friends let alone female friends. Felicity is also the only female in his life who knows he’s the Arrow. Has he told her everything about his past? No, but relax. We’re only on Season 2. 

Oliver has shared quite a lot with Felicity in a relatively short amount of time. He trusts her (as much as he's capable of) and Oliver does not trust easily. Felicity is the only woman Oliver can be completely and authentically himself with. This makes her more than unique – it makes Felicity special. I think Oliver understands that and he approaches their friendship with reverence. He toes a very strict line with Felicity – for a very good reason which he will reveal later on in the episode.

Isabel: Underneath that swagger, I see you pretty clearly. You’re intelligent, driven and lonely.

Isabel reveals she doesn’t buy Oliver’s bad boy routine and instead believes she shares a lot in common with him. We can take this conversation one of two ways – 1) two people connecting over vodka and a shared ability to speak Russian or 2) Oliver is working Isabel to keep the real reason for this trip a secret. Bonus? He gets laid in the process.

Clearly, I’m going with option 2. He feeds her a line about loneliness in Russian and Isabel practically races Oliver back to the hotel room.

Mercifully, we don’t have to watch them have sex. Oliver is pressed for time because they need to save Diggle, but Isabel is fine with the wham bam thank you ma'am. Oliver thinks he left enough time, but as he opens the door to his hotel there stands Felicity just about to knock.

Oliver left Isabel undressed and in his bed, but the woman finds her clothes with lightning speed when she hears Felicity at the door and purposefully makes her exit then.

If Isabel bought Oliver’s “we’re just friends” speech then doing this would not be necessary. Isabel wants Felicity to know they slept together. Regardless of what people at Queen Consolidated think, Isabel knows there’s more going on between them than Oliver will admit. She wants to hurt Felicity. Isabel is marking her territory and I would encourage you to listen to Stephen Amell’s thoughts on why. #Cosigned.

However, this is NOT information Oliver wants Felicity to know. He is so embarrassed he can’t even look at Felicity as Isabel walks out the door.

Felicity is stunned. She’s actually speechless. Oliver tries to offer up some feeble explanation, but he doesn’t get very far. 

Felicity immediately makes a joke to alleviate the tension, but as she turns we can see her hurt and anger.

She cannot fathom a reason why Oliver would sleep with this woman. Whether or not Oliver heard Felicity’s remarks – he grimaces because he knows he screwed up. BIG TIME. It is so awkward and painful.

But again, the viewers must ask a fundamental question – why is this scene being written like Felicity caught Oliver cheating on her? Oliver is single. Isabel is single. Felicity is single. Nobody is dating anybody. And yet, the Arrow writers make it clear Felicity is hurt by this encounter – like she’s been betrayed.

As for Oliver, he absolutely did NOT want Felicity to know he slept with Isabel. He knows it will hurt her. This shows Oliver is somewhat aware Felicity has feelings for him. Congratulations, Oliver you’re not a total pine tree.

What’s more telling is Oliver’s reaction. He acts like Felicity caught him doing something wrong. If he didn’t return Felicity’s feelings then her opinion wouldn’t really matter. It’s never stopped him from dating or sleeping with other women before. And this is just a one night stand. Not even – it was a quickie. But Oliver is ashamed. This makes him look bad. Generally speaking, when you have romantic feelings for someone you don’t want that person to see you hooking up with someone else. It sends a very mixed message.

THIS IS NOT HOW YOU WRITE A PLATONIC COUPLE!!!

Felicity Smoak wears her heart on her sleeve. She can’t let it go. It’s not just that Oliver slept with someone. It’s that he slept with ISABEL. The woman who is trying to steal his company. Her bitchiness is embedded in her DNA, so Felicity’s work environment probably less than fun. Felicity cannot stand Isabel and Oliver slept with her. HER. 

Felicity: Over 64 million women over the age of consent in Russia and you sleep with her.

But this time it is Oliver’s turn to make a joke to deflect. The entire vibe is couple’s fight.

Source: Paigeota

But Felicity is not joking when they get home and she’s tired of the mixed messages. So ask the question point blank. God bless her. No sexual innuendos, stammers, deflections, furtive glances or unspoken truths.

 Source: Paigeota

Oliver’s initial response is kind of flippant to be honest.

 Source: Paigeota

He gives Felicity a very generic “It just happened,” which is the exact non-explanation cheaters use. Sex doesn’t “just happen.” It’s a decision. Oliver made a choice and Felicity is trying to understand why because maybe if she understands then it will hurt less. Even worse, he says it didn’t mean anything. The problem is it meant something to Felicity. Take it away Willow Rosenberg.

Xander: We were just kissing. It doesn't mean that much.

Willow: No. It just means you'd rather be with someone you hate, than be with me. - BTVS "Innocence"

Truly one of the most devastating lines in television history delivered by an equally heart wrenching performance by Alyson Hannigan. What Felicity is truly asking Oliver is not, “Why her?” but rather, “Why not me?”

Felicity’s disappointment in Oliver’s response is palpable and feels very similar to their scene in 1x12 when she asked Oliver if she could trust him. She didn’t want a flip answer then and she doesn’t want one now.

Source: Paigeota

Oliver lowers his voice into his gentle Felicity tone and says, “Hey,” so she’ll look at him again. The real intimacy between them is revealed in a single word. He cannot wiggle out of this, so Oliver is approaching her question, and pain, with the reverence she deserves. Felicity closes her eyes for a moment before she meets Oliver’s gaze again, like she’s steeling herself against whatever explanation is coming next. This time the answer will be honest, but it will hurt more.

Source: Paigeota

Oliver speaks hypothetically of course, in an attempt to discuss what he feels for Felicity without really discussing it. It keeps their friendship in this little protective bubble as Oliver takes an infinitesimally small step over the strict line he has drawn between them. Oliver feels life as The Arrow, and his proximity to danger, prevents him being in a loving relationship. He slept with Isobel because he doesn’t care about her. Oliver won’t be with Felicity because he does care about her.

What is MONUMENTALLY IMPORTANT about this scene is Oliver acknowledges the elephant in the room for the very first time. He feels more than friendship for Felicity.  Does Oliver Queen love Felicity Smoak? Yes. Is he ready to admit that to himself - let alone to her? No. Oliver believes his love endangers Felicity. He cannot lose her, so he will not allow himself to love her. As frustrating as Oliver’s answer is it’s not difficult to understand why he feels this way - especially after losing Tommy.

Felicity gives a little nod like this was the explanation she expected, but still needed to hear. Despite the hypothetical, they both know Oliver is speaking about her. Rather than a meaningful relationship, Oliver has resigned himself to a life of loneliness. He may have hook ups and one night stands to fill his bed and relieve an urge, but he withholds access to his heart. This is not just about Oliver’s refusal to truly love someone. It’s also about his refusal to allow anyone to love him in return.

He's taken bullets that hurt less than this.

In the end, it’s Felicity’s response that truly packs the emotional punch. She believes Oliver deserves better, regardless of his way of life. He deserves more than empty affairs and lonely, dark and violent nights.

There is so much this man cannot forgive himself for and the guilt is overwhelming. Oliver believes he has no right to happiness. Loneliness is his penance.  When all you experience is pain and loss it can be difficult to imagine a life without it.

"We accept the love we think we deserve." - Perks of Being a Wallflower

Oliver hurt Felicity deeply by sleeping with Isabel.  They both know it. He continues to hurt her by drawing this line in the sand between them. Yet, in the face of that pain, Felicity dreams a life for Oliver that’s more than the one he’s resigned himself to. It is forgiveness, compassion and unconditional love in action. He does not feel worthy of Felicity Smoak, but those are the lies Oliver’s guilt tells him. She knows the truth.

Source: Paigeota

The stunned look on his face says it all - no one has ever told Oliver Queen he deserves to be loved. 

John Diggle

Contrary to the previous six pages, this is actually a John Diggle focused episode. And boy, does he drop a bomb on Oliver and Felicity.

Oliver didn’t immediately recognize Lyla’s name, which is fine because I don’t think they’ve shared a scene. Felicity reminds him Lyla is John’s ARGUS girlfriend and I had whiplash at that status update. Girlfriend? When did we get to girlfriend? I feel more comfortable with super spy sexy time friend.

Diggle lowers the boom. Lyla Michaels is his ex-wife. SAY WHAT??!

Felicity: Explain that sentence.

Honestly, how do Oliver and Felicity not know this yet? What do they talk about in the bunker? It can’t always be about crimes and arrows. Sharing is caring OTA – embrace it.

Diggle: We couldn’t figure out how to stay married without a war to fight.

Diggle and Lyla were married while on tour in Afghanistan, but divorced shortly after returning home. Lyla joined ARGUS and Diggle went back for another tour.

Diggle and Oliver hook up with Anatoly (!!!) and he informs them Lyla was trying to break into the worst prison in Russia on a tip that Deadshot was being held there. Unfortunately, she was captured. It hasn’t been a pleasant stay given how battered Lyla is looking.

The only way in Gulag is to be a prisoner, so Diggle volunteers. Oliver balks at that, but Diggle needs him on the outside make the moves necessary for an escape. Also, Lyla is Diggle’s woman and he's going to save her, damn it. SWOON. Find you a man with a hero's complex. They make divine husbands. I speak from experience.

Anatoly provides enough drugs to land Diggle in prison for 400 years. Oliver and Felicity are nervous about this plan. In one of the sweetest moments between Diggle and Felicity, she gently kisses him on the cheek and wraps his scarf around his neck. It’s a good luck kiss, but everyone is clearly worried it’s a goodbye.

Of course, once John is inside he runs right into Deadshot. He sure is easy to find for a globetrotting criminal mastermind. Deadshot knows where Lyla is being held and wants in on the escape plan in exchange for her location. After Deadshot kills Anatoly’s guard, John has no choice but to team up with him.

Lyla: You came for me.

Diggle: I always have and I always will.

This is what stellar ships are made of folks. This is the content we're here for.

Of course, Oliver and Felicity rescue Diggle, Lyla and Deadshot, but the pinnacle of the episode for John is when they dump Deadshot on the side of the road. They’ll help him get out of prison, but not out of the country. John holds a gun on him – ready to pull the trigger to avenge his brother’s death, but he can’t do it.

Deadshot: That’s the thing about honor, John. You can’t turn it on and off.

What a great line! I love that line!!! It’s so fully encapsulates John Diggle’s character. I’m sorry I know he’s a killer, but between Deadshot bringing Olicity together with the ridden computer and this moment with John– I’m really starting to like this guy.

Deadshot offers John some additional information about his brother’s death. A thank you for not killing him I guess. He asks John how he thought Andy was killed.

Diggle: You shot at a client that Andy was protecting and you missed.

Deadshot: I don’t miss. Your brother was the contract.

Diggle: Who would want to kill Andy?

Deadshot: I don’t know their names, just an alias. H.I.V.E.

The plot thickens! I’m sure all the comic fans were excited about the introduction of H.I.V.E. I was clueless, but with a quick Google you’ll discover H.I.V.E is a terrorist organization. So, this means one of two things, John’s brother was an honorable man who ticked off a terrorist organization or Andy was not as honorable as his brother and ticked off a terrorist organization. This adds a layer of complexity the Diggle vs. Deadshot storyline desperately needed. It was running a little stale.

Diggle: You know me and Carly broke up because I couldn’t love her and hate him at the same time.

Lyla: I’m honored to be the exception.

Diggle: Lyla, you were always the exception.

Ok, I’m onboard the SS Dyla. Let’s get remarried. I’m ready.  

We go from the Dyla love scene directly to Olicity’s final scene in the office. This is not a mistake. John guides Oliver on his path. This also includes his romantic life and one of the ways Diggle guides Oliver is by example. Dyla always points the way.

Stray Thoughts

This is the first episode we meet Amanda Waller. She’s loyal to Lyla Michaels and knows about Oliver and Diggle’s vigilante operation, so she’s arriving on the scene as a fully formed bad ass.  

Diggle refused Anatoly’s vodka. Based on the look Oliver gave him I’m guessing that was a very bad idea. Drink the vodka, John.

“I wouldn’t mind a drink.” I mean honestly the boys could be so sexist sometimes. Felicity likes booze too!

“I will take care of her.” Snort. Yeah, I’ll bet Oliver.

Isobel immediately jumps to the conclusion that Felicity is sleeping her way up to the top. Way to be supportive of your fellow female coworkers and fighting that glass ceiling together, Isobel. This just makes her more evil in my opinion.

Sara left town. That’s fine I need a break from the Lance drama.

Quentin lets Roy go because he's working with the Arrow too, so I'm counting Lance as part of the team.

No Laurel. Hallelujah. Did you even notice she was gone? Nope. This character lifts right out.

There’s this whole weird subplot where Moira’s lawyer wants Thea to dump Roy because he’s a felon and it makes Moira look bad. Sure, Roy Harper is the problem. Not the 500 people who died. Even Moira thinks this plot line is ridiculously stupid and gets these crazy kids back together. Can we be done with the Theroy breakups? I’m tired. Find these two an actual storyline.

Slade: I will not be the reason something happens to you.

Shado: When I care about someone there's nothing I won't do for them.

Slade is in rough freaking shape after being burned over half his body, but he gets snuggle time with Shado so it isn’t all bad.

Never trust a Russian woman. Has Oliver ever seen a movie?

Flashback Sara betrays Oliver and gives Ivo the location of Slade, Shado and the soldier bones. Let's go with Stockholm syndrome to explain this insanity. Or she's just completely terrified of Ivo. Either works. But still - dick move Sara.

Why does David Ramsey wear shirts? It’s really a crime against humanity.

Listen to the Watchover podcast reaction to 2x06!!!

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Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me!

[ilovesjamesbb]

Please Don't Leave Me (Pt. 16)

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Mature themes, violence, fluff

“What are you doing here? You know you’ll be caught, you can’t run forever.” I spat. I felt something being pressed against my stomach. 

“You see that pin on your friends chest over there?” I looked over to see sam with a wing pin above his breast pocket. 

“That is something special. A little magic trick of mine. You see, a press of a button and poison will immediately be injected into his heart. Old but efficient.” He taunted. 

“What do you want?” I asked.

“To dance and to send a message.” He grabbed my arm roughly and put it to his shoulder. I felt my skin burn with his touch like he was on fire trying to torch my very being. 

“Like old times.” I could feel tears welling in my eyes.

“Your pathetic tears are nothing to me.” He smiled. 

“I will kill you. Maybe not today or the next but I will.” I said holding eye contact. He smiled. 

“Always so feisty. You know how I feel about you fighting back. I will take your little boyfriend and turn him into the monster he is. He will be under my control and I’ll make you watch. Every little thing he does, the killing, and the torture. I’ll make him beat you everyday and he won’t be able to stop. You’ll forever be on the brink of death, begging him to kill you, to end the suffering of getting to see your love but never getting to have him.” He whispered into my ear. I could feel my breath pick up. He turned me around so that I had my back pressed to him and his lips kissed my neck. My eyes screwed shut. I felt something being pressed into my back. 

“Just a little something for the road.” He said as he slowly pressed something sharp into my side. My mouth flew open and I wanted to scream but I couldn’t. 

“Shh, be a good girl for me and keep quiet.” He nipped my neck and I could feel blood come to the surface. It must have been a knife on my side. He slowly pushed it in until the hilt was the only thing visible. 

“See you soon.” He tugged it out and then he was gone. I pressed my hand to my side and held the wound shut. I don’t think it would kill me but it was excruciating.

Bucky made his way from the bar holding a glass of red wine. The damn bartender was taking forever. He felt awful for making Y/n wait for so long. 

I looked around trying to find y/n. I saw her standing toward the wall but still on the edge of the floor. Her back was turned to me. 

“I got you a glass of red. The real expensive stuff you like. Cabernet Sauvignon. It's dry I think.” She never turned to face me. This game was getting serious. 

“y/n.” Still nothing. I rolled my eyes but I grabbed her shoulder to turn her around and I saw blood on her neck. It looked like a bite mark. 

“y/n. What happened? Who did this to you?” I breathed, reaching my hand to her neck. She tried to speak but she couldn’t. 

“Christian. I’m okay.” She let out a shaky breath. I scanned the floor for him, knowing with all of these masks it would be impossible. She clutched my arm.

“Sam. Go find Sam. He has a pin on him filled with poison.” Her breath was getting heavier. 

“I am not leaving you-” 

“James. Do it, please.” I contemplated it for a very long time. I saw Steve walk by and I called his name. 

“Stay with her.” I said handing y/n the glass of wine. Steve nodded and he looked concerned for her. I made my way through people to find Sam, wanting to get back to her as quickly as possible. I spied him across the room and I walked quickly. He was talking to some blonde man, drink in hand. 

“Sam. I need to talk to you.” I said stiffly. 

“Bucky! I was just talking about you. This guy right here owns his own company-” He slurred. 

“Sam. Right. Now.” I kept my ground getting impatient. He seemed for alert now. 

“Excuse me.” He told his guest. I grabbed his shoulder and moved us to the corner. 

“Take that pin off right now.” I told him flatly. 

“What? No, he gave it to me-”

“Sam. Y/n said its filled with poison.” I said grabbing his shoulder ready to take the pin off myself. He swatted my hand away. 

“I know you guys like to play games but I’m not buying it.”

“Sam. I swear to god. If you don't take the pin off I am going to make a scene. This isn’t a joke.” I shoved him back. He nodded surprised at my actions and I was a little shocked too. He placed the pin in my hand and I through it in a empty glass.

“Get it to Bruce.” He nodded. I let out a breath and ran my fingers through my hair. Y/n. I maneuvered through the crowd until I could see her. She was standing with Steve leaned up against the wall.

“Doll.” She didn’t say anything. 

“She’s not talking, I’m not sure if she’s in shock or something. Bucky, what is going on?” He asked, concerned. 

“It’s Christian. He came back. He tried to kill Sam.” Steve’s eyes shot open looking for Sam. 

“Y/n, look at me.” I grabbed her face. She looked extremely pale. I thought she was handing me the glass of wine when it slipped from her hand and crashed on the floor. Burgundy liquid covering the white marble floor and then I saw a much thicker red pool. I looked up her leg and the blood was running down them. I trailed them to look to her hand and blood was seeping out between her fingers. 

“Bucky, I. I’m sorry.” I reached my hand to her side and covered her hand with mine trying to stop the bleeding. 

“Doll, you’re gonna be okay.” She nodded. 

“Steve, go get Banner and Dr.Cho. I’m taking her to the med bay.” He nodded quickly and disappeared. I grabbed under my girlfriends legs and she put her arms around my neck. 

“I need you to keep pressure on that, baby.” She rested her head against my shoulder. She brought her hand up covering the wound. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks. He’s smart. He doesn’t wanna kill me yet. Just hurt me.” Her words were supposed to bring me relief but they didn’t. 

“I’m gonna find him, doll. I promised you he would never hurt you.” 

“He came out of nowhere. He’s willing to kill anyone for this. He wants us. HYDRA is still here. It doesn’t matter how many bases we raid, they are everywhere.” She said, I knew her words were true I just didn't want to believe them. 

“We are gonna get you fixed up and then we will put together a plan.”  I said I pushed open the med bay door. I laid her on the bed and this was the third time in the last 7 months that I had to do this. Each time hurt more then the last. She was sweating at this point and her skin was ice cold. I smoother hair down her head and I kissed her. I pulled back and I could see the bite mark. He marked her. He bit her? It was all so fucked in so many ways. 

“I feel like I won our game.” She smiled. I smiled, trying to lighten the air. 

“Is that so?” I teased back. We stared at each other for a long time and I could hear the others making their way to the med bay. 

“You win but I win everyday getting to be with you.” I told her as I kissed her knuckles. 

“Who knew Bucky Barnes was such a sap.” She laughed. God, I loved her. 

The others made their way into the room. Dr. Cho sets up the machine to regenerate her skin cells. She would have a nasty scar and be tired for a while but she would be safe. Banner draped blankets over her legs and cut her dress exposing her middle. Bucky stood near her hair, a hand on both sides of her head. Bruce cleaned the area and blood as soon as he wiped it down, like clockwork. 

Y/n was the air I breathed. She was the blood in my body and the water I drank. She was the vitamins in the sun rays and the food I consumed. She was the thing squeezing my heart so that it beat steady, the electricity. She was the insides of my bones and the movements of my lungs. She was my life line. The only thing letting me survive. Down to the black necrotic tissue of my body, she was always with me. 

[muddyorbsblr]

hypotheticals & distractions

See the full 14 Days Collection here! See my full list of works here!

Summary: You and Magnus are tasked with the unfortunate duty of manning the phones through a Friday night and he decides you should play some games to pass the time.

Pairing: Magnus Martinsson x Reader

Word Count: 2.4k

Warnings: 18+ | smut (minors & pearl clutchers, don't even think about it); oral (f receiving); fingering; horn dog Magnus; language (kinda?)

Things to be aware of: coworkers to lovers

"I suppose things could be worse…"

You looked up from the post-it you were doodling on to glare at Magnus, his tall frame and blonde curls currently a blur as he spun around aimlessly in his chair.

The two of you had drawn the short sticks and were stuck manning the phone for any 911 calls this otherwise fine Friday night. Meanwhile the rest of the team were currently either out enjoying drinks with their friends or going out on date night with their partners. Or sleeping at home.

"Oh yeah? How so, Martinsson?"

He stopped spinning in his chair to face you, his baby blue eyes shining with a hint of playfulness that had you feeling a faint ache in your heart for him. You'd done the cliche rookie move and developed a bit of a crush on the unjustifiably handsome detective, and while it made going to work a touch more fun when you were among your team, being alone with him in the station felt like absolute torture.

"I like looking at the brighter side of things, Y/N." Your pulse stuttered at the sound of your name coming from his lips. "I may be stuck here on a Friday night, but at least I'm stuck here on a Friday night with the prettiest woman in Ystad."

You threw a stress ball his way, aiming at his head. "You bloody goof." It was such an overused line and you knew it was, but it didn't stop the fluttering in your stomach at the notion of him calling you pretty. And he made it even worse by wheeling his chair over to you and crowding your space.

When he made it over to you, he flopped his head on your shoulder, letting out an exaggerated sigh. "You're on death row--"

"Excuse me?"

"We're playing Hypotheticals. Indulge me, please, darling?" You huffed and waved your hand in the air, giving him a signal to continue. "You're on death row and the prison guards are taking your order for your final meal. What are you getting?"

You thought it over for a few moments before answering, "A double cheeseburger with extra pickles, a chocolate milkshake, chili cheese fries--"

"What a discerning palate you have," he chuckled.

"Shut up it's my last meal, I don't give two fucks about hoity toity bullshittery. And then for dessert…an Oreo ice cream cake, a brewed coffee, and tiramisu gelato from Italy."

"Sounds like you're trying to die by sugar."

"Better than dying by execution. And besides, it's not like the calories would have a chance to even count considering I'm going to die in a matter of hours." He broke out chuckling at your answer, looking as if he was grading your answer somehow. "Alright then, since we're playing Hypotheticals, what're you going to want to eat before you get thrown out the land of the living?"

A devilish smile stretched across his face before he answered, "Pussy."

"Blech," you let out an amused sound of feigned disgust. "Magnus."

"Yours."

"MAGNUS!" You reached over to grab your stress ball from his hand and bopped it against his forehead repeatedly. The actions made him lift his head from your shoulder blocking his face from the stress ball.

"Alright, alright, I surrender!" the detective only a few months your senior said with his hands up, letting out a low giggle. "Next question--"

"Are you honestly not going to answer the first one?" You eyed him with incredulity lacing your every word.

"I already did," he shot back with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

You threw the stress ball his way again. "Horn dog." You rolled your eyes at him catching the ball effortlessly and sending a cheeky little wink your way. "Fine. Next question."

He stood up and walked toward the security camera at the corner of the station, curiosity flooding you as he stood on a chair to reach over and unplug the cord from the back of the recording device. "You're stranded on a deserted island with only three things to keep you company until rescue comes and finds you. What're those three things?"

You briefly contemplated taking a page out of his book and giving a raunchy horn dog answer, but ultimately decided against it. "A Kindle to keep me from going mad. A water filtration system so I could actually drink the abundant water supply around me. And…a knife. To cut open coconuts, kill wildlife. I can't live on water alone."

"The Kindle would run out of battery," he called out from the area of the coffee vending machine, getting what would probably be his sixth cup since the team had left.

"Well then hypothetically speaking, this Kindle has unlimited battery." Your heart caught in your throat as he came back into view, an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he walked back toward your desk, placing one of the two cups he was holding in front of you. "I'm almost afraid to ask but what're your three items?"

He sat at the edge of your desk, sipping his coffee, before answering. "Condoms--"

"You're alone on a desert island what the fuck would you need those for?" you asked, breaking out into a fit of laughter at the absurdity of it all.

"I'm getting there. Next would be…a communication device that we could use to contact any ships or planes that would pass our way."

"We--?"

He placed a finger over your mouth. "And lastly…a beautiful, brilliant woman equipped with a knife, a water filtration system, and a Kindle with unlimited battery." He moved his hand to cup the side of your face, his thumb stroking across your cheekbone.

"Magnus…" you cautioned, your heart stuttering and your brain struggling to find words. "Hypothetically speaking, is there something you'd like to tell me?"

The only sound to come out of you was a squeak as you watched him lick his lips before leaning across your desk and placing a tender kiss on your lips. You did your best to bite back the whimper that threatened to leave you when he pulled away all too soon. "What if I told you, hypothetically speaking of course, that I've been thinking about doing that since you walked in to the station six months ago?"

"Then hypothetically I would tell you that for the last six months I've been hoping that you weren't mucking about whenever you seemed to be flirting."

"I was flirting." Something in you soared at his admission, as if a weight had been lifted off you that your crush was not unreturned.

"Hypothetically?"

He shook his head at you, a smirk tugging at his lips. "We're done playing that game, sweet girl."

Just as he was about to lean in to kiss you again, the phone rang, breaking you both out of the moment. He instead leaned his forehead against you, groaning as he took one of the coins from the little container on your desk and tossed it in the air.

"Heads I take it," he called out as the coin landed in his palm and showed it to you. Tails.

With a sigh, you picked up the receiver. "Ystad police station."

"My husband tripped going down the stairs and we need an ambulance," a frantic elderly woman said from the other end. "I think his leg is broken."

Before you could respond, you felt his hand on your shoulder, moving aside the strap of your tank top and tilting your head to the side, his free hand working loose the bun in your hair to thread his fingers through the strands. "I'll patch you through to the Emergency Room so they can send an ambulance your way. Could you give me your address, please?"

You struggled to scribble down the address as the woman dictated it to you, finding it near impossible to focus the moment Magnus began to press his lips along the column of your neck. "How soon will the ambulance get here?"

"Consider them dispatched as soon as we end this call, ma'am," you responded, hearing the line go dead. You quickly dialed the emergency room and instructed them to dispatch an ambulance to the woman's location, struggling to get the words out as Magnus found a sensitive spot between your neck and shoulder and focused his attentions there, pressing open mouthed kisses and lightly sucking on the spot. "What're you doing?" you gasped out after you placed the receiver back in its cradle.

"New game," he murmured against your skin. "Whenever that phone rings, we flip a coin. Whoever has to answer has to maintain their composure. While the other one distracts them."

Fucking hell, there's no way I'd win this, you hissed at yourself. "Is that why you unplugged the security cameras?"

He tucked his fingers under your chin, turning your head so that he could capture your lips in a deceptively lazy kiss, as if you'd been doing this for years rather than mere minutes. "Ja,Käraste."

"And how does one win this game, exactly?" You tried to not let it show that his words had such a jarring effect on you. Most Beloved. That was what he'd just called you.

"If we play it right, we both win." Before you could respond, the phone rang once again, making a visibly irritated look color his face before he tossed the coin in the air. "Heads you take it." You glared at him once he showed you the coin as he caught it in his palm. Heads.

"Next time I flip the ruddy coin," you grumbled as you picked up the receiver once again. "Ystad police station."

"I'm seeing smoke coming out of my neighbor's apartment and I think they're asleep!"

You had to suppress the gasp that wanted to escape you as you felt Magnus nudging your knees apart and hiking your skirt up your legs and tracing his lips in a trail up your inner thigh. 'What are you doing??' you mouthed to him frantically, only to receive a cheeky wink in response as he kept on kissing his way up the inside of your thigh.

"I can call the fire department and have a truck dispatched to your location to have it checked out." You bit your fist to keep from moaning as you felt Magnus move your panties to the side and run his tongue along the length of your slit before closing his lips on your clit. You took a sharp inhale through your nose before managing to choke out, "May I have your current location?"

How you managed to write down the address legibly while there was currently a curly-haired blond detective on his knees in front of you, your thigh propped on his shoulder while he continued to alternate between licking into your entrance and sucking at your clit, you'd never know. But he seemed determined to get you to crack once you'd phoned the fire department and gave out the address, increasing his pace and moaning against your skin as your labored breathing threatened to give you away.

"You're a menace," you whimpered as you placed the receiver back in the cradle, throwing your head back to let out an obscene moan of his name that echoed all around the empty station.

"Do you want me to stop?" You snapped your head forward to look at him, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he held your gaze while he placed another slow, open-mouthed kiss to the throbbing bud above your entrance.

"Don't you dare," you rasped, earning a smirk from him as he placed his mouth on you again, increasing his pace as you felt two sinfully long fingers enter you curling up and stroking against a spot inside of you that no previous lover had ever found. You were half-convinced you were born unfortunate to not even have that in you.

His free arm draped over your lower stomach, pinning you to your seat has he inched you closer and closer to your release. "Come, min kärlek," he groaned against you. "Now."

You weren't sure if it was his command or the way that his growling of the word against your skin sent the most delicious tremors throughout your body that pushed you over the edge, your hips bucking against his hold on you. You could feel him smirking against you as he withdrew his fingers from you and lapped at your release with abandon, holding your hips still and making you ride out your orgasm on his tongue.

The next few moments were spent hoping that that phone wouldn't ring as you tried to catch your breath, your mind foggy and your throat scratched from screaming Magnus' name without a care if it would have awoken the entirety of Ystad in the process. From the back of your mind you were vaguely aware of him pressing kisses down your leg as he covered your legs with the bunched up fabric of your skirt before standing and hovering over you to press his lips to your cheek in a tender kiss.

"When they return and relieve us of this shift, I'm bringing you home and finishing what we started here tonight," he murmured into your ear before pressing a kiss to the corner of your jaw. He began to work his lips toward your neck when the phone rang again, causing him to let out a frustrated sound before he wrapped his arm around you before standing to his feet and pulling you up with him.

You tossed the coin from your desk into the air. "Tails I take it," you called out as the coin landed in your hand, a delighted smile stretching across your face as you saw the side on which it landed. Heads.

He let out a chuckle and pressed a kiss to your temple before picking up the receiver. "Ystad police station."

A lascivious grin stretched across your face as you placed your hands on his chest and pushed him to sit down on the chair, making quick work to position yourself on his lap, straddling his hips. You stifled a giggle when you could hear his voice wavering as he spoke to the person on the other end, pressing a kiss to the corner of his jaw before tracing the shell of his ear with your tongue and whispering, "My turn."

A/N: Welcome to the first Magnus story in this collection 😏😏 I had a hell of a lot of fun writing this one, and I hope y'all enjoy reading it as well. As always, thank you all so much for all the love you've given to this collection so far, especially to the authors who have put out stories and joined in on this project of mine 🥹

'everything' taglist: @lokisgoodgirl @lokischambermaid @imalovernotahater @mygfloki @lucylaufeyson3 @thomase1 @fictive-sl0th @mochie85 @laliceee @xorpsbane @gigglingtigger @silverfire475 @cabingrlandrandomcrap @vickie5446 @salempoe @lokixryss @sinsandguilt @lokidbadguy @alexakeyloveloki @glitterylokislut @cakesandtom @girl-of-multi-fandoms @mischief2sarawr @thedistractedagglomeration @five-miles-over @goblingirlsarah @huntress-artemiss @lilibet261 @holymultiplefandomsbatman @lovingchoices14 @devilsadvocactus @lokiprompts @sititran @ladyjames78 @kikster606 @evelyn-kingsley @kats72 @creationsbyme @coldnique @athalialaufeyson @simplyholl @tallseaweed @sarahscribbles @unlucky-number-13 @ozymdias @maple-seed @ladyofthestayingpower @wolfsmom1 @km-ffluv @psychospore @loopsisloops @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @lovelysizzlingbluebird @peaches1958

[sachiko6243]

Kidnapping - Part 3

Summary: Lilith, Hotchs girlfriend gets kidnapped because of Aarons history as an FBI agent

Word count: 4045

Warnings: Hotch interrogating the unsub, yelling, description of crimes, nothing to drastic

Where to begin:

Pov Lilith:

Suddenly the door crashed and I saw a tall darkhaired man jump at my torturer. It took me a second to realize it was Aaron that had thrown himself onto the other man punching him several times, before he was pulled back by Morgan. I could feel the chain loosen, but my legs were to weak to support my weight and I dropped to the floor. My skin burned and my joints ached from where I tried to fight against my restrains.

A familiar face with long dark blond hair hovered in front of me, talking to me, but I didn’t understand the words that were spoken. I just let the tears flow, a wet veil covering my sight, making everything blurry. I could feel my hands being freed and someone pulling me into a seated position. A warm fabric was planted on my shoulders and the smell of Aarons cologne hit my nose. I instantly relaxed, holding onto the person in front of me. And by the thin body, I managed to figure out it was Reid, that had untied me.

Now Aarons voice was booming through the room. “Morgan, get that man inside the car and get a blanket from the trunk. Reid, call the rest of the team over, we need to secure that house.”

“Aaron.” I cried out, letting go of Reid and snapping my head around in search of my boyfriend. Instantly the arms holding me changed, grew stronger and more familiar. I nuzzled into Aarons neck, holding on tightly, not caring that his vest scrapped my sore skin. Clinging to his body, I cried into his chest, not letting go of him.

After what seemed like eternity, I felt the soft fabric of his suit jacket being replaced by something bigger and rougher. A blanket. Aaron tried to detangle me from him, wrapping me up in the blanket, before he took me in his arms again. I didn’t let go of him, so he just got up, carrying me out of the house. He carried me to the EMT that waited out front, staying at my side all while I got checked out. Silently I let the EMT do his work, listening half-heartedly to what he was saying. Apparently my injuries didn’t require me going to the hospital, so I denied the offer. JJ appeared next to me, handing me a fresh set of clothes, she probably got from Aaron and my shared apartment.

I excused myself into the back of the ambulance, getting dressed. With stiff fingers, I slipped into the clothes, hissing when the underwear and bra pressed against my skin. When I came out, there was only Hotch, Reid and Morgan waiting outside to escort me back to the car. Not letting go of Aaron, I followed him into the back of the car, Morgan driving and Reid on the passenger seat. “What happens now?” I asked into the silence of the car.

“You will have to give a statement. After that I will drive you home and stay with you, while the team will interrogate him.” Aaron answered, rubbing my hand softly. I looked at him. “I wanna see it.”

“What?” He asked, the confusion striking his face for a short amount of time, before he was able to get his expression back in control.”

“I wanna watch that asshole being interrogated.” I repeated, louder this time.

“Lilith… I don’t think that is a good idea. What he will say, might hurt you even more.” Aaron tried to argue, but I shook my head. “No, Aaron. I need to see it. That man wanted me because you apparently killed his brother. I wanna know what happened. I got dragged into this, I deserve the answer I want.”

“I don’t… That’s… What if you cant stand it?” Aaron stuttered, taking my face into his hands, caressing my cheeks softly. I tilted my head, shooting him a smile. “Aaron, as much as I love your absolute will to protect me, I am my own person. I can make my own choices. Besides, I work as a social worker in a police station. What do you think I do all day? I have worked with all kinds of criminals, ranging from theft to murder. I think I can handle that piece of shit fairly well.”

Aaron let out a deep sigh and I knew that it wouldn’t take much more for him to give in. So, I played my secret card, tilting my head and throwing him the sweetest puppy eyes I could muster. “Please, Aaron.” I whispered, kissing the thumb that was stroking my lips. And by the way he closed his eyes, I knew I won. He let out a low hum, taking away his hands and leaning back into the seat. “I should have known you were a dangerous woman the moment I met you…” He grumbled, wiping his face. I let out a laugh: “Looks like your profiling ability got overthrown by rose tinted glasses and my cleavage.” My words made Morgan chuckle lowly and he tried to hide it in a cough. Reid on the other hand looked a bit bewildered.

The rest of the car ride happened in silence and since my torture was filmed, I just had to retell what happened when I was kidnapped. Now I was standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth and combing my hair to look at least a bit presentable before I stepped out again, letting my eyes wander through the office. JJ was the first to spot me, waving me over and handing me a cup. “Its tea. Hotch said you don’t like coffee.” She said, guiding me through the room and into a smaller room, what I identified as the round table room from Hotch stories. The rest of his team was sitting in it, carefully watching me.

Sitting down, I sighted. “You guys really suck at being subtle.” Looking around I asked: “So who exactly is who?” After a short introduction, everyone’s attention was back on me and I started to shrink in my chair. Reid was the first to talk again: “In the car, you said, you are a social worker, but how did you meet Hotch?”

“Yeah, I am. At first, I wanted to become a police officer, but I dropped out, after I had to shoot a gun for the first time. After that I decided to study social work, since I could still work in a similar field, but more as a helping person rather than an executing one. One day, I was late for work, literally running into him and spilling my tea all over his suit. God that was so embarrassing… I offered to get it cleaned for him. At first, he didn’t want me to, but I can be persistent, so I got him to at least let me pay for it and that’s how we got in contact. I gave him my number to call me when he got his suit cleaned, but he didn’t. Weeks went by and he didn’t call or text, so I thought he forgot. Well, coincidence had it, that he got a speeding ticket showing up in the police department I work at to get it taken of his record since that apparently happened during a case. I took my chance after the officer took his personals, writing down his number and I texted him later the day.”

Hotch entering the room, made me stop my story, but he just sent a small smile towards me. “And it took me a very long while to get her to tell me how she got my number, all while she kept on bargaining for me to give her the amount she needed to pay for the suit.”

“What can I say, it worked, didn’t it?” I laughed, leaning back in my chair. He just grunted, turning his attention towards the team: “Reid, I want you to accompany Lilith into the observation room, Morgan you and me will interrogate Damian Hawksley.” Without any hesitation the team got to work.

And now here I was. Standing behind the mirror glass, watching the man, that kidnapped and tortured me sit in his chair, like he owned the world. Morgan and Hotch arguing how to best interrogate him. I cleared my throat: “He wont react to intimidation. He is fixated on Aaron because his brother is dead. When he tortured me, he talked. He wants revenge for what happened to his brother and if he didn’t lie, he has stage 4 lung cancer, so he has nothing to lose and all he wants is Aaron to suffer. He wont react to any threats or deals. All he wants is to play his last game.”

All three men, turned around looking at me. I shrugged my shoulders: “What? Just because I am not a profiler doesn’t mean, I cant read people.”

“He talked to you?” Reid asked, looking like he was intently thinking about something. I nodded: “Yes, he wouldn’t stop talking about how his brother became this monster and when he studied him, how he understood why. And then he went on, how Aaron was the same as him, turned into a killer by his profession. Have you guys not seen the video?” I asked confused to why these things weren’t on their mind. Morgan and Reid turned to look at Aaron who seemed like he wanted to be swallowed by the floor. “I might have told them not to watch it, because I didn’t want them to see you like this.”

I facepalmed, groaning at his words. “This is your job, Aaron. You need to know the details in order to do it right.”

“You were naked and being tortured. I just wanted to spare you from the embarrassing situation between them and you. You are important to me and at one point would have met them.” He argued, face still, but I could read in his eyes how close that got to him. Taking a deep breath, I reached out for his arm. “Thank you, Aaron. I know its coming from a good place of heart, but its hurting the team to do their job. I am sure they have seen much more crucial cases and regarding me, I come from a nudist family. I probably have seen more naked people on nude beaches before I even went to school, than the average human will in their life time. Nudity is not something I am ashamed of, you know that.”

His neck was slowly turning red and he started to shuffle uncomfortably. “I know. Its just… I didn’t… Its different with the team…” He said not really giving any good argument, so I just clicked my tongue. “You really could loosen up sometimes. Makes you seem old and stiff otherwise. Besides if you wanted me to meet the team, they would have seen me half naked sooner or later, you know what my wardrobe looks like for private attire.” I chuckled at the thought I had. “That actually makes me wonder about how many people think I am your sugar babe or a hoe you picked up on the streets…”

“Lilith…” Aaron warned me, but I just tilted my head teasingly: “What? Scared I am saying the truth?”

I could see how my words affected him, as he stiffened up, catching the twitch that nearly made him take a step towards me. And when I could read him like that, I was sure the others were as well. Looking to the other two men, I was right. Morgan looked like he was about to burst out in laughter, while Reid looked like a little boy catching his parents mid act. Aaron just sighted, leaving the room wordlessly. Morgan turned towards me, with a teasing smile: “I am starting to take a liking towards you lil Mama.” Raising a brow, I asked: “Starting? There was never another option than to like me.”

After I had forced Aaron to at least watch the tape with Reid and Morgan, so they could interrogate Damian better, I had gotten myself another cup of tea and a chair. Now sitting again in the observation room with Reid, sharing a pack of sweets. Hotch suddenly yelling made me jump in my seat, scattering part of the sweets around the floor.

“I’m sick of this! Tell me why you did it!”

“I think you know.” Damian didn’t even flinch. He just kept on smiling. “Playing the hard dominant man wont get you anywhere, Aaron. So please sit down and we talk like well-mannered gentlemen.”

Based on the way Aarons shoulders tensed at his words, I could see, it took him everything not to lay hands on Damian again. Morgan stepped in, turning Damians attention back to him: “Look man. Whatever you say can help you get a better outcome. But you have to talk to me, you understand? He doesn’t want to help you, I do.”

Damian did indeed look at Morgan, but just scoffed at his words: “Do you really think, I need somebodies help? I got what I wanted. I had my revenge. She will never be the same. I will always be a part of their lives, as much as Aaron is part of my life. There is nothing to do or say anymore. You got me, have me on video, torturing the girlfriend of an FBI agent. Why waste your time with this interview?”

“It is standard procedure.” Aaron said, sitting back down on his chair.

“Standard procedure…” Damian mused. “More like you trying to understand the why.” Then he looked directly at the glass. “Is she watching? Liliiiith…” He sang, getting up from his seat, falling into a fit of laughter. “Lilith my darling, why are you so shy?”

I scrambled back from the glass, looking at Reid, who just calmly put a hand on my shoulder. “He cant see or hear us through the glass. You are safe in here.” He said, squeezing my shoulder slightly. In the interrogation room, Aaron was also up on his feet, rounding the table and pressing Damian back into his chair. “Sit down and shut up!” He yelled, not letting go of him. “Do you really think you are winning anything? In here you might be able to play the big guy, but in prison you will be eaten alive. You know what happens to inmates that raped women? They are on the end of the food chain… just above child molesters.” Aaron’s face contorted into a dark smile, as he leaned down to Damian. “And as you might know from stalking me and her, I was a prosecutor before being an agent. I have enough connections to get you into the right prison with the right people knowing your story…” He left the end of the threat hanging in the air.

“You cant do that…” Damian whispered, his face starting to lose its color. Aaron stood up again, but made no effort in stepping away from him. “Oh, I totally can. As you said. You have nothing to lose, no family left. It is up to the court to send you in a fitting prison.”

“I am sick. They are not going to put me with the rest of the inmates.” Damian tired to argue back, but Aaron just chuckled. “You are not sick enough. And words spread fast in prison…”

I could see Damian swallow hard, before his face went back to show his arrogant and cocky smile. “Look at that. You are finally showing your true colors. Tell me, agent Hotchner. How does it feel to not suppress it anymore?” He leaned back, looking up at Aaron who wore an unreadable facial expression. “You have all you need, Aaron. Your girl is safe, you have me arrested, there is nothing special about my case. And yet here we are. Do you wanna know what I am thinking? I think you want revenge. We are the same Aaron. The only difference between us is the side we are standing on.”

“You are right.” Aaron said, and I gasped in shock. I watched, as Aaron slowly walked around the table leaning against the wall next to the mirror. “I do want revenge. But there is another difference between us. I don’t act upon it.”

“No, you just go home and take it out on your girl.” Damian leaned back, eyeing Aaron with a sharp smile. “And I know that that whore you call your girlfriend is absolutely living for it.”

“Careful of your next words.” Morgan threatened him, but Aaron just raised his hand: “Does that make you jealous, Damian? Angry even? That I get to do what you only can dream of?” Shifting in his position, Aaron crossed his arms, waiting for Damian to answer.

The other man just looked at him stunned, while Morgan was also leaning back, watching the conversation unfold in front of him. “What? Are you at a loss of words now? I don’t feel guilty for what I do. I know she wants me to and can handle it. And that’s the thing that divides us. I have her consent. You have nothing besides hatred and desire.”

“She will leave you one day.” Damian gritted out. “She will leave as soon as she learns what you truly are. A man controlled by his work. She might not see it now, but one day she will. There is no future for the two of you. Right now, she is fine with your working hours, as she herself is dedicated to hers. But that will change, when she gets older. Wants a family. And what then? Are you going to step down from your work? Put her and your family first? We both know that that’s not going to happen Aaron. And then? Then she will fight for it, make herself believe she can handle it until the day comes where all breaks down. You will lose Aaron. One way or another.”

Aaron didn’t react to his words. Calmly, he sat down again, closing the file in front of him, before he looked at his opponent again. “Is that what you want? Seeing others lose?” Damian leaned forward, spitting out: “No. I just want to see you lose. I want you to suffer the same as I did. Feel the helplessness while watching from afar as your and the life of people close to you crumbles into pieces. You have taken away my brother. Sentenced him to death!”

“Your brother was a rapist and murderer.” Aaron argued back. “He was a sadist. Getting off on torturing his victims by cutting them as much as possible. And when he got bored, he would stab and slash his victims until they were disfigured beyond recognition. Raping them again, as they slowly bleed to death, the last thing they would see and feel was his face and him orgasming at the state they were in. He got what he deserved.”

“He is my brother!” Damian yelled out. “He protected me growing up. I just honored his legacy!” I gasped in shock, clasping a hand in front of my mouth and letting the bag of sweets fall to the floor. All I could focus on was the contorted face of Damian, starring at Aaron in his mania. “She would have been my offering. My thanksgiving for what he has done for me. She is the perfect woman. The girl of the man who killed my brother. Exactly his type. Young, small, and feminine.”

“Then why didn’t you do it? You had enough time to do exactly what your miserable excuse of a brother did. But you couldn’t. Why?” Aaron pressed on, staring the man in front of him down.

“Because she is different.” Damian gave in.

“Different?” Morgan asked, catching the unsubs attention: “Yes. She didn’t cry or beg for me to set her free. She fought. Attacked me. But that was wrong. She wasn’t allowed to do that! She needs to be scared. That’s what they all did. She ruined it. I had to break her for her to be perfect.”

“I think its because you got fixated on her rather than to finish your task to honor your brother.” Aaron said, calmly. “You stalked us, watched us, and saw that there was another way to fulfil the desires your brother made you believe were something cruel and abnormal. And you couldn’t comprehend the difference between what you learned from your brother and what you saw in her. Isn't that right?”

Damian looked to the side. Aarons words clearly hit him deeply. “That’s not true…” He whispered, but his whole body language changed. Slumped against the chair, he looked down defeated. “It’s not right for her to like it… Its abnormal. What have you done to her? My brother might be a monster that lived out his desires, but what are you? You are even worse.” Damian had started to talk himself into rage, jumping up from his chair again and attacking Aaron. Morgan was just quick enough to catch him and hold him in place, while he screamed on: “Taking advantage of a young innocent woman! Grooming her into the perfect little plaything you want her to be! And I am the criminal? If I am one you are too!”

Aaron just stood up, collecting the file from the table, and walking towards the door. “We are done here now.” But Damian did not stop yelling, insulting Aaron over and over again, while Morgan hauled him out of the room and down the hallway. Moments later the door of the observation room opened and Aaron stepped in. Without thinking twice, I set down my empty cup, jumping in his arms. He wasn’t expecting me to attack him like that, so he stumbled against the door, but caught me nonetheless. “Hey there little one.” He breathed out, pressing me against his body. I leaned back, smirking at him: “Soooo, you are apparently a very bad man because you groom me. Anything you want to say to your defence?”

He set me down, pecking my lips softly. “No. Not at all. Guilty of all crimes, Ma’am.”

“I should arrest you.” I mused, leaning against his chest, and taking a deep breath of his calming scent. He just chuckled, stroking my back. “The only one that should be arrested is you for littering governmental property.” I tilted my head, looking around. Indeed, there where several pieces of candy scattered around from where I dropped the bag earlier. “This is your fault. You scared me with that screaming action.”

Letting go of me, he got on his knees, starting to collect the candy again. I just stood there watching him with a smirk. “God how I love it when you are on your knees…” His head snapped around, throwing me a sharp warning, but I chose to ignore it: “Maybe I should get in trouble more often.” The double meaning of my words not even hidden. Aaron got up from his knees, after he had collected the last bit, setting the bag down on the table behind me, causing him to lean very close to me. “I would be very careful of your requests, Kitty.” Whispering my pet name very seductively in my ear. I shivered at his words, the hairs in my neck starting to stand up and by the smirk he shot me, he got exactly what he wanted.

Reid clearing his throat, made me jump a bit, but Aaron just turned around, looking at his colleague as if nothing happened. Stuttering with his words, Reid mumbled: “I uhh… I really don’t want to interrupt anything, but uh… I think we should head back. The team is tired and wants to go home.”

Taking my hand in his, Aaron signaled Reid to go first. Grabbing my empty cup and the bag of candy, I followed the two men back into the office, meeting Morgan on the way. He shot me a smile. “So, whatcha thinking about your first interrogation?” He asked. I just shrugged my shoulders. “Remind me to never get caught with my crimes.”

[multistanisms]

Crisis of Love || Ateez

FANDOM: Ateez PAIRING: Yeosang/San, Hongjoong/Seonghwa/Wooyoung, Yunho/Mingi WORD COUNT: 5102 RATING: M POTENTIAL TRIGGERS: Descriptions of torture, mentions of blood and violence, implied self harm SUMMARY: After three years of watching two of his best friends dance around their obvious affections for each other, Wooyoung is going to need the help of all of the Horizon Boys and some close friends to get the words spoken between Yeosang and San. However, plans go on hold when one of their own goes missing. TAGLIST: @ashxx0707

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Years of watching two of his closest friends dance around their emotions for each other had worn Wooyoung down. Unable to spend another year watching the pair, he sat on the veranda of his family's home, staring out at the large garden, plotting how to give the push that Yeosang and San needed.

"Wooyoung, don't think too hard. You'll give yourself a headache." 

The voice is gentle, but it snaps the young man out of his thoughts, startling. Blonde hair sways just the slightest as he turns and lays eyes on a pink haired boy walking towards him. "Yeonjun!" He half squeals, hopping up and rushing to go hug his friend. "When did your family get in? We didn't know you were coming."

"I didn't either." Yeonjun answered, laughing as he hugged the other male. "We left last night, arrived this morning. Something important, no doubt." He moved to start towards the table. "So do tell, what is it that has you so keen on giving yourself a migraine, hm?"

"Planning." Wooyoung said defiantly, moving to sit across from Yeonjun and picking up his cup to sip from the cup. 

"That can't be good. Do Yeosang and Hongjoong know?" 

"Excuse you, asshat, I don't need permission every time I put schemes together." Wooyoung counters sassily, watching as Yeonjun pours a glass of lemonade from the pitcher and settles into a chair across from him.

"Not every time, but whether you do or not depends on the circumstances." Yeonjun arches a brow at Wooyoung as he sips at his glass, earning a huff as Wooyoung leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.

"I need to get Yeosang and San to get their feelings out." Wooyoung groaned. “It’s not like everyone else doesn’t already see it.” 

"You mean they're actually that oblivious?" Yeonjun asked, clearly surprised. 

"Only with each other." Wooyoung barks out a laugh at the words, head falling back a little as he does so. "Most everything else they're really keen on."

"No kidding." Yeonjun laughed as well, shaking his head. "So what ideas do you have so far?"

"That's just it, I have exactly nothing." 

"Well, now. That’s a change. Maybe you should talk to Hongjoong or Seonghwa?" 

"Joong and Hwa don’t need to get involved in this, Yeonny. They have enough going on right now with keeping on top of things for our parents."

"Did someone say my name?" A voice asked, and the two turned to lay eyes on Seonghwa, black hair framing his face as he leaned against the doorway. Tall frame accented by dark jeans and a near skin tight white t-shirt. "What are you up to, Jung Wooyoung?" 

“Nothing, Hwa.” Wooyoung replies at the exact same time Yeonjun opens his mouth. 

“Our favorite chaos boy here is trying to get Yeosang and San to admit they-”

“Are ridiculously in love with each other?” Seonghwa finishes with a knowing smirk, moving to take a seat between the younger men, one leg crossing daintily over the other as he reaches to turn over one of the cups and pour himself a cup of the lemonade as well. "Are you tired of watching them be a mix of happy and miserable, too?"

"They are so terrible at reading each other." Yeonjun laughed with a shake of his head, leaning back. "So what are we gonna do?"

"Hongjoong suggested we try a setup of sorts." Seonghwa mused, dropping a sugar cube into the tea.

“Hongjoong is on board with my scheming without supervision?”

“Only in this instance, Wooyoung.” Seonghwa countered with an arched brow.

“And it isn’t like you won’t have any supervision.” Yeonjun countered. “I’m sure everyone is going to be on board with this. It’s only been what, two years?”

“Three, at the very least on San’s part. That’s the first time he slipped.” Wooyoung answered. “So…a setup? How do we manage that?”

“What about at one of the gatherings? We never stay for the full event, anyway.” Yeonjun mused. 

“We stay longer than you, normally.” Wooyoung teased. “You run off with Changbin as soon as you lay eyes on him.” The blush that rushes up his friend’s face makes him smirk. 

“Yeah, because you wouldn’t find the chance to sneak off with someone if they could-”

“Boys, enough, or I will ground you both.” Seonghwa’s tone is authoritative as he lifts his glass again, eyes leveled on the pair. Both of the younger males quiet their banter, looking away like scolded children and he nods, satisfied they’re both back on track. “Our purpose is to bring the two of them together, we can’t do that if you two are just going to bicker like a married couple the entire time.”

“That’s what they do best, of course.” 

Three heads turn at the sudden voice to find Hongjoong coming out to join them on the veranda, looking worse for wear and clearly exhausted.  

“Hongjoong…” Yeonjun and Wooyoung speak at the same time, looking between each other, then to Seonghwa and finally Hongjoong with concern. The future leader makes his way to the table, pulling out the chair between Yeonjun and Seonghwa before all but collapsing into it. 

“You need rest.” Seonghwa urges, one hand moving to rest at the younger’s shoulder. 

“I need time with my people.” Hongjoong counters. “Rest can come later.” Despite his words, though, he leans until his body is resting gently against Seonghwa’s shoulder. “Hello, Yeonjun. I wasn’t aware your family would be here.”

Yeonjun shrugged. “I’m used to never knowing what plans my mother makes until I’m ordered to do something,” he replied. “You look like shit, though.”

Hongjoong manages to smirk as he scoffs out a laugh. “You should see the other guy. He’s much worse off, I promise.” he sassed, forcing himself up from Seonghwa’s shoulder to look at the three men. “What are we discussing, exactly?”

“Yeosang and San.” Seonghwa is the first to answer, keeping an eye on Hongjoong.

“Ah, the oblivious lovebirds.” Hongjoong chuckles, tone almost singsong, as he leaned forward to get the final cup, stopping when he finds Wooyoung has poured a fresh glass and is handing it to him so he doesn’t have to move as much. “Thank you, Wooyoung.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I’d honestly rather you rest a little. You look like you had a hell of a fight, after all. But you’re too stubborn, so I’ll settle with you not moving a whole lot.”

“Good boy.” Hongjoong praises, and if he notices the tint rising up Wooyoung’s neck, he doesn’t mention it. “Our next gathering is in a few weeks, we have some time to figure something out if we want to do it then.” He sips his drink and it lowers it from his lips when a commotion from within the manor makes all four of them turn. “What on earth?” As the words leave his mouth, a pair of servants rush out onto the veranda, anxiously looking around. The female of the pair gives a clear sigh of relief before rushing back inside, shoes clicking on the marble of the den area. The young man who had accompanied her seems to be taking note of the four before turning to follow. Hongjoong stops the male with a simple ‘stop’, the man turning back to face the table.

“Yes, Master Hongjoong?”

“What is going on, Taehui?” Hongjoong asks, dark eyes never leaving the other male. 

“We’re not entirely sure as of yet, sir.” the servant, Taehui replies. “Young Master Wooyoung’s father received news there was a kidnapping, and his first order was for us to check how many of you were here so we could report back.” He’s honest and obviously uncertain of what to do in the situation, his eyes unable to lift from the ground. The previously relaxed atmosphere of the table has changed drastically in a few moments time, and he’s clearly uncomfortable giving bad news to the group.

“Kidnapping? Of one of ours?” Seonghwa frowns, eyes immediately finding Hongjoong’s, and the pair have a moment before the elder stands and walks out towards the garden. “I’ll start making calls.”

“Thank you, Taehui. We’ll be inside shortly. Go report to my dad, okay?” Wooyoung dismissed the male, waiting until they were alone again before speaking. “What do you need me to do, Joong?”

“Call your brother and Mingi. Mingi’s supposed to be arriving soon, but we have to be sure. Seonghwa is already calling for follow ups as well.”

“I’ll find my mother. She should have some intel and I can gather my boys to start a search party if need be.” Yeonjun replies, standing. “All of you stay safe, and keep us updated.”

“Keep your heads level, Yeonny.” Wooyoung replies, giving a worried smile as his friend lays a hand on his shoulder before heading inside. His eyes are focused on the commotion he can hear inside, one hand tightening on the tablecloth. This is par for the course - they’re children of powerful mafia families, after all - but no one has ever been stupid enough to try and kidnap any of them. The worry for his pseudo brothers courses through him and has him frozen as his mind starts to reel with possible scenarios.

“Wooyoung-ah.” 

Dark eyes blink as Wooyoung tears his gaze from the doors to look at his leader, returning to the moment in front of him. “Sorry, Joong, this is just…new territory. No one’s ever tried to kidnap any of us before.” He’s working on dialing Yunho’s number as he speaks, moving to stand.

“Right now, all I care about is that it isn’t one of the eight of us. Once we know that, I’ll worry about what needs to happen.” Hongjoong replied, and while his demeanor is calm, Wooyoung knows the leader’s mannerisms well enough to hear the mixed emotions behind the words. The younger male is loath to leave Hongjoong alone, but forces himself to step aside as the phone rings, silently begging the phone to pick up.

“San and Jongho are fine. They stopped to get some things, but they’re on their way again, no more stops.” Seonghwa says as he walks back, though his eyes are on his phone as he dials again.

“Yeosang?”

“I’ve tried him twice, but no answer.” Seonghwa is already hanging up and preparing to dial again when Hongjoong lifts a hand. 

“I’ll call him. Go check on Wooyoung, he’s trying to call Mingi and Yunho.” Hongjoong commands, scrolling to dial Yeosang’s number. His eyes stay on Seonghwa as the eldest checks in with Wooyoung, free hand clenching hard enough that his mind vaguely registers the pain of his nails digging into his palm. If any of his brothers have been taken, he isn’t going to just stand aside. He’ll bring the wrath of hell itself on whoever was stupid enough.

“Hongjoong? Who’s hurt?”

The deep timbre sends a wave of relief through Hongjoong despite the urgency in the man’s tone when Yeosang answers. The younger had clearly been dozed off, which explains the initial missed calls. He lets out a breath, which only further alerts the man on the other end. He and Seonghwa don’t continuously call like this, and there’s no doubt it’s put the black haired male on high alert.

“Captain?” Yeosang asks again, worry much more prominent in his voice now.

“We don’t know if anyone is hurt yet. There was apparently news of a kidnapping and the staff here are losing their minds.” Hongjoong answers. “San is okay.” he adds when he hears the sharp intake of breath, knowing the next question that’s about to come from Yeosang’s mouth and beating him to the punch. “Seonghwa just talked to him, he’s with Jongho and they’re finishing the trip out here.”

“Okay,” the one word shows the instant relief before Yeosang speaks again. “What about the others?”

“Yunho is accounted for. Wooyoung is here with Hwa and I, he’s trying-” he cuts off when he spots Wooyoung neary throwing his phone before he’s stopped by Seonghwa grabbing his wrist. Wooyoung doesn’t lash out like that, and it’s enough to send ice through Hongjoong’s body. “Yeosang, have you seen or heard from Mingi today?”

“Not seen, but he did message and say he and his dad were leaving this morning. Is he not answering?”

“I don’t know.” Hongjoong is up and moving even as he speaks, nearing where Seonghwa is holding tight to Wooyoung with one arm while he tries to hide the frantic energy of his dialing. “What’s wrong?”

“Mingi’s phone is going straight to voicemail.” Seoghwa replied, lifting his phone to his ear. “Wooyoung tried him seven times.”

“Damnit.” Hongjoong replies, the sound almost a hiss.

“I’m not near any of my gear, Joong. I can’t trace him until I get to the manor with all of you.” Yeosang speeds through the words, a panic setting into him as well despite the calm in his tone. 

“Just stay calm, Yeosang. You worry about getting here in one piece. Hwa and I will worry about calming Wooyoung down and filling in the rest of the guys.”

“I’m like half an hour out, but I can cut time if I make them stop and get on my bike.”

“Do whatever you need to.” Hongjoong replied. “For gods’ sake just be careful.”

“Copy that, Captain.” The line dies as Yeosang ends the call, and Hongjoong has to take a slow breath to calm the anger in his body. Wooyoung’s entire body trembles just enough to make it noticeable, the younger male gripping at Seonghwa’s arm like a scared child, though what emotions he’s going through is unclear.

“First thing’s first.” Hongjoong began, back straightening. “We’re gathering in Wooyoung’s study, away from parents and staff. This is Horizon Boy business; we handle it our way.” His tone is level, forcing all other emotions down as he looks at the two men before him. Eyes lift to meet his second in command, and he nods at the man as he speaks. “Seonghwa, catch up with Yeonjun, tell him that he and the boys are on standby so we can cover more ground.”

“Yes sir.” Seonghwa says, gently prying his arm from Wooyoung’s grip. Wooyoung fights for a moment, but gives up when Seonghwa is able to pull him from his mind with a few quiet words. 

“Wooyoung.” Hongjoong says gently, reaching to touch the back of Wooyoung’s hand. “He will be okay.”

“But…why? Why would they come after us?”

“We’re the heirs, remember? Even if we aren’t an emotional weakness, enemies would perceive us as such because we’re set to take our respective parents’ places.” Hongjoong replied, curling his hand into Wooyoung’s. “Wooyoung, I need your head to stay in the moment, okay?”

“In the moment?” Wooyoung mirrors, confusion twisting his features.

“You and Yeosang are our techs, and you two are the best at it. You can go over what gear you need and get it ready so that when he gets here, the two of you can jump on the trace together.” Hongjoong replied. “We can’t let our emotions get the better of us right now. Not until we find Mingi and know he’s safe. I need you to turn everything else off for now. Can you do that?”

Wooyoung wants to lie and say he can’t, that he needs to step away. However, he knows better, he knows that Hongjoong knows better. Turning off their feelings has been ingrained in them by their parents, a way to do what needs to be done in the moment. Mafia life has little time for emotions in critical situations. The main difference is that Wooyoung is one of the few of them who have never had to utilize it in the field of their lives, and it shows in his struggle to find that calm that Hongjoong currently displays. Closing his eyes, he grips his leader’s hand tighter for a moment, taking a shaky breath and holding it while he counts to five in his head before letting it out slowly. When he opened his eyes, he made sure to lock them on Hongjoong and nod. “I’ve got it, I promise.”

“Are you sure?” 

It takes a moment before Wooyoung can answer, but he manages to hold eye contact, searching Hongjoong’s eyes as he gathers the strength he needs from his leader. “Yes. Just give me twenty minutes to get the system set up.”

“Do you need me with you?”

Wooyoung starts to shake his head for a moment, but finds himself unable to do so. “I’ve never had to do this before, Joong.”

“I know. And I’m right here. We’ll all be here.” Hongjoong assured, squeezing Wooyung’s hand gently. “Let me help you get the stuff, huh? That way you have one of us with you to help keep you level headed.”

“What about Jongho and Yunho?”

“That’s why we’re doing it all together. None of you have ever needed to do this, and I need you to know you aren’t alone.”

“We’re never alone, Hongjoong. We know that. We have you, and you’re a better leader than your father could ever hope to be.” Wooyoung forces himself to take another breath and releases it, letting go of Hongjoong’s hand. “Let’s go. I have to get the computers moved around in the study.” He steps away and makes his way inside, ignoring the confusion and chaos of staff around them. 

“Hongjoong! Wooyoung!” 

The raised voice stops the pair, and Wooyoung turns to find Yunho, the taller male obviously distraught. “Yunho, you’re okay.” he breathes as his brother rushes over to them. 

“Yeah, I was only out to get snacks for us later. Mom called me and I immediately headed home.” Yunho speaks hurriedly. “Do we have anything on Mingi yet? Seonghwa said you guys couldn’t get him to answer either?”

“You tried calling him already?” Hongjoong asked, and seeing Yunho nod put more stock into their growing concern. Mingi would never ignore his boyfriend calling him, especially not when Yunho wasn’t the only one dialing him. “Alright, you’re going to help Wooyoung and I get his study set up so he and Yeosang can run a trace.”

“Where are San and Jongho?”

“Still en route, but safe.” Wooyoung answered with a nod.

“And what about Yeosang?”

“He likely made the driver stop so he could get his bike unhitched, but he’s on the way. He shouldn’t be too far behind you.” Hongjoong said. “Come on, let’s get going. The sooner we get set up, the quicker we can make a plan of action.”

“We aren’t going to ask our parents for anything?” Yunho clarified.

“This is Horizon Boy business.” Wooyoung chimes as he mirrors their leader's words. It seems to be enough to help Yunho calm a little.

“And we handle it our own way.” Yunho finishes, giving a nod. “Alright, let’s go. I need to get Mingi home safe.”

“We all do.” Hongjoong replied, motioning for the two to start up the stairs. He stays behind them, keeping an eye on the two. This is not how he wanted to introduce them into the more dangerous side of their world. He and Seonghwa have carefully brought each of the others in one at a time, so there’s a support system as they learn the ropes. And as each member got comfortable, the next to be brought in would have a bigger blanket of adjustment. Wooyoung and Jongho were supposed to be the last ones, but this event ruined that plan. His head is bouncing over ideas as he blindly walks, knowing the manor as well as he does means he can be allowed some time in his mind. He stops when he finds himself in the large study, moving to the floor to ceiling window that doubles as a door to a large balcony. “Once we get the system up, we need to follow any movements from the last text Mingi sent.” he thought aloud, taking a moment to take in the sky before turning to the large table and gathering the papers strewn about. He stacked them neatly, tapping them on the dark stained oak wood to align them and set them aside. 

“At the very least the last one that was sent to one of us.” Wooyoung replied, moving two laptops onto the table and opening them at two different chairs. “Yunho, I need the holoscreen on while I hook these up to my system.” He falls quiet as he begins focusing, nerves disappearing as he settles into his element. Yunho joined him by the laptops, double tapping the table in between the two that opened to reveal a screen. He laid his thumb over the little screen, and then nodded at his little brother. 

“Alright, it just needs your scan.”

Wooyoung nodded even though he wasn't looking at the other men in the room. When the first screen kicked to life, he stepped to bend over and scan his index finger before turning his attention to the second laptop. “I can follow towers that the phone pinged off of. Yeosang should be able to check for any cloning or strange activity in the background that went unnoticed.”

“That's a thing?” Yunho asked, arching a brow as he pulled chairs out from the table. 

“Trust me, there's a lot a good hacker can do and the user not realize it.” Wooyoung answered calmly. 

“It's why Woo and I regularly update the security for our files in the manors. We should have thought about extending it to our personal phones before now, though.” A deep voice said as footsteps carried in a well built male with dark hair pinned back by a butterfly barrette. Eyes dart over the room, taking in the others before taking the riding jacket off and draping it over the back of a chair. “Where are we at?”

“We’ve never been targets, Yeo, it didn’t dawn on us to apply it to our phones.” Wooyoung countered, taking one of the chairs and nudging the other back. “I’ve got the system warming up, we should be able to hit the ground running.”

“Has anyone been able to get in touch with Mingi yet?”

“No,” Yunho says, pacing slightly along the wall of books with phone in hand. “As much as we’re calling, he should have answered by now.”

“The fact that he didn’t answer you is concerning enough.” Yeosang says, moving to take the seat next to Wooyoung. The two dove into working quietly, murmuring between themselves as they worked. Hongjoong turned to look at the pair, then moved to walk across the room to Yunho, reaching up to grab the taller man’s shoulder, making Yunho stop to look down at him. 

“We’re going to find him, and he will be safe.” Hongjoong said calmly, seriously, eyes not leaving Yunho’s. 

“It's not Mingi I'm worried about.” Yunho replied. “It's how dangerous we are as a team if he gets hurt.”

“If any of us get hurt.” Hongjoong corrected. “And whoever was stupid enough to cross the eight of us won't like the ending coming their way.”

“We always talk about outside enemies coming after us….but what about family?” Wooyoung asks, eyes still locked on the screen before him. 

“What do you mean, Woo?” Yunho asks, attention going to his brother.

“Everyone working under Hongjoong’s father knows we're the ones next in line for power. He's always made that abundantly clear. Bumjoong gets control of the fronts and saving face, Hongjoong becomes head of the family.” Wooyoung explained. “So everyone is fully aware that means the other seven of us are direct underlings. So, y’know…what happens if someone decides they don't like that arrangement?” 

“You mean an inside job.” Hongjoong’s voice is flat, and the tone is somehow a strange mix of skeptical and unphased. “What are you saying, Wooyoung?”

“Nothing, I just…it's something I thought about.” Wooyoung answers. “We're always ready for outside threats, but shouldn't we consider even our own families an outside threat?” It goes silent aside from the sound of him and Yeosang typing and working on their respective duties to track their friend, and he finds his lower lip tugging between his lips nervously.

“He has a point, Joong.” Yeosang says, finally breaking the silent tension in the room. “With what we're trying to do, even if no one is actually privy to our plans-”

“We'll cross that bridge later.” Hongjoong cuts the other off. “Right now, finding Mingi is our top priority.”

“And if we find out it was, actually, an inside job?” Yeosang asks back, unphased by his captain silencing his thought process so quickly, dark eyes locked on the screen as he goes through the data on Mingi’s device.

“Then we make sure everyone is aware of what happens when you cross the future leaders.” Hongjoong says coldly, and none of the others in the room need to question what he means. If Hongjoong's father makes a statement by brutal punishments, they have to take it further, make it known they have no room for mutinists.

Death is the only answer to crossing the next generation of leaders. 

There's little more than a nod from his underlings, and his attention once more returns to Yunho. “Meet up with Hwa. He's gathering Yeonjun and his boys-”

“We're right here, Captain.” Seonghwa’s voice is a gentle timbre as he walks in, Yeonjun shortly behind as well as the rest of the bodyguards he leads. Behind the bodyguards are the achoi brothers, stepping inside and off to one side as they await orders. “What’s our current course?”

“Yeosang? Wooyoung?” Hongjoong asks, eyes turning to his hackers, tone giving them the floor. 

“There aren’t any background programs or files running on his phone, at least thus far.” Yeosang answers matter of factly, though he doesn’t take his gaze from where he’s still scanning over files. 

“I’m able to track the phone, though.” Wooyoung replied. “Either he has it on silent and hidden on him, it’s in whatever he’s being transported in, or it’s being used to hide where he actually is.”

“What were the last coordinates?” Seonghwa asks, walking over to stand behind the two younger men. 

“It looks like it’s somewhere near the docks.” Wooyoung answered, finally letting his gaze move so he could tilt his head back to look at his lieutenant. “If that is where whoever took him has him, there’s all kinds of places that they could hide him until they get whatever it is they want.”

“The docks?” Yunho asks, looking at his younger brother with a tilt of his head, brown eyes worried. “There’s water there, too. Sharks once the boats start coming in from their night fishing.” 

“Yunho, calm down.” Hongjoong said calmly, walking to look out the large balcony window. “Wooyoung, Yeosang. Where was the first ping between the last communication with him and the current ping?” His back stays to the rest of the room, but his posture reads that he’s very aware of everything and everyone. 

The current display of behavior isn’t something Wooyoung has seen from Hongjoong before, and the young man watches his leader in a mix of awe and fear until a tap on his forearm draws his eyes to Yeosang, who nods once before going back to his screen. Wooyoung finds comfort in his first friend’s demeanor and it makes him take a deep breath in order to settle himself and return to his own screen. 

“The last message to any of us was 2:28.” Yeosang provides, fingers clicking on the keys of his computer. 

Wooyoung nods when the information is relayed, using his own program to configure the info he needed. “It looks like…” he pauses as the coordinates pop up, the text highlighting as he stops. “Wait, what?” he asks, confusion and dread mixing in his voice. “No. No, that can’t be right.” he pleaded more to himself, but his energy was enough to alert Hongjoong. 

“What is it, Woo?” Seonghwa asks, head tilting.

“No, it can’t be.” Wooyoung hears nothing as he runs the program again, breath hitching when the location once more comes up the same. “Yunho…” his voice is weak as he speaks his brother’s name, unable to make an answer for Seonghwa come from his throat. It’s enough to drive his brother to his chair, looking over Wooyoung’s head. 

“Wait, isn’t that-”

Wooyoung is frantically working on running the grid numbers again. “Tell me I’m wrong.” his voice is quiet, worried, as he bites his lip harder. “That’s not where I think it is, right?” He moves his head so he can look over his shoulder at his brother. “Tell me the program is wrong.”

“Wooyoung…” Yeosang starts, reaching to lay his hand on Wooyoung’s arm. “We designed these programs, there can’t be anything wrong with them. What’s going on?”

“That can’t…” Yunho shakes his head. “Why would there be any reason to go to the boutique?”

“What are you talking about, Yunho?” Hongjoong asks, only turning his head to look over his shoulder in the direction of the brothers. 

“The coordinates that first register is the same address as our mom's shop.” Yunho says, frowning. “It doesn't make sense.”

“Then let's go ask questions, children.” Seonghwa states, moving forward to stand behind Hongjoong and brace a hand at Hongjoong's shoulder.

“All of us showing up would be bad, Hwa.” Yeosang muses, though he's focused on his screen. 

“We aren't all going.” Seonghwa replies. “Yunho and San can come with me, Yeonjun and his boys can start on any tracking that needs done. The rest of you stay here with Joong and relay anything he needs to the rest of us in the field.” his eyes are on Hongjoong as he speaks, their leader nodding. Yeonjun motions his head towards the door and his team heads out, but he glanced worriedly at Wooyoung as he leaves.

“Go.” Hongjoong finally tells his second, eyes turning to look back at Seonghwa. “Be careful.” The please is unspoken, but evident in his eyes, and Seonghwa nods, squeezing the younger man's shoulder before lowering his head to kiss Hongjoong’s hair. 

“We'll be back.” Stepping away, he motioned a hand, Yunho and San immediately moving towards the door. “Woo, Yeo, Jongho, stay here where it's safest.”

“Yes sir,” the underlings said just slightly out of sync as the trio left. 

“Joong?” Wooyoung asked, his tone soft. It's barely audible, but it pulls Hongjoong’s attention to him. “Tell us what we need to do.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Author's Notes:: Hello, my multis! Kallin here with a new update to the Horizon Boys series. This work was originally only supposed to one chapter, but at 13 pages in my google docs for just this part, I made the choice to split it into at least two parts. This is set roughly seven years before In the Morning, so enjoy.

Please do not repost my work.

[sparkymalone]

Hajime: Fuyuhiko, you do remember when we agreed we were better off as friends, right?

Fuyuhiko, naked in Hajime's bed: No, I absolutely do not.

Hajime, already taking off their clothes: Fuck... Me neither.

Now THIS is a prompt I can sink my teeth into! (⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)

Hajime froze in his tracks, staring, bewildered, at the sight before him. The beautiful, lean figure sprawled naked across his bed was gazing back at him, one fierce golden eye dark with lust.

He furrowed his brow in confusion, questioning the reality of this situation. That certainly looked like Fuyuhiko laying in his bed, but that couldn't be true. Not after their agreement.

The two of them had been so close for so long, it was hardly surprising that feelings began to develop between them. But with things the way they were, with the world presumably in shambles and their friends in various states of mental and physical trauma, they had agreed that this wasn't the right time to explore those feelings. Once they established some type of normalcy, then they could try again.

For weeks after admitting that there was something between them, the two young men had managed to keep up appearances. They treated each other normally and didn't show any signs of romantic or sexual interest. The situation wasn't ideal, but it was fine.

Behind closed doors was another story entirely. Hajime couldn't deny the way his heart longed for Fuyuhiko. Spending time with him was sweet torture, and he frequently had to excuse himself to his cottage to calm his racing heart, or, in the very worst cases, to deal with his physical desire. But he was determined not to break their agreement.

Fuyuhiko always seemed to be handling the situation better than Hajime. That wasn't too surprising, really, since the yakuza heir had so much self-control. Still, Hajime always felt conflicted when it seemed like Fuyuhiko wasn't bothered by the distance between them at all. He was still dedicated to keeping up their agreement, of course, he just wished that Fuyuhiko was having as hard a time as he was.

And so Hajime had no idea how to feel about the scene in front of him. He had just walked into his cottage after a very long day, and here was the object of his affection, naked in his bed despite being supposedly off-limits.

He realized that he had been silent for far too long and cleared his throat. “What… What are you doing here?” he finally asked quietly.

Fuyuhiko was watching him carefully from where he lay, spread out on top of Hajime's sheets. “Waiting for you,” he replied, as though that explained anything.

Hajime allowed his eyes to trail down the other man's body, taking in every scar and freckle, determined to commit the image to memory regardless of how this ended. “Okay, but… why?”

The blonde stretched languidly, arching his back in a very deliberate way, clearly pleased with the way Hajime was looking at him. “That's a stupid question.”

Frowning, the taller man met his eye. “No, it's not. We had an agreement, didn't we?”

Fuyuhiko turned onto his side, propping his head on his hand. “Did we?”

Hajime was getting thoroughly frustrated now. “Yeah. We agreed not to do anything like this.” Fuyuhiko started to respond, but Hajime continued, cutting him off. “We agreed that we were better off as friends… right?”

The blonde scowled at him. “I don't remember agreeing to anything like that.”

Bewildered, Hajime crossed his arms over his chest. “What? We had a whole conversation-”

“I remember agreeing that that wasn't the right time for us to be together,” Fuyuhiko interrupted. “We agreed that we were going to figure our shit out later, when we were less stressed. Well, guess what? We're never going to be less stressed.” He sat up, still maintaining eye contact. “But you know what helps with stress? Having someone who loves and cares about you. Having someone to kiss and hold and fuck when it all gets to be too much. That's what I want. And I think it's what you want, too.”

Hajime stared back silently, not sure how to respond to that. Having someone there for him sounded wonderful, honestly. And if that someone was Fuyuhiko, well…

“So, no,” the yakuza heir continued, “I absolutely do not remember agreeing that we were better off as friends. Now get your fucking clothes off and get over here.”

It only took a moment for Hajime to make up his mind. He quickly began shedding his clothing as he made his way towards the bed. He leaned one knee on the mattress as he moved forward, crashing his mouth into Fuyuhiko's, swallowing the other man's pleased moan. He tossed the last of his clothes off and climbed fully onto the bed.

Fuyuhiko's legs folded around Hajime's waist, pulling their bodies flush together. Hands and mouths roamed freely, finally exploring each other's bodies the way they had wanted to for so long. When Hajime finally sank himself inside of Fuyuhiko, it felt like exactly what he had been missing.

Afterwards, when they were laying together, sweaty and tired and spent, Fuyuhiko smirked up at his lover. “Still think we're better off as ‘just friends?’”

Hajime laughed softly, nuzzling into the other man's hair. “No. No, I don't.”

(But I think the prompt was meant to be more lighthearted than that?? Let me try again.)

It was the first day back from summer break and Hajime already knew he was doomed.

He caught Fuyuhiko's eye across the courtyard and the blonde raised an eyebrow at him, and Hajime felt his resolve crumble.

The two of them had spent a very long time insisting that there was nothing between them, that they were just really good friends. No one bought it, of course, least of all the two of them, but they both stuck to their story.

Until summer break. Somehow, one of them had started up a very inappropriate text conversation while Fuyuhiko was on vacation with his family, and they had spent basically the whole break flirting and borderline sexting. Hajime had even received a couple of photos that he promptly saved for personal use.

But now that school was back in session and Hajime was faced with the reality of actually seeing the other boy, he was panicking. Obviously the two of them were attracted to each other, but he didn't want to risk ruining their friendship just for the sake of getting his rocks off.

He had no idea how to explain that to Fuyuhiko, though. So his dumb, panicked brain decided that the best course of action would be to avoid his friend altogether.

And that's exactly what he did. He stuck to the reserve course campus, ignored Fuyuhiko’s texts, and tried not to notice him glaring at him from across the courtyard. It wasn't the best plan, and he knew he was going to have to explain himself sooner or later, but for now it was all he could do.

He felt awful about ignoring his friend, though. He genuinely cared about Fuyuhiko and didn't want to hurt him, but he was terrified of actually facing his feelings.

After classes, Hajime left the campus before Fuyuhiko could corner him. He wandered around town for a bit, ignoring the way his phone was blowing up. Eventually, he headed back to the reserve course dormitory, feeling like garbage. He briefly considered calling Fuyuhiko to apologize as he unlocked the door.

All of his thoughts ground to a halt as he walked into his dorm room. Fuyuhiko was inside, waiting for him, sitting in Hajime's bed. Naked.

Hajime's brain completely short-circuited. He had definitely locked the door when he left that morning, so how exactly had the other boy gotten in? And why was he there? And why was he naked?!

“Close the door, dumbass,” the blonde snapped.

Hajime obediently shut the door behind him, staring dumbly at Fuyuhiko. “Uh… how did you get in here?”

Fuyuhiko snorted. “You think I don't know how to pick a stupid lock? More importantly, how ‘bout you tell me why the fuck you're avoiding me?”

Cringing, the taller boy looked away. “I'm not,” he lied.

“Don't try to bullshit me,” Fuyuhiko snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. His intimidating pose was severely undermined by his nudity. “We flirt for the entire break and suddenly you don't even want to look at me?”

That got Hajime's attention, and he turned slowly back to his friend. “...It's not like that.”

The blonde glared at him. “Then, please, explain.”

Hajime was silent for a long moment, trying to figure out how to put his feelings into words. Fuyuhiko's nakedness proved to be too distracting, however, and he found himself staring, mouth working soundlessly.

Fuyuhiko didn't seem to mind being ogled, and he uncrossed his arms, stretching languidly. “Or you can just fuck me to make it up to me.”

Hazel eyes snapped up to meet gold, and Hajime swallowed hard. “We can't,” he murmured, and part of his brain began screaming at him. Why would you say that?! Just go for it!

The yakuza heir clearly didn't agree with him, and he laid back against Hajime's pillows, allowing his legs to fall open enticingly. “And why is that?”

Hajime's mind went blank for a moment as his eyes traced over every inch of Fuyuhiko's body. He had to remind himself to keep breathing. “Because we…” He cut himself off as Fuyuhiko began trailing his fingers up his own thigh, completely derailing Hajime's train of thought again.

Fuyuhiko clearly knew exactly what he was doing, if the smug look on his face was any indication. He gave an encouraging hum, prompting Hajime to continue.

The brunette took another deep breath, trying to ignore the way his cock was straining against his pants. “We agreed we were better off as friends, didn't we?”

Arching an eyebrow, Fuyuhiko feigned innocence. “Did we? I don't remember that.” One of his hands was on his chest now, lightly tracing one finger around his nipple, while the other gently palmed his erection. His lips parted as a soft gasp escaped him.

“Fuck,” Hajime hissed, completely overwhelmed by the erotic sight before him. “Neither do I,” he agreed mindlessly, already scrambling out of his own clothes.

He all but dove into Fuyuhiko's arms, kissing him hungrily. The smaller boy gladly kissed back, pulling Hajime's full weight down on top of him. Their bodies quickly melded together, both of them moaning breathlessly, and suddenly Hajime couldn't remember why he had ever wanted to avoid this.

You get a 2-for-1, anon lol.

[madsworld15]

Chapter 4 Section 2 of Heal Me, Hold Me, Make Me, Know Me.

QAF Brian/Justin. Asexual Spectrum Representation. Series Retelling AU.

Thanks always to @winderlylandchime @maryp50 and @lostcol for supporting me! Enjoy!

~~~~~

Brian watched Justin leave with his bag in hand. He wanted to tell the young man that he cared about him, that they were still good. He needed to tell Justin that he was simply in a terrible headspace because he’d been forced to spend the day with his mother attending her extremely homophobic church. Brian knew all of these things should’ve been explained and that Justin would understand if he did, but his ego wouldn’t let him.

Instead, he was left in his loft alone but desperately wishing he wasn’t. For the first time in his life he hated that he wasn’t sharing his personal space with someone else. He wanted Justin to come back so much it hurt. He needed Justin almost as much as he needed air.

Woah. That’s a dangerous thought.

Brian rubbed his hand across his mouth and decided he would much rather be anywhere else right now, but he didn’t know where he could go at 3am. Most of his haunts were starting to close up shop. He needed a drink, but he also kind of wanted a bowl of warm, carb-filled pasta.

Without another thought he headed to his Jeep so he could drive over to Deb’s. He was sure that was where Justin might’ve gone too, but he wasn’t going to push things with the young blonde. No, right now he needed his mom — the only true mom he’d ever known.

She opened her door with a stern look on her face after his second rap. Without a word she let him in. Upon closing the door behind him she reached up and smacked the back of his head. Brian didn’t even complain because he knew he deserved it. The smack also let him know that she knew everything that had happened, which meant he wouldn’t have to explain himself.

Brian trudged into the kitchen where Vic sat at the table. He had a mug of tea in front of him while he picked at a slice of cake.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Vic looked up at Brian, “What’s your excuse, Kinney.”

Brian shrugged and sat down. “Take your pick.”

“Saint Joan or fucking with the one person who believes in your goodness beyond reason. Yeah I’d say either one is going to piss you off and make you look like a shithead.” Vic raised his mug to the younger man. “But we both know it’s all a self-deprecating front to keep yourself safe.”

Debbie walked into the room and gave a scoff. She crossed to the fridge and pulled out a Tupperware.

“Chicken Baked Ziti?” Debbie offered the Tupperware toward Brian who silently nodded.

She dished some into a bowl and threw it in the microwave. Brian knew from the silence that she was going to let him have it once she was ready. It was something he wasn’t looking forward to and he hoped she’d let him eat some pasta first.

A few minutes later, Debbie sat down next to him and slid the bowl of warm cheesy pasta in front of him. Brian immediately dug in and without having to ask, Debbie also placed a beer in front of him.

“I know seeing your mother is its own special brand of torture, but to take it out on Justin…” Debbie started once he was halfway done with his food.

“Stay out of it.” Brian turned to glare at her.

“Now you listen here you little shit.” Debbie wagged her finger at him. “You came to my home which gives me every right to protect that boy! I care about him. All you care about…”

Brian pushed the bowl away and reached for the beer. He knew she knew him better than anyone, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Getting my dick sucked. Yes, Emmett and Justin made it very clear. Can we please talk about ANYTHING else?!”

“You seem to have forgotten that you came to my house. And I don’t want to see Justin hurt.” Debbie practically yelled at him.

Brian found his mood teetering closer to annoyance than sympathy or regret for his actions.

“Well, that’s life. Better he learn it now.” Brian shrugged, putting his wall up hoping it would stop Debbie or Vic but it didn’t.

“I know you don’t actually feel that way.” Vic muttered under his breath. Barely drawing attention to himself. Brian looked toward him with a glare.

Part of him had hoped coming here would mean comfort carbs and an understanding presence. While the other part, the part he was most at war with, hoped Debbie would read him the riot act and allow him the ability to show how awful he actually felt about his actions.

“You think you’ve got everybody fooled, don’t you? Well not me, honey. I’ve known you too long and regrettably too well.” Debbie took on a softer, more motherly tone. “And no matter how hard you try to deny it, I can tell you care as much about him as he cares about you.”

Brian bit his lip and looked over to make eye contact with the woman. He fiddled with the label on the bottle before him.

“Only you ain’t got the big hairy cajones to say it.” Debbie fixed him with a knowing stare.

“Oh well maybe I can borrow yours.” Brian gave her his best sarcastic eye roll and drank from the bottle.

“Yeah well hey, whatever it takes.” She smirked and paused before continuing. “Do admit that you love him. And I know that you do. Despite all your efforts to never let another heart touch yours. That’s assuming you have one.”

Brian leaned over and hung his head. Everything she was saying was correct and he knew it. But that didn’t make hearing it any easier.

“That little persistent kid has somehow gotten in under the wire. And that’s what’s happened, huh.” Debbie reached out and smoothed her hand over Brian’s hair. It was a level of intimacy he only allowed from a select number of people.

“Admit the truth.” Brian looked at Debbie, unsure if she was really that perceptive and was going to say what he’d been trying to avoid thinking about since Justin moved in. “You love him, don’t you?”

Instead of answering, Brian leaned his head onto his hands and let out the breath he’d been holding for the last few seconds. Debbie had proved once again that she saw deeper under his walls than he would like, but appreciated it nonetheless.

“I thought so. Then tell him. Tell him what you could never tell Michael.” And with the mention of her son, Debbie motioned her eyes up to indicate Justin was upstairs.

Brian took one more swig from the bottle, sucked in his lips, and then stood up. Vic gave him a wicked grin of mischief and encouragement. It was the most unserious thing about the whole situation and was what spurred Brian on in the end. He walked out of the kitchen and skipped up the stairs.

Upon reaching the landing, Brian paused. He knew Justin was mad at him and he wouldn’t be surprised if the young man didn’t want to see him. But, he was there already, he might as well try. He knocked on Michael’s door and his heart ached at the voice that responded.

“Debbie, I know you’re worried but I’m fine.”

Brian leaned his head against the door and sighed. He quietly responded.

“I’m not Debbie, but I’d say you don’t sound fine.”

Brian’s heart clenched at the soft sniffles he could hear from the other side.

“Brian?” Justin’s voice was tinged with sadness and hope all at once. “Haven’t you done enough?”

Brian deserved that, but it didn’t make him hate it any less.

“Can I please come in so we can talk. I know I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

Brian stepped back to avoid falling forward when Justin opened the door suddenly.

“Careful, that sounds perilously close to an apology.” Justin bit his lip and gave a half smile while looking up through his lashes.

“Yeah, well I’m not totally opposed to apologies when I’m wrong.” Brian gave a shy smile. “I asked you to move in because of your attack, but that’s not why I want you to stay.”

Justin stepped away from the door letting Brian in. The brunette watched as the blonde worked through Brian’s statement in his head. It was clear that the younger man wanted to forgive him but was also wary of being made a fool by doing so.

“Okay so you want me to stay, but something has to change.” Justin turned to look Brian in the eye, “I won’t go back to feeling invisible.”

Brian couldn’t find his voice so he simply nodded until he could.

“This doesn’t mean we are suddenly married. Because I don’t do that shit.” Brian reached out to put a hand on Justin’s shoulder. “It means that I like your company and I want to be with you. I’ve gotten used to having you around that I don’t particularly mind it anymore.”

“Wow. You are really selling me on your commitment.” Justin smirked and gave a small cheeky giggle.

“Watch yourself.” Brian volleyed back.

Justin stepped closer to Brian and more into his touch. “So what does this mean for us?”

“It means I promise I won’t ever bring a trick back to the loft again.”

“Okay.” Justin nodded, his eyes serious.

“Also, if I’m out late just know that I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing. And when I come home…” Brian paused, the words catching in his throat. “I’ll also be doing exactly what I want to be doing. Coming home to you.”

Justin nodded, and then he leaned in for a kiss. Once he pulled away he gave his response.

“I want some things too. You can have sex with anyone you want as long as it’s not more than once, and no names or numbers exchanged.”

Brian nodded easily, “Deal.”

“And I want you to promise that no matter what you are doing you always come home by 2.”

Brian’s gaze bore into Justin’s “By 4.”

“Three.”

Brian turned away from Justin slightly and then came back to him in resignation. “Fine, by 3.”

Justin pulled him in for another searing kiss before saying more.

“And one more thing.” Brian looked at Justin with sincerity while his brain argued that all these rules were more than he could muster.

“You don’t kiss anyone on the mouth. Except me.” Justin quirked his eyebrow as if challenging Brian’s ability to agree to all these stipulations.

Brian gave a small shake of his head, smirked, and then grabbed Justin’s face in both his hands and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Brian put all his nonstated love and emotions into that kiss. He wanted to be sure Justin understood he would follow these rules and any others if it meant keeping Justin.

After they pulled apart, Brian found himself grabbing Justin’s hand and leading him toward the bed.

“Can I stay here with you tonight?” Brian asked in a small voice.

“I’m not that kind of girl.” Justin responded, his tongue in his cheek.

Brian tucked his lips in as he smiled at Justin. He knew that in this moment he could be vulnerable and Justin wouldn’t judge him for it. So, he squeezed the hand that held Justin’s before he responded.

“I just don’t want to be alone tonight.”

Justin reached up to cup Brian’s cheek with his free hand. “Then come sleep with me.”

Then they exchanged a kiss, chaste but still filled with emotion. Brian leaned his forehead on Justin’s and closed his eyes. With a sigh he let go and pulled off his shirt and stepped out of his shoes and jeans.

The two got into Michael’s old twin sized bed, practically lying on top of each other, but somehow making it work. At this point, Brian’s nakedness didn’t make Justin uncomfortable. However, Brian was conscientious enough to make sure his thigh was all that made contact with Justin.

“I had to sit next to my mother today as her priest spouted off about loving your fellow man. And her interpretation of that was to tell me how sexual deviants were going to hell. She didn’t say homosexuals, but it was heavily implied.” Brian finally whispered to the dark room as the silence between them got to be too much.

“Your mom sounds a treat.” Justin muttered, his hand finding Brian’s and grabbing hold.

“That’s Saint Joan.” Brian sighed as he placed a soft kiss to the top of the young man’s head.

“I’m sorry.” Justin replied. His voice was filled with kindness and it made Brian appreciate the blonde that much more.

“That’s life. You can’t choose your parents.” Brian shrugged.

Nothing else was said between them as Brian and Justin both slipped into dreamland.

[non-pressurizeddiamond]

I dislike Avalance. Not for the ship itself but moreso the framing. Them being seen as “soulmates” and the relationship pulling the focus off of Sara as a character and putting the focus on Sara as a half of a sapphic relationship annoys me. Especially since Ava didn’t get the same treatment. I’d hate it if she did, but it’s like those depictions of straight ships where when the woman gets with the man, suddenly she’s just an accessory to his story rather than having one of her own.

It’s the way Sara opened up less after it, the way they significantly changed Ava for it, just the way that these two characters feel fundamentally different from s3 to s4 and beyond.

Another note for the framing—their relationship isn’t all that healthy. It feels forced to me, especially at first. And it feels like they got rid of certain aspects of them just so there’d be two attractive blonde women kissing each other.

You can’t just…do enemies-to-lovers without actually letting people see the transition. It’s jarring, to have them go from despising each other to making heart eyes at each other.

I don’t dislike toxic relationships in media, I only dislike them when they’re portrayed as healthy and when everyone just acts like they are. It feels like they’re romanticizing traits such as jealousy (which is, well, not healthy at the extent it’s shown). Avalance is like the only ship I’ve ever actively disliked since I don’t consume much media, but it’s also just…poorly done. A slow burn would’ve fit their characters better and actually let the audience see the shift in relationship. They could’ve waited an episode or two from where they added Ava’s crush before having someone bring it up to Sara. They could’ve kept Sara’s flightiness (a trait that stayed through two very serious relationships), they could’ve kept Ava’s professionalism at work at least (they had her…drink on the job? For some reason?), they could’ve kept these characters true to themselves while getting them together if they really wanted them together.

Admittedly, I don’t like Ava, but the clone plotline to give her angst and stop them from having time away from each other to breathe after what had happened in the previous episode actually started my dislike for the ship beyond just the thought of “this is odd.” The whole thing of her being a clone was honestly just not what I’d consider a good choice even though most people don’t share that thought. It was more of a plot device to get her vulnerable, to shatter her world view, to destroy her sense of self, and to cause her to need to lean on someone (Sara).

They did something similar in s4, with Ava being abducted and getting stuck in some weird insecurity-driven purgatory. It was a way to get them back together by getting them vulnerable without putting in the effort of having them talk certain things out. They could’ve gone places with that, had Sara open up about her past and explicitly stated and heavily implied experience with torture, both as torturer and tortured, had Ava say something more profound than just wanting Sara to choose her above all else, including her team and moral compass. It was a cheap way to get them to talk about their insecurities. Instead of them opening up out of a desire for the other to know, it was more to be able to work things out and get the hell out.

Each personal plot point they have seems more like an excuse to get them to open up. Which, you could say it’s not, that it’s a natural response, but Sara never talks her grief out with Ava at any time, not her sister’s death, not her father’s death, not Oliver’s death—you’d expect her to talk about it at some point on screen but the only time I remember her talking about it was when she broke down in front of the whole team. So clearly it’s not personal problems that cause this but plot points that have nothing to do with what goes on in the other shows.

It just feels out of place at first and then when s4 rolls around, it just feels straight up out of character. S6 happens and now it’s not just out of character but like the writers aren’t even pretending like they care about Sara as a character outside of the Avalance ship while they give Ava all this development as captain and truly coming into the leadership role. It’s hard to like a ship when it has all the signs of a toxic hetero ship but it’s okay because it’s two women.

[befuddled-calico-whump]

4 and 15 for CERUS

psychological torture + torture room

from this game ///// Penumbra Masterlist

His cart was heavy, almost too heavy for one man to maneuver, but Cerus supposed he should count himself lucky the overseer had given him something with wheels. Of course, he knew it wasn't an act of kindness. He was here to work, and dragging sled after sled full of coal up out of the mines would be excruciatingly slow, even for those who would only watch him struggle under it.

The only thing that kept him placing one foot in front of the other was the fear of slipping up, of having the cart roll backwards and crush him, and not kill him but leave him broken, in the hands of uncaring men until the Healer came round on seventh day.

Cerus was nearing the opening of the mine, the fading daylight and fresh air. The cart wasn't ten yards from the entrance when it suddenly stopped. Frowning, he gave it a shove, but it wouldn't budge. Something must be caught in the wheels, but he didn't dare step out from behind the heavy thing, for fear that it would roll all the way back into the heart of the mountain, giving him no choice but to waste precious strength to retrieve it.

So instead, he knelt, holding the cart in place by leaning a shoulder into it, and squinted into the darkness beneath. Suddenly, the thing jolted backwards, nearly crushing his hand, and Cerus frantically threw his weight against it. Laughter came from somewhere in the darkness, and an oily yellow light began to pool on the walls, soon followed by the silhouette of a man, his face ghoulish in the glow of his lantern.

In the weeks since his arrival, Cerus had made an effort to memorize the names and the faces of the miners he worked alongside. Not out of any misplaced sense of camaraderie, but because he'd quickly learned that some had more reason to hate him than others. And some, he'd had the displeasure of learning, were less hesitant to act on that hatred. Gauguin, a redhead from the plains. Dark eyed Drez. And, towering over him now, standing in the way of his cart and his much-needed rest, Nerros, a craggy-faced blond man with a smile that reminded Cerus of the twisted snarl of a wolf.

He watched in silence as Nerros knelt down, removing something that looked suspiciously like a pickaxe from the tracks. The man leaned against the cart, pushing Cerus back another few inches.

"Hard at work, little shadow?"

Answering pointless questions had never helped him before, and Cerus wasn't about to push his luck. He bowed his head, slowly stood while keeping his weight against the cart, and hoped the other man would vanish.

But of course, Nerros being who he was, he knew the other man wouldn't be deterred by something as simple as silence. When Cerus tried to push against his weight, he only leaned more into it, forcing him to splay his legs to keep himself balanced. A spike of pain shot up his ankle at the shift, and he gripped the edge of the cart so tightly he thought it might break skin to keep a yelp at bay. His hand spasmed, causing him to nearly lose his grip altogether, but he managed to hold on.

"Was talkin' to you, Shadow King. Impolite to ignore your superiors, you know."

Were his magic still intact, the man wouldn't dare speak to him that way. Were he still king, he could send a hoard of undead to tear him to pieces. But here, in the damp of the mine and endless toil of the camp, Cerus had no power.

Not meeting Nerros's eyes, he gave a curt nod. "Nearly done," he said softly.

The other man gave the cart a light shove, pushing it another inch back.

"Nearly done, eh? What makes you think that?"

Cerus kept his eyes downcast. He wanted nothing more than to reach his raggedy excuse for a bed and collapse there, sinking into the reprieve sleep brought until dawn, when he'd be woken with a boot or a shout. Such a small desire, held out of reach by this lowborn vulture.

"It's my tenth load," Cerus said, trying to keep his voice neutral. Too fearful or demure and Nerros would latch on like a parasite; too angry, and the other man would seize onto the opportunity to punish him for defiance. It seemed there was very little Cerus could do that would allow him to avoid misery. "The daily requirement is ten," he continued, but as Nerros leaned forward, he knew it wasn't enough.

"I count nine." 

Cerus saw what was going to happen before the other man moved, but could do nothing to stop it as Nerros suddenly gave the cart a hard shove, too much weight behind the motion for Cerus's frantic countering push to do anything. It was all he could do to scramble out of the way and avoid being crushed under the wheels.

As hours of work went careening back down the sloped trail, Cerus didn't bother to quell the rising feeling of despair.

"How unlucky," Nerros said, heavy boots trudging towards Cerus's sprawled form, not stopping until the toe of one was pressed against his ribcage. Whether it was a promise of pain or a mere threat, he was uncertain.

"You'd better get back to work," the other man continued. "Ten's the requirement, ain't it? Or should I beat you for lying down on the job?"

Wordlessly, Cerus began to struggle to his feet. Not fast enough for Nerros, and the man made his impatience known with a kick in the abdomen, prompting a cry from Cerus and a laugh from his tormentor.

"Better hurry, little shadow." His teeth glinted in the dim light as a grin crossed his face. "Be dark soon."

Then, mercifully, Nerros at last turned away.

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