#ive been slacking off lately.. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

im-sleepdeprived · 7 months ago

Note

Can you write something about co-workers to friends to lovers?

fix you up

pairing: peter parker x reader

a/n: i won’t lie to y’all idk how i feel abt this one. its cute dgmw but i hope you guys like it !!! ive had this request for an EMBARRASSINGLY long time, anon if you’re upset, i totally understand

warnings: mentions of injuries, burns, rude customers, bandaging some wounds n stuff, fluff and pining !!! (disclaimer: I’ve never been a barista so forgive me if this is a lil off)

masterlist, requests are open !!

Working in a rustic-vintage-corner-campus-cafe was definitely not how you saw your college years going. Your teen self would’ve killed to work at a place like this but when you grew up, you realized just how different the workload is between a high school student and a uni one such as yourself.

You weren’t complaining of course. The pay was adequate, your manager was a simple old lady who never had much to say other than making sure all the equipment was clean, you got along with your coworkers pretty well for the most part and the customers were tolerable.

But every once in a while, you’d get an entitled shithead who seemed to make it their life’s mission to ruin someone else’s day. And the problem with working a social job such as you did, is that you were an easy target.

It started off as a fairly simple day, you clocked in and put on your apron ready to start your shift for the day. You preferred late morning shifts, leaving afternoons for classes (and the rouge 8am lecture every now and then) and nights for going out or studying.

“Oh, Y/N! Thank god you're here,” Your co-worker, Vanessa, exclaimed.

Vanessa was a few years older than you. She actually wasn’t a student, she’d given college a try and it wasn’t her thing. Apparently, all it did was “try to undermine unstoppable greatness.” She was chatty, but you actually liked that about her. She could keep up a conversation with a statue. When you first started off here she’d been the one to show you the ropes and ever since then, you’d had a specific bond with her that you couldn’t really put a name to.

You gave her a small smile, “Yeah well, I do prefer to show up when promised. Especially when my paycheck depends on it,” you let out a small laugh.

“Yes! See, that's what I love about you,” she made a disgusted face, “Unlike Peter. Honestly, I don't understand how he hasn’t been fired yet! He shows up at least half an hour late to every shift yet Miss Hannigan still keeps him around.”

“Oh,” you stuttered, raising your hands a little in defense, “I didn't mean it as a jab at Peter, I swear.”

She tossed a curled blonde lock of hair over her shoulders while waving her other hand in dismissal, “Honey, don’t worry about it. I know you would never, you’re far too sweet for that. But I wouldn’t blame you if you did, you know, having to work more than half your shift alone? I swear if Bernard did that to me,” she made a big show of gesturing to herself, "I would not deal with it.”

While what she was saying wasn’t necessarily wrong, it didn’t feel right talking about Peter like that. Sure, he was late most of the time, leaving you to do most of the work while you waited for him to show up (somehow when he started working you two got the same shift together and it’s just been that way ever since) and while you, also, normally wouldn’t put up with this, there was something different about Peter. You never felt like he was taking advantage of you, and purposefully made you pick up extra slack. It was quite the opposite actually, he always apologized profusely and never slacked when he was on the clock. He always seemed so rushed and out of breath, you were pretty sure the poor boy just needed to learn how to manage time better. Plus, he always took it upon himself to unpack the orders because of all the heavy lifting required (you couldn’t tell just by looking at him, with all the sweaters he wore, but man was he ripped.)

“He’s actually really sweet.” You’re not sure why exactly you’re so keen on defending Peter. You two barely spoke, outside of work of course, and you don’t know much about him. But something inside you didn’t like anyone assuming anything bad about him.

“Yea, well, he’d be a ton sweeter if he clocked in on time,” she laughed as she untied her apron, getting ready to leave. You faked a laugh as well, not wanting the conversation to progress any further.

“Alrighty, well,” she heaved a breath, “I'm off, have a good rest of your day Y/N.”

You smiled once again and sent a wave her way before settling down in front of the register. It was slow today, not many people in the shop. A fellow student you only recognized from work sat in a corner booth with their headphones locked in and was working on what seemed to be some kind of essay.

There was an older woman, however, looking incredibly irritated at the table closest to you. You’d never seen her before but that wasn’t too strange. It was a near-campus cafe, after all, lots of people passing through. She looked to be typing on her phone until, suddenly, she shut it off and made direct eye contact with you.

If looks could kill, you would’ve dropped dead behind the counter, which wouldn’t be all that ideal considering you couldn’t remember the last time anyone mopped that side of the store.

She stood up and walked towards you and you already dreaded the conversation to come.

“I have an order,” she spit out, as if she were disgusted to even be talking to you at the moment.

No greeting or anything, wow. Someone wasn’t raised right.

Nonetheless, you put on your well-rehearsed customer service smile and gave in. “Sure, I’d be happy to help with that. Can you just give me the order?”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I shouldn’t have to, I called in and placed it and it should be ready by now. I'm going to be late!”

You froze for a moment, not quite sure what to do, “I’m so sorry for the inconvenience ma’am, but I just got here and I haven’t heard anything,” you glance at the little whiteboard kept on the counter for these exact situations only to find it empty, “and I don’t see anything here about a phone-placed order. Are you sure you have the right store?”

Her face was so red and steam was practically blowing out of her ears, “Of course, I have the right store! Do you think I'm stupid or something?”

“No! Of course not, I'm so sorry,” you start to blabber off, not wanting to make her any angrier than she already was, “I’ll get things ready for you right away ma’am.”

You turned around and tried to make yourself not freak out as badly as you wanted to. It was so humiliating getting yelled at like this in public! And yeah, maybe if you had such a problem with unpleasant interactions like this, you shouldn't have taken a social job such as this one, but honestly, you thought people would have enough manners not to act up like this. Apparently not.

It slipped your mind for a moment because of how scrambled you got when the lady flipped her lid, but Vanessa has been known to do this, forget to write down orders and leave you to fend for yourself (quite literally since your coworker was never really around) and you’re pretty sure that’s what happened here. Other customers were usually more understanding than this woman bordering on Kathy-Bates-movie-character-insanity over a drink order.

You reached into your back pocket, deciding you’d try to send her a hurried text about any phone calls she might remember. That just seemed to anger your customer more.

“Excuse me?! I'm sitting here waiting for my order and you're too busy chatting away on your phone?”

You lose yourself for a moment and you can’t feel your face anymore.

“I am so sorry ma’am,” you repeat, which seems to be your mantra since you started working today, “I was just checking to see if-,”

“I don't care what you were checking, or what you need to see! Give me what I paid for,” her hand started smacking against the counter loud enough for the only other person in the store to look up, broken from their reverie. They merely shot you an apologetic look before getting back to their work, leaving you to fend for yourself.

“You have terrible customer service, honestly. I come here every Tuesday with my book club, but never again. If I don’t get exactly what I asked for in the next five minutes, I'm calling your boss and not leaving until I'm sure you’re fired.”

You shake your head, “There’s no need to do that ma’am, I'll get everything ready for you.”

You turned around once again, this time, heading towards the cappuccino machine. You’re not sure why you said that considering you have no clue what ‘everything’ is that has to get ready.

In all honesty, there’s a low chance that a suburban-white-soccer-mom type would have any real effect on your employment. Miss Hannigan would surely not fire you just because some order forgot to be written down and some customer got pissed. Right?

But you really didn’t want to find out.

So, you started up the machine and turned to grab a cup. Today, apparently, was just doomed from the start. As you turned to grab one of the cups placed on the shelf over the machine, your hand hit the button that turned on the steam wand. Which was aimed directly at your other hand.

You bit down the yelp that threatened to escape and jumped back, the back of your hand now searing with pain. Instinctively, your other hand came to cup your injured one, which only made it worse. You fought back tears as you moved to turn the steam back off.

Inhaling deeply, you took a moment to try to get your mind working again. “Hello?!” Of course. You turned your head and gave her the fakest smile you’ve ever mustered in your whole life. “One minute ma’am.”

You could hear her going off about how she doesn’t have a minute to spare, but you ignored her, trying to think of what the hell you could give her to just get her out of your face. You’d have to guess her order since I wasn’t actually taken. You’d started playing a game with yourself since you worked here, guessing people's drink orders, and you’d say you’ve gotten pretty good.

You peeked a look back at her. You’d had customers around her age come in before and order, for the most part, the same thing. A plain cappuccino. Seemed like a safe bet.

Swallowing down the pain as best you could, you approached the machine again. This time, taking out the portafilter. It must’ve not been put in correctly because it clattered to the ground, coffee grinds falling around the floor.

You wanted to cry. Your hand hurt like hell, there was a new mess to deal with, and that lady hadn’t stopped complaining since you stepped in.

Frozen, you began to panic a little, breaths coming out sporadically. You’d leave the sweeping for later, but you had to clean the filter so you could use it because it was the only one. And the slightest brush of air made your hand burn even more. You had no clue how to go about this. Maybe if you-

Like an angel, Peter rushed in through the side door. Tying his apron around his waist, he looked towards you. Your hand flew up to your mouth at his perfect timing and you saw his expression grow more concerned.

He rushed towards you. “What happened?” And for a second, you forget everything that was stressing you out just a few moments before. He grabbed your hand so gently, you forgot every ounce of pain.

“I cannot believe this!” She wasn’t giving up and you shut your eyes in frustration, turning to reply to her again. But before you can open your mouth, Peter steps in. “Hold on, can’t you clearly see she’s hurt?”

She scoffed and crossed her arms, “That’s her fault. If she knew how to do her job, it wouldn’t have happened.”

You could feel the anger rolling off him in waves. His expression hardened and his mouth opened to shoot something back at her, but this time, you cut him off. You placed your non-injured hand on his shoulder and gave him a look.

He stared at you for a few seconds before finally giving in, blowing out some air in a frustrated huff. “Go wait for me inside,” he told you, nodding his head toward the employees-only backroom.

“What?” You asked confused. You didn’t wanna leave him alone.

“You’re not working right now, there’s no way I’m letting you. I’ll deal with her. Go, I’ll be right there,” he said, shoving you away gently.

Once you heard that he’d be following you, you were more willing. You walked through the door and took a seat at the table usually used for meal breaks. The ‘break room’ was a small room positioned in the back of the store. You can’t remember what this place used to be (a diner maybe?) but this specific room was used as an office, but Miss Hannigan claimed she had no use for an office so it was used for employee breaks.

Every ounce of you was grateful for Peter’s Superman moment back there. He came in today earlier than usual and he’d totally saved your ass. You were going to make sure to tell him.

You weren’t waiting long before the door opened again and Peter walked in, holding a backpack you hadn’t seen on him before. In his other hand, he held a drink. He placed the drink on the table before he grabbed one of the chairs, bringing it close to yours, and you turned your body to face him.

He picked up your hand again, just as gently as before. “Alright,” he let out a breath of relief, “it’s not as bad as I thought, but, it’s still gonna take a while to heal. Wait,” he leaned over, unzipping his bag and taking supplies out while you just stared at him.

“I thought you majored in biochemistry.” You blurted out. Your face heated up a little when he looked at you curiously.

“I- I saw your textbooks once when you left your bag open. And I’ve seen you around campus, near the science-y buildings…and stuff.” You shrugged and he chuckled.

“I do,” he nodded, “any medical stuff is self-taught. I get into a lot of…accidents.”

“Oh.” You nodded at him. What kind of accidents would he get into? You’d never seen him hurt, but what did you know.

“I take it you don’t major in anything science-y,” he said, grinning at you.

You shook your head, “No, I don’t. But I have a chemistry class I have to take for credit. Which makes no sense because chemistry has nothing to do with what I want to learn.”

He laughed and set his bag back down, everything he needed was now laid out on the table. “Okay,” he picked up a white tube with red lettering on it. “This is gonna help with pain and scarring. I’m going to spread some of this, then wrap it up for you.” You looked at the table and saw he’d also taken out some white gauze. What kind of ‘accidents’ did he get into?

You nodded, at a complete loss for words. You had no idea Peter knew so much about injuries and you were so thankful he was helping you out. You didn’t hate each other, but you weren’t close either.

He applied a small amount to the back of your hand, asking you constantly if you were okay as he rubbed it on softly. Honestly, even if it did hurt, you wouldn’t have the heart to tell him.

He finished up with the cream and moved onto the gauze, expertly wrapping it up to lightly cover your wound. When he was finished with that, he carefully tied it off, making sure not to tie it too tight.

“There,” he leaned back and smiled at you, causing butterflies to erupt in your stomach. “All fixed up.”

“Thank you, Peter, really.” You reluctantly pulled your hand back into your lap, missing the warmth of his fingers wrapped around it.

“You don’t need to thank me Y/N, it’s the least I could do. I’m just glad I got here earlier than usual.”

You nodded and looked down. “Well thanks anyway, you saved my ass back there. Seriously, I have no idea what’s wrong with me today but I kept fucking everything up.”

“Hey,” he said softly, making you look up and meet his gaze. “You didn’t fuck anything up. Okay? You made a few mistakes, but that's not your fault. She shouldn’t have been treating you like that, especially when you’d hurt yourself.” He looked away and scoffed as he remembered the terrible customer that had ruined your morning. You would’ve felt extremely touched by his care if it weren’t for his next words.

“All that for a plain fucking cappuccino.” He mumbled.

“A plain cappuccino? Really?” You asked excitedly, forgetting about everything, and grinning at him wildly.

“Um, yeah…why?” He asked you, confusion was written all over his face, but he couldn’t help his own smile slightly growing when he noticed your enthusiasm.

“Nothing,” you shook your head quickly, smile never fading, “I just…well, I play this game with myself where I guess people's drink orders. And I think I’m getting pretty good because that’s exactly what I was going to make her before you walked in.”

He laughed out loud and you joined in. “What’s my order?” He asked.

You paused for a moment. “A caramel macchiato with extra caramel.”

He looked at you for a bit, “Close,” he admitted. “It used to be.”

“So are you gonna tell me what it is now?”

Shaking his head, he leaned over the table and dragged the drink he’d brought in earlier in front of you. “Here,” he changed the subject, “I made you this.”

You’d completely forgotten about it, and when you took a closer look, you realized it was your coffee order.

Your mouth fell open, “How’d you know?”

He just shrugged, smiling slightly. He knew it was your favorite, but the confirmation was still nice. “I've seen you make it for yourself. Educated guess.”

“Oh my god,” you said, voice soft. It was a simple thing really, you had one most days at the end of your shift. But the fact that he’d noticed… It just meant a lot. “Thank you so much, Peter.”

He just waved you off, his smile growing when he noticed your reaction to the drink. He couldn’t believe he got a chance to speak to you. Truly speak to you. He was always too awkward or embarrassed or trying to avoid embarrassment. But now, while he didn’t like the circumstances that led you both here, he was actually talking to you. And it was nice.

“So,” he started, not wanting this to end just yet, “you said you’ve got a chemistry class?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, picking up your drink and taking a sip. “The one with Professor Hall. I actually have a class after this shift. I totally suck though, and he hates me. I just don’t get it, and he doesn’t explain it well!”

Peter nodded, completely understanding what you meant. It was a tough subject to begin with, and he knew not everyone was as into science as he was, add onto that a teacher who doesn’t really teach, it’s a recipe for disaster.

“I actually had that class. Last year. I can help you, sometimes. If you’d like me to, that is!” He rushed out. Great, he thought, now I’m getting awkward.

You looked up at him, eyes wide. “Really? Do you mean that?”

“Of course. I think I’ve still got my notes too, if you want ‘em.” He shrugged nonchalantly as if he wasn’t saving your ass again.

“Oh my god Peter,” you placed your non-injured hand on his knee, not noticing the way his body stiffened and he gulped. “That would help so much. There’s a huge exam coming up, and it's a huge part of my grade so I have to pass. I started cramming earlier but—”

“I’ll help,” he reassured you, “I enjoy science anyway, so it’ll be fun for me.”

“Thank you,” you repeated. Staring at him so close, you realized you’d never noticed how handsome he was. Sure there were times you thought he was cute, from afar, but now…you could see the different shades of brown in his eyes, the way one of his eyebrows was slightly curlier than the other, unwilling to sit straight. You couldn’t help but stare-

“Oh my god,” you repeated, except this time, you had remembered something. “If we’re both in here, who’s outside?”

“What? Oh, um,” he scratched the back of his neck, still reeling from having you so close to him. “Freddy’s out there?”

“Freddy?” You asked confused.

He nodded. “The guy writing on his laptop, he’s friends with my roommate, throws the craziest parties. He’s chill, I told him to keep an eye out if someone else walks in. But it’s been slow, so I think we’re good.”

“Oh, okay.” You said, standing up. “We should probably still go though.”

He stood up beside you, frowning. “I don’t think you should work with your hand hurt. I don’t want you accidentally making it worse.”

Your heart warmed at his concern. “That's really sweet Peter, but I’ll be fine. I don’t know what happened before, I never do stuff like that, even accidentally.”

He still didn’t look convinced. “Why don’t you just go home? I can take it for today.”

You shook your head quickly, “I’m not leaving. I have a class later and it would just be a waste of time going back and forth anyway.”

You walked towards the door, opened it, and exited before he had a chance to argue anymore. You stepped behind the counter while Peter rushed out behind you. You watched Freddy give him a thumbs up and Peter nodded at him before he followed right after you.

“Are you sure you should go to class today? I can walk you home so you can take the day off,” he offered, and he looked so genuine you almost accepted.

“Peter,” you laughed and he decided no matter what your response was, it wouldn’t matter because hearing you say his name like that was enough. “I’ll be fine, I didn’t break both my legs, it's just a small burn.”

He stared at you for a bit as you smiled at him, trying to get him to ease up. “Fine,” he gave in reluctantly. “But no going towards the cappuccino machine,” he waved a finger at you, “or the ovens. Or anything hot!”

“Fine,” you shot back, grinning wide and he couldn’t help but return it.

The rest of the morning had gone by easily and you thought maybe you didn’t have totally shit luck. Peter was way more fun than you ever thought he’d be and you wondered why you didn’t start talking to each other sooner.

It used to be silently working together but after those few moments in the break room, you guys were laughing your whole shift. He meant what he said, and he kept you away from anything that produced heat (which you told him was an insane boundary to set in a cafe) so you had extra time to make quips here and there.

You started playing your order-guessing game with him, teaching him certain traits that gave someone away:

“Side part, beanie, and a crossbody? Oh, he’s getting a tall, dark, americano for sure.”

“She’s getting tea. No coffee, just tea. Maybe with a little lemon wedge.”

And he started to get the hang of it.

“She looks like she drinks matchas right?” He said to you when a girl around your age walked in. He’d been right and you both laughed about it afterwards.

When your work shift ended, you were actually upset.

“I’ve got a class to get to,” you told him, lifting your bag onto your shoulder. You’d both cleaned up and gotten yourselves ready, now standing in front of the door. Something in you didn’t want to leave just yet, enjoying your time together far too much to end it so soon.

“Yeah…” he trailed off, you waited for him to continue but he hesitated.

“What is it?” You crossed your arms and smiled slightly, shifting your weight onto your other foot. He brought a hand up to scratch the back of his neck, “I just…well, I was just wondering—if it's okay with you of course!” He rushed out, quickly bringing his hands up. “That I could walk you to class?”

You laughed, “I’d love that Pete, thank you.” You turned to open the door to let you both out but he quickly moved forward, holding it open for you and motioning for you to move forward.

Looking back at him, you smiled and noticed his cheeks were a little red. How had you never noticed how adorable he was?

The walk back to campus wasn’t long but you learned a lot. He told you where he went to high school, his friends he still kept in touch with, his Aunt May, some funny moments from parties he’d been forced to attend by his roommate, and you laughed together.

You told him about the book you were currently reading, your life back home and your family, and why you chose to go to this college. He went along with your jokes, which made it all the more better for you. “I mean if you think about it,” you'd said, “it is so much easier to romanticize your life when your school campus is as pretty as this one, and that’s real motivation!”

The conversation flowed naturally between you two and it felt like you’d been friends for ages. He dropped you off outside of your class building with the promise of picking you up afterward so you two could study together.

“So I’ll be back here in an hour right,” he asked.

“Right,” you smiled at him. “And thanks again Pete, for everything.” You held up your bandaged hand, shaking it a little before setting it back down.

He shook his head quickly, “Don’t thank me for that. Really.”

You stared at him with a warm expression. “Bye Peter,” you waved as you turned to walk into your class.

“Bye Y/N,” he returned. He watched you walk through the doors, shooting him one last smile before you disappeared from view, before blowing out a breath of air.

He’d finally gotten a chance to talk to the girl he’d been crushing on for months, and he got to walk her to class! And they were meeting up afterward. After working so close to you and never having the guts to initiate a conversation, he’d settled for just admiring you from afar. But after today, there was nothing that could keep him away.

You were not having a good day.

You’d just found out that your chemistry exam was being bumped up to two days from now. Even with the early studying you’d done before, there was no way you could catch up with everything that fast. You were so overwhelmed you had completely forgotten Peter was waiting for you outside.

You walked out, your bottom lip stuck between your teeth, and you practically jumped out of your skin when someone placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry,” he said, his voice soft yet full of concern. Peter. “It's just me. What happened?”

The second he saw you walk out, he could tell something was off. He could literally sense the anxiety rolling off of you in waves. He had waited for you to look up and stop when you saw him, but you were just about to walk past him before he stopped you. Now, you were looking at him with distress coating every feature on your face. Your brows were pinched, your lip red from biting it, and your eyes wide and distant like you couldn’t even see him and he was standing right in front of you. Something had gone wrong and he wanted nothing more than to fix it.

“What is it? What’s wrong? He asked frantically.

“Oh my god,” you whispered, hands flying up to the sides of your head and gripping your hair. You weren’t looking at him anymore, “Oh my god.”

“Ok Y/N,” he said nervously, “you’re starting to scare me.”

“Two days Peter!” You looked at him wildly. “Two days! I can’t go over everything in two days, is he fucking insane? I didn’t even know he could do something like that, I mean, can he do something like that? I feel like that shouldn’t be allowed it should—”

You cut yourself off and started pacing back and forth in front of him. “Oh my god, I’m gonna bomb this. And if I fail, it’ll bring my whole grade down! I can’t afford that I—”

“Hey,” he repeated, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder again. “I said I’m gonna help you, and I meant it. So we’re gonna get through this together, even if we have to stay up all night.”

You stared at him, trying to wonder what you’d done in your life to deserve such an angel.

You shook your head quickly, “I really appreciate that Peter, but I’m serious. There’s no way I can learn everything I need to know that fast.”

You tried to smile at him but it didn’t reach your eyes.

He grinned, his expression the total opposite of yours. “Well, you’ve clearly never studied with me, so don’t sound too sure yet.”

Another thing you’d come to realize was just how smart Peter was.

You really should’ve known when he told you he’d taken that advanced chemistry class a year ago. And passed.

Looking through his notes, you could see his attention to detail. He really wasn’t a slacker in the classroom because everything was clearly laid out here.

You’d spent that night going over everything and you’d actually started to feel hopeful about it. Peter was a way better teacher than Professor Hall, and it didn’t hurt that he was so cute. He was understanding with everything and was willing to go over any part for as long as it took for you to fully grasp it.

At the end of the night, he’d undone the wrappings around your hand, reapplied the cream for you, and wrapped it up again.

“It’s doing okay,” he reassured you. “Like I said, it’s gonna take a while, but if it starts hurting or anything, take some medicine. Then find me.”

You were sure you’d just melted into his hands at that moment.

The next day, you couldn’t wait to get through everything and see him again, even if you were going to be talking about chemistry.

You weren’t scheduled to work at the cafe today, so you’d only get to meet up after both of your classes.

Lectures were a blur, nothing really catching your attention and you spent most of the time with your phone tucked in your hand texting back and forth with Peter, barely concealing your laughter when he sent you memes.

It was like that all day, until, finally, you made your way over to his small apartment he shared with one of his friends.

its very quaint 🤌

(totally NOT what we say to make ourselves feel better about this shoebox)

He’d told you over text, making you laugh out loud as you made your way over there.

dw🫡 I was one of those kids who used to live in their play tents and hid in random corners and spaces

im totally ready for this

ok but be warned, we do not have a pet!!! they are not allowed per our lease!!! ignore the cat when you come in!!! tell no one!!!

what cat ??

good girl ;)

Your face flushed as you made your way up the steps to his door. You knocked three times and barely had to wait a second before Peter stood before you, holding the door open.

“Hi,” he said, smiling at you.

“Hi,” you grinned back. You heard a small ‘meow’ come from behind him and he quickly held up a finger to his lips. You covered your mouth, stifling a laugh as you nodded at him.

“Come on in,” he said, stepping out of the way to lead you through the door. You stepped in and kicked off your shoes before looking around. It was plain, but that was to be expected really.

There was a large poster hanging next to their TV, however, that caught your eye. “Big fan?” You asked him, shoving your thumb in the direction of the Star Wars poster.

He shrugged nonchalantly, “Kind of.”

“Oh. Well, I was just asking because I love those movies. My little brother used to watch them and I got really into it.”

“Oh. I mean—I don’t know what I was saying before I love them too.” He rushed out, making you giggle.

He stayed staring at you for a bit, his eyes rounding out and his mouth gaping a little bit.

You gave him a small smile, “Okay, well we should-” You let out a small yelp, hands flying to your mouth as you jumped back.

The living room was small. The only things occupying it were the TV mounted to the wall, and in front of it, was a sofa. And on the sofa, was an unconscious body that you hadn’t noticed until it let out a low groan. You really weren’t sure how you missed it, there wasn’t much else to look at, but they had just been so still.

Heart beating erratically, you turned towards Peter again, who was looking at you with all the amusement in the world written all over his face. “Was he always there,” you whispered, eyes wide.

He opened his arms, “Well, angel, I really don’t know. Did you see anyone come in?”

“Oh shut up,” you grumbled. “He looks familiar…is that..”

“Freddy.” He finished for you. Right. The dude from the cafe.

“He crashes here sometimes.” He added.

You nodded. “Alright.”

“Shall we?” He opened a door beside him and looked at you.

“Right. Yeah, of course.” You walked past him and into his room. You stopped after you entered, taking a moment to look around. His room was simple, with just his bed, a desk and chair, and a dresser perched next to another door you assumed was his closet.

What really caught your attention, however, were the photos scattered all over the walls. The room was practically engulfed in Peter Parker’s memories, and you really liked it. Without thinking, you approached one wall, walking through them and taking each one in.

There were some with large groups of people, those looked like school trips. Most of the photos were of the same two people, and based on what he’d told you, you assumed those were his friends. Ned and MJ.

A lot of the photos contained an older woman, who looked stunning. That had to be his Aunt May. You were shocked by how many photos he had with the Tony Stark. He’d told you he had an internship at Stark Industries, but really, you sorta thought he just went on coffee runs all day.

And then, you saw a couple shots of Spider-Man. It wasn’t unusual, you knew a lot of people snapped photos of the masked hero when they spotted him around the city. What was unusual, was the quality of the photos. You didn’t know if you’d ever seen such clear photos of him, even on the news, as he was always swinging and in motion. In these, Peter seemed to have caught him at just the right time. You wondered how long it took him to capture the photos.

“Big fan?” You smirked over at him from your spot by one of the Spider-Man photos as you repeated your words from earlier.

Peter leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, content with watching go over the details of his life. He felt a little naked, like he was bared out in front of you. But…it felt good too. He liked knowing you were learning new things about him, and curious to know more. It filled him with an anxious sort of giddiness.

“You first,” he said slyly.

Laughing, you said, “Well, I don’t see how anyone can hate on the guy. He literally runs around saving lives”

He laughed as he approached you, standing by your side. You’d be surprised. “True I guess.”

“We should get to studying,” you said, breezing past him, your hand brushing his bicep as you did. He sucked in a breath, his entire body feeling electrocuted after that one touch. He wondered how you seemed so normal, laying out your books and papers on the floor beside his bed.

This was gonna be a long night.

He cleared his throat and moved to sit across from you, hoping he didn’t look as flushed as he felt.

After a few moments of him watching you get settled, you heard him start laughing. Looking up you asked, “What’s so funny?”

That only made him laugh harder. “Just thinking about how scared you got before. Did you really not see him?”

You felt your face go hot. “I didn’t! I had no clue he was there, and next thing I know he’s making lawn mower nosies!”

Peter was red in the face now. “The way you flew back,” he said between fits of laughter, “I thought you’d give yourself whiplash.”

“Shut up,” you grumbled at him, picking up one of your pens and throwing it at him. It bounced off without him even flinching.

You looked down, avoiding his gaze by busying yourself with your papers.

“Okay I’m ready to be serious now,” he said. The laughter was gone but amusement twinkled in his voice.

“Great! Welcome back Pete, now hand me that pen, I’m gonna need it.”

Two hours later, you were both sprawled across the floor tossing Chess-Its at one another.

“Come on!” You threw your arms up in defeat when you threw another cracker at him just for him to catch it again.

Peter chuckled, “Sorry angel, I’ve just got killer reflexes.”

“Alright whatever,” You rolled your eyes. “Come on, throw some at me.”

You opened your mouth, ready to finally win one round of this nonsense…just for a Cheez-It to hit your cheek and fall to the ground with the rest of your tries.

Peter laughed while you sat up, reached to grab the box of crackers, and poured some into your hand before putting it back down.

“Okay, I’m done. I actually want to eat them now.” You said, munching on a cracker and sitting against the side of his bed.

“Oh come on, don’t be a quitter Y/N/N,” he grinned, leaning over and pinching your cheek.

You swatted his hand away with your empty one. “M’not.”

He smiled at you before sitting up. “Hit me,” he said, opening his mouth and pointing at it.

You grabbed a Cheez-It from the palm of your hand and made a big show of trying to get your aim right. Squinting one eye, you stared at him, moving your hand back and forth before tossing it slightly more to the right. On purpose.

That didn’t stop him from leaning over and catching it in his mouth.

“I don’t like this game,” you said, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Don’t act like I don’t know what you did,” he said back, munching on his Cheez-it.

“Sue me,” you told him, brushing him off with a wave of your hand.

He laughed before he settled down. “How’s your hand feeling by the way.” His voice was considerably softer now, making you smile softly at him.

“It’s doing great, thank you again, Peter. I would’ve been totally fucked if it weren’t for you,” you told him honestly.

He shook his head, “Don’t thank me at all Y/N. Hate seeing you hurt,” he mumbled, less to you and more to himself and he stayed staring at your wrapped-up hand.

“Well don’t worry about that, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Yeah?” He looked at you suddenly, like he needed to know you meant it.

“Yeah,” you nodded at him.

“That’s good,” he breathed out and your heart squeezed at how much he seemed to care.

“What's your plan? Y’know, for after school?” You didn’t want to leave just yet, even with your studying done. And you wanted to know more about him. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t taken a certain liking to him lately.

“Well after I get my degree, I’m going move up a little further in Stark Industries. I’m still undecided on grad school, I think I’ve got everything I need and I’m probably just gonna start saving up to pay off student loans instead of adding on them.”

You nodded at him, “So the Stark internship is going well? No offense, I sort of thought you were their coffee mule.” You grinned at him before popping a Cheez-It in your mouth.

He scoffed, “No, I’m not. I mean, it did take a while to get them to take me seriously, but I got there!”

You laughed, “Well, very proud of you Pete. That’s super impressive.”

He grinned at you, his face heating up at your words. He wondered if you knew how much it affected him every time you called him Pete. Probably not, but he never wanted you to stop.

You two stayed like that for another hour or so, time passing by without you noticing at all. You talked about your futures, where you say yourselves after school, and after that. Your admiration for him only grew as you got to know him more. You could talk to him all night and never get bored honestly, you-

Shit.

A random notification lit up your phone, which lay beside you on the floor, making you take notice of the time.

You sat up quickly, spitting out curses as you started gathering your belongings and shoving them into your bag.

Peter sat up as well, helping you get your things together but in a calmer manner than yourself.

“Relax Y/N,” he said in a soothing voice.

“Pete I can’t do it.” You turned to him suddenly, dropping everything in your hands.

“Do what, angel?”

“The exam is tomorrow. I’m not ready! I’m gonna fail, and that one grade, that one stupid grade, is gonna hold me back and ruin everything-”

“Sweetheart look at me,” he said, placing a hand on your shoulder. His grip was warm and reassuring. “You are not going to fail. And I know this because I’ve spent the last few hours studying with you, and I saw how smart you are, and how quick you caught on. You’re gonna walk in there tomorrow and ace that test, I know you are!

“And if for some reason you don’t,” he continued, “you gave it your best. You tried your hardest and you learned something, which is all that matters in the end. So breathe, stop stressing, and let me walk you home.”

“All that talk as an excuse to ask to take me home?” You snorted, “Peter you shouldn’t have.” Despite your jokes, you took his advice and took a deep breath. He was right, you’d studied your hardest, both with and without his help. All you could do was take the exam and hope for the best now.

He laughed and stood up, holding out a hand once he saw you all packed and ready. “Caught me. So is that a yes?”

You took his hand and pulled yourself up but didn’t let go right away. “If I fail, do we have to stop hanging out? Y’know, with you being a science prodigy and all.”

He laughed again and placed both his hands on your shoulder, staring straight into your eyes. “Never.”

“Ok, well, just making sure. I wouldn’t wanna give you a bad rep in the science community or something-”

You were suddenly cut off from your babbling when he pressed his lips to yours. You froze for a second, unsure what to do, but it didn’t take long for you to catch up and kiss him back.

He pulled away after a few moments, “Done with the jokes?” His voice was soft and teasing.

“Uh huh,” you mumbled, eyes still closed. “But I think you might need to do that again, just to be sure.”

He chuckled murmuring something that sounded like ‘too cute’ but you couldn’t be bothered to hear when you felt his lips on yours again, this time, expecting them.

You threw your arms around his neck, pulling him closer and canting your head slightly for better access. He groaned, one arm wrapping around your middle, the other settling on your waist.

You might have pictured kissing him before, just maybe. But none of your daydreaming could’ve prepared you for the real thing. The way his bottom lip covered your top one, the soft breaths exchanged between the two of you, the way he pressed himself further into you when you tugged his hair a little harder. This definitely beat all of your daydreams.

You could’ve stayed that way forever, and you probably would’ve if Peter hadn’t taken one for the team and pulled away first.

Or tried to, at least.

“We should-” kiss.

“You-” kiss.

“I need to walk,” kiss, “-you home angel.” He murmured against your lips.

“Okay,” you whispered back but you didn’t move to pull away, and he didn’t push you. The two of you stayed stuck, foreheads pressed together, eyes closed, taking in the atmosphere of each other.

“I should probably go now,” you said softly. Peter hummed in agreement, leaning in to peck your lips gently.

“It’s getting late,” but your voice is more of a sigh. You don’t know what he’s laced his lips with but each kiss makes you weak in the knees and woozier than the last one.

“God, d’yknow I’ve had the biggest crush on you.” He said, completely disregarding your previous statement.

That stops you. “What?” You asked him in disbelief. Peter had a crush on you? No way, you would’ve known.

“Yeah,” he chuckled lightly, “don’t act so shocked. I was always a stuttering mess at work whenever you so much as looked at me.”

True. But you’d just thought he was a bit more on the shy side.

“I’d seen you around campus before and I thought you were the prettiest girl I’d ever seen, and I still do, but I thought I had no shot in hell with you. And when I got the job at the cafe and saw I’d be working with you? I almost lost my fucking mind sweetheart.” You both laughed a little and you couldn’t help the way your cheeks flamed up because of his words. Did he have any clue what he was doing to you right now?

“So I just sorta kept my distance, y’know? Admired you from afar ‘cause I was too scared you’d reject me. Sadly, it only took you nearly burning your hand off,” he gave you a look and you burst into giggles, him doing you and slightly pinching your waist, “for me to get over myself and actually keep up a conversation with you. But now I’ve got you in my room, kissing me.”

“Hmm,” you hummed, “lucky you.” You joked as leaned in to press another kiss to his lips.

“Lucky me indeed,” he murmured before pulling you in even deeper. He dipped you, making you squeal into the kiss. Then he pulled you up, unable to keep the kiss going any longer with how hard he was grinning.

“Oh my god,” you said, laughing breathlessly.

“A lot more where that came from,” he smirked at you.

“You know,” you moved to pick up your bag, “for someone who was so scared to talk to me for so long, you sure found the confidence now.”

“What can I say? You make it easy. Once I started I couldn’t stop.” You smiled at him as he gently placed a hand on your arm leading you to the door. The living room was empty now, no one to be found on the couch or otherwise and you wondered where their cat had wandered off to.

You bent over to put on your shoes, Peter doing the same. He stepped forward and opened the door for you, letting you step out before following you and locking the door.

As soon as he was done with that, you reached over and grabbed his hand. “Hey Petey?” You said lightly. Oh, he was going to melt. From now on, he only wanted you to call him that.

“Hm?”

“I’m glad you finally decided to talk to me.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of your head. “Yeah? Me too angel.”

The next morning, you awoke in the brightest mood, considering you had a chemistry exam later that day. All you could think about was Peter. You were going to see him later at the cafe and you couldn’t wait.

You leaned over in bed to pick up your phone. Speak of the devil.

GOOD MORNINGGGGG❤️

hope you slept well angel, can’t wait to see you today. and you’re gonna totally ace that exam!🥰

seriously you’re going to kick chemistry’s butt

A huge smile bloomed on your face, almost hurting from how wide it was. Usually, you'd stay in bed for a while, scrolling through Instagram or just going through messages or something. Not today, you couldn’t wait to get to work. Maybe Peter was a good influence on you.

After getting ready for the day, you made your way to the cafe with a little bounce in your steps. The bell jingled above you as you opened the door and for the first time since you’d started working together, Peter was here before you.

“Hey,” he smiled, holding up your usual drink order and waving it at you.

“Hi Pete,” you approached his, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips. As you pulled away, you could see how quickly his cheeks pinked, making you grin.

“No ‘Petey’?”

“Didn’t know you had a preference,” you said, grabbing his hand and pulling it towards you as you took a sip from the drink and then moved to get dressed for your shift.

“Yeah,” he scratched the back of his neck, wishing he could feel your hand on his for just a little longer, “neither did I.”

You laughed lightly as you tied your apron, the sound hitting him like the greatest melody in the world.

“Okay then,” you walked towards him, stopping right in front of him, “let’s start over. Hi Petey.”

“Hi angel,” he gave you a dopey grin and you returned it.

“Great, now that we’ve got that figured out.” You patted his chest lightly before taking the drink from his hands and moving away.

“Hey wait! Where’s my kiss?” He pouted at you and he looked so adorable, you just wanted to pinch his cheeks and kiss him till he begged you to stop.

“We’re at work, we’ve gotta be professional.” You said matter-of-factly.

He rolled his eyes, leaned against the counter, and crossed his arms. “Professional my ass, no one is even in here-,”

Before he could even close his mouth, the bell jingled, and in stepped a boy about your age. The boy moved to one of the chairs, not moving to order just yet, giving you the chance to smirk at Peter, who just rolled his eyes again.

“What do you he’s gonna order,” he asked you.

“Hmm…a cookie, probably.” You moved lean against the counter across from him and took a sip of your drink as you smiled.

“Hey wait, you never told me what your drink order is.”

“Hmm…” he hummed in consideration before he moved towards you, grabbing your hand with the drink and bringing it up to his lips to steal a sip, maintaining eye contact the whole time.

“I’ve got to say,” he said in a low voice, “this one has really grown on me.”

You couldn’t look away, all you could do was stare. And stare, and stare, and stare…

A stranger’s voice, and then, “Hey, can I get one of those double chocolate chip cookies?”

You were just on cloud nine today.

You had taken your exam and for the first time ever in that class, you had felt confident in your work.

And to top it all off, after you’d handed in your paper and packed your things to leave, Professor Hall had given you a ‘well done’ nod. You! He’d never noticed you positively before. You were going to need to drown Peter in thank-you kisses for his help.

Speaking of Peter, you couldn’t wait to see him. He told you he’d be waiting for you after your class but when you stepped outside, there was no sign of him. You decided to sit on the building steps and wait. He was probably just running a little late, no biggie.

Big biggie. After 40 minutes of waiting for him, during which you’d sent him a little text and he hadn’t responded, you decided to head over to his place.

The walk was short and your little buzz had worn off after not getting to share it with Peter. After all, you kind of owed him most of the credit. You arrived at his apartment door, and when you knocked, it wasn't Peter who answered.

It's Freddy.

You throw on a smile. “Hi Freddy, is Peter home?”

He returned your smile as he said, “‘Sup Y/N.” He held out his fist and you stared at it for a while before you got the hint and bumped it with your own. “Pete’s not home right now, but you can totally come in and wait for him.”

You found it funny that someone who didn’t live there was inviting you in to stay, but you accepted anyway. You also had no clue how he knew your name.

You knew little about Freddy, but you knew he was sort of a campus celebrity. Every raging party there was, everyone knew Freddy was behind it.

“So,” you said as you walked in, “what year are you in Freddy?”

“Ah nah, I’m done with that shit. I took the bar,” he said casually, waving a hand and moving to sit on the couch. He kicked his feet up on the large Amazon box being used as a coffee table and picked up the open beer sitting atop it.

You stood in your place, clutching your bag. He was in grad school?

“Oh that’s awesome dude, did you not pass or something.”

“Uh uh,” he shook his head, taking a swig of beer, “got a 350.”

Your eyes widened. What. You didn’t know much about law school but you knew getting a score like that on the bar was not an easy thing.

“Wait when’d you take it?” You asked confused. The bar exam wasn’t scheduled for a few months from now.

“Last year.”

“Do you like…work at a firm or something?” It was insane to you that the party animal of this school had already graduated, and with an amazing score nonetheless.

He shook his head, “Workin' on my music right now, and if that doesn’t work out,” he gave you a wicked grin, “well I’ve always got my law degree.”

You nodded, stunned. “That’s sick dude. Good luck,” you told him, waving as you moved to wait in Peter’s room.

“Keep the door cracked kids,” he shouted towards you and you huffed a laugh as you entered the room and closed the door (leaving it open just an inch) before you sat at the foot of his bed.

You looked around for a second, taking it all in. It’s amazing how he managed to take this small space and make it so him.

After a few moments, you took out your phone to shoot him another text.

But before you could finish typing it out, the window beside you started opening and you watched as the Spider-Man fell onto the bed, not noticing you gaping right next to him.

You stayed silent, unsure of what to do or say until he moved to take his mask off. That got you moving and talking.

“Holy fuck!” You basically shout, moving away, hands flying to your mouth.

He seemed to be just as shocked as you were because he scrambled up from his lying position. And staring back at you was Peter Parker.

“What are you doing here?�� He asked you, eyes wide. It wasn’t till then that you noticed the paleness of his features, his face lacking that usually healthy glow it held, the waver in his voice, and the hand clutching his bloody side.

“Holy fuck,” you repeated, voice lower, and for a whole different reason this time. “Shit Peter, you’re hurt.” You moved closer to him, temporarily forgetting everything else as your hand reached to gently remove his so you could take in the extent of his injuries.

“It’s nothing,” he said but made no move to shove you away or stop you. You moved his hand and winced at the sight that greeted you, “Looks like a whole lot more than nothing babe.”

“I’ve had worse.”

You look up at him, frowning slightly, “Not exactly reassuring Petey.”

“I feel all better now,” he said, shooting you a charming grin as soon as he heard the nickname leave your mouth. “Add a kiss in the mix, and I’ll be good as new.”

You huffed a laugh, shoving his knee slightly, “Shut up Peter. I’m serious. I’m sure you’ve got some experience with stuff like this,” you wave a hand towards his suit and injury for emphasis and he gives you a quick nod.

“Over there,” he pointed toward his dresser, “top shelf, under the blue sweater.”

You rushed over there, opening the drawer and spotting the sweater he mentioned. “I’m totally stealing that from you someday, this is your heads up,” you told him as you grabbed the large box and completely closed the door before you moved back to his side.

“You can have anything of mine, Angel. I’m sure you’d look better in it anyway.” His words made you blush, but you tried to ignore them so you could focus on the task at hand.

Peter, however, found that he really liked watching your cheeks pink up. And he wanted more.

“Lean against the headboard, now.” You said, trying to be serious again.

“God, at least buy me dinner first sweetheart.” He gave you the dorkiest smirk you’d ever seen. You just glared at him. “On the other hand,” he said as he moved backward to lean against his headboard, “I don’t need dinner, I’m all yours baby girl.”

This got you to laugh, “Peter, be serious! You’re bleeding out!” You moved to his side, “take this off by the way.” You gestured to his suit.

He hit the middle emblem of a spider and you watched as it loosened up and fell off his shoulders. You had started pulling it the rest of the way down, gulping when you realized he wasn’t wearing anything else, when he mumbled, “Not a terrible way to go.”

You refused to look up and meet his eyes but he knew he got you. Thank god he was wearing underwear, you realized, and you threw the suit to the side after you’d completely shredded him of it. He was definitely going to need a new one.

Now completely facing the damage, your stomach churned, and you were hit with the hard truth. “I…I don’t know what to do,” you whispered to him. You wanted to help him, more than anything. This man who’s been risking his life, probably since he was a teenager you realized, as you did the math silently in your head, was hurt and right in front of you, needing your help. And you needed to help him, but you didn’t know the first thing about how to approach a situation like this. You were surprised you could stare at the wound for so long.

“Don’t worry, I can do it,” he said gently, his bloody hand reaching for the huge first aid kit.

“No!” You rushed out, grabbing his hand to stop him, “No way am I letting you do that! Just…just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.

Feeling more confident, you grabbed the kit and opened it. Shock coursed you as you realized just how much he went through and your confidence fell right back down where it sprouted from. The bag was full of all the medical tools and supplies you could think of, most of them completely foreign to you, and you realized how privileged you must be to not recognize any of these things. You can’t imagine the ‘worse’ he talked about having earlier. This must be those accidents he was talking about.

“I don’t usually have to use them,” his voice was soft, almost like he was reassuring you, “usually just water and a towel does the trick. Maybe a little numbing cream. And these,” he looked down at his wounds, “some bandages, sure, but I won’t need stitches or anything.”

You let out a breath of relief, you weren’t sure you could’ve handled that. You didn’t trust yourself.

“Okay,” you said, grabbing some wipes. You were going to do this. Based on what he’d told you, he was always stitching himself back up, just to hit the streets again the next day. This time, though, was different. This time you were here to help him, and you weren’t going chicken out of this. Even a little help was better than nothing at all.

You started slowly, cleaning around his wounds so you could bandage them properly. “You sure you’re okay with this?” He asked you gently. “I totally understand if you need me to do it, angel, it’s a lot if you’re not used to it.”

“No,” you shook your head, your voice steady, “No way. It’s my turn to fix you up.” You told him, looking up to meet his eyes and smiling at him.

He returned it and you went back to work.

“So….Spider-Man, huh?” You peeked up quickly in question.

“Yeah,” he took a deep breath, “it’s a long story. Basically, I was bit by some spider, that shit was powerful,” you laughed a little, making him smile. “And I got some. Of its powers I mean.”

“So you get bit by a spider, that spider gives you powers, and you decide to become a New York vigilante?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” he nodded, and you laughed again.

“You’re a hell of a guy Peter Parker.” You said, shaking your head slightly.

“Thank you, I try,” he smirked at you and you laughed again.

“Okay,” you said, pulling away from his side. He almost whined in protest. Honestly, he wasn’t feeling any pain, not since you’d started worrying about him, and insisting you help him. Peter wasn’t used to that, he was always alone when it came to this part of the job. He’d never minded that before, just one of the things he had to deal with as a superhero, but now that someone else was taking care of him…it felt nice. Really nice. Especially when it was you.

“Peter?” You looked at him questioningly. Shit. You’d asked him something.

“Huh? I'm sorry, I didn’t hear you.” He said with wide eyes. He’d gotten too wrapped up in the feeling of being taken care of, not that anyone could blame him though, the girl he’d been crushing on forever was here, in his room, helping bandage him up! It's more than he could’ve dreamed of.

“It’s okay sweetie,” you said, waving him off assuming he was in pain or something. Really, now he had something new to obsess over. Sweetie? While he was practically naked (albeit injured, but he wasn’t thinking of that right now) in bed with you? God, he could just melt.

“I was just wondering which bandages,” you said, holding up the different ones you’d found in his bag.

“Oh,” he said lamely, “these ones.” He grabbed a few from you and opened them.

“Look,” he said, leaning over himself to see his wounds properly, “you’ve got to bring together both sides of the wound, then secure the bandage so that it’s holding it closed.” He talked as he placed the first bandage with you watching and listening with intent.

“Okay, I think I’ve got it,” you said as you took the rest of the bandages from him. You steadied yourself, straddling his thigh as you started placing the bandages down his wound. The biggest gash took about five, your elbow resting on his abdomen as you got lower…and lower.

Conveniently, you missed the quiver in his breath, too focused on the work at hand, but you didn’t miss the small gasp he let out when your forearm reached right between his thighs.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” You said as you pulled away quickly, thinking you’d hurt him. “Did I pinch too hard?”

“No, no angel, you’re fine. Doing a great job actually.” He replied, trying to collect himself. He could not let himself think of that right now. There were more important things at hand.

“You sure?” You asked him, not looking convinced.

“Positive.” He replied, grabbing your arm and pulling you back in (but making sure to keep you at a healthy distance from his dick).

You added a few more bandages, most of the cuts only needing one or two, before pulling away again to rummage through his bag. “What do you use on your bruises?”

“This one,” he said, leaning over you and grabbing a tube from the kit. You turned, your lips almost brushing over each other with how close you were.

“Hi,” you whispered, all thoughts completely flying out of your head as you realized just how badly you wanted to kiss him.

“Hi angel,” he said smiling softly at you.

Seeing you debate it in your head, Peter decided it would be easier for the both of you if he did it first. Leaning in, he closed the distance and smoothly took your lips in his. You melted into the kiss right away, feeling like you’d been craving this your whole life when really, you’d just kissed his a few hours ago before you’d left work.

Your hands were on his bare chest, you could feel every muscle, every move when-

“Wait, you’re hurt!” You pulled away, leaving a pouting Peter in your wake.

“My lips work just fine angel,” he said, trying to steal another kiss while you tried to avoid him.

“But..let me finish at least,” you mumbled against his lips, barely getting a chance to pull away after he’d caught you.

“You can finish, just lemme do this first,” he responded before kissing you again.

“Hey,” you mumbled against his lips.

He hummed in response, moving to kiss your cheek, your jawline. If he kept this up you might not try to stop him.

“Did you know Freddy took the bar exam? And passed?”

That got him to pull away.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking at you confusedly, “I’m kissing you and you decide this a good time to bring up Freddy?”

“Well, y’know,” you shrugged, “figured it was as good a time as any.”

He scoffed, “Unbelievable.”

You giggled, “I win.” You pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, pulling away before he could catch you and turn it into more.

“Now lay down, lemme do this,” you said waving the cream at him.

He moved grumpily and you thought grumpy Peter was the cutest thing ever. The furrow of his brows, the slight pout of his lips. You could just kiss him. And you would’ve if you hadn’t known where it would lead you.

You unscrewed the cap to the cream and started applying it gently. “So Fred’s a lawyer huh?” Peter spoke up.

“He is!” You whispered excitedly, glad he was just as shocked as you were.

“And you learned this how?” He asked, giving you a look.

You shrugged. “He let me in and I talked to him, asked him a few questions to get to know him better since I see him everywhere.”

“Wait, he’s here right now?”

“Yeah,” you said slowly, “I thought you knew?”

“No I didn’t-,” he let out a sigh, “whatever it's basically his apartment too at this point I guess.”

You laughed, “And you’re okay with that?”

He shrugged with his good side. “He buys the good beer.”

You laughed again. “He scored a 350 on the bar exam!”

Peter’s brows shot up. “Oh shit.”

“I know! The only thing I knew about him was that he blacked out in that frat house’s pool all night and the cops were called cause someone thought he was dead.”

“Yeah, he’s super lucky he was on his back. Just floated around the pool like a leaf.”

You shook your head, screwing the cap back on the tube of cream, “Crazy. But anyway, I’m done. And on the plus side,” you grinned at him, “if you ever get in legal trouble, you know someone!”

He laughed out loud, and you watched as his face scrunched up and he clutched his side in pain. Apologizing for the joke, you gave him a kiss on the cheek to make up for it.

“Enough about crazy Freddy,” he let out a sigh, “I’m gonna go put some clothes on, and then I wanna cuddle with my girl.”

Your heart skipped a beat at his words and all you could do was smile as he stood up, giving you a kiss on the side of your head before he moved to pick out some clothes.

You watched him get dressed, biting your lip as you watched how his muscles rippled with each of his movements. You always knew he was strong but seeing him like that, was a completely different story.

“Like what you see?” He asked, smirking at you before he lifted his shirt, holding it up between his teeth as he tied his sweatpants.

Your mouth fell open. At being caught and also at…how absolutely hot he looked right now. If he wasn’t injured, you would be all. over. him.

“S’alright angel,” he said as he stalked towards you. He was enjoying this, a lot. “I’m sure I’d be the same if the roles were reversed.”

That did not help. Now you were thinking about being naked in front of Peter and-

He laughed, kissed the side of your head again, and laid down, pulling next to him.

“Careful Peter, you’re still hurt!” You chastised him.

He shook his head, “You made me feel a hundred times better. Thank you, angel.”

“Of course Petey.” He smiled at you as he wrapped his arms around you, hugging you tight.

“So, you came to see me right? Y’know, before the whole finding out I’m Spider-Man thing. What’s up?”

“Oh I almost forgot,” you perked up, tilting your head up so you could see his face, “I think I totally aced that chemistry exam!”

“Angel! I’m so proud of you!” He started attacking you with kisses, kissing you anywhere his lips could reach.

You giggled, “Thank you sweetie, but seriously I owe you most of the credit, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Nonsense,” he shook his head, “that was all you. I barely helped, you learned everything and then took that quiz, and aced it.”

“Well I haven’t gotten my grade back yet, I just have a really good feeling, so don’t sound too are there's a chance I didn’t do as well as I thought.”

“Nope,” he said, popping the p. “I have a sense, a spidey sense. And my spidey sense is telling me that you totally aced that thing. No questions asked.”

You laughed loudly. “Spidey sense?”

“No questions,” he repeated as he nuzzled his nose into your hair.

“Fine then,” you snuggled up further into him. “No questions.”

569 notes · View notes

wing-ed-thing · 2 months ago

Text

… And the Beast (Yonji Vinsmoke x Reader) Chapter V

Synopsis: You thought your little crush on Prince Yonji was a well-kept secret. Yonji is mean enough to exploit your eagerness to please in the face of his unrelenting cruelty; the thought of actually developing a soft spot for you never even crossed his mind.

Word Count: 5.6k

Tags/Warnings: No Reader Pronouns, Fluff, Angst, Slow Burn, Naive!Servant!Reader, Name-Calling, Language, Reader Falls First, Yonji Falls Harder

Notes: A little treat before the emotional tornado that chapter 6 will be. Sorry it's late!!!

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI

It hardly took a week for the notice to come; the library snail was officially under the jurisdiction of the fourth prince of Germa, Prince Yonji. You were sure the main sailing crew was mixed about the news. Granted that the library snail had traditionally been under the wing of Mistress Reiju, the crew often got an earful for straying or dawdling due to Yonji’s whims.

You had also heard rumors that Reiju was hardly enthusiastic about joint sailing with Yonji’s fleet when he paid his visits. Even when she was explicit in her request to sail separately, fleet Reiju often found themselves more interrupted than usual.

“A general nuisance!” Reiju had allegedly said to describe her youngest brother, which had been heard by a handmaid who told a valet.

And so when all fleets received word that the library snail would be officially taken over by fleet Yonji, a collective sigh was ultimately breathed out amongst the kingdom. You sat with the page for a long while, curling up under the sunlight in your usual seat by the window. The ship was already headed toward a local port where fleet Yonji and fleet Reiju would make the exchange.

You couldn’t help but recall Yonji’s words from the week prior.

“As far as I’m concerned, this place is mine.”

“I told ya, didn’t I?”

You startled, flinching as you quickly sat up in your chair, much to Yonji’s amusement. His boisterous cackle rang out over the cool, tropical air.

It certainly felt like an afternoon and a summer one at that. You had opened the library windows just a crack to let in the sea breeze as you enjoyed the golden sunbeams cast from the clear sky above. The air was warm enough to wear draping apparel and the wind gentle enough to make curtains sway gently in the halls across the ship. The weather was perfect.

You breathed the shock that had just coursed through you before standing straight with a gentle smile. Yonji leaned against the doorway of the chamber. Even he was dressed for the weather, trading in his usual slacks and shirt for a pair of linen shorts and a neutral-colored button-down. You still held the notice in your hand.

“I thought we were meeting at the port.” You spared a glance outside the window at a flock of seagulls that dipped in and out of view. Yonji scoffed.

“What? Not excited to see me?” You couldn’t help but let out a light laugh at the growing scowl on Yonji’s lips.

“I am always excited to see you, Prince Yonji.” You dipped your head, offering him a slight bow that seemed to improve his attitude. Yonji hummed with approval, his attitude appearing to melt on the spot. You laughed again.

“Damn straight,” he grumbled before picking himself off the doorway. His shoes glided across the plush, intricately woven carpet below as he meandered into the center of the room. “Besides, I wanted to make sure you were ready before we arrived at port.”

You couldn’t help the way your forehead scrunched.

“Ready for what?” you asked, and Yonji looked as if he had been waiting for that very question. He puffed up, squaring his shoulders back as he regarded you casually. Well, as casually as he could for the wide smirk that occupied his face.

Yonji stood with his feet about shoulder length apart and arms crossed over his broad chest. His short-sleeved, open-collared shirt allowed for the movement despite the appearance of the light but stiff-looking fabric.

“Now that I’m in charge of the library, I couldn’t help but notice that the library was down a book!” he barked with a hearty laugh. He indulged in the pat on the back he gave himself, and you spurred him on with enthusiastic nods and gentle smiles. It appeared nothing truly changed after all. “What kinda commander would I be if I allowed that?”

Yonji grinned from ear to ear, a haughty air to him as he openly invited your praise.

“Thank you, Prince Yonji. I actually—”

“Get whatever you need to go into town!”

***

You couldn’t recall the last time you stepped foot on an actual island. Being a sea-dwelling kingdom rather than traditional ships, Germa hardly had to stop and restock like most fleets. Food, fresh water, and other necessities were produced by Germa just like any other kingdom, and stopping at an island for goods typically only happened for niche trading opportunities.

And so, when you stepped off the ship and onto the bustling dock, you couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed. The port was significant in size, expanding well into the sea to house Reiju’s fleet, but had plenty of room to spare for when Yonji’s ships arrived. Other boats tethered themselves to the docks, spanning from fishing boats to Marine vessels to what you suspected were pirate ships.

Yonji pushed you along, trailing behind you as he guided you through the bustle. He had flown from his own ship to meet you ahead of schedule, and not wanting to engage with his sister quite yet, Yonji intended for the two of you to disappear into the market first.

“Reiju doesn’t have to know I’m here yet,” Yonji had muttered to you, “All she’ll do is talk my ear off, so we might as well get the shopping over with first.”

He held a hand on the back of your shoulder, almost pushing you through the crowded dock. Yonji kept close to you and would have made a convincing bodyguard if it wasn’t for the fact that he handled you almost like a human shield with little regard for who you bumped into until you finally stepped onto solid land.

The stalls of vendors seemed to start the moment you stepped off the dock, wrapping around a good quarter of the island and branching into streetways leading to the center of town. The two of you walked down the cobblestone road, and while the touch on the back of your shoulder had left, Yonji remained hardly more than a step behind you.

You approached the main street, finally seeing the vast, branching roads. The markets were flush with colorful vegetables, handmade goods, and fresh pastries, but what really caught your eye was the cart full of books just down the main cobblestone street.

You knew every inch of Germa’s archival ship like the back of your hand, and despite the thousands of books and files in your care, if you didn’t know them by heart, you certainly knew them by looking at them. And yet, for all the time you spent surrounded by paper and covers, the way your face seemed to light up at the tiny cart of books wasn’t something Yonji quite understood.

In the next moment, you were talking. Your lips were moving, spewing words that were most likely tentative questions while Yonji studied the sparking glow in your eyes. Yes, you usually looked at him like this, and it was an expression he cruelly relished in.

It was something in the way that you seemed to try so desperately to hide the clear, stupefied wonder on your face, only to be given away by your eyes that had him wrapped around your finger more than either of you knew. Suddenly, it didn’t matter much to Yonji that your shy glances away and failed attempts at straightening out your lips weren’t a product of you being in awe of him. And as you walked down the road, he didn’t seem to mind that you walked at his side either.

The cart of books piqued your interest, and out from a branching road, sitting at the corner under a brightly colored flag. A window box filled with flowers just partially obscured the spines. The cart held two shelves and couldn’t have been taller than your hip. But the neatly organized cart was soon dwarfed compared to the view just around the corner.

The whole street was lined with crates upon crates of books, and any area devoid of a wooden box was lined with mismatched shelves. Canopies connected the narrow buildings on either side of the road, generating shade over the market that was only interrupted by golden sunlight. Small flags bearing the province's crest swooped overhead. Symbols representing a matron deity of knowledge were painted across the market.

You stood at the entrance, staring at the sight before tentatively glancing at Yonji for approval. His gaze was already on you. Yonji rolled his eyes and heaved a dramatic sigh before making a forward-sweeping motion with his hand. And when you didn’t obey him quickly enough, Yonji shoved you forward harshly, shaking his head as the spark in your eye glinted at him.

You immediately made for the closest stall, which had tall wooden bookcases arranged according to genre and language. You greeted the store owner with a brief salutation of politeness, almost steamrolling through the interaction with barely suppressed giddiness. The owner gave you a gracious nod, engrossed in his own book and likely used to such customers.

You made straight for the thick of it, wedging yourself between narrowly placed shelves to scour the selection before you. You didn’t even know where to begin. Yonji watched as you made the rounds, circling the section at least twice as he slowly made his way over to where you were.

For the rate at which Yonji himself could devour books, he appeared nowhere near as excited as you were about the treasure trove of knowledge that surrounded you. Instead, he trailed behind you, meandering closer as you engrossed yourself in your search.

You already had three books clutched in your hand, and when you spotted him from over your shoulder, you did a double take before turning to him with raised eyebrows and a soft smile. You handed a book to him: “Jorul and Jarul: Commanders of the Sea.” You knew him well.

“Are you gonna get those?” he asked, glancing at the two in your hand.

“Maybe.” You shrugged. Yonji frowned as you placed them back on the shelf. He eyed you incredulously.

“The hell’d you do that for?” He motioned with a raised brow. You blinked at him with widened eyes.

“I was just looking at—”

Yonji took the two off the shelf and held the spines to his face. He tilted his head to read them before straightening out and tucking them under his arm along with the one you had picked out for him. Yonji made another sweeping motion with his hand, shooing you back to your search. He spotted you making glances at the books under his arm.

“Don’t worry about it.” He scowled.

Yonji stayed close as you began sifting through the selection again, and when he wasn’t paging through texts of his own, he was snatching the ones you were perusing right out of your hands. It was, of course, your mistake for appearing interested in it in the first place.

Yonji said nothing the first time you lingered on a book for a moment too long before putting it back. He just snapped it up and added it to the stack. Your eyes trailed from where you had placed it down and up Yonji’s arm to his face. He held your stare with a deep frown, almost as if challenging you to say something. His nose twitched in annoyance.

“You’re too indecisive,” he said, and that was about all the warning he gave as he snatched the next book out of your hands.

In fact, any book you remotely cracked open was taken from you. Yonji had the reach to take your selections from over your shoulder. He added each one to the growing stack. And just when your eyes were beginning to wander to another stall, Yonji took the compilation to the owner and started fishing in the pockets of his knee-length shorts.

Your heart nearly stopped as you abandoned your section of the stall, running over to Yonji to frantically stop him. But by the time you got close enough to intercept him, Yonji had already handed the shop owner berry in a denomination you had never seen. The clerk’s eyes bulged at the excessive dollar amount, the change of which he was told to keep.

“Prince Yonji! I—”

“Hey, shut up!” he quickly shushed you, sparing a glance around at the bustling market. “For a book rat, you sure don’t understand the meaning of incognito.”

Yonji didn’t appear to have any issue balancing the sizable stack of books he carried with one hand.

“I’m sorry, P—” You stopped yourself, stamping your lips closed as your voice devolved into an elongated hum. Yonji looked at you expectantly, leaning forward as you searched for words. “I’m sorry!” you opted. “Please allow me to pay you back!”

You glanced at the clerk, who was admiring the bill in a beam of light that poked through the canopy.

That was a whole lot of berry.

“You callin’ me poor?” Yonji shifted the books to his hip, pinning them to his side with his wrist as he shifted his weight to his back leg. He regarded you with an upturned nose, unable to hide his self-satisfied smirk at the sight of your panicked head shaking. “You think I’m the only commander who can’t afford resources for one of my ships?”

“Most certainly not, P—” you sputtered. You nearly bowed but stopped yourself. “Most certainly not!”

Yonji studied you for a brief moment before he heaved out a heavy sigh with a roll of his eyes. He pivoted away from you, ready to move on to the next bookstall.

“You can call me Yonji,” he huffed as if bestowing you a great honor to his own detriment. “But only here.” Yonji’s eyes met yours sharply. “If you tell anyone I let you call me by my first name, I’ll gut you alive.”

“I won’t tell anyone!” You almost bowed again as he began to walk off. “Thank you… Yonji!”

“Uh-huh.”

***

You moved through the market much like how you moved through the library: skimming each section closely with Yonji trailing close behind. You couldn’t even recall how many books Yonji ended up buying you. Between the titles you picked out for him, the ones he picked out for you, and the titles you spared even a lingering glance at, the number must’ve equated to an obscene amount. Yonji had even sent some back to the ship with a few soldiers who meandered around a few posts.

But even though Yonji didn’t even carry the full amount you had purchased, you couldn’t help the overwhelming sheepish feeling that overcame you as your waiter dragged two outdoor tables together to accommodate the sheer volume of books you brought to brunch.

Thoughts like that never crossed Yonji’s mind as he quickly traded the burden of your shopping for the menus on the table.

“Bring this one to me in the biggest container you got.” Yonji pointed toward one of the alcoholic drinks on the front of the special’s menu before slipping your waiter an obscene amount of berry. He glanced at you, seeming to remember your presence. “And… whatever you want.”

You floundered with the menu. You hadn’t read it yet. But Yonji didn’t have you sputtering for too long before he rattled off about four things from the selection that, to your surprise, sounded great to you. Your menus were collected before you could blink, leaving you in awe at the sheer speed at which Yonji processed the written word.

You were left to sit for the first time that day: just the two of you. Yonji sat back deeply in his chair with one ankle slung over his opposite knee. You sat adjacent to him, with only the corner of the table separating you. Your army of new books sat before you on the second square table you had amassed.

An aesthetically pleasing black iron fence contained the patio area you sat at the edge of. Plant boxes of the same material and color hung off the horizontal rungs. Bunches of pansies sat inside them. You couldn’t help but wonder how long flowers that looked so fragile lasted in such a busy area. A large umbrella stuck up from the center of your table and seemed to almost join with the other umbrellas at the other tables to provide just enough shade across the patio to spare your eyes from the sun.

Despite sitting a few storefronts into the street, you still had a full view of the city square just a short distance away. A grand fountain sat in the middle of the forum, and half the perimeter was lined with large buildings that sat at the corners of the branching streets that stretched from the docks. A great, intricately architectured courthouse sat at the end of your street. A bronze statue of two scales sat on a pedestal outside the marble steps.

There was a stark difference between the bustling market streets and the inland square, almost as if proximity to the sea breathed freedom and life into whatever the salt air touched. But even for the acute stuffiness and grandiosity of the more serious structures, the island felt warm and inviting, as a tropical island should be.

You didn’t even realize that your food and drink had come out until Yonji’s tankard hit the table. He laughed as you jumped, finally noticing the spread laid out in front of you. It took no more than a look for the food to distract you. Each dish was plated to perfection, not only radiating a heavenly scent but presented in a way almost too pristine to ruin.

“Um…” you hummed. Yonji had already found a book to busy himself with. You couldn’t see the title, but you were sure it was “The Analysis of Myth and Folktales Through a Classicist Lens,” one of the texts you offered him earlier in the day. You weren’t used to calling him by only his first name yet. It felt wrong. “Yonji?”

“I got everything I need,” he said, as if reading your mind. He raised his oversized cup. You could almost smell it from where you sat.

You hummed, reaching for a plate near the center of the table. You’d start there.

***

You managed to spot it in the back of the store by eagle-eyed happenstance and from a brief stroll past the storefront, no less. You had abruptly backtracked, racing off in the opposite direction to look into the window again. Yonji, who had his arms full of your purchases from the day carefully balanced against his chest, called angrily after you,

“What the hell?”

But by the time he turned himself around, you had already confirmed what you saw. You bounded back to Yonji, a familiar glimmer of excitement in your eyes as you adamantly exclaimed,

“I know we have to get back, but… please stay right here!”

You walked backward, a giddy grin on your lips before you bounded in through the storefront. Yonji hardly had time to retort, let alone scowl, and give you a verbal lashing for daring to order him around. But the condescending bitterness never came. Instead, Yonji shook his head to himself before resigning himself to leaning against the glass of the display window, waiting for your return.

The store itself was cluttered, lined from wall to wall with random trinkets and useless items. Even the floorspace wasn’t safe from the massive display cases piled high with vintage toys, greeting cards, and novelty statues. You immediately shot to the back, taking your prize off the wall quickly and carefully, as if it were a treasure you were worried someone would snatch from you. You looked at it in your hands, shoulders shaking with barely restrained laughter as you made for the register.

An elderly woman was sitting behind the counter on a stool. She leaned against the countertop with her head in her palm, gazing out one of the front windows at the back of Yonji’s head. She hardly regarded you as you put your purchase down in front of her.

“Is that your husband?” she asked with a sigh.

“No, uh… he’s not.” You glanced over to where she appeared to be looking before letting out a light laugh. The undertones were too nervous for you to sound truly amused by what she said.

The woman behind the counter turned to you, head still in her hand. The skin of her eyelids sagged thinly and folded over her eyes like draped curtains. She wore an olive green bow in her wool-like strands of white hair that matched the bow tie around her collar. You fished for your wallet.

“Are you gonna make him your husband?” she asked. The teasing question should have stopped your hands in the way it did. “Because if you don’t, I will! Hoo! I crack myself up!”

Her eyes grew wide as she let out a boisterous cackle. The laugh threw her body back as she howled, her hand slamming down on the space next to the cash register. She punched a few numbers into her keypad.

Your lips formed a light smile despite the hesitancy that weighed heavily in your chest. You had admired Yonji for a long while, yet there was something in you that could never legitimately envision a dynamic past your servitude to the Germa kingdom. You hadn’t dared to ask for more, and the thought of having something more felt forbidden even to consider.

You weren’t sure you even wanted to consider it.

“You never know,” you laughed nervously with a bob of your eyebrows.

The woman behind the counter unraveled the product on the counter, her face lighting up again as she side-eyed you. Her lips pursed outward.

“Oh. I’m sure going to miss this one.” She nodded. “That will be 4,300 berries.”

“Of course.”

You were already sifting through bills and mentally calculating the amount. The clerk’s face returned to her palm, and she resumed gazing out the window.

“I wish I had a husband who would carry all my books like that. The first three would never,” she sighed. “You know what they say about lucky number four.”

You handed her money to count. She glided through them quickly and tossed the bills in the register as you tucked your purchase away. You didn’t say much else other than hum and say thank you, quickly retreating through the shop door back to Yonji.

***

The books took up more space on the wooden table than you thought they would. And while they were placed down haphazardly, many still in their wrappings from the shops, their disorderly state didn’t do much for the space they occupied on the table.

“Those must’ve been heavy.”

Yonji cocked a brow as his nose wrinkled.

“You think those look heavy?” he sneered. He stood next to you with his arms coiled over his chest.

You removed the books from any wrappings, carefully splaying the books out across the table with the paper organized into a neat pile on one of the chairs. Yonji watched as you worked with his head tilted to the side, as even he didn’t quite remember what he bought you.

“They would be heavy for me, but you’re very strong, Prince Yonji. I’m just sorry to have burdened you,” you said, so used to paying him compliments that you hardly paid attention to what left your mouth.

Yonji’s lips parted almost as if he wanted to correct you before he remembered where you stood.

“I’d hardly call this a burden,” he huffed, distracted by the compliment as tended to happen. You continued to sort through the books, arranging them by some system that Yonji didn’t have the bandwidth or care to pay attention to. He studied you out of his peripheral. His hands moved to his hips. “What did you get in that last store?”

“Oh!” you exclaimed at a volume that almost pulled a blink of surprise from Yonji. You took your purchase from where you tucked it and held it out to him. “I got this for you. I thought you’d find it funny.”

Yonji regarded it with confused skepticism, his face visibly contorting as he thought.

“Why?”

“I wanted to thank you for taking me on the restock.”

Yonji snatched the rolled-up item from your hands with a huff.

“Obviously. Why the hell wouldn’t I take the library attendant when getting books for the library? Do you think I’m a moron?” he spat, rolling his eyes before incidentally meeting your wide gaze. You didn’t appear like you were affected by his words in the slightest. In fact, you seemed like you were just happy that he took your gift at all. Yonji tore his eyes away from your stare as his shoulders deflated. “Thanks,” he gritted.

You knew not to expect much more. The one word was a miracle in and of itself.

Yonji sighed and unraveled your gift for him with both hands. The material was thick and of good quality. However, he only got to unfurl it halfway before he stopped. His lips parted in shock, most primarily. He glanced at you and then back to the poster. A wide grin was plastered across your mouth as you watched Yonji unravel the page.

His head instantly dropped, but not before he threw his head back with the loudest, most obnoxious laugh you had ever heard from him. He laughed with such force that it almost shook the room. Even just witnessing how enthralled he was with your gift tore a volley of snickers out of your throat. Yonji clutched the poster to his chest, both hands still on the top and bottom of the glossy material as the middle curved. His shoulders shook violently as he leaned against the wooden table to look at the image again.

“AHAHAHAHAHA! What the fuck?” he cackled, bringing the poster close to his face before immediately lowering it to meet your gaze. “Is this a fucking Winch Green pin-up? How the hell did you find this? Holy shit!”

Yonji crossed one ankle of the other, holding the poster out at arm's length in front of him to study. Winch Green from the Sora, Warrior of the Sea comics didn��t bear a striking resemblance to Yonji in the hair or face, but the uniform and general build weren’t too much different. After all, the comic had a rough basis on Germa, whose moves were made much more discretely nowadays.

But the Yonji and Winch Green shared a name and a number. The image appeared to be of Winch Green captured in the brig of a Marine vessel, where he was posed suggestively with seastone cuffs around his wrists. His usual green uniform was almost shredded, exposing his muscular bare chest.

Yonji placed a hand over his face as he howled with laughter. He leaned farther back against the table, and as it let out a crack of shifting tension, you considered it might’ve toppled over if it weren’t screwed to the floor. Yonji clutched the poster and the side of the table in one hand and wiped his tearing eyes with the other.

“Why the hell do they even make these?”

“The lady said she was going to miss that one.”

“Gross.” Yonji held the poster out again and let out another boisterous cackle. “I gotta show Niji.” That was about all the warning Yonji gave before he ran out of the library.

You turned back toward the table to continue sorting through your recent purchases. You could barely restrain the tight-lipped grin that overtook your face as you did, your heart beating rapidly in your chest from giddiness. It wasn’t often that you got confirmation that you did something right, especially when it came to the Vinsmoke princes, and just knowing that Yonji was pleased was enough to make your chest feel like it was about to burst.

“I wondered why my dumbass little brother was so interested in the library of all things.” A soft voice sounded behind you, and when you turned, Reiju was leaning against the doorframe. Her stare pierced your own. “I see why now.”

You bowed.

“Greetings, Mistress Reiju. How may I serve you?”

She wandered into the library, head swiveling as she glanced over the shelves and balcony. Reiju had been to the library many times before, although her usual involvement didn’t span much past overseeing the yearly archival. You spoke several times, and from what you could remember, each interaction was positive. But much like Yonji’s other siblings, Reiju kept herself rather aloof. You didn’t miss how her eyes lingered on your table of new books.

“Where did he go?”

“I believe Prince Yonji went to speak with Master Niji.” You stood at attention, watching Reiju as she strode slowly around the library. She didn’t look at you.

“That idiot,” she simmered, throwing her head back with a sigh as her hands found her hips. “Niji isn’t even here, not to mention that we were supposed to meet hours ago.”

“I’m very sorry, Your Highness. I’m sure you’ll see Prince Yonji before I do, but if you don’t, I can certainly let him know you were looking for him,” you said.

“God, does he really make you talk like that?” she scoffed, shaking her head as she gazed out the large window. “Believe me, I’ve heard all about everything else he makes you do.” Reiju’s eyes shut as she heaved another deep sigh. “I’ll talk to him about him taking over this ship. I have no idea what he told our father, but I’m sure whatever it was, it can be reversed.”

“Reversed?” you repeated. Reiju turned her head toward you, quickly glancing you up and down.

“Reversed,” she affirmed, the word trailing a bit as she thought. She pivoted, one arm crossed over her chest as she touched her opposite elbow. Her other hand brushed lightly under her chin. She took a step forward. “My brother is too much of a meathead to appreciate such an important part of our kingdom, and bringing a ship onto an already packed fleet just to harass the staff is childish at best.”

She rolled her eyes, and you couldn’t help but consider how familiar it looked. For Reiju’s apparent low tolerance for her brother, they rolled their eyes exactly the same. It made you crack a tight-lipped smile, pursing your mouth inward to hide your amusement. Your efforts were too feeble for Reiju’s sharp eyes.

“What is something I said?” Her eyes narrowed, but not quite in the same disdain as Yonji did.

“Oh, no!” You quickly bowed again, keeping yourself bent this time. “It’s just that—” You glanced off to the side before turning your gaze back to the floor. “Your mannerisms are very similar, Mistress Reiju. Your Highness’s and Prince Yonji’s, I mean. I find it very charming!”

Reiju let a moment pass. Your eyes fell shut. She didn’t seem like the type to take perceived slights out on a servant, but your conditioning from her brothers held up the same.

And suddenly, a sobering calmness washed over the room. The already large space from the floor to the ceiling never felt bigger, even as the large clock ticked on as a steady metronome for the pulse that beat in your ears.

“I remember you,” she said softly in realization, almost pitifully. You rose, picking your head up to meet her eyes. They almost looked sorrowful. “You’ve been here all this time, and I didn’t even recognize you.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to recognize me, Mistress Reiju. I was never anyone of importance. I’m still not.”

You watched her pour over your face, an unintelligible expression washing over her. Watching her face seemed to acutely morph in subtle shifts and tics. And yet, her expression was far from the looks that usually graced the faces of the Vinsmoke princes. You could feel her looking through you.

“You have no debt to Germa.” She frowned. “Even if you did, I’m sure the way my brother has treated you has more than made up for whatever good he did by accident.”

“I can’t say I really take an issue with how Prince Yonji treats me.”

A silence overtook the room again. Something unreadable eclipsed her eyes. It was the same sort of expression you could recall seeing in Cosette’s gaze.

“You know he’ll never love you back, right?” When Reiju spoke, her voice was devoid of judgment. It was an indisputable fact and one that she placed gently before you. “He doesn’t know how, and he couldn’t even if he wanted to. His inability to love you back is wired into his genes.”

Her light irises bore into you, scouring your face. She was trying to understand, and you knew she never would.

“I know,” you said, perhaps too quickly. It hardly mattered. It wasn’t as if you had anything to gain by holding your cards close to your chest. “I’m alright with it. Being here is enough.”

Reiju hummed. You could hear the simmering sigh in her chest as she breathed slowly. The sun still shone brightly outside. You would hardly say it was midafternoon. Reiju nodded, more to herself than to you, before shaking her head.

“If you don’t want rescuing, I won’t force it upon you,” she said as she turned to leave. Reiju stopped in the doorway with one hand on the frame. “If there’s ever a day you want to be just a library attendant, call my snail.”

She quickly left down the hall, and not long after she left, Reiju’s fleet pulled out of the port. You sat in the library as usual, nothing truly changing about being a formal part of Yonji’s fleet. He never even asked about Reiju.

Thank you to all who liked, reblogged, followed, and supported. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

Notes: Thank you to everyone who has supported this work so hard. I'm really happy to have people dropping in to talk about Yonji and Germa and who enjoy the story. As usual, chapter 6 is written and contains the scene I wanted to write at the beginning of this story. I'll see you all in about 100 combined likes and reblogs.

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI

#yonji x reader #yonji vinsmoke x reader #germa 66 x reader #op x reader #one piece x reader #yonji vinsmoke #yonji #germa 66 #x reader #x you #reader insert #vinsmoke yonji #vinsmoke reiju #fic: ... and the beast

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satcrvz · 6 months ago

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ME? JEALOUS?

lil thing for rin bc ive been slacking lately… first bllk post how we feel?

the two of you were sat down on the ledge of the malls water fountain as a way to take a break from shopping. "you said you didn’t want any! really—" he stops speaking as soon as he catches a male approach the table.

he strikes up a convo with you, very obviously ignoring rin. he was basically flirting with you in front of his face. you glance over to rin, and his expression told you he was surprised at the audacity of the guy.

"she’s good with me, thanks."

as if the guy had practiced this moment a dozen times before, he goes, "nah, but she looks good." you stifle a laugh, raising your hand to cover your amusement. get your shit together.

"dude? is it not clear enough that that's my boyfriend?" you go on, "or do i need to make out with him for you to get the hint?"

the guy is taken aback, not expecting you to speak for yourself. he lowers his gaze and apologizes while walking off shamefully.

"are you ready to leave?" he says while intertwining his fingers in yours. a smile crept its way to your face. no way he was jealous.

"rin, are you jealous?"

"why would i be? i’m just sick of sitting right here." despite his efforts to convince you he wasn’t, you could read him like a book.

"are you ready to leave?" he asks.

"yeah, i want to go to the vans store, but admit you’re jealous!"

"then that’s what we’ll do." you knew he’d rather die than admit he was jealous, but it’s fun to tease him when you get the chance.

#✧; satcrvz writes!#bllk x reader #blue lock x reader #bllk fluff #rin x reader #rin itoshi x reader #itoshi rin x reader

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the-s1lly-corner · 28 days ago

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A miniature flashlight on a keychain (Ticci Toby x Reader) (Ending 5)

this one might be a little... eh... compared to the other endings but i prommy i was into this ive just been all over the place lately-- putting the polls back to 1 week since my motivation is.. hmm... so remember to vote on the poll at the bottom of this post if you wanted someone else! notes: reader is gn, admin is still figuring out how he wants to write toby, jeff is an asshole cws: none word count: 1.9k

You reach your hand into the hat and pull out…

A tiny flashlight on a keychain. Without giving it much extra thought your thumb flips the switch to find that the light does indeed work. You couldn’t immediately think of who it could belong to, but you quickly get your answer when you hear Jeff elbowing Toby hard in the ribs and giving him a look. Jeff’s eyes dart between you and Toby, and under the mess that he calls his hair you can see him raising his brows at the proxy.

You cannot read Toby’s face due to the goggles and mouth covering he was wearing. Jeff shifts to grab him by the back of his hoodie, and he motions for you to follow as he basically manhandles Toby down the hallway who only really seems to be fighting back due to the rough treatment. You’re shoved into the closet with Toby not following too far behind.

“Remember: seven minutes and then I’m swinging the doors open-” His eyes flick to Toby, “Don’t get too crazy in here,” He cackled and slammed the doors shut. You can see the shadows of Jeff’s feet under the door remain for a few seconds, before he finally makes his departure.

You take a moment to readjust yourself on the floor into a more comfortable position, however you find it hard as the shock wears off enough for you to realize Jeff basically tossed Toby haphazardly on top of you. Not that Toby was particularly heavy, though, and you were able to push him to the side with relative ease.

…Or you would have been able to if you placing your hand on his shoulder didn’t snap him out of whatever trance he was in, prompting him to scramble off of you and basically slam himself against the wall across from you- giving you more than enough space to fall into a more comfortable position on the floor. Toby’s eyes bounce around from your face, to your body, the floor, the wall, the door- really anywhere he could look in the darkness until he fully assessed.

After a few seconds he seemed to actually look at you and untense from where he pressed himself together, finally falling slack against the wall.

As if he hadn’t just leaped across the closet he greeted you, as he would any other time he ran into you everyday.

“Hey,”

Short and as casual as he could muster.

You nod your head.

“Yo,”

The air fell silent between the two of you, only serving to highlight the awkwardness radiating off of the man in front of you- if you squinted through the darkness you could see his jaw working behind his face covering.

“So you and Jeff, what was that all about?” You asked.

“Nothing, he’s just-t being an asshole… What’s new?” He rolled his eyes, but he now avoided looking at your face. You only offer a soft “oh..” and fall back into silence.

You pat your palms against your thighs, and Toby cracked the knuckles of his fingers. At this rate, you were sure the entire seven minutes were going to spent like this- and while you wouldn’t be totally against it, you… weren’t sure if you could take much more of the suffocating atmosphere without at least saying something.

“How come you picked this game? Jeff said-”

“Who cares what J-Jeff said?” Toby nearly hissed, only to soften as you pull away from him. He cracked another joint in his knuckle and reeled himself back in.

He was more irritable than he normally was. It wasn’t an uncommon sight to see Toby snapping at others however something seemed.

Off.

When he finally brought his eyes back to you he seemed to gather himself to pull an entire 180 in his attitude- or at least pretend to for the time being- you… weren’t exactly sure.

“I was actually hoping someone in specific pulled my keychain,”

Now you could recall: Jeff had said that Toby- or “Lover boy” as he had so affectionately called him- was hoping for his crush to pull his item. Before you could bring yourself to speak you found yourself thinking several things.

Namely, who was his crush?

You scraped through your mind for a long moment. It couldn’t be Slenderman, he practically saw him as a father; and by extension he viewed Splendorman as an uncle. It couldn’t have been Jane because he already knew she wasn’t going to be attending the party… You lingered on Jeff for a moment but decided to file that away for another day- Nina viewed him as a brother…

And secondly- had you ruined his plans when you drew out the flashlight?

Your moment of silence only lasted a few seconds before you pushed him to continue. “‘S’that so?”

Toby nodded.

“Who were you hoping to get then?” You ask, he doesn’t say anything but he does lean his head towards you- and much like earlier with Jeff you could see his eyebrows raise up behind his messy brown hair, copying the look his friend had given him just a minute or two before.

It clicked.

“Ah-!” Is really the only word you can get out before the realization sinks deeper and deeper- you could feel your face burning hotter with each second as your hands spread as far as they can across your thighs and grip them.

You weren’t exactly uncomfortable, if anything you were completely taken off guard.

You took a deep breath through cracked teeth and steeled yourself for whatever was to come next. You were thankful that Toby decided to be kinder today and let you have this much time to compose yourself.

You always took Toby to be the type to want an answer in the exact seconds after confessing, however he was currently proving your idea of him wrong.

You decide to be bold, and your effort rewards you by catching him off guard.

“You said you wanted to try to… ‘get some’?” You asked, recalling Jeff’s words as he had pawned the responsibility of the choice of game off to Toby.

In an instant the smug and teasing look he gave you was replaced with something more scattered as he tripped over his own words to explain himsef.

“See- nonono- n-n-no! Th-at’s not at all what I said- You see-” Toby’s gloved hands flung into the air in front of him, waving around as he tried to find his voice. The fingers curled as he groaned- likely internally cursing Jeff in his mind for the wording he had chosen.

“Uffgh!”

“Take your time,”

He pushed his goggles up and let them rest on top of his head, and he rubbed his eyes.

One deep breath became two.

“H-He makes it sound so…” His mouth covering scrunched as he grimaced. He went ahead and pulled it down. He tucked it into his jacket pocket and looked at you.

“I just-t think you’re…” He paused to find the words.

“Cute…”

His hands lay limb in his lap as his eyes lowered to just below your face, somewhere on your neck.

You only smile and offer a soft chuckle. “You think I’m cute?”

“And hot-t and-” He started but stopped as you dragged yourself across the floor closer to him.

“Well you’re lucky, because I think you’re cute too,”

He blinks slowly at you, the flush of his cheeks made incredibly obvious thanks to his pale complexion.

You hover your hands over his upper arm and look at him. He shuffles it against your open palms and you gently clasp your hands around it. You press your body into the side of his and rest your head into his shoulders- completely taking the lead as he squirmed slightly under you… despite that he tugs you back against him when you try to backpedal and retreat.

He wanted this, he simply wasn’t used to this- or expecting it really.

You sigh softly as you get comfortable.

You reach a hand towards his lap and grab one of his hands.

“I know this isn’t exactly, giving you some-”

Toby groaned above you but you only giggled in response.

“But I don’t actually… know what you would expect from a statement like that,”

Toby pulled his head away from yours and stared down at you. You readjust yourself to look him dead in the eye. “I’m open if you have any suggestions, though… no quickies, though,” You stick your tongue out. “I was-n’t-!” He inhaled sharply through his nose.

“Only teasing of course,” You chuckle.

“Well…” You started up again, but you didn’t get the chance to say anything as the thundering sound of footsteps outside quickly approached.

Was it time?

Why didn’t Jeff give a warning?

You didn’t get much time to think much of anything else as light practically assaults your eyes as it floods into the dark room. The blurred image of Jeff stands above the two of you as he pants raggedly- both of his arms bracing himself against the doorframe to keep himself standing.

“Times- up!” He barked through gasps.

He was looking directly in front of him at the wall.

He finally slowly lowers his head to look at you and Toby cuddling into one another on the floor. He clicks his tongue against his teeth- the fact you can see the movement through the cuts in his cheeks makes you mildly uncomfortable.

“Times up,” He repeated, and looked down at Toby with an almost teasing glint in his eye. Toby swats at his arm as he pulls the two of you out of the small closet.

“Maybe next time sport,”

“I’m older than you.” Toby muttered shortly, not at all noticing the arm that he had wrapped around your shoulders.

He retracted it when he did finally notice. That only seemed to fuel Jeff more as he threw his hands up defensively. “I’m just saying- actually I’m surprised you got that far,” His wide blue eyes glue themselves onto you. “You know you can play again if you want, Toby’s got stage fright you know-”

Sometimes you wondered if Jeff and Toby actually were friends.

Even you found yourself becoming annoyed at the burned man’s words.

So annoyed in fact that you decided to stick it to him by tugging Toby towards you by the strings of his hoodie and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. You didn’t give it much thought, and you were probably going to roll later when it sank in how cringe the action was in response to the teasing. But at least in the moment it caught both of them off guard.

Both men fall silent.

“Well damn, okay then, he’s the bitch then,”

Jeff finally lays off of Toby, and walks down the hall. “Guess he actually said something then… not bad,” You heard him mutter under his breath as he went back to the living room to continue the game.

You finally release Toby, and spin on your heel to face him. He snaps right back to his full height and stares down at you- or through you.

He is… so…

Red.

“I was going to do that my-self,” He sounded so genuinely defeated when he finally let the words spill.

You blink. He cracks you a grin and you follow. “I guess not all of your plans can go through I guess,” You shrug and shift your weight between each foot.

“So…”

He stuffs his hands into his pockets and copies your motions, the both of you shifting together in unison.

“Do you… want to go out for a walk? I mean-” He starts. “If that’s okay with you,”

“I’d like that…”

A thought crosses your mind.

“You want to go through the front while holding hands? Really rub it in asshat’s face?”

“Oh absolutely.”

And you both did just that.

#creepypasta x reader #creepypasta x you #creepypasta imagine #crp x reader #crp x you #crp imagine #ticci toby x reader #ticci toby x you #ticci toby imagine #canon x reader #canon x you #x reader

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lizardboiii · 9 months ago

Text

ANGER MANAGEMENT┃R. Sukuna

[Possessive!Sukuna x Fem!Reader]

・❥・

│Summary: Anger management was by no means your strong suit. No amount of lessons or prayers could change that. In fact, it feels like you’ve been doing a lot worse lately with the appearance of a new neighbor in your next door apartment.

“You're an insufferable bastard and I hope you move.”

“Eat shit and die.”

“Fuck you.”

・❥・

│cw: 18+, NSFW, violence, vulgar language, terrible humor

│w/c: 3.2k

│chapters: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii)

│notes: NeighborsAU!, AncestorsAU!

・❥・

│Chapter I : IRATE

“You're an insufferable bastard and I hope you move.”

“Eat shit and die.”

“Fuck you.”

The pinkette moved to slam his front door shut before you caught the painted wood with your hand. Its pristine white coating had already started to chip away on the side where, like many other nights, you’ve managed to catch the door and pry it open.

You snarled at his annoyed expression, “I’m not finished yet, Pinkiepie lookin’ freak.”

The vein in his jaw pulsated as he looked down on your smaller figure in disgust, “Piss off, rat. I didn’t steal your fucking package.”

Your grip on his door tightened. The familiar feeling of hot burning rage once again coursed through your bones, “IT’S ONLY ME AND YOU ON THIS FLOOR, DUMBASS!”

He let out his own frustrated growl as he swung his door back open, almost knocking you off balance, “I DIDN'T STEAL SHIT FROM YOU, WOMAN!”

The world felt like it slowed down for a moment. The feeling of your bottled rage finally reaching its limit. From the tips of your toes to the top of your forehead, you could feel the urge to punch, kick, and scream. A calling to let loose all your feelings you held inside.

Now normally this is where you’d remember your anger management lessons. Countdown from ten to zero, take deep breaths, and blah blah blah.

But no. Ever since your fuckhead neighbor moved in next door your rage has been through the roof. From his overly obnoxious music taste, to his various romantic partners, you couldn’t catch a break. So, what if you let loose a bit?

Your fist swung before you could even think about the consequences of your actions. Sure, you’ve gotten into plenty of arguments with your new neighbor. But never once have you raised a hand.

The satisfying thump of a head recoiling against an open door made your heart race. The feeling to continue on, to fight, to destroy was overwhelming. Alas, no feeling could ever beat seeing the stunned face of a man who just took a punch to the face.

Swiping the blood from his nose, he glared at you with new vigor, “What the fuck?”

Another swing, this time your hand was swiftly captured in a brawny fist. You clenched your teeth in pain as he squeezed your smaller hand excruciatingly tight, his other hand capturing your shirt's collar.

You struggled against his holds, brow twitching in agitation, “Where the fuck is it?”

The scent of mint flooded your senses as he pulled your collar closer to his face, “I don’t have your goddamn package. Now give me one reason why I shouldn’t paint the floor with you right now?”

You tore your hand away from his weakening hold and flipped him off, “I’d like to see you try.”

“Brother?”

Surprised, you both turned to another, much smaller, pinkette. An almost identical copy of the asshole still clutching your shirt. Though, this one was a lot easier to get along with.

The larger man sighed deeply above you before letting you go, “Yuuji, why are you here so late?”

You grunted as he harshly shoved you back. Shooting your arm out, you caught yourself on the doors frame. Cocky fucker. Grinding your teeth together, you decided to spare your shit neighbor because of one reason only.

“Hey, Yuuji. How’s university?”

You could feel a dark stare on the side of your head, relentless and unwavering. Yuuji smiled brightly at you as he came closer to the door.

“Great! Professor Gojo totally let us slack off all day today!”

You threw a smug smirk at the man still glaring daggers at your head. How’s it feel to be ignored?

As if hearing your question his grip tightened on his crossed arms.

“Megumi, Nobara, and I went out for ice cream after class too. I didn’t think it’d take this long though,” Yuuji scratched the back of his head embarrassed.

You smiled at his shy form only to stop yourself when you noticed the man standing next to you smiling as well. Bastard. What the hell is he enjoying life for?

“I see. Alright, come on I made dinner,” his eyes trailed from Yuuji to you, “for two.”

You rolled your eyes at his hostility. Like you’d want to eat his food anyway. Knowing him it probably tastes like shit.

Not sparing a second glance at him, you waved goodbye to Yuuji and strolled back to your humble abode. A satisfying conclusion until you realized you never got your damned package.

・❥・

“I told you already, Mom. I’ve been getting better. I think my lessons are finally starting to work.”

“Are you sure, sweetie? You know if it ever gets too much again you can always come back home.”

You sighed heavily at your mother’s worried tone, “I’m very sure, mom. I mean come on, I just have one more day until my one month without an outburst!”

Your mother laughed slightly on the phone, but the thick layer of concern was still evident. Quickly dismissing any more of her anxiety, you wished her goodnight.

Shoving your cracked phone into your pocket, you hit the fourth floor button on your apartment complex’s elevator. With a quiet hum, the metal box slowly took you up to your floor.

The fourth floor was nice to live on. It was practically a penthouse. The reason being because you were its only occupant. Although, there was no sound reason for the building's vacancy, you just assumed no one in the area wanted to live in a second rate apartment. Especially when power outages were frequent.

That didn’t really concern you though. You had a home with zero people around. Not something you’d complain about.

Stepping into the outdated hallway, you took a deep breath of the stale air. Cracking a knuckle here, popping a joint there, you made your way to your lone room near the end of the hallway.

Automatically, your brows furrowed at the sight of large boxes decorating the floor around your door and the one next to it. You didn’t order anything.

Not so calmly making your way over to the mysterious boxes, you frowned as you realized the next door apartment’s door ajar. Neighbors?

A twinge of annoyance shot through your body before you quickly extinguished it. You thought back to the group lesson of today. The main focus was on allowing yourself to hear people out. Understand another person’s reasoning before you flip your shit. Having a ‘civilized’ conversation.

While someone moving in isn’t really what the lesson had been meant for, you figured you’d might as well give it a shot. Another step forward if you will.

Preparing yourself, you maneuvered around the scattered boxes in front of your new neighbor’s door. With a determined fist you knocked on the familiar white wood that matched your own.

Movement could be heard coming from behind the door, yet there was no answer. Your jaw twitched as you knocked again causing whoever was moving to curse.

Just as you were about to knock again, the door violently flung open revealing a disheveled man. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t have to pick your jaw up off the floor.

The tall man loomed over your form threateningly. It was clear as day that you only reached the tops of his collar bones. An observation you confirmed after noticing the man’s lack of a shirt.

Speaking of which, you had to pick your jaw up again at the sight of a chiseled body. Saying he had the body of a god was no understatement. You could grate cheese on those abs. Even more striking were the strange black tattoos that marked his skin. You traced the thick black lines that covered his chest with your eyes. They only aided in the dark and mysterious vibe to him.

Begrudgingly moving your eyes up to his face allowed for a third drop of the jaw. Similar tattoos to his chest and arms only accentuated the sharp cut of his jaw. His eyes were a piercing deep red which matched perfectly with his surprisingly pink dusted hair. Did a Greek god just move upstairs next to you?

“Are you done checking me out yet?”

You felt your face burn as you glared at him, “I wasn’t ‘checking’ you out.”

A dangerous smirk pulled on his lips, “Listen, woman. I don’t have all day to play around with you. Get to the point.”

You felt a familiar rage spark in the pit of your stomach. Taking a deep breath to calm yourself, you threw him an exaggerated smile.

“I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself to my new neighbor,” you lifted your hand out in front of you for a handshake, “I’m (y/n) (l/n), I hope we can get along.”

The man scoffed at you in amusement before taking your hand in his roughly, “Sukuna.”

The handshake was quick but firm enough for you to rub your hand after in soreness. The familiar twang of anger once again rose before you quelled it.

You clenched your fists, eager to just go back into your apartment, “I was wondering if there was anything I can help you with? With you being the new and only neighbor and all.”

You begged him in your head to say no. You weren’t sure if you could continue this ‘civil’ conversation for much longer.

“Sure,” you swallowed hard as he leaned against the door frame, “Do you know anyone decent enough to fuck around here or are there only women around here that look like you?”

You felt a cord snap, “What the fuck did you just say?”

A flash behind his eyes showed the clear amusement he was getting from your new attitude, “I said, is there anyone half decent enough to fuck around here or are there only noisy little pigs in this building?”

You growled at his arrogance, “You’re one to talk, pretty boy. Do you normally piss off everyone you talk to?”

His smirk deepened, “Of course. Did you think you were special?”

Like a leaf in the wind your thirty day chip flew away from you. Bye bye progress. Back to the start you go~

White hot rage filled your senses as you poked a finger into his exposed chest, “YOU WANNA GO, ASSHOLE? THE FUCKS YOUR PROBLEM?”

Amusement slowly formed into irritation as he slapped your hand away, “You're even loud like a pig.”

You snarled at him, “Listen here you piece of shit, at least I don’t look like I crawled out of a fucking kids cartoon with that stupid ass hair color.”

Pissed, Sukuna stood to his full height and crossed his arms, “Watch your mouth, dwarf.”

You craned your neck up and shot daggers at him, “Watch your own mouth, motherfucker! God to think I was trying to be a helpful neighbor and see if you needed anything!”

“Helpful neighbor my ass. All you’ve done so far is yell at me in my own home.”

“We’re in the hallway, dumbass!”

Sukuna backed up and rubbed his brow, “I don’t have time to deal with a little kid's temper tantrum.”

As he slammed the door in your face, you caught the closing door by the edge, “I’m not a goddamn kid!”

Sukuna shoved the door closed harder “Then don’t act like one, bitch.”

Eventually his strength overpowered your grip and he flung the door shut. The sound echoed tauntingly throughout the hallway leaving you with your own thoughts.

You looked at your hands disappointed and sighed. Looks like you’ll need to wait another month, but with that asshole next door you weren’t sure if you could make a day anymore.

Greek god your ass, more like a curse.

・❥・

It’s been a month since your dear neighbor Sukuna moved in, and without fail you two have argued in that hallway everyday. Today was no different, though maybe you took it too far by punching him.

You groaned and rolled around on your bed. You felt bad but no way in hell were you apologizing. Burying your head in a pillow you screamed into it. Why was that prick such an asshole??

Sitting up in your bed you hit your pillow repeatedly against your worn mattress. All this stress and worry was making you antsy. After jumping the poor pillow, you threw it against your wall harshly. The pillow hit the plaster with a soft thump before making its way to the floor. You growled in annoyance at the wall your pillow hit.

That very wall was connected to what you assumed was Sukuna’s room. With the amount of noise that came from it every night it had to be.

Though the first few nights he moved in it was quiet, after a week the noise of various rock bands leaking into your room made you bang on the wall in anger. Though you figured this only fueled the desire to infuriate you as he turned it up even louder.

Another contender for why you figured his room was next to yours was the fact you had to sit through multiple nights of him railing the shit out of some poor girls. The first night it happened you remembered blindly walking over to his door and slamming your fists against the wood.

・❥・

“Rick, I'm in love with you!”

“My dear Isabella, I can not reciprocate. For I have already fallen in love!”

“With whom, my love??? That skank Isabell!?”

“No, it is… Steffanie.”

“YOUR HAMSTER?!”

You snorted at your daytime tv while shoveling popcorn into your mouth. Your friend had been right about this channel. It really was absolute nonsense.

You watched as the woman on the screen fainted into her former lover's arms. Wow. Imagine being left for a hamster. Shifting in your seat you paused when you heard a faint noise.

Turning down your television volume you waited. Nothing. Huh, maybe you needed to get your ears checked-

“Ngh~”

The popcorn situated in your mouth fell onto your bed silently. What the fuck?

“Harder!”

Now that's where you couldn’t pretend anymore. Was your new neighbor fucking someone right now? At 10am? On a Sunday??

Your question was quickly answered by louder and whinier moans. Listening closely, you could just barely register the deep grunts of a certain bastard neighbor.

Oh hell no. You were not about to sit here and listen to some fuck fest. Abandoning your comfy bed, you stormed out of your room and over to a familiar door.

Seething with rage, you pounded against the door harshly. The wood shook and rattled at the strength used against it. You growled at the silence behind the door and knocked louder.

“OPEN UP, FUCKHEAD!”

The door finally ripped open revealing an aggravated Sukuna, “What the fuck do you want?”

Your eyes widened as you took a moment to take in his appearance. Pink hair laid messily against his forehead, an unusual look compared to his normal gelled up style. Though most concerningly, he wore no clothes other than a thin white sheet lifted up to cover his manhood.

Trying to conceal your blush, you fumed at him, “Keep it the hell down! I can hear the goddam thrusting.”

Sukuna’s face twisted into a grin, “Jealous your dried up ass gets no action?”

You slammed your fist against the hallways wall, “At this rate I don’t need any action when I feels like I’m in a fucking threesome.”

You shivered at the deep chuckle he let out. You watched as his eyes trailed your form, feeling exposed to his watchful stare. The action made you regret not throwing anything over your tank top and shorts.

“Threesome?” He licked his lips when he returned his gaze to your eyes, “I can arrange that if you're begging for it.”

A shift of the sheet caught your attention. Sukuna lowered the thin fabric allowing for more skin to show. You felt your face burn. So the carpet does match the drapes.

You flinched at his mocking chuckle, “Though I’m kinda busy right now, mind coming back later?”

You let out a frustrated yell and thundered off, “J-JUST KEEP IT DOWN!”

Laughter followed you as you slammed your door shut and slid down the cool wood. Fuck.

・❥・

Shaking yourself out of the embarrassing memory you glared at the wall spitefully. Boiling in rage you threw your remote against the drywall. Piece of shit.

A harsh knock back from the other side made you clench your fists. So now he wants to complain? You went to put your hand through the drywall and yank a kicking and screaming Sukuna through before you heard a grunt.

You furrowed your eyebrows. You swear to god if you have to sit through another bang session you would really get violent. Pausing for a moment, you waited to hear the usual high pitched sounds that came from his pick of the night. Nada. Slowly you crawled across your bed and pressed an ear against the wall.

Now, don’t get yourself wrong. You were not a creep in any way shape or form. Plus, this didn’t even count if it’s your wall right? You were just trying to figure out what he was doing. As a nice neighbor would.

A hushed groan made you flinch away from the wall before returning. Resting a hand against the wall, you felt your heartbeat pick up as your ears adjusted to the quiet noises. Was he-

A strained sigh confirmed your thoughts. You bit your lip as you leaned into the wall further. His sounds almost encouraged you to listen on. Against your will, the familiar feeling of heat between your legs rose. You clenched your thighs together, trying to get a hold of yourself.

You should stop. You should get up and leave the room. Even if you hate the bastard you're still invading his privacy. So why are you staying?

A drawn out hiss pulled you back in. Like an incubus he drew you to him. Your hand slowly started tracing down your abdomen. Have you always felt this way? There’s always been tension but you’d always figured it was just to piss you off.

You shuddered as your hand crept its way under your waist band. You hesitated for a moment. Was this morally right? A rough curse from the thin wall wound you up again. Fuck, how could someone’s voice do this to you?

Shyly, you pressed a curious finger against your wet slit, dragging up against your heat to your throbbing clit. You let out a shaky breath as you started to rub timid circles against your bud.

Sukuna’s deep groans slowly became more aggressive, sending another throb to your lower half. You bit your wrist in an attempt to contain the needy moans that managed to escape. Quickly, your movements became more and more erratic as you chased your high.

Eventually, Sukuna’s moans died out without you realizing. You were too focused on the pleasure you were indulging yourself in. You bit your wrist harder, drawing blood, as your hips grinded themselves onto your fingers. The thickness of your wrist barely contained your ragged breathing as you finally reached your peak.

Mouth agape, the cord in your stomach snapped as stars flashed in your eyes. Your fingers moved by themselves, helping you extend your high for even longer.

With a final gasp you leaned against the wall and pulled your hand out of your bottoms. The clear substance that coated them looked back at you with mockery. What the hell do you just do?

・❥・

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