#like during the dream I’m like ‘this is fine and totally normal’

[stealingyourbones]

Did some sketches of things I see in my dreams and I comply can’t convey the sheer foreboding and sense of otherworldly daunting forces in my drawings

[theemporium]

[5k] neither of you considered the possibility of your family and friends finding out about your relationship. however, in a series of events, they discover you and quinn are together. but it's fine as long as luke doesn't find out, right?

part one // series masterlist

.

When the season started, you thought it would be easier to hide your relationship from everyone you knew. Never once did either you or Quinn expect to be caught. 

And never once did you think the first person to learn about you and Quinn would be Trevor fucking Zegras of all people.

Before the semester had even started, it had been an unspoken agreement between you and Quinn that you would fly out during reading week. It would be difficult to avoid questions—mostly from Luke who would be offended you weren’t going to fly out to New Jersey—but it was doable. It just took a few weeks of you dropping hints and clues about flying out to Canada to your best friend for him to not really question it when you said you were going to visit your brother. 

And after months away, it was a fucking dream to have this week with Quinn, to settle that uneasiness in your chest that had been lingering since you left the lakehouse that summer. 

You both knew the hockey schedule was insane. You knew neither of you could really leave his apartment. But with a string of games at home for the week, it seemed worth having that week together. 

You didn’t think anything could go wrong.

“What are you thinking in that pretty head of yours?”

Your fingers paused the random shapes they were tracing on his bare chest, moving to lift your head to find him already staring at you with a fond look. 

“You. Us. This. Everything.” You listed off, your lips twitching upwards when he rolled his eyes. “What? You asked and I answered.” 

“I think you’re holding out on me,” Quinn retorted, his hand squeezing where it rested on your hip. “Wanna share what things you were thinking about? More specifically, those thoughts about us.” 

You snorted. “Get your head out of the gutter, Hughes.” 

“Maybe you need to get your head down there,” he countered and, before a witty response could even pass your lips, he had flipped you both over until you were laying on your back with him looming over you. “It’s fun down here, I think you’d like it.” 

You tucked your lip between your teeth. “Yeah?” 

“Mhm,” he hummed as his fingers traced up and down your bare thigh, a small grin on his face when he felt your body shiver in response. “Gave me a few ideas too.” 

You swallowed harshly as you noted the dark glint in his eyes, the way your stomach twisted in desire as his fingers kept moving upwards. “Like what?” 

Quinn’s smirk widened a little. “Like—” 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! 

Your brows furrowed in confusion, feeling as though your body had been doused in cold water as you sat up a little. “Were you expecting someone?” 

Quinn frowned, sitting up himself as he tried not to show his clear annoyance at the interruption. “No, I told the boys to call me if they needed me outside of practice. I don’t know who that could be—” 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! 

“You should probably go get that,” you murmured, trying to bite back your smile as Quinn grumbled something under his breath. 

“If it’s any of the boys, I’m making them do bag skates at practice,” he huffed, crawling out of the sheets and reaching for an abandoned pair of sweatpants on the floor before he left the bedroom. 

He could feel his annoyance brittle when the person knocked for a third time, this time hitting the door over and over again until Quinn reached for the handle and yanked the door open. 

The last person he expected to see was Trevor Zegras on the other side, grinning at him like it was a totally normal thing for him to be on Quinn’s doorstep on a random Tuesday. 

“There’s my favourite Hughes!” 

Quinn blinked once. And then twice. And then a third time just to make sure he was actually standing there. 

“What the fuck, Zegras?” 

“I wanted to surprise you! We didn’t have anything on before the game on Thursday so I thought I’d head up a day earlier than the others and—” Trevor paused, seeming to catch on to the way the older boy was glaring at him. “Geez, this wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”

“I—” Quinn took a deep breath. “And what reaction were you expecting?” 

“At least a hug, I mean—” Trevor moved to take a step forward, his arms open like he was going to reach to hug the other boy, only to pause. It was like he was finally taking in Quinn’s attire for the first time—or the lack thereof—before his eyes focused on the blossoming bruises along his neck and collarbone. 

It was scary the way the grin spread across his face.

Quinn frowned. “What? Why are you doing that with your face?”

“You got a girl in here, Huggy?” Trevor grinned, not even giving Quinn a chance to react before he was pushing his way into the flat. “Aw shit, Jack never told me you were seeing someone! Is it new? What’s her name? Is it a dude? Listen, I don’t judge! I’ve seen the edits with you and Pettersson.” 

Quinn blinked. “I—what?”

He was still standing in shock, trying to process the words that just left Trevor’s lips before he realised the boy was walking deeper into his flat. His eyes widened, his brain shutting out whatever random rambling that was coming out of Trevor’s mouth as he tried to reach out to stop the boy—but it was useless. 

It was like the whole world froze when Trevor shoved the bedroom door open. His words came to an abrupt stop, his jaw hanging open as he looked at you sprawled on Quinn’s bed with a sheet covering your clearly-otherwise naked body. He looked at your face, then back to Quinn before they settled on you again.

“YOU’RE BANGING LADY HUGHES?!”

Quinn winced. “Why do you have to say it like that?” 

“I…oh my god…you…WHAT?” Trevor spluttered out, looking between the two of you like you were aliens to him. “How long has this been going on? Why the fuck did no one tell me? What the fuck?”

“Well, we can’t tell you something nobody else knows,” you supplied with a sheepish expression.

His eyes widened further. “Nobody else knows? Like at all?” 

You shook your head.

His face instantly brightened. “So I’m the first?” 

“Not by choice,” Quinn grumbled under his breath.

“You can’t tell anyone, Trev,” you said, a pleading look on your face. “Especially not Luke. We are gonna tell him…just not yet. You cannot tell a soul, not even Jack.” 

“I won’t. Scout’s promise.” 

Quinn glared at him. “Were you even a boy scout?” 

“No, why do you ask?” 

“I—” Quinn just shook his head. “Can you just…wait outside whilst we get dressed?”

“Aw, I knew you’d be happy I was here, Huggy,” Trevor beamed, patting the older boy’s cheek before he bounced out of the room, most likely helping himself to whatever was in Quinn’s fridge. 

Quinn turned to you, looking exasperated but you just grinned. 

“Guess that’s one less person we have to worry about hiding from?” 

He just sighed deeply in response. 

…

Trevor ended up keeping his word, not telling a soul. Though, he did go out of his way to bug you and Quinn—mostly Quinn—about your relationship.

You would have thought the situation with Trevor would have prompted the two of you to be more careful. You thought it would have been your lesson learnt that not even the season being fully underway would be distracting enough for you to be as laid back as you were. You thought it was the small reality check you needed. 

As it would turn out, it wasn’t even two weeks later when the next slip up happened. 

It was a stupid, drunken promise that led you to the Hughes’ family home in Ann Arbor, bright and early on a Saturday. When the boys had revealed to you that all three batches of the cookies they had meant to make for a charity sale the university were holding had burnt to a crisp because all of them were incapable of baking, you had offered up your amateur baking skills to make a few batches. 

You were drunk and emotionally compromised and it was really hard to say no to the pleading eyes of Ethan Edwards.

However, with your kitchen barely being big enough to hold two people, Ellen had kindly offered her kitchen for you to use. Plus, she had been wanting to catch up with you since the semester had started, especially considering it was the longest time you and Luke had been apart.

It was somewhere in between the second and third batch when your phone started ringing on the counter. 

“Hey Ellen, could you grab that for me?” You called out over your shoulder, your hands preoccupied in rolling small balls of cookie dough to place on the tray. “Just answer it and put it on speaker.”

There was a beat of hesitation. “Are you sure, sweetheart?” 

“Yeah, just place it down on the counter beside me,” you said offhandedly, frowning at the batch of cookies as Ellen pressed the little green button and let the ringing stop.

You were elbow deep in a bowl of batter when a familiar voice echoed through the Hughes’ kitchen. 

“Hey babe, quick question: did you say you were coming up for Christmas break or not?” 

The whole room fell silent as you looked over your shoulder, finding Ellen already staring at you. She had an amused glint in her eyes, her lips twitching upwards in a smile that was a little mischievous—it reminded you so much of Jack. You dared a glance at the doorway where Jim stood, eyebrows raised in surprise but something quite happy in his expression. 

“Uh, can I call you back? I just have to…deal with something real quick.”

“You okay?” 

“Yeah, just…” You trailed off again, your cheeks burning as Ellen and Jim stared at you. “I’ll call back in ten minutes when I’m finished with these cookies, okay?” 

“Okay, miss you.” 

“Miss you too.”

The sound of the call cutting sounded through the kitchen and none of you said anything for a few seconds. And much to your surprise, it was Jim who spoke first. 

“God dammit, kid, you cost me twenty bucks!”

You blinked. “Huh?” 

Ellen smiled fondly, taking a few steps until she was beside you. She gave your elbow a soft squeeze, something knowing in her gaze. “I always knew you’d end up with one of my boys. Jim was just convinced it would be Jack.” 

Jim huffed. “I bet your parents twenty bucks each.” 

Your eyes widened. “My parents?” 

“We aren’t blind, kid,” Jim retorted, something soft and fond in his voice. 

Ellen snorted. “Clearly you are since you thought it would be Jack.” 

“I—” You started but you weren’t even sure what to say.

Ellen turned back to you, smiling like the whole conversation was normal. “I always knew it would be Quinn. I saw the way he looked at you, even when you were young.”

Your brows furrowed. “Quinn barely liked me when we were kids.”

And Ellen just laughed like that was the funniest thing you could have said. It wasn’t exactly the way you wanted either of your parents—Quinn’s and your own—to find out about your relationship. 

But, unlike Trevor, Ellen and Jim understood the unspoken rule and just how…complicated the situation was, despite Ellen’s insistence that her eldest son had been crushing on you for a lot longer than you believed. 

Nobody tell Luke.

…

It was your fault for leaving the room.

When you had enrolled in Michigan, there was a small part of you that was worried college would be the thing to tear you and Luke apart. In retrospect, it was a stupid thought to have. But you were young and scared and entering this unknown era of your life, and you just wanted to cling onto what you knew, what you were used to—onto Luke.

You realised pretty early on that the thought was stupid when the hockey team had practically adopted you. You were an extension of Luke, but it never felt like that. They were your friends as much as they were Luke’s, and you found yourself fond of these boys who had wiggled their way into your heart. 

Knowing you still had them despite Luke being in New Jersey made coming back alone so much easier. 

However, the life of a D1 athlete was an intense one, along with the fact classes were getting harder and assignments were getting longer. But the boys had practically demanded you come over at least once a week so you didn’t ‘forget who your new best friends are’, as they so kindly liked to say over and over again. Mostly just to annoy Luke.

It was one of those nights. You had made your way to their house after your last class, faceplanting down onto the couch until the group of you had decided on ordering pizza. You had some random comedy movie running on in the background, just senseless noise to accompany whatever random debates Ethan had managed to drag up. It was nice and easy and relaxing, and made you feel a little more sane in what was turning out to be a gruelling year. 

You were in the middle of showing Rutger a random video Jack had sent you of Luke decking it on the ice during practice when the doorbell rang. 

“I’ll get it,” you told them without missing a beat, leaving your phone in their hands as you collected the pizzas from the delivery man. 

What you weren’t expecting was to come back and find all of them staring at you with creepy matching grins on their faces.

You froze, eyeing them suspiciously. “What? What happened?” 

“You are a sneaky lil’ thing, aren’t you?” Rutger spoke up, looking far too smug over something you were still in the dark over. 

You glanced between them before your eyes settled on Rutger again, your confusion clear on your face. 

Rutger continued, “when were you gonna tell us you have a boyfriend?” 

Your body froze. “I don’t know what—”

“And when the fuck were you gonna tell us it’s Quinn Hughes?” Mark jumped in, turning your phone around to show a picture you and Quinn had taken during your last visit. 

He had taken the photo in an elevator mirror, your back to the camera as you wrapped yourself around the boy. But he was grinning, so big and unbothered and it was one of your favourite sights. It was one of your favourite photos of him. 

And it certainly wasn’t the photo you left them with.

“Did you go through my phone?” You finally managed to blurt out when words found you again. But the damage was done and you knew there wasn’t much you could do considering the last time they were aware, you barely spoke to the oldest Hughes brother.

“I can’t believe you kept this from us!” Ethan huffed out, shaking his head like he was genuinely offended. He probably was. He tended to be the more dramatic one. 

“I can’t believe Luke allowed this,” Mark snorted. 

You flashed them a sheepish smile. 

“Oh, dude,” Rutger murmured with a shake of his head.

“You can’t tell him. You can’t tell anyone.” You shifted in your spot, something a little desperate and pleading in your voice, and it was enough for the boys to sober up a bit. Become a little more serious. “We didn’t wanna tell anyone yet and I just…”

“We won’t tell a soul,” Mark reassured you, a soft smile on his face that eased some of the anxiety in your chest.

“As long as you tell us everything,” Ethan added, a knowing smirk on his face. “And I mean everything because how the fuck does any of the Hughes brothers have game?”

And you couldn’t help but snort in response.

…

Jack didn’t accidentally find out more than he put it together. 

It wasn’t often that the Devils and the Canucks met during the season but when they did, it was a family affair. You had decided to join the Hughes parents on their trip up to Vancouver, each of you wearing your hybrid Canucks/Devils jerseys that Ellen had custom made for these occasions. 

The game itself went by as you expected. There was a lot of media coverage on the ‘Hughes Bowl’, meaning each of the boys had been dragged into interview after interview before the game. It was a good game, a clean one too. You tried not to wince too much when the final buzzer blared through the arena and it was a Devils win. 

You knew Quinn would be a little gutted, even if he wouldn’t fully show it in front of his family.

The group of you had decided to head out to one of the Canucks’ favourite bars, something that Luke had whined a little about considering Ellen and Jim insisted they join. But it was wholesome and sweet and made you crave the summer weeks a little more than the current early January weather.

You were settled at the bar, laughing at Jack’s attempt to catch the bartender’s attention to order another round of shots he had dragged you into doing when you felt the warmth of another body settle beside you. For a short moment, you smiled thinking that maybe Quinn had snuck away from whatever conversation he had been stuck in with Petey and Jim. But when you turned your head, you found a stranger standing beside you. 

“Hey gorgeous,” he smiled, and something instantly unsettled deep within your chest.

“Hi,” you replied, short and blunt as you tried to shift away but there wasn’t much space by the crowded bar.

“Hey, where are you going? I just wanted to chat,” he said with an easy smile on his face, his hand resting on your elbow and you instantly jerked away from his hold. 

“I’m not interested,” you answered.

He laughed and the sound grated on your nerves. “That’s a bit presumptuous that I wanted something, sweetheart. Think you’re all that, huh?” 

“Just leave me alone,” you said as you took a step back. A part of you wanted to turn your head and try to catch Jack’s attention, try to ask for help. Another part of you didn’t want to look away from this man. You didn’t trust him.

He huffed out a chuckle. “Don’t be like that—”

“She said no. Fuck off now.” 

A mix of relief and surprise washed over you when you felt a body settle behind you, and you didn’t need to turn your head to know it was Quinn standing behind you, but you still did just to settle the tightness in your chest. 

His face was set in a blank expression, but you recognised it well enough. When he got angry—truly angry—he didn’t have a frown on his face or a crease between his brows. His face just looked…blank. Like he was so lost in his own rage that no expression could really encapsulate how he felt. 

You rarely saw it. He rarely showed this side of him.

His hands were on your waist, pulling you closer to his body as his eyes never left the stranger’s. He tilted his head to the side when the man opened his mouth again, and that seemed enough to shut him up again. 

“Go.” 

The man decided to do the smart thing and scuttle into the crowd of people, disappearing with a blink of an eye until neither you nor Quinn could see him. But even with him gone, you couldn’t shake the uneasiness in your chest.

A second passed before Quinn moved, now standing in front of you with your face in his hands as he tore your gaze away from the crowd to look at him instead. His brows were furrowed together in concern, his lips turned downwards as he glanced over you to make sure you were okay.

“Hey, you with me?” He murmured, his voice soft and comforting and you clung onto it.

“Mhm,” you nodded, flashing him a shaky smile. 

His frown deepened. “Don’t lie to me—”

“I’m not,” you told him honestly, your hands fisting the material of his shirt like you were scared he was going to step away. “I just…you make me feel better.” 

His face softened and the last of his resolve went out the window as he wrapped his arms around you, hugging you close until you were pressed into his chest. You nuzzled your face against his sweater, letting the familiar smell of his cologne wash over you and calm the last of your nerves. 

And when you opened your eyes, you found Jack standing a few feet away from you. Quinn hadn’t noticed he was there and Jack made no move to announce his presence. But he gave you this smile, one that was kind and knowing and felt like a stamp of approval you didn’t know you wanted or needed from the middle Hughes brother. 

But Jack smiled at the sight of you and his older brother, raising his shot glass like a promise to keep your secret and knocking it back without a moment of hesitation.

…

You had no plans on telling Luke about you and Quinn the night it actually ended up happening. 

There was a mutual agreement between you both that you couldn’t keep it from Luke any longer. It wasn’t fair on him to be left in the dark, it wasn’t fair on you two having to sneak around and it wasn’t fair on the people who already knew having to keep your secret.

And with the normal season coming to an end, it felt like a clock was running against you to tell your best friend you were dating his brother before you were all locked in the lakehouse for the summer together.

When you had imagined the moment in your head, it was the three of you. You would sit Luke down, explain your feelings and hope that he wouldn’t feel too betrayed. You imagined he would say something stupid like ‘yeah, I already know, losers’ and you could live your lives happily ever after.

It was probably never going to happen like that, but you certainly didn’t expect it to happen like this.

After a rough season and a streak of rough games for Luke in particular, the news of the Devils’ head coach stepping down felt inevitable and, truthfully, it was a relief when you saw the news come through. Luke had called you, far too smug and giddy for someone whose team was technically without a key member—but you guessed it was mostly second-hand from the other boys. 

You swore you could hear Jack and Nico talking about popping open a bottle of champagne in the background when he called. 

It felt like an unspoken agreement for you to fly out when Luke told you about a huge party they were throwing that weekend. Not for the recent retirement, obviously. If anyone asked, it was a simple bonding experience for the boys to motivate them through the last leg of the season.

And somewhere between the beer pong game Luke dragged you into and the really strong margarita Simon made you, you had snuck off into a small bathroom to call the one person your drunk self craved to see.

“Hey, pretty girl.”

You grinned at the sight of your boyfriend’s face on your screen, his hair tucked under a beanie as he walked around his apartment. “Hey, baby.”

He took in your flushed cheeks and glossy eyes, snorting a little. “Having fun?” 

“So much fun,” you giggled before letting out a heavy sigh. “I wish you were here.”

“I’ll see you soon,” he promised, like he was counting the days. He probably was. You knew you were too. “Spring break, remember?” 

“Hmm, I can’t wait to have you all to myself,” you mused, sinking back against the wall of the bath you were currently leaning on. “I’m sick of sharing my boyfriend with Petey.” 

Quinn laughed. “I thought you loved Petey.” 

You sighed deeply. “I do love that big, blond Swede.” 

He shook his head in amusement. “I’ll let him know. I’m sure he loves you too.”

You perked up a little. “Really?”

“Really, baby.” 

“Woah,” you breathed out, your eyes falling shut as you leaned against the cool ceramic of the bathtub. “I know I said it before…but I really wish you were here.”

Quinn’s face softened. “Me too, babe. Me too.” 

You opened your mouth to say something, probably some random drunken thought that you felt the insistent need to share with your boyfriend before knocking on the bathroom door interrupted you. 

You froze when you heard Luke calling your name on the other side. 

Quinn frowned at the way your face paled a little. “Baby, what’s happened? Who is it?” 

You heard shuffling on the other side before Luke’s muffled voice sounded through the door. “Are you talking to Quinn?”

You could have hung up. You could have told him you were talking to someone else entirely. You could have done a million and one other things that made more sense. However, for some fucking reason, your drunk brain panicked. 

“I don’t know a Quinn!” 

Quinn furrowed his brows in confusion.

There was a pause on the other side of the door before Luke tested the handle, finding the door unlocked. He let himself in, standing by the entrance as he stared down at you curled up beside the bathtub with a frown.

“Why are you hiding in here? I need another beer pong partner and Holtz sucks so—”

And because the universe liked to fuck with you, it seemed like there was some sort of lag on Quinn’s side because his voice was echoing through the small bathroom before you could even warn him about Luke’s presence.

“Baby, what’s happening? You’re starting to scare me.” 

Your eyes widened as silence suffocated the small room. You looked at Quinn before looking at Luke, who was looking at your phone with a mixed expression. 

“Did…did he just call you baby?” 

“No?”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on? Why are you on the phone to Quinn? And why are you hiding in the bathroom? And since when do you talk to Quinn?” 

You flashed him a sheepish smile. “Since we’ve been dating,”

Luke blinked before he snorted. “No, I’m being serious.” 

You swallowed. “So am I.”

Luke let out another laugh, but this one was a little less convincing. “I…no, you’re messing with me. Jack put you both up to this, right?” 

You stayed silent. 

“Right?” Luke asked again, a little more desperate.

Your eyes shifted down to Quinn—the lag thankfully gone—before you looked back up at Luke with a nervous expression. You shifted so your phone screen was now facing him, watching as his eyes dropped down to his brother’s face. 

“We wanted to tell you—”

“You,” Luke sneered, his eyes narrowed. “You have been planning this.” 

You blinked. “Huh?” 

“He’s been planning this!” Luke said with such confidence, though that might have been the mix of rum and tequila talking. “He’s been planning this since the sour patch kids!”

Quinn shot his brother a look. “You think I’ve been planning to date your best friend since you were seven?” 

“Yes.” 

You didn’t have to look at the screen to know Quinn was rolling his eyes at his younger brother.

“How long has this been going on?” 

“A while.” 

“That’s not an answer,” Luke frowned before looking at you.

“Since last summer,” you whispered.

“Summer?!” Luke spluttered. “You two have been dating for eight months and no one knew?” 

You winced.

Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Who knows?” 

“Just Trevor,” you said with a shrug of your shoulders. 

He deflated, blinking. “Oh, well I guess—” 

“And your parents and my parents and Ethan and Rutger and Mark and Jack,” you blurted out quickly, your cheeks heating up as Luke stared at you like he didn’t know you.

“So everyone but me?” 

“Luke—”

“Everyone but me knows?” 

“I’m sorry,” you whispered. 

“This is just a bad dream,” Luke murmured to himself before nodding his head, a little more confidently. “No, yes. This is a bad dream influenced by Nemo’s shitty bartending skills. A bad dream where my older brother is stealing my best friend. It isn’t real at all.” 

You blinked. “Luke—”

“Just need to play out the rest of the bad dream and I’ll wake up,” he continued muttering away as he reached for the door handle, ready to leave the small, cramped bathroom. “Just a bad dream.” 

“Luke—” 

But he was already gone before you could say anything.

“Well, he’s gonna have a brutal reality check in the morning.” 

You turned your phone to glare at your boyfriend. Though, much to your surprise, he was grinning in response. 

“Quinn, this is serious.” 

“Baby, I know.” His face seemed to soften a little, but the smile remained. “But now he knows. This is what we wanted. And now we don’t have to hide.” 

Your annoyance melted away at his revelation, a warmth settling in your chest that only Quinn seemed to bring. “Stop being cute.” 

“I’m being realistic, baby. Now you can come up any time you want.”

You snorted. “I still have classes.”

“I’ll find a way around those too. You can’t stop me, baby, gonna tell the whole world how much I love you.”

Your face softened with a smile. “I love you too.” 

Quinn’s smile mirrored yours. “Now go make sure my brother doesn’t do something stupid whilst he thinks he’s in a dream. Mum will kill me if his face is plastered on a tabloid in the morning.”

“Pretty sure Jack will go out of his way to make sure that happens.”

“Please don’t let it happen.” 

You gave him a mock salute. “Aye, aye, captain.” 

He shook his head with a fond expression. “I’ll call you later, okay?” 

“Okay. Bye, I love you.” 

“I love you too.”

“And I love Petey.”

Quinn snorted. “Yeah, I love him too. Get in line.”

.

[mca-attack21]

Love Can Hurt (Jeremiah x Conklin Reader)

A/N: There are season 1/2 spoilers

It was rare that you came to see Susannah on your own, usually you were with your mom. You came to visit more often than Steven or Belly, both because you wanted to see Susannah and because you wanted to check in on Jeremiah. Last summer had put him in a weird spot with Conrad and Belly, so you made a point to be there for him. At least that’s what you told yourself. The truth is you have always gone out of your way for Jeremiah. So of course, you came when he asked if you could stay with his mom during homecoming, even if the phone call broke your heart.

“Hey Y/n/n, how are you doing?”

“I’m alright Jere, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just have a question for you.”

“Of course.”

“Homecoming is this Saturday-” you could not believe what you were hearing, Jeremiah Fisher - the boy you’ve dreamed about being with was actually, “I was planning to go with Blake, but I don’t want to leave my mom home alone. We might get a hotel room. I was hoping you could come stay the weekend. She always loves seeing you.”

Your breath caught in your throat. You had to take a second before answering so your voice wouldn’t give you away. “Of course Jere, you deserve a night to be a normal teenager without the weight of the world on your shoulders. I’ll come up Friday after school.”

“Oh my god, you’re the best. I’ll totally owe you one.”

“It’s no problem Jere, I’ll see you Friday.” You hurriedly end the call, pulling your knees to your chest. Losing the fight to keep your tears at bay. Sometimes you wished you could stop loving him. 

You walked in the door with groceries and set them on the counter. Every time you visited, you would restock the cabinets and fridge. It used to be Susannah who would make sure everyone’s favorites were in the house. It was a small thing, but you felt like it was the least you could do. You went to check in on her, but she was sleeping so you decided to let her rest. You peek in Jeremiah’s room, straightening it up a bit and making his bed. He would be home soon, so you started to make him his favorite dinner.

You don’t know exactly when it happened, that you fell for him. Jeremiah always cared so much about the people around him, he was the most charismatic person you had ever met. He had this energy about him that illuminated any room he was in. Since he found out about his mom, that sparkle dimmed ever so slightly. No one seemed to really notice the toll that all of this was taking on him, except you. You could see through the fake smiles, to the sadness, stress, and fear. You tried to be there for him as much as he would let you. You comforted him through the pain Belly caused, took as much off his shoulders as you could, but you wished there was more you could do. 

You were so deep in your thoughts, you hadn’t even heard him come in. “Y/n?” he called out. 

“In the kitchen Jere.” 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he wrapped his arms around you from behind, resting his head in the crook of your neck. “That smells delicious, I’m gonna head up and take a shower, check on mom, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.” 

The two of you ate together, catching up. He told you about being nominated homecoming king, which didn’t surprise you at all. With some convincing you got Jere to let you take care of the receipts for the insurance companies while you were there. It was one more thing to take off his plate. When you were both done eating, you took care of the leftovers and did the dishes while he went off to play video games. 

The next day you spent most of your time with Susannah, who was having one of her better days. She was so excited to see Jeremiah going to Homecoming. You were doing fine with it all until his date arrived. 

“Y/n, can you do me a favor and go take pictures of Jere and Blake. I don’t want to scare them away,” she smiled. 

“Of course.”

You took her phone downstairs. Seeing him all dressed up, smiling, laughing, and excited brought mixed emotions. Of course you wanted him to be happy, but watching him with Blake reminded you of having to watch him with Belly this summer. There was a part of you that wished it was you. 

You took the photos, wished them both fun, and went back upstairs to watch movies with Susannah. Right away, she could tell something was off. Of course she could, sometimes you wondered if she knew you better than your own mother. 

“What’s on that brilliant mind of yours?” she asked, pausing the movie. 

“It’s nothing important,” you reply. 

“Of course it's important, because you are important.”

You didn’t know what to say, because you didn’t really know how to describe the way you were feeling without sounding pathetic. 

“This wouldn’t have something to do with Jeremiah, would it?” she asked knowingly. At the mention of his name, your strategic walls came crashing down, tears escaped your eyes. “Oh honey come here,” she said, opening her arms for a hug.

“It hurt to watch him fall for Belly and watch her toss him aside for Conrad and then it hurt tonight to see him so happy with someone else. And he’s my best friend so I get a front row ticket to watch all of it, I hear about every hookup, and I see everything that he tries to hide from everyone…”

“Oh sweetie.” She had always believed that you and Jeremiah were destined for each other the same way that Belly was destined for Conrad. It took her by surprise when Jeremiah admitted feelings for Belly, somehow, she’d missed how much it had affected you.

“Love can hurt sometimes, but that’s because it's real.”

[w0rmm1lk]

Heeeyyy you take requests right??

Bakugou x reader who’s Aizawa’s daughter where it’s reader’s birthday and Bakugou is planning this big surprise for them?? I think it would be super cute loll

sure!

character: Katsuki Bakugo(romantic), Shota Aizawa(Platonic)

reader: Aizawa Fem!child

Summary: bakugo wants to surprise his girlfriend on her birthday— but needs some help. Unfortunately Mina’s help wasn’t enough and he would need to specifically ask aizawa.

warnings: possible ooc, swearing,

other: established relationship, reader is in 1A, takes place during first year.

(I kinda failed at this one I’m so sorry— getting use to writing Fem!reader)

You and bakugo had been dating for about 4 months at this point. It wasn’t that long of a time yet bakugo had already met your parents. Well— that was mainly due to your father being both of your teachers.

bakugo knew your birthday was coming up soon. He would never admit to it but he had multiple reminders on his phone so he wouldn’t forget. It was your first birthday you would spend together while dating… despite that he wanted it to be a birthday for you to remember.

unfortunately for him, you can’t plan a big birthday for someone without help.

“Hey bakugo— what’s with all the staring? It’s kinda creeping me out-“ Denki speaking snapped bakugo out of his thoughts. He sent a glare in his direction. “Shut the hell up dunce face.”

“oooo~ thinkings about Y/N~~?” Minas voice broke through as she sat at the lunch table next to the two. “Tch- as if.” Mina laughed slightly at his response. “On the topic of Y/N, you get her anything for her birthday yet?” Bakugo seemed to freeze up at the question.

“oh my god have you actually not bought anything yet-? That seems weirdly unlike you!” “shut up I- I just want to make sure I buy the right thing.”

“Hmmm~? Then why don’t we help you out later then!” Mine suggested slightly leaning over the table, you could see her eyes sparkle.

“in your dreams! I can do it on my own.” He rolled his eyes, his arms crossed as he was slouched in his seat.

“cmon~~! Just let us tag along!” Mina was leaning so far over the table so her face was right up infront of bakugo. “Cmon man! You should totally let us come with!”

bakugo flinched slightly, he hasn’t even noticed kirishima had sat down beside him. “Ugh fine-! Just shut up already will ya?”

the “searching for a gift for Y/N” didn’t take long to turn into “Mina drags everyone through every store in the damn mall”

the results were— disappointing to say the least.

“ooo-! Let’s get her this necklace!”

“How much money do you think we have?!”

“this shirt is pretty cute-!”

“I’ve seen five seperate people wearing that on the way here- no way.”

“we could just go with the classic chocolates.”

“that’s too basic!”

and so on.

“Damnit— there’s nothing good enough in this shit hole.”

Denki turned to bakugo. “I mean— can we just ask her close friends what she wants? Maybe to get some ideas-?”

“dumbass— we are her close friends. Who the hell are we supposed to ask if none of us have any good ideas?!”

“I mean we could always ask—“

“don’t you dare.”

“cmon man! It’s not like we have much of a choice!”

and this is how bakugo found himself standing outside of the 1A classroom after school had ended. If none of Y/N’s closest friends knew what to buy her— then the next best person to ask was… her dad.

Bakugo hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. He was met with silence. He rolled his eyes not bothering to knock again as he walked right in.

of course he was met with a yellow sleeping bag on the floor fully zipped up. He let out an annoyed sigh about to leave before he heard the zipper come undone. he looked back to see the sleeping bag nowhere to be found and I aizawa standing in its place.

“what do you need?” Aizawa spoke in his normal monotone yet mildly annoyed voice. “I— I need help with something.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, it was unlike bakugo to go to someone for help, especially his teacher. This caused aizawa a small bit of worry but he didn’t show it.

“…with?” Bakugo looked away slightly as if embarrassed to say the next words. “It’s- about Y/N” he could feel aizawa gaze peircing through his skull. Aizawa eyes were glowing a bright red as his hair floated slightly.

“did something happen to her?” Despite asking a question it sounded more like a demand. “No! I just- i Need help with… something….” Aizawa softened his gaze, his hair and eyes returning to normal.

“do you know what kind of things… she likes…?”

“you’ve been dating for how long and you don’t even know what she likes?”

“no-! I- that’s not what I meant! Tch. I mean like— more personal things!”

Bakugo let out an annoyed sigh rolling his eyes. “I don’t even know why I bothered aski—“ “wait.” Bakugo turned back to aizawa. “I have a few things that may be useful.

needless to say— you got basically everything that you could even think of wanting on your birthday, it was a little concerning since you weren’t aware how bakugo learned about all the specific items you wanted, but— you were still happy.

(I am so sorry the end was kinda shit— im so fucking tired lmao)

[jestersfinaljest]

Could you write for the wonderful, amazing, beautiful, silly Ace Trappola? Like him falling in love with a male reader who isn’t the prefect and is just a normal student and is totally in denial that he’s gay? (Sorry if that doesn’t make sense)

｡.｡:∞♡*♥ ︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶┊┊❁ཻུ۪۪♡ ͎. ｡˚ °

‘Okay, I’m man enough to admit when a guy is pretty, I mean, Pomefiore guys have some pretty guys, I am confident in my sexuality to admit that!’ Is what Ace kept telling himself. He had quite literally bumped into a student, just a student from another dorm, just a normal student. A totally normal student who had made his heart pound in his chest. Ever since that encounter, Ace has been out of it, making up excuses in his head, saying things to himself like, “I’m not gay, I can’t be.” or “My heart was beating like that for different reasons!” But deep down, he knew he couldn’t deny it.

The student he had bumped into had very little thoughts about the ‘incident’, sure he thought about it a couple of times, seeing the ginger’s flushed face before he ran off, leaving him slightly confused with a newfound liking. He just stood there after the ginger ran away, questioning a little bit, but nothing he wouldn’t lose sleep over.

Ace, on the other hand, lost tons of sleep, waking up from dreams of kissing or cuddling with the student. 'I don't even know his name! And now I'm having dreams about him??? This is crazy, this didn't even happen with my girlfriend in middle school!!' The more he kept denying that he may have a thing for the student he bumped into, the more the student was on his mind. He had seen him around NRC, just peacefully walking around or chatting with a friend, and every time he did he made a beeline to the opposite direction of him. Now come on, Ace thought he did a good job keeping his little problem under wraps, but it's Ace we're talking about. The ginger got distracted during so many basketball practices that it got the attention of Jamil and Floyd. They didn't bring it up, yet, but time will tell when they would. Deuce and the Prefect had brought it up though.

"I'm just saying, you seem to be pretty distracted lately, we're just concerned is all." The Prefect had told him, Deuce standing next to them nodding full heartily. "Yeah, so what's got you like this? It's weird hanging out with you when you're not so loud and annoying." His arms were crossed over his chest, continuously nodding like he was only saying good things. Grim was too distracted with eating a can of tuna Prefect had bought him from Sam's store to even care what the topic of the conversation was about.

"I'm fine! It's just.." Ace felt hesitant to tell them about the feelings he had so desperately wanted to leave. He wasn't sure how they'd take it, I mean, in an all-boys school? What if they get disgusted by him and think he's weird or gross? These are concerns he'd never think he'd have to think about. "I think I might like the guy I bumped into a week ago, okay??! And I've been stressing with these feelings because I just can't be gay, can I??" Ace felt a weight being lifted off his heart, and then a heavier one dropped down. His heart pounded with anxiety and fear at their reaction.

"Well, why not? Being gay is normal. It's not necessarily a bad thing, you know." Prefect had said something first, shrugging their shoulders. "There's probably a lot of gay people in NRC, I already have a couple of suspicions..." They trailed off, looking away to the side. Deuce, once again, nodded in agreement before stopping himself. "Yeah, that's right--What, uhh, no. Not that last part, uhm, anyway...What me and Prefect mean is that we don't mind who you like because, at the end of the day, you're still our friend!"

A truly lovely and heartwarming scene for Ace, who was given love, support, and confidence to talk to the student! After sorting out his feelings and emotions, he went out and walked around campus for a bit, searching for the student. Around ten minutes passed and he finally found him, sitting on a bench in the courtyard, on his phone. He summoned all of his courage and sat down next to him, his leg starting to bounce out of nervousness. The student had heard someone sit next to him, and by Seven, did Ace feel something when the student clearly brightened up seeing his face.

"Oh, hey! It's you, the guy who bumped into me and then ran away!" He chuckled lightly and turned his head to face Ace, who was feeling extremely jittery and suddenly a bit aware. "Ah, yeah, uhm, I'm sorry about that...I just wanted to apologize for that. I'm Ace Trappola, freshman." The student nodded, "Apologize accepted. [Name]'s the name, also freshmen." Ace felt his heart skip a beat, he finally knew his name. They both stayed silent for a while, too awkward to say anything, maybe.

After a moment or two, one of them finally spoke up, neither of them knew who said it at the time, but one of the two knuckleheads blurted out,

"I think you're pretty cute...!"

Cue matching red faces and a pair of freshmen with no clue what to do now.

______________________________________________________________

a/n: i am so sorry if this is not what you wanted, i usually work better when i have thorough details, since i always want to give the reader exactly what they want so...but thank you for requesting!! this is my first time writing for someone who isnt a friend.

[mavrintarou]

[12:05 PM] Kuroo Tetsuro - A/B/O

I know you guys might have anticipated part 2 to Oikawa's story but I'm still finishing up on it! And to everyone who asked to be on the tag list - yes you all will be added and notified :) but here's a little distraction in the mean time...

Warning: explicit smut; A/B/O related explicit contents; Kuroo just being... Kuroo. .

Kuroo Tetsuro narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his favorite coworker.

Y/l/n Y/n has been quiet with him all morning, giving him a quiet greeting in the morning and completely and totally ignoring him. He wanted to tease her about her attire but something about her vibe made him think twice if he didn’t want to get chewed up.

Who wears a turtle neck top with an oversize sweater that topped it with a long cardigan? Was she that cold?

She had a serious expression every time he looked in her direction, and it was concerning to him, Y/n was always happy, cute, and adorable.

What really answered his assumption that she was ignoring him was when she dodged him smoothly down the hall when called out her name. As if she did not hear him call her name, she disappeared into the women’s bathroom. Tetsuro waited five minutes outside before walking away.

He looked down at his attire, does his suit smell? He swore he sprayed his cologne on.

Tetsuro couldn’t find Y/n during lunch, normally, they all ate lunch together but she was not at the table.

“Where is Y/n?” Tetsuro asked setting his tray down. The spot across from him was usually where Y/n sat, it made it easier for them to trade food every day but today the spot was empty.

Val motioned he had a mouthful of food and swallowed, “she went home, I don’t think she is feeling good.”

Tetsuro nodded before taking out his phone out. You okay? He texted.

No response.

The rest of the day, Tetsuro was antsy. He felt hot and then cold. He noticed his sense of smell had become more sensitive all of sudden. He tugged his tie loose to the point it was hanging off around his neck. The first four top buttons unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to his elbow.

“I’m leaving,” he announced, his suit jacket was in his hand, and he was out the office doors before anyone could respond to him.

.

He knew where Y/n lived.

Of course he would, he was her superior.

He knocked, more like pounded on her door. “Y/n, it’s me, Tetsuro.”

No response.

“Just…” he pleaded, desperately. “Are you okay? Talk to me… please?”

His phone vibrated, a text message coming through.

I’m fine, I’m good, I’ll be better in a few days. Please leave.

“No, I need to see it for myself that you’re truly okay!” he shouted, not caring that the neighbor could hear.

Tetsuro, if you must really know, I’m in heat. Leave. Now.

His eyes scanned her message five times.

His heart pounded against his chest loudly and his throat feels dry.

“Let… let me help you.”

No.

“You don’t have to go through this alone, Y/n. You can trust me.”

Tetsuro can see the text bubble but it would appear and disappear.

“You can trust me, Y/n. Let me help you.”

You shouldn’t trust me.

“I trust you. You know that.” He pounded on the door again, “Y/n!”

She wasn’t texting him anymore.

Tapping on her contact, he called her.

It rang.

And rang.

Pick up the call, he texted.

He called her again.

It rang.

And rang.

Just when he was about to text her again, the other line clicked. “Y/n! Open this door now.”

“I dreamed about you.” Her voice was quiet. “This morning I dreamed about you and… I’m so ashamed. I need you to respect me and leave, Tetsuro.”

His blood shot down south to his groin, of all times, he felt himself get hard just at the sound of her calling his first name. She never called him by his first name before.

It was always Kuroo-san.

“I like you, Y/n. I like you romantically. I have liked you for a long time… it makes me feel happy… excited that you dreamed about me because…” he knocked his head against her door, “I dream about you all the fucken time.”

Tetsuro jumps when he hears the door click and steps back as the door cracks revealing Y/n, with flushed cheeks, kissable lips and reeking sweet aroma.

The door slammed shut behind him as he enters her place, he barely taken off his shoes before he already grasped her face in his large hands and brought her lips to his to kiss her hungrily.

He backed her into the hallway, and she bumped into the wall before he spared her lips for a second, “I’ve imagined this for so long…”

Her eyes drop to his lips, and she leaned forward to peck his lips before biting down on his lower lip.

The one hand resting beside her head was ready to puncture through the wall as he restrained himself.

Tetsuro has imagined many times about kissing her. With their height difference too, she would have to really push herself on the tip of her toes to reach his lips.

But at this moment, he was desperate and was bending down to meet her lips.

His hand grope her waist, finding the end of her shirt and sliding his palm underneath and the feeling of her hot skin against his only drove him crazy. He cupped her breasts and tweak her nipples, tugging and twisting.

Her soft moans urged him and ignited the flames inside of him.

“I need you,” he mumbled against her lips. He lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around his waist. He groaned when her barely covered pussy pressed against his bulge. If he could only get rid of his slacks and her shorts, he could slip himself easily into her. He could feel her heat searing. “Bed… bedroom… tell me where your bedroom is?”

“Down the hall, first door to the left…” she murmured against his neck, nipping and sucking the skin there.

With his long strides, he kicked open the door and move to set her on the bed. He doesn’t wait, pressing a hand down her chest to tell her to stay down while he slips off her shorts and the moment the last barrier is stripped away, her sweet scent hits him with full force.

He takes a whiff of her scent and groans before spreading her thighs apart and devouring her pussy like a sacred ripe fruit.

“Mine,” he growl, slurping and licking. “You’re mine…” forever.

No one will touch what is his…

Y/n moaned and squirm under his touch, “more…” she begged, she tugged off her shirt, touching her chest. “More…”

Tetsuro looked up while sucking her clit and thrusting two fingers inside of her at the same time. When two of his fingers slipped in easily, he added a third to stretch her out. She was so wet and so accommodating that he knew she was made for him.

Her hips tremble as he suckled her dry. “Tetsu!”

His tongue continued to flicker against her swollen nub until she as pushing his head away, crying from overstimulation.

Tetsuro smiled in satisfaction, stepping away to allow his sacred fruit to recharge as he takes off his clothes.

He is surprised by the scowl on her face as she sit upright and tug his wrist as soon as he was naked like her. He fell on top of her and the touch of skin against skin was enough for them both to lose all senses and give into nothing but passion.

She flipped him onto his back and straddled his thighs. As if she wasn’t already driving him mad, she teased him more, riding his left thigh.

“I dreamed about stroking you and sucking you off… and then before I woke up…” she runs her palm against his chest and rubs his pucker nipple between her finger tips. “You fucked me hard from behind…” She crawled forward until her mouth was centimeters away from his. “Can you make my dream come true?”

Tetsuro stared into her eyes, “anything you want, baby.”

She smiled, the smile he loves so much. She scooted back and takes his long cock into her hand; her hand alone couldn’t wrap fully around. She stroke him and taking in just the tip into her mouth.

She showed him no mercy by immediately taking him as far as she could, feeling him hit the back of her throat.

It was his turn to squirm under her touch.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” he swore, covering his face. “This is so good… you’re too good… fuck… your mouth, baby…” He groans, “baby… please… give me your pheromones.”

This should be about her, but Tetsuro felt like he was the one in rut.

His cock twitched inside her mouth as soon as he is hit with her pheromones.

It is beyond what he could have ever imagine.

He would gladly drown in it for the rest of his life.

Never sharing this… no, he can’t even bare the thoughts of letting her go now.

“’nough…” he taps her cheek, “let me fuck you from behind now… please…”

Y/n mouth lets his hard cock go with a pop sound and shifts off of him to position herself on her hands and knees. Tetsuro comes from behind and he stares down at Y/n, waiting for him.

She looks over her shoulders at him and as soon as she felt it, his alpha pheromones, she submitted, pushing her ass higher and giving herself to him.

He runs his large hand down her lower back to her shoulder blades, “tell me, Y/n… tell me you’re mine…”

“I’m yours, yours Tetsuro…”

God, he loved how she said his name. It was as if it was hers now, he is hers.

He smiled, “and I’m yours, Y/n. Yours only.”

She rest her head on the bed, smiling. “Breed me, breed me by the end of the night... make me yours as you promise.”

He was not in rut, but that doesn’t mean the chance of breeding her while she was in heat was impossible.

Tetsuro would have to wait for his next rut to knot her and if she wasn’t already breed then, he would breed her with his knot and mark her.

“I shall,” he promise and slides his cock into her pussy in one thrust.

He takes a few second to allow them both to come adjust. His cock is cuddled warmly and softly inside her pussy, and he never wants to be anywhere else.

He grips her hips and starts thrusting, long and hard strokes.

Her moans echo her room with the sound of skin slapping skin. Her fingers grip tightly against her comforters, holding tightly against his thrusts.

Tetsuro drapes over her, rutting as if he too is in rut. The tip of his cock is so sensitive that every time it touches the opening of her cervix, it sends shivers down his cock. His sacks, heavy with cum bounces and smacks her clit with each thrust. His nose trails along her shoulder until he can smell where her sweet scent is most radiant and as soon as he finds the spot that is emitting, he licks the spot before his teeth chomped down.

The mark wouldn’t be permanent, but it was a good enough temporary mark for now.

Her whimper and cry of his name pushed him close to the edge and Tetsuro releases the skin and withdraws, flipping her onto her back.

A hand combs his damp hair back and out of his eyes, Tetsuro’s half hooded gaze falls on Y/n’s tear streaked face. Happy tears.

“I want to see your face as I cum inside of you…” he widens her legs before teasing the tip of his cock pass her folds and gently thrusting fully. He hovers over her, keeping their eyes locked as he makes sweet love to her.

Y/n cup his face, thumb rubbing his cheeks, “I… I love you.”

“I love you,” he whispers in returned, “I love you too…”

Tears slip from the corner of her eyes, and he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Don’t cry…”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him close.

His arms slip behind her knees and pushed her knee further into the bed, feeling his cock sank deeper.

“So close… so close – gonna cum… going to breed you…” he muttered hotly into her ear. He pounded into her thrice before his hips shake with spasm.

“Tetsu…” her weak cries resonance as she filled hotly with his cum to the point she feels the overspill. “Wait… too much…”

Tetsuro chuckles and pulls back to look down at her, “there’s no such thing as too much…” he kissed the tip of her nose. He shifts down to her chest, taking a whole mound into his mouth, swirling his tongue against her nipple.

He winced at her squeezing around his sensitive cock that he lets go. He admires how red the nipple has become under his mouth. His palm squeezes both her breasts, “I want these filled with so much milk.”

At his own statement, he feels the last ejaculation and convulse.

“How… how do you cum so much?” Y/n asked innocently, wincing at being filled to the brim. She pressed a hand to her lower abdomen, feeling the bulge.

Sitting upright, he leans back and slowly withdraw and immediately his cum gushes out.

“If I am correct, this is nothing compared to when I knot you…”

Her eyes widen. “You will cum even more then this?”

“Well, yes, if I don’t successfully breed you now, when I am in rut – my knot will surely impregnant you.”

.

Val looked at Tetsuro and Y/n suspiciously as they enter the room together a few days later. “Why… do you two… look…”

Tetsuro lifts his hand, the hand that’s intertwined with Y/n’s, “we’re together now.”

. . .

E/n: Believe it or not, Kuroo was my first HQ love... lol and then it became Sakusa and Suna... I have a thing for these dark hair 2D men.

>>>@queenelleee @mfreedomstuff @erintaro @callmeraider @chaotic-fangirl-blog @wolffmaiden @cloud-lyy

[chlobody]

What got you into posing nude? Like, how did you get comfortable sharing your body the way you do?

Here comes my novel response to this awesome question - sorry in advance!

Nature was my number one inspiration. I fell in love with being in my natural form outside, as we were intended to be. One thing I preach as a nudist - I AM NOT MY BODY. I am so much more than a flesh bag with limbs that my soul resides in. I am my heart, my mind and beliefs. Sharing your words, thoughts and love is so much more sacred and sexy than flashing a nude body ever could be. To me, being naked in front of people non-sexually couldn’t feel less awkward for me. Those who know my soul, my dreams and hopes… receive my true sacredness. Understand that just because someone saw your naked body, DOES NOT mean they own any part of you, or know anything about you on the inside. Nudity is not sacred unless you hold it in your mind as that. Then, you will forever feel uncomfortable being nude unless it’s with a special someone (which is totally fine, too). Just don’t judge others who ARE comfortable with something you view as the most vulnerable a human can get. Because it’s just not.

What got me into posing nude, is truly my journey of OnlyFans and content creation. I had no choice but to turn to creating content as a source of income during the pandemic while living in the rural country. Soon, “professional photographers” - aka, horny men with cameras - started to contact me asking to shoot, they could help me shoot content, etc.. as you might think, that did lead to some uncomfortable situations and learning lessons.

Diving into the world of posing nude is not easy nor self-explanatory. You eventually find your people, who respect you and have safety and comfort as top priorities, but that normally does not happen at first. I’m lucky to have learned all my lessons with who is and who isn’t safe to work with right off the bat. By learning how to get references for photographers and staying away from unsafe ones, I’ve gotten to embrace and open my nudist world up completely, meeting beautiful people in the process. I hate that I had to learn the hard way, but now I can give other aspiring nude artists a bit of guidance from my experience.

[eris-snow]

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Tags: Revelation (Deku's birthday series 2024), izuku x fem!reader, revelation, stabbing, blood, angst, no fluff, sorry, pain, this is late, ft bakugou and ochaco,

Masterlist

15th July: Doomsday.

--

Class starts off normal. Yeah, that’s it. Cool, normal, totally not like your childhood best friend is burning holes into you like you were going to get slammed by a semi-truck at any minute.

Izuku’s eyes are pools of crystal lakes. Like Narcissus looking into his own reflection, Izuku’s eyes compelled you to look his way. Maybe it was sorcery or witchcraft—his eyes seem to sparkle, and they’re mesmerising beyond any precious jewel.

I get it. It’s your birthday. Doomsday.

And maybe, you were just the slightest bit peeved at his actions. All through yesterday, he’d been avoiding you like a plague. Wouldn’t talk to you, speak to you, hell, he wouldn’t even look at you. Then all of a sudden, he decides that he wants to shower you with his gaze and attention, or peer at you with those fucking eyes like he hadn’t been avoiding you these past few days.

You thought you knew dense, but this? Izuku was a fucking mineshaft.

Just as you’re about to address his intense gaze during homeroom, Aizawa calls you out for the second time in the span of one week. You pretend you don’t feel all eyes on you as you exit the classroom. There’s a certain aloofness you can never mirror from Kacchan. There isn’t the “I’d die for you in a heartbeat” mentality ingrained in your bones just like how it is for Izuku. You wish to emulate both of them, for a trait special to your personal, but when you stop to think about it, you draw a blank.

Ugly, ugly, plain and boring, you remind yourself, as you step out the classroom to meet Aizawa. You’re getting called out so often because you can’t even act fine correctly.

There’s a hand in your face before you know your mouth is open. “My turn first,” Aizawa says, dead serious. “You aren’t in trouble, and this isn’t about Midoriya.”

Your mouth clangs shut, and your throat constricts. What else would he want to talk about?

“An opportunity has been presented to you,” Aizawa says, trailing off a little. “By Star’s former agency in America.”

The world tilts sideways, and you actually stumble to keep yourself on your feet because of the floor’s disequilibrium. “W-What…?”

“One of them wants you there as a sidekick.”

America?

That’s more than, what, 6000 miles to the great wild West. The land where dreams came true (supposedly).

“Ever since you aided Stars and Stripes in her last battle, the agency’s been keeping an eye on you. There’s an interview, and paperwork, and a contract but I suspect those are simply formalities.” Aizawa says nonchalantly, but you can see the pride in his eyes. The pride of a teacher, when his student has soared high. That battle was intense, but it was ashes compared to Izuku’s heart-moving victory that had saved the world.

“B-B-But…” You stutter, “I-I don’t think I’m the best candidate! Won’t they want one from the Big Three? Did they get the wrong person? Ask them to double-check because I don’t think—”

Aizawa gives you an unnerving stare, and his words that come out flat. “Kid, they phoned me 14 times. Pretty sure they got the right person.”

Hesitation lines your face, as Aizawa pats your shoulder. “More details will be given should you accept. They want you from next year onwards, which I am willing to compromise for as long as you have fixed times with you to revise the necessary topics. You, Bakugou and Midoriya have finished most of the syllabus, correct? Should you feel necessary, I possess revision materials and suitable dates should you want to take the final exam earlier.”

It’s a beautiful opportunity. A ‘I-found-a-golden-ticket-in-my-chocolate’ kind of opportunity. It was so tempting to take.

But…

You were just 17. A teenager that won the lottery, who now had to deal with consequences. What about family, housing, language, oh God, your English was so bad you would die before they asked you ‘dine in or take out?’ And besides…

Aizawa sees the look on your face, and sighs loudly. How many times are you going to stupidly throw your life away for Izuku?

You can’t keep doing this, but clinging to Izuku and this ever burning love you have for him is all you ever know. Running of to America? You don’t think you could comprehend the distance across oceans paired with the distance of time. Aizawa stares at you and shakes his head in disappointment. “Give it a thought. It’s okay to be selfish sometimes, L/n. Don’t let anyone hold you back from chasing your dream.”

You swallow thickly. It’s all you’ve ever wanted, someone wants you, and you’re being called to help other people, be a real heroe and drop the ‘in-training’, to fight crime and kick as in a country with crime rates so high they could rival the Empire State Building.

You’re a terrible mess, and when you think about it more, the more miserable you get.

It’s my dream to be a hero, but what if my dream is you too?

—

“We need to talk,” Izuku’s voice is gentle, but it’s plush pillows wrapped up in caution tape. Assessing him doesn’t take too long, because by the way he grips your wrist as your foot is halfway out the door, he wants to tell you something, and it’s urgent.

Shrugging his hand off, you fold your arms and project aloofness, although it’s not very convincing. You feel your lips threaten to break into a false smile, and mentally slap yourself when it almost flits across your face. Izuku had caught up to you on that ever since his fragmented memories started returning, so you’d tried to stop.

Bad habits and sticky fingers.

“What is it?” You try to soften the edge of your voice like sandpaper, but you still see the way he flinches at your voice. Patrol is in half an hour, and if you don’t book it, you’ll be late. “Oh, and if this is about your birthday party and how you don’t want it, too bad, Mina already bought silly string and Sato bought ingredients for the cake, so you can’t—”

“It’s not, about my birthday.” He insists, shoving the topic aside. A hand runs through his curls, as if trying to soothe his nerves, but you can see the way he has to forcefully drop his hands to the side and avert his gaze. His outer shell had slowly crumbled off the longer he was around you, little fragments chipped off until gone is Hero Deku, and underneath is a more human Izuku, with nervous habits and mistakes.

“Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been…around.” He says, trying to phrase it nicely. It does him no favours. “There were a couple of things I had to figure out and rearrange in my head, it’s just—”

He looks desperate, and you’re feeling bad. Emerald green washes over your eyes, mirroring the calm of a forest even though he’s nothing but.

“I’ve gotten hold of how the Quirk Accident happened, and-and a way to lift the Quirk, but…” He swallows thickly, before his eyebrows furrow. “Are you even listening to me?”

Your eyes had strayed to a clock, thoughts wandering, but you jerked back to reality when a scarred hand tugged your own. “A way to lift the Quirk?”

It’s only when you repeat his words do you really understand the weight of them.

Joy bubbles up and exudes from you like an air freshener on crack.

Hey, aren’t you excited? The little child that always hoped for another way whispers, tugging your arm with a beautiful smile. Izuku’s gonna remember you.

But the logical side of you, the side with squandered hope and broken dreams makes you think through your feelings. The longer you think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense.

If Izuku had found a way to lift this curse, then why hadn’t he done it yet?

The clocks tick, and the minute hand moves. How many minutes do you have left until he forgets?

“Yeah, but that can wait.” He says in a rush. “There’s some guy I met—on the streets! He’s related to my Accident. I don’t think he’s the exact person, but close, brother, probably, since he said ‘Nii-san’—”

“What?”

Your heart rate spikes and colour drains from your face. Chisuke and Izuku made contact, oh God, and you didn’t even know. Now that you see it, you can’t unsee it. The redness on his neck, like he’d been held at knifepoint. Worry blossoms in your voice.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why didn’t tell Sensei?”

“I just met him yesterday,” Izuku defends, eyes blazing. “And he’s not targetting me like you thought, he’s targetting you!”

Time slows. The declaration was like a veil lifted from your eyes, a shiny revelation that stares at you in the face. The target…

Is me.

Your eyes flicker back to Izuku’s face, huffing and puffing like he fought a bull to stand down. You stare at him. He’s all muscle, baby fat thinning, freckles sprinkled across his face like stars in the sky.

“It’s me?” You whisper, voice small.

Izuku watches you look at him dumbly, words caught in your throat.

“Please,” He whispers, features lined with worry, the same worry you once felt for him now reflected right back at you. “Don’t go for patrol, stay here, where it’s safe. Starlight—”

The name feels like ants on your skin.

“You’ve done so much already,” he takes out a hand, the same one as in that dumb, snow-white hospital room when he got concussed from pushing himself too hard.

I’ve done nothing.

“I…” He swallows. “I don’t want to lose you when I’m this close to figuring it all out.”

The last time you’d taken his hand it tasted like victory. Everything felt perfect, as if fireworks had painted the sky a vibrant colour shows, an artist’s masterpiece for all to see. But now, as you lock eyes with his hand, you can’t help but wonder if it really mattered anymore.

It doesn’t matter if Izuku remembers or forgets—Chisuke would still be hunting you down, looking for a way to wipe your emotions until the heroes lock him up.

All the memories, flashes of moments he’s gained from agony and tears—they’ll be locked behind reinforced walls by the stroke of midnight.

The karma of this exact day, 7 years ago is finally catching up to you after all this time. What will Chisuke do this time? Cut you up? Drown you in your blood? You taste ash on your tongue, throat clogged up.

If it really comes to it, maybe it wasn’t completely undeserved.

Isn’t that for the best? Someone whispers in your ear, voice a whispy and taunting.

Because this entire fiasco is because of you.

The minute hand ticks again, and your phone buzzes. Your patrol, your shift—

Izuku’s still there, waiting for you to take his hand.

Walls constrict on you, and feel your ribcage squeezing the air out of your lungs.

You’re gonna die, you’re going to flatline, you’re—

You only hurt when you let it hurt, and it all goes away when you don’t think.

Don’t think.

The answer comes to your hazardous grappling, and you’re so desperate to stop spiralling, you do something that you haven’t done since Izuku started talking to you again.

It comes as easy as breathing, as you let that rope snap. Up goes the walls, and gone your thoughts.

Don’t think.

Dissociate, detach, let go, don’t cry, you can’t start now.

Eyes flash upwards, and you force yourself to steel. Stars aren’t supposed to break.

“Move.”

Izuku’s eyes widen at your shifted demeanour, and his legs carry him out of my way as his face collapses with confusion. “Starlight, what’s wrong with you?” He whispers, pleading for you to listen. “Starlight—”

“I’m going for patrol,” You exhale sharply, looking at him with dull eyes. Expressionless, head empty, come on, just a little bit more, don’t break now—

“I’ll be careful out there, and I’ll come back safe.” Maybe.

“Starlight, you’re not listening to me—!”

“You never listen to me either, so I guess we’re both even!” You shout, swinging the door open.

The anger is foreign at your fingertips. You’ve felt disappointed, sad, longing and desire, all shrivelled up in balls of tissue paper as you wake up screaming at night. But anger? It was fresh, a band-aid ripped from raw skin.

“We’re both shitty teenagers who want to do what we think is the best for each other, and there’s nothing more to it,” You whisper, rubbing your eyes at where the tears start to leak out. This is bad, you’re out of practice, and the mask is peeling off so quickly.

You’re just so, so tired.

“Leave me alone, Midoriya.”

Hurry up and get your memories already.

“I’m not worth it.”

Haven’t I waited long enough?

Tears prickle Izuku’s eyes, pools of green watering. He’s always been such a crybaby.

Voice shaky, he echoes. “You’re worth it.”

A terrible, unsightly smile crawls up your face, and the laugh that drops from your lips is bitter and humourless.

“Goodbye, Midoriya.”

The door slams shut, and Izuku’s tears bubble over. What hell of a birthday is this?

A shadow creeps up on him, and, oh look it’s Kacchan. He messed up big time, of course he blew it with you. Furiously, he wipes his tears away and sniffles. He has no right to cry.

“God, dammit nerd, what the fuck was that?”

“I know—” He sobs, as Katsuki punches him in the face. The burn is well deserved, as the blond yanks him by the collar and spits in his face. “Good job, dumbass! You lost someone who’s been chasing after you for fuck knows how long. How’d you manage that?”

Katsuki’s voice is like a slap in the face, one he knew he very much deserved. “What, you gonna sob about this like a baby? Fucking man up, Izuku! You have a game to play, asshole. Ball’s in your court, so what’s your move?”

His mind whirls, gears turning. You’re probably halfway to the station, he knows how fast you run. Especially from him, always, always him.

“Oi, shitface!” Katsuki spits, red eyes blazing with fire from the Underworld. “What’s. Your. Move?”

A sharp bolt stabs his cornea, making him writhe in agony. Kacchan’s yelling recedes into the background, his mind sprouting words like it was trivia night on Saturday.

White lies, eyes, smiles, laughs—

He squeezes his eyes shut, pain blooming.

Starlight, Zuku, Secrets—

He gasps, unable to breathe.

Sketcheswillowtreesforgetmenots—

His mind glitches, and images flash. A lush forest that’s always lathered in colour, beautiful branches like streamers with a lake as pure as waters from springs.

Almost instantaneously, One For All crackles from the ends of his hair to the tips of his toes. Izuku tosses himself out of Kacchan’s grip, eyes wild and frenzied. “I need—” He cuts himself off. “I need to go.”

He zips past Kacchan, and bolts out the door.

Fuck the bus, he’d get there faster on foot. He knows exactly where he’s going, because he’s going back to where it all started.

Back to the memories that resided in your glade.

—

The overcast sky greets your gaze as your hero partner frowns. “Oh, man, it’s gonna rain!” She wails, lamenting the bad weather. You look up, watching the sun disappear behind the curtain of grey clouds.

What’s a little bit of pain without a little bit of rain?

—

Izuku never ran so fast in his life. He’s probably a flying, leaping safety hazard, but he doesn’t care. Stormy clouds roll in, as the sun bids farewell for the day. The news drones on about the rainy forecast prediction. 

Yeah, no shit. He thinks, as one drop lands on his jacket.

Not a minute later, it pours.

Trespassing seems like a small feat too, as he leaps over the fence and stumbles. He doesn’t fall, though The rain makes everything slippery, so it’s a fight for balance as he reroutes his way to his destination like his body is a satellite.

The voice, your voice, gets louder and louder as he nears the clearing. It’s splitting his skull in half, and he’s fighting to keep himself from doubling over.

“Save you—”

“I’m so sorry—”

“Come back to me—”

Gritting his teeth, his hand brushes past the leaves that reveal the toneless clearing that you’d adored so much. It’s so bare, without its colour. A step forward is all it takes for his legs to buckle, forcing him to kneel as his hands trace the willow tree’s rough bark.

“Who are you?” “I’m Y/n! What’s your name?”

“Race you!”

“I’ll call you Zuku! It’s shorter, and nicer!”

Wax on bone, flesh peeling and blood dripping. He screams, loud and broken, the pain more than he could ever imagine.

“I’m not a transfer, I’m not a stranger—”

“Izuku, please��”

“I love your eyes.”

“I love your smile.”

“Don’t leave, Zuku. Stay here with me.”

“I love you.”

The world is burning, and upside down, right? The cool pitter-patter on his skin feels like acid, oh, make it stop, please make it—

Tit for tat, this for that. A brother for a brother, and pain for bits and scraps.

You want to find your memories? I understand. My Quirk is simple, very simple. Pain is not worth the weight of knowledge.

The world goes dead silent, as his heartbeat thumps in his chest. Erratic, frantic, as the world seemingly explodes. Izuku isn’t so sure if he’s dying, though it certainly feels like it.

“I love you.”

The words thrum in Izuku’s head like a martyr, echoed in your voice at all different ages. Fragmented across different timelines, the world stops, and along with it, silence engulfs his being.

He blinks, and he’s standing in front of the wall again. It’s fragmented so badly, his breath hitches at the beautifully ugly sight.

In the silence’s place, is the faint but distinct sound of a heart monitor beeping.

Izuku looks up to see the wall crack once more, and shatter in front of his very own eyes.

Your trade is sufficient.

In return, I’ll return you everything that was once yours.

—

It all happens instantaneously. Suddenly, someone dials the decibel level back up to max, and Izuku’s memories arrive like a mountain avalanche. 

He jerks his head up, the ringing in his head fading as he’s thrown back into the world of senses. The rain pours, and the thunder booms.

His mind feels comfortably full, sharper, and he’s horrified he didn’t realise how empty it was in the first place.

“Oh, Starlight,” He whispers, voice wobbly as he sorts through the different years. So many things make sense now, from your words to actions and your expressions that always screamed help me. A hand comes up to cover his mouth as he lines the memories with gold. He’s been so daft this entire time, and you—

Guilt rises to his mouth and it tastes awfully like bile. It’s getting very difficult to breathe.

How could I ever forget you?

Arms wrapped around himself, he lets out a strangled cry, shame chewing him up more and more because this? This was what you went through? 7 years of obliviousness, white lies, and a whole-ass relationship that he was never meant to have with Ochaco. 7 years of putting up to him, clinging to him, oh gosh, this year was such a dumpster fire—

“I love you.” Your voice rings in his head, and his words pile on top of each other in his throat. The revelation is warm sunlight in the cold shower of rain, and he sobs when he finally understands the gravity of them. 

I love you, even if I can only have different facades of yourself.

I love you, so I’ll chase you as long as I have to.

I love you, even though you will never love me back.

“I love you too,” He whispers brokenly, gathering up the pieces of his ruined memories in scarred hands. “I’ve always loved you.”

It was always meant to be you, that’s why nothing ever felt right.

From the times you brought him your bentos in middle school when the bullies would throw his own away, to the times you sat there with him for hours. Those times you never said anything but just listened to him, made him feel heard and respected and—

loved.

Izuku knew he was whipped the moment the nickname ‘Zuku’ sprouted from your mouth in that sandbox all those years ago.

Can’t even survive a Quirk Accident right, some love, he scoffs at himself, staggering as he pulls himself to his feet.

Your trade is sufficient. The voice at the back of his mind reminds him, causing blood to drain from his face. There’s only so long that you can overlook one factor, and this one was a ticking time bomb that got his brain throbbing and searching hungrily for the answer.

What exactly has he traded?

His phone alarm blares in his pocket, causing him to fumble with it as it automatically starts to play the latest news.

“—Currently facing off against a villain! Two of them, although it’s difficult to see as one of them has a wind manipulation Quirk. It seems he’s at least partially responsible for the storm right now. Hero/n and Everblaze continue to push for the capture of the villain behind the recent cases police cases of officers found waking up unable to feel joy—”

All colour drains from his face. There’s nothing more that needs to be said. He pockets his phone, fires up One For All, and leaps for the city.

Izuku’s lost you once. He refuses to lose you again.

—

Seeing Chisuke tastes like shit. Not that you would know or anything, but this is how you’d imagine shit would taste like.

Izuku was right, of course he was.

Chisuke was here for you.

You dodge the incoming blow swiftly, back to back of your senior. The rain pours, but it doesn’t stop the attack, because you’re a lighthouse in a storm.

“This lot is targeting you, Hero/n, what did you do?” Everblaze grits, flipping her smoke bomb of to buy time.

“Something stupid that involved crashing into a man at age 10.” You mutter, hands lighting up with your Quirk.

She curses, before reporting to comms. “Hero/n and Everblaze on the scene, requesting for backup now!”

“The guy with the knife, get him first.” You say, a strange calm settling under your skin as you navigate through this with professionalism and detachment. “He’s the most dangerous, in terms of long-term setbacks.”

You never know when he’s going to strike. A warped version of Toga, but at least Toga loved her victims. This person…he just liked stabbing people and getting revenge.

With the precision of a neurosurgeon, you toss the man sneaking up on you over your shoulder pinning him to the ground.

Cold blue eyes stare up at you, with a twisted smirk framing his face. He’s older than you last saw him, stubble growing fuzzy under his chin and hair shaggy in the rain.

“Starlight, I found you!” He breathes, cackling you when you twist his arm behind his back. The laughter will forever haunt your nightmares. “I finally found you…”

“Don’t call me that,” you hiss, digging your elbow into him even more. Everblaze’s voice is radio static in your ear.

“Deal with Knifey, I’ll manage the Whirlwind!”

“Copy,” You grit out, struggling to hold him down. “Backup ETA?”

“10 minutes, counting!”

A flash of silver flickers in your peripheral, and you lunge back the minute he takes a swing at you. Water makes you slip, and he contorts his body, pulling yours forward as he lifts up his knife and—

Your thoughts evaporate like steam over a hot pot. He wedges the dagger between your shoulder blade, and its acid corroding your bones. Grunting, you yank his knife out of your shoulder, tossing it to the side. 

You look back just in time to see him pocketing a vial of your blood.

“Two more to go!” He cackles over the thunder as he brandishes a shiny new knife.

Dread pulls in your gut as you clasp your shoulder. Water makes the blood runny, and if it weren’t for the adrenaline, the pain would have exploded like fireworks on the 4th of July.

“Backup 8 minutes!”

The rain drones on. Donning dirty clothes and an ugly smile, he looks feral, crazy, and the determination behind his voice rivals yours.

“Pay your price, Starlight!” He yells, eyes gleaming. “Give my brother back!”

What comes around goes around. The tables have turned, and the roles have swapped. The water blurs your blood into a murky red, and you grind out your response.

“No can do, Chisuke.”

You don’t have the heart of gold Izuku does. The heart to understand, to hear him out or try to empathise. Maybe for other villains, but this was too close to home.

You move expertly, but with his wild knife swings that looked random but were deadly accurate, you’re forced on defence and the back-burner. Kacchan would be so mad because you aren’t moving well. Your defenses are sloppy and the rain makes everything worse. You feel like you’re back in year 1 again, still a fragile bird learning how to fly.

Even still, you’re wearing him down because of the puffs of his breaths that are ragged and rushed. Good, you think, just as the knife lunges too close.

Oh, shit–

There’s another stabbing, and you kick him off just as he grazes you with his knife. Blood drips from your cheek, and you bite your lip when the pain flares.

“That’s two!” He beams, knife dripping red.

“Back up ETA 5 minutes!” screams the voice in your ear.

I don’t have five minutes, shit I don’t even know if I have one! You want to scream, but you know you have to pull this out. Quickly surveying the field for something useful, you hastily grab a discarded metal rod from a broken fence just as he’s about to plunge the dagger into you. It collides with a clang, and now that you see his face up close, you see the myriad of emotions flashing across his face like a light show. 

You squeeze your eyes shut, and refuse to feel a thing.

No feelings, no pain, no feelings, no pain—

“You should be grateful,” He whispers, eyes wide with light. He genuinely believes that he’s helping you. “I see it in your eyes, that agony and sorrow…you want it all gone, and I can help you with that.”

Panic shoots up your legs like it’s water from a fire hydrant, but you hold firm. It’s difficult to see in the pouring rain, but his expression is too hard to miss. “You don’t have to hurt anymore, isn’t that great?” He says, rain falling like confetti on someone’s birthday.

“You don’t have to love anymore.”

You hate how deep his words cut.

Don’t think, don’t think, don’t think—

Pain explodes in your abdomen as your eyes widen. Chisuke deflects your rod with ease.

It isn’t his knife in your chest.

“Three.” He whispers, smile widening further.

There’s a small body behind you, one lithe and quick. The face doesn’t even look at you. “Got her, boss, just as you said.”

It isn’t the Whirlwind guy.

There was a third? You think helplessly, staggering as the knife is drawn from your chest. Maybe if you’d had been more observe, better prepared, you would have caught it.

But you weren’t and now, you’re paying the price

Not vital, of course not, he doesn’t want me to die—

Your hands burn with blisters, and when you look down, they’re coated in red.

“No—” You lunge forward, but your legs buckle beneath you like your body is nothing but lead.

The ringing in your ears blooms, along with the pitter-patter of the rain. “What did I tell you, Starlight?” He coos, fingers locking around the final vial.

“I don’t miss twice.”

—

Izuku arrives on the scene and sees you drenched in blood.

“Sir, please, I need your ID—oh! Deku—” The police officer stumbles over his words in surprise, apologising profusely, but his eyes never leave your frame.

His heart rate racks up, and he’s staggering to your lifeless body with his world falling apart around him. No.

He starts to run, slipping on wet tiles as he stumbles to your side, your blood tainting his hands.

“Starlight,” He whispers, checking your pulse in a desperate attempt to convince himself you are alive. It’s weak, but it’s all he gets and isn’t a cause for celebration. 

You don’t look fine at all.

Red soaks your entire body, battered up and bruised as your shoulder twists at an awkward angle.

“No, no, no…” He yanks his jacket off and covers the nasty gash on your stomach. There’s water running down his face, but it isn’t rain.

“She’s still alive,” calls a voice. Izuku whips his head to the source, and finds himself staring at smug blue. “It wouldn’t be any fun if Starlight dies from this.”

The whole world is painted red.

Chisuke looks at him, pearly whites glistening as the rain dampens his ragged hoodie further.

“Do you like my birthday present, Izuku?”

He may be in Quirk cancellation cuffs, being sentenced to a hell worse than his brother but he looks so happy.

“Why would you do this?” He whispers, pulling you closer. His voice is wobbly, soaked to the bone in rain. The last time he felt this defeated was when he lost Kacchan to the League over two years ago.

Look at this, a voice in his head whispers.

You’ve lost Starlight too.

“If you wanna say anything to her, you should do it now!” He yells from the police car, getting shoved in. “I hope you like my gift.”

Izuku’s breathing is all that he hears, as he stares desperately down at you and your wounds, your face, everything, everything, everything—

This is all my fault.

“Zuku…?” You cough, eyes wandering and searching for his. His heart jumpstarts to life. “Hey, don’t say anything,” He shushes, trying to project a smile. It’s too shaky to pass off as one.

Your eyes find his, and a lazy smile spreads across your face. “Hey, it’s you,” You whisper, eyes so bright they could be stars in the sky. “You’re Zuku.”

Raindrops splatter around you, diluting your blood and hiding your body. Izuku almost breaks on the spot. 

“Yeah, it’s me.” He says, holding you tightly in his arms. “I’m back, Starlight.”

The smile on your face doesn’t widen, but the tears that fall are painfully washed away. You’ve done such a good job all these years, always his ray of sunshine. Now, he’s seeing all your feelings suppressed underneath. 

“Welcome back,” You wheeze, as if it’s difficult to speak. It probably is.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

This isn’t how it was supposed to end.

Your trade is sufficient.

In return, I’ll return everything that was once yours.

Izuku shakes his head, a sob bubbling against his throat.

“I never meant for this to happen.”

You force out a laugh, and then wince in pain. Izuku misses your laughs. “I’m the one that got stabbed, so stop crying, you crybaby.”

“But you were never supposed to go through this.” He whispers, cradling you gently, but hugging you tight. “I’m so sorry, Starlight. For not knowing, for not trying to know, just…oh God, when I think about it, I want to slap myself so hard, get Kacchan to Howitzer Impact me a couple of times too when we get back. I didn’t know, and I hurt you so, so badly.” He inhales, looking around, eyes surveying his surroundings. Frustration builds, and his desperation grows. “Goddammit, where’s the ambulance? Why aren’t they here yet?”

Hurry up, save my Starlight.

“Zuku, it isn’t your fault,” You rasp. His first love is someone strong enough to move hearts on the daily, and has patience that spans as wide as the Pacific Ocean. His first love is someone extraordinary, even though no one will acknowledge it as deeply as Izuku will.

“Starlight—” Izuku chokes, watching your eyes go glassy. “I love you.”

I love you so much, please, please, please, please—

There, where the wind blows strong, and Izuku’s eyes spill tears, you reply with a breathtaking smile.

“I love you too.”

His lip trembles, and he does his best to shield you from the rain.

“Zuku?” You whisper, voice cracking like spoilt leather.

“I’m tired.”

The life is slipping from your eyes, and Izuku shuts his eyes and tries to find the right words to say. “I know, Starlight, just hang on a little longer. You can do it.”

Your voice is thick with a sob. “I don’t wanna stop loving you.”

There’s a fire that lights in Izuku, as he clenches your body tighter.

“Then don’t go,” He says, voice a whisper. “Stay with me.”

The tables have turned, and now it’s his turn to say those words. Please don’t go. Stay.

Your eyes shift upwards to the sky. Even through the rain, stars peek out from behind the clouds, mapping out a land unknown.

“The stars,” You rasp. “They’re so beautiful tonight.”

Izuku’s laugh is endearing, clogged up with snot. “They are. You’re prettier, though.”

You look at him, eyes pearling with tears. “I’m sorry you had to see me like this,” You heave, eyes ever-gentle and love everlasting. “But it’s so nice to see you again.” You murmur, breath shaky.

“ ‘m love you, Zuku,” you whispers, breath floating out from your lips like an angle from above. Your eyes shut, and you don’t reopen them to meet his gaze.

The sobs that are jamming in his throat bubble over, and he weeps, and cries and screams because you were never meant to be coated in red like this.

Your trade is sufficient.

In return, I’ll return everything that was once yours.

“Why?” he wails miserably.

Why did I have to lose you to find me?

—

Your heart beats steadily, as someone screams in the background.

And then all of a sudden, a rope snaps.

A torch snuffs out, and plunges the world into darkness.

—

The trip back to U.A is a beaten path. It’s 2 buses from the Central Hospital and a hundred metres from the school entrance. You open the double doors to dorms, only to be bombarded by your classmates whispering sentiments of worry and concern.

“Oh, Y/n, thank God you’re okay!” Ochaco fusses over you like a second mom, and the others all give you relieved smiles and offers to help you catch up with homework.

There’s a boy edging the group, barely inside your peripheral. He’s a boy with green eyes and a heart made of gold, someone you’re supposed to care for very, very deeply. Your mouth opens as you lock eyes with him, drawing up feelings that you knew were once your entire world.

You draw a blank, and grasp at nothing.

“Welcome back,” Izuku says quietly. You look…better, albeit after being brutally stabbed. Your eye bags are slowly disappearing, and you look lighter than you had ever been before.

Your mouth shifts upwards to a smile, and it feels genuine for the first time in a long time.

“Yeah,” You say, giving him a half smile.

Ochaco drags you over to the couch and distracts you with food. You hold his eye contact for a moment, before breaking it in favour of food.

Huh, you wonder, the weight of love dispersing into the soil down, down below.

What a strange, foolish person I was, falling in love with him.

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

Spending Halloween with Chad Corey Dylan would include~

(My gif)(Requested by anonymous)

- Halloween? Halloween! He’s never celebrated Halloween before! This is like totally awesome! He’s so excited that you invited him to hang out! You have such great ideas! This is gonna be so much fun!

- Chad was literally born yesterday; or maybe just this year, so he’s obviously never had the chance to do any of the stereotypical Halloween/October related festivities that almost everyone else has done at least once. Because of this, everything that you can think to do during your time together is the best idea that he’s ever heard. He was made with as many good qualities that Zelda and Hilda could think of, but his most obvious quality is his enthusiasm. So get ready for him to get really excited about anything and everything.

- Literally anything you want to do is fine by him. He’s never done any of it so just say the words and he’ll agree.

- Baking or cooking things? That’s fun! Kind of ironic to do with him; for obvious reasons, but he’s definitely down for it anyway. Remind him not to eat raw flour and keep him away from the oven and you’ll be fine. You can expect his cookies to either be absolutely perfect or adorably messy; depending on what qualities you put into his man-dough.

- Rest assured that he’s very happy and helpful when putting up different decorations; though there might not be much left for him to do since there’s only so long that you can keep him fresh out of the oven (And one can assume that you started getting your house ready for the holiday in the beginning of October like a normal person).

- I love this song! Regardless of what the two of you are doing, he can’t help but bop along to the seasonal sounds and spooky music that you’re playing in the background. You’ll constantly catch him shimmying absentmindedly while you’re going about your different activities.

- He watches horror movies really intently so just know that he’ll be really distracted by them if you put them on. I’m talking wide-eyed staring and almost falling out of his seat because of how far he’s leaning forward. Did you see that! Wow! Don’t worry though, he forgets about what you were watching the minute you lock eyes with him and ask him to do something else.

- He’s a daredevil so he’d love to go to all of the thrill seeking establishments that pop up during the holiday season. Haunted houses, horror themed amusement parks, creepy carnivals, scary rollercoasters: he does them all with a smile on his face; or with reactions that mirror your own.

- Chad’s adorably attentive: he’d immediately notice if you were scared and he’d do his best to reassure you however he could. It’s his job to be a good date and he takes it pretty seriously. He’d offer you his hand or his arm to hold, remind you that “nothing is real” and that “nothing bad is gonna happen”, offer to leave or do something else, etc. Being a daredevil, athlete, rocker ensures that he isn’t scared of much; it also means that he finds your reactions kind of cute.

- Why don’t we do that thing you were talking about? What’s it called? Oh right, I’ll have to remember that! Like I said before: he was literally born yesterday. You’ll have to be patient with and help him out. He’d love hearing you explain things, smiling at you dreamily and intently while you talk about and show things off.

- Carving Jack-o-lanterns are fun and all, and he was baked with all of the qualities that make him into a dream date, but like …does that include handling a knife?? He’ll be like “yeah sure, I know how” and then he’ll start using the wrong end of it before you can even stop him. When you quickly fix the weapon in his grasp, he’ll just giggle and go “Ohhh. Haha, you’re so smart!” before continuing on like normal, not noticing you breathe a sigh of relief and will your heart rate to go down.

- Riding with him on his motorcycle in the crisp Autumn air.

- He’s a sweetheart, but the concept of pranking people does appeal to him: so long as they’re harmless pranks. He’ll be a little timid at first but you can definitely convince him that it’s fine and spend the rest of the night causing some mischief.

- Doesn’t know that there’s supposed to be an age limit to trick or treating so he’d definitely go with you.

- Matching outfits? Wow, the two of you look great together! Wanna put makeup on him? Go for it! Have a mask for him to wear? Yippee, how festive! Cheap party city costume? He’s as happy as a clam. He’s honestly just excited about the opportunity to dress up so try not to overthink things.

- He’ll sometimes stop and stare at falling leaves or the neighborhood decorations: watching them in silent wonder or gushing to you over how cool they are. You have to keep an eye on him and make sure that he’s still following you because he’ll occasionally get distracted and you’ll end up halfway down the block before you realize he’s stopped in his tracks to observe something.

- Not that you leave his side very often, but whenever you do, you can’t help but find the way that he patiently waits for you kind of cute. He looks like a golden retriever. You feel like if you focus in on him enough, you’ll start to see a wagging tail.

- Make sure that he doesn’t eat too much candy. He’s kind of like a kid in the sense that he doesn’t know that too many sweets or too much food can actually make you sick. One minute he’ll be scarfing down as much sugar as he can get his hands on, and the next you’ll be making him tea to soothe his stomach because he's sporting a terrible tummy ache.

- Would give you piggyback rides if your feet started hurting or if you were tired of walking.

- He’s very respectful and has very good manners. He’ll give you his jacket when you’re cold, get drinks for you when you’re thirsty, open doors for you, etc. He also makes you feel liked and pretty without demeaning you, or having expectations for how your night together should end.

- Overall, he’s a dream date. Did you expect anything else?

[one-idea]

HIII, how are u doing?? hope everything's fine! I've just read the reverse strawhats au and I LOVE IT SO MUCH OMG YOUR BRAAAAAIIIN

if you'd like to share it, do you have plans about sabo and deuce's role in the au? I'm. totally normal and not insane at all about sabo haha (lies) so I'm very curious about what would have changed about his backstory (if anything) and how he would react to luffy's death and seeing ace again (which is gonna leave me an emocional wreck because omg their little brother DIED- that was their baby brother that they swore they'd protect and now he's dead and won't be able to realize his dream and sabo wasn't even there and ace had to see his baby brother die in his arms and was all alone and the GUILT that'd be eating sabo up would be just... GOD... and ace wondering why sabo left and didn't contact him at all during all these years... if that's even his brother at all or someone pretending to be him and ace would be livid!!)

as you can see I'm perfectly sane about the asl brothers. anyways! I'm also curious about what would have become of deuce if he didn't meet ace, would he even be a pirate at all? do they have any conection?

I loooveee your ideas for this au, thank you so much for sharing it with the world, we all appreciate it !!

🐝

Hello my friend, I’m doing well.

Ohhhh thank you so much!!!!

Oh Sabo and deuce my beloveds.

I have to be honest with you. I haven’t got to Sabo yet. I know his story beats but I’m just not there yet. So everything I say is still very fluid as it might change once I met him and get a firmer grasp on his character.

That being said I love everything you have here!!!

Right now I have Sabo mostly the same. He still grows up with Ace and Luffy. Still gets blown up by the celestial dragons. And still ends up with the revolutionary army.

Things will change a little. Luffy is executed for being Dragon’s son (and for a familiar straw hat on his head) I need to get through Marineford before I can speak on this to much. I don’t know if I want the revolutionary army showing up to Marineford.

Because it plays out two ways right now.

One Shanks comes to save Luffy, with support from Whitebeard

Shanks still has his connection to Luffy. He loves this kid. And the Marines are trying to kill Luffy before he even gets started. Not happening.

Whitebeard joins in because Ace is his boy. Ace might bot be part of the crew but for two-three years Ace’s crew has been hanging around the Whitebeards. They have an alliance. Whitebeard knows of Luffy. Knows that’s Ace’s baby brother. And he was captured by Blackbeard. Blackbeard is a Whitebeard problem. He wants to handle it ‘in house’

So those two show up. Shanks to save Luffy and Whitebeard to protect Ace’s baby brother while also ‘fixing’ what Blackbeard did. (Luffy shouldn’t die because Whitebeard trusted the wrong people)

Obviously Ace shows but the rest of the crew is separated.

What else happens is up in the air at this moment.

The second option is that the revolutionary army shows ups as well

Shanks and Whitebeard still roll in for the reasons stated above

But Dragon doesn’t want his son to die. (He loves his son. He just can’t be with him) so he sends some of his men.

Originally they were going to break Luffy out of Impel Down but Ace messed up their plans.

A small branch of the Revolutionary army fights at Marineford. They can’t come at full force. Dragon can’t sacrifice that much for ‘selfish’ reason. But he would put someone he trust in charge of it. Sabo

I can see him going with a mask on so no one knows his face. After all he still wants to keep his identity a secret for now.

Maybe he runs into Ace in Impel Down. And it’s horrible déjà vu. He’s been having an awful headache since he first saw Luffy’s picture and being around Ace makes it so much worse.

He doesn’t get his memory back until he’s at Marineford and hears Luffy and Ace calling for each other. Sees them fighting Side by side. And his brain kicks back in. And it’s to much. His visions going out but he can’t stop. These people are important to him. He doesn’t fully grasp why but he has to save them.

Just in time for 🍩 to happen.

He passes out and has to be saved by Koala (probably still making decisions)

When he comes to he finally has all of his memories. And Ace and Luffy were right there when he passed out. He needs to find them!

Only for him to be handed a news paper with THAT picture in it.

And he knows he’s failed. And he thinks both of his brothers are dead.

How could he fail? He had been with Ace. They were going to save Luffy. How could he fail? How could he not remember them earlier? If he had would he have succeeded? Taken risks where he didn’t? Fought harder? He and Ace would have coordinated better that’s for sure.

But none of that matters because his brothers are dead.

Or so he thinks until he a few days later when the news shows Ace’s return to Marineford.

Ace is alive! But where is he? And how can Sabo ever face him again? He can’t even say he wasn’t there, he was and he failed both of them.

Again this is a loose idea. I still need to get through this part of the show. Ace and Sabo won’t officially meet till dressarosa where they have a LOT to work through either way.

(As you can tell I’m very normal about the ASL brothers as well)

As for Masked Deuce!!!!

I have a few ideas I’m chewing on for him. But my current favorite is to Kobyfy him.

Ace still meets Deuce on Sixis and they get off the island together. And make their way to Shell town. On the way there they have a bunch of conversations about their family’s and their dreams. Deuce wants to be a writer.

When they get to Shell town and meet Kuina, Deuce knows that Kuina is Ace’s first mate. An emperor of the sea should have the world’s greatest swordswoman at his side.

Deuce decides to go his own way. But he keeps up with the story of the reverse Strawhats (who I really need to give a name to) writing their adventures. He pops up in different places interviewing the people who witnessed Ace and the crews escapades and writes them down and publishes them. It’s running like an anti newspaper. Something the marines can’t control or twist.

He bumps into the crew every now and then (he and Ace have the biggest crushes on each other, Ace’s crew teases him relentlessly over it)

I think he’d get so good at gathering information, or so popular that the revolutionary army picks him up at some point. Using his paper as an information gathering tool and a way to spread revolution.

But this is just an idea. I think it’s really fun with him ending up with Sabo at some point. He talks about Ace and the crew constantly (way to instagram stalk your crush Deuce) and Sabo hears about Ace for years before he sees his picture/face and realizes that his friend/co-worker has been openly pinning to him about his big brother.

It’s embarsing for both of them when Sabo reveals that Ace is his brother. Deuce wants to die. Has openly waxed poetics about Ace to Sabo for at least two years. Sabo and Koala already teased Deuce before. Now he’s stuck with

Sabo who as his friend finds it hilarious but as a little brother doesn’t know how to feel.

Koala who is bringing up his crush as often as possible because it makes Deuce blush and now has the added benefit of making Sabo SWIRM

And worst of all Nico Olivia who is basically Ace’s new mom and is talking about wedding details and her FUTURE son-in-law. Deuce craves death.

This is one idea but again it’s all fluid right now.

Koby’s roll will be played by both Deuce (was saved by Ace and is now a fan/admire) and Isuka (the marine who chases after Ace, I’m going to put her on Garp’s crew of the fun of it.)

It can’t be Koby in the beginning because he would be a literal baby going into the marines and no one deserves that.

But this is where we stand so far. Like I said all ideas here are fluid.

I’m so glad you like my AU I’m hoping to start officially writing it this spring. But feel free to keep asking questions!!!

[lunadreamscaper]

VT/P.I.E. Headcanon list!!

This is all my personal takes and opinions, I guess also are canon in my “au”/spin off.

If there’s any you like from this you can take inspiration or adopt any of these if you like them I will not mind <3

But if you don’t like some of these (which is fine bc you don’t have to), please be kind, especially since some of these are based off/inspired by personal experiences as well as some of my Headmates experiences (that I got permission to use as headcanons 🙏🏻) I just hope people won’t find some of these upsetting? I don’t think they are upsetting but sometimes difference of opinions can be distressing so I understand 🫂

Anyways here goes:

Toast and Ghost have a queer platonic relationship (this one might be a hot take but also we need more rep like this Imo 🙏🏻)

The Level 25 demon from Spooker’s debut video is the one that turned Ghost into the Puppet. (And was probably the one who put those FNAF ghosts in Swift Taylor’s house lol)

Another lvl 25 demon one: I like to think it pulled “a Bipper” (Gravity Falls reference yes) and used Spooker’s body, that’s why you see Spooker as a “ghost” but then later on was normal/living again. Also why we see Spooker in the dimension where Housekeeper is trapped and later towards the end of the Puppet arc in the crypt where Ghost sees him. (Also watch the Haunted by Pennywise video 😭) I don’t think the demon lives in Spooker’s body like how people think demon!Jimmy does though.

Speaking of Jimmy, he’s a very traumatized alter (I’m a system in case anyone is concerned by that 😭🙏🏻 )

Ghost has some supernatural abilities? And is sensitive to dimensional shifts that happen (which happens a lot considering how unstable their world is) as well as understanding lower level paranormal entities, and sometimes visions of specific events (reference to Spooker’s debut video and “Johnny Ghost meets Freddy the dinosaur” video) and a few others that Jimmy also takes advantage of. Also dreams. He gets weird dreams sometimes.

Gavin Toast speaks in an American Accent sometimes, originally to separate himself from his twin.

I’ve already mentioned Ghost being intersex and demisexual I think but still adding it.

Dark Pit’s disappearance after joining P.I.E. In its early days has something to with Darth Calculus…

Ghost had a fear of umbrellas as a kid.

The Lvl 25 Demon and Stardust Sprinkleshine are a divorced couple/hsrs

Toast paid Josh to keep an eye on Ghost during his retirement arc (reference to my comic Heart Attack xD)

Timothy Casket and Chakalata Soup may have been business partners… before ending in disagreement.

Gavin maybe an Acalacam experiment that was only found out later by Darth Calculus (Gavin and Johnny T.’s father never learning that it actually sort of worked.)

Toast’s mother hates Ghost, except nowadays tries to hire people to kill him so he stops spending time with her son but ofc he keeps coming back like a damn revenant lmao

Spooker and Colon are boyfriends (sorry this is a ship but like they literally kissed in the 5 yr anniversary stream and I dreamt about it so I have to acknowledge it)

Spooker did used to have a crush on boyfailure Johnny Ghost though

The reason the VT world is so scuffed and has so many dimensions is bc they all live in the shattered remnants of a broken world.

My fan comic Supernatural Crossover, and Sherlock crossover on wattpad are technically canon to my spin off (except for the Gravity Falls one that one is retconned but fun fact Timothy Casket is in that one and I’m reusing the ideas from it for other things)

Timothy Casket totally wasn’t a serial killer and also totally didn’t get his kid(s) involved traumatizing them and changing the course of their lives forever.

Ghost has a twin brother but that’s mostly for Strive SMP shenanigans

Cardboard Friend is made up of many souls of children that possessed a cardboard toy creation made by Gregory…

There’s a cult out there somewhere with significant importance.

Johnny Ghost also has lead poisoning and some other issues bc of the old mansion’s condition (the one from the first Cardboard Friend video)

Johnny Ghost is also really pale because Cardboard Friend ate off his life force and sanity but got away probably in the Nick of time probably bc of some permanent effects?? (probably why that video made no fucking sense bc it was from Ghost/Gregory’s perspective)

It’s actually really traumatizing to separate twins from each other while they’re young. So if you take into consideration that Johnny Toast and Gavin were probably not allowed to interact and Ghost being separated from his twin too, that makes Ghost and Toast two twinless twins that trauma bonded to each other which is probably why they have a lot of separation issues.

Colon is a witchcraft practitioner (reference to “Moving didn’t go as Johnny planned” video)

I also used to believe Colon is a retired undercover cop or detective but also like ACAB and I barely remember why I came up with that so idk if I’ll keep it but I definitely need more Colon headcanons

Josh is also hired to babysit Woah for Spooker and Colon from time to time :3

Josh also makes really good pumpkin pie (since she was a pumpkin farmer) Ghost also really likes this pie.

Also Spooker is trans and pan while Colon is gay (these ones are special bc it was from a dream)

I’ll also add the universally accepted hc that Toast is bisexual (and demiromantic??)

Josh is also bi and polyamorous (maybe a demi girl but not sure yet)

Ghost is on the Spectrum, (most of pie probably is but the one I’m confident on is Ghost at least)

Sometimes paranormal entities can sort of fuse and/or mesh together to sometimes become stronger (but can separate… sometimes) *cough cough the paranormal tornado cough cough and CBF cough cough*

And lastly Ghost is 5’4, Toast is 6’6, Spooker is 5’7, and Colon is 6’1 (Gavin is the same height as J. Toast and Josh is either 5’3 or 5’5 I haven’t decided yet 😭)

Okay I’m gonna stop there for now but if I remember anything that’s important to me I’ll add them in like a reblog to this post.

Sorry it’s so long! Also had to keep some of these vague to avoid… spoilers ig?

If you’re curious about any of these tho feel free to ask and I can talk more about ‘em!! :3 <3

Maybe I’ll share some more Acachalla related headcanons but not today

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

random ted and rebecca thoughts, just having rewatched 1.04 and 2.04 like a cool kid:

i really like how the benefit in 1.04 is “~for the children~” but really ~*~*~for rupert to look good in front of a bunch of people~*~*~*, and then in 2.04 rebecca and ted are actually out delivering presents and doing something good for the children directly!, something rupert had stopped rebecca from doing during their marriage. which in turn implicitly frames ted as a more fitting our-values-are-aligned sort of partner for her.

the vaguely magical guardian angel energy in both eps, with the rickshaw guy in 1.04 while ted and rebecca are having their moment and rebecca showing up as ted’s guardian angel at the exact right scene of it’s a wonderful life in 2.04

also, just -- “i’m alone, ted” + ted immediately hugging her, and ted looking so crushed and alone in his flat and then rebecca standing there with her “hi ted” garlands, such a silly and time-consuming gesture of fondness, aaaaaah! (also, i love that rebecca has canonically thrown pebbles at his window to get his attention. that’s romance, baby!)

“ted lasso! my god!” “right back atcha, boss” + rebecca telling ted he looks perfect! :’)

buskers in both!!!!! ted and rebecca happily listening to the music together!!!

the contrast between ted asking rebecca if she wants to run away together on the rickshaw and rebecca not being able to take him up on it vs. rebecca whisking ted away for more adventures instead of him going back home/her going to elton john’s party! like, that moment in both where it’s like “we COULD spend more time together, or ...”

also i just really love them singing together all goofy!!!!!! what a dream come true!

why do these two episodes fit together so well in the tedbecca department. WHY!

i will be totally chill and normal about it if they don’t hang out in 3.04 and therefore this sacred pattern is broken. i’m fine. i’m FINE.

(that’s a lie. but i’ll try to conduct myself with dignity.)

[pro-logue-epi-logue]

I hate Alex palmer sm lol she was fr playing the long game . At first Will was only using her for sex but then she “became “ friends with Rika and she played her well let’s be honest rika didn’t really have friends and she was very vulnerable at the time and she knew that being friends with rika will get her an in to be in their silly group and closer to will . If she didn’t become close to rika she wouldn’t even be as involved in the books she’d just be wills “ friend “ . And honestly will saying that she did everything Emory didn’t LIKE yea it was kinda her jobs lol u we’re kinda paying her to be there with you most of the time . And the way Alex always introduces herself as “I’m Alex Wills friend “ like yeah we get it bitch . And honestly why did she act all sorry for herself when she told rika how she became a sex worker . Like girl you did not have to do that . Emory was poor too and she probably worked a normal job to afford everything. But Alex wanted the rich lifestyle no? Nothing wrong with that but hey why act all sorry about yr job lol and playing the victim . And then after becoming friends with rika she moved on banks.

I hate Alex palmer sm

Same Anon Same, whenever I see her name in any discussion I just want to throw my phone away.

lol she was fr playing the long game.

I knew I was not the only one who thought that. I KNEW IT! Her being friends with the group was totally fine but her being territorial towards Will was weird, her being mean to Emory since the beginning gave it away, and I knew she wanted to marry Will the moment she said "I want Will to put that family necklace on me", mind you they are not dating, he never even said he loves her.

I mean she was not an evil mastermind but yeah she had motives okay.

She was playing the game with Will, how? Let's see-

Aydin was not talking to her, ignoring her entire existence but he was rich and had connections,

But then comes a guy, WILL GRAYSON he was good looking, rich then Aydin, popular, hot, good network, powerful , grandson of a senator, he was her literal dream, so if Alex end up with him then Aydin will be mad. So that way AYDIN WILL NOT WIN.

And she can easily afford her expensive lifestyle, win win for her from all sides.

But it all came to nothing when she saw Emory again in blackchurch, no 1 is paying Alex any attention now be it Aydin Or Will not even Micah and Rory they are all most focused on Emory. So now she neither have Aydin nor Will. And that was not part of the plan.

There is a line Emory says for Alex when they are all dress shopping that- "Alex looked like she thought she didn't belong with us anymore" And that was true, now Will whom Alex thought Will marry her was engaged to Emory, now on whom will she depend? Who will she use to look down on Aydin and make him loose and feel jealous? That's why she looked that she no longer belongs.

At first Will was only using her for sex but then she “became “ friends with Rika and she played her well

Hm, sorry Anon but I think she actually meant the friendship with Rika and during the time of corrupt she treated Will as her customer too.

It was around Hideaway when they become friends, according to her not for Will because in hideaway in last or second last chapter when the guys wanted to safeguard the girls Rika, Banks from Damon no one says Alex's name not a single guy, not even Will so if in the moment of danger if he couldn't even remember her then it clearly means she isn't that valuable to him even as a friend, It was Rika who asks Alex to come to Kai's house not Will.

But in Killswitch Will says that they have all the guys and girls even Alex, but Damon has no one, so I think it was during Killswitch he started seeing her as a part of the group, a worthy friend.

But for Alex, I believe she thought that Will ka just a customer in corrupt, a friend in hideaway, a best friend who likes her in Killswitch and after Killswitch she started thinking that Will and her Will get married and be an unbreakable part of the family. That her place is always besides Will.

let’s be honest rika didn’t really have friends

That's true, that's so true, Rika didn't actually had anyone at that time not even friends, well as someone who read all the books and it's very familiar with Rika's desire to butt in every conversation, it comes as no surprise to me. Like she never let anyone talk. And her having no one is the exact time choosen by the horsemen to strike and go for their plan. Nice.

and she was very vulnerable at the time and she knew that being friends with rika will get her an in to be in their silly group and closer to will.

I believe that Alex's friendship towards Rika was genuine. Not any of her other "friendships" Be it with banks or winter. And she had no friendship with Emory she was so so horrible to her. She her being friends with rika I don't think was a way to get close to will. To remain a part of the group sure, but not close to will.

If she didn’t become close to rika she wouldn’t even be as involved in the books she’d just be wills “ friend “.

If she hasn't gotten close to Rika then why would she be mentioned at all? In corrupt rika would have mentioned her as "some girl", she would have no role in hideaway or Killswitch because she was not the guys friend she was only there because Rika invited her to all of these places, be it Sensou Or the parties. She won't even be mentioned as Will's friend. She would have been a nobody. (The way I like it)

And honestly will saying that she did everything Emory didn’t LIKE yea it was kinda her jobs lol u we’re kinda paying her to be there with you most of the time .

EXACTLY! that was her job, you pay her to be considerate.

I have noticed, if a character has no money the Alex is not nice to them.

Rika, Michael, Kai, Will, Damon all had money and Alex was always around them, surrounding them, being nice to them

BUT BUT not banks she didn't have money and Alex was judgey towards her. In that shopping scene her undertone was so rude and she was only there because KAI PAID HER! not from the goodness of her heart, same with winter she only helped because either Will or Damon asked, and how can she say no to them.

But with Emory, she didn't have any of these leverage so she was rude, judgey and a shit person honestly. She was rude to emmy in cove scene and looked down at her when they first met, gaslited her in blackchurch, and had a " No no I will do everything, you are dumb don't question me" Attitude. Like WTF.

And the way Alex always introduces herself as “I’m Alex Wills friend “ like yeah we get it bitch.

I never picked it up, anon you might be onto something.

Alex introduced herself to Rika as "you saw me with Michael", but with Banks, winter and Emory as " Will's friend" It's weird, she never said Rika's friend, why? But rika was her best friend no? Maybe Alex was testing the water where other girls stand with Will, so thats why she was always like "hey, I am Will's friend" And it really proves that she wanted to end up with will because she introduced herself to Emory as Will's friend too knowing their history, she could have said, I am rika's, Michael's or Damon's friend But noooo she went I am Will's friend and then continued to look down on Emory, Okay so it's clear now that Alex always saw Emory as her competition and not a friend. Can I hate her anymore than I already do?

And honestly why did she act all sorry for herself when she told rika how she became a sex worker . Like girl you did not have to do that . Emory was poor too and she probably worked a normal job to afford everything. But Alex wanted the rich lifestyle no? Nothing wrong with that but hey why act all sorry about yr job lol and playing the victim .

This irked me too and irkes me so much, I mean nothing against what she does but thats the thing no one forced her to she could have gotten herself any job, a waiter, bartender anything but she choose to be an escort to support her luxurious lifestyle, it wasn't anyone else's fault but her own. You can do something for yourself then blame everyone around you that they made you do this. She was no way an icon like how everyone says she is. Emory definitely had to take other jobs too, she was interning, talking care of her grandma and also studying full time. Whatever Alex faced was her own fault.

ALEX WAS ALWAYS THE VICTIM! ALWAYS!

Her roommates engagement was broken because of her and aydin but ni Alex was the victim, Emory was kidnapped and played mind games with but no Alex was the victim, Emory had a horrible life since she was 11 but hey Alex suffered more so only she is a victim.

And then after becoming friends with rika she moved on banks.

I noticed this too 🤭 like girl first rika, then Banks and all the guys, she was trying to make her place permanent in their little group.

Thank for the ask,

Hope I didn't miss anything

Bye

I so want to use the Alex palmer tag but I will not.

[writeforfandoms]

Ommmmg I didn’t just disappear after leaving like two asks cause of school…..totally didn’t do that…..

Anyways I’m my maladaptive dreaming during class I was thinking about a snow leopard shifter….and then them being a forced shifter cause duh.

Another ramble instead of getting my thought straight first

Like snow leopards are cute and shit and so billionaire probably turned some poor kid into one to keep as a pet. Like a kid being taken away from its life in a being forced with multiple operations to be turned into the animal to be kept as pet.

And just to add salt to the wound they’re treated terrible. Like locked in the cage and only coming out forced to preform dangerous mountain climbing tricks, which would be fine for a normal snow leopard or even a shifter. But the little thing cant seem to get it right, and back to the private hospital it goes after falling down cliffs.

This has been going on for a few years now, until suddenly they rescued! (Cause I want them to have a happy ending cause snow leopards are amazing and adorable)

And my daddy/mommy issues are telling me that it’s the 141 and now it’s fun loving platonic family feud shit cause babyforcedsnowlepord (that a mouth full) deserves the world

-♥️

Oooooh now that is an interesting angle! I mean I imagine the owner would want to keep the pet in decent condition, but still. Absolutely dehumanizing conditions. Expectations impossibly high. Literally a no win scenario for any forced shifter, and this poor snow leopard just. Hates everything.

But then! Rescue! It seems too good to be true! Especially with the 141, because you know they'd become so protective of this forced snow leopard. They'd be sure to teach the forced shifter about etiquette and how to work with your instincts and all kinds of things. Ghost would teach them how to hunt like a cat, Gaz and Soap would teach them about pack bonding and grooming time and pack cuddles, and Price would teach them control. Or at least how to channel that rage into something productive. They definitely get a happy ending because I am a sucker for a happy ending!

[juniperss]

“Days Between”

Jinny {OC} x Eugene Sledge

Author’s note: uh yeah this wasn’t supposed to turn into a story but here we are…..I’m so normal about the childhood best friends to lovers trope with Eugene. I had this song on repeat the entire time I was writing

Tagging: @rosies-riveters (pls lemme know if you don’t wanna be tagged that’s totally fine LOL)

Content warnings: none

Word count: 1,580

“You’ll write when you have the time?” Jinny asked, turning her head to the side to peer at Eugene. He was propped up on his elbows and twirling a strand of golden grass between his fingers, the sunlight shining against his face giving him an almost ethereal quality. 

Feeling her eyes on him, Eugene met her gaze and offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “ ‘Course I will. It’ll be like I never left.”

But of course that wasn’t true and they both knew it. Besides Sid Philips, Jinny was Eugene Sledge’s closest friend and he was her’s. The absence would be felt strongly and bitterly. It was bad enough that Sidney had already gone and the trio had been cut down to two, but now Eugene was going to leave too and Jinny wasn’t sure what her life looked like without him.  

The grass around them gave them the illusion of shelter from the reality that in just a few days he would be gone for bootcamp and then to war. The fields and woods were their safe place; their childhood playground and teenage hideaways when the responsibilities of everyday life got to be too much. If one of them wasn’t at home it was likely that they could be found here. 

“I’ll miss you.” Eugene spoke to the sky, but the words were meant for her. 

Jinny looked up too, catching sight of a flock of birds taking off. There was so much she wanted to say to him: that she didn’t want him to leave, that she loved him more than a friend should love another and that she had for so long but the words were stuck in her throat and sat there choking her. It would be selfish for her to tell him those things, she chided herself. Telling him not to go when she knew how long he had dreamed of fighting was selfish. And telling him she loved him and risking ruining a friendship before he went to war? So instead she put all of the meaning and desires that made them up and put them into another phrase: 

“I’ll miss you too.”

—

He was a liar. 

Jinny knew the thought were harsh, unfair, and frankly untrue as soon as they flashed in her mind. She quickly banished it, sending up a “I’m sorry” to the heavens, and retrieved the box of bandages from the top shelf of the supply closet she was currently standing in. 

 Eugene had written, just like he said he would and as often as he could, and with each letter was the confirmation that he was alive. A sweet balm of relief however temporary. The real reason for the stinging pain in her chest was that no amount of letters would truly make up for him not being home. Because she did miss him and she felt it so acutely every moment. She had carefully folded each letter and tucked them into her nightstand to read again and again when her mind refused to stop worrying. And after she had read and reread them, she penned her own letters to him. 

Recounting the mundane aspects of her life had seemed pointless and almost ridiculous when s he first put pen to paper. But the more she wrote and as her life shifted with her job at the hospital and rehabilitation center, the easier it came in sharing everything with Eugene. She hoped the stories about her visits to his parent’s home for dinner, her talks with soldiers during rounds, her ramblings about Sidney’s latest schemes now that he was home, her thoughts about everything and anything might lend the same sense of comfort his letters brought to her. 

Even now as she set to work organizing the boxes meant to be shipped overseas she began drafting a letter to him, one that she knew she would never send. 

“Dear Eugene,  I love you. I can’t wait to take our walks together again and talk. I don’t even care about what we say. I just miss hearing your voice. When you’re home, I’ll tell you that in person, as much as you can bear to hear me say it. Just come home safe, that’s all I want more than anything now or ever. Yours always, Jinny.”

—

The grass tickled her calves as it moved in the breeze that was sending the trees into a frenzy. It wasn’t as warm as it had been earlier in the day and Jinny was thankful for the reprieve from the constant sweating under its rays. Her eyes closed and arms crossed against her chest she let her mind drift away from the day just like she had when she was younger. Even though Sidney’s return wasn’t enough to erase the ever present stain of Eugene’s absence, having him home was a blessing and made walking their childhood route less bitter. Jinny had missed his constant talking and easy to come by smiles and she found some solace in busying herself with asking details about his upcoming wedding. 

But today she was making the walk by herself since Sidney was busy and just for a few moments with her eyes closed she could almost feel the peace that had been gone since the war began. How much she had changed shocked her when she truly sat down to think about it. She had been so concerned about others and focused on their wellbeing that her own growth and maturity had come as a surprise. She was tougher now in so many ways but a heaviness came with it and sat on her shoulders even as she left work behind for the day. There was still much of herself that she was figuring out. Yet in moments like this, in the silence and the familiarity and in the missing of her friend, she knew that there were still pieces of her old self there that hadn’t changed. 

“Hey, Jinny.”

The air left her lungs like she'd suffered a kick to the chest, mind not quite comprehending who that voice belonged to and how he was there and how it had most definitely come from behind her. She turned slowly as if he was Eurydice and she was Orpheus and looking back would send Eugene’s soul back to  the underworld. 

Because it was Eugene and he was standing right there with his arms at his sides looking so smart in his uniform. She stared, soaking in all of him, searching for signs of how much he changed in the time he had been away. He was skinnier and he looked tired, and there was that bone deep exhaustion that she saw in the face of every soldier she met at the hospital. But she could still see the laugh lines around his eyes and the sun touching his ginger hair making it glow, and she knew that this was her friend even with all that he brought back with him. 

And then she was moving and throwing her arms around him and pulling him into her body. There was the possibility that she was hugging him too tightly but she couldn’t quite bring herself to care as all the fears dissipated with him against her. He was solid and warm and his arms were around her waist now holding just as tightly as she was to him. She could feel cheek against her head and his breathing on her ear, and she wondered if he could feel her tears falling on him. 

“Sorry I didn’t write the last few weeks. I was going to write you one last letter, but I figured I could say it all to you once we were face to face.”

Eugene’s voice was muffled but she could still hear him. There was a half hearted laugh against his shoulder and finally, after another few moments of holding onto each other, Jinny allowed herself to step back. Her hands were still clasping his arms as if he would vanish without her there to anchor. He was smiling now and so was she, reaching up to touch his cheek. “I guess I can let it slide this time.”

His hand covered hers to hold it there. It was calloused and strong, so different from the hands she remembered before. She was surprised to see him looking at her with the same curiosity and searching that mirrored her own. He was trying to see the parts of her that had changed and fill in all the pieces of what her letters did not tell him about what he had missed of her life. Eugene swallowed hard and shook his head, still smiling. 

“I love you Jinny Collins.”

There were seldom moments in her life that she remembered being too stunned to say something. But standing here with Eugene in her arms Jinny found her mind reeling with his declaration. How many times had Jinny thought those same words? Even before he had left, she had dreamt of saying them to him.  How many times had she thrown away a draft of a letter that had those three words written carefully at the end? She had loved him for so long. And he loved her?  She cupped his cheek in her hand and stared up at him with teary eyes and uttered the phrase that she wished she had said the last day they were together in the field of grass: 

“I love you too.”

[helenaheissner]

Love During Robot Fighting Time: Chapter 7

Hello, lovelies! Hope y'all are doing well :)

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***

Faith

I kept time with the metronome as I pirouetted around my living room. I’d decided early on in my transition that I wanted to be more graceful, and ballet had seemed like a good way to accomplish that while staying in shape. Murder on the feet, but so worth it- I was, if nothing else, of a marginal amateur level of talent, which was all I was asking for. So, each night, I donned my workout garb, moved the orange couch and brown coffee table a few feet so they pressed against the back wall, rolled up the white carpet that normally covered the linoleum floor, and put on the metronome and danced around the living room.

The tumblers clicked on the lock, and my front door opened to reveal my handsome, dashing, wonderful roommate and best friend entering the apartment. 

I broke out of my pose and grabbed my towel off of the couch, blotting my sweaty face. “Hey!”

“Hi,” he said, taking off his suit jacket and sticking it in the coat closet that indented our apartment just to the left of the front door, hanging it alongside his leather jacket and my white overcoat.

“How’s it going?” I asked, switching off my metronome and pushing the couch and coffee table back into their normal positions in front of the plasma screen television.

“Oh, you know, it’s going,” Zeke said. “You have a good workout?”

“Yeah!” I said, trying my best to show off my winning smile. My orange sports bra and black tutu may not have been the most conventional ballet attire, but it did show off my abs, something I was very eager to do now that I had them. 

Dancing didn’t just help me get in shape and feel that sweet, sweet gender euphoria, either- it gave me a great opportunity to be alone with my thoughts and actually THINK them. And that evening, I’d come to two conclusions: one, my friendship and working relationship with Zeke was too important to risk destroying by asking him to be my boyfriend out of the blue, at least not when I had no idea if he felt the same way as I did; two, I wanted him to make the first move. Maybe I was old-fashioned, but the idea of the guy being the one to escalate the relationship from non-romantic to romantic really appealed to me. Plus, if I put out hints that I liked him, was a bit more flirty and forward than usual, and he slowly cottoned on to what I was getting at and then asked me out, then it would all be perfect. And if he didn’t pick up on the hints, or just wasn’t interested, I had plausible deniability. It was an immaculate plan, totally fool-proof. 

I put a hand on my hip and leaned forward to show off my modest boobs and toned abs and smooth legs. “How do I look?”

“Like you just worked out?” Zeke said, aiming for the fridge and retrieving his jug of cranberry juice. He reached into the liquor cabinet after that and pulled out the flask of vodka, then poured himself a shot of it mixed with a glass of cranberry juice. 

‘ Oh. Right. I was sweaty and gross. “Good point. I should hit the shower. After that, wanna hang out?”

“Sure, sure,” he said, nursing his drink, swirling it around in his hands, staring at the wall. 

“You okay, Zeke?” I asked, tilting my head. 

“Hm? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and chuckled. 

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Sorry, I’m just a little tired.”

“Oh?” I said. “What were you off doing? I never got a chance to ask you before you left.”

“Oh, just hanging out with a friend.”

“Who?”

“Calloway,” he said. 

My eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, what?”

He took a long sip of his drink. “What?”

“Why were you hanging out with him?” I said, folding my arms over my chest and shrinking in on myself a bit. 

“Calloway texted me asking if I wanted to watch Gundam. I said yes, because I’m tired of all the weird hostility between us. And because I like Gundam,” Zeke said simply. “Honestly, Calloway is pretty cool outside of the ring.”

“Oh,” I said, taking a step back. “Fair enough. I… You can do what you want, but I’m probably not gonna hang out with him any time soon. You know that, right?”

“I mean, you two actually have more in common then you might think-”

“I… Am not crazy about that comparison, but if you say so, sure,” I said, taking another step back, pivoting left from the kitchen towards the hallway that led to the rest of our apartment. Finally, I turned around and went for the bathroom. “Glad you had fun, though. Seriously. You can never have too many friends. I’m gonna hop in the shower now.”

“Sounds good, Faithy,” he said, and he flashed that smile, and for a second everything was fine.

Everything was fine, fine, fine, fine, FINE. 

I showered, put my hair up in a towel, and wrapped a bathrobe around myself as I stepped out into the living room, where I found Zeke texting again while smiling that smile of his. The one that I knew wasn’t for me and me alone, but that I… 

No, stop that, Faith, he doesn’t owe you anything, I thought. He’s a person, and he can make his own decisions about what he does with his free time. 

Zeke and I wound up watching an old film noir that night, but I barely paid attention, and he was texting the entire time, smiling and chuckling every time his phone buzzed from a new message. I didn’t need to ask who it was.

***

The week went by normally, all things considered. Zeke and I worked on Dai Guren during the days, hung out and watched movies at night. Nothing was wrong, per se, but he was just always texting, and whenever I asked who he was talking to, he had the same answer:

Calloway. 

The one thing I found odd was that, despite the two clearly being close friends now (apparently), he always referred to Calloway by his last name. Never his first. And yeah, sometimes guys just did that, even with close friends, but even when he’d thought I was a guy Zeke called me by my first name. 

I tried to just keep it, keep him, out of my mind. Who Zeke spent his free time with was his business, and everyone needs more than one friend. I mean, I only needed one, but other people, yeah, they require multiple outlets for social engagement. And if Zeke and I were gonna start dating- which was not a guarantee, obviously, just something I’d really really really like to happen- then he would need a new platonic best friend. And I may not have been crazy about Keith Calloway, but hey, Zeke could do worse. Could be Olivia. 

Olivia. I had to go up against her in less than a week. I wasn’t crazy about that, but if nothing else, it might be a bit cathartic to defeat her. 

On Thursday morning, the day before our match, I decided to do a bit of shopping. I’d just gotten my monthly stipend from my parents- they were still a little iffy on the whole trans thing, still occasionally misgendered me and then immediately corrected themselves but got annoyed at me when I tired to correct them. But they were trying, and that was the important part. And hey, when both your folks are in the Army Corps of Engineers, wanting to build fighting robots for money is far from the worst thing you can do with your early twenties. I’ll get a real job someday- right now, though, I’m still figuring myself out. No reason I can’t do something I love while I do that. 

Zeke was passed out on the living room couch clutching his beloved baby seal plushie, Lacus. I jotted down where I was going and when I intended to be back on a sticky note and put it on his forehead. He didn’t wake up- the man slept like a rock, it was almost impressive- and I headed out. 

I cruised down Lincoln in the Star-Rocket Racer, weaving in and out of traffic as I headed for Venice. The best shops were in Santa Monica, but the more affordable and more trans-friendly ones tended to be in Venice. The air was warm with early-summer heat, the sky was clear and blue for miles, and the narrow street was uncrowded thanks to the just-shy-of-midday hours. The salty smell of the nearby ocean wafted through the air on a gentle, cooling seabreeze, and the clean street packed with shops and storefronts nearly sparkled in the sunlight. I wore my favorite off-white sleeveless sundress with a sunflower pattern, along with strappy wedge-heel sandals, a wide-brimmed black sun-hat, and a string of pearls around my neck that my mom had gifted me as a coming out present. I’d gone for a natural makeup look that day, subtle eyes and pink lipstick and just enough foundation to cover up my razor burn. My black cat purse was slung over my shoulder as I sauntered down the street, humming an Olivia Rodrigo song as I looked in the store windows. 

At the end of the street, I found a shop called ‘Surf Turf Apparel.’ Palm trees enclosed both sides of the brick store, and in the window was the most adorable green swing dress with white polka dots I’d ever seen. It looked a bit big for me (pros and cons of being hilariously short- thanks, hilariously short parents), but I could at least ask if they had anything more in my size. If not… I dunno, I could try shortening it myself. I’d always wanted to learn how to sew. 

I stepped inside and looked around- they had a lot of great dresses in here! Every style and color and fabric I could name, and plenty I couldn’t, hung from mannequins, harkening to eras as far back as the 1950s. At least one dress was there to represent each decade in the history of American fashion, standing proudly amidst the more standard beach apparel and SO MANY GORGEOUS HATS! I’d never been more in love with a shop this quickly! They had everything!

From the back of the store came an unnaturally high voice, what sounded like someone putting on a traditional female tone, perhaps someone, like me, who didn’t naturally speak in a feminine register. “Hi there!”

Poor thing- I’d gotten a bit better since I’d started doing vocal exercises on the daily. Maybe I could give her a few pointers. 

I looked at the source of the voice as she continued speaking, “Welcome to Surf Turf Apparel! How may I…”

The voice trailed off as I looked at the person behind the counter. We made eye contact. Prolonged eye contact. Prolonged, unblinking, silent eye contact. It was incredibly awkward. But when someone you low-key hated surprised you in a manner this thorough, it was hard not to be speechless and equally hard to look away. 

Calloway stood behind the wooden counter wearing a short-sleeved v-neck burgundy blouse, a golden butterfly necklace, and a full face of makeup- dark eyeshadow and red lipstick and very bold mascara. Her light brown hair was put up in a high but loose ponytail, with freshly-curled ringlets dancing about loosely on the sides of her face. Her eyebrows looked like they’d been freshly tweezed that very morning. It made her face look… Softer. Less aggressive. All of it together honestly made her look like a totally different person.

Was it ‘her?’ Should I be using ‘her’ for her? I should ask. 

But that would require me to do something with my mouth besides let it hang open in shock. Calloway, for her part, still wasn’t saying anything or blinking either. I think I understood now why Zeke had been exclusively using her last name around me. 

A tall, middle-aged woman (MILF, my brain automatically screamed) with long platinum hair, clad in a yellow A-line maxi-dress and flat white sandals, walked out from the back of the shop and said, “Close your mouth, Katie. Flies will nest. Also, you have a customer.”

“Hey, Mom, can I take my ten?” Calloway asked. 

“Sure. You want me to handle this one?” her evident mother asked. 

“Actually, Faith and I know each other, and we need to have a little talk.”

I was too shocked to react to this, too shocked to even do anything when Calloway… Katie, apparently… Grabbed me by the arm and shepherded me outside and into the alleyway next to what was APPARENTLY her family’s shop. Because of course it freaking was. 

“Okay,” I started, “So-”

“I’m not trans!” Calloway said, in that practiced high pitched voice of hers. 

I blinked. “Uh-huh. Right.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“I shouldn’t say.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not something you should have other people confirm for you,” I said. “And because I think all this speaks for itself, so if you’re too blind to see it, then that ain’t my fault.”

She raised a finger, then lowered it and looked at the ground. “That’s a fair point.”

“So,” I said, arms folded together. Her eyes were instantly drawn to my chest, at which point I looked down and realized the fold was putting my cleavage on display. I tucked my arms away behind my back hurriedly. “Anyway. Was there anything else you wanted to say to me, or was it really just that?”

Calloway… Katie, or maybe it was still Keith on some level (hard to say with eggs this dense), exhaled audibly and said, “I need you to keep this to yourself.”

“Yeah, of course,” I said with a nonchalant shrug. 

“I mean it, Watanabe! I- wait, seriously, just like that?”

“Yeah, just like that,” I said, struggling to keep the monotone out of my voice. “Look, everything else that’s happened between us aside, I am not just gonna out somebody because of spite. I mean seriously, what kind of asshole do you take me for?”

She looked at me blankly, unblinking once more. 

My eyes narrowed. “Oh my God, what kind of asshole do you take me for?!”

She let her mouth hang open for ten agonizingly long seconds before saying, “Is that a rhetorical question?”

“It was, yeah. But now it’s not!” 

“I don’t think you’re an asshole! Okay, there! I said it. I just… Didn’t think you were gonna do me any favors because… Last time we talked, I… And you…”

I heaved a beleaguered sigh. “I… Uh, so about that-”

“I’m sorry for antagonizing you last season!” she suddenly shouted, stepping forward, grabbing my hands and squeezing them inside her own. 

My pulse quickened and my jaw dropped. What the heck was going on?

She kept going: “I just… I liked playing to the crowd. I get way too into it, though, and I forgot what’s fun and hammy for me might be obnoxious and overbearing to other people. I’m sorry. I should have talked to you about this, to your whole team about this, last year, instead of going after you every time I was on camera. I’m sorry.” 

She looked like she was on the verge of tears, sincerity and hope and despair radiating out from her very soul. Her blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight, her long lashes mesmerizing as she opened and closed her eyes rapidly. I could feel my face going red. Was I… 

No, no. She was cute in a freshly-hatched way, sure, but I wasn’t attracted to her- it was just aesthetic appreciation. 

“I forgive you,” I said, squeezing her hands back. “And I’m sorry for blowing up at you. I was… In a bad place. I’d just come out, and my girlfriend dumped me on the spot because of it.”

“Oh my God!” she said, finally releasing my hands from her grasp and putting them on her hips. Outraged painted over her face. “That’s horrible! That’s why she’s on a different team this year?!”

“Yup.”

“What a bitch!”

“Please don’t say that about my ex, I still care about her,” I said flatly. 

“Right! Right, sorry. I just…”

“You get carried away sometimes. I get it.”

“And you’re going up against her this week?” 

“Yup,” I said. “First match of the night, no less.”

“Ooof,” Katie said. I figured I should just call her that- seemed safest. “I’m going up against Haverfield and Ansible.”

“Ugh, I hate that guy,” I said. 

“Big same.”

“Kick his ass for me?” I asked.

She stood at attention and gave a salute, of the kind so formal it would make my parents proud. “Gotta make things up to you somehow.”

“Hey come on, I didn’t mean it like that-”

“Yeah, but I do,” Katie said. “I’m tired of being the jerk. But if I’m going up against another jerk… Well, I’ll feel less bad about it. Also, I… I wanna be friends with Zeke. And since you two are besties… Well, you and I should probably learn to coexist.”

I smiled. She was so… Sincere, so earnest. It was really surprising. She was also much cuter like this, so that probably helped disarm me a bit. “Fair enough! To co-existence.”

“Here, here!” she said, extending a hand. 

We shook, and I’ll admit, I was taken aback by how firm her grip was. She was definitely intense, definitely a lot, but… Maybe she and I could be friends.

***

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