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ragingbookdragon · 4 years ago

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ATTEND ALL THE PRIDE!

Batfamily x Batbrother One-Shot

Word Count: 1K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: For the ask I received! Remember to have fun at all parades this month! Be careful and be safe! Bring friends and family! Even if you don't identify with the LGBTQ+ community you are still allowed to come to Pride! Everyone is welcome at Pride!

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Just because he was Bruce Wayne's son, a well-trained military sniper, and a world class black ops squad leader, it did not mean he had any sense of time when it came to being on leave. Once that clock started when they hit the tarmac after a mission, everyone lost sense of when they were supposed to meet up again—as much as they loved running with one another, they loved being on leave much more—especially the captain.

That being said, after a major mission of shutting down a world class terrorist organization ring and freeing some hundred plus captives, they all decided a few months of leave was deserved for saving a chunk of the world. And when he got back to Gotham in May, he’d slowly forgotten all about the next month and the pride that went with it.

***

Freshly showered and dressed, he wandered into the kitchen and collapsed in his set next to Bruce’s on the other side of the table, Dick next to him. His coffee had already been poured, hot and steaming like Alfred made best and he raised it to his lips, sipping quietly as his eyes moved around the breakfast room, taking in the sight of his family.

Dick and Damian were discussing something about the arcade rather animatedly—something about Cheese Vikings?, Jason and Steph were in an argument over who was a better Robin—so far Steph was winning, Tim was passed out on the side of the table—unsurprisingly, and Cass and Duke were busy stuffing waffles in their faces—smart cookies those two.

He glanced at his father, noticing that he had the paper, and he took a moment to read over the front page. Pride Month Comes to Gotham! Come Celebrate Today During the Pride Parade! Sponsored by Wayne Enterprises!

Blinking, he set his coffee cup down. “It’s June,” He blurted out, sounding rather shocked, and everyone looked at him.

“Yeah?” Dick said. “It’s been that way for about a week now, (Y/N).”

He looked at him. “No, Dick, it’s fucking Pride Month.” (Y/N) ignored Alfred’s admonishment of his expletive and jumped to his feet, face lighting up like the morning sun. “IT’S FUCKING PRIDE MONTH AND THE PARADE IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN THE CITY STREETS!”

(Y/N) spun on his heel and sprinted out of the kitchen like a madman, his heavy footfalls sounding down the hallway and up the stairs before he came back down with a bunch of T-shirts in his hands. “I HAVE SHIRTS FOR ALL OF YOU!”

Tossing them one by one, he shouted, “BI FOR DICK! BI FOR JASON! PAN FOR STEPH! LESBIAN FOR CASS! PAN FOR TIMMY! AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE REST OF YOU ARE BUT I HAVE RAINBOW SHIRTS THAT SAY ‘LGBTQIA+ ALLIES’!”

Everyone looked at their shirts, all designed with the color of their respective flag, then at (Y/N) who was busy slipping his own pink, yellow, and blue shirt on. He grinned at them like a maniac. “Well don’t just sit there! Put the shirts on and let’s go! Pride Parade is happening, and we can’t miss it!”

Galvanized by his words, everyone started putting their shirts on, even Alfred and Bruce before they followed him to the SUV where he climbed in the driver’s seat.

“Hey, (Y/N)?” Jason asked.

“Yeah boy!”

“I applaud that you know my first orientation, but I hate to break it to you—I’m a demisexual bi.”

(Y/N) leaned over into the passenger’s side floorboard and shoved Dick’s legs out of the way before he yanked up a bag and unzipped it. He pulled out a rather large plastic package and threw it back at him, hitting him in the face. “EXPENSIVE FACE PAINT THAT’S NOT WORTH THE PRICE I PAID BUT WHATEVER! PAINT ALL THE FLAGS ON YOUR FACES!”

“Brother, you must really love Pride Parades.” Damian remarked and he nodded.

“LOVE ALL THE PARADES! LOVE PEOPLE! LOVE HAVING FUN! LOVE THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY!” he opened the garage and hit the gas, speeding down the driveway. “HAVE ALL THE FUN AT PRIDE! MEET ALL THE PEOPLE! MAKE ALL THE FRIENDS! CELEBRATE OUR UNIQUENESS!”

He tossed back more items, sunglasses, necklaces, hats, everything. “IDENTIFY YOURSELF! OR DON’T! IT’S YOUR RIGHT TO BE AS COMFORTABLE AS YOU WANT! BUT HAVE FUN!” he stopped at a red light and turned. “DO YOU REMEMBER MY RULES?”

Dick went first as the oldest, then Jason, Steph, Cass, Duke, Tim, and Damian. “Don’t add to the population.

“Don’t subtract from the population.”

“Don’t go to jail.”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do.”

“And if you do—”

“Don’t get caught!” Damian finalized with a grin as Dick wrote the words ‘Not sure yet’ on his face. “I am excited to experience this!”

(Y/N) looked scandalized. “YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO A PRIDE PARADE? OH, THE INHUMANITY!” he looked at his father and went jaw-slacked. “Dad, are you putting the bi-flag on your face?”

Bruce looked up from his compact mirror and nodded. “Mhm.”

“I didn’t know you were bi?”

“I didn’t know you were pansexual, (Y/N).” he retorted with a smile and (Y/N) grinned.

“What did you think I was?”

“In the closet.”

“HA!”

“Wait, so (Y/N),” Steph started. “When did you know you were pan?”

He blinked and pulled into a parking garage. “When I met Ghost-Maker in a LGBTQ nightclub and when home with him for the weekend.”

No one said a word, merely looking at Bruce who looked absolutely disgusted. “You slept with K?”

“Many times.” (Y/N) snorted, putting the car in park. “He’s extremely proficient at it. It’s a shame he doesn’t experience romantic attraction because I’d marry him in a heartbeat.”

Everyone gagged, but Jason nudged Tim in the ribs and snickered, “That’s pretty gay.”

And then the entire SUV was filled with cackles as they climbed out and marched into the rainbow filled streets, mile-wide grins on their faces and pride in their hearts.

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kbstories · 4 years ago

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pink lavender blue

"Kirishima’s heart had pounded once, a solid beat, one he felt to the tips of his fingers. His stomach swooped like he missed a step or five, that flutter of adrenaline following afterwards even though they were just chilling on Kirishima’s bed like they did every Tuesday, sharing space, surrounded by their current homework in the form of worksheets and books.

Oh, Kirishima had thought, it really does feel like falling, because the day he realized he was bisexual was the day he fell in love with Bakugou Katsuki."

(Or: In which realization strikes, Kirishima has some stuff to process and Bakugou loves him a lot.)

Rating: Gen

Ship(s): Kirishima/Bakugou

Tags: Bisexual Kirishima, Asexual Bakugou, Fluff & Hurt/Comfort, Kiri Needs A Hug (and he gets one!), Coming Out, Bakugou Is MVP

One shot / 4880 words

>>Read on: AO3 / Twitter

Kirishima Eijirou remembers the exact moment he realized he was bisexual.

He remembers, because it was the same moment he looked over, the last syllable of a throwaway joke on his lips, and saw a genuine laugh dawn on Bakugou’s face like a shot-by-shot montage in a movie. The pinch to Bakugou’s eyebrows, disbelieving, pretending to be annoyed; the corners of his mouth trembling, twitching upwards, then—

A snort. "The fuck, Shitty Hair", Bakugou had said and laughed. "That’s stupid."

It really is, Kirishima should’ve replied. When Bakugou had leaned over to shove at him, rough and affectionate, he should’ve shoved him back, demanded from him to admit it was at least a little funny, laughing too.

Yet Kirishima’s heart had pounded once, a solid beat, one he felt to the tips of his fingers. His stomach swooped like he missed a step or five, that flutter of adrenaline following afterwards even though they were just chilling on Kirishima’s bed like they did every Tuesday, sharing space, surrounded by their current homework in the form of worksheets and books.

Oh, Kirishima had thought, it really does feel like falling, because the day he realized he was bisexual was the day he fell in love with Bakugou Katsuki.

(Kirishima doesn’t remember what he ended up doing that day. It must have been a smooth save on his part; Bakugou didn’t mention anything amiss, and he’s not one to mince his words with stuff like that.)

Suddenly, Kirishima is incredibly aware of everything Bakugou does. Every smirk-heavy one-liner, every rude gesture, every scoff and cackle makes his chest feel warm and tight, makes his pulse race in his veins. Crushes had been a thing for Kirishima in the past but never with guys, and never like this, intense and in-his-face. Kind of like Bakugou himself, actually.

And Kirishima loves his bro — has loved him before he knew he love-loved him, too — but this is a lot. A lot to process, a lot to think and redefine about himself, about instances in his past that make sense now.

So much sense.

Kirishima doesn’t dislike being bi. His moms raised him to accept and love people no matter who they like or how they relate to themselves and their bodies. They taught him to love himself in the same way. It’s not their fault his anxiety tends to get in the way of that — that the confidence he desperately wants to make his own once and for all is like a sandcastle built too close to the shoreline, washed away when the tides are at their highest point.

Like the times his quirk has crumbled in his hands.

Like the night Bakugou sits Kirishima down and tells him, "I think I like you", words steady even if his hands aren't, fidgeting in his lap as his knee bounces with excess energy. "Dunno. I don’t do this kinda shit. I barely do friends, really, but I want this. I wanna be more than that, if it’s you. If… if you want that, too."

That night Kirishima can't say: I think I like you, too.

The words get stuck in his throat, between one nervous heartbeat and the next. Kirishima reaches for Bakugou, grabs one of those fidgeting hands in a clumsy one of his own and squeezes their palms together until he can feel Bakugou’s pulse race just like his.

"Okay", Kirishima says instead, lips pulling into a smile far more bold than he feels on the inside. "Okay, let’s try."

Bakugou blinks, frowns, looks away, flustered. Glances back and smiles, "Yeah, let’s", and that is that.

They don't talk about their relationship that night. Those first few days, 'more than friends' is enough for them. Taking it slow doesn't come naturally to either of them in any other aspect of their life; Kirishima knows he loves Bakugou, knows he likes boys now too, but only one of those things fell into place immediately, and the other needs time to settle, not-quite right on his skin yet.

When he asks Bakugou if they can get used to it in private first, Bakugou shrugs. "Sure. Ain't one for mushy shit in public, anyway."

They don’t talk about it with their friends or their class, either, although it’s safe to say the entire squad is some form of queer, and most of 1-A is, too.

It never comes up much, for one. (Inside jokes about not being able to drive and Move, bitch, I’m gay don’t count, Kirishima rationalizes. It would be weird to add to it himself when only Bakugou is aware he’s not straight.)

Kirishima collects a variety of buttons with pride flags on them on his backpack, one for each of his friends: The lesbian one for Ashido, the pansexual colors for Kaminari and Jirou, rainbow and ace buttons for Bakugou, the agender and trans flags for Sero…

...and the pink-lavender-blue that’s him, now.

If asked, Kirishima would say it’s for Midoriya and his moms. It wouldn't even be a lie — the button was there before Kirishima’s burst of Bakugou-induced self-realization. But no one in 1-A asks. The rainbow of colors brings a wordless smile to his classmates’ faces most days, sometimes an excited comment of "Hey, that’s me!" with a finger tapping the respective button.

It’s fine. Kirishima isn’t sure he could’ve handled the question without just blurting out the full story, and then it would exist outside of his head and that’s—

It’s a lot. To imagine that happening. So it’s good it doesn’t.

Like, how can he just put that out there without knowing anything about his own sexuality? What if the questions do come, and Kirishima can’t provide an immediate answer, or find the right words to describe what he feels? Then it’ll look like he’s pretending to be something he isn’t, and seeing that suspicion bloom in the eyes of his friends and classmates... It has the potential to break him.

In that case, it's far better to say nothing at all until he can do right by himself, by people like him — loud and strong and proud about their identities like his moms are, like his classmates are, like his friends are.

Maybe this being-bi thing is something Kirishima has to grow into, then. To be worthy of flying those colors for his own sake, to openly claim them as his. It’s like his quirk, in that way. Something that’s a part of him, but not fully there yet until he’s gone through the motions a thousand times, put the work in, made it instinctual, second nature.

It’s a challenge — and lacking confidence or not, Kirishima never backs down from a challenge.

Yeah. That must be how it is.

>>Read the rest on: AO3 / Twitter

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #BNHA #MHA #kiribaku #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijirou #BNHA fanfiction #my stuff #🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ happy pride month everyone!! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈#writing this made me emotional hhhh i love being bi #pls reblog to feed your writer <3

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there-must-be-a-lock · 4 years ago

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wings & the way down - part 4

Spencer Reid x Derek Morgan

Word Count: ~1870 this chapter

Warnings: None?

A/N: A wild subplot appears! Gang’s mostly here, so we get to the fun stuff soon. Nobody’s reading this on tumblr, really, but I still feel the need to apologize for the delay!

Catch up here.

Monday, January 6 - Derek

As far as first days go, it could be a lot worse. It’s still fucking exhausting.

They send the class president to meet him in the office, in the morning — blonde-haired and blue-eyed, straight out of a Colgate ad as she shakes his hand and introduces herself as “Jennifer, but my friends call me JJ.”

Derek doesn’t fully trust girls like that, the ones who are so traditionally pretty they think they don’t have to be nice, but she’s cool enough as she shows him to his first class and gives him a brief tour, pointing out where he’ll want to go for his next class. He’s already feeling a little lost.

People keep looking at him, and he wonders what they’re seeing.

JJ seems to know everybody; she greets almost everyone by name as they walk, introducing Derek in passing. Most of the kids smile right back. It makes Derek reconsider his initial assessment of her; mean girls don’t usually get that sort of genuine warmth aimed in their direction.

She invites him to eat lunch with her and her friends, but he has a meeting with Principal Strauss during lunch to talk about the student handbook, how he’s adjusting, and all the other fun shit.

“No worries, standing invitation,” JJ tells him.

“Tomorrow, then. It’s a date,” he replies, flashing his most charming grin.

She smiles at that — not the flirtatious expression Derek expected, more like she’s laughing at a private joke — before waving and heading off to her own class.

The history teacher, Ms. Lewis, asks him to stand and introduce himself to the class, and to “Tell us something about yourself,” which… yeah, he saw that one coming, and he practiced it in front of the mirror last night.

“Derek Morgan.” Not-too-bright smile; just casual enough to be cool, not cocky. “I just moved from Chicago. Psyched about the Vegas weather, not so much about the pizza.”

He has to do the same thing at the start of every class. He’s going to be repeating it in his sleep, at this rate, and the more he says it, the more disingenuous it feels, trying to boil his identity down to one neat sentence.

The English teacher, Blake, also asks him to say his favorite book, and Derek hesitates slightly. His instinct is to lie, say something cool and not quite as nerdy, but he catches himself and tells the truth instead. Nobody seems to care except the girl sitting next to him — dark hair, darker eyeliner — who raises a skeptical brow, like she doesn’t believe it.

At the end of class, though, Blake pairs him with Eyeliner Girl for a project, and she gives him a begrudging smile before introducing herself: “Emily. Glad I’m not the new kid any more.”

She scrawls her name and number on a piece of paper and slaps it down on the desk in front of him, saying something about meeting up later in the week, as she starts to pack up her stuff. Derek notices an enamel pin of a pansexual pride flag on her bag — between a Joy Division patch and a pin that says “Death Before Decaf” — but before he can figure out whether he wants to comment on that, she’s on her way out the door.

Most of the day is just a blur of new faces and names and trying to remember where the fuck he’s going. Strauss is brusque but sharp. The place is huge, but there seem to be a lot of girls eager to show him around. People have been friendly enough; the whispers he hears are curious, instead of vicious.

Derek feels a little bit like he’s got a spotlight on him every time he walks through the halls. At least here it’s a spotlight and not a bullseye.

He wasn’t nervous for any of his classes, or anything, but he’s definitely nervous before practice. He’s not sure whether Coach Rossi told the team anything about why he ended up transferring mid-year.

He’s braced for some hostility when he introduces himself to the team captain. “Hey, man, I know this has got to be weird, but—”

“Hey, apparently you can help us win some games,” the guy says, with a disarming smile. “Foyet. Glad to have you.” Derek breathes a little easier as they shake hands.

Coach Rossi, meanwhile, isn’t like any high school coach Derek’s ever met. They’re usually big and loud and kinda aggro, but Rossi’s quieter, deadpan, well-dressed. He’s got this unimpressed expression, like he has seen some shit in his day and is not going to be bothered by any amount of macho teenage posturing.

It feels good to be back on the court. The team’s not stellar, but fuck, it’s better than what he left behind, any day of the week. Derek’s in his element, here, and after a day of uncertainty, it’s nice to know he can still do this. By the end of practice, he seems to have won over most of the guys who seemed a little frosty at first, and that’s really fucking nice too.

He hangs back for a minute to talk to Rossi, afterward, to thank him and just touch base. Then there’s talk of uniforms and making sure he has a locker, before the next practice, and by the time he gets showered, the rest of the team is gone.

He doesn’t mind walking back to the main building on his own. It feels like he’s been smiling and shaking hands and working so damn hard to make a decent first impression that he hasn’t been able to properly breathe all day.

The school is mostly deserted, at this point — there are a few teachers still working at their desks, a couple students packing up. He gets a little bit turned around trying to find his locker again, wandering into an out-of-the-way section of classrooms near the auditorium before hitting a dead end. He retraces his steps and takes the right turn this time.

Then he hears an argument around the corner, unmistakable in the relative quiet. He winces, wondering if he should announce his presence somehow, but it doesn’t sound like the kind of thing he wants to interrupt.

“Look, I’m sorry,” a female voice is saying. “But every time I think about it… it’s terrifying. It’s easier for you, you’ve never—”

“You think this is easy?” another girl snarls. “Fuck that and fuck you. I told you, I’m not doing this. No fuckin’ way.”

With that, heavy footsteps stomp away, echoing down the hall.

Derek pauses for a moment, listening, but there’s no more sound; he waits a few seconds anyway before turning the corner, where one of the girls is still standing silently.

When she whirls, startled by the sound of his footsteps, he realizes it’s JJ.

It just takes her a blink to pull herself together at the sight of him; if he didn’t see the tears streaking down her cheeks, he’d almost believe it when she aims one of those Colgate-ad smiles in his direction.

“You okay?” he asks hesitantly. JJ nods vigorously.

“Totally! I think it’s allergies or something,” she insists. Right.

“Think I’m a little turned around. How do I get out to the senior lot?” he asks her.

“I’m heading that way, I’ll show you,” she says. As they start to walk, Derek can see her, out of the corner of his eye, wiping away tears discreetly. “How was your first day?”

“Not bad, can’t complain,” he says, shrugging. “Pretty weird being the new kid, but… what are you gonna do, right?”

JJ hesitates before saying, “Must be nice. Getting a fresh start, no expectations.”

That’s not the usual line. Most people say it must be difficult, having to start over where nobody knows him; most people ask if he misses home, and they don’t consider what he’s trying to get away from.

He doesn’t ask JJ what she wants to get away from — instead he says, “That’s what my momma keeps saying: I can be whoever I want to be.”

“So who do you want to be, Derek Morgan?”

“Just want to be myself,” he says, and she looks up at him with a small, sardonic smile.

“You make it sound so easy,” she mutters.

He laughs. “Yeah, fair enough.”

This time, her smile seems more genuine. JJ points him in the right direction and then ducks into the women’s bathroom, with a wave and a reminder that she’ll see him for lunch.

Derek heads toward the front door. He’s fishing around in his bag as he walks, looking for the keys to his uncle’s truck, when he walks right into somebody rushing out of the men’s bathroom.

“Fuck, sorry, are you —” He stops dead, still with an arm out to help steady the other person, because the other person is Spencer.

Spencer, who looks just as surprised as Derek feels. They lock eyes for a second, and Derek’s insides go on an entire fucking roller-coaster ride in one frozen moment.

“I thought you were in college,” Derek blurts out, half-laughing, but Spencer doesn’t look even a little bit happy to see him. He’s gone pale.

“What? No, still in fucking high school, last I checked.” His voice is bitter, and it cracks on the words. “I just take college classes sometimes.”

“Oh.”

“I thought you were visiting,” Spencer says, pushing his hair out of his face like he wants to be pulling it instead.

“I am,” Derek says, stomach sinking when he realizes Spencer still isn’t smiling. “For another six months.”

Spencer’s mouth drops open, and Derek has a visceral flash of sensory memory: those pretty pink lips brushing his cheek.

Spencer scowls. “So you’re — you go here. Fantastic.”

Derek’s too tired to pretend the venom in Spencer’s tone doesn’t hurt.

He snaps, “Did I do something wrong here, or did you just wake up on the bitchy side of the bed?”

Maybe not his most mature reaction, but. It’s been a long fucking day.

Spencer digs the heels of his hands into his eyes, for a second, and Derek can see the tension in his fingers. Then he exhales and it’s like all that twitchy furious energy drains out of him at once. He just looks exhausted.

His voice is low and croaky as he says, “I liked that you didn’t see me the same way as everybody else does.”

“So, what, you think that’s gonna change just cause we go to the same school now? What kinda asshole do you think I am?”

“The kind who wears a varsity jacket,” Spencer mumbles. His eyes are huge and hurt and soft, and Derek recoils slightly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Spencer shakes his head. “Never mind. Just — trust me, okay? You’re better off pretending you don’t know me.”

“I want to know you, though,” Derek says quietly.

Spencer’s phone is vibrating. He looks down at it and then gives Derek one more sad little half-smile as he starts to walk away.

“If you still feel that way by the end of the week, give me a call,” he says over his shoulder, already pushing the front door open. “But you won’t.” Before Derek can respond, he’s flipping the phone open and saying, “Hey, Mom. I’m on my way.”

When Derek collects himself and follows him out, Spencer’s already gone.

#moreid #criminal minds #criminal minds fic #spencer reid #derek morgan

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notfunnydean · 5 years ago

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Coming Out

Pairing: Dean Winchester / Castiel Tags: bisexual Dean, pansexual Cas, first kiss, first pride Word Count: 1.969 Challenge: SPN Fam Pride Month Summary: While being on a hunt Dean discovers a pride parade. He sneaks out of the motel room to explore the parade but also to learn more about himself. There he meets someone familiar. Link (if posted on AO3): https://archiveofourown.org/works/24963385

Dean takes a deep breath and then finally gets out of his beloved Baby. He hastily looks around, to see if he knows someone, even though he is miles away from Kansas. Still his brother and Castiel are with him.

Not right now, but at the motel.

“Okay, you can do this.” Dean mutters to himself and then throws his jacket back into the Impala. He feels a bit lighter already, but he is still wearing a flannel. For now he would stay like that.

Dean feels ridiculous, but he almost sneaks down the alley into the city. He can hear loud music and people singing and gulps. Okay, he had waited a long long time for this and he wouldn’t freak out.

He wishes Charlie was still with him.

She would’ve liked this. Dean is sure Charlie did things like this all the time and he’s proud of her. He tries to be proud of himself too, but it’s difficult.

“Hey. First pride?”

Dean looks up to see a young guy and nods shortly. Does he look like it’s his first time? God how embarrassing.

“No need to worry. Just have fun, maybe try a smile? I’m Max.” Dean nods again, but then he realizes that and smiles shyly. Max looks good, he wears a rainbow flag around his torso and has a lot of pins on his shirt.

“Sorry, I’m just really nervous. I haven’t really come out so far.” Dean mutters and Max looks almost compassionate at that, but he clasps Dean’s shoulder and nods.

“We’ve all been there. Just don’t pressure yourself. Some of us never come out in public or to their family and friends and they’re still valid.” Max continues and it helps Dean to feel a bit better.

He’d never been out to his father and he is kinda glad for that. He doesn’t know what John would’ve thought of him. Maybe… he would’ve come out to his mother, but he didn’t get the chance.

And yeah he could’ve always come out to his brother. Dean knows that. Sam is probably the most open human there is, but he’s still scared shitless. Hell, it took a lot to admit to himself that maybe he likes to look at guys as well.

“Thank you, that means a lot.” Dean says and this time it’s a real smile.

“If you wanna buy anything. I got a lot to sell.” Max says and he points at all the colorful things he has in his booth. While Dean’s eyes stop at something particular, he excuses himself. Max nods towards him and then is already talking to another girl.

Dean continues his own way, the sun is shining brightly and there are so many people around him. Dean stops to get himself a beer and then finally opens his flannel. His shirt is nothing special.

But it has a huge bi-flag on it.

Everyone around him is so happy, a lot of people are waving to him, even flirting shortly with Dean and he likes this. He finally feels accepted and free and so good in his own skin. He can’t remember the last time this happened.

Dean even stops and gets himself some pins. He actually likes the rainbow flag as well but the bisexual merch means a lot to him. Almost his whole life he hadn’t even known that he wasn’t really alone with that.

Sue his hunting lifestyle. He never had time to discover his own sexuality in school or college. He had always accepted that he’d never look into that side of himself too much. But then… then someone appeared in his life.

“We got every flag there is.” A woman says and Dean stops to look at all the flags. There are just small ones you can hold up, but also huge ones like Max had around his torso. Dean gasps at a cowboy hat in the bisexuality colors.

Dean has his wallet out before he can think about it. It’s not even that expensive, so Dean takes that cowboy hat and even one of those huge flags, that he can wrap around his shoulders.

He can’t believe this. He would’ve never thought that he’d wear merch like this. Sure a few pins, his shirt, but this felt kinda huge. Dean smiles even harder and puts on the hat, before using that flag as a cape.

Dean snickers to himself and just as he turns around he walks right into someone.

“Whoops sorry.” Dean says and he feels a bit tipsy so happy is he, even though he hadn’t had a lot to drink.

“Hello Dean.”

Dean’s heart stops.

“Cas?!”

Fuck. Okay. Dean smiles awkwardly and then even tips his hat in greeting. Like the dumbass he is. Castiel smiles anyway and Dean’s eyes widen when he finally sees what the angel is wearing.

Not his trenchcoat for once. Instead a shirt with a flag, that Dean doesn’t know. (He’s new to all of this, dammit) and a fake halo in the same colors.

“I thought you don’t have a halo.” Dean gets out and wants to smack himself. Castiel’s smile gets only wider at that and there is something else in his eyes.

“That’s why I bought this one.” Castiel answers and they continue to look at each other. Like always, Dean gets lost in those blue eyes. He can’t help it. Castiel takes a step closer and Dean wishes he could take his hand.

Then he does.

“Come with me, I got an idea.” Dean mutters, blushing badly that he is holding Castiel’s hand. Luckily, his best friend isn’t saying anything and Dean knows he walks a lot more upright now.

People will probably think Castiel is his boyfriend and he likes that a little too much.

“Where are we going?” Castiel asks, while they walk and he even squeezes Dean’s hand. Dean walks a bit slower, wanting to enjoy this.

“I think I saw something you should get.” Dean answers truthfully. He remembers that he had seen the booth when he first came here, the one where he met Max. It takes them roughly 10 minutes to walk there.

“I didn’t know you were bisexual.” Castiel says, it doesn’t sound mad. He sounds actually pretty glad, Dean almost squirms.

“I… I… never mentioned it, but I wanted… I finally wanted to be me.” Dean stutters. He can’t remember the last time he was this nervous and he looks at Castiel. He can feel how the hand holding Castiel’s sweats.

“I like it.” Castiel answers and there are a lot more butterflies in Dean’s stomach than around them. Maybe that actually means that Castiel could like him back?

“What does yours mean?” Dean asks carefully and he hopes it doesn’t mean he’s out of the game. He feels like an idiot for knowing almost nothing about genders and sexualities. He should look more into it.

To be ready for the next prides, too. But this one was rather accidental and he was glad to have the shirt with him at all.

“After the human meaning, I’m pansexual. I don’t care about the gender of my love interest. I just need to have a profound bond to the person.” Castiel explains and Dean gasps quietly. He knows exactly that Castiel had said before that they shared a profound bond.

“Hey there stranger!”

Before Dean can answer something to Castiel, Max has already spotted him. Dean goes over to him, painfully aware that he is still holding Castiel’s hand. Max grins, but says nothing.

“Hey again. Uh, I thought I would come back to your offer. I’d like to purchase something.” Dean says and he follows Max at the booth. Before that he tells Castiel to wait for him there. The angel does so and looks at the parade that just started.

“Sure thing, my twin sister Alicia creates all of this. Supportive Sibling thing.” Max says grinning and the girl from earlier waves at them. Dean smiles. He should tell Sam, too. (He just hopes Sam wouldn’t start crafting things too, he’s not super good at it.)

“I’d like to get one of those. Do you have them in the pansexuality colors?” Dean asks and Max gets them out of a cardboard. Dean loves them already, the colors suit Castiel perfectly.

“For your boyfriend?” Max asks while Dean pays, he looks back to Castiel, who seems still fascinated by all the colorful vehicles. Dean shrugs.

“We’ve known each other for ages but I hope I can finally be his.” Dean explains and he is blushing again. Max smiles wider and wishes him good luck. Dean hopes they will meet again some time.

He walks back to Castiel and carefully puts his present on Castiel’s back. It even has a small holder that he can attach to Castiel’s shoulders. Castiel jerks in surprise and then raises his eyebrows at the fake wings.

“Really?”

“Yeah you look… you look really gorgeous. Always I mean.” Dean wants to smack his head against something hard and heavy, but Castiel chuckles.

“Thank you Dean. You look very beautiful yourself.” Castiel answers easily. There was a time where Dean would’ve been angry with being called ‘beautiful’, and maybe even yesterday he would’ve been offended.

But he wants to learn to be himself now.

“Thanks.” Dean mutters, still embarrassed, but Castiel takes his hand again. Dean even gets a bit closer to him, as they watch the parade around them together.

“So. How come you are here today?” Castiel asks and Dean shrugs a bit awkwardly. At first he doesn’t know what to say. Then he takes a deep breath.

“I guess some things take me a while to understand.” Dean says and he even goes for a wink like a dumbass. But Castiel is still close, still holding his hand. Even smirking a bit now.

“Like what?”

“Like huh... this.”

Dean had killed so many supernatural things in his life and never been afraid beforehand. But he is afraid right now, as he leans closer and hastily closes his eyes, so he doesn’t have to see the angels face.

Luckily, Castiel comes towards him as well and their lips meet in the middle. Dean gasps quietly in his shock, but then Castiel is putting his free hand on Dean’s neck and pulls him even closer.

Dean opens his mouth without a second thought and fuck he hadn’t known that Castiel was such a good kisser. He is already addicted. Castiel even hums, when people are whistling at them.

The kiss breaks way too soon, but Dean kinda needs to breath. He licks over his lips, when he opens his eyes, only to meet Castiel’s hungry gaze.

“I really like you.” Dean whispers.

He then closes his eyes in his own frustration and takes a deep breath. What the fuck, is he five years old and talking to his crush at the kindergarten? He was never so bad at flirting. Castiel grins.

“I’m in love with you for years.” Castiel says as if it’s nothing.

“Me… me too.” Dean says and Castiel hugs him as hard as he can. Like always they seem to forget about the world around him. Dean doesn’t think he had ever been this happy. This feels right.

This feels like something new and exciting and at the same time like something he had known for years and gives him security.

“So how come you’re here?” Dean asks, still shy even after the kiss. At least he is still holding Castiel’s hand. The angel smiles and then shrugs.

“Sam told me to find you here.” Castiel winks at Dean this time and Dean gasps quitely.

He would strangle his brother. And maybe send him flowers

“Now kiss me again, Cowboy.”

“As you wish Angel.”

#destiel #destiel fanfic #destiel fic #spn pride #deancas #my writing

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kindness-ricochets · 4 years ago

Text

SOC Angels & Demons AU (sort of)

This is in the same AU as my fic A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Republican National Convention, and might not make sense without that background. I had an... interesting time with this prompt. But once I got the idea, I kind of had to!

=========

Inej hadn't been sure about the party. She hadn't been sure about much of anything since accepting the internship. For the first time, she lived away from her family, and the independence she had longed for left her lonely. She was the youngest person by about a decade at the lab and her brown skin made her stand out in the town.

So when David Kostyk invited her to a party, she had been conflicted. He was an awkward man and largely kept to himself. Though he had never given her reason to doubt him, still the offer set off alarm bells in her head.

At least until David added, "My son's about your age. His friends are having an 'angels and demons' party and if you're interested I'll ask him what that means."

It turned out that it was a costume party.

Not wanting to stand out too much, Inej hadn't gone overboard on her costume. She wore a flowy white blouse over her jeans. That was angelic... ish.

David's wife, Genya, had been welcoming, dispelling the last of Inej's concerns, and their son, Wylan, was polite even if he did turn the conversation immediately to chemistry. Well, you could take the girl out of the lab...

"Are you sure you don't want a halo?" Genya asked. "I can braid your hair for you."

"It's easier to just agree," offered Wylan.

Inej smiled and held up her hands in mock surrender. "If you're sure you don't mind."

Genya's hands were surprisingly gentle as she brushed Inej's hair and began weaving it into a tight braid. It was just the two of them in the kitchen now, and Inej remembered her mother's hands in her hair... of course she could braid her own hair, too, but there was something soothing in that touch.

"There," she announced. "Go have a look in the mirror, let's see if you like it."

As Inej dipped into the bathroom to examine her braid, she heard Genya knocking on what she assumed must be Wylan's door.

Inej loved her braid. Woven around the crown of her head, it glowed with golden ribbons. She still wasn't some treetop cherub, but if she said so herself, she looked angelic.

Wylan, meanwhile, was fretting. The idea had been solid. The problem was that when he formed it, he was thinking of himself as a painting—and painting up a human face was nothing like painting canvas. Now as he stared into the mirror, he wondered if he’d made a mistake. He was already worried about how David and Genya would react, but he had assumed he was taking that risk for something good. Something cool.

He shook his head. It was the best he could do. Besides, with Genya knocking at his door, did he have a lot of choices? So Wylan swallowed and went to face the music.

Genya looked him over and grinned. “You look so cute!”

He had wanted to look sexy, but couldn’t bring himself to wear super-tight jeans where Genya might see, so he would settle for cute. He still thought there was something wicked in the flare of his jacket, and he had drawn a small snake at his temple. There was a red-white-and-blue elephant sticker on his chest. The heart of the piece was the horns, though. Curled and pointed, they took his costume from ‘edgy’ to ‘demonic’. His hair had grown out enough to cover the headband, so it almost looked like the horns grew right out of his head!

“But,” she continued, “the makeup… if you wanted eye makeup, you should’ve asked. Come on. Let’s see what we can do about this.”

He had been prepared for her to be angry, but was outright baffled that rather than raising her voice, she took him into the bathroom, took out her own makeup bag, and got to work.

“I don’t usually wear anything this heavy,” Genya said as Wylan kept his eyes carefully closed. The last thing he wanted was to get gel liner in his eye. (Also, who knew? Gel liner was a thing!) “But… with a little foundation… there! Have a look.”

Wylan did—and it was a million times better. Whatever he thought he was doing with a tube of mascara, he wasn’t. But Genya had done it with her brushes and gels.

“I love it!”

“Thought you might.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

He still wasn’t entirely comfortable calling her that. He liked it, but they needed time. Sometimes he couldn’t help remembering that his bio mom was out there somewhere… that maybe she wouldn’t like him this way. Maybe having a deviant for a son…

“Wylan? What’s on your mind, kid?”

He shook his head. “Just grateful for you.”

She squeezed his shoulders in a half-hug, and he would have given up the entire party to stay here next to her.

“Hey!”

The shout from the entrance meant one thing: Jesper was here.

“Well, go take his breath away,” Genya said.

The first thing Wylan noticed were the wings. Jesper had made himself a pair of wings out of sturdy paper, and had stripes of pink, yellow, and blue growing from his shoulders. Other than that, he wore his usual threadbare jeans and a generously tight t-shirt (Wylan did not in any way object), but most noteworthy was the sword at his hip.

Wylan grinned. “Guardian angel?”

“All yours, gorgeous.”

Wylan, under his demon horns and dramatic eye makeup, blushed.

“Jesper, are you warm enough?” Genya asked.

“Not entirely,” Jesper acknowledged, “but we’ll be inside all night.”

“Oh—this is Inej,” Wylan said as she stepped in from the kitchen. “She works with David. Inej, this is Jesper, my boyfriend.”

Jesper raised an eyebrow, because he was very clear on what Wylan was doing. Hey new person, I’m gay. Good for him. Even if Jesper was standing here with giant pansexual flag wings.

“Hi, Inej,” he said. “Are you coming to the party with us?”

“Remember,” Genya said, “home by midnight.”

Wylan nodded.

“Jesper?”

“He’ll be home by midnight. I promise.”

It had taken weeks of negotiation for Genya to agree to let Jesper take Wylan to the party. She had no objection to Wylan going to the party, nor to Jesper and Wylan being together at the party, but she preferred if she or David took Wylan there and picked him up. That way they could guarantee he was home on time. There wasn’t even a good reason for it to feel so important, but it did: Wylan wanted to go to the party with Jesper.

The three of them piled into Jesper’s truck, Wylan squished between Jesper and Inej.

“Why do you have such a strict curfew?” Inej wondered.

“I’m a foster kid. I’m not supposed to be out overnight, and we’re looked at especially closely because—well, we just are.”

Inej nodded.

Jesper knew more of the reason, but if Wylan didn’t want Inej to know he was one of those Van Ecks, Jesper wouldn’t be the one to tell. There were other reasons Inej might assume—maybe they were looked at closely because David and Genya were Jewish or because he was autistic, or any number of ridiculous reasons.

“How long have you lived with Genya and David?”

“Since June. They’re really great people.”

“Not as great as I am,” added Jesper.

“Well,” Wylan reasoned, “no one’s as great as you are.” Then, because they were at a stop sign, he stretched up to kiss Jesper’s cheek, bumping his horns on the top of the car.

When they reached Zoya’s, they were welcomed by Nina Zenik in a costume. Jesper realized for the first time that it was entirely possible Nina hadn’t so much wanted a party as an excuse to wear that. Her little white dress showed off her best assets, while the black boots with a dozen buckles each and light-up devil’s-horn headband made sure no one mistook her for an actual angel or anything. Even if she did have a pair of tiny white wings.

“You’re here!” she cried. “Finally! Let’s play Scattergories.”

So they did just that. Even Kaz joined in, though his costume wasn’t more than his usual dark clothing and an especially somber expression.

#six of crows #six of crows fanfic #inej ghafa #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #nina zenik #technically Kaz is also there #special appearances by Genya Safin and David Kostyk #modern au #au_gust_2020 #my writing

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pencil-prince · 5 years ago

Photo

Real Name: Jackson Vince Nickname : Jakie Age: 32 Occupation: Head of mechanics Base of Operations: America Affiliation:Talon Rôle :Offense

Backstory: Jackson grew up in a very rich, clean and privileged household.where their parents didn't care for them very much. They were there, they just didn't care. His parents made some dicey money choices which lost them a fortune, so Jack had to get a job anywhere he could to help his family. He ended up getting a job at overwatch as Moira’s assistant. They helped with simple things like fetching Moira something she needed or cleaning off the tables after a test. He also helped with fixing machines if they happened to break down. Him and Moira grew a strong relationship, she became like a mother to him. After years of working for Overwatch his parents died during one of their interventions, he blamed them for it and quit. Not long before Moira was fired. After Moira was requited to Blackwatch, she tracked down Jackson to help them out. Jack was head creator of all the equipment and gear Blackwatch used in combat, he even helped Moira create her healing pack.

Personnality: Jakie has a very sweet and caring personality. But his temper is terrible, he doesn't get angered easily but when hes does hes very dangerous. Like screaming and throwing stuff dangerous. But when hes calm is one of the most caring people you will ever meet.

Health : 200hp, 50 shield Primary weapon : Tentacles Left click: Similar to Brigs weapon, he has 6 wip like tentacles coming from his back that do 20 damaged each. But if you are hit by all 6 in a row, you active his passive Right click: You get wipped by all 6 at once, but his passive isn't activated Melee : A wrench Passive: Life steal

Secondary attack: Gas grenade: When thrown blinds enemies for 10 seconds Ability: Grab: His tentacles can grab you and bring you in. But they are very weak, so you can fade, stun, freeze or hit him with a damage heavy weapon to get freed Ultimate: Hes lifted up by his tentacles, able to go very high in the air. When up there he can smack people which deals 110 damage per hit.

Skin: - Classic - Rare : Yellow tint, pink tint, blue tint and white tint - Epic : formal (light) and formal (dark) - Legendary : Teen (dark) Teen (light) - Olympic Games :Referee -Origin: Blackwatch - Halloween : Futakuchi-onna - Christmas : Christmas decorations - Chinese New Year : Xié'è de zhāngyú (Evil octopus) -Uprising: Lab assistant -Anniversary: Moira impression Emotes: - Heroic : His tentacles are resting on the ground, while jack has his hand on his hip, and his other hand is resting by his side doing the ‘Got em’ Hand sign - sitting : His tentacles swirl to become a chair - laughing : Hes pressing his hands into his face and stomach muffeling his laughs - Olympic Games: He pulls out a referee hat and wistle, he blows it, then shakes his finger at you - Halloween : They curl up with their tentacles into a ball, to deliver a childish jump scare - Christmas : Their holding many little bells, and attempting to sing - Chinese New Year: They wiggle their arms and tentacles to look like an octopus -Dance: He just basically does the dance from the ‘Never gonna give you up’ music video -Anniversary: He pulls out a picture of his parents, looks at it and smiles -Uprising: Their not paying attention, sloutching, hands in pockets. until they junps into a much more formal pose. -Pride: He pulls out a demi boy and pansexual pride flag -Boi: They inhale with there hands, then do the BOI -Not worth my time: Their yelling at you, until he just rolls his eye and facepalms

Victory pose: - Heroic: His tentacles are resting on the ground, while jakie has his hand on his hip, and his other hand is resting by his side doing the ‘Got em’ Hand sign - Olyimpic games : His tentacles are juggling 10 different types of balls - Halloween : His hand is peaking through holding a wrench, while some of his tentacles and poking out around the back - Christmas : Each tentacle is holding a mug, even his hands - Chinese New Year : He is holding and open scroll that reads 好遊戲 (Good game) -Uprising: He sitting on a giant pile of papers and empty viles -Anniversary: Hes standing the same way reaper would -Heart: His arms and his tentacles form hearts -Pop star: Their singing into one of their tentacles like a microphone -Hug?: Simple, he wants to give you a hug

Highlight Intro: - Heroic: He has his hands on his hips, and he looks very perky - Olympic games : Hes has a ref hat and wistle. He is looking away then quickly turns around and blows the wistle - Halloween :He sneak attacks the camera, making it fall. So he goes down to camera level to check on it - Christmas : hes hold bells in his hands and tentacles, gingling them around at twirling - Chinese New Year : one side of his arms/tentacles has drums, and the other has drumstick - Uprising: Hes stumbling around carrying a giant stack of papers - Anniversary: They just hit the wip, simple -Ultimate power move: Their tentacles grow longer to get them higher in the air, they look very smug -Kissy face:He blows a kiss -Anger issues: He yells then sucker punches the camera

Voice lines: -Spawning in: “Cant wait to win!” -Spawning after death: “That was *angry silence* suboptimal” -Killing someone: “Taste my steal!” or “Ooh, their dead!” -Seeing an ally kill someone: “You go girl!”

-Spotting a turret: “I have sighted there turret, take cover!” -Destroying the turret: “Turret is down, charge!” -Spotting a sniper: “Sniper! get to shelter!”

-Escorting the payload: “Need a tentacle to move this thing?” -Payload stopped: “Ok who do I have to kill!?” -Attacking timer almost over: “Oh no oh no oh no!” - Defending timer almost over: “We can do it guys! Just a little longer!

-Ultimate: “Hows the weather down there?!” -Being on fire: “Guns a blazing!” -Being damaged boosted by Mercy: “Aww, Thank you Angela!” -Nanoboosted by Ana: “Im gonna rip them to shreds!”

-Olympic Games: “Get off my field!” -Halloween: “Boo! Did I scare ya?” -Christmas: “Happy ho ho ho holidays everyone!” -Chinese new year: “傑基非常蹩腳！Sombra taught me that one!” -Uprising: “How may I assist you, Doctor Moira? -Anniversary: “Reaper! Did ya see that!?”

-Are ya proud of me?: “I wonder what my parents would think of me... I hope they would be proud... -Big brain: “Aww yes, big brain time!” -I don't have anger issues: “I don't have anger issues! Maybe you have anger issues! Huh!? Ever think if that!?” - Not to self: “Try not to die!” - I wonder: I” wonder how Sanjays doing.... Really I miss him” - I swear: “I swear to god! im going to hit someone soon!” -”Ha, loser” - Reaper impression: “Death walks among you!” -Sombra impression: “Eh, i’m Sombra I can hack stuff, eh!” - Sigma impression: “The universe sings to me!!!” -”*Inhale* Boi!” - “God im so gay”

-Volskaya’s Industries: “Aw man, I have stolen so much stuff from here” -Gibraltar: “Filthy heros, they should have stayed dead...”

Outfit inspiration(s): I was very inspired by Moiras tentacles on her concept design, and Brigs design in the Reinhart cinematic.

Music theme(s): It’s the End of the World As We know it, by R.E.M Never Gonna Give You Up, by Rick Astley Blood// Water, by grandson Cradles, by sub urban And, Mr,Blue Sky, By Electric light Orchestra

Voice! Overwatch character bio template made by @teechew

#overwatch #overwatch oc #Oc: Jakie V #oc bio #original character #Pencil Speaks

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that-one--book-nerd · 7 years ago

Text

MAGNUS FIGURES OUT HIS SEXUALITY

THIS ALSO INCLUDES:

MAGNUS LEARNING ABOUT SEXUALITIES

FIERROCHASE

FLUFF

AAAHHH I’M REALLY PROUD OF THIS! I HOPE Y’ALL ENJOY!!

Magnus Chase somehow managed to shower all the chocolate off of himself, but he couldn’t wash off the sensation he felt on his lips.

In fact, he never wanted to.

He put on a fresh set of clothes and laid down on his bed, staring up at Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and thought about Alex Fierro.

He thought about his badassery in every way, shape, and form—in every sense of each of those words. No matter if Alex was a girl or a guy, Magnus finally admitted to himself something he already knew, but couldn’t quite believe himself until now.

“I’m in love with Alex Fierro.”

The words felt amazing yet foreign to say. He had crushed on Alex since she arrived at Hotel Valhalla all those months ago, but he never really realized what those weird fuzzy feelings in his stomach were until Alex kissed him under the blanket in Niflheim, and suddenly, everything became a thousand times clearer. Even after the second kiss, Magnus still couldn’t quite fathom the idea that Alex might actually like him back.

Magnus touched a couple of fingers to his lips to make sure they were still there and thought about what Alex had said.

“I need some space, Chase.”

Magnus decided that that was reasonable.

I mean, I did kind of just say that her kissing me is the best thing to ever happen to me, Magnus thought to himself. And on a boat made of dead people’s toenails, surrounded by giants. Yep. Super romantic.

Magnus thought about everything before deciding something for himself:

I need some space too. But first, Alex Fierro.

He thought about how Alex would call him stupid if he heard Magnus’s somewhat contradicting thoughts, but the thought of Alex made Magnus’s cheeks flush and his stomach buzz.

Magnus got out of bed and headed towards Alex’s door and knocked. When Alex opened it, he gave Magnus a face that said: really?

“Magnus, what part of ‘I need space’ and ‘I’ll get back to you’ did you not understand? Do you want me to explain it to you like you’re two?”

“Hello to you too, Alex. Listen, I understand you need space, and I’m completely okay with that. I just came here to tell you that I need a bit of space too, just to figure things out, okay?”

Alex nodded and crossed his arms.

“That’s fair.”

“B-but I also don’t want us to completely ignore each other,” Magnus continued, feeling himself getting flustered. Alex smiled, which did anything but calm down the wild party that was happening inside of Magnus’s chest.

“Aww, you’re so cute when you’re smitten and flustered!” Alex said, pinching Magnus’s cheek and laughing. Magnus’s face only became more red.

“I hate you,” Magnus said, trying to be seriously sarcastic but smirking.

Alex smirked back. “I hate you too.”

Magnus got lost in Alex’s eyes before he remembered what he was going to say.

“Oh, one more thing: can I borrow that book with all the BLT terms?”

“Did you mean that book with all the LGBTQIA+ terms?”Alex asked, rolling his eyes and smiling. “I do tend to have the power to make people question their sexuality. Here, I’ll go get it.”

Alex returned carrying a decent-sized book that had been well-used and well-loved. The cover was covered in colors and stickers, and the title read: The Queer Alphabet: A Guide to LGBT and Everything In Between. It looked like it was written in silver holographic glitter that made rainbows when you moved it.

“If you damage this book in any way, shape, or form, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

Magnus sensed that despite the fact that they were einheirji in Valhalla and could easily reincarnate, Alex was not being completely sarcastic.

“This is the book that helped me figure out who I am. I got it from my abuelo,” Alex whispered, not meeting Magnus’s eyes. Magnus gently patted Alex’s arm.

“Thank you for sharing this with me, Alex.”

Alex Fierro smiled and Magnus’s stomach was about to explode with happiness, rainbows, unicorns, and falafels.

“I hope it helps you as much as it helped me,” Alex said before closing the door and leaving Magnus staring at the polished brown wood.

Magnus returned to his room, plopped down on his bed, and opened the book. On the inside of the book was a note, written in what looked Spanish. After being homeless and looking at Mexican restaurant menus for two years and hanging out with Alex for the past few months, Magnus was just able to read the note:

My Dear Alex, I hope this book helps you figure out who you are. No matter what, never stop being the amazing person you are, and don’t be afraid of change. With love, Abuelo.

The last few words of the last sentence were underlined in neon pink pen, and in the same color, just below the note, was another note (in Spanish) that read:

I won’t.

Magnus softly smiled at the little exchange.

As Magnus flipped through the book, he felt like he was discovering a whole new world. He knew, of course, that non-straight and non-cisgender people existed, but he never truly knew how many types of non-straight/cisgender people there were. As he went along the book, he noticed little notes written in the margins with neon colored pens and definitions highlighted in either pink or green. He also made a list on a separate sheet of paper with a list of sexualities and romantic orientations (something else he previously did not know existed) that he could possibly be:

Aromantic: yEaH tOtAlLy (no)

Asexual: hmmm, probably not

Bisexual: maybe probably?

Demisexual: I know this doesn’t have anything to do with demigods but I bet Percy’s demisexual (but I’m not)

Gay/Homosexual: It would probably be hard for me to be attracted to only one (1) gender with Alex Fierro being genderfluid

Heterosexual: LMAO NAH BRO

Lesbian (see: gay/homosexual): not even close

Magnus kept flipping through the book until he came across a term that, when he read its definition, made his heart vibrate for a second.

Pansexual: Attraction to people regardless of gender; attraction to all genders.

Magnus looked at the pink, yellow, and light blue striped flag that was next to the word.

Suddenly, he felt right.

~~~~~

The next morning, Magnus returned the book. At least, he tried to. When he knocked on Alex’s door, there was no response. Magnus took a post-it note and wrote a note on it and stuck it to Alex’s door. Deciding it would be better and safer if he kept the book in his room rather than leave it on the floor in a hotel full of regularly-dying-and-fighting dead people, Magnus went back to his room to prepare for the day’s battle. He had just taken his shirt off when he heard a voice behind him.

“What is it with you and not closing the door before you change your clothes?”

Alex Fierro leaned against Magnus’s door frame wearing a pink and green chain-mail sweater vest with dark green jeans.

Magnus felt the blood rushing to his face.

“I—uh—” was all he could stutter out.

“Gods, Magnus…” Alex said as she rolled her eyes—Magnus realized that Alex was now female—and smiled up at the ceiling.

“At least you’re not covered in chocolate,” Alex finished, her heterochromatic eyes sparkling.

Magnus couldn’t think of anything to add, so he decided to do what he did best: awkwardly change the topic.

“Thanks for letting me borrow the book,” he started. “It really helped.”

Alex smiled fondly and genuinely, and Magnus nearly melted on the spot.

“I’m glad,” Alex said, walking towards Magnus and pulling out a crumpled-up post-it note from her jean pockets. Magnus realized it was the one he had left for her.

“I’m guessing you’ve decided on…hmm…asexual?” Alex tried to hold back a laugh (and failed to do so) as she and Magnus looked at the bad drawing of a pan with “oh no I’m attracted to kitchen stuff” written next to it. Magnus couldn’t help but join in.

“You do know what pansexual means, right?” Alex asked, still laughing.

“Yeah,” Magnus replied.

“Good, because I’m pansexual too.”

Magnus couldn’t stop the giddy feeling that exploded in his chest.

“I know it’s none of my business, and you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to or whatever, but what’s your romantic orientation?” Alex asked, calming down.

“Probably panromantic as well. Can that be different than my sexuality?”

“Oh yeah, totally. I know people who are asexual but biromantic, pansexual but aromantic, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Cool,” Magnus remarked. “What’s your romantic orientation?”

“I’m panromantic too.”

“Cool,” Magnus said.

The duo stood awkwardly next to each other before Magnus realized what Alex wanted.

“Here’s your book,” he said, getting it from his bed and handing it to Alex. “I promise I didn’t damage it.”

“You better not have,” Alex said with a smirk as she turned around and began walking to the door. “I’ll see you on the battlefield, Chase.”

“See ya then, Fierro.”

Alex looked back and smiled before closing the door behind her.

~~~~~

The battle was a bloodbath.

The daily battles always were, but it was especially bloody today.

Everything Magnus could see was tainted red due to the blood dripping down his head. He felt light and heavy all at the same time and he could feel himself about to die. He called upon his healing powers and was rejuvenated just enough for his vision to become clear again and for him to have enough self-awareness to see what was happening no more than ten feet in front of him.

Alex was fighting—and losing to—a berserker from Floor 432. Magnus noticed that the berserker’s spear was about to impale Alex.

He started running towards the two fighters. Despite knowing that death in Hotel Valhalla was temporary, the thought of Alex dying and him not doing anything to stop it made Magnus sick.

Magnus gathered up the little strength he had left, and at the last second, he threw himself between the spear and Alex.

The spear impaled him straight through the heart.

The last thing Magnus heard was Alex screaming, and the last thing that he saw was Alex beginning to cry as she beheaded the berserker with her garrote.

~~~~~

Magnus woke up hours later in his bed, his scars from the day’s battle in the last stages of healing.

He attempted to sit up in bed and grunted at the pain in his chest.

“Lie back down, idiot.”

Magnus’s eyes adjusted and he saw that Alex Fierro was standing over him, his eyebrows knitted together with what was either worry or concentration.

Magnus noticed that Alex had shifted genders again and was now male.

“I’m fine,” Magnus said, wincing at the pain.

“Like Hel you are,” Alex responded, rolling his eyes.

Magnus sighed as he asked, “Why are you here? Not that I don’t want you here or anything, I just—”

“I waited for you to wake up, idiot,” Alex responded, crossing his arms across his chest.

Magnus let the fact that Alex Fierro had waited for Magnus to wake unsettle in. His heart felt like it would burst out of his chest.

“Listen,” Magnus said as he started to explain himself.

“About what happened on the battlefield—I know you said you needed space—”

“Magnus—”

“—and I understand that completely, but I just—”

“Magnus—”

“I couldn’t just stand there and watch you die!”

“Dude, I’m already dead.”

“You know what I meant.”

The two einherjar stared at each other.

“I get that you need space—”

“Magnus, please—”

“But—”

Magnus was cut off by Alex Fierro leaning down and kissing him.

As Magnus closed his eyes, he suddenly forgot what he was saying.

Though it caused his shoulders to scream in pain, Magnus reached up and gently took hold of Alex’s head.

When the couple broke apart, Magnus noticed that Alex’s gender had shifted to female.

“You’re—you’re a girl now,” Magnus noted.

Alex smiled and nodded.

“Neat. I didn’t know that kissing a genderfluid einherjar caused their gender to change.”

Alex laughed and held one of Magnus’s hands against her face

“I thought you needed space?” Magnus asked, rubbing his thumb against Alex’s face.

“I got my space, Chase,” Alex said, kissing him again.

“I’m ready when you are.”

Magnus couldn’t (and didn’t try to) stop the smile that beamed across his face. He leaned forward and kissed Alex again.

Magnus backed slightly away, stared at Alex’s eyes, and smiled again.

“Bring it on, Fierro.”

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spiltcandycoatedpunkblood · 5 years ago

Note

4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 26, 27, 29, 30? (doesn't have to be all, it's just the ones I found the most interesting)

hey, it’s cool!! i love answering asks

4. Favourite colour?

I’ve always been a huge fan of red.

6. What do you wish you could tell your past self?

That it’s okay not to be in a relationship. That it’s okay to take care of yourself. I know you’re lonely and that there’s expectations to deal with things a certain way and be with someone. I know you felt different and some people don’t understand and hurt you as a result. The people that try and make you feel bad for who you are are wrong, you don’t have to put yourself down because people see it as selfish and conceited to be happy with who you are and look after yourself. You don’t deserve to treat yourself badly because of what other people said. People will try and give you bullshit and lies and you don’t need to listen. We will be happy in who we are and we will find the people that love us for us and don’t try and change us. Believe me, you are a good person. I promise you.

8. How was your day?

It was alright!! Kinda heavy though, went to counselling and realised some stuff like, I’m not happy where I am emotionally and physically but I feel stuck. I’m angry with what came before, so I’m alright, but just...tired. I ended up going to my local library which is always relaxing, frankly, browsed the internet and had a chat with the librarian. Had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and ice cream and a muffin for pudding, so I think it’s not been too bad. I’m just weighed down by a bunch of things, but I try as much as I can. I do need to take better care of myself.

10. What’s your favourite hobby?

Writing!! I absolutely adore it, and it helps with my anxiety. I’ve loved it ever since I was a child and my parents keep a whole stack of it in their bedroom from over the years.

12. Which pride flags do you like the most design/colour wise?

Ooooh damn...I think my absolute favourites design/colour wise is either the brilliant pink, blue and yellow of the pansexual flag or the pastel pink, blue and white of the transgender flag (reminds me of a milkshake). Although I can also never get enough of the dark pink, blue and green of the polysexual flag.

26. Tell me a random fact about yourself!

When me and my sister were much younger, everyone thought we were either twins or that I was the younger sibling. It didn’t help that I’ve always been short for my age and had that child-like look and sound about me (which I’ve wanted so long to shake off), so we’ve either been the same height or she’s the taller one. I especially had about size 12/13 (UK) shoe size. In one of our kid photos, me and her are about the same size whilst our brother is clearly much taller.

27. Do you own any pride flags/merch?

Hell yeah!! I tend to get some, I do love it. I’ve got pics:

gold they/them pronoun button, agender (although I label myself nonbinary, agender does play a lot into my identity) pride button and asexual pride button

woven asexual and aromantic pride bands

“no thanks” asexual t-shirt

nonbinary pride flag

asexual pride flag

29. Any advice to someone who isn’t out or who is exploring themselves?

Hey, there is no rush. You don’t have to come out and if you do, do it because you want to. Some people pressure people to come out and ‘not live a lie’, but that’s bullshit. Just because you’re not out, doesn’t mean you don’t feel comfortable with who you are. Some people don’t come out for a lot of reasons, whether for their own safety or whether they feel it’s just not necessary. Not everyone wants to come out, it’s their own business.

And exploration? Don’t feel like once you say you’re something, that’s it. I’m still unsure about a whole lot of things about my own identity. People can go through so many labels before things make sense. For me, aroace makes the closest amount of sense and my gender’s a whole other ballpark. These things don’t have to be a fixed thing, it doesn’t need to be rushed. You don’t have to put labels on if you don’t want to, but you can also put labels on to make sense of who you are and how you feel. Personally labels feel important to me and give a sense of control over how I feel, but it is entirely up to you. You shouldn’t be made to feel like a faker, made to feel afraid to see what works for you. Sometimes things don’t, and that’s okay.

Coming out and exploration should not be strictly defined and decided upon, it’s so important to let people decide for themselves.

30. Pineapple on pizza?

Answered in this post.

#asks #ask games #games #justasimplefangirl2020 #honestly this felt so important to do #thank you so much!!!

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the-softest-fics · 8 years ago

Text

I'll Always Love You

Title: I’ll Always Love You

Pairing(s): Anti x Reader

Request: Anti x reader where anti comforts the reader about her family not accepting her, and its all fluffy and stuff (request)

Warning(s): Just that whole generalization of “you’re just confused” or “there’s no such thing” since to some people I know pansexuals are unicorns or figments of our imagination. With that some very mild parental abuse.

Summary: The readers parents have decided that their daughter being pansexual isn’t something they agree with. So she decides to leave instead of endure their often hurtful comments and treatment.

A/N: I hope this is sorta kinda what you wanted anon! Enjoy :p

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It started about a month ago. You had begun questioning your sexuality, and eventually settling on the idea that you were pansexual. It made a lot of sense really, knowing where you fit did make you feel better though. You were getting comfy and cozy with the idea, soon deciding to tell close friends. The first person you came out to was your closest friend (and secret love interest) Anti.

Of course he was accepting! He wasn’t really human, but he was there for your in every decision you could think of. He supports you through every rough patch and cheers you up when your down. So when you proposed the idea of coming out to your parents he was with you all the way, cheering you on from the sidelines.

You went out and bought a “hearts not parts” pansexual flag, hanging it above the couch in your living room. Setting out very cute pink, yellow, and blue decorations. You even went so far as to put on a t-shirt with a pansexual symbol on it. You waited till both of them had gotten off work, popping a confetti popper as they walked through the door. You shout, “Guess what?? I’m Pan!”

You watch as your mother’s face contorts into a very confused state and your father’s into scowl. You swallow nervously before speaking once more, “Mom, Dad. I want to love someone for what’s in their heart… not what’s between their legs. Love is love, this is what I believe in. This is me.” You can see the anger in your fathers face, you feel it when he looks at you and the decorations you set up. Your mother looks almost disgusted with your words.

“This had best be a sick joke Y/N.” he says angrily. You look at him with a face almost set in stone, shaking your head no and flaring your nostrils slightly. He grabs you by the wrist, you grit your teeth as he drags you to your room throwing you inside and against the frame of your bed. You hiss as the sturdy wood makes contact with your hip.

“You can come out when you stop making things up! There’s no such thing! Get your head straight or I’ll take you to see some kinda specialist to straighten out whatever problem you’ve got stuck in your head!” He slams the door shut, spouting a string of profanities that are muffled by the wood of the door. Your knees are so shaky from adrenaline and fear they give way, you sink to the floor. You give into the tears pricking at the corners of your eyes, curling into a ball and hugging your knees close to your chest. You stay that way for hours until you realize it would be easier to just leave than to see what waits in the next morning.

You muster all of the courage you have as you throw clothes into a backpack. You grab all of the money from its hiding place in your desk drawer. The money was originally there as spending money for your family’s next out of state trip, but that seems to be called off for now. You slide the window open, raising a foot to kick the screen free. It falls onto the ground and you climb out. Being sure to toss a spiteful note behind you as you walk away into the brisk night, pulling the hood of your jacket onto your head.

As the distance between you and your house grows from feet, to meters, to blocks and so on, you find it hard to keep walking, feeling so withered and warn down. You eventually stop at a wooden bench beneath a street light. You pull out your phone and call someone you knew would understand, Anti. He answers with a sleep-heavy voice, “h-hello?”

“Anti… i-it’s me Y/N. I-I really need your help.” You start to cry, tears rolling over your cheeks and down to your chin.

“Where are you? I’m coming to get you right now.” He says

“T-the corner of f-first street.” You answer shakily

“Wait there for me, love” *click* he hangs up without warning.

He’s never called you “love” before. You wonder for a while if he means it or if he was just all turned around. You find comfort in it, but you find even more knowing he’s coming to get you.

The drive is silent, but he makes you slide beside him in the bench seat of his truck, having you lean your head on his shoulder with his arm around you. He holds you close as you drive back to his apartment. Eventually carrying your sleeping figure up the stairs and to his bedroom.

When you wake up his arms are snaked around your waist and he’s holding you protectively against his chest. “Why’d you leave home?” He asks into the still air. He must’ve been awake long before you were. You sit up, breaking his hold on you. You tuck your knees back up toward your chest, letting your face fall between them. A shiver goes down your spine just thinking about how it went last night. “Well, I tried to come out to my parents last night. The key word being tried.” You laugh nervously before raising your face to look at him. His eyes as sad and understanding as he scoots beside you and takes you into his arms. You hold tightly onto him and begin to allow incoherent sentences about what had happened spill forth from your lips. He pulls you back by the shoulders so he can look you in the eyes, “Y/N, I love you. I love you for who you are and always will. No matter what.” Your face heats up at his words, he loves you.

“Anti, I-” he cuts you off with a chaste kiss and gentle hands on the sides of your face. You smile as you both pull away, kissing his cheek and saying “I love you too.” He grabs your hand, running his thumb across the back. He looks at you very seriously before he looks down. “I never told you that I was actually bi,"He sighs "I thought you’d reject me or somethin’.”

“Never.” You say with a warm smile. You tilt his face toward you and kiss him once more, melting into it and falling even more in love with him.

You and Anti soon begin dating, it’s the two of you against the world. You love each other more than words, he loves you more than his own life. You do return to your home the next week or so, to collect all of your things. Anti comes with just to make sure your father doesn’t try anything funny with you. You move in with Anti, you finally feel safe and loved. Hell, you feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have him by your side and in your heart.

#anti x reader #antisepticeye x reader #anti fanfiction #antisepticeye fanfiction #anti fic #antisepticeye fic #request

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secretoctocat · 5 years ago

Text

placeholder name [teleportals]

excerpt from a story i’m working on

Dusk had settled over the campus about half an hour ago — all of the college’s typical personnel had finished their shifts and were briskly making their way through the parking lot to avoid the late autumn air that nipped at their faces, numbing their noses and making their eyes run. Nobody wanted to linger behind on campus because of the gestating snowstorm that darkened the sky and impregnated the clouds with a bitter chill, which was why Hadley did linger behind, as cars pulled away quickly and the last students boarded the city bus that had come to make its final stop at the campus for the night’s route.

As far as Hadley could tell, she was the only one left at the college. Any night classes that had originally been scheduled were delegated to online assignments or had been cancelled altogether. It was this solitude that she had craved. She did not want to return to her dorm room because her roommate, as nice as she was, had decided to stay at school instead of returning home for Thanksgiving break, which Hadley had hoped against as she’d enjoyed the prospect of having the dorm entirely to herself for a while. But since Kelli was currently in their dorm room playing Korean pop music videos on YouTube less than quietly on her computer, Hadley had meandered out of the student dormitories and through the cluster of administrative buildings until she reached the courtyard, replete with a bronze statue of an owl as its central fixture, drawing the viewer’s eye towards it as a reference to its tidy position in the center of the campus. Several concrete benches with ornate carvings evenly encircled the owl statue and dotted the courtyard, framed by a dense collection of cold, dark oak trees that absorbed some of the wind’s harshest currents. Once-flowering bushes lined every path stretching in each cardinal direction. When the holiday break was over, the courtyard would be teeming with students again, packed into the gazebos just beyond the owl statue and branching off from eastward sidewalk and the campus café’s outdoor tables to the south.

But for now Hadley was in the company of the bronze bird statue, caught in its fierce metallic gaze. It had been carved with such attention to detail, the groove of each feather, the way its talons gripped onto the bronze tree branch connected to a trunk that sprouted from the statue’s base, that Hadley felt like it could fly off into the sky. She had been so lost in thought, staring at the bronze owl statue, when she finally realized she actually wasn’t alone.

She hadn’t even seen or heard him approach, but what signaled his appearance was perhaps even more bizarre; he carried with him the brine-y scent of the ocean and the heavy, warm glow of enduring tropical sunlight. To Hadley, one moment there wasn’t a single other human soul around her by her own design, and the very next it was as if this strange man had approached from her blind spot without detection save for the beach’s aroma.

And he was strange. His clothes were inappropriate for the season: a tank top in the traditional pink, yellow, and turquoise colors of the pansexual pride flag, a pair of grayish-lavender skinny jeans sporting various holes and tears along the legs and thighs, some appearing to be the designer’s intention, most not, and tennis shoes that seemed a size too small. The only weather appropriate garment he wore was a striped pink beanie. Around his neck hung what Hadley assumed through the darkness to be an ammonite that pulsed with a gentle, if strange, aquamarine light. Finally, on his back he wore a knapsack made of an unfamiliar material, with a sewn on patch that said something in a language Hadley wasn’t familiar with — and she was a linguistics major.

Her first thought was that he was most likely homeless, her second that he appeared impossibly indifferent to the encroaching freeze, and her third that he was quite attractive.

She was unnerved by his sudden presence, but from his lachrymose gaze at the owl statue, she concluded that she didn’t actually feel threatened by him, only mystified. The more she studied him, the more she felt concerned — maybe he just wasn’t expressing how cold he felt?

He finally noticed Hadley staring at him, and in the dim haze of lamplight as he faced her she could see that he had heterochromia, one brown and one green eye. In the lowlight she could barely discern the dusting of freckles along his nose and upper cheeks and that he was not just tanned but Asian. Now he stared back at her, with an unreadable expression, and Hadley hoped that she hadn’t intruded on some private moment of his.

But the nagging worry that he was cold and didn’t have anywhere safe to go prompted her to ask in a voice she barely recognized as her own, “Aren’t you cold? Do you need a jacket?”

He didn’t respond at first, but Hadley could see his face relax a bit. She took a few steps forward casually, hands in her jacket pockets because she had forgotten to bring her gloves.

“If you need one, I can give you one. My dorm isn’t too far from here.” She slowly took a few more steps closer and noticed how long his dark eyelashes were. He seemed stupefied, not taken aback or offended even, but almost as if he were mentally absent, or alternatively, overcome with heavy and burdensome thoughts.

As Hadley closed the distance between herself and the strange young man, the first snow of the season (and of a blizzard that would go on to incapacitate the city for days) drifted between them. They were inches apart, standing together, and Hadley talked like they were old friends.

“What’s your name?” Hadley asked him. “My room is this way,” she added with a gentle jerk of her head.

Finally the young man replied quietly, “My name’s Kai.”

Snowflakes were catching on their hats.

“I’m Hadley.”

They began walking towards Hadley’s dorm room in a silence that was surprisingly not uncomfortable. The wind had begun to pick up and now snowflakes began to pelt Kai’s bare arms — it was subtle, but Hadley saw him shiver a few times.

Hazy lamplight projected the shadows of swirling snowflakes that plummeted and stuck to the ground in icy patches. Hadley’s boots had soles meant for providing traction on slippery surfaces, but Kai’s tennis shoes did not, and at one point he lost his balance and flailed for several seconds before Hadley managed to steady him. For the rest of the trek, Kai held securely onto Hadley’s arm as she escorted him across campus as it froze over beneath their feet.

When they arrived outside the east wing of the student dormitory buildings, Hadley fished her access key card out of her wallet and swiped them in. They took the elevator up to the third floor and when they stood outside the door to Hadley’s dorm room she said to Kai softly, “Wait out here for just a moment. It’ll be a lot faster if my roommate doesn’t see you and try to ask a ton of questions.”

Kai nodded and leaned back against the hallway, the sole of one foot perched against the wall and his arms crossed casually over his chest. Hadley pretended not to notice how tight his shoulder muscles were, or the gentle ripples of his biceps, and she slipped quickly through the door into her dorm room with another swipe of the access key card.

Kelli looked up from her computer that was loudly playing a familiar K-pop song by a musician that Hadley didn’t know to nod a polite “hi” before returning her attention back to her computer screen. Kelli began furiously typing something so Hadley took this as her cue to begin gathering the items she came here for.

The first was a dark jacket lined with fleece that she’d purchased for $15 at a local thrift store at the beginning of the semester. The second were two pairs of gloves — a pair for Kai and the pair she had forgotten to wear earlier. The third took a fair amount of rummaging at the bottom of her closet to find, but was proud of herself for managing to procure the pair of snow boots that were too big for her that she had planned to return to the mall but forgot about ages ago. She wasn’t sure if they’d fit Kai, but from what she could tell his feet weren’t that large, and he definitively needed proper footwear. The fourth and final item Hadley sought was a small violet drawstring bag that contained a Pikachu print baggie filled with nuggets of weed, a small blue and purple pipe, and a lighter. She stuffed everything into a small messenger bag as not to rouse Kelli’s curiosity, waved goodbye to her roommate, and slipped back out into the hallway where Kai waited patiently. His eyes flickered to Hadley’s messenger bag, then back to her face.

He gave her a tiny smirk and said his first real sentence since he told her his name, “You’d think she’d go deaf listening to music that loud.”

“We’ve already gotten two noise complaints from other students,” Hadley replied with a laugh. She led them to the stair flight between the second and third stories and procured the boots and clothing from the bag.

“Sorry if the boots are too small. They were too big on me but I lost the receipt before I could remember to return them. Consider them yours.”

Kai sat down on the stair flight’s first step, yanking off the old weathered sneakers, tugging on the boots, and lacing them up. He stood up and donned the fleece lined jacket before pulling gloves over each hand.

“How do the boots fit?” Hadley asked, eyeing him and suddenly feeling self-conscious about it. She put on her own gloves as a distraction from how well the jacket fit him, accentuating the sturdiness of his shoulders and litheness of his overall build. He was a shorter man, Hadley guessed around 5 feet and 7 inches, and she herself was thin, with a slightly wider than average shoulder span for a cisgender girl, so it appeared her clothing fit him well enough.

“The boots are a bit snug but I think if I take my socks off I won’t be able to tell,” Kai said, removing them from his feet and stuffing them into Hadley’s messenger bag, noticing the small drawstring bag in doing so.

Hadley realized that Kai had noticed the drawstring bag and asked him lightly, “Do you smoke pot?”

“Oh,” he huffed a small laugh, as he came to the understanding of what was in the drawstring bag. “Yeah.”

She motioned for him to hand her the drawstring bag so he did, and she tucked it in her coat pocket. She only allowed herself a moment, this moment, to reflect on how easy it was to interact with this perfect stranger. Hadley was a more introverted person by nature, and she was particular about who she spent her time with, making it a slight challenge to befriend others, but moreso to maintain those relationships. Usually being around others was mentally taxing, even if they were friends, but so far tonight being with Kai only energized Hadley. The prospect of him being there in her near future made Hadley’s heart skip a beat. It was so long since she felt this way that it took her several moments to identify it.

Maybe it’s just a crush, Hadley thought and decided to push these alarming thoughts out of her mind.

“There’s a park nearby,” Hadley said. “Nobody should be there.”

“Lead the way,” said Kai with an ornate hand gesture, suggesting that Hadley go first and he would follow. She did, and he followed.

Snow was piling around the base of street lamps and in bushes and trees, cocooning the night in a cold, white embrace. Hadley and Kai exited the east wing dormitory, their breaths escaping their lips in ghostly puffs. They walked together in the darkness across the campus, their boots crunching loudly in the empty, expansive night.

Just when Hadley thought she should think of something to talk to him about, maybe the campus or city in general, Kai said softly, “Thank you for talking to me tonight.”

“Of course,” Hadley said. “You looked...well, cold and lonely.”

A few moments passed and Hadley worried that she’d overstepped a boundary as a stranger, but finally Kai replied, “I was.”

“I don’t want to ask if it’s none of my business but...what were you doing out here tonight like that, anyway?” Hadley asked tentatively. “Please don’t feel like you owe me an explanation—“ Kai stopped her by holding up his hand. A sad, tired smile crept across his lips. Hadley waited patiently for him to continue.

“It’s a lot more complicated than this really but...I guess you could say I had to part ways with a former lover.”

Her heart thumping wildly in her chest, Hadley slowly reached for Kai and drew him into a hug. She could feel his body trembling with quiet sobs. She let one hand run soothingly along his back.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” Hadley asked when Kai’s crying had begun to subside.

He rubbed the tears from his eyes with the back of a gloved hand. He seemed to think about the question longer than Hadley thought was normal, but finally he responded, “No, I guess I don’t.”

“You can stay with me,” Hadley offered. “Kelli won’t shut up about it for a while because she can be incredibly nosy, but she won’t complain.”

“Are you sure?” Kai looked doubtful. “Aren’t I...not supposed to be there?”

Hadley shrugged. “I say you’re supposed to be there, so really that’s all that matters. Also uh, it’s Thanksgiving break, so there’s like no one left on campus to care.” Hadley unsnaked her arm from around his back and stepped away a bit as to not overcrowd him with her offer and presence.

Finally, Kai began to nod slowly. “As long as you’re sure you’d want me there, then.”

“Yes, I do!” Hadley replied so quickly and with such enthusiasm that she immediately felt more than a little self-conscious. Something unreadable flickered across Kai’s expression, and Hadley could feel her cheeks burning even though snow continued to caress her face. A smirk broke the corner of Kai’s lips.

“How could I say no, then?”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

As Hadley expected, the park was empty. They trudged through the rapidly thickening snow across the field to a swing set that was in the early stages of burial beneath ice. They swatted the piles of snow off the swing seats and sat down. Hadley produced the violet drawstring bag containing the Pikachu print baggie of marijuana and began to clumsily pack crumbled bits of bud into the pipe. She flicked the lighter and took a hit, then passed it to Kai, who put his mouth to the pipe and inhaled deeply. Their exhaled breaths mingled and dissipated together in a chilly shroud of smoke. Hadley momentarily reflected on the fact that she had originally come out tonight for solitude, but instead had made an unexpected friend. It was one of those well-placed coincidences. Surreal. As if a single ion out of place within fate’s framework might’ve prevented their introduction.

Kai passed the pipe back to Hadley, and as she sparked the lighter again, he asked her, “So, are you from around here?”

“No,” Hadley replied through curls of smoke. “I grew up in Florida, actually.”

As she handed the pipe back to Kai, he asked, “What made you decide to go to school, uh...here?” Hadley could feel a secret hidden in the depths of this question, but couldn’t identify what it was.

“I guess I just wanted to be somewhere far away from my hometown. I wanted to live somewhere that is the opposite of where I’ve come from. So, when I got an acceptance letter from Granite Bay University, I figured Washington State was about as far away as I could get without leaving the continental United States.”

Hadley noticed Kai’s interest pique when she mentioned this. It was subtle, but he had leaned forward subconsciously and his eyes were focused on her intently. His expression suggested he was putting something together in his mind and subsequently arriving at a conclusion, but Hadley had no idea what that could be.

Just when she was about to question him about this, he said gently, “I can understand that.”

Hadley nodded and stuffed more bud into the pipe’s bowl before handing it back to Kai. She watched him light up, soothed by the warm glow of the flame against his face and the shadows that briefly flickered into existence along his cheeks.

He watched her watch him, her lips parted in subdued thought, and before exhaling his hit, used his forefinger to beckon Hadley closer. Her heart clattered painfully within her rib cage as she complied with his request, leaning forward just closely enough for Kai’s lips to barely brush hers. His lips opened just enough for him to exhale smoke into Hadley’s mouth as she inhaled softly, feeling her cheeks burn feverishly despite the plummeting temperature. She pulled away in embarrassment, knowing that Kai could see her glowing cheeks even in the murky, snow blanketed light of the street lamp overhead.

She felt dizzy. Light-headed in a way that made the rest of her body feel light, too. She exhaled the smoke from Kai’s shotgun with a smile she couldn’t suppress. She couldn’t remember the last time she was too giddy to stifle her emotions behind the barriers she’d erected at an early age and fortified over time. It was an unexpected relief, one that threatened to tap into a well of her tears. She let a few salt her eyes, glazing her cheeks with cold streaks, and wiped them away quickly.

Kai’s concern was immediate. He leaned over on his swing and said anxiously, “I’m sorry if I crossed a boundary, I didn’t mean to upset you—“

But Hadley shook her head and held up her palm to stop him mid-sentence, her smile widening even as she dried her cheeks.

“Don’t worry. They’re happy tears.”

“Are you sure?” Kai’s face was slightly flushed with concern and a touch of embarrassment for daring to act so boldly. He leaned his swing set closer, taut on its chains, but still not too close to her. “Because the last thing I’d want to do is hurt you.”

“Trust me,” Hadley said gently, “you didn’t hurt me.” But it did make her wonder why Kai was able to make her feel this way. She felt like she was on the verge of understanding why. When was the last time she’d felt this way? Had she ever felt this way before? She wiped away the streams of tears that chilled her face with the back of her jacket sleeve.

“I guess it has just been a while since I’ve been this close to someone,” Hadley finally admitted, hoping to convince Kai that he was free of transgression. “I know we just met, but I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.”

“I get that a lot,” Kai said with a laugh, but something about it sounded hollow. Hadley was about to follow up on this, but instead Kai rose from the swing set, cutting off Hadley’s thoughts, and asked, “Want to walk and smoke? It’s too cold sitting here.”

Hadley nodded at his suggestion and pulled herself to her feet. Normally, walking around and toking in public made her anxious, but the campus was deserted besides herself and Kai.

As they meandered slowly back towards the eastern wing of dormitories, Hadley’s mind flitted back to what Kai had just said.

“So, you’re the kind of guy everyone feels like they’ve met before?” she asked, venturing to pry only a little bit.

All the same, Kai’s body tensed subconsciously. He rubbed the back of his head nervously, already letting his facade falter.

“You could say that,” Kai eventually replied. “I guess I just have that sort of face, huh?” He chuckled softly, unconvincingly.

“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Hadley said anyways, despite her misgivings. “Let’s head back to my place for the night. This cold weather is exhausting.”

He’s definitely hiding something from me, Hadley thought as they finished off the last of the weed in the pipe’s bowl and she returned it to the drawstring bag. We just met so it could honestly be anything...but he’s definitely in on something that he’s not telling me.

Hadley wondered what that could be for the rest of the night.

#kieren writes fiction #excerpt

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