#literally supposed to be doing homework right now but all i can think about is men🤢

[pa-pa-plasma]

i don't think i'll ever get over how people treat kids that aren't good in school as worthless no matter what. "oh it can't be that bad" my guy idk how to tell you this but the last time i went to a normal high school the principal called me into his office to brag about how he failed me in all of my classes before the semester was even finished & i should quit while i'm ahead cuz i'm too stupid ("officially" diagnosed as such by a school counselor & a psychiatrist!!) to succeed. & this is considered normal

[seungkw1]

sketchbook — xmh

♡ pairing: xu minghao x gn!reader ♡ theme: best friends to lovers, college au, fluff ♡ wc: 3.1k ♡ warnings: none

“why did i sign up for this stupid class?”

you mumbled it under your breath, but your best friend still heard it from across the room. he looks up from the book he’s reading, a concerned frown on his face.

“what’s wrong with the class?” he closes his book, his eyes resting on yours.

“the class is fine it’s just… i’m just bad at it.”

“i highly doubt that.” he gets up, joining you at your kitchen table currently cluttered with textbooks, homework, and various drawing materials. he reaches for your sketchpad. “let me see.”

“nuh-uh,” you say, closing the book. he grabs it from you anyway.

“minghao! come on,” you shout at him. he ignores you, flipping through the pages.

“most of those are shitty reject drawings that i started and gave up on, nobody needs to see those.”

he continues perusing through the book quickly, but pauses at a particular page. you take the chance and reach for the sketchpad again, grabbing hold of it.

“wait! i like this one.”

you glance at the drawing he’s looking at. it’s the side profile of a classmate, drawn as a warm-up exercise.

“what? that was just a warm-up sketch, and it’s not even good. it looks nothing like the girl i was drawing.”

minghao looks up at you. “that doesn’t mean it’s bad. art isn’t necessarily about drawing things exactly the way they look, it’s about your interpretation of the subject. that’s like the whole point.”

“i wasn’t interpreting anything here, i was literally just trying to draw her face.”

“but look,” he says, turning the book so you can see it. “look at the way she’s looking into the distance. she looks sad, but in a nostalgic way.”

you stare at the sketch. “i don’t see it.”

“but that’s part of it too - art isn’t always about knowing the exact meaning of the piece, it’s also open to interpretation on the viewer’s perspective. and i like the way you portrayed her emotion.” 

you narrow your eyes at him. “you’re just making that up to make me feel better.”

“i’m not! i promise. i really like your art style, y/n.”

you want to roll your eyes at him, but he looks too sincere. “okay but how can i have an art style if i literally started drawing two weeks ago at the start of the semester? i don’t even know what i’m doing.”

“look at all your drawings though,” he flips the pages one at a time. “you press really hard when you draw, so it gives everything a very bold, sharp look. and combined with the way you shade, it gives it a dramatic edge.”

you look at your sketches again. they’re still unsightly in your eyes, but you do kind of see what he means.

“well, that’s good to know i guess. but it’s still hard,” you mope. “i thought this would be an easy elective to get an A in but now i’m worried.”

“it’s an intro class - i’m sure the professor isn’t expecting you to be picasso on day one. just keep practicing and you’ll be perfectly fine.”

one of the many things you love about minghao: he always knows how to make you feel reassured. 

“you’re probably right,” you reply. “i don’t know what i should draw for practice, though.”

“well, what do you want to improve the most?”

you think for a second. “our next project is a life drawing, but drawing people is so hard. so maybe that but what am i supposed to do, just draw random people?”

“sure, why not?”

“because that’s weird!”

“okay, well it doesn’t have to be a random person. here, try drawing me.”

“you?? right now?”

“yeah.”

you open your mouth to protest, but you pause, realizing it might not be a bad idea. 

you shrug as you reach for your pencils. “okay, i guess. you can't get mad when it turns out terrible though.”

minghao smiles softly. he situates himself in the chair, focusing his gaze off in the distance. you pick up your sketchbook, holding it at a comfortable angle as you hold your pencil above the page. you think for a minute - you never know where to start when you have to draw a face. you glance back up at minghao, skimming across his features - naturally, you land on his eyes. you always forget how pretty they are: dark brown, soft, calm - giving him a permanent aura of being deep in thought. 

you look back down at the blank page, it's emptiness seemingly taunting you. with a sigh you touch the dulled lead tip to the paper, making your first stroke -  the curvature of minghao’s eyelid appearing on the page. you peep back up at your subject. to your surprise, your shape isn't too far off from reality. you continue, sketching his lower eyelid, his iris, his long dark eyelashes. you erase your marks a few times when they don't look quite right, but before long the image of an eye that looks mostly like minghao’s has formed. 

you move to his nose, drawing the line of its sharp bridge, sketching a circle to render its round, button-shaped end - bringing the shape of his face to life. you peer up at his face, your pencil continuing its strokes, but you pause as you arrive at his lips. they are soft, plump, perfectly formed, highly kissable. you sketch the delicate curves, emphasizing their pillowy nature. you find yourself absentmindedly in a trance when you realize you’ve been staring at him for too long - you’ve already finished drawing his mouth. you feel your cheeks turn warm, praying he can’t see you getting flustered out of the corner of his eye. 

you move on, sketching his soft but strong jawline, his ears - adorned with his usual jewelry, adding quick wispy lines to form the shape of his long hair. before long the essence of minghao has materialized in your notebook.

as you finish, you hold your sketchpad up to compare your drawing to your subject. you don’t love it, and it’s nowhere near perfect. but it is decidedly good enough.

“okay, i’m done, i guess.” you set the notebook down, hesitantly sliding it across the table toward minghao. he picks it up, turning it to face him as he looks at it for the first time. the edges of his mouth twitch upward into a subtle smile, but he doesn’t say anything.

“you hate it.”

minghao looks up at you. “what? no, i love it.” he looks back at the paper with a pleased grin. “i’m telling you, you’re really good at portraying emotion.”

“and what emotion exactly did i portray?”

he shows you your drawing. “i look wistful - like i’m caught in a daydream of unrequieted love.”

you feel your stomach do a flip, but you play it cool, crossing your arms and rolling your eyes at him. “well, i didn’t do that on purpose. but i’m glad you like it.” you extend your hand to take back the notebook, but he turns it toward him again, taking another look. 

“can i keep it?” he looks up at you, his striking brown eyes making contact with yours. you stifle a gulp as you reply.

“um… sure, i guess so. if you really want it.”

he gives you a soft smile, pleased at your response. “i really do.” he carefully tears the page along the perforation, separating it from its spiral binding. he closes the sketchbook and hands it back to you. you return it to its place in your backpack.

“well, thanks for letting me practice on you, i appreciate it.”

“of course. if you need any more practice let me know - since i see you most days anyway.”

“you’re the best.”

“i know,” he replies smugly. you pick up your eraser and lob it at him. he manages to catch it with one hand, giving you a sly look as you jump out of your chair, running from him before he can throw it back. he follows you, chasing you around your apartment - you shout at him, feigning anger, but your laughter gives you away. 

another thing you love about minghao: being with him is always so easy.

—

you didn’t mean to make drawing minghao a regular occurrence. but on one particularly crisp fall day, you find yourself absentmindedly sketching his features as you eat lunch together in the park. he’s reading for his literature class, and you’re supposed to be studying for your sociology course, but you keep zoning out. it’s not your fault that the text is dull, and that the cherub-like rosiness coloring his cheeks makes him look more ethereal than usual. renaissance paintings of angels have nothing on how beautiful he looks right now, you think to yourself. 

you also definitely didn’t mean to start falling for your best friend, but here you are.

delicate pencil strokes paint the wisps of his bangs falling over his eyes as he is studiously engrossed in his book, his long eyelashes peeking through the curtain of hair. you focus on perfecting the shape of his face - glancing up to compare your rendering to your subject - when you notice him looking back at you.

“what are you doing?” he asks, genuinely curious.

you’re about to shut your notebook in a panic, when you realize that would only look more suspicious. 

“nothing, just…”

he reaches for your notebook, his fingers brushing over the top of the page as he tilts it down so he can see. he lets out a soft chuckle.

“practicing again, i see,” he says, casually, but clearly teasing you a little. “i thought you were supposed to be studying for your sociology exam.”

“i am,” you insist. he raises his eyebrow at you. “i was just taking a break,” you add. the look on his face tells you he’s not convinced, but he doesn’t press you further.

“it looks good, i can tell you’re getting better at drawing from a reference.”

“i guess it is getting a little easier,” you admit. 

minghao smiles. “good,” he affirms, before going back to his text without another word. 

you find yourself gazing dreamily at the man before you, lost in aimless thoughts, imagining the feel of his hair tangled around your fingers, his skin softly pressed against your cheeks, his lips brushing against yours. eventually he notices, peeking up at you through his bangs. you swiftly return to your drawing, only to realize you've already finished. his portrait looks slightly cartoonish, and nowhere nearly as beautiful as the real thing, but you decide it's not half bad. 

you half-heartedly resume your studies, sneaking glances at minghao here and there. every glimpse makes your heart flutter - you feel like an idiot, you're in college for christ's sake, and here you are having an entire crush on your closest friend. 

just tell him how you feel, part of your mind tries to convince you. 

but what if it ruins our friendship? another part of you worries. 

you realize you're staring at him again when he looks up from his book, his gaze meeting yours. 

“hmm? what is it?” he asks you calmly. 

“i…” 

you hesitate. his eyes rest on your face attentively.

you let out a small sigh. “i’m getting cold. can we go inside?”

he smiles softly, marking his page as he closes his book. “of course.”

minghao walks you to your next class, which is conveniently located in the building next to his next class. 

“well, see ya later,” you tell him as you turn to enter the building. 

“y/n…”

you freeze as he grabs your arm. you turn back around, looking at him expectantly. he lifts his hand up to your head, tenderly reaching for your hair. you realize you're holding your breath. you exhale as his fingers graze your scalp softly, plucking something off of your head. 

he holds a small yellow piece up to you. “you had a leaf in your hair.” 

your panicking ceases, leaving you a bit disappointed, but you can't help but smile at him.

“thanks, minghao. what would i do without you?”

“walk around with leaves in your hair all day, probably.”

you playfully give him a light shove. he reaches for the door, opening it for you as you head off to class. 

“i'm coming over tonight, if that's alright,” he says as you step through the doorway. 

“of course,” you say, turning over your shoulder to face him. “though, i should probably start charging you rent as much as you're at my place.”

he smiles back at you. “see you later, y/n.”

he disappears as the door shuts quickly. you spend the rest of the afternoon in a daydream, impatiently counting the hours until you see him again. 

—

“how’s the studying going?” minghao asks from the other end of the couch. he sets his book down, pausing so he can take his hoodie off. his plain black t-shirt rises up as he does, revealing his entire midriff. you try not to gawk too hard. he stares at you as he tosses the hoodie aside - you realize he is awaiting your response. 

you look down at your notebook, where you’ve once again been sketching his face. “um… pretty good,” you lie. “are you hungry?” you ask, changing the subject.

“starving, actually,” he admits.

“well, i can offer you ramen, or… actually, that’s about it.”

he grins at you. “ramen sounds great. want me to make some-”

“nope,” you respond as you flip your notebook over, setting it face down on the seat next to you. “i got it.” you rise and head to the kitchen. 

you cook the noodles, serving them into two bowls and carrying them back to the living room. you set the bowls on the coffee table, reaching over to set one in front of minghao - but you feel your leg bump against something. you look down to see your notebook fall to the floor - landing right side up. before you can grab it, minghao has already picked it up for you. he goes to hand it back to you, but pauses as he sees your sketches. you go to swipe it out of his hands, but miss as he pulls back, looking at his own face doodled on your pages.

“you were drawing me again.” it wasn’t a question.

you try to quickly think of some excuse, anything, to get you out of this one, but your mind comes up blank. you decide to try and play it off.

“yes,” you reply with feigned confidence as you sit down next to him. he looks up at you, then back down to the paper. you stare at him, waiting for him to say something else, but he says nothing.

“i like to practice whenever i can,” you add with a shrug.

he flips through your notebook. “whenever you can, or whenever you’re with me?”

“um… i-”

“because these all sure look like me, y/n.”

“so?” you ask him. you meant for your tone to be casual, but it came out a bit more defensive than intended.

his eyes meet yours again. he looks at you warmly, but you can’t tell what he’s thinking. your heart beats rapidly in your chest. 

“so,” he answers as he sets the notebook aside. “i'm wondering, if…” he scoots closer to you, lifting his hand to your face, gently brushing your cheek with his thumb. your skin feels like it's on fire. his fingers tucked under your chin delicately, he draws your face in toward his. you gasp softly. 

“if you feel the same way about me, as i feel about you.”

your heart is racing. you feel dizzy. he's so close to you, a few more inches and your noses would touch. his plump lips wait enticingly. 

“and how do you feel about me?” you manage to ask, your voice barely more than a whisper. his deep brown eyes stare longingly into yours. you’re pretty sure you know the answer, you hope you know the answer, but you need him to confirm it. 

suddenly, he kisses you. 

he kisses you, setting alight fireworks inside you. his soft lips touch against yours ever so gently, his nose pressing against your cheek, his hand holding your face tenderly in his palm, then sliding to the back of your neck, drawing you closer still into him. your chest presses against his, his other arm wrapping around your waist, his large hand settling upon the small of your back. you kiss him back, your lips locked onto his like your life depends on it. you've thought of this, dreamt of this, so many times before, all the years you've known minghao - yet you never could have imagined how thrilling, exhilarating, freeing it would be to finally be here, in his arms, world stopped, nothing matters except you and him, so lovingly embraced - together. 

electricity pulsates through your skin, every nerve in your body dancing. slowly, minghao’s lips part from yours. you lock eyes with him - in all the time you've known him, he's always been a sentimental person, but you've never seen such love and adoration beaming from him like you see now. 

and it's all for you. 

a giggle escapes you. minghao looks at you, a wide grin spreading across his face. you run your hands through his hair, a sensation you've waited so long to experience - it's every bit as delightful as you imagined. 

“hao…” you start.

he plants another kiss on your lips. “hmm?” he asks, still glowing at you. 

“how long have you felt this way?” you ask softly. 

“i've had feelings for you since the day we met, and i've loved you more every day since.” 

you boop your nose against his, giving him a fake stern look. 

“and why didn't you tell me?”

he feigns a pouty face back at you. “why didn't you tell me?”

you blow a tiny raspberry at him. he smiles, pulling you into him, wrapping his arms around you tightly as he kisses your cheek repeatedly. you laugh, held in his warm embrace, overflowing with emotions. 

finally, you can admit it: you're in love with your best friend - and he just so happens to love you back. 

[depresssant]

thinking about a venom!reader in the MHA world...

ok i got very carried away with the dabi part but ykyk. uh two are platonic yan and the other is romantic. but basically, i was thinking about a quirkless reader who becomes the host for venom in the mha world. how cool would that be?

maybe i'll do a deadpool one as well, but i love venom too much atm.

⏤ venom!reader: you're just a quirkless reporter with a dark past. you work⏤well, worked for a news channel diligently, making sure to bring justice if not through a quirk, then through a camera. that is, until you investigate a company accused of trafficking quirkless civilians to test for quirk development. however, the chairman of the company doesn't take kindly to your intrusion and has you fired.

⏤ venom!reader: you sneak into the company's lab with the help of one of the chairman's closest scientists. you stumble across an alien, symbiote, from a whole different planet. this symbiote picks you as its host and you now have a literal parasite feeding off of you. the chairman is ecstatic since none other hosts have lived as long a you, so he sends men to capture you but venom is having none of it.

⏤ venom!reader: you escape from the chairman's men while accidentally getting your boyfriend, soon-to-be fiancé murdered in the process. you swear to get revenge, and the hero commission is more than willing to turn you into a hero if it means using you to push their agendas.

⏤ venom!reader: you accept despite knowing this won't end well. your mind is on revenge and revenge only. you want to murder the chairman, but for now, you have to bide your time. you're paired with the pro hero hawks, and he wants to be your friend so damn bad. you're assigned as an apprentice under the number one hero and decide to use these people to help you with your revenge.

— venom!reader: you're able to charm everyone with a charismatic personality. okay. that was a lie. you're brash, reckless, and stubborn, but perhaps that's something the number one hero's masterpiece loves about you. you're like... the wild older sister that's always bringing chaos to the family. you take shoto todoroki out on outings when you're not working yourself to the bone, and it warms his icy heart. you return to his home bloody and bruised up after a long day of fighting villains, and the first thing on your mind is to help him with his homework? the way you look after him is so domestic and familial.

— venom!reader: you make shoto want to keep you in his home forever, away from harm's way. you're destined to be his older sister, and there's no way you can be anything else, right? he doesn't know you don't really care about him. you just treat shoto todoroki well to get on his father's good side. but he finds out your true feelings the night you spend rambling off in a drunken haze to fuyumi, who may as well be as wasted as you. you and her talk about one day moving and leaving everything behind, and shoto can feel his entire world fall apart. no. no. no. no. you and fuyumi are his older sisters! you're supposed to love and care for him. nothing more! your jobs have gotten into your heads too much! he can't let either of you leave. no. he won't let either of you leave. you've become shoto's lifeline, and he'll die of you disappear.

— venom!reader: if you aren't hunting down the people on your list at night, you spend the day doing the commission's dirty work. your partner, hawks, who aides you with your work, isn't the most tolerable person to be around, but he pays for your food every time the two of you go out, so you're not too keen on dropping him just yet. his constant remarks about how you should be his apprentice instead of endeavor's are a bit annoying, but you brush them off. the heroes working directly for the commission are all fucked up in some sense. you would know since you've worked for them, and your old partner form the old days is no exception. he shows you off to the media as his best friend, but just because the two of you hung out so much back when you were younger doesn't make you friends. at least in your eyes.

— venom!reader: you don't see the maniacal glint in hawks's eyes when he looks at you. he looks at you as if you're the entire world, but you don't even spare him a single glance. why? why do you not smile at him like you used to? why do you keep a distance from him? why? why do you hate him? why won't you just LOOK at him? why? why? why?

— venom!reader: weeks after the grand chase between you and the corporation's men, you're still left with a terrible reputation. you work as a hero, but the people view you as a villain, and your symbiote doesn't really help in fixing your tarnished reputation. so many people died because of the chase. you seem like such a villain. would it be surprising if you tried to join the league of villains? you join hawks as a mule in the l.o.v after much conviction, and none of the villains unsettle you as much as that guy, dabi.

— venom!reader: dabi's gaze unsettles you. it feels like he's picking you apart with his haunting sickness that has you questioning how good of an actor you are. he's clearly done his research on you when he asks about your apprenticeship under endeavor and how you live with the man. there's distaste in his tone not for just the todoroki family, but you too. the two of you fight a minute into the conversation, and you evade him so quickly, he's quite embarrassed. the two of you are forced to partner up multiple times, and it's the usual mean and snarky banter that has both of you wishing death upon the other.

— venom!reader: walking in on blood running from his eyes, you offer him your help to which he denies quite harshly. but you're adamant on gaining the trust of the league, and dabi's too tired to deal with you so he lays back on the couch and lets you clean up all the open wounds he's got. touch makes him disgusted. it has him wanting to hurl and scrub away at his skin till it bleeds all over again. but you're touch... isn't so bad. you handle him with care, something dabi thinks he's never felt before, and even though he feels that similar nausea creep up his throat, he can still let your hands ghost over his stables and open wounds.

— venom!reader: you're able to read him like an open book, and dabi hates it so damn much. he hates your sarcastic remarks. he hates your brash and reckless behavior. he hates how you treat him with such gentle care. like... like you actually care about him. it reminds him of fuyumi. he misses her. you're like her. then, he sees you get a call from that brat—that "masterpiece"—and dabi's blood boils a fury. you talk to that twerp with a tone full of care and understanding. why won't you talk to him like that? why is his puny little brother able to call you older sister? why do you smile at his words? you're supposed to smile at him. let him be your brother. damn it, the scarred villain will do anything if it means taking away everything endeavor and his damned masterpiece love. but you? endeavor doesn't matter at all. he just wants to see you call him brother. once. just once. though, dabi knows he'll lose it if you give into that wishful thinking.

⏤ venom!reader: you don't realize just how horrifying of a situation you've found yourself into until you are gifted the dead body of your next target with the name of the villain that killed the person carved on their back. there's eyes always on you, and red feathers constantly litter around the corners of your apartment. but you brush it off. you know, but you push it aside. your revenge was more important. you're so dedicated to your cause that it starts to take a toll on you physically and mentally.

⏤ venom!reader: you turn more and more villainous as you take away the lives of all the people standing in your path of revenge. you've become a blood-thirsty anti-hero, feeding your parasite human brains and yourself the blood of your enemies. you're getting closer and closer to your goal, but at what cost? the lives of so many that you've lost count? innocent and guilty—you're losing your ability to differentiate. blood, guts, and revenge are the only things on your deranged mind.

⏤ venom!reader: you keeps pushing the brewing situation away until you're running away from the very heroes and villains that are after you. you're like a ghost with how you've disappeared, but it seems like no matter where you run to, you're enamored admirers will always find you.

also, if ya'll are looking for a story with this prompt or premise, i've got the one for you. my book is called venom (link btw) and idk... now that i've gotten my e-begging out of the way, enjoy ur day.

[hxney-lemcn]

From the Start — Abyss Razor x gn! reader

summary: reader and Abyss finally make plans for a first date

tw: light angst (this is fluffy tho I swear)

a/n: I'm on a roll, this has turned into a mini series. ^gif is literally Abyss to reader

wc: 1.1k

Master List | Part One | Part Two | Part Three

You didn’t have a chance to say a word. By the time the words had left the blue haired man’s lips, he had run like his life depended on it. You were left flabbergasted, standing with your jaw slack in the garden. It felt like your soul left your body. Did that really happen? Were you hallucinating? What were you supposed to do now?

All you could do was walk back to your dorm, contemplating the absurd events that had happened just moments prior. Did his feelings really run deep enough to propose so soon? Or had it been a reaction to your confession? It was clear he didn’t think of himself as worthy for anyone, so did your heartfelt emotions overwhelm him?

You entered your dorm with a muddled mind, unaware of your roommate's curious gaze, “What’s got you thinking so hard?”

“I think I’m getting married,” You tried to joke, but your heart thumped faster as you recalled Abyss’ sincere gaze as he spoke the words. Obviously you weren’t actually planning on marrying him…not yet at least, but the fact that Abyss was willing to think of a future with you caused butterflies to line your stomach. 

“Can I give a speech?” They asked, unphased by the sudden turn of events. 

“I know I said that jokingly but I was literally just proposed to,” You emphasized the truth to your earlier statement.

“By pretty boy?” They asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“By pretty boy,” You confirmed, plopping onto your bed. You had confided in them about your feelings for Abyss. They had deemed him a pretty boy after they saw you two walking down the corridor. 

It felt like eons before you saw Abyss again. You’d run into Finn, who greeted you warmly. You asked him if he’d seen or heard from Abyss recently and he sweatdropped. 

“He’s really embarrassed,” Finn confessed, scratching his cheek. “I overheard what happened when he told Mash, but when I advised him to just talk to you he almost passed out.”

Blinking in surprise, you replied, “Oh.”

In the meantime, you had caught up with your younger friend. Helping him with his homework and giving him tips on how to get through his first year. It was nice to put your worries on the backburner. It was also satisfying to watch Finn’s face light up as you helped him finish a project of his that he’d forgotten. Everything felt normal again…until your problem walked through the door to the library. His eyes had landed on you almost right away, and before you could even blink he had disappeared. It seemed that if you wanted to confront him, it would take more effort than last time. 

Abyss was mortified at how carelessly he let his feelings slip. He felt pathetic that your confession sparked such a fervid emotion in him that he couldn’t even control his mouth. You, alongside Abel, were a shining star in his dull world. Where he was ruthlessly mocked, berated, and nearly killed for his existence, you had bestowed nothing but kindness. You were an angel in his eyes, sent from the heavens and somehow managed to stumble upon his wretched form. Your warmth had seeped into his heart and tainted it as yours. You may not have seen your actions as praise worthy, but they were everything to him. 

Abel was important to him as well, but his feelings towards you were different, fiercer. Your presence alone made him feel content. He didn’t need anything as long as you graced him with your smile. He’d be content to be on the sidelines, as long as you were happy. So why did he have to ruin it with his foolish feelings? Let alone something as drastic as marriage? He hadn’t even courted you properly! He couldn’t bear to handle what you possibly thought of him now. 

He could avoid you easily enough. His personal magic was perfect for this exact situation, but the longer he spent time away from you, the bigger the ache in his heart grew. He had already been connecting random things to you, but it had grown worse in your absence. You would’ve loved to see that flower. You would’ve loved to see that strange bug. You might need to know this fact that he had learned for your shared class. Everything seemed to lead back to you.

He missed the sound of your voice. The warmth that encapsulated him when you directed your smile towards him. He missed the way you’d light up and ramble about topics you loved. He missed when you sat close to him in your excitement to show him something. He missed you. 

You were surprised when Abyss had approached you. It had only been a week since the incident. You were half expecting to have been forced to come up with an elaborate plan to get to speak with Abyss. Looking back, it was just a silly incident, it wasn’t a big deal. He had professed his feelings for you in his own way. It was endearing really. What wasn’t silly was him avoiding you like the plague. 

“I apologize for my impulsive behavior-”

You cut off his apology by enveloping him into a hug. Comfort washed over you as you finally got to hold the silly man. He wrapped his arms around you slowly, hiding his face into your neck. You both felt a sense of peace in the other's warmth. Resting your head on his shoulder, a pout suddenly formed on your lips.

“You know, you can’t just ask me to marry you and then just disappear,” You huffed, squeezing him to let him know you weren’t really angry. You were just glad that he was back. He stiffened in your hold, pulling you closer so you couldn’t witness his embarrassment. You continued before he could apologize further, “Although it’s a bit soon for us to marry, I’m open to dating.”

Abyss let out a squeak, pulling away to hide his face behind his hands. Even though both of your feelings have been out in the open for quite a bit, you still felt a rush of anxiety fill your veins, hoping that he wouldn’t find a way to reject you. 

“I-I w-would be h-honored to a-accompany you on a d-d-date,” Abyss muttered, bowing before you.

You felt your face heat up at the scene, but it did little to quench the giddiness that consumed you, “Are you free this weekend?”

[watarfallar]

Desert snacks anyone?

Scar: You know, you were right. Grian: About what specifically? Because I’m right about a lot of things.

Scar: So Grian, how did your first time cooking dinner go? Grian: Pretty good if I do say so myself. Scar: Oo! Okay, what are we having? Grian: Alright, so for appetizers, we have a potato. Scar: A whole potato? Grian: Yes. And then for the main course, we have grilled cheese sandwiches! Scar: These just look like big slabs of black. Grian: Because that's what they are! Grian: And then for desert, we have chocolate. Scar: These are just chocolate chips? Grian: They sure are! Grian: And then for drinks, we have toast! Grian: *lifts up a glass of blended toast* Bon appetite!

Scar: Can you keep a secret? Grian: Well, I'm good until I meet the next person.

*Scar and Grian are planning to break in somewhere* Scar: We need to distract the guards. Grian: Right. Scar: What are we gonna do? Grian: I'm gonna break their elbows while you poke their eyes. Scar: Grian: Scar: Deal.

Grian: If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're impressed. Scar: But you do know better.

Grian: I wonder who’s ruining my life. Grian: *looks in the mirror* Grian: So we meet again.

Scar: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was changing their name to Grian.

Scar: What is the most illegal thing you can do with one gold? Grian: Exchange it for a hundred copper, put them all in a sock, and then beat someone to death with it.

Scar: Vegetable oil is made from vegetables, coconut oil is made from coconuts, so BABY OIL- Grian: CAN'T WE JUST HAVE A NICE FAMILY DINNER FOR ONCE?!

Grian: If I stay in bed I'll be warm. If I get in the shower, I'll also be warm. But the distance between the bed and shower? No. That is not warm.

Grian: A fistfight CAN be romantic. (<-NO BUT THIS IS LITERALLY JUST THE CACTUS FIGHT-)

Scar: Why are you like this?? Grian: I used too much "No More Tears" shampoo as a kid and I haven't felt a single emotion since.

Scar: Are you coming to bed? Grian: I can't. This is important. Scar: What? Grian: Someone is wrong on the internet.

Scar: Just say when. Grian: When. Scar: I- Scar: Now or later? Grian: Oh.

Grian: So what are your political beliefs? Scar, awkwardly trying to impress them: Well, I think Pikachu would be a lot more powerful if he had a gun.

Scar: Kill me nowwwww. Grian: Sorry, no can do. I need your help with my homework.

Scar: Everything’s fine, Grian. Grian: Scar, I know your relationship with the english language is strictly casual, but you- I- *deep inhale* ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU WHAT’S NOT FINE.

Scar: I'd make fun of your height but there isn't enough to make fun of.

Scar: If by any chance Grian should attack, just start calmly talking about anything.

Grian: I love saying 'fuck me' because it can either be sexual or self-loathing and those are two things that describe me perfectly.

Grian, making a cup of tea: Yeah, get into that leaf juice, you sexy, sexy bee sauce. Scar: Hey, do you take constructive criticism? Grian: I absolutely fucking do not.

Grian: Of course I have a lot of pent-up rage, you fool! I've been the same height since I was twelve!

Scar, shooing Grian away: Can you go be depressed over there? You’re bumming out my whole area.

Scar: I can’t believe all these people are wearing black. black is supposed to be my thing, they’re all just posers. Grian: Scar, for the last time, we’re at a funeral.

Grian: No problemo! Grian, internally: But it was all problemo.

Grian: I want a trip down memory lane. Scar: *proceeds to grab every warrior cats book they have and sets them in Grian's lap* Scar: I heard you needed these? Grian: YES! ALL OF THEM!

[ladykailitha]

Can Anybody See Me? Part 2

Holy shit, guys. I have never had such a response to a story before. Thank you guys so much.

Tag list of 50 has now been filled. Any other requests for tagging will be denied. I’m sorry.

Edit: Also if you saw the title as something else? No, no you didn’t. And any reblogs you see with anyone instead of anybody are a figment of your imagination. (*thuds head on laptop* I have the title right on here...in my file *wails*)

Part 1

*

The next morning Eddie got up for school excited for the first time. He had a mystery to solve and his name was Steven Harrington. Probably the third or whatever shit rich people got to with naming their kids. He rummaged through his closet looking for his favorite band tee. But he stopped when he found an old shoe box down at the bottom.

Eddie frowned and pulled it out. It was a bunch of pictures of Eddie when he first came to live with his uncle, Wayne. He looked at the shaved head and bruised face.

His dad had taken one look at Eddie that morning and decided his hair was too long. He had grabbed Eddie by the hair and dragged him into the bathroom and shaved his head. The bruises to the face were from Eddie trying to escape.

Eddie had suffered a concussion and it was then the state had taken notice. They had packed up his stuff while he was in the hospital in a big black garbage bag and told him he would be going home to his Uncle Wayne. In Indiana. So far from the life he knew. But it meant being safe from his dad and that was a plus in Eddie’s book.

It’s how he knew what Steve was going through. Maybe not exactly the same. But he knew concussions and knew they were a bad business.

He put the pictures back in the box and tucked it under his bed. Maybe he didn’t need to know why Steve was hurting. Maybe it was enough to understand. He pulled on his second favorite band tee and his jacket. He grabbed his bag and hurried out the door.

*

Eddie bit his lip. He didn’t have any classes with Steve today and wasn’t able to check up on him. He was tempted to break into the office and pull Steve’s schedule. But that would get him detention and he was still trying to keep his promise to his uncle.

How was he going to do this?

And then the answer literally dropped in his lap. A book was thrown at him by someone. He picked it up and looked at the cover. It was some old homework journal was about to throw it away when a piece of paper fluttered to the ground.

Frowning he picked it up. By some miracle it was Steve’s schedule. He looked up to see if he could see who threw it at him. But it could have been anyone. A lot of people were avoiding his eye, but that could be for any number of reasons. They bought from him and now they can’t look him in the eye because he knows. They want to buy weed and don’t know how to broach it. They think he’s a freak. They have a crush on him. You know, the possibilities were endless.

But at least he knew things he didn’t before. Like holy hell, the kid did a lot of sports. He looked at baseball and swimming and basketball with his mind whirling around in his head. How did he keep all the rules straight?

Math third period Eddie knew. History was Steve’s first period. Which was probably how his messed up brain managed to spew that information at Eddie yesterday. Baseball was seventh. Basketball his eighth. Swimming was second. English fourth. Art was sixth. Art, huh? That was intriguing. Probably thought it was an easy elective. And chemistry was fifth. So it looked something like this.

Odd 1-History 3- Math 5- Chemistry lunch 7- Baseball

Even 2-Swimming 4-English 6-Art lunch 8-Basketball

Huh. Eddie never noticed, but Steve was always in his lunch period. That was certainly interesting. He wondered what Mrs Hall, the guidance counselor would do about all his sports now that he couldn’t play anymore. He supposed swimming was still fine, nothing to hit you in that. But baseball and basketball were definitely out.

Eddie chewed on his lip. The sports weren’t going to get Eddie closer to finding out what happened to Steve. They would close ranks so fast. At least Steve and him had lunch together so that would at least make it easier befriend the guy.

Art, though. He tapped his lip thoughtfully. He had art in his fifth period. He could doing some snooping there. After all art is where true expression lies. And if there was anything going on it would show in his art.

The start of a plan was forming in the back of his mind. Yeah. This could work.

*

At lunch, Eddie slid in next to Steve as soon as he sat down.

“What’s on the menu today, Harrington?” he asked grinning.

Steve looked up at him in shock again. “Um...applesauce and plain toast, with a can of ginger ale.”

Eddie winced. “Still feeling the nausea?”

Steve nodded. “I’m starting to wonder if it’s ever going away.”

“It’ll stick around for about a week,” Eddie said softly.

Steve frowned. “How would you know that?”

“How don’t you know that?” Eddie fired back. “This is your second concussion.”

“Didn’t go to the doctor either time,” Steve mumbled.

“You want to run that past me again, Harrington?” Eddie asked.

“Doctors mean having to call my parents,” Steve explained, “calling my parents means that they’ll have to come back from their trip, coming back from their trip means I get into trouble, getting into trouble is not good for a concussion, so I don’t.”

“Why would you get into trouble for having a concussion?” Eddie asked, furrowing his brow.

Steve started counting it out on his fingers. “Getting into a fight. Hanging out with black people and by extension, siding with said black person. Having to drop out of sports. Watching my grades plummet. Not speaking to Tommy and Carol. I can keep going if you’d like...”

Eddie shook his head. “Holy shit, dude. I didn’t think I’d see a shittier dad then my own, but yours and your mom take the cake.”

Steve looked down at his applesauce mournfully. “It’s not that bad. At least my dad doesn’t hit me like Tommy’s dad does.”

Eddie’s eyebrows went up. “Are all rich dads douchebags?”

Steve shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Look, I’ve got to eat my own lunch,” Eddie said slapping the table and standing up, “but if you need anything come find me.”

Steve nodded, but Eddie didn’t think he would take him up on it.

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13  Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17 Part 18  Part 19  Part 20 Part 21

Tag List: @shrimply-a-menace @strangersteddierthings @throwbackthrowaway @novelnovella @cursedfoxteeth @babyblender @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @swimmingbirdrunningrock @steve-the-hairrington @winterbuckwild @spectrum-spectre @matchingbatbites

[unclewaynemunson]

The sequel to Nancy Wheeler's lesbian awakening has arrived :D

While Robin is out on her date with Vickie, Nancy is sitting alone in her room, using the excuse of doing homework to never get out of there again. She has a history book and her notebook on the desk in front of her, but can't even bring herself to read a single letter. The only thing she's able to do is to stare at the pages blindly, while her mind is completely elsewhere. She doesn't see any of the black-and-white pictures in the book in front of her. No, all she sees is color: Robin's magenta painted lips inching closer towards her; the rosy blush on Robin's cheeks; the sapphire blue of Robin's eyes; the bronze of Robin's freckles...

She sighs and drops her head in her hands. At least she finally understands why she got so unreasonably upset every time she thought about Robin and Vickie together. Turns out it had less to do with her failing to be a good ally for Robin and way more with, well, her wanting to be the one going on that date instead of Vickie. It was jealousy. And it's only gotten worse now that she's kissed Robin and has become conscious of her own feelings in this matter.

She never even thought being kissed could feel like that. With Jonathan, and before him with Steve, it had always felt like she was playing a part. It wasn't unpleasant, she could definitely enjoy it every now and then, but she had always been hyper-aware of the steps she needed to follow, the invisible rule book that told her not to be too needy, or too boring, or too predictable, or too unpredictable. With Robin, it hadn't been like that at all – or at least not once they'd gotten past the part of Nancy's rules and properly got lost in their kiss. It had been equal parts comfort and heat, soft and passionate, sweet and hungry... It had been thrilling, and it had stopped Nancy's brain like never happened before. She wasn't playing some part or doing things because she thought she was supposed to do them. She wasn't even thinking at all. She was simply drinking in Robin's taste and enjoying herself.

And now, she can't think of anything but kissing Robin, while Robin is out with another girl, possibly kissing her this very moment.

She's driving herself crazy sitting alone in her room with her thoughts, but it's not like she's got anywhere else to go tonight. Usually, she'd go to Robin whenever she felt like she was losing her mind, but for obvious reasons, that's off the table now. So she resorts to staring at the books in front of her again, failing miserably in yet another half-hearted attempt to focus on her homework.

And then the phone on her nightstand rings, putting her out of her misery with the hopes of literally any kind of distraction.

She picks it up before it can even ring a third time.

'Nance!'

The sound of Robin's husky voice saying her name makes her heart stumble in her chest.

'Thank God you're home. Can I come over?'

***

The doorbell rings four times in rapid succession. Nancy can clearly envision her father downstairs in his armchair, rolling his eyes from behind his newspaper. It makes her chuckle to herself while she rushes down the stairs.

'What's wrong?' Nancy asks as soon as she has swung the door open: Robin is looking... distressed is probably the right word for it. She's pale and has this worrying look in her eyes. 'Did things go wrong with Vickie?'

Robin's eyes flash over Nancy's shoulder and into the hall, where the door to the living room is open.

'Not here,' she says in a low voice. 'Can we talk in your room?'

Nancy leads the way up the stairs, and as soon as her bedroom door is closed behind them, she barely has to ask what happened for Robin to start talking, fast and rushed while pacing back and forth over the floor. Nancy goes to sit cross-legged on her bed while her eyes keep following Robin's movements like a cat, never once letting her gaze wander.

'So I was really looking forward to this date, right? I've liked Vickie for ages, our first date was pretty good, Vickie is awesome and hot and cute and pretty much everything a lesbian like me could wish for... I was really excited about where this was going! But I really, utterly, spectacularly messed this one up, Nance!' She continues before Nancy can even ask what happened, words pouring out of her mouth in rapid succession like she's simply letting her whole stream of consciousness spill over Nancy's carpet.

'She's just like me, alright? She just mirrors all my nervousness and anxiety right back to me, and that makes me even more nervous and anxious, and we kinda get into this cycle where we're both going crazy, and I couldn't help but think I need someone who can stop me and set me at ease with reason and logic and preferably some calmness. But anyway, that's not even the point here. We got through the night, and it was not like it was bad, you know, we still had a good time and it was nice and she looked very pretty so it was fine, you know. And then she walked me home and, um, we kissed.'

Finally, she lets a silence fall. Those last two words were uttered softly, with a blush on her cheeks, like it's something she should feel ashamed of.

Nancy now knows that the nauseous feeling rearing its head in her stomach has nothing to do with the fact that Robin is dating a girl. But this isn't about her, so she plasters on a fake smile.

'That's good news, right, Robbie?' she says.

'No, it's not!' Robin all but screams in frustration. 'Because I was doing it right, just like we practiced, I was following all the rules, but... but... I didn't feel anything! When we practiced, I felt a million things, Nance, I felt like I could implode because of all the things I was feeling – and with Vickie, nothing! There was just her mouth and it was wet and I kept overthinking about where I should put my hands because you didn't tell me the rules about that and I – God, Nance, I basically fled inside and smashed the door in her face! I just left her on my porch without a goodbye, I feel terrible about it! But I also don't want to kiss her again and – and – I don't know what to do!' She takes a deep breath, clearly on the verge of tears. 'I don't know what to do,' she repeats, this time in a softer voice.

Nancy pats on the duvet beside her, silently telling Robin to sit down, and Robin lets herself fall on Nancy's bed without much elegance. The movement makes Nancy bounce up and down on the mattress while she thinks about what to say.

'Can I tell you a secret?' Nancy asks her.

Robin nods, looking at her with an expectant gaze.

'I found out something, after our kissing lesson,' Nancy starts to say. Her heart is beating in her throat. 'I – I thought it was all about rules, about this kind of imaginary playbook that prescribes exactly how you should do those kind of things. But I was wrong. And I only found out about that when I kissed you. I taught you the wrong lesson. It's not about build-up, or strategy, or about who should lean in in which ways. It's about...' She pauses, takes a deep breath to push herself to go on. 'I only understood when I kissed you what it's about, Robin,' she confesses. She can't bear to look Robin in her eyes anymore and adjusts her gaze to the blanket underneath her, to her own hand absentmindedly playing with a loose thread in the crocheted fabric. 'I never understood that before, because I didn't feel it when I'd kiss a boy. That's what it's about: feeling things. Enjoying things. Having your heart speed up and your brain shut off and feeling like you want to keep kissing each other forever.'

'Nance.' The way Robin says her name is barely a whisper.

Nancy slowly lifts up her head to meet Robin's eyes: there's a shocked look in them as she stares at Nancy slightly open-mouthed.

'I think that's exactly the difference between when I kissed Vickie and when I kissed you.'

A warm hand curls around Nancy's, sending sparks all the way through her body – like no touch of a boy has ever done for her before.

Nancy can't possibly suppress the smile that's spreading over her face. A warm, giddy feeling shoots up from her stomach to her chest.

'Wanna try again, just to check?' she asks while squeezing Robin's hand.

Robin frowns. 'Try again? Do you mean kissing Vickie, or kissing you?'

Nancy feels her smile widen until it might just split her face in two. She leans forward, not waiting for Robin to take her own turn leaning, but directly resting her forehead against Robin's.

'You're an idiot, Robin Buckley,' she murmurs, right before she lets her lips find Robin's again.

Robin reacts immediately in a way that's nothing like their kissing lesson. It's not following any of the rules, and it awakens something almost primal in Nancy: it's teeth awkwardly clattering against each other, it's hungrily licking into each other's mouths, it's panting and smiling and everything at once.

It all feels so completely different from what kissing used to be like. No rules, no gameplay, no thinking. The only thing left is pure, unfiltered wanting. Wanting to inhale Robin whole, wanting to swallow her sounds, wanting to have their limbs entangled in every possible way, wanting to feel more of her bare skin against her own... It's so overwhelming it would scare Nancy if the wanting wasn't so strong, simply leaving no room for any other emotion.

When they finally break apart to get some fresh air in their lungs again, they're both panting heavily. Robin's chest is heaving, her lips are swollen and her hair is completely disheveled – and she has never looked more beautiful.

A low giggle escapes Robin's lips. 'Yeah, um, I think we should check some more,' she says, her voice breathy and so goddamn sexy. 'Just – just to make sure, y'know.'

'Good idea,' Nancy says with a nod before she leaps forward to press Robin down on the bed and climb on top of her, leaning down instead of forward to find her way back to those perfect lips.

Taglist: @robins-gay-suspenders @au79burger @agathaharkness-simp @notablog4242 @defnotarobot

[sixpossumsinatrenchcoat]

la mort en rose

A study on Ryoji, Minato, and the people they love. P3(R) spoilers abound.

“You guys are a weird combo,” Junpei says. “You know that, right?” “What!!” Ryoji gasps. “No way! Minato and I are made for each other! We’re like rice and curry! Peanut butter and jelly! We even finish each other’s…” “Homework,” Minato mumbles, swapping the papers in front of them.

Minato is… quiet.

Not the kind of quiet that makes you a good listener—the kind that makes you seem like you’re not all there. Like even when he’s standing right next to you, he’s really somewhere else, listening to something else. Buried so deep inside himself that not even sound can reach him. Somewhere that light has never touched.

It should make him bad company, but it doesn’t. Minato is exceptional company. Transfixing, even. And it’s not just Ryoji who thinks so. He’s seen Minato’s phone. It’s an endless stream of inbound texts, a hundred colorful characters vying for his attention. Most of which are left unread.

Which should be rude! Shouldn’t it? But when Minato doesn’t text back, it doesn’t feel like an insult. You just sort of assume he had something more important to do.

Maybe it helps that Ryoji is so different. ‘Opposites attract,’ and all that. Minato’s silence gestures at hidden depths, abyssal-dark and ocean-deep. And Ryoji is all surface.

“Something about him just feels so… free,” Ryoji says dreamily. “Do you know what I mean? Like nothing he says is ever forced. Like he’s achieved, oh, I don’t know, nirvana, or something; only he doesn’t have to tell anyone, because he doesn’t have anything to prove.”

“Uh huh,” Yukari says, stifling a yawn.

She’s sitting across the table from him, twirling her straw in her iced latte and trying to look like she’s not bored out of her mind. In her defense, Ryoji is kind of a broken record. It’s all, ‘blah blah blah, Minato, blah blah blah, mirrored souls, compliments and complements and narrative foils and Minato Minato Minato.’ Like, seriously, get a hobby.

When she looks up, Ryoji’s eyes are shining, his hands clasped earnestly. “Don’t you think so, Takeba-san?”

“For sure. Totally.”

She only agreed to go on this stupid date to annoy Minato into actually doing something, instead of just staring holes in the back of Ryoji’s head and brooding at him. But she hadn’t expected to spend the entire date talking about her housemate. Wasn’t Ryoji supposed to be popular with girls?

“…so mysterious!” Ryoji is gushing now. “You get the sense that he’s always thinking about something important, something real.”

“Mhmm.” A few tables over, there’s a girl wearing the cutest little cropped halter, hemmed with lace and embroidered with tiny purple roses. If Ryoji were just a little less attentive—if he’d go to the bathroom, at least—Yukari could probably sneak away for long enough to ask where she bought it. But he hasn’t.

The shirt isn’t really in her palette. That girl has the hair for it, long and dark and silky-straight, but Yukari is a summer; jewel tones wash her out. Maybe it comes in pink?

“…do you do, anyway?”

Yukari looks up to find Ryoji smiling at her, clearly waiting for an answer. Oops. She was totally not listening. “Sorry, what?”

“In your club! The Specialized Extracurriculur…” He frowns thoughtfully. “You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the full name! Just the acronym. You have to admit, it’s a little mysterious.”

Oh. Oh. Unfortunately, Mitsuru explained their cover story back when Yukari was busy hating her. And now it’s way too late to ask. “Oh, um… our senpais would be better at explaining…”

“I don’t think Kirijo-san likes me very much,” Ryoji says morosely.

“What,” Yukari snickers. “Did you make a pass at her or something?”

“I only said that, with that hair and those boots, she’d—”

“No, stop, I literally don’t want to know. You didn’t hit on Sanada-senpai too, did you?”

“Well…”

(Hah!!) “You didn’t.”

“If it’s any comfort, I don’t think he noticed.”

She can’t help snorting a laugh. “Ryoji-kun! You are relentless!”

“People like it!” he protests, but he’s grinning, too. “It makes them laugh!!”

“Some people. If you try that stuff on the wrong person, you’re gonna get your butt kicked, you know.”

“Well…”

“Oh my god.��Please tell me this story.”

To her relief, Ryoji seems to forget about SEES after his second story makes her laugh so hard that coffee shoots out her nose. And good riddance. Girl talk is way more fun than prying into her supernatural extracurriculars.

You can read the rest of chapter one here: ao3.org/works/58634896/chapters/149399371

[sturniololuv08]

Matthew Sturniolo Short. (Rated R)

"Please, I'm begging you." Chris was in fact on his knees begging me to help him. Normally, I would jump at the chance to help any one of my brothers but this time was different.

"No, I'm not going to help you cheat." I wasn't a cheater myself. So if I helped him cheat wouldn't that make me one?

"I will do anything." Chris was serious about it.

"Why do you even date both of them?" I didn't understand. I don't know if him telling me why would make me understand either but it was worth a shot.

"Aubrey helps me pass my classes and Alexis is like hot." Chris had a smug look on his face. I sighed. As his triplet brother, I knew I had to help. "Hell yeah." He knew by my big sigh he won.

"Which one am I going out with?" I asked. I regretted this so much already but I couldn't let Chris fail his classes and in his defense, Alexis was actually pretty hot.

"Are you gonna change your mind if I say Aubrey?" Chris' face changed to concern.

"I mean no but -"

"Okay, good. Go get dressed." Chris was walking away to do the same but I stopped him.

"Where am I going?" I needed more context to my last-minute booked evening.

"Aubrey loves sushi so I booked us a reservation at Hana Yori."

"I hate sushi." I stuck my hands out like he should know that.

"Then take her to a movie instead." Chris really only cared about passing his classes. Now that I think about it he probably just copied her homework when they were together anyway. I went upstairs and started going through my closet trying to find the most Chris-looking outfit I could. I took off my comfy clothes and started shifting through everything I had. Nothing looked like Chris to me. I wanted to play it safe and chose all-black everything. I had a bad feeling this wasn't going to work. When we were younger we looked alike but since we have grown up we have differences now. I took off my favorite necklace and tucked it away safely. I sat in the mirror and started fluffing my hair to the front of my forehead. It wasn't curling enough to look right. I stared at my reflection getting nervous. I didn't like going out without my brothers. They were my safety net in case I had a literal mental breakdown. Now I was dreading this. I grabbed a hat and lifted my hair back before slipping it on backward. I nodded at myself in the mirror and crept out of my room.

"Going out Chris?" Nick asked. "Woah what?" He noticed his mess up.

"Chris double booked his girlfriends so he needs a fill-in." I rolled my eyes.

"That's crazy." He started laughing. The sound brought me comfort. I laughed a little too. We both went downstairs to see Chris dressed and ready to go. He was dressed less fancy than I was. I gave him a look.

"Alexis and I are Netflix and chilling." He said it humorously.

"Let me get a picture of this." Nick fumbled his phone out.

"No!" Chris and I yelled at the same time. I did not want this coming out to anyone that I purposely dressed or was acting like Chris.

"What if Alexis or Aubrey sees it?" Chris was trying to go undetected. Nick put his phone away.

"Fine but you should probably wear a hoodie and cover those tattoos." I looked at Chris and then myself and saw my ink as the most noticeable difference. I just forget I have them sometimes.

"It would be cool if you didn't mess this up." Chris did pow pow with his fingers at me. 

"Good luck with that." Nick left to go edit the last video we just recorded. I rolled my eyes just regretting all of this deeply. Being Chris' brother was taxing. I grabbed a jacket on the way out the door behind Chris. I drove and dropped him off at Alexis' house. I pulled up the directions to Aubrey's and started feeling my heart race. What do I do if she can tell? Am I supposed to out Chris? This was hands down his worst idea yet. He owed me big time for this. Alexis would have been more fun because she is hot at least but I know that's why Chris wanted to hang out with her. Come to think of it, I have never seen Aubrey. They "study" after school and go on dates every once in a while. Chris just happened to book them both for today like an idiot. I wish Nick still had his dark brown hair then he could do this. That would be some comedy. I smirked to myself at the thought of Nick acting like Chris. I texted Chris and told him to text her he was there. After a few minutes, the front door opened and Aubrey came out to the car. I reached over and opened the door from the inside for her.

"You never drive, this is cool." Fuck. I didn't think about that.

"I wanted tonight to be special." I cringed knowing Chris would never say that. Once she was buckled she turned to look at me and I locked eyes with her. Since this was the first time I had ever seen her I studied her face. She had light brown eyes with tan skin. Her cheeks and nose were dotted with freckles and her hair was falling over her shoulders in little curls. She smiled at me and I instantly felt guilty for lying and helping Chris cheat.

"So where are we going?" Her voice was like honey. Sweet and thick. It swirled around in the air I was suffocating in. "You okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I just - wow, you are beautiful," I said. I was sort of speechless because of how good she looked.

"Thank you." She started blushing a little. I shook my head getting back on track to the date.

"We are going to Hana Yori." I decided she deserved a good night and a plain movie date wouldn't be fair to her.

"You are so sweet." She grabbed my hand and held it. I let her. We arrived at the restaurant and were seated fast. I almost said 'Matt' when checking in but she was playing on her phone so it went unnoticed.

"What sushi are you getting?" I asked her. I hated sushi and didn't know anything about any kind so I was probably going to copy her choice.

"Would you find it cliche to get the California roll?" She did a little giggle.

"I think I'll get that too." I smiled. All I could think was how could Chris justify cheating on her she was so beautiful and she was clearly smart if she could keep Chris from failing his classes. The dinner passed and I casually hid little pieces of sushi all over the table and even dropped a couple on the floor to be extra discreet. She talked most of the time but I liked listening to her. I was learning about her family and her pet cat. She told me about how she was nervous for a test because if she failed she wouldn't be able to apply for a certain college she wanted. She talked about her parents fighting and how she couldn't wait to leave the house for good. She was a real person and it was cool to see her emotions change while going through the ups and downs of her week.

"Chris?" I snapped back to reality.

"Yeah?" I asked back.

"Are you okay? I usually don't do all of the talking."

"I'm good. I just like hearing about you. It's dope." I don't know why I kept thinking Chris talked so weird but I was nervous and that's what I was blaming it on.

"Dope?" She laughed. Her laugh was a little ugly but it was defining which was cool.

"You ready to go?" I asked looking at her empty plate. She nodded. While paying I made a mental note of how much it cost because I was definitely making Chris pay me back for helping him out.

"Are you sure you are okay? You are a little quieter than normal." She grabbed my hand and started swinging it back and forth with hers as we walked to the car.

"Yeah, I'm just enjoying my night with you." That wasn't entirely a lie. I had heard some things about her from Chris before but he failed to mention how perfect she was. It did make sense though with some extra thought. Chris and I don't like the same girls. Alexis is hot but I find her very bleak and dumb. I just assumed Aubrey was ugly because Chris never described her as anything other than smart. I wasn't sure what I was expecting but Aubrey wasn't it. She was quiet in the car ride to her house. I played some random rap over the Bluetooth hoping it was something Chris would normally vibe with her. I saw her looking at me a lot; it was making me nervous I was caught. We might be triplets but growing up in that scenario you try to be your own person every chance you get. If you knew one of us well it wasn't hard to tell the other two apart.

"Do you want to come in?" She was a little shy in asking. This is where it got tricky. I knew what going inside meant. The hardest part is Chris wouldn't say no. Chris was a lot more open with girls. He was himself and girls just gravitated towards him. It made me so envious he never had to try. "Chris? Do you want to come inside?" I had to make a choice.

"Yeah, sure." I sighed hard after she stepped out of the van. I turned the key and stepped out. She opened her front door and looked back at me before entering.

"We have to be quiet, my parents are upstairs." She whispered. I nodded letting her know I understood. We shuffled through the house. It was dark and since I had never been here before I held her hand getting tugged along. She opened a door and clicked a light switch showing stairs. We took the stairs down to the basement where she flipped another light on. The basement was completely finished with carpet, furniture, and a mini movie theater-looking living area. "You can take your shoes and jacket off." She said doing the same.

"I'm a bit cold so I'll keep the jacket." I couldn't take it off because of the tattoos Nick pointed out earlier.

"Well, at least come sit down." She chuckled. She grabbed my jacket and pulled me on top of her.

"Woah," I said holding myself up to create some space between our bodies. "I shouldn't -"

"Come on. What is with you?" She slapped my chest playfully. I sadly only had one good excuse which was the truth but that would cause problems for Chris and I didn't want to let my brother down. I looked into her eyes and saw the little twinkle pleading for me, well, Chris technically. Her freckles were even cuter up close. She was looking all around my face waiting for my response.

"Nothing," I said going for it. What was the harm in one kiss? I closed the space between us and connected our lips. She immediately engaged with my motions and kissed me back. She started tugging at my jacket trying to get it off. Instead of taking it off, I started tugging at her daisy-printed dress to divert her attention. She slipped out of her dress and pecked me once.

"Are you going to -" She was blushing. This was it. We were caught. Instead of answering her, I started sucking on her neck to buy time. I had to think of a good excuse to leave before things got too serious. She grabbed my pants and unbuttoned them. I tried to keep them held up but she had both her hands tugging them off. Once I was down to my compression shorts she didn't hesitate to slip her hand down my chest to under the waistband to my boner. In my absolute defense, I haven't had a girlfriend in a long time so this kind of touching and kissing hasn't happened to me in a while. "Take your jacket off." She whispered in my ear before kissing my neck. It was when she lightly bit me that I lost all regard for Chris in this situation and fell into the moment. I threw my jacket and shirt on the floor in one big heap. She slipped off her bra and I kissed her breast for a second before making my way back up past her jaw to her mouth. While our mouths were connected I carefully moved us to the chaise lounge part of the couch so she could lay down all the way. She reached for a blanket and tossed it over us. Once I was covered from the waist down I felt more comfortable taking off the rest of my clothing. Aubrey did the same. I looked at her one more time trying to get permission. She smiled and rested her hand on the back of my waist and pulled me into her. I held myself on my forearms and slowly rocked my hips into hers. She was moaning and scratching my back. Nothing about this felt wrong. When she was getting too loud I kissed her so she wouldn't alert her parents.

"I'm close." I realized my reckless behavior by not using a condom. I lifted myself so I could pull out in time. She reached and gripped my arms. I visually saw her face change to question when she noticed the tattoos.

"Nick?" She questioned.

"Matt," I said still moving on top of her. I was caught and not sure how she was going to take it.

"Oh my god Matt." She involuntarily curled into my chest and I felt her orgasm. I wasn't expecting any of this to happen and I too was suddenly orgasming. I laid down next to her on the couch and looked at her. I stared into her eyes as they darted all over my face. "You're Matt?" She finally asked.

"Yeah." The truth was out. I was waiting for her to freak out or something but she didn't.

"Where is Chris?" I had to give him up now.

"I didn't want to tell you this but I kind of have to now. He -"

"He is seeing Alexis." She interrupted me.

"He is, yeah. Wait. You know?" I was caught off guard by her nonchalant tone.

"I had a feeling. At school, they were always hanging out. I just put it together."

"Why would you stay with him?" I leaned up on one elbow.

"Chris is like super popular. I just wanted to be considered cool." She wasn't showing confidence anymore. She looked nervous being honest with me even after the moment we just shared.

"You are cool," I said excitedly.

"I've never met you before today." She was being skeptical. "You are just saying that because we fucked." She gripped the blanket that was covering her up tighter. She stared up at the plain white ceiling.

"No, no, no. That's not it." I felt so bad for everything tonight. This poor girl has been used by Chris for months and she just put up with it because she wanted friends. And now she probably feels like I used her too. "I had so much fun tonight."

"Really?" She looked back at me. Her big puppy dog eyes were looking for approval.

"Yeah." I smiled softly. "I hate sushi though." She giggled.

"But you ate it?"

"No, I threw it under the table." She full-on laughed again and I knew I was making her feel better.

"Why did you pretend to be Chris?" My heart leaped a little.

"Honestly, I don't know. You might not believe this but I am not like this. I didn't want to do it. He begged me to."

"And he's your brother." She was understanding.

"Yeah." I sighed. I was super mad at myself for going along with Chris' stupid plan. I should have known immediately because it was Chris that nothing was going to go well. There was an uncomfortable silence. "I'm going to get going." I couldn't tell if she wanted me there anymore. I wouldn't blame her for wanting some space to think about everything. I started getting dressed again.

"Matt?" Her voice was hesitant.

"Yeah?" I stopped tugging my jacket on to give her my full attention.

"I had fun tonight too." She played with her hair and looked nervous.

"I'll call you soon Aubrey." I felt better at flirting since I was being myself. I snuck out of the house fast and got into the van. I was smiling super hard and I couldn't stop. Aubrey was amazing. She was beautiful and smart and her life wasn't crazy. She was a lot like me I learned over dinner tonight. I hope Chris isn't mad at me but I think I like her. I didn't think I could because Chris likes her too. At least, I think he does. I got home and instantly ran into Nick and Chris in the kitchen.

"How was it?" Nick asked first.

"Did she figure it out?" Chris looked a little worried.

"She did." I had lied enough tonight. It was exhausting.

"Fuck." Chris started pacing the kitchen floor. "Was she mad?" He ran his fingers through his hair stressed.

"I don't think so?" I ran my fingers through my hair in thought about everything that happened and what was said between Aubrey and I.

"What does that mean?"

"She like already knew you were seeing Alexis."

"What? Then why would she not say something?"

"She was using your status to be cool." I tossed my jacket on the couch.

"That's crazy." Nick finally chimed in.

"Yeah, so it's all fair. You used her for good grades and she used you to be cool. I am going to go shower." I started walking away but Nick stopped me.

"Why is your shirt inside out?" He had a silly look on his face.

"I... uh... um..." What was I supposed to say?

"Matt?" Chris came closer to Nick and I.

"Look she thought I was you the whole time until..."

"Until what?" Nick and Chris said at the same time.

"Until we had sex... and she saw my tattoos." I just needed to be out with it.

"What?" Chris yelled. I couldn't tell if it was an angry one or just disbelief.

"Matty, Matty, Matty." Nick shook his head back and forth.

"She thought I was you." I was getting defensive.

"I told you to take her on a date not fuck her," Chris yelled back.

"It was fine until she saw my tattoos." I wasn't sure what else to say. Chris finally showed his true feelings about the situation when he started laughing. Nick was lost along with myself.

"This is insane." Chris kept laughing. I couldn't explain why but my nerves were at an all-time high. Even though Chris didn't seem upset in the slightest I felt like I was in trouble. I think Nick took notice of this and wrapped an arm around me.

"How do you feel about your date?" He asked.

"It was fine. We got sushi." I wasn't hungry even though I didn't eat yet.

"Do you like her?" Chris composed himself.

"I don't... I mean... I could." I stuttered.

"Look bud it's okay if you do. You said it yourself I was only using her to pass a few classes."

"I really just want to go shower." I wanted some time to think about it all. This was going to be a hard thing to resolve.

"Don't take too long, I wanna talk more about this." Chris shook my shoulder and I shrugged out of it. I escaped upstairs but still heard Chris and Nick laughing about it. How could they be laughing and calm? I finished showering and took notice of the silence in the house when I got out. I felt better. I think for this situation to make any sense at all I just have to admit I like her to her and Chris. I slipped into bed and got comfortable. I sighed. "So you like her?" I jumped.

"Jesus, what are you doing?" I rolled over to see Chris cozy shirtless in my bed.

"I told you I wasn't done talking about it." He was unreadable.

"What now?" I rolled my eyes as a reflex even though it was dark in the room and he couldn't see it.

"So tell me more about the date."

"Chris." I groaned.

"Pwease tell me." He asked in a baby voice.

"We went to eat. She talked the whole time. I was nervous I would say something wrong. I went to drop her off and she asked me to come inside. I figured you would so I did."

"Go on."

"We were talking in the basement and she just jumped me. I didn't think you would say no so I didn't."

"But you wanted to?"

"At first yeah. Then it got serious and it wasn't -"

"Wasn't what?"

"Nothing. I can't believe we are even talking about this. It's late. Go to bed." I rolled away from him. I didn't care if he slept in here I just wanted him to shut up. I didn't want to tell him about how nice it was or that I enjoyed it.

"If you like her, and I mean genuinely like her, I want you to know you have my blessing." I felt him shifting in the bed. We went to bed in silence.

In the morning I woke up alone in bed. I heard everyone moving downstairs. I wasn't ready to have an awkward day with Chris. I sulked downstairs to see everyone in a good mood.

"Morning." Nick ruffled my hair and I swatted him away.

"Morning," I mumbled. I avoided looking at Chris.

"Any plans today guys? Let's film the jello video." Nick suggested right away. He always kept us on track for videos. We weren't blowing up or anything but he was going to make sure we did.

"I can but not until after five I have a date with Aubrey." Chris sipped his soda. My head shot in his direction to see if he was serious. "She messaged me last night wanting to hang out." He shrugged.

"Wow. Okay." I sighed. I was actually mad at him. I couldn't tell what game he was playing but I was not too fond of it. I was jealous.

"Can we film it after five then?" Nick was playing oblivious to what he just said.

"Yeah, sure." Chris smiled. I couldn't help but stare at him. My brain was trying to analyze what could be going on. Did he suddenly want her because I liked her? Though that wasn't like Chris at all maybe he rethought what he had said last night.

"Matt?" I looked at Nick finally.

"Yeah. I can do the video." I couldn't let him know how bothered I was.

"Great. Meet back in the kitchen around 6:30," Nick instructed. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and escaped into my room. I sat down at my computer table and started journaling my issues with this situation. I couldn't help but feel like it was entirely my fault because I said yes to going on the stupid date. But the more I thought about my night with Aubrey the more I didn't regret it at all. She was so awesome. I wanted to see her again and talk to her and make sure she was doing okay after everything we did. As enjoyable as it was to be intimate with her I felt bad for using my position as Chris to do that, even though it was unplanned entirely. Since I was in my gaming corner I started Twitch streaming out of boredom. A few hundred people started watching and messaging me questions. I was answering some of them for fun as I was shooting zombies.

"I'm fine guys. Just having a really bad mental health day." I answered someone. Everyone started blowing the chat up with sorrys and questions. I silently shot more zombies and relieved my stress. Nick was requesting to be added to the stream. I accepted. Everyone freaked out. I smiled. It was always fun to see the pull we had on people.

"Hey guys! Sorry, but I have to steal Matt. We have a top-secret mission to complete." People started guessing what they assumed it was. "It's just filming Wednesday's video." He gave it up quickly.

"What time is it?" I looked at my phone and saw it wasn't after 5 yet. Chris was still gone. "I guess I have to go now. Bye, everyone." I'm sure Nick had a good reason. I stopped the stream. Nick came into my room unannounced. "Is Chris back?" I asked taking my headphones off.

"No. I just wanted to say something before we start the jello video." I stood up.

"Alright."

"I don't know what Chris is up to but he usually has bad actions for good intentions. So maybe give him the benefit of the doubt on this one."

"Nick, he took her on a date after I made it clear that I liked her."

"Did you make it clear?" He asked.

"I mean it was pretty obvious." I rolled my eyes.

"Either way. I don't think Chris wants to hurt you." He explained.

"Whatever. I'm done talking about it." I shrugged and walked downstairs. He followed me. I turned around and glared at him.

"I have to set up for the video." He raised his hands in defense. He went to the kitchen and started grabbing all the utensils needed. Both of us perked up when the door opened. Chris came inside. He wasn't smiling or frowning. It was weird. "Ready for the video?"

"Yeah. I wanna change quick." He wasn't wearing anything fancy or too cozy so it was hard to decide what kind of date they had. I stayed sitting on the chair in the corner. I scrolled my phone as I felt Nick sneaking glances at me every once in a while. Chris' feet came pattering down the stairs and I looked up. He was wearing pajama pants and a white tee shirt.

"Okay, so this video is gonna be dangerous," Nick said enticingly. I moved to sit at the kitchen island. "We are going to make jello, deaf, mute, and blind." His enthusiasm was over the top for such a bleak idea.

"I'd rather just do a car video." I sighed.

"Same." Chris agreed with me. It annoyed me he was agreeing with me.

"Oh. Okay. Let's do that instead. Get ready." Nick looked disappointed his idea was shot down so quickly. I grabbed a power bank for my phone and the car keys and went to wait for them. Nick was first out hauling the camera bags and snacks. Chris came out with nothing in hand and no visual difference. Probably took a long time doing nothing to avoid me. We set up the camera once we were parked across from CVS. I went to push record but Nick yelled stopping me.

"What?" I looked back wide-eyed.

"What is our topic about?"

"I got one," I said. I wasn't sure if it was a good one but it could get interesting. I pressed record.

"Yippity Yak we are back," Chris said immediately.

"No." Nick was straight. "Matt, since you have the topic you can introduce it, and please hurry so that doesn't happen again." Nick motioned to Chris being weird.

"So, I recently had this happen to me and I thought maybe you guys have gone through the same thing too so talking about it could be -"

"Oh great a mental health video."

"Chris shut the fuck up!" Nick yelled at him.

"Talking about it could be beneficial to you guys."

"Get there." Chris was being extra rude for no reason.

"He's fucking trying!" Nick was in the middle of us, literally and figuratively.

"Alright, so ignoring them, today's topic is what to do when someone close to you stabs you in the back." Nick's mouth dropped. Chris just looked at me as solid as a rock. After a long silence, I opened the conversation up.

"Any thoughts Nick?" I looked in the rear-view mirror to see him.

"I guess it would just depend on how close this person is to you." He was hesitant.

"Let's say a sibling." I sneered.

"Maybe their intentions weren't to hurt you." Chris finally spoke up.

"But if they were -" Nick started.

"And how would you know that?" Chris interrupted to defend.

"Pretty easy to tell if you are close to them." I was looking at Chris but avoiding eye contact. I knew if I made eye contact I would probably just get even more upset.

 "I think talking to them is the first step." Nick was trying to stay neutral.

"Yeah, just talk to them." Chris looked at the camera and smiled. It wasn't what he said that made me boil over but more so the way he said it along with the fake smug smile at the camera like he didn't do anything wrong.

"How could you go on a date with Aubrey after I told you I kind of liked her!?" I yelled.

"There it is," Nick said sitting back.

"She texted me," Chris yelled back.

"So?" I wasn't sure what to say.

"So, she wanted to talk about last night." Chris wasn't looking at me which was making me more mad. It also made him harder to read.

"Okay, well, I needed to talk to her before you did." I don't know if that was true but I wanted to talk to her so badly. I wanted a chance to really be myself and explain everything without Chris fucking it up.

"She told me she wasn't upset about last night and she likes you and wanted to make sure I wouldn't be upset if she started talking to you more."

"What?" Nick leaned forward. I went silent.

"What?" I asked again after Nick.

"We were basically agreeing to break up with no hard feelings because she wants you." I stared blankly at him.

"Get it, Matt!" Nick shook my shoulder. I couldn't help but smile a little. She liked me.

"Now can you stop being mad at me?" Chris sounded genuine.

"I.. uh... yeah." I stuttered.

"Did you honestly think that I would fight with you over a girl?" Chris folded his arms. His smug smile was annoying me this time but only because he was right.

"I told you." Nick yelled from the backseat.

"You guys were talking shit about me?" Chris whipped around to look at Nick.

"I wasn't." He threw me under the bus. Chris looked at me.

"Don't act like you were some holy angel. Begging me to tell you how I felt and then taking her out was sus." I rolled my eyes avoiding his eye contact.

"She called me wanting to meet up. By what you said last night I had a feeling she was feeling you. I've never slept with her." Chris started giggling.

"You never -?" Nick put a hand on Chris' shoulder.

"No, I just copied her notes and homework and then we hung out." I started feeling my cheeks flush red.

"Now I'm just confused." I shook my head back and forth. Why would she choose to sleep with Chris the one night he and I switched places? Either she knew I wasn't Chris or she just chose the absolute worst time to get frisky.

"Well, you must be good at -" Chris started.

"Shut the fuck up. Don't finish that." I said seriously. I was a little embarrassed about everything coming to light.

"You already did," Nick mumbled from the back seat. Chris lost it. He was rocking back and forth with his face covered while his laugh permeated through the car. Nick was smiling super wide but not contributing to the sound. I was fighting a smile.

"Can we just not do this, please," I said more annoyed than begging. They simmered down.

"So what are you going to do?" Nick was bringing the conversation back to serious.

"I -" The timer went off for us to reset the camera. "Did we just film that whole thing?" We all looked at the camera forgetting it was there.

"Nick you better delete all of that," Chris said.

"I will." He reached into the bag for another battery. Chris disassembled the SD card and battery while I scrolled my phone. After they had the camera settled I put it back up.

"So what are we actually filming?" Nick looked at me specifically.

"I don't know. I don't have anything." I shook my head no.

"Do we have to do one tonight?"

"No."

"I want to get home and see if I can talk to Aubrey." I quickly drove all of us home so I could disappear into my room. I left them behind in the garage and ran up the stairs skipping steps. I was nervous and eager to talk to her. I'm glad Chris didn't fuck it up for me. I wish I could say I believed in him the whole time but there was a moment of doubt for sure. I messaged her my phone number through Facebook and stared at the little circle waiting to see if her picture appeared showing she saw it. After a while it did. She was typing.

I'll call you in 5 (:

 I stopped biting my thumbnail to respond.

Okay

I immediately started biting my nails again waiting for her to call. Five minutes passed and she wasn't calling. Maybe she didn't want to call me. I sighed at myself. I try to not let things like this get to me normally and here I am freaking out over small details. I laid back on my bed. I felt my phone vibrating. I shot up to my feet and answered the phone.

"Hey." I said rushed. I cringed.

"Hey, I don't have long to talk. I'm at a party."

"Oh." My true emotions were showing. Nick, Chris, and I don't drink or smoke. We are pretty chill. We go to parties but usually end up leaving when things get uncomfortable.

"It's a study party." She giggled.

"Oh." My voice raised with realization. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go out on a date."

"We already did." She laughed. I smiled at her little joke.

"I meant with me." I specified.

"I would love to Matt." She answered the question.

"Cool."

"I gotta go. I'll text you."

"Study hard." Her laugh was cut off by her hanging up. "Study hard? What the hell is wrong with me?" I said aloud to myself. I opened my door to find Nick and Chris right there.

"So, how did it go?" Chris pressed.

"I got a date."

"Let's go Matt." They jumped me and started hooting and hollering approval at me.

"Just gotta wait until she texts me now." I looked at my phone.

"What are you going to do in the meantime?" Chris asked me.

"I don't know. Wait I guess." I shrugged.

"You could study hard." Nick made fun of me.

"You heard that?" I smacked him.

"Hey, maybe you guys could "study" together." Chris put his joke in there with air quotes.

"I hate you both." We all laughed. Even though being a triplet was complicated at times it was nice always having the support from my two brothers. Having Chris' support meant a little more to me because of the current situation. I wasn't nervous about pursuing Aubrey but instead, I felt confident and excited.

[tyrantisterror]

One of the things that baffles me about the fan response to the Star Wars sequel trilogy is the continued belief that Snoke was intended to have some secret identity- that he was supposed to be Darth Maul or Darth Plagueis or Darth Stinkus or whoever.

It's just very dumb! Like, firstly, we know now that there was no plan for anything in the sequel trilogy, it was all written by the seat of the scriptwriters' proverbial pants with no concern for answering the myriad bits of setup they established. Everything was written to sound cool enough to get you invested while having no cohesive endpoint in mind. The narrative equivalent of packing your bags, picking a highway at random, and driving till your car runs out of gas.

Second, Snoke was clearly intended to be Snoke and nothing else - an evil space wizard who runs the space nazis. You might think, "That can't be right, that's what Palpatine was, they wouldn't do the same exact villain again without a twist," but, like, they obviously would though. The Force Awakens is basically just A New Hope but slightly remixed, Starkiller Base is the Death Star but bigger, it's all reheated story leftovers because J.J. Abrams has no imagination and can only riff off of shit he's seen before. Snoke is I Can't Believe It's Not Palpatine, and that's all he was intended to be.

That's why Rian Johnson decided to unceremoniously axe him in the second movie - Snoke was a narrative dead end, a boring xerox of a character who was never particularly interesting without Ian Macdirmid's acting choices, and letting Kylo take his place allowed the story to get its own identity.

...but then JJ got his hands back on it and literally just brought Palpatine back because he can't tell a story without someone's homework to cheat off of.

[tojiscumdumpster]

CHAPTER EIGHT - READER

⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀✧ summary page

 Today has literally sucked every single last bit of energy I had left inside of me. Dark coffee with six packets of sugar and a fruit bowl could not have prepared me for the day I had. 

 I’m not sure if it’s because I stayed up late last night to put together lessons or how active my students have been during classes, but a bottle of wine is well needed right now. 

 Days like this make me want to quit my job and move out of the country. Usually, I would feel this way if I was teaching elementary school kids. Not high schoolers. 

 Sometimes they refuse to listen to you. Somehow, they magically forget about their homework, so they beg for an extension. And a lot of times they talk while they’re supposed to be silent reading. 

 It’s overwhelming being a teacher. Anyone who does it, is simply for the passion because the pay isn’t the greatest. 

  Thank goodness for my savings. 

 Anyways.

 I’m ready to go home. This parent-teacher conference is going on longer than expected, and it absolutely has nothing to do with the divorced single dad in front of me that won’t stop flirting. 

 Cons of being a younger teacher. Dads. Lots of them. Some are handsome, but I didn’t become a teacher to be hit on while trying to discuss their child’s grades and curriculum. 

 “Mr. Anderson, your son has been falling behind in class,” I begin. “He’s been on his phone lately and tends to talk over students while they're reading.”

 “I see. I’ll be sure to talk to him about that, Mrs. L /N.”

 I give him a tight smile— “Miss, —” correcting him. “Any other questions? I believe we discussed enough these past ninety minutes.”

  Even though the conferences are expected to last only thirty minutes, max, forty-five . 

 “Apologies thought a woman as attractive as yourself would be married,” he says with a smile that might’ve been charming if I was drunk, but right now—it makes me cringe. 

 I nod. “Well, I appreciate your compliment, Mr. Anderson. If there’s nothing else, then I do have to go-”

 “Dinner?”

 “Excuse me?” I stuttered. 

 He lets out a nervous laugh. “Sorry. That was my failed attempt at asking you out to dinner.”

 And here I thought I almost had him out the door. Like I said, some of the dads are attractive. I can’t deny that about Mr. Anderson. Tall. Smooth skin. Nice smile. Salt and pepper hair action going on. I would say he’s probably in his mid-forties. 

 However, I’m not interested in building a roster full of DILFs to keep in my bucket whenever I need sexual relief. 

 One should suffice.

 “Mr. Anderson, although I’m flattered, it’s best to keep this professional. I don’t want to get involved with my student’s father that way. So, I’ll have to decline.” What a hypocrite I am . “Come, I’ll see you out.”

 He gets up and follows me to the door. The woman in me knows he’s staring at my ass right now, so I turn to my side. And of course, I caught him in action. 

 “Apologies if I made you uncomfortable, Miss L /N.”

 “Apologies accepted. Enjoy the rest of your day,” I tell him, sounding sarcastic as ever. 

 Actually, two bottles of wine are much needed. 

 After two more excruciating hours at school, I eventually made it home. I think to myself one day I’ll leave work before it hits four, but I guess that’s inevitable when you’re an overachieving teacher like me. 

 To prepare myself for the next day, I usually stay later than usual to lay out all my lessons. However, I think it’s time for me to use one weekend to plan a month’s worth of lessons so I can stop staying so late. 

 Isn’t this what I complained to Nanami about? I remembered being tired of him staying after hours or bringing work to our home when all I wanted to do was read a book and lay under him. 

 It seems like his habits grew onto me. 

  The irony. 

 Probably if I had someone to come home to, I wouldn’t be thinking about work after I clocked out. Being single and thirty isn’t the worst thing ever, but I honestly thought I would’ve been settled down by now.

 That was the plan with Nanami. 

 I still can’t believe the nerve he had the other day during brunch. To ask me if we could try again after I already gave him two chances? Like I would ever sacrifice my happiness just so he could get his shit together. 

 My patience is high but not to that extent, and I refuse to wait for anyone to love me properly. I just hated that it had to be that way with Nanami. 

 We felt right together. He loved me. Made me feel beautiful. Extremely kind and gentle with me. I was one of those girlfriends that would “ my boyfriend” people to death because he made me happy. 

 Our way of meeting was such a cliché and it convinced me we were going to last forever. It’s only right to feel that way in a five-year relationship. 

 But after a while, what Nanami and I built became dull. Our relationship felt more like a chore than love between two people. It was transactional in a way that benefited him more than it did me. I didn’t want that anymore. 

 I didn’t want to become a wife and bring a child into the world with the possibility of being a single mother in a marriage. Nanami knew how much I wanted to start a family together, but he chose his principal duties over us. 

 I deeply sigh. “See what happens when you drink wine, Y/N,” whispering to myself. 

 Gosh, I shouldn’t even be drinking on a school night. I check my phone to not only see that it's eight-thirty, but also to be left with no new messages or missed phone calls from…

  Toji . 

 He’s had my number since yesterday, however, I have yet to hear from him. I mean, which is understandable. He works a late night job and has a fifteen-year-old son, so I’m not first of his priorities. Though, it would be nice to hear from him. 

 Thinking about Toji Fushiguro makes me feel like a high school girl who’s excited that her crush finally notices her. His gruffness, demeanor, how he carries himself. . . It’s different. I’ve had my fair share of relationships in the past before Nanami, but I’ve never come across a man like Toji. 

 At least, I don’t think so.

 A complete stranger Toji is to me yet the comfort he gives me is weird. Weird in a good way. I can only imagine how it’ll be the more we learn about each other. That’s if he doesn’t back out. 

 Only time will tell. 

 It’s time for me to go to sleep. If I stay up any longer, I’ll finish this bottle of wine and throw my mind into a frenzy for the rest of the night. But the minute I slipped into bed, my phone rang. 

 A number that I’m not familiar with calls me and I’m left to believe it’s only one person.

 “Hello?” 

 “. . . Hey .” I know that voice from anywhere. Deep, soothing, and spreads chills across my body. 

 “Mr. Fushiguro. Calling me after school hours? I’m not on the clock, you know?” I tease. 

 He chuckles, a little more faint than usual, but still a sound I enjoy hearing. “Remember you saying I can use your number however I please.”

 “I did say that didn’t I?” I can’t help but smile and stay up a few minutes extra to talk to Toji. “What’s up, big guy? You okay?”

  “Sounds like I’m not?”

 “A little.”

 He hums. “ I see. . . How was your day? ”

 It’s clear there’s something on Toji’s mind, but I’ll listen to him when he’s ready. 

 “It was… long. Draining,” I answer. “I was close to pulling my hair out.”

 “ Want to talk about it? ”

 I sit up in my bed.  “It’s just work being work. Not much to say that won’t cause you to get tired of hearing me talk.”

 The laugh he lets out this time has a little more life in it. “ I called you to hear you talk. . . Your voice is calming. ”

  He says things like this and expects me not to feel warm inside?

 “You need some calming?” I query. 

 “. . . Maybe .” 

 “Tell me, Toji.”

 I can only picture Toji staring into nowhere to see if he wants to open up to me or not. Whatever he shares, I’ll take it and offer my comfort. 

 He sighs. “ Was trying to have small talk with the kid about school and I guess that annoyed him. ”

 “What did he say?” I asked, knitting my brows together. 

 “ That he wanted to eat in silence, so he went to his room. ” 

 “He’ll come around.”

 Toji snorts. “ Yeah, I hope so. Took him school shopping earlier and he didn’t even want to be seen with me. ”

 “Did he tell you that?”

 “. . . No, I just assumed .”

 Although Toji isn’t physically here, I give him a reassuring smile like he could see me. “Assumptions will lead you to spiral. Next time try to be around him while keeping a comfortable distance,” I tell him. “I doubt it’s because he doesn’t want to be seen with you. I mean, Megumi is an exact replica of your face. It’s not like he can hide that you’re his dad.”

 “ You’re good with your words, Y/N. ”

 “I’m good at a lot of things, Mr. Fushiguro.” My tone came off way more suggestive than I expected but fuck it. I’ll blame the wine. 

 It’s like I can hear the smile on his face. “ You can’t say shit like that while calling me Mr. Fushiguro and expect me not to get turned on. ”

 “And what if that was my intention? Maybe to help get your mind off of things?”

 “ I can think of other ways for you to help. ”

 “You called me for some late night action?” I begin baiting. “What’s next? You’re going to ask me what I’m wearing?”

 “. . .  No... Well, if you want to share- ”

 I giggle, cutting him off. “Toji, anyways.” Hearing Toji genuinely laugh makes me feel better because I know how much mending his relationship with Megumi means to him. “I think you should continue with what you’re doing. I don’t know much about Megumi, but he seems like a kid that has to warm up. Even if you’re his dad, after years of neglect, comfort isn’t automatic because you’re blood. When he feels it, you’ll know.”

 “You’re right.”

 “Your mind feels cleared?” I try to contain my yawn, but it slips outs. I don’t want Toji to think he’s keeping me up because hearing from was actually the highlight of my day.

 “ After this walk and talking to you? Yeah. ” 

 “Don’t think it’s too late for you to be walking?” 

 “ Worried about me, Y/N? ” He asks, and I can hear the playfulness in his tone.

 I shrug. “Maybe. You’re a big boy, though. I’m sure you can take care of yourself.”

 “ I’m glad you know. ”

 I admire the comfortable silence Toji and I have sometimes whenever we talk. In a way, and hopefully he feels the same, it’s like we’re soaking in each other’s energy. And maybe Toji does feel the same since he decided to call when he needed help clearing his mind. 

 “ I’m keeping you up, Miss L /N? ”

 “Hm, I don’t mind giving you some of my time,” I pick on. “Just next time, schedule a conference.”

 He keeps the banter, saying, “ I’ll be sure to do that. . . I’ll let you go, though. Need your energy saved for Friday. ”

 “You’re going to put me to work on our date?”

 “ You’ll see, ” he says, smiling. “ And Y/N? ”

 I yawn again. “Yeah?”

 “ Thank you. ” An explanation of his admission isn’t needed. I know exactly why he’s thanking me. “ Night .”

 “Good night, big guy.”

 After we disconnect, I smile and internally feel giddy inside. It’s almost embarrassing how Toji makes me feel. I can’t help myself. 

 Going to sleep will be easier these next few days knowing I have something to look forward to on Friday. 

 As I described before, Toji Fushiguro will definitely be a beautiful catalyst that I’m excited to see. 

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

discussion question #4 — reader has made it clear that she doesn't want to reconcile any romantic relationship with nanami anymore, do you think he will become an issue to reader and toji's developing relationship as the story progresses?

[cosmicpearlz]

at midnight

summary: bringing in the new year with a drastic change was definitely not on your bingo card but here you were.

pairing: xavier thorpe x reader

a/n: hi welcome to the last day of ficmas! i’ve enjoyed writing these everyday and i’m glad everyone else enjoying it too. also merry christmas loves!

…………………………………………………………………………….

the nightshades decided to come back to the school early in order to celebrate the new year with a party. it wasn’t only the members but close friends were allow to come too. principal weems deemed it okay to have it in the nightshades library. bianca, yoko, divina and you were in charge of the decorations while the boys were in charge of food and music.

with the party in full swing, you went to get a slice of pizza after quietly removing yourself from the previous conversation you were in with enid and yoko. “can i have a bite of your pizza?” you didn’t have to even turn around to know that it was xavier, your best friend.

“xavi you can literally get your own pizza.”

“i wanna bite out of yours though,” he shrugs his shoulders not caring about the other slices of pizza. you narrowed your eyes at him and saw that he wasn’t gonna let it go.

huffing, you held out the pizza for him to bite. he grins before leaning down to bite the pizza slice keeping his eyes on you while he did it. why was that so attractive? you always thought xavier was attractive but you knew that you didn’t want to risk the friendship you had with him. so what does one do when in love with their best friend? try to ignore it and hope for the best.

“why are you like this?”

“we always share stuff, why stop now?” he did have a point, you guys shared a lot of stuff. art supplies, notes, homework answers, xavier’s clothes and so much more. people often commented on how you guys were always attached to the hip.

“whatever loser. are you excited for the new year?” you take a bite out of your pizza only for xavier to then take another bite out of said pizza. he nods his head while chewing on the cheesy goodness.

“yeah, i think it’s gonna be a better year then this one.”

“i agree.” you guys ended up just taking turns biting the pizza until it was gone.

“i could go for another slice. you?”

“eh why not.” xavier went to grab another slice before ajax called both of your names to get your attention.

“hey lovebirds, come over here we’re playing uno!” quickly grabbing another slice of pizza and putting it on the plate in your hand, xavier pulls you to the group.

it was the biggest uno game ever. from left to right sat ajax, enid, wednesday, kent, you, xavier, yoko, divina and bianca.

“do you guys always share food like that?” divina pointed to the shared plate between you and xavier.

“don’t ask. they do this all the time for people that claim to not be dating,” ajax shakes his head making eye contact with xavier. xavier felt like he could kill ajax because the boy was the only one who knew of his feelings for you. seeing as he was his best friend besides you.

“focus on the game and how i’m gonna whoop your asses in.”

“oh y/n, tough talk for someone whose gonna lose!” bianca sends a smirk your way. that was your friendship though, super competitive but not too serious. enid dealt the cards and the competitive game began.

“xavier stop looking at my cards!”

“y/n, we’re supposed to be best friends. best friends show each other their cards.”

“no they fucking don’t,” you laughed and gently pushed his face from yours with your free hand that wasn’t hiding your cards.

the game went on for about an hour before the winner called uno and out. it ended up being kent, who wasted no time in bragging. you threw your cards on the floor in front of your legs.

“aww baby, are you mad?” pet names also weren’t unusual in your friendship with xavier. he just didn’t know that the times he called you a pet name, your stomach fluttered and made you melt inside.

“yes. very mad.”

“you’ll be fine. it’s just game.” he wraps your arms around you bringing you into a hug.

“i know i know,” you cuddled a little bit more into his side returning the hug.

-

everyone grabbed a red cup to prepare for the countdown. you took your place in a small corner of the library because your exhaustion was kicking in. xavier sees you and decided to join you.

“can’t believe it’s about to be a new year.”

10

“me neither it seemed like christmas came and gone by so quickly.” xavier nods with you agreeing that the end of the year felt so short.

9

“i’m totally not ready for school to end though.”

8

“why y/n?”

7

“i don’t know, just not ready to leave yet?” it was more of a question than a statement. how do you tell him you weren’t ready to not spend pretty much every day together. he steps a little closer to you.

6

“i understand you to an extent. it’s gonna be weird not seeing everyone every day.” it was like he read your mind, super freaky.

5

“exactly! i’m gonna miss everyone in the summer even if i’ll see them next school year.”

4

xavier takes another step closer to you still keeping a small gap in between. “will you miss me?”

3

“oh xavier, you know i’m gonna miss you. you’re my best friend.” you felt shy under his gaze with those beautiful green eyes.

2

“what if i don’t wanna be best friends anymore?” your heart dropped at his words. not be best friends anymore? he steps closer to where your noses are almost touching.

1

“what do you mean by that?” xavier licks his lips glancing down at yours.

0

“this,” he quickly places his free hand and tugged you into a kiss. it was needy mainly full of tongue and you didn’t mind this at all. you could hear the fireworks go off from the town but all you could focus on was the boy that had your heart.

“i meant that.” he leans his forehead on yours. you were breathless and couldn’t be more happier than right now.

“happy new year xavi,” your whisper fell on his lips making him want to kiss you again and again.

“happy new year sweetheart.”

[professional-demon-master]

Cutting you off pt3

Leviathan

Light angst/ fluff. Good ending !! GN reader

I had to change colors to avoid confusion lol

Levi was a jealous person. It didn’t took you long to notice that. I mean, he was literally envy incarnated and he did showed that pretty well.

Despite of that and the disastrous way you guys met, you did ended up having a good relationship with him. There were anime nights every week and at least one day you would dedicate to gaming with him.

At least there were when he actually approved your presence in his room

And it wasn’t even the fact that you were human, but he still hold a grudge at you for being a normie.

*And don’t get him wrong, he knows you watch animes and have enjoyed a manga or two and let’s not talk about you video games experience, but you’re still too normie for him.

And that’s way most of the time when you asked him to do anything together, he would take a long time before accepting, because he just couldn’t believe a normies like you would want to do activities with him.

Please! A normie like you asking him to see a new anime together? You’re probably joking.

You? Asking him how Henry 2.0 was doing? You were probably doing it to make fun of him!

But you still found patience to actually convince him that you just wanted to spend time with him and that it wasn’t a tactic to mock him later

Up until one disastrous day where everything went wrong

You couldn’t concentrate in class, you had a pop quiz and you had a ton of homework.

You were just praying for the day to be over so you could finally relax and spend time with Levi like you had planned two days ago, the new season of an anime you both liked was airing that day, and you were going to celebrate it by spending the day together.

After leaving school, you practically ran all the way from RAD to HoL, only stopping once you were in front of Levi's door answering his password to get there and finally relax.

“Hey Levi! Where were you after class? I had to drag Mammon all the way home because I couldn’t find you.”

He didn’t actually answered, but since he was looking at cd's you supposed he was too concentrated to actually answer you.

“You choosing what to watch? That’s wise, the new chapter won’t drop for another three hours”

…

“Levi?¨ Still nothing.

“You can just drop it, you know?”

“What?”

“I-I said you can drop it! The act!”

It was your time to be in silence. He turned around to look at you.

“Don’t act dumb! You know what I’m talking about!”

“I really don’t Levi. Please explain it to me”

He inhaled a little bit frustrated. “The act where you come in here pretending to be interested in my and my hobbies, wanting to watch an anime with me that you probably don’t even like!”

“Oh my… really? This again? It’s getting ridiculous, Levi.”

Levi dropped the cd's in his hands, position both arms at his side while walking towards you.

“You’re the one who’s acting ridiculous! Why pretend you like me?”

“I’m not pretending! I thought by now you would’ve realized I like spending time with you.” You explained, a little bit desperate this time.

“I know your type M-MC! Just pretending you’re interested, but you’re just passing the time cause I’m the only one who’s available right now!”

“Levi, what the fuck?” You frowned while painting your gaze locked with his. “I think I better leave”

“Yeah, there’s probably another demon you can throw yourself at by now”

You bit your tong to avoid answering. Levi often got into these moods and arguing with him was like yelling at a wall.

“You know what? Forget it, think whatever you want to think.” You opened the door and muttered an “asshole” before closing it behind you.

Levi knew it, he knew he was acting like an asshole and that it technically wasn’t your fault, but he had spent the whole day at RAD watching you pass the time with everybody else. Reading at the library with Satan, eating lunch with the twins, passing notes with Mammon during class and even walking through the halls with the angels. And please don’t even get him started on how you hugged Solomon during the morning after he gave you human realm chocolate he had retrieved for you!

Even though he knew he was in the wrong he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that MC was going to come to him and apologize at any moment. That’s how it worked before and he was almost sure that’s the way it was going to work now too.

Still, as time went by he was getting worried he had now scared you off for good.

It’s not like it was just an idea in his head, you were actively avoiding him now.

You stayed behind to watch Beer practice instead of meeting him after school to watch anime together, you had ramen dates with Mammon and even started watching movies with Satan! He didn’t bothered to pretend he thought they were lame normie movies, he still wanted you to watch them with him!

His breaking point came when he heard you laughing while playing video games with mammon and beel in the living room.

¨That’s enough! Stop it!¨ he sprinted to unplug the console before any of his brothers could stop him. Everyone stopped abruptly, not even having time to complain before Leviathan started yelling again. ¨I knew it wasn’t gonna be hard for you to replace me but this is enough!¨

You just watched him a little bit concerned, the brothers looked at each other a little bit confused by the sudden appearance of Levi’s temper tantrum and apparently not realizing it was directed to you.

“Man I swear Levi keeps gettin’ weirder by the day” Mammon whispered and frowned while he sunk by your side.

That same night, when you were in your room getting ready for bed you heard three little knocks in your door. You were pretty sure it had to be Mammon who was probably coming to spend time with you before falling asleep, a little ¨Come in¨ escaped your mouth almost in automatic.

“Hi” you lifted your head and observed Levi there, opening the door just enough so you could see his face. You kept quiet, and Leviathan took that as a sign to continue talking before his little window of bravery closed. “I-I wanted to say I’m sorry. About the game… and yelling at you… and, well, e-everything.”

You stood up from your seat at your bed and went started walking to the door without taking your eyes from him. Levi felt nervous and started playing with your doorknob while his gaze looked down.

“I-I know it was wrong, but I guess I was just… jealous. N-Not that it’s an excuse! I know you were just being your usual normie charming self. Just… sometimes it’s hard seeing you being so close with everybody, b-because I know they’re cooler than me, and that after spending enough time with them you’ll stop coming. Nobody would want to spend time with a yucky- eek!”

You interrupted him with a hug that caught him off guard. “Shut up”, you fix your posture so you could look at him without breaking the hug. “Levi I love spending time with you, and nothing will change that. C’mon, you know it.”

“B-But… I mean, you spent this last days just with my brothers and you looked just fine.” Levi spoke through scarlet cheeks and a little stutter. You gave him a sad smile.

“I mean… yeah, but they were just helping me pass the time. Don’t get me wrong I love them, but it just felt weird not spending every free time I had with you. They tried to help me take my mind off of our argument but it just wasn’t the same.” You finally broke the hug and looked at him while you tilted your head. “I missed you, Levi, but this can’t happen again, next time you’re feeling like this please just talk to me.”

“I’ll try to be better, I promise” You nodded and walked inside your room again. Levi stood there, a little awkward and unsure of what to do.

“Aren’t you coming in? We have a lot of catching up to do on a lot of Animes”

His face lightened up while he run to your bed. You were right, how could he doubt you?

Omg I’m so sorry It took me so long to finally post but work is literally killing me. Why can’t they just leave me be the silly little sheep writer I am 😩

Hope you like it guys! -B

[sultrybaby]

Much Ado About Nothing (N.RK)

in which you and niki have some misunderstandings, and a nosy jay is done with it [inspired by a scene from bones haha]

a.n./ this is for the @kflixnet event haha. For @yoongimooni . I have not written in a while but I tried my best. Hope you enjoy it

💞Warnings: profanity, misunderstandings, a lil bit crying, i have described a very simple situation in a very dramatic fashion, reader has a younger brother by the name of alex💞 Word count: approx. 2k💞Pairing: Nishimura Riki x Fem!Reader (featuring jay, sunghoon, jungwon, alex (younger brother))💞 Genre: Fluff, a lil angst (established relationship)

When your thirteen year old self prayed to have a romance like the books, you were not referring to the abduction and trapping. It seemed as if the universe had misread your wishes, for here you were, being dragged  by Jay.

"Would you mind explaining why you're doing this?" You asked, to which Jay gave you what seemed to be his standard response where he would not say anything.

"DUDE!"

"Okay fine!" he said in exasperation, "I was sick an tired of you and Niki constantly bombastically side eyeing each other, so now I am going to lock you in a room for three hours until you guys figure this shit out because I can not deal with you petty kids anymore"

"What-?"

Before you could even process his answer, you were thrown into a room (which you later recognized as Riki's) and the door was shut. Sighing, you nonchalantly walked backwards, habit bringing you to sit on Niki's bed.

Your peripheral vision unfortunately missed out on the 6 foot tall boy that was already sleeping there.

"What the fuck?" Niki exclaimed sleepily, his deep voice softly booming across the room, causing you to let out the most guttural scream in history.

"Oh, you," said Niki, his face falling into a seemingly non care-ish expression that kind of hurt your feelings. It also made you quite mad. Like why is he pretending like you're the one in the wrong here. The literal audacity of this boy to pretend to be the victim here is astonishing.

"Okay what is that supposed to mean?"

"What? I didn't say anything..." he grumbled "just let me sleep..." He lazily lifted the blanket over his eyes.

Okay now he was seriously pissing you off. Yanking the blanket away from his face, you leaned in and held him by his collar.

"Okay listen here you little piece of shit. Your self-appointed older brother or dad or whatever JAY said he's gonna keep us locked in here until we settle our differences. So I think it's best for both of us if you man up and apologise," you said, finishing off with a gentle slap to his head.

"Why the fuck should I apologize, you're the one who has some secret vendetta against my dog," he clapped back,  sitting up straight.

Excuse me what now?

You turned back around to face him, confusion etched all over your face.

"I have nothing against Bisco- what the hell are you talking about?" you asked him, the tone of your voice softening due to hurt. You loved Bisco.

"Oh don't pretend to be so innocent. I know you're the one who stole his dog food from my cabinet."

"I would never-"

"And that's not it," he interrupted you, "I noticed that you haven't been spending as much time with him lately. You always do homework or practice during times when you usually walk him, something you claimed to have really liked. Recently whenever he comes to hug you on the couch I can see you inch away from him. If you have something against him you could have just told me but noooo~, you would go as far as to starve him??? Unbelievable..." he said, ending his rant by rolling his eyes at you.

You were speechless. You had no idea that he noticed these things. The feeling of guilt caused you to momentarily forget the anger you felt at him.

It was time to tell him- you owed him an explanation.

"Niki I...I have something to tell you," you said reluctantly.

"Damn right you do -_-"

"It's...not what you think it is..."

Niki turned to look at you curiously, starting to become a bit confused. Taking a deep breath, you said,

"I'mallergictodogfur"

"I'm sorry what?"

"I said," you paused, "I'm allergic. To dog fur." You looked down, unable to meet his eyes. You felt really bad about the way you had hid this from him- Niki really loved that dog of his.

A slender finger ducked underneath your chin, gently lifting your face up. You were now eye to eye with Niki, his face inching close to yours. Wearing an amused expression and that goddamn annoying smirk, he looked at you intently.

"What..." you asked, embarrassment evident in your tone.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he sighed, his tone soft.

"I thought it might hurt your feelings"

"And hiding it would make me feel better?" The question was valid.

"When did you find out?" he asked, hugging you closer. Nuzzling in, you narrated the incident to him.

"It was actually during one of my walks with bisco. He was about to lick something I'm pretty sure he wasnt supposed to, and since it was my first time with a pet, I was cautious and terrified. So I picked him up, away from the ground and towards my face. That's when I started sneezing really bad." you finished, looking up at him.

"Well," Niki said, "You should have told me."

"I know"

"Instead of just ignoring me the way you did"

"Actually," you started, sitting up straight, "that's not why i was ignoring you" you said, feeling the anger boil back into your system.

"What do you mean?" he asked- timidly, a response to your sudden change in tone.

Without a single word, you stood up and walked towards his cupboard. Sliding the door open (perhaps a bit too harsh), you took out the box that you had found while looking for a hoodie a week ago. For the sake of assurance, you opened it, and once again you were met with the horrible sight.

You could feel your jaw ache from emotion as you stared at the torn pictures and broken pieces. With a feeble attempt to ignore the clouding of your eyes, you marched back, throwing the box onto the bed, causing the contents to cause a mess (one toy wheel hitting niki's forehead).

Scraps of pictures littered the bed. Fragments of pictures you had taken with niki, bisco, and some of your little baby brother, one that niki insisted on keeping in his bedroom now nothing but a broken frame. The sight of the poorly torn edges  was all it took for the dam to break.

Your sobbing form meekly reached and held the wheel of a very familiar toy car.

"You..." you trailed off, catching your breath, "is something wrong with us, niki? Is something making...making you mad? Is this how you take out your anger? By breaking things? Did I- did I do something wrong? What does this mean?" you ranted breathlessly, not waiting for a reply.

You clutched the plastic wheel harder, holding it to niki's face.

"This... You said you were going to give this to Alex. You said you couldn't wait to play with him, that you wanted to gift him like a good big brother. So why..." you paused, heaving, "why would you break it? Did i say something niki?"

His lack of response only made it harder for you, as you continued to sob relentlessly.  Until you felt him gently take hold of your hand.

"Oh sweetie..." his deep voice rung through your ear, causing you to look up slowly, your hiccups slowing down. You faced him, and you were surprised to see a subtle smile.

"Why...why are you" hic "why are you smiling?"

He sighed, and then got off the bed and stood up. Walking to the still open cupboard, he unlocked a drawer hidden behind a bunch of unwashed clothes. You could hear a bit of rattling and jiggling as he pulled something out.

"I wanted this to be a surprise..." he said, his back still turned towards you, "but i guess i have no choice"

Facing you, he walked over and gently placed the item in your hands.

The sight was absolutely heartwarming.

You observed the thin threads, inexpertly but lovingly tying together cut out pictures of you, Alex, and niki- pictures childishly stuck into paper balls. There was sincerity in the little doodles that niki had drawn on the sides of the balls and the adorable cartoon drawings hanging from gold threads. You observed the wooden handle with innocent wonder, caressing it gently. It was beautiful.

Niki had made alex a baby mobile. With all of you in it.

"You think he will like it?" he asked hesitantly, unsure of your reaction.

Turning to him with a bittersweet smile, you simply looked into his eyes, hoping he could see the utter happiness you felt.

And then you grabbed his collar and kissed him.

Although surprised, Niki responded soon enough, cupping your face and smiling into the kiss. You pulled back, foreheads still touching.

"He's gonna love it," you whispered, "just like he loves his big brother."

Resting your head against his shoulder, you held it up as niki clicked the remote. Both of you watched silently as the mobile turned around. The sound of music box nursery rhymes filled the room.

"I used the motor from the car for this, you know" he said, breaking the silence.

"It's wonderful sweetie" you replied, turning around to kiss him again. He locked his lips with yours as you both held each other, happy and content.

"Good to see you're both back at it again- can't say I missed it"

'WTF!" you said, turning around, shit scared.

"JAY CMON MAN" exclaimed niki as both of you looked away, red faced and embarrassed. 

-

*Bonus*

It was no later then 12 am as a strong man nimbly and silently made his way across the dorms. Cautiously amd carefully, without losing hold of the bag in his hand, he opened the door without a single creak. Expertly nudging in, he silently marched to the kitchen cabinet, and placed the packet inside the cupboard.

"YOU BITCH!"

Sunghoon turned around, scared for his life. And in the darkness of the kitchen was you, standing in front of him  menacingly. He desperately clutched the edges of the table as if his life depended on it.

" You scared me, ___" he said, "why are you awake right now?" he asked, chuckling nervously.

"Oh shut it! Don't pretend to be so innocent," you said, eyeing him judgementally, "I can't believe you let niki think I was the one that stole bisco's dog food"

"Okay look-" he said, attempting to defend himself in vain. But he took one look at your face and decided there was no point in doing that.

"Okay fine. I promised my sister that I would get the dog food this time and I may have forgot and she may have had a bad day at school and she may have been in a really bad mood because of that and i may have freaked out and stolen niki's dog food and i may have not said anything when he asked which may have led him to pick a fight with you but hey, come on, that's life right?"

"Hmm...okay" you replied, causing sunghoon to sigh in relief.

"And you know," he continued, "I practically did us a  favour."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, there is no way of knowing jungwon hasn't tried eating dog food"

"What the fuck?"

Sunghoon whipped his head around, nearly breaking it in the process.

"I'm sorry did the couch just speak?" he asked.

An angry jungwon crawled out from behind the couch, a phone camera in hand.

"What do you mean you think i eat dog food?"

"WHERE TEH FUCK DID U COME FROM?"

"Relax sunghoon," you drawled, "I just asked him to record this so that i could show niki the truth"

"Hey you can't do that-"

"If she doesn't, I will," said jungwon, trotting up next to you.

"Dammit."

-

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[jfleamont]

“Divination” for your prompt request please ☺️

Hello! Thank you, here it is 💕

Divination - 766 words

“What the hell is wrong with me?”

The silence of the library is broken by a voice, a voice that unmistakably belongs to Lily, and James jumps in his seat.

He looks up to find her sitting at the table next to his. He doesn't know how long she has been there, but thinks it's weird that he hasn't noticed until now. The library is deserted on this Saturday afternoon except for them and a group of second years a few tables away, so naturally everyone is looking at her now.

Their eyes meet and she gives him a rueful smile, mouthing a ‘sorry’.

“Evans, Evans, Evans…” he says as he stands up, already walking towards her (he can't help it), and joins her at her table, his books and notes already forgotten. He settles in the seat at her left, and it doesn't look like she minds the proximity. 

“To answer your question… A couple of things, really?” he whispers conspiratorially in her ear. 

She smells lovely. 

She chuckles. “I wasn't asking you,” she replies, and she bends her head towards him, her breath ghosting his ear.

His heartbeat quickens, but he chooses to focus on the matter at hand. “How was I supposed to know? It sounded like you were in dire need of help.”

Lily laughs again. “Thanks for the rescue, but I doubt you can help me.”

“Try me.”

“You don't take Divination anymore so I don't think Ornithomancy is your forte,” she points to an illustration of a raven in her book.

James shrugs. “I know one thing or two about birds.”

“Birds as in girls, maybe, but you wouldn't be able to tell me why all my experiments are going south. Literally.”

At his confused look, she explains. “We were tasked with studying the flight of birds but all I got was a bunch of bad omens.”

He stretches his arms, casually resting one on her chair. “Well, that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. It probably means you're shit at this bird reading thing.”

She swats his arm. “I am brilliant at this, thank you very much.”

“Until now. Besides, isn't it all up to interpretation? Just write that you think you're going to die very soon and you're good. You will probably get extra points because of the sob story.”

Lily starts playing with the hem of her skirt, and James’ gaze is drawn to her thighs now.

“It's not as simple as that,” she sighs, “I have to be very specific with my descriptions. The time of day, the season, the weather conditions and the number of birds I see determine the exact moment in which said bad thing will happen.”

James covers her hand with his own to stop her from fidgeting, and he ignores the heat of her skin. “You're right, I know fuck-all about this but I also like to think that I know you quite well, and - don't get mad -” she's looking at him now, “you tend to be a bit pessimistic. It's one thing if you're worried about your mark, but this not the case, isn't it?” 

She shakes her head. Slowly, he starts massaging her hand. “This is homework, Lily, that's all it is. I know that it's hard to imagine a world without school with the NEWTs looming over our heads, but really, relax. Take a walk, go outside… Alright, maybe try not to look at the sky for the time being,” he adds, and Lily hides a giggle behind her hand, “but go out. Please.”

Go out with me he wants to say, but he stops himself.

“Now?” 

He looks away from her for a moment to peer outside the window.

“It's a nice enough day. Bit chilly, maybe, but you don't mind that, do you?” 

She's biting her bottom lip, and he knows because he's staring at her mouth.

“Okay. Let's go, then,” she gets up suddenly, but doesn't let go of his hand.

He realises that Lily wants him to come. Him. “What?”

“You need a break as much as me, you nerd. You didn't even notice me coming in.”

“That's right,” he replies as he gets up, “when did you arrive?”

With a flick of his wand, his books are in his bag, and Lily summons it for him, adjusting it on his shoulder.

“Oh, about five minutes before you spoke to me,” she says nonchalantly, walking towards the door to the library.

James’ mouth forms a perfect ‘o’ but she doesn't see it, walking a step ahead of him, their hands still linked.

[irondad-defensesquad]

I love you (you don't have to say it back, though)

Also posted on AO3!

My last work this year. Happy New Year to those who celebrate it! Still hope you have a great day today :)

--

Tony was usually not allowed to go to his father’s workshop. When he was very small, he was able to sneak inside, but the more he grew up, the less frequent it became. Not with Howard becoming increasingly angrier at him.

By the time Tony went to boarding school, he knew better than to bother Howard.

Except, occasionally, his father would take him to the workshop without saying much. He just expected Tony to follow him without protest.

But don’t be mistaken. Tony couldn’t tell Howard about school or his day overall. He couldn’t ask for help with his homework (after all, Tony was supposed to be smart on his own). Their time was strictly professional, not some father and son bonding.

The boy had to be stiff and silent like a rock the entire time, unless Howard asked him to build something while bearing a judgmental glare, already expecting Tony to fail. Either the man would say nothing, or he would straight up say Tony was doing it completely wrong. Regardless, that always meant their lab time was over and Tony would be kicked out of the workshop.

Nowadays, Tony had his own workshop where he allowed anyone to come in, bots or not. Someone in particular has been coming here a lot more.

It’s so different from the past. Tony and Peter are not even working on the latter’s suit anymore. They’ve abandoned their tools and Peter’s homework has been put to a stop. What for?

Peter has been ranting about Star Wars and how unfair it is the way people have been treating some of the new characters from the most recent trilogy.

Arguably, Tony has only seen the original trilogy years ago, but he was never a fanboy. He might not understand everything to the lore, but he’s not at all bored or annoyed by Peter’s long ramble. He’s listening all the way through, never looking away.

Peter seems to have not noticed Tony staring at him with all the attention in the world, because suddenly… The kid gradually quiets down and stops talking, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

“... what?” Tony asks, confused. “Why did you stop?”

“Do you think I’m annoying?”

Tony sits closer to him. “No, of course not.”

“Why? I talk too much and- gosh, I’ve been ranting for half an hour about Star Wars…”

“Hey, I don’t mind.”

“But it’s so stupid, Mr. Stark.”

“Kid, it’s not stupid. It matters to you. Besides, you could talk about literally anything and I would listen all the way through.”

“Why?” Peter doesn’t believe him. “Are you just saying that to be nice?”

It hurts Tony hearing the kid’s insecurity.

He squeezes one of Peter’s shoulders.

“Oh, kid… I mean what I say. I like listening to you. I…”

… that word.

Love.

Is he going to say it?

“... I like having you here.”

Ah, dang it.

Still, the light in Peter’s puppy eyes returns. They look like the clean starry sky they can see from upstate. It does sting Tony’s heart how surprised Peter is to hear those words. He feels regret for not letting the kid know how much he likes his company. Tony will make sure to correct that from now on.

He pulls the kid in a half hug, squeezing him. Peter is very stiff at first, but he eventually relaxes and lies against Tony’s shoulder like a cat. If Tony isn’t seeing things, the teen is probably about to cry.

After this, they go back to work. Peter asks for help and Tony guides him. When the kid solves it, Tony praises him.

Then, the two leave the workshop together to eat ice cream and watch a dumb sitcom.

Tony eventually notices Peter has been staring at him with the same stars in his eyes.

But not in a mere fanboyish way.

After that, Peter lies against Tony again.

“I like being here, too,” he says simply.

It shouldn’t be surprising, right?

Still, Tony’s eyes blur.

Nothing rolls down, but truly, he’s not made of iron.

And that’s more than okay.

Tony smiles and lies his head on top of Peter’s, wrapping an arm around the kid.

Maybe he didn’t say what he meant just yet… but maybe Peter knows it.

Still, Tony will say it. He promises that.