#little extras all around it like the flag and maybe like. maybe a fruit to go with it or. something

[lexicog]

Fuck it im posting wip. i wanna make this into pride stickers with alt colors for different flags.. but i also wanted to make a version for people who want something stealth so i was thinking maybe a sprig/bundle of lavender in the hand or behind the body (with a color palette to compliment the purple and green) but i'd love suggestions for other ways i could nod to it. unfortunately i don't think i can sell it this year or at least not within the month... but maybe by next year i can have some more designs to go with it

oh also i want advice 👉 when people make pride merch of monsters/characters/abstract designs, do you prefer when each flag gets a unique design, or when there are flag variants of each design. i figure the latter is better so people can get the design they like most with their flag but the unique characters ascribed to identities is pretty fun in concept. but also i'm not target audience cause i've never been able to buy pride stuff so answir below 👇 if you want

[deathbecomesthem]

Pick up, Brother | 1.2K

Al Munson POV - a couple of days following the Hawkins "earthquake".

Warning: Grief, canon compliant.

For the third time in as many days, there’s been a message waiting for him at the front desk from his little brother. He doesn’t know how he tracked him down this time around, and he doesn’t really care. He knows it’s probably something to do with Junior if he’s trying this hard to get a hold of him. They both made it perfectly clear the last time he came around that they didn’t want him there, so what exactly is the fucking problem now?

Al snatches the paper out of the hand of the kid behind the counter and heads up to his room. This particular motel isn’t the best, but it’s definitely not the worst. At least here you’ll find more than just Johns and lot lizards renting out the neighboring rooms by the half hour. He even saw a pretty normal looking couple with a toddler last week. The novelty of that normalcy wore off when he heard the kid screaming at 6 in the morning the following day, but at least he didn’t have to worry as much about the cops raiding the place.

$50 a week, cash. A roof over his head and hot water in the shower. It’s better accommodations than county lockup, which is where he most recently came from. That dumbass Holt and his shit ass car. If he’d known about the cracked radiator before the job, he would’ve at least patched it up for him. That’s what he gets for teaming up with that inbred dipshit. Should’ve been a red flag when he said he didn’t make it past the fifth grade. At least all the Munson made it through middle school.

Al can hear the sound of a woman yelling at the end of the hall. A lovers quarrel, perhaps? A smile curls on his lips at the thought of her, whoever she is, giving some guy what for. What he wouldn’t give to have a lady shouting at him again, it’s been too long. Maybe tonight he’ll head down to the bar across the street and see if he can ease her pain. Ease his own pain. Fill that void of loneliness for a minute. That’s what it’s all about, right?

Al wiggles the key in the door to his room, it sticks like a motherfucker every time. Every time he leaves he thinks he ought to just leave it unlocked. There’s nothing worth taking inside, unless someone wants a mud caked pair of boots that are worn too thin to keep the moisture out. Maybe they want his sweat stained Fruit of the Looms, or his duffel bag with the busted handle. 

Al uses his shoulder to give the stubborn lock the extra oomph needed for the door to swing open - and he’s greeted by the view of his own personal castle. Rust shag carpet and tobacco smoke stained curtains. The comforter on his bed, dark maroon and scratchy as hell, is still in disarray from last night’s sleep. Housekeeping exists at this motel, but they haven’t touched his room in at least 4 days. Or, if they have, they’ve left no trace of their presence. He crumples up the paper he was given with the words, “Wayne Munson called at 5:15” and tosses it into the overflowing wastebasket next to the nightstand. 

“Wayne Munson can go fuck himself, and so can Junior for all I care,” Al says under his breath as he kicks off his sneakers. His gray socks, formerly white, are stretched so thin the big toe on his right foot is lost in the carpet under his feet. He sighs and reaches into the mini fridge for a tall boy. At least he’s made enough scratch working as a dishwasher at the diner down the road to keep beer. Just don’t tell his parole officer.

The thought of Wayne’s persistent phone calls have all but left his mind as he flops down on the bed and clicks on the television. It’s Wheel of Fortune time. He ordered a pie from Vinny’s on his way home from work, should be at his door in the next 20 minutes or so. He’s going to spend time with Vanna for now. He’ll smoke a couple of butts and drink a couple of tall boys, and watch the prettiest lady in primetime tv smile just for him.

The phone on the nightstand next to him begins to ring. The shrill sound drowns out the clicking of the wheel as Tommy from Spokane makes his first attempt at big bucks. Bankrupt. Al smiles to himself. He likes it when they lose more than when they win. He pretends he can’t hear the phone and reaches for the PBR can next to the phone’s receiver for a drink. 

Except this time, it doesn’t ring twice and stop. That phone keeps ringing, and ringing. He can’t hear what Pat just said to Vanna. Whatever it was, it made her giggle in a girlish way that reminded him of his Bets. And then it rings again. He knocks back the remainder of his beer before flinging the can over the end of his bed and grabbing the phone. 

“Yeah,” Al grumbles into the hard plastic mouthpiece, “whatcha want?”

“Al, it’s Wayne,” the voice says, echoing down the phone line across the state line, “we gotta talk.”

“Little brother, to what do I owe this pleasure? Last time we talked I got the feeling you didn’t want to know me anymore?” Al can’t hide his contempt. What’s the point? He’s too tired and he doesn’t need this bullshit from Wayne of all people.

“Al, I’m really sorry to do this to you,” Wayne’s voice is steady. He’s not meeting Al’s anger. To Al’s ears, Wayne really does sound sorry. Munsons don’t say sorry. “Listen. Something real bad’s been going on in Hawkins. Real bad. Eddie’s missing, Al. I think…” Wayne stops and audibly gulps before continuing, “No, I know he’s dead, brother.”

Al coughs a laugh out along with the smoke from his last drag of cigarette. He doesn’t think what Wayne said is funny, not at all. That’s not fucking funny.

“Fuck you, Wayne. My boy ain’t dead. I’d know that,” Al’s voice is loud enough that the lady at the end of the hallway can hear him clear as day. As soon as Al says those words, he knows Wayne’s not lying, though.

“Al, hear me right now,” Wayne’s tear soaked plea is almost too much for Al to bear, but the grip of his hand on the plastic receiver does not loosen. It’s pressed hard against the shell of his ear, “you know how it can be here in Hawkins. Something got him, Al, and I know it’s true. I’m sorry.”

Al is left standing next to his bed, toes deep in the dusty shag carpet with the phone still pressed up to his ear when he hears the click of Wayne’s phone disconnecting. The sound of cheers on the television drew his attention, someone won a jackpot and his girl is clapping for them. Her wide smile radiates through the screen, and it feels like mocking. There’s a knock at the door of his room, and he remembers Vinny’s. He wonders who will answer the door, because he can’t move. He thinks he might never move again, he will stay frozen in this place with Vanna White and her mocking smile clapping at the death of his boy for the rest of eternity.

[melkyt]

Fun AU vibes

Shift the white lead effect up one generation, so instead of Law dying at the age of 13, he is going to die at around 26 right, but nobody knows that yet. People fall sick when he turns around 24.

Luffy just starts his journey at the time, usual shenanigans, something leads him to Flavence, probably that its a beautiful city, and they just wanna see it.

Luffy immediately runs off, gets lost, beelines for the place with the greatest amount of suffering and injustice, he has a compass for that kind of thing, end up in Law's small clinic, where he is scrambling to find a cure, functioning on no sleep, twenty cups of coffee and the determination coming straight from his willpower as a D.

Luffy notices that there are alot of people looking extra sick on the streets as he runs past and into the clinic. Does he know why he is there? No, but it's a doctor, and Chopper is a doctor, so he is like 'give me doctor stuff so i can bring it back to Chopper'

Law explains they have nothing to spare and tries to scare Luffy by making it seem that his disease is contagious to get rid of him... and it doesn't work. Years of fighting for people to help them and make them see that they are not actually a danger, only for this kid to A: not believe his lie, and B: call Law an idiot for thinking that he gives a shit.

Fighting breaks out outside minutes later, commotion. Law getting a message that the other countries are barricading Flevance and stopping any and all aid, that the disease has gotten too far and they wont be complicit in hiding it anymore. It wont be long till war breaks out

Law tries to get Luffy to leave, this is not his bussiness.

Luffy says, "Nah" he's a pirate, and he does what he wants. So the strawhats stay and cause a bunch of chaos, fight the world government again, take Flevance under their flag for a little while the dust settles.

Law is dumbfounded, standing in the ruins of some building watching Luffy wreck shit and fuck up the lives of the nobles that may have left but left all their stuff and secrets. Robin is quick to gather it and show it up for the cameras. The truth about white lead comes out, and this saves the people. They get aid and the marines arrive to chase Luffy out as they do

And Law, deciding that the only way to help his family and his people is to join them and find a cure in the wide world.

Luffy would still crash Dressrosa to fight Doffy, thanks to Momo and Kin'emon also having business there, and they still end up on punk hazard, (Law in canon really wasnt the one guiding them there even if thats what he says xd, they would still fuck it up)

Law is getting sicker and tries to hide it, alot of angst and hurt-comfort. When they do reach Dressrosa, he has a fever and has settled that he is going to die and there is no hope.

He tries to say that to Luffy, who isnt having it and says its all gonna work itself out, they will find someone soon! He points at Ceaser that they ended up taking by accident, who will rattle anything off to save his life and mentions a devil fruit

So they reach Dressrosa, Cora is alive (and miserable) either with his brother or back with the marines. He failed to save Dressrosa with his report, or I know Doffy became a warlord, and he reported it, but nobody cared, and Sengoku was not allowed to take action by higher-ups due to what Doffy knows. So Cora stayed just in an attempt to curb his brothers actions, and maybe he didn't feel like he had any other place to go since the Marines failed him again. Whatever it is, Cora is going through it

Doffy has not let anyone eat the op-op fruit, no Law, means no kid to groom into the next him, and Cora kept any others away. Cora ends up helping the strawhats, and leaving with Sengoku at the end as the man is retired

So anyway, the fruit, its still there in Dressrosa, right, and when they beat up Doffy, Robin gives it to Luffy and says a doctor should probably eat it.

Luffy throws it at Law even after they see the price tag and that they will be wanted by the world goverment. Luffy just goes "We're pirates!"

Law eats the fruit, survives, and cures himself. Then comes the part that he was dreading having gotten close to Luffy, though it has been fleeting touches and longing gazes from Law, nothing serious, still he feels that this place is home and he doesnt want to leave Luffy and the strawhats

Luffy nods and gives Law his vivre card "Here. You better join us when ur done, Traffy! You're crew, and I like you, " He answers before Law can ask if he is sure.

Law does cure his people and leaves everything to Lami, who took over his clinic when he left the first time. While Flevance will always be home, he belongs with the strawhats, he belongs with Luffy.

[female-malice]

If switching from milk to soy milk too quickly can fuck you up years later then maybe animal products are a bit more important than you're making them out to be. If veganism is so healthy, it would be no problem to switch over instantly. I wasn't eating too little, the only time I lost weight was the first year when I was still figuring things out. Not eating candy is not having a bad relationship with food, I had a bad relationship with food when I struggled with sugar addiction and eating junk food, which I resolved before I even went vegan. I understand that most people think sugar is only harmful if you eat it to excess, but I can't limit myself when I'm craving sugar and not eating it in deserts (fruit, carbs, etc. are all fine though) is the only way to avoid cravings.

I obviously did not start escalating my iron intake or over using iron supplements until after I was anemic and I started getting desperate, why would you assume that I was just randomly drinking extra iron for no reason? Is it so hard to believe that I might have issues absorbing non heme iron, the type of iron that is known for being more difficult to absorb? You don't have to nitpick everything I say. I was vegan, I know it's easier to say that everyone who fails at veganism is doing something wrong than to acknowledge that it's not for everyone. It's also very easy to give into survivorship bias, to point to all the vegans who have been vegan for a long time and are healthy, as if they'd still be vegan if their health flagged.

Veganism is not a diet optimized for health. If you have to supplement anything because your diet is lacking, your diet is not based on health, your diet can't even fulfill your body's basic requirements. No, veganism is not a diet of the body, it was not designed based on research to find the optimal diet. Veganism is a diet of the mind. Many people go vegan because they care about animals, or the environment, they don't say that veganism is healthy because it's true, they say veganism is healthy because they want it to be true. I remember lying to people in the name of veganism. Motive overrides logic because it must, because if I was honest with myself, I would have stopped being vegan long before I quit.

I never said switching from dairy to soy quickly is unhealthy. I said you're supposed to replace one food product at a time. First dairy. Then eggs. Then beef. Then chicken and poultry. Then fish.

You're not supposed to change your diet completely to a bunch of new foods all at once. That's true regardless of what kind of change you're making. The reason you're supposed to do gradual change is to check for allergies and bad reactions to new foods.

You have a strange relationship with food. So I understand this anti-vegan rant is your special thing that you like to engage in. But lying about veganism is just a weird look, honestly. You claim there are no health benefits for anyone when that's easy to prove false. So next time you dump your anti-vegan rant in someone's inbox, be more strategic about your approach.

If you want to spend your time campaigning for people to eat meat, enjoy a future with no functioning antibiotics. Cheers.

[justlookfrightened]

How about number 11 from the fluff prompts?

From this prompt list:  “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”

I did have to modify slightly to “Were you flirting with me ...”

Background: Bitty went to Samwell and stayed in New England. Jack didn’t go to Samwell but still plays for the Falconers.

Bitty had just set out the pie samples when the man in the yellow shoes ran by.

Every week, just at this time, the man ran through the just-opened market, keeping to the center of the aisle and never stopping to look at anything. Not the sweet, crisp lettuces or heirloom tomatoes from Bruce’s stand across the way, not the strawberries and blueberries that Harry had displayed, not the lavender and honey soaps from the booth next to Bitty’s.

It wasn’t really a bother. The man came early enough that there weren’t many customers to disturb, and the market was in a public park. Anyone could jog through it if they wanted to. It was just annoying that the man never even looked around or acknowledged anyone. And that he looked so good doing it, hideous yellow shoes notwithstanding.

Today he was wearing the shoes and navy blue running shorts -- the kind that barely reached the top of his thighs -- and a dark ball cap with sunglasses. What looked like a blue T-shirt was tucked into the back of his waistband, the better to sweat freely and give anyone who was out and about an eyeful of his shoulders, pecs and abs. Not to mention the massive rear end. All of which was damn near poster-perfect.

Bitty sighed and looked over at Margie, who had paused from setting up her stand to stare as well.

She caught Bitty’s glance and pantomimed fanning herself.

“You should try to sell him some soap,” Bitty said . “He’s gonna need a shower after that run.”

“Forget him,” Margie said. “I’m going to need a shower after watching him.”

The sun rose higher in the sky as Bitty’s stock of pies, cookies, muffins and turnovers got lower. The sample slices disappeared first, of course, but nearly everyone who took one bought something, so they were definitely a success. Maybe next week he should do more samples? Maybe apple and cherry? Or peach?

He was mulling fruit choices over when he noticed a customer -- well, a potential customer at least -- standing off to the side looking at his table. The guy was tall and broad across the shoulders, clean shaven, with the lightest blue eyes Bitty had ever seen on someone with hair so dark. His baggy shorts and ratty T-shirt, combined with socks and athletic slides, reminded Bitty of his old hockey teammates.

Bitty stood up.

“Can I get you something, sir?”

“Euh,” the man stalled, then looked at the table again. “Do you have a sample I could try?”

The man’s accent wasn’t as harsh as the New England voices that Bitty had finally gotten used to after six years in Boston and Providence. It wasn’t a southern drawl, that was for sure, but Bitty couldn’t place it.

“Not anymore,” Bitty said. “You have to wake up earlier to get those. I’ve got a couple of apple pies and peach pies left, and some cherry turnovers. Chocolate-cherry cookies, too, but I’m afraid everything else is sold out.”

“Um, how much for a cookie?”

“$6.50 for a dozen,” Bitty said. “I know it sounds like a lot, but …”

“A lot of cookies?” the man said. “I’m not sure I can have that many.”

“You can’t find anyone to give some to? Everyone likes a little sugar.”

“Haha,” the man said. “I guess.”

He handed over a $10 bill, took the cookies and left before Bitty could make change.

*

The following week, Bitty and Margie again paused in their set-up when the man in the yellow shoes ran by.

“Of all the markets I go to, this one definitely has the best view,” Margie said, turning back to her soaps. 

“You know it,” Bitty said, arranging morsels cut from apple, cherry and peach mini-pies on a tiered stand to offer as samples.

Once again, Bitty had sold most of his stock by time he was considering getting a start on packing up. Once again, the man with ice-blue eyes appeared, hanging back until Bitty noticed him.

“Did you like the cookies last week?” he asked.

“Um, yeah,” the man said. “And I shared them with my … friend. He liked them, too.”

Bitty looked up, wondering what the awkward hesitation before the word “friend” meant. Did he not really share them? Why lie about that? A dozen cookies wasn’t too many for one person to eat in a week, and Bitty hadn’t even asked who ate them. Was his “friend” not really a friend? Maybe more of an acquaintance, like a neighbor or coworker? Or maybe more than a friend? A wife? But he said “he.” A boyfriend? A husband?

Bitty tried to get a read on the man, but when he looked up, the man was looking down at the table, at the card reader with the pride flag sticker and the  now-empty sample stand.

“Looks like I missed the samples again,” the man said. 

“Looks like you did,” Bitty agreed. “You’ve got to get up pretty early to get those.”

“Do you have more of those cookies?”

“Sorry, not this week. Maybe try something different? Peaches are in season and I make a mean peach pie.”

“Why would I want a mean pie?” the man asked.

Now the cute accent came with dad jokes.

“Haha,” Bitty said. “I’ll have you know I won the blue ribbon at the tri-county fair with my pie when I was still in high school.”

“I think a pie is too much for me,” the man said. “It’s not as easy to share as cookies.”

“I’ve got just the thing,” Bitty said. “You can take my last half-dozen mini-pies, and since I’m packing up, I’ll only charge you for three. There’s four peach and two cherry. That’ll be $13.50.”

The man handed over a $20, and this time Bitty didn’t pass him his food until he accepted the change. The man just dropped it in the tip cup.

“Thank you, sir,” Bitty saud. “Y’all have a good week now.”

“Good-looking and generous,” Margie said from the next booth over.  “Why do I only get little old ladies or girls who want their bathrooms to smell nice?”

“Because you sell soap?”

“Don’t men want their bathrooms to smell nice?”

“Well, I do,” Bitty said. 

*

The following week’s market started much the same way, with the runner in the yellow sneakers kicking off the day, this time carrying a balled up red T-shirt in one large hand.

Bitty arranged sliced of apple and cherry turnovers as samples and displayed his pies and cookies, then passed the time between customers chatting with Margie and Bruce across the way.

“You think your boyfriend’s coming back?”

“What boyfriend would that be?” Bitty asked, as though he hadn’t spent a good part of the week daydreaming about blue eyes, sharp cheekbones and broad shoulders.

Once again, just when he was getting ready to close up, Blue Eyes showed up, this time with an even larger man. His friend? Or “friend”? 

The bigger man walked right up to the table, not hanging back like Blue Eyes usually did.

“Hello,” he said, smiling widely, the word flavored with an accent Bitty couldn’t quite place. “Jack says you make the best pies. You have blueberry?”

“Uh, not this week?” Bitty said. “Maybe next week, if I can get enough blueberries. I can make sure to save one for you, Mr. --”

“Alexei,” the man said. “You can call me Alexei.”

“Okay,” Bitty said, writing the name on a sticky note. “I’ll save a blueberry pie for Alexei, Jack’s friend. Can I get you anything today?”

“I see you have lemon bars,” Alexei said. “Six of those?”

“And what about you, Jack? It’s on the house. I noticed the extra $20 in my tip jar last week.”

“You don’t have to,” Jack said. “I like what you make, and it’s your business, so you should be paid. Um, you have a cherry pie left?”

“Just one,” Bitty said.

“It’s amazing,” Alexei said, “that you get this guy to eat dessert. Usually he only eats protein. All the time.”

“Protein is good for you,” Jack defended himself.

“Well, sure it is, hon,” Bitty said. “But you have to have a balanced diet.”

Both men paid, and Alexei said, “Maybe Jack will come get my pie next week from you -- wait, I don’t know your name.”

“Eric,” Bitty said. “But most everyone calls me Bitty.”

“Bitty baker,” Alexei crowed. “Excellent.”

“Bye, Bitty,” Jack said quietly.

After they left, Bitty collapsed dramatically on the table.

“Why are all the good ones taken?” he said.

“Who said he was taken?” Margie said. “Maybe they’re just friends.”

“Friends who pick up pie for each other?”

*

Bitty was well stocked with blueberry pies the next week, and he dutifully put one aside for Alexei. The berries had been so plentiful at the market that he’d made a couple of dozen blueberry bite-sized blueberry tartlets to set on his sample stand.

Bitty was just placing it on the table when the man with the yellow shoes loped past. 

“Put your tongue back in your mouth.” Margie was laughing at him. “You have your guy who comes every week. This one is mine.”

“Hush, you,” Bitty said. “I have a regular customer. That doesn’t mean I can’t feast my eyes on what’s on display.”

Then he stopped talking and busied himself with his display, because the man had broken his pattern and turned around when he reached the end of the market. He was headed back down the aisle.

Bitty was preparing himself to nod at the man, who for once seemed to be looking his way instead of straight ahead, but it was hard to see from behind the man’s sunglasses.

Wait, the man was heading right toward him, slowing to a trot as he passed the table.

“I see you got the blueberries,” he said. “Save one of those for me?”  

Bitty was glad the man -- Jack -- kept moving, because he knew his jaw nearly hit the table.

Once he managed to close his mouth, he turned back to Margie. “Still not my boyfriend,” he said. “But jiminy crickets. How did I not know it was the same guy?”

“You were blinded by the shoes?” Margie suggested. “Or, you know, the totally ripped half-naked body.”

“At least he’ll be dressed when he comes back,” Bitty said, placing three of the tartlets into a container that he put with Alexei’s pie. 

“The better not to drool over him?” Margie asked.

“Yeah,” Bitty said. “Pretty sure that’s considered bad customer service.”

Bitty spent the rest of the morning on pins and needles. It was fine, he told himself. His (very handsome) customer was the same as the (very hot) guy who ran through the market early every morning. The guy who never showed any sign that he even realized there were other people there, let alone that those people might be looking at him.

To him, Bitty was just the guy who sold cookies and pies. But his friend said Jack didn’t usually eat sweets, Bitty remembered.

Maybe Jack was buying them for Alexei. Maybe they were … it wasn’t right to say “more than friends,” Shitty would have his head for that. 

But they hadn’t seemed, well, couple-y, last week. And Bitty was pretty sure Jack lived alone. And Bitty couldn’t believe he had gotten himself wrapped up in whether there was an ethical difference in spinning daydreams about a customer based on whether the customer had a significant other. They were daydreams, for pity’s sake, and nothing would come of them.

Good thing the tartlets were doing their job and Bitty’s baked goods were more or less selling themselves today.

The stand was so successful that Bitty sold out of everything except the tartlets and pie he was saving for Jack and Alexei a half-hour before he usually packed up. 

He took his time stacking his trays, folding his tablecloths, stowing equipment in now-empty coolers for the trip home.

“Leaving already?” Margie asked. “Want me to hang on to the pie for when he gets here?”

“Nah,” Bitty said. “I’ll wait.”

Once he had everything stacked and ready to go to the truck, he sat in his folding chair and pulled out his phone to answer comments on his latest video.

He had just explained -- for the six-hundredth time -- how shortening and butter behave differently in pie crust when he heard a throat clear a few feet above him.

The Jack he saw when he looked up was different from the ones he had seen so far. No tiny running shorts or baggy basketball shorts, no horrid yellow shows or shower sandals. This Jack had on dark wash jeans that had to be tailored to fit like that, a snug T-shirt and a flannel button-down left open and with the sleeves rolled above the elbow. The moccasin-style shoes were a nice bonus. He looked a little familiar, but Bitty supposed that went with the fantasizing.

“Bitty?” Jack said. “Are you done for the day?”

“I am,” Bitty said, getting up and then immediately bending over to pick up the boxes for Jack. “But I saved you some tartlets and Alexei’s pie is here.”

“How much do I owe you?” Jack said.

“The pie is $20 even,” Bitty said. “But you can catch up to me next week if you don’t have cash.”

“I’m good for it,” Jack said, reaching for his wallet. “More to the point, so is Tater. What about the little blueberry things?”

“No charge,” Bitty said. “Samples, remember?”

“Samples are for people who get here early,” Jack said.

“You were here early,” Bitty said. “You just couldn’t take them with you. No, uh, pockets.”

“You think I’d put them in my pockets?”

Jack handed over two crisp twenties.

“It’s just $20,” Bitty said.

“For your trouble,” Jack said. “I’ll get Tater to pay me back.”

“Why do you call him Tater?”

“Hockey nickname,” Jack said. “He’s my teammate.”

“You play hockey?” Bitty said. “Where?”

“With the Falconers?” Jack said. 

Suddenly it clicked.

“Alexei … Mashkov? And you’re Jack Zimmermann!”

“Uh, yeah,” Jack said, ducking his head to look around to see if anyone heard. He raised his hand to his head like he wanted to pull the brim of his cap down, but with no cap, he ended up brushing away the hair that had curled onto his forehead. “Sorry you had to wait for me. Do you need a hand moving your things?”

“Aw, you don’t have to do that, hon,” Bitty said. “It’s a kind offer, though.”

“I don’t mind,” Jack said. “I was hoping maybe after you were done clearing up, you’d want to get coffee with me? Or a late lunch? Or something?”

Bitty managed to keep his mouth closed, but only just. A quick glance to the side told him Margie hadn’t been so successful.

“You don’t have to,” Jack said. “It’s fine. I mean, I know you shouldn’t ask people out when they’re working, so that’s why I wanted to wait until you were done --”

“No, sugar,” Bitty said. “I’d love to get lunch with you. Just so I know, though, you mean like a date?”

“Yes?” Jack said. “Wasn’t that clear? After all these weeks? Tater said he thought you liked me.”

“Wait,” Bitty said. “Were you flirting with me?”

“You finally noticed?”

“Never mind,” Bitty said. “Got there in the end, didn’t I?”

Jack started pushing the dolly with the folded table and stacked coolers towards the parking lot. As soon as he passed, Bitty flashed Margie a thumbs-up, picked up his chair and trays, and followed.

[redhawtriot]

Baby Boom (Bakugou x Reader)

Tip Jar ☕- Not expected but always appreciated💞

If you’re interested in the secret life of models or baby momma drama, you’re well fed tonight. 

This story actually means a lot to me bc it deals with a lot of issues that I hold very dear (I stayed up last night and wrote like three chapters lol). That being said, the content may be a little triggering to some people: (eating disorders, slight alcoholism, pregnancy, discrimination, overall angst) 

There is also a slight mention of nsfw (she’s gotta get pregnant somehow) to begin with but besides that, it should be pretty safe

Reader discretion is advised.

HnM 💕

Month 2, Month 3

--MONTH 1--

“Mmmm…” 

The dazed hum of your own low voice peeled back a layer of sleep from your mind.

The cloud of blankets underneath you swallowed your body, tempting your stirring form to stay asleep for just a little longer. As your mind teetered upon the steep edge of unconsciousness, a flurry of scenes played in your head.

You let yourself fall into the random, vivid dreams as you finally gave up in your struggle against the warm embrace of the bed. The film that performed in your mind was a choppy one at best; however, you still caught glimpses of the action:

The dark room... The dancing city lights outside of the window… the low screeching of the rocking mattress underneath you… the breathless moans… looking down to see the mingling of scorching sweat, illuminated by the red light peeking through the window… looking up to see the flash of his even redder, vermilion eyes for just a split second before your lips were captured… the lewd mewls that you didn’t even notice until they were gone, caught in his warm mouth.

The quick, dreamy waves of erotica left just as soon as they came, their sudden disappearance sending a jolt of consciousness your direction.

What. A fucking. Wakeup call.

The bed once again flutily attempted to grab you and hold you back in your sleeping state, but you forced yourself to roll over into awareness. As your body turned, your eyes finally painfully pried themselves open. Once the brief sting of light passed, you found yourself smirking at what you saw,

Holy shit. Dreams do come true after all.

The man in bed with you—you finally realized that it was indeed his bed—was turned over on his side facing away from you, but that didn’t stop you from admiring the view.

His arms, godsent and chiseled by Michelangelo himself, extended from under the blanket-- one used as an extra pillow under his head, and the other laid peacefully on his side. As peaceful as the display was, you could still see the rippling muscles layered underneath his airbrushed skin. You could only begin to imagine what they looked like when he was flexing.

Suddenly images from last night of his strong arms pressing your legs up toward the headboard infiltrated your mind, and you didn’t have to imagine anything anymore. You bit the bottom of your lip to keep from giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Virtually immediately, your smile melted from your face and the sound of tires screeching blared within your head. What the fuck were you doing staring at this dude like some damn creep? What? Were you gonna wait for him to wake up to invite you to breakfast? Were you gonna go on a lunch date with some no-named dude you met at the “booty room.” As if.

God, ew.

You tried to ignore the fact that you had just been reduced to a soppy 16 year old all over again.

You gave one more passing glance over the top of his ash-blond hair before straightening your face with a with a quirk of an eyebrow and slowly pushing yourself out of his bed. You glanced out of the window and noticed only a thin stream of light peeking through the glass. Good. It was still early morning. Plenty of time to make it to work.

You would like to avoid Ainu’s bitching mouth today.

You fluffed your hair up, deciding to adopt the “after-sex hair” and make it your own as you scoured the bedroom floor for your dress from last night. You spotted it just a foot away from the door. Damn you really didn’t waste time, huh?

You fought the urge to laugh at yourself as you walked over and shimmied yourself back into the dress, some of the sparkles flying off as you shook your hips. You had found your panties just right next to the bed and your bra hanging off the lamp on the nightstand. You stifled a laugh at yourself as you slid the items on underneath your dress. What a fucking night.

Mostly everything at that point had been accounted for, but there was still one thing on your mental checklist that you couldn’t find—well, two things to be exact.

Okay…

Shoes... shoes… Where the fuck are your shoes?

As you continued searching for the shimmery heels, a sudden deep groan from the bed startled you a bit, causing you to freeze as you watched ‘good ol’ no-name’ stir in his sleep. You paused for a few long moments while he, thankfully, settled back into his slumber.

You let out a quiet breath of air that you hadn’t even known that you were holding and decided then and there that you could do without those shoes. If Cinderella could do it, why couldn’t you?

You quickly grabbed your handbag and phone from his nightstand and commenced your getaway.

I mean, you were obviously no virtuous princess and he was hardly prince charming from the foul mouth that you could remember from last night—insert blush here-- but still…

You turned the handle behind you as you softly shut the door so that it wouldn’t make much noise, only to turn around toward the hallway and be met with a pair of bright, crimson eyes. Caught red handed, You faltered a little bit as the built man in front of you became practically as scarlet as his hair,

“U-Uh-- Good morning!” Kirishima forced out as he obviously struggled to keep his eyes on your face. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering down the chains of silver that barely held your dress on your shoulders.

Or the open slits on your upper thighs that let your shapely hips spill out from underneath your shimmering dress.

Or your obviously messed up hair that had probably spent much of the night between Bakugou’s fingers. He felt his face become unbearably hot at the intrusive thought.

His eyes flickered back up to yours, but not before you could notice the way that they seemed to trail down your body.

You relaxed into your chest a bit, Okay, just a roommate. He seemed fairly harmless and ‘SIMP’ enough not to raise many red flags or dangerous pervert alerts. You breathed into something resembling a laugh as you smirked up at him, “G’ Morning.”

Kirishima’s breath was caught in his lungs at the song of your voice, “M-morning…” Shit, did he already say that? The man suddenly became very aware of what he was wearing. Or rather, what he wasn’t wearing as a draft flew in from the pants leg of his boxers.

His blush almost instantly intensified—and he thanked every lucky star that he didn’t have the hormonal “tell-all” body of a teenager anymore.

You only smiled, brushing past the red-head, toward the front door. As you made your way past the kitchen you noticed a bowl of fruit displayed on the bar. Your mind quickly fleeted to thoughts of ‘what a weird fucking thing to see in what was obviously a man cave—o-or a bachelor pad. Man pad? Bachelor Cave???’ Did you accidentally wonder into a Martha Stewart catalog without realizing it?

As you eyed the odd arrangement of fruit, you didn’t even notice the other two roommates already situated in the open living room—their eyes wide as they trailed your form.

“Are these real?” you spoke up suddenly, startling Kirishima who was at this point deciding whether or not to go back into his room and pretend he hadn’t seen you and lost half of his brain, or to go to the kitchen for breakfast as he had planned. “Can I have one?” you shamelessly asked.

“Yeah! Sure!” Kirishima answered maybe a bit too strongly. The poor man just wanted to compensate for his totally unmanly display earlier. He just… he’d never seen anyone like you before. Especially not in his ‘humble’ (that was being generous) apartment.

That’s when one of the men from the living room decided to speak up, “You can have all of them, sweetheart,” his voice immediately snapped your attention toward the rather spacious (empty--except for a couch, a TV and a... bench press?) living room, where you came into contact with the speaker’s golden eyes, “Go on. Take as much as you want,” the kind smile he wore contained just the slightest hint of ulterior motives, you noticed. You take back what you said earlier. The real SIMP was right here.

You furrowed your eyebrows at him, “Just one will do, thanks.” Your flat tone did nothing to disinterest Kaminari as he ogled at you grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and shoving it in your mouth when you noticed a pair of heels haphazardly tossed by the front door. Aha! There are your fucking shoes!

The electric blond watched in utter fascination as you held the fruit between your teeth and began slipping your heels back on. Holy shit. He was glad he woke up early for once.

Kirishima approached two of his roommates, shaking his head at the giddy one currently drooling over Bakugou’s overnight visitor,

“Get a grip, dude. It’s not manly to stare like that,” he lowly warned so you couldn’t hear. He felt like a bit of a hypocrite, but at least he was trying to maintain some decency. It seemed like Kaminari had simply thrown all of his fucks to give out of the window as he shamelessly eyed you like an Englishman on safari. Come on, bro!

“Yeah. Didn’t you hear her with Bakugou last night?!”

“How could I not, Sero? I’m pretty sure the entire complex heard!” Kaminari resentfully whispered to his two roommates before sweeping a hand through his blond locks and snaking his way towards you, “So… what’s your name, gorgeous?”

You could hardly hold back the look of disgust that fell upon your expression as you looked up at this man. Read the fucking room, dude. You couldn’t make this situation more obvious if you were wearing a damn sign on your head that said “One Night Stand: Hit It and Quit It,” and sprinted out of the apartment.

You didn’t want to make friends.

You didn’t want to introduce yourself to someone’s roommates when you didn’t even know their damn name.

And you sure as hell didn’t want to be passed around to said stranger’s roommates like a fucking bottle of wine at communion, “First name: Not, last name: Interested,” you deadpanned.

A series of “OHHHH’s” and “She got you, Bro! She got you good!” sounded throughout the apartment. As you swung the front door open, looking back one final time to see the look of absolute disheartenment spread across the blonds face, “Ba-bye~ Oh! and Thanks for the fruit, Red,” you winked before shutting the door behind you, unknowingly causing Kirishima to dissolve into a blushing mess.

You heard a bit of commotion come from the other side of the door when you left but didn’t pay it much mind as you began your walk to the nearest train station—taking another bite from your bachelor pad apple.

Bakugou, however, couldn’t ignore the commotion you had left behind as his scowling form emerged from his bedroom, “Could you idiots be any fucking louder!?” The blond was already in a terrible mood. He had woken up to fucking ketchup, mustard, and mayo’s shouting only to realize that his bed was suddenly much colder than he remembered it had been when he fell sleep.

The frustrated man was instantly met with his other blond counterpart throwing himself at his knees, “Bakugou, buddy!” he cried out, clutching the fabric of the other man’s sleepers, “You’ve gotta teach me your ways!” he groveled at his feet as if Bakugou was the lord and savior of in-cels everywhere.

“The hell are you talking about?” his hands crackled furiously as he seriously prepared to blast the dunce-face off of him, “get the fuck off’a me!” he roared.

Kirishima reluctantly spoke up, gaining the two blond’s attention and probably saving Kaminari’s life, “Honestly… I gotta say even I’m surprised. She was… unreal,” Kirishima’s cheeks dusted over in a light shade of pink just at the memory of you.

Even Bakugou had to mask the sudden warmness that fled to his own face as your image suddenly popped into his mind. He shoved the butterflies down into his stomach so that he could shit them out later, “What’s that supposed to mean, shitty hair?!”

Sero, who had previously just been silently enjoying the wild spectacle before him, had finally decided to give his input on the situation, “What Kirishima is trying to say is ‘how the hell did a sack of anger issues wrapped in a mean mug like yours score a chick like that?’”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY, HORSE TEETH?!”

“Stop putting words in my mouth!” Kirishima whined before Kaminari finally asked the question that had been lingering in all of their minds,

“Did you get at least get her number?” The matter gave birth to a few beats of silence between all the roommates. Bakugou visibly stiffened at this question as his face shriveled up.

“I don’t know… She seemed to get out of here in quite a hurry,” Sero contemplated aloud, effectively breaking the silence.

A tinge of pain shot straight through Bakugou’s pride at his words. You had practically run out of there—away from him. Was last night really that bad? He seemed to have a much different memory than you of the event.

Tch. Whatever. It doesn’t fucking matter.

Shoving these thoughts out of his head, he scoffed, “Good. The hell do I need her number for?”

Silence once again befell the four—this time being disrupted by Kaminari, “You don’t know how good you have it,” he shook his head, “You don’t deserve half the things you get, man…”

Of course, this only caused the apartment to erupt into another fit of commotion—death threats and cheap insults being thrown in every space of the testosterone-filled home.

Meanwhile.

You tried to ignore the multitude of awkward stares you garnered as you made your way through the train station. They were probably—well, more than likely-- because of your racy evening wear, but shit. You didn’t exactly plan on getting dicked down last night. At least, maybe not on a conscious level.

You sighed before boarding the train and looking down to view the notifications on your phone. Oh crap, it was later in the day than you had originally thought.

Boss lady:

[7:42am]

Someone told me that you went to Club 52 last night.

You better not be hungover or wasted when you get here, Y/N

Inches! Y/N! I need you at your inches!

Ahhh. the old 35, 25, 35. The perfect body shape. Well, she can take all 85 of those inches and shove them up her ass for all you cared.

Boss Lady:

[8:03am]

I am serious.

Sick of  cleaning up your messes.

Don’t ever pull this shit again when we have such a big brand deal!

Remember. I have eyes everywhere, missy!

As the messages went on you only scanned them,

How could you do this to me Blah. Blah. Blah. I stuck my neck out for you Blah. Blah. Blah. Where else could someone like you find work as good as this Blah. Blah. Blah. Etcetera, etcetera.

Damn boss Lady was like a fucking broken record.

You closed your eyes on the train and tried to astral project your spirit to a better place. Somewhere where you didn’t have to take a shitty modeling job to pay your damn rent. Somewhere where you had an obtainable passion. Somewhere where you could do something meaningful with your life.

Somewhere where you weren’t just some damn pathetic quirkless girl whose only talent was looking good in front of a camera and taking bullshit.

“You’re late!” The bodies of women lit up by the hard lights on set seemed to all turn in your direction at your boss’s loud announcement. The aggressive clacking of her heels sounded in the air like gunshots as she stormed over to you, but you couldn’t be less impressed by her repetitive intimidation tactics,

“What are you talking about? It’s 9:00!”

“9:04! The shoot started at 9 and you don’t even have makeup on!” her nose crinkled in disgust as she neared you. The way that she dramatically gagged at your scent had your eyes rolling, “And you fucking smell like sex. Jesus fucking Christ Y/N! You. Intern! Get over here! Go hose her down!” she called your friend, Kimi, over, “You’re lucky I don’t ring your neck! The marketing agent will be here in less than an hour and he wants to see progress!” by this point Kimi had rushed over and began herding you away from the multitude of disapproving stares you had gathered from the other models.

But not before you heard whispers of your unprofessionalism.

“Now, go get your pretty ass presentable looking!” Boss lady shooed you off.

As your friend literally hosed you down in the bathroom with her hydropump quirk, she already had a bottle of body wash on hand-- completely desensitized to your naked body by this point. Neither of you said a word for a while, but you could tell that she was itching to speak up, “So…” a grin spread across her face as she rinsed the suds out of your hair, “Was he at least cute?”

“Super fucking attractive,” you gave a short laugh, “At least. I think so. I don’t really remember his face…”

Her loud laugh sounded through the bathroom before the space was once again covered within a thick sheet of silence. When the two of you were close to finished, she sighed at your idle, far off gaze before attempting to strike up a bit of conversation, “I really should be thanking you. You keep my job security, after all,” she joked.

She wasn’t exactly wrong.

She was pretty much hired to be your babysitter under the guise of “stylist intern” in Ainu’s modeling agency; however, when she was hired for this gig ‘frequently bathing a hungover, grown mess of a thot’ and ‘constant ginger ale, and Pepto Bismol runs’ were probably not in the job description.

“I keep my life a mess just for you,” you lazily smirked up at her.

“Your life is hardly a mess. You’re living the dream, supermodel girl.”

Your mind flashed back to girls around you eating cotton balls to satiate their hunger, to women working 10 hour long photo shoots in 6-inch heels, to being urged to give brand promoters “special attention” to secure the agency’s profits, to runway events that left you sleepless for days at a time, to your own fingers plunging down the back of your throat so that you could fit into the impossible dress sizes fitted by your designers, “Yeah...” you quietly trailed off.  

The shoot went fairly well, after your late start.

It was actually different than most others that you have participated in since the main focus was upon the red shoes that they wanted to promote. The photographer had decided—much to the dismay of the other models on set—that you would be a focal point in his artwork. Claiming that you had such a “sexy, sexy look” and were going to be huge one day.

Thanks creepy, middle-aged, French photographer. Now half of these girls are gonna cry themselves to sleep tonight and the other half are gonna create voodoo dolls of you to stick needles in.

Fairly well, or not, you couldn’t fight the urge to click your red sneaker soles together three times every now and then—internally chanting “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.”

Needless to say, it didn’t work.

It was about three weeks later when you found yourself at the official branding event of those stupid red sneakers. It was some kind of charity event/campaign/branding bullshit hybrid—or whatever.

Most of the models that were there the day of the original photo shoot weren’t even requested to go. Since you had been a focal point in that shoot, you were invited (forced) to attend by the brand marketer. Your uninvited colleagues of course, hated you even more after that, but you would trade places with any one of them in a heartbeat.

Your stomach bubbled a little bit—‘need vodka’ it cried.

You patted the poor organ in solidarity. You like to think that you are very in tune with your needs. You’d much rather be boozing it up in some sweaty booty club than be at… whatever the fuck this was.  

Everyone there was dressed up like it was some cocktail party or some christening or something. The large room was filled to the brim with tables with neatly folded napkins and different red and green finger foods on the centerpieces. There was a clearing in the middle, under the chandelier, for “dancing” but was really for people to socialize and network.

Hmmm. Not a red sneaker in sight except for the banners of photos from your shoot hanging from the ceiling, you noticed.

“Could you at least pretend to act interested?” boss lady whispered, “Smile a little, yeah?” Ainu completely rolled her eyes at the strained grimace of a smile you threw her—the glare she threw back saying ‘you little shit!’.

You couldn’t help but laugh as the two of you began to drift away from one another—with her sending you one more lingering glance that said ‘stay away from the alcohol and don’t do anything stupid!’

Of course, you nodded like the obedient little clothing rack you were, but as soon as her back was turned you found yourself snatching a glass or two of chardonnay from one of the passing waiter’s trays. As you took a long sip from the glass—careful not to smudge your lipstick—you found your eyes wondering across the unimpressive room.

They ended up settling in the corner of the place, on a man standing alone, nervously fidgeting with his suit cuffs.

Ah. Quality entertainment! You took another sip from one of your glasses.

You nonchalantly strolled toward the man before twisting yourself around next to him so that you were both facing the growing crowd of the room, “All this for some red sneakers?” you spoke up with a slight grin.

His eyes immediately shot up to one of the banners hanging above you before settling back to your smirk, “Y-Y-your one of the models form the poster!” his face darkened into a deep blush and you slightly lifted one of your drinks into the air with a quirk of your eyebrow as if to say, ‘guilty as charged.’

He seemed to get over his shocked state quickly, “Well… uh-- I guess it does seem a little silly when you put it that way, huh?”

“Is there really any other way to put it?”

He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment—his eyes trailing toward the ground in front of him, but you were patient. You took the time to take in his wild, green hair—it was dark, kinda like the seaweed that you wrap around sushi. Your mind flickered to what you remembered sushi tasting like, but it had been such a long time.  He finally spoke up “Well, they are giving half of the profits made to start a campaign to end the bullying of quirkless children,”

“Really?” your eyebrows shot up as the man looked back up to you. Your chest abruptly rose up as you gave a half chuckle, “That’s… well, that’s something. Apparently, this brand is being started by some up and coming hero. Deku? I haven’t really heard much about him, but he’s probably just using us quirkless folk as a stepping stool to celebrity,” he seemed to visibly stiffen at your words but it wasn’t every day that you got to talk about civil rights concerning the quirkless. You passionately continued, “It’s like saving kittens or walking an old lady across the street. I mean, what’s a big shot hero like that know about being quirkless? Tell me,” you leaned in close to him and nodded into the sea of people filing into the room, “Do you see a quirkless kid in sight, right now?”

You left him silent as he began pondering your statement. Hm! Good.

Satisfied with yourself, you took in the final sip from your remaining glass—tilting the curvy cup up into the sky to get every drop.

A tall man with glasses shuffled through the dense crowd to make his way towards the two of you “Midoriya, there he is! Excuse me, Miss,” he stiffly bowed to you at an awkwardly low angle before turning back toward the green haired man, “Come this way. Quickly. I would like to introduce you to…”

As he was pulled into the crowd by the weird tall man you found yourself curiously staring at where he had disappeared.

“Mmm. Isn’t he just as yummy as you thought he’d be?” the familiar voice snapped you straight out of your thoughts, startling you into a slight jump. You whipped your head behind you to see Kimi’s giggling face, “C’mon!! Ainu wants you to get some photos in at that set over there.”

“Ughhh, you know how I feel about red-carpet shoots, Kimi.” It was just a bunch of amateur photographers barking orders and questions at you like some glorified paparazzi. She ignored your whining as she dragged you to the literal red carpet in the far wall of the room, blocked off by a velvet rope and surrounded by a buzzing infestation of flashing cameras. You suddenly became very aware of the very chemical scent of her perfume—and the growing nausea twisting within your stomach.

“You can go find your hero boyfriend, later! I promise!” she practically shoved you onto the carpet, but you could only throw her a confused glance. Who was she talking about?

“Huh?”

“Don’t tell me you seriously didn’t know who that was! We are literally in a room of heroes right now!! That guy that you were with? He’s the entire reason we are here right now, Y/N!” you could hardly fight off the look of confusion that befell your face as you began posing for the flashes of photos being taken of you. Whatever. You probably just looked like the confused bimbo that they all thought you were anyway.

Kimi smacked her hand on her forehead—tossing you an exasperated glance, “Hello!? Red sneakers—the Deku! I can’t believe you. He’s projected to be the number one hero in a few years—that Deku!”

You felt your blood immediately run cold.

The Deku you had put on blast directly to his face. The one who was endorsing this entire brand that your agency had a deal with—that Deku, “Oh. Shit.”

You suddenly felt very sick.

Meanwhile, the three stooges had finally dragged their grouchy roommate out of the apartment and had made their way into the Red Sneakers Event, much to the dismay of said grouchy roommate. He would quite literally prefer to be anywhere else but here. Hell, he would rather stick his head in a vat of acid than be at some dumbass “quirkless sneaker” party for that shitty Deku. There couldn’t possibly be any good reason for him to be here right now.

“Oh, shit!” Kaminari’s grating voice snapped Bakugou out of his thoughts. He looked up to where the blond was pointing, and his heart skipped a beat.

The banners adorning the ceiling of the space sported a very familiar face.

“Isn’t that your hottie from last month, Bakugou?” the electric man practically giggled with amusement, “Over there, too! She’s at the red carpet!” Bakugou’s red eyes danced over to the succession of flashing lights on the far side of the room. Somehow, even with the herd of photographers clumped behind the red rope, he could still make out your gleaming form. It was as if you radiated light, blinding him to anyone else between you and him.

What the fuck? Where did those thoughts come from?

With a click of his tongue the blond instantly spat these feelings out of his head.

“Huh!” Kirishima tilted his head and gave a short, amazed laugh as well, “Look at that-- it totally is!”

Sero decided to chime in as well, completing the unholy trinity of pains on Bakugou’s ass, “Of course she’s a model. Dude, how did you trick that poor girl into your bed?” It took every ounce of willpower that the ash blond could muster not to blow ‘Elbow’s’ face off right then and there as he ground his teeth together.

Kirishima bravely leaned over to the seething man, “You should go say something to her.”

“Why the hell would I do that!?”

“Because if you don’t, I will,” Kaminari straightened his tie like he was grooming himself to approach you. Fucking as if!

“Like she’d be interested in your dumb ass!” Bakugou loudly snapped.

“That sounds pretty possessive Baku-bro,” Sero hardly ever called him this unless he wanted to get under the time-bomb of a man’s skin, “Almost like you have feelings~,” him and Kaminari began snickering to themselves as Bakugou neared the maximum capacity of his internal ‘pissed off-o-meter.’

The two men laid off of him a bit—knowing very well by this point what buttons to push and when to stop pushing them when it came to their feral friend.

“Looks like you’re missing your chance,” Kirishima spoke up—nodding his head to your fleeing figure. “I think she’s leaving.” Bakugou looked up to see your desperate form dash for the coat racks in the corner of the room.

As you made your way to the coat racks, you were completely oblivious to the lingering eyes that followed you—only focused on the furious ones that approached you and the rising, gurgling feeling in your stomach.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” your pissed off boss halted you right by the coat rack—Kimi, trailing not to behind you, was halted as well, “The event has hardly even started!”

“I don’t…” the bubbling in your stomach shot up your throat and was hardly caught in time as you slightly gagged, “I don’t feel too good, Ainu…”

She could only groan into her palm as she threw her head up toward the ceiling, “I told your ass not to—Ughhhh! Can’t you go one night without getting utterly shitfaced, Y/N!?”

Kimi reluctantly spoke up, “She hardly drank tonight. I think she really is sick,” her voice was very soft in the air as she defended you, and you realized that this is the first time you’d ever heard her talk to your boss directly.

Ainu’s eyes seemed to dance across yours and Kimi’s for a few beats—probably to gauge whether there was truth to Kimi’s words-- before she finally made up her mind, “Fine. Go on,”’ she tilted her head toward the direction of the exit with an irritated wave of her hand, “Take her home.”

“No,” you moved past Ainu toward the coat rack, “I think I can make it on my own,” you argued before shimming your fur on. After a mini dispute, your friend reluctantly agreed to let you make your way home alone.

Bakugou watched on as you gave the women that were with you tiny half-assed hugs before making your way toward the room’s exit—towards him. For the first time in practically forever, the man felt his heart drop down into his toes.

The four roommates all paused as you approached them. You were for sure going to see Bakugou and say something to him, right?

Wrong.

All three friends noticeably winced as you nonchalantly brushed pasted the four of him, not even sparing a passing glance at their shocked, blond comrade. “Oof. That’s gotta hurt,” Kaminari grimaced.

Sero’s lips stretched into an uncomfortable frown, “I don’t even think she recognized you, man.”

Kirishima could only remain silent as he watched a flurry of unfamiliar emotions flicker across his best friend’s face. Even if his buddy wasn’t clearly and uncharacteristically upset, he would still probably be at a loss of words from the secondhand embarrassment that was flooding into his cheeks.

“SHUT UP!” Bakugou snapped, pulling his face back into his trademark scowl, “What the hell do I care? I already slept with her. What else is there to do?” I don’t fucking care, I don’t fucking care. The man chanted to himself as he shoved his body into the crowd—anything to get away from those shitty dumbasses.

Sero gave a low whistle, “Wounded words, from a wounded man.”

When you made it back home that night, you spent the better part of the evening with your head glued to the toilet, and you really fucking didn’t understand why.

Two glasses were practically a baby bottle to you at this point. There is no way that you got sick off just that. So… food poisoning then? You fought a laugh at the amusing thought. You have to actually eat for that to happen.

Shit. And you were cramping like a mother fucker.

You instinctively opened you phone brushing past the ‘Are you okay?’ text from Kimi to make your way to your period tracker app. Maybe it was almost ‘that time of the month.’

A lot of girls that you knew had lost their periods from the severe “weight training” that they endured, but you had actually been regular with yours despite your everyday living.

The app opened—revealing a visually loud, bouncing notification that prompted a different breed of nausea to spin within your gut.

You were about two weeks late.

[marbleheavy]

Flowers for You, From Me

Solangelo Hanahaki Disease AU

Word Count: 8,621

Rating: Teen and Up ( for language)

Read on AO3!

It started with a petal, just one.

Nico shot up in his bed, Tartarus itself lingering behind his eyes even when he was faced with just his empty cabin. It felt like he was still choking on the river phlegethon but wait, no, he was actually choking. He was heaving, his throat closing around something as he clutched at his chest. Sharp coughs were racking him, his chest tightening painfully and he thought that maybe he was dying. Panic was filling his chest, he was terrified that he was still in the pit. That the cabin around him was an illusion, a trick of the mind, another torture of Tartarus. Nico was taking gasping breaths and coughing and suddenly he was tumbling out of his bed. Even as he could barely breathe, he was clambering toward his door and ripping it open, moonlight pouring into the cabin. He was desperately trying to prove to himself that he hadn’t somehow been dragged back down, that he was still at Camp Half-Blood, still safe. 

He raised his hands to his face as he crumpled to his knees, coughing and coughing and coughing. Nico could taste blood in his mouth, metallic and sharp on his tongue and his lungs were burning. He was gagging at this point, nearly vomiting as it felt like his windpipe was battling between climbing out or closing entirely. And then he coughed something into his hand, something that left a sweet flavor beneath all the blood. He sucked in a shuddering breath and looked at his palm, where a single, blood-coated petal lay, a yellow edge peeking out. 

‘Is that a fucking sunflower?’ he thought, ‘What kind of sick joke is this?’

Nico blinked, his lungs still heaving even as his coughing stopped. He looked up and out his door, camp was quiet and dark, but it was camp. He wasn’t in Tartarus, he was in his cabin, and he had coughed up a flower petal. Nico closed his fist around the petal and stood up on trembling legs, shutting his door as he walked back to his bed. He perched on the edge of the mattress, holding out the hand fisted around the petal in front of him hesitantly. He still felt high on adrenaline and panic and couldn’t quite catch his breath. His chest was aching but he couldn’t focus on anything, his mind was a mess of fear and confusion and exhaustion. He laid back, his head hitting the pillow, and brought his hands to his chest. Nico stared at the ceiling, barely blinking and trying to slow his thoughts down to something he could actually process. 

After hours, when the sun was filtering in through his windows, he was able to recognize that, beneath the weakness of his lungs and the fear, there was a profound longing for something he couldn’t really name. 

——

Nico sat down at the Hades table in a huff. Percy and Jason were already there, watching him with amusement as he grumbled about being ‘so fucking tired’ and ‘needing a cup of fucking coffee’. “Rough night?” Percy asked, laughing slightly.

Nico looked up and frowned, “Yeah, something like that.”

He reached forward and grabbed his goblet now full of coffee and drank some quickly. It burned his throat raw from coughing and he barely hid his wince. He thought of the petal that was now sitting in his trash can, his stomach twisting. Jason was looking at him quizzically but Nico ignored him and took another gulp of coffee. 

“Are you gonna eat anything?” Jason asked.

Nico thought of trying to swallow anything when he could barely handle a warm drink, “Not hungry.”

“Your boyfriend isn’t going to be too happy about that,” Percy teased.

Nico tensed, “My what?”

Percy smiled that stupid smile that used to make Nico weak in the knees but right now, it was turning his stomach, “You know, your boyfriend. The doctor. Blondie. Son of Apollo. Will,” he sang. 

Nico set his goblet down harshly, coffee splashing out over the sides. “He’s not my boyfriend,” he mumbled.

“Not yet,” Percy said.

Nico stood up, “Not ever.”

“Whoa, dude,” Percy raised his hands up, “Chill out.”

Nico rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, storming away from the dining pavilion. He heard Jason call after him but he ignored him, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared at the ground. He didn’t see the person approaching until he was right in front of them, centimeters away from running face first into their chest. He looked up from the flip flops in front of him to see Will looking down at him, smiling lazily with bright eyes and freckles, and it made his chest hurt. “Hey there, Death Boy. Hope you at least ate some toast before you stormed off,” Will said.

Nico scoffed and stepped back slightly, “Whatever you need to hear.”

“Aw, isn’t it a little early for all that snark?” Will laughed.

“Nope,” Nico said, pushing down the warmth he felt in his chest.

“Tell me more about the breakfast that I know you ate because I have told you a million times about how important three balanced meals a day are,” Will insisted. 

“Wholesome and delicious,” Nico tried to step past him, “Now I have to go.”

“I can’t say that I believe you,” Will sighed, “So I guess I’ll just make you eat a granola bar when you come visit me in the infirmary when my shift starts in fifteen minutes.”

Nico could feel the itch of a cough start in his throat and he sucked in a breath, “Yeah, fine.”

Will smiled widely at him and Nico held his breath, his chest hitching. “See you soon, Death Boy,” Will said, waving as Nico pushed past him again.

When he was certain that Will was out of ear shot, and when he couldn’t hold his breath anymore, Nico ducked behind a tree and started coughing. He slid his back down the tree as he heaved, the crook of his elbow pressed over his mouth to muffle the sound and catch the blood splatter. Panic welled up in him again as he gagged, no longer because he thought he was in hell again but at the thought of anyone hearing him or finding him. Nico didn’t know what was happening to him but it terrified him. This fit seemed to last longer than the last and at the end of it, he coughed up three petals, all as blood-coated as the first one. He tipped his head back, closing his eyes. After a moment, he brushed the petals from his sleeve and onto the ground, breathing raspily. 

Distantly, he heard other campers start to walk around camp to their various lessons and chores. He pushed himself up, standing wobbly, and peered around the tree. There was no one nearby so he darted out, walking briskly toward the infirmary. As he thought, ‘Will is probably waiting for me,’ he felt his lungs start to tense again, becoming tighter almost, like he was running out of space for air. 

——

Nico met Will in the infirmary and was immediately handed a granola bar and a clementine. “This is more than I agreed to,” Nico said.

Will smiled at him, “Think of it as a bonus. You need some fruit in your life.”

Nico rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of an infirmary bed. He placed the granola bar beside him and started peeling the clementine, the scent of sweet citrus immediately hitting him. He peeled it gently and intently, trying to avoid squishing any of the fruit. Nico could feel Will’s eyes on him after a moment and he glanced up, blushing as their gazes met. “What?” he asked quietly, looking back down again.

“Nothing,” Will smiled, “You’re just so delicate with that clementine.”

“I don’t want to squish it,” Nico muttered.

Will laughed and Nico’s stomach flipped pleasantly. “You don’t want to squish it?” Will asked.

“Yes,” Nico huffed, “It gets all sticky and ruins the whole experience.”

“Oh, so they’re an experience now?” Will was still laughing.

Nico popped a piece of the fruit into his mouth, “Obviously.”

“You’re so cute,” Will said, looking Nico in the eyes and smiling.

Nico blushed brighter and butterflies were erupting in him. He shoved another piece in his mouth to avoid saying anything back and Will shook his head fondly. Nico’s heart was racing and he felt like he was going to implode from the weight of Will’s gaze. ‘You’re reading into this,’ he told himself as he took a shaky breath, ‘Calm down.’ He deflated slightly and ate another segment.

“You up for cutting bandages?” the blonde asked after a moment.

Nico looked up, “Don’t you have enough? That’s like all I ever do.”

“You’ve played capture the flag, you know how intense it gets. We go through bandages like they’re nothing,” Will said.

“Still, I’ve cut enough bandages to wrap the entire Roman legion from head to toe, including the elephants,” Nico scoffed.

Will stood up and grabbed a roll of bandages and a pair of scissors, handing them to Nico. “Yeah, yeah,” Will sighed, “Just get cutting, Death Boy.”

Nico grabbed the supplies, setting the half finished clementine beside him. 

“Hey! Finish your breakfast!” Will scolded. 

“You’re extra bossy today,” Nico mumbled.

“Oh darling, you haven’t seen bossy,” Will smiled widely and winked at him, “Plus, I don’t think you mind it all that much.”

Nico’s heart stuttered and he looked down, grumbling as he started to unroll the bandages and cut strips. Will just laughed at him and turned back to his own work.

——

Nico was in his cabin before dinner, reading on his bed but barely comprehending a word. His mind was racing with thoughts of Will, Will, Will. The way that he never flinched at Nico’s presence or sharp words, or the way he smiled like a kid on Christmas when Nico laughed. He wanted to believe that maybe he wasn’t reading into things, that maybe Nico wasn’t the only one who felt the way he did about the other. But then, a voice in the back of his head reminded him of all the things wrong with him and all the things so right about Will and ‘Nobody like Will would ever love you.’

He was pulled from his thoughts by a knock on his door. “Come in,” he called out. 

Jason pushed the door open and walked in and Nico ignored the spike of disappointment he felt because it wasn’t Will. The son of Jupiter was standing stiffly in front of him and Nico looked up at him, raising an eyebrow as he put his book down and stood up. “Hey, Nico,” Jason said awkwardly.

“What do you want, Jason?” Nico asked.

“I wanted to talk about breakfast today,” Jason told him, shifting on his feet.

Nico’s blood ran cold and he straightened up. “There’s nothing to talk about,” he said coldly.

Jason scratched the back of his neck. “Percy shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t cool. I know that you aren’t totally comfortable with,” he paused, “With being who you are. And Percy shouldn’t tease you about it.”

“It’s Percy,” he sighed.

“Yeah,” Jason conceded, “But it still wasn’t okay. And it won’t be until you say it is.”

Nico scoffed, “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious, Nico. Being gay,” Nico bit back a wince a Jason’s words, “And coming out and everything in between belongs to you. You get to decide what you want and what you’re okay with. I know that Eros took that away from you, but it doesn’t have to happen again. You get to choose who to tell, what is okay for people to say and joke about, how to live. I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with such bullshit but you don’t have to anymore.”

Nico almost laughed at the end, feeling bitter and spiteful. It wasn’t like Jason knew what was happening but it still made his hands shake. He looked down, blinking back tears of frustration. He sucked in a breath and looked back up at Jason, nodding once. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

Jason smiled hesitantly at him, “Of course.”

Nico cleared his throat and put his hands in his pockets, “Do you want to go to dinner?”

“Gods, yes,” Jason groaned, “I’m starving.”

Nico chuckled and followed the taller boy as they left his cabin, walking quickly to the dining pavilion. As they made it there and grabbed their food, Nico couldn’t bring himself to pray to his father (or any god) about the fucking petals he was coughing up. He sat down at the Hades table across from Jason. When Percy joined them later, he smiled apologetically and then launched into a story about a young son of Hermes nearly decapitating himself with a sword earlier that day. Nico was grateful for the ramblings, it meant he didn’t have to say much. 

Still, occasionally, as he looked past Jason and Percy, he met Will’s eyes and the blonde would smile and Nico would melt. He found it hard to focus on whatever was being said when he could feel the weight of Will’s gaze but gods, he didn’t really care at all. 

That night, as Nico thought about Will’s smile and the timbre of his voice and the way he looked at Nico, he coughed up another petal.

——

After two or three weeks, Nico’s coughing and subsequent petal expulsion fits happened two or three times a day. The trash can in his room was filled with bloody petals and he was afraid to take it out in case someone saw it. They hit him often in the middle of the night, jerking him from dreams of his worst memories. Nights spent desperately trying to clear his airway or even just take a single breath. The fits were harder to hide when they happened during the day. He would basically sprint from the infirmary or the dining pavilion and hide behind the nearest building while he nearly coughed his lungs out, but it was always just petals. 

And then one day it wasn’t. 

Nico was trying to cough quietly as Will talked to him. He knew that this wouldn’t pass until the petals came out but he didn’t want to draw attention to his issue or do anything that would encourage Will to ask questions or examine him. But still, the blonde was shooting him questioning looks and Nico knew that he had to get out of there.

“Are you okay?” Will asked.

“Yup,” Nico coughed, “I just need to get some, uh, water.”

Nico rushed from the examination room and out of the infirmary, praying that Will wouldn’t follow him. He looked over his shoulder and didn’t see anyone, so he ran as fast as he could to the nearest building and ducked behind it. 

He tried to suck in a breath, soothe the ache in his lungs, but he was choking instantly. Nico placed a hand at the base of his throat, his fingers digging into his skin as he leaned against the wall. He was coughing and hacking, blood splattering out of his mouth. He could taste it on his tongue and on his lips but he was getting light headed from lack of air. Nico fell forward on his knees, one hand braced on the ground in front of him as he leaned over. His lungs were burning and tightening unbearably so and this was so much worse than it has ever been. 

‘Maybe I am dying,’ he thought, ‘Maybe this is it. I’m going to die alone and hiding, coughing up petals.’

He managed to take a gasping breath, it was shallow and weak and only fueled the next bout of heaves. Nico was gagging, bloody saliva dripping from his mouth to the grass in front of him, and his arms were shaking with effort to keep himself up. He retched, expecting a handful of petals to hit the ground in front of him, but it was an entire flower this time. He coughed up an entire flower, mostly intact if he ignored some crumpled petals and a lot of blood. Nico stared at it as he gulped in air, entirely shocked. 

He sat back on his knees, his hands trembling as he shuddered. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to think of what to do but as he looked back down of the flower that had come out of him, the only thing he could think was, ‘At least it isn’t actually a sunflower.’

He heard voices approaching and panic raced up his spine. He couldn’t be seen, he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone knowing what was happening to him. He grabbed the flower carefully and stood up, walking around the corner, away from the approaching people. Nico tucked the flower gently into the pocket of his jacket and hurried back to the infirmary. He knew he was gone too long for just a water break and was desperately trying to think of a cover story as he was stepping back into the room. A second before Will looked up, Nico remembered the blood that was on his mouth and he brought the edge of his sleeve up, wiping at away just as Will met his eyes and smiled at him. “Get lost on your way to the water fountain?” Will teased.

Nico cleared his throat, the action painful, but smiled slightly anyway, “Jason saw me and decided he needed to talk for the longest time ever.”

“Ah, of course,” Will nodded, “Jason is always stealing you away from me.”

Nico’s heart fluttered and lungs hitched as Will spoke but he couldn’t help the smile that broke out across his face.

—-

Later that day, Nico brought the flower that he had carefully and diligently rinsed off to Katie Gardener. He knocked on the Demeter cabin door and it opened quickly. She blinked at him curiously and smiled kindly, if not slightly hesitant. “Hey Nico, what’s up?” she asked.

“Uh,” he mumbled, pulling the flower carefully from his pocket and presenting it to her in the palm of his hand, “Do you know what kind of flower this is?’

She cocked her head and leaned against the door frame. “It looks like a yellow chrysanthemum,” she told him, “We don’t grow those here. Where did you get it?”

Nico’s blood ran cold and he shifted on his feet. “Uh,” he tried to think of a convincing lie, “Persephone grows them in her garden, you know, at my dad’s place. She gave me a bunch of them last time I was running errands down there.”

Katie didn’t seem to really believe him but she nodded slowly anyway, “Oh, well it’s pretty. Persephone really does know her flowers.”

“Yup,” Nico’s hand with the flower was shaking so he pulled it back, crushing it in his fist, “Um, thanks.”

She looked down at the hand closed around the flower and then looked back up at him with concern, “Is everything alright, Nico?”

He took a step back. “Yes,” he said quickly, “I have to go, but thank you, really.”

She smiled at him hesitantly and he turned on his heel, walking briskly back to his cabin, letting the crushed flower fall from his hand and the grass. 

——

A week later and it was whole flowers every time an attack happened. Nico coughed up entire chrysanthemums multiple times a day, his throat was raw and he could barely ever catch his breath. His lungs felt like they were running out of room for air, like they were going to burst from his chest. His mouth constantly tasted of blood and honey and it made him nauseous. He started buying gum from the Stolls to try and cover the flavor but nothing was ever quite enough. Nico didn’t know what was happening and he was scared. Terrified of dying, of dying alone, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell anyone. So he just continued on, pretending that he could breathe and that he wasn’t afraid he was going to die. 

He met Jason at the arena to spar like they did every week. Lately, it had felt infinitely harder when he couldn’t catch his breath but he didn’t dare try to skip out on it. Jason would chase him down, demanding answers that Nico didn’t want to give. 

He stood in front of Jason, leaning against his sword, as the taller boy strapped on his armor. 

“Are you ready yet?” Nico asked impatiently.

“Yes,” Jason mocked, “Chill out.”

“Then let’s get on with it,” Nico said, grabbing his sword and raising it in front of him. 

“Excited to lose?” Jason teased.

“Please,” Nico scoffed, twirling his sword once for good measure, “I don’t lose.”

Jason didn’t say anything back, instead raising his gladius and charging. Nico met his blow easily, forcing it down and then swinging his sword upward. They met each other in a clash of metal again and again, easily parrying and pushing each other forward and backward. But still, their fighting styles were distinctly different and it was evident in Jason’s measured jabs and Nico’s elegant slashes. The raven was whirling around Jason, graceful and poised as he aimed to cut the taller boy down. But his chest was tightening painfully and he was trying to hide his gasping breaths. Jason caught on still and between blows, he panted out “You okay, dude?”

Nico grunted and bit back a cough, pushing forward still. He swung down harder and knocked Jason back, taking advantage of his stumble to thrust his sword forward. He nearly disarmed him, seconds away from winning, when he couldn’t hold back his fit anymore. He coughed harshly, his hands shaking, and Jason pushed him away, knocking him to his back. The son of Jupiter held his gladius victoriously over Nico’s throat but the smaller boy barely registered it. He was lurching and hacking as he turned his head to the side and rolled onto his stomach, pushing up onto his knees and bracing himself with his hands. Blood splattered onto the ground in front of him and he still couldn’t breathe.

“Holy shit, Nico. Are you okay?” Jason asked, dropping beside him. 

Nico nodded and tried to wave Jason away but he didn’t move. ‘Of course,’ Nico thought, ‘This had to happen in front of him.’ Jason placed a hand on his back hesitantly and Nico jerked away from the touch but couldn’t escape it between coughs. He gagged and felt his chest squeeze painfully.

“Nico seriously, what’s going on? Should I get Will?”

Nico shook his head, panic racing up his spine at the thought of Will ever seeing him like this. His arms were shaking and he nearly fell forward on his face but then he gagged again and threw up, a flower hitting the ground in front of him. Jason jumped back beside him. Nico sat back on his knees, wiping the blood from his mouth as he inhaled deeply. His throat was burning and felt like it was being shredded every time he breathed but he couldn’t help but be grateful for the air. 

“I’m going to get Will,” Jason said, standing up.

“No,” Nico croaked, “No, please don’t.”

“Nico, you need medical attention,” Jason exclaimed.

“I’m fine,” Nico looked up at him, “Seriously. It’s not a big deal.”

“It seems like a big fucking deal!” Jason’s voice was nearly a screech, “You just coughed up a ton of blood and a weird ball! What the hell just happened?”

Nico pushed himself up to his feet. “It was a flower,” Nico told him, “I coughed up a flower.”

“A flower?” Jason questioned, his eyes wide in a panic.

“A chrysanthemum to be specific,” Nico picked up his sword. 

“And you’re cool with that?” Jason asked.

“It happens sometimes,” Nico said calmly, avoiding meeting Jason’s eyes.

“Sometimes? How often is ‘sometimes’?” Jason questioned.

“A few times a day, I guess.”

“A few times a day? For how long?”

“The whole flowers started sometime last week. It was just petals for a few weeks before that.”

“You’ve been coughing up petals and flowers for weeks and didn’t tell anybody?”

“Yes,” Nico stated.

Jason was looking at him incredulously. “You need help! This is dangerous! We have to tell someone!” he shouted. 

“No,” Nico said curtly, glaring at Jason coldly, “You can’t tell anybody. You have to swear that you won’t.”

“No! I’m not doing that!” Jason insisted.

“Yes, you are,” Nico raised his sword and pointed it at Jason’s chest, “You have to swear.”

“No! Threaten me all you’d like,” Jason pushed the blade away from himself, “You aren’t going to do anything. Nico, you cough so violently that blood and flowers come out. That isn’t normal or safe, you need help!” he pleaded. 

“I know that, Jason!” Nico raised his voice, “I just don’t care. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but it’s mine to figure out and deal with alone.”

“You can’t do this alone, Nico!” Jason shouted, “You need help. Let me help you! Let someone help you!”

“No, Jason, No! I don’t want your help!” Nico yelled, “I don’t know why this is happening. All I know is that I cough up chrysanthemums a few times a day and that it feels like I can’t breathe. I don’t know if this is Demeter getting back at Hades or Eros fucking with me again but I don’t care. It will either go away or it won’t, but it hasn’t killed me yet. Jason, you’re the one that told me that only I get to decide who to tell about me being-” his voice cracked, “And I’m done letting anybody get to try and force me into anything. So if I choke on flowers then so be it, but I get to choose!” Nico was nearly hysterical, “I just want to make one fucking choice about my own life!”

Jason stared at him with an unreadable expression. “You’re choosing to die, Nico,” his voice had lost all it’s fire, “Do you get that? Asking me to not tell anyone is asking me to let you die.”

Nico blinked at him and then let his face drop but his eyes were pleading. “Let me die,” he said.

“What?” Jason asked.

“I get what I’m asking. Let me die. Please,” his voice cracked, “Let me choose to die.”

Jason recoiled like he had been burned by Nico’s words. “No! Absolutely not!”

“Then at least give me some time to think it over,” Nico pleaded.

“I’m not stupid. I’m not going to just back off!” Jason yelled.

“Please, Jason!” Nico stepped forward, “Three days! Give me three days! And after that, you can tell whoever you want.”

“For what? So you can figure out how to run away from help?” Jason sneered.

“So I can try and figure out what's happening to me,” Nico said.

Jason paused and took a deep breath, “You have to let me help you.”

“After three days,” Nico promised.

“No,” Jason sighed, “You have to let me help you figure out what’s happening. If you want me to keep this a secret for three days, you at least have to let me keep an eye on you.”

Nico stilled, his mind racing. He didn’t want Jason’s help, he didn’t want anyone’s help. But he knew that this wasn’t going to be a secret anymore but he could at least buy himself a few more days to figure something out, even if it meant dealing with Jason. He nodded slowly, “Yeah, okay.”

“And you have to tell me when you have those fits,” Jason added.

“Fine,” Nico shoved his hands in his pockets. 

“I’ll meet you in your cabin tomorrow morning and we can start,” the blonde told him.

“Start what?” Nico asked.

“Research,” Jason said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “To figure out why you’re coughing up flowers.”

“And you won’t tell anyone?” Nico insisted.

Jason made a pained face but nodded. Nico rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, stalking away and out of the arena. His lungs were still burning and he was desperately trying to push down the panic threatening to bubble over. ‘He knows,’ his mind screamed, ‘Jason knows and soon everyone will know. They’ll know you can’t keep it together and that you’re just as weak and broken as they thought.’ He was breathing rapidly, sharp and shallow pants that did nothing to soothe the ache for air. He was rushing away, trying to make it to his cabin as fast as possible. He ignored all the people he was running past, focusing only on staying calm until he could hide away. Nico stumbled as someone grabbed his arm, slowing him down. The warmth of Will’s touch was familiar and it made his heart clench painfully.

“Hey, Nico, what’s wrong?” he asked, his voice filled with concern.

Nico didn’t look at Will, refusing to meet his eyes because he knew he would crumble instantly. He wanted to scold himself for becoming so soft for a stupid son of Apollo but he couldn’t quite bring himself to regret anything as he remembered the way that Will tossed his head back when he laughed or the way his eyes crinkled around the edges and shined when he smiled. The raven said nothing as he ripped his arm from Will’s grip and broke out into a sprint. He could barely hear Will calling out for him and running after him over his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. He slammed his cabin door as soon as he made it inside, leaning against it as he tried to catch his breath. After just a few seconds, Will was knocking on the other side and pleading for Nico to let him in. Nico squeezed his eyes shut and tipped his head back. “Go away, Will,” he called.

“Nico, what happened?” Will asked.

Nico clenched his hands into fists, his fingernails digging into his palms painfully. Every fiber of his being was screaming to let Will in, to let him help him and comfort him and to tell him everything. He took a deep, rasping breath that hurt. “Nothing,” he said, “Just leave me alone.”

“I don’t believe you. Let me in so I can help, please,” Will insisted.

“I don’t want your help, Will!” Nico lied through his teeth, “Go away!”

“Nico, please,” Will’s voice was desperate and it made Nico want to cry, “I don’t want to leave you alone. Let me in, please.”

Nico slid down against the door, his stomach turning. He sucked in a breath and steeled his nerves. ‘He’s going to hate me,’ Nico thought, ‘He has to hate me.’

“I don’t care what you want,” Nico worked to keep his voice cold and unfeeling, “I don’t care about you. Just walk away.”

It was silent for a moment. “What?” Will asked, so quiet that it was barely audible.

Nico gasped, his heart falling apart with every passing second. “You heard me,” his voice cracked, “Go away.”

There was a thud against the door, like Will had dropped his forehead against it. Then, Nico heard the porch creak as Will stepped back. Part of him, a large part of him, wanted Will to keep knocking, to keep trying, to please don’t leave him alone. But he heard him walk down the steps, retreating because that’s what Nico told him to do and gods, what he felt in that moment was worse than any time he had heaved and choked on petals. 

——

Nico woke up the next morning to Jason banging on his door and letting himself in. Normally that would warrant a cold glare at least, but he just raised his head and looked at him with no expression. Jason was holding a stack of books and he kicked the door shut. Nico sat up and kicked his legs over the side of the bed, standing on shaky legs and walking over to stand next to Jason. He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wake himself up, “Where’d you get those?” he croaked. 

“Some are from the Big House, a few from the Athena cabin, and just a couple of the medical ones from the Apollo cabin,” Jason told him.

Nico nearly flinched as Jason mentioned the Apollo cabin but he bit his tongue and reached out for a book. “Let’s get started, I guess,” he said.

Jason picked one up as well, “You should go to breakfast, I can get started.”

Nico thought about trying to swallow down any food when his throat felt like it was coated in acid. “I’m not hungry,” he mumbled.

“If you skip, Will is gonna track you down,” Jason insisted.

Nico’s heart clenched and he looked down. “No, he won’t,” Nico said.

When he looked back up, Jason was watching him with concern and he looked like he wanted to say something. Instead, he just muttered out a hesitant, “Alright.”

Nico was grateful for Jason not pushing him as he sat down on the floor, back against the frame of his bed. Jason sat beside him and huffed. “What kind of flowers are they again?” he asked.

Nico opened the book on his lap, flipping to a table of contents. “Yellow chrysanthemums,” he said.

Jason flipped through his own book and from the corner of his eye, Nico saw him stop abruptly and scan the page he landed on. “Oh,” Jason said after a moment.

Nico looked over at him, anxiety racing down his spine, “What?”

“Different flowers symbolize different things. I thought that if we knew what your flower meant then it might help us figure out what’s happening,” Jason explained.

“And?” Nico pressed.

“Yellow chrysanthemums mean love,” Nico felt nauseous as Jason spoke, “But a sorrowful love. Or, um, unrequited love.”

Nico thought he was going to pass out. He looked at the book on his lap, blinking dumbly as his ears rang, barely processing the world around him. 

Jason spoke carefully beside him, “Nico, I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to not send me to the Underworld.”

Nico grunted in agreement and kept his eyes down. 

“Do you still love Percy?” Jason asked.

His reaction was instantaneous. Nico recoiled violently, the book flipping off of his lap as he glared at Jason, his fury visible in every way he held himself. “No!” he sneered, “Why would you ask me that?”

Jason raised his hands in defense, “I’m sorry! But you can’t really blame me for it! The only chance we have at figuring this out is if we are on the same page. Clearly what’s happening to you isn’t natural and it has to be for a reason. The flowers are chrysanthemums for a reason.”

“I’m not in love with Percy!” Nico shouted.

“Then I don’t know what else it could be,” Jason, “But it has to be something!”

Nico coughed, once, twice, “It doesn’t matter! We know what they mean, so drop it!”

Jason stared at him, his mouth in a tight line and then he looked back down harshly. He closed his book roughly. “You don’t have to do everything alone, Nico,” he whispered after a moment, “I know that you think that you deserve to be alone, but you don’t.”

Nico couldn’t respond, he was biting his lip to try and ignore the itch in his lungs. He was jerking forward as he spasmed with suppressed coughs but he couldn’t hold them back any longer as blood filled his mouth. He leaned forward and gagged, blood spilling down his chin and onto the floor as he heaved. Jason placed a hand on his back reassuringly but Nico barely felt it as he started to cough, every inhale and hack felt like his throat was being shredded. It was raw like an open wound and it just kept getting worse with every fit. 

He was retching, petals hitting the ground in clots. He felt dizzy and braced a hand on the ground, trying to keep himself from falling over but it was in vain. Nico rolled out from Jason’s touch, his back hitting the ground as he stared up at the ceiling in a daze. He was really, truly choking then, unable to breathe for even a moment. His eyes widened in a panic as Jason leaned over him, his face in a panic and mouth moving but the raven couldn’t make out his words. He reached a hand up, grabbing Jason’s arm tightly. He could feel tears streaming down his cheeks and distantly he realized that he was going to die. Nico was going to die and he was terrified. His coughing became interspersed with sobs and he was blacking out from lack of air. He was sure Jason was screaming now but all he could hear was his own heaving and spluttering and the blood rushing in his ears. His fingers tightened around Jason’s arm again and then loosened, his vision going black. 

——

Nico woke up in the infirmary and his heart dropped. Jason was sitting in a chair next to his bed, asleep. Will was on his other side, his head laid down on the edge of the mattress. He blinked blearily and as he shifted, Will shot up and whipped his head to look at him. In an instant, he placed a hand on the side of Nico’s face and the other on his shoulder. “Oh gods, Nico, you’re awake,” Will exclaimed, scanning over his face for any sign of distress.

The commotion woke Jason, who was already up and standing beside him, a hand placed on his other shoulder. Nico was overwhelmed and the panic he felt must have been visible on his face because Will and Jason both pulled away quickly, watching him with such worry that Nico felt like he was drowning in guilt. “What happened?” he croaked, his voice was like gravel and it felt like he was swallowing razor blades.

“You almost died, Nico,” Will told him, his face suddenly set, “And you weren’t going to tell anyone.”

Nico looked down, blinking slowly. “How did I get here?” he mumbled.

“I carried you after you went unconscious in your cabin,” Jason said.

“You scared the shit out of us, Nico,” Will’s voice cracked.

“I’m sorry,” Nico whispered. 

“Jason said this has been happening for weeks. If you had said something, we could have helped you sooner.”

“How?” Nico scoffed, “We don’t even know what this is.”

Jason and Will shared a look and Jason sighed. “Yes, we do,” Jason told him, “We figured it out while you were asleep.”

Nico looked up but neither Jason or Will would meet his eyes. “What?” Nico asked, “What is it?”

“Um, it’s called Hanahaki disease,” Will explained, “It’s almost like a curse. We aren’t sure you catch it, but it happens when the victim feels profound unrequited love.”

Nico was certain he was going to throw up and he flinched as Will continued, “Flowers grow in their lungs and will continue to until the patient confesses to the object of their affections and the love is returned, or, um, until they die.”

Nico felt his face burn and his throat was itching again. “Oh,” he muttered.

“There’s a procedure, though,” Will added, “To remove the flowers and stop you from dying. But when the flowers are removed, so are the feelings. And not just the feelings for that one person, all feelings of love for anyone.”

Nico froze. He glanced at Will and thought of confessing. He could imagine the way that Will would recoil in disgust but still try so hard to be nice because that’s who Will was. And it wouldn’t matter, he would die anyways. He thought of choking on flowers and his own blood, how it felt to not be able to breathe and his lungs tightening and flowers coming up his throat and tearing it to pieces. He thought of never loving Will again. Never truly appreciating how the sun caught his hair and how warm he was all the time and the way his nose scrunched when he grinned. And that was so much worse than dying painfully. He nodded and sat straighter in the bed. “Okay,” he stated.

Will looked at him with such pain in his eyes that for a moment Nico wanted to risk a confession. “You’re going to get the procedure?” Will questioned.

Nico frowned, “No, of course not.”

Will seemed to relax slightly but Jason stood just as tense beside him. “So who are we going to find?” Jason asked. 

“Why do you need to find anybody?” Nico asked him back.

“So you can tell them that you love them,” Jason clarified.

Nico visibly lurched back, “Nobody. I’m not confessing anything.”

Jason and Will looked at him desperately and both launched forward at him. “That’s not an option,” Jason said, his voice stern.

“Yes it is, you just told me. I’m not getting the flowers removed and I’m not going to confess. I’m going to die and that’s okay,” Nico was trying his best to stay calm. 

He didn’t want to die, he really, really didn’t and he was so afraid. But that felt like his only option so he was going to ignore the terror coursing through him and be whatever fucked up kind of brave this was. Will grabbed his hand and pulled his attention to him. “No,” he begged, “Nico, no. Please don’t do this. We can help you, please let us help you.”

Will’s eyes were shining and so blue and gods, maybe if Nico died right now, with Will looking at him like that and holding his hand, he would be okay. He placed a hand on Will’s cheek gently, and looked at him softly. “It’s okay,” he whispered, “Really, I’m okay with this.”

“I’m not,” Will was hysterical, “I’m not okay with you dying, Nico.”

Nico shook his head, “Will, it isn’t your choice. I’m not going to choose to stop loving y-,” he sucked in a breath, “To stop loving them forever. And they don’t love me back. So I’m going to die and that’s okay.”

Jason stepped forward as Will blinked back tears. “Nico, just let me go get them. Maybe Percy-” he started.

Nico cut him off harshly as he dropped his hand from Will’s face, “It’s not Percy, Jason. I don’t love him and I don’t think I ever did, not really and not like this.”

Will was crying and it broke Nico’s heart. He coughed, feeling another fit start. He wondered for a moment why another one was starting so quickly after the first but quickly realized that this was the end. Of his life, but of the pain too. It probably didn’t help that Will was there too and Nico felt like he was bursting with affection for him, with love. He inhaled raspily and coughed again. Will and Jason both flinched but Nico couldn’t tear his eyes away from the son of Apollo. He loved Will, so much and so completely that his heart felt like it was failing faster than his lungs.

“Nico, please,” Will cried, “You can’t die.”

He dropped his head beside onto the mattress again and Nico placed a hand in his hair, dragging his fingers through the curls. The raven looked at Jason, smiling painfully. The son of Jupiter was watching him with a guarded look. He glanced down at where Nico was running his fingers through Will’s hair and then back up at Nico. A look of understanding crossed his face and he blinked, lips parting. “Oh,” he whispered.

Nico felt panicked again and he shook his head. “Jason, please,” he said.

Jason met his eyes and smiled wryly, “You’re a fucking idiot, Nico.”

Nico winced but didn’t drop his eyes, “Let me do this, Jason. Please.”

“No,” Jason told him, “I won’t let you choose to kill yourself because you’re stupid and oblivious.”

Will raised his head, tear tracks down his cheeks, and looked between the two. “What do you mean, Jason?”

Jason didn’t break away from Nico’s gaze but spoke carefully anyways. “Will, Nico isn’t going to say anything so you have to.”

“What else can I say that will change his mind?” Will asked.

“You know,” Jason told him, “You have to tell him.”

Nico could hear Will’s breath hitch but he didn’t dare look away from Jason, afraid that if he did for even a second that Jason would say the one thing he couldn’t bear to say himself. It didn’t matter though, because Will grabbed his face and forced Nico to look at him instead. His eyes were red and watery and pleading and still he was beautiful. They stared at each other, neither saying anything and he heard Jason clear his throat. “I’m going to Iris message Hazel and Reyna, let them know what’s happening, just in case. I’ll give you two a second,” Jason started to walk out of the room but he stopped in the doorway and glanced back at Nico, “When I come back, if you’re still…” he trailed off, “I’m not gonna let you die.”

Nico flickered his gaze between Will and Jason as he left, his stomach churning and heart racing while he tried his best to keep himself calm and to stop himself from gagging on blood. Nico jerked, trying to contain another cough. Will let out a sob as he watched Nico and then they were both crying. 

“It’s going to be okay, Will,” Nico whispered.

“No it won’t,” Will cried, “Because you’re going to die. You aren’t going to be here anymore and that isn’t okay. It will never be okay.”

“You’ll move on, I’m sure you can find someone else to cut bandages for you,” Nico tried to joke, “And this is what I want to do. I-I can’t not love them. I haven’t loved anybody like this in so long and even though it’s killing me, I will choose it every time.”

“You don’t get it, Nico! You don’t just cut bandages! You’re my best friend and I can’t watch you die. I can’t,” Will was nearly shouting but Nico didn’t flinch.

Nico’s heart was crumbling to pieces at Will’s tears and words. “Sunshine,” he mumbled, “I promise that it will be alright. That you will be alright.”

“Stop saying that! It’s not true! I’m not going to be alright because I-” Will wiped Nico’s tears away with his thumb and took a breath, “Nico, I love you.”

Nico’s heart stopped, his mind froze, everything was still for a moment. And then everything was rushing at him all at once. Blood was pounding in his ears and every nerve felt like it was on fire, he felt like he was burning up under the weight of Will’s gaze and his touch. He couldn’t process what he said. “What?” he whispered brokenly.

“I love you,” Will repeated, “I love you and I don’t want you to die, so please don’t die.”

“Really?” Nico asked softly.

“Yes, really,” Will’s voice was a strange mix of annoyed and desperate and broken.

Nico blinked and he registered that for the first time in a while he didn’t have to cough. He gasped and then he couldn’t help but laugh. He laughed like a child, wet and broken up by sobs but it was laughter all the same. Will recoiled like he was hurt but Nico followed his retreating hands, never wanting to pull away from him again. “Really,” Nico repeated again, his voice breathy like he was speaking of a dream.

Will didn’t pull away again but he was looking at Nico with apprehension. Nico didn’t know what to say to explain and he just gaped. “I can breathe,” he said after a moment.

“What?” Will asked.

“I can breathe and I love you. Will Solace, I love you,” Nico whispered.

Will smiled widely and Nico was gone. Totally and completely in love with Will and he was euphoric. The blonde dropped his head forward and pressed their foreheads together, his breath fluttering across Nico’s cheeks wonderfully. “Good,” Will chuckled, “Or this would be really awkward.”

“Please,” Nico teased, “You weren’t the one who was going to die.”

Will blinked and then pulled back, shoving Nico’s shoulder harshly. “You were going to die!” he shouted, “You are such an idiot!”

Nico’s face slacked in surprise but he recovered quickly. “I’m not anymore,” he reached a hand out for Will.

The son of Apollo grabbed it but still looked angry, “But you were going to. You were going to choose to die and that isn’t okay. And you are so dumb for thinking that I didn’t love you just as much!”

“I’m sorry. I-” Nico stuttered, “I really didn’t think that you loved me, would ever love me.”

Will deflated and squeezed his fingers. “Why?” he asked, voice cracking.

Nico lowered his eyes, “You’re so good. And kind and smart and wonderful and just, you. And I’m just me.”

“Yeah, you,” Will scoffed, “Son of Hades, hero, deliverer of the Athena Parthenos, the Ghost King. You’re brave and passionate and intelligent and gods, I love you. There’s nothing about you that makes you unlovable. There’s nothing that scares me,” he shoved Nico’s shoulder again, “Except for your ridiculous lack of self preservation. That scares me to death.”

Nico chuckled and looked at Will’s face, his breath catching. “Do you believe me?” Will asked insistently.

Nico paused, focusing for a moment and how clear his chest felt. He nodded slowly, “I think so. Mostly at least. I don’t think there are chrysanthemums choking me anymore.”

“You’ll probably cough up a few more petals. I’m not sure how this works, really,” Will said softly. 

“I can deal with that,” Nico mumbled. 

“I should probably keep you for observation,” Will whispered as he leaned down.

“Yeah probably,” Nico tipped his chin up, “Just to make sure.”

“Mmhmm,” Will agreed, “We don’t want you to relapse.”

“Maybe you should tell me you love me again, you know, just in case,” Nico’s breath hitched.

Will’s nose brushed against his. “I love you,” he sighed.

“And maybe,” Nico muttered, their lips centimeters apart, “Maybe you should kiss me.”

Nico was shocked by his own words but he told himself the adrenaline of almost dying was giving him the confidence. And he really did want Will to kiss him. Will’s mouth was so close to his, their lips barely brushing. 

“Oh?” Will breathed.

Nico hummed and then Will kissed him. It was so soft it made him shiver, pleasure shocking him. Will’s lips were warm and insistent against his own as he gently cupped the blonde’s jaw. Will pulled away and Nico couldn't help but pout. “You taste like blood,” Will told him.

Nico grimaced, “Sorry.”

Will didn’t seem to mind as he kissed Nico again and again and again, peppering kisses across his lips and cheeks and nose and forehead. It made Nico laugh warmly. He felt better than he had in weeks, in years, really. Will wasn’t a fix-all but not to hide or lie or fake it was invigorating. The weight on his shoulders wasn’t gone but it felt like maybe he could share it now, maybe someone was willing to listen and care for him. He closed his eyes, felt Will’s lips flutter across his cheeks. He smiled, exhaling a deep and flowerless breath.

[sithmyass]

Crazy in Love - Obi Wan Kenobi

Warnings: Literally porn my guys. Do not read if youre under 18, this is literally the smuttiest shit ive ever written.

All for you, @sarcastic-bubble 😘

Alluring. You looked in the mirror and alluring was the only word to come to mind. Your silk blue evening gown flowing down your legs, your curls draping over your shoulders, the diamond necklace he gave you placed perfectly between the valley of your breasts. You knew it was wrong.. everything about the whole situation was, but you couldn’t care. The attention.. his attention was intoxicating, addicting. You leaned down to slip your heels on, allowing your hand to linger up the length of your leg. You couldn’t help but imagine that it was his hand, wish oh so desperately for it to be his hand, but alas.

Your heels clicked deliciously against the marble flooring of the ballroom, all eyes on you as you made your way through the enormous double doors. If you hadn’t been wearing the mandatory masquerade mask, you may have walked out of the room before even getting your start. But with the mask, the dress, his diamond around your neck.. To say you felt like a goddess was an understatement. You felt ethereal, untouchable. You made your way towards the bar, finding an empty stool to stand near. You flag down the bartender and order an Outer Rim; silver tequila, acai liqueur, lime juice, pure cane sugar, black salt and exotic fruit purée. As your drink is brought to you, you begin to sense a lurking presence. You chose to ignore it, and instead take a sip of your drink, the alcohol burning its way down your throat.

“Did you dress up just for me, Kitten?” His voice so close to your ear sent shivers down your spine, you knew who it was immediately. He allows one of his arms to snake its way around your hip, the other coming around to play with the diamond necklace. “I see the gift I got you fits well..” You remain silent, allowing his hands to roam your body as they please. “Aww, is my Kitten being shy? Tsk tsk tsk..” He allows the hand that was toying with your necklace to slide down your body to find its way between the slit of your dress, making for easy access. “Do you know how beautiful you are? It’s truly distracting. Everyone else thinks so too, half the men at this bar can’t keep from undressing you with their eyes..” You bite your lip gently as he whispers in your ear, breath fanning across your cheek.

“I bet you think you’re real cute, letting these men eye fuck you, Kitten. Maybe I should take you right here to prove to them who you belong to.” His fingers make their way gently to your core, ghosting their way down your mound. “No panties? Maker, you’re just asking to get it.” He slips two fingers into your soaked cunt with ease, eliciting a quiet mewl from your lips. “Sh sh sh.. you don’t want anyone hearing, do you?” He teases, moving his fingers in a ‘come hither’ motion, hitting your g-spot expertly. You lull your head back against his shoulder, using everything you have inside of you to not scream his name at the top of your lungs. “Look at you, I’ve only started using my fingers and you’re already shaking..” He places a sloppy kiss to your shoulder blade before removing his fingers from your core.

“C’mon Kitten, before someone sees and tells someone about us..” He comments, taking your smaller hand in his as he leads you out of the ballroom. Once it’s just the two of you alone in the long hallway, you pull your mask from your face. Obi Wan does the same as you reach the elevator, his eyes dark with lust. He would have jumped you right then and there, had the elevator not arrived when it did. You step in first, leaning your back against the cool wall, hoping to alleviate your burning desire for the man across from you. You open your eyes to see Obi Wan sucking your arousal from his fingers. “Truly a delicacy.” He comments as the elevator door opens to what is presumably his floor. As he takes your hand and leads you down the long hall, you finally get a good look at the man at your side. All black suit, shirt, and tie, the only accent of color his Mediterranean blue eyes.

You stop at a door, number 6897. Top floor, penthouse. Only the best for him. He opens the door, leading you into the dark room. He flicks on a small lamp, illuminating the almost entirely glass room. He takes notice of your expression and finds himself smirking at you as he shrugs his jacket off, throwing it across the room to grab your attention. He beckons you towards him with one finger silently. You follow his orders, moving towards him, dress flowing around your legs, your slit threatening to reveal your most intimate parts. Your lips find his as soon as you’re within reach, your teeth gnashing against his. He bites down on your bottom lip before pulling away, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Take that pretty little dress of yours off for me, Kitten.” He demands, sitting back on his elbows as he sees you slip one of the thin strings down your arm. “That’s it, nice and slow, baby.” He praises, watching intently as you undress yourself, dress pooling around your ankles, leaving you naked before him. He runs his hand over his jaw as he drinks you in, letting out a shallow breath. He sits up, and leans forward to take your hips in his calloused hands. “Are you going to be good from now on, Kitten?” He asks, his thumbs running over the soft skin of your waist. “Yes.. I mean, yes Sir.” You correct yourself, earning a smile from Obi. “That’s my girl..” He begins, taking a moment to look your body up and down. “Now. Suck on my fingers, babygirl, get them nice and wet for me so I can finish what I started at the bar.” You nod eagerly, getting down onto your knees before him, allowing him to slip his three middle fingers between your lips.

You swirl your tongue around his fingers, coating them in your saliva, never once breaking eye contact. When he feels content, he removes his fingers from your lips and helps you up onto the bed. “Get comfortable, Kitten.. I’m not stopping ‘til my jaw hurts.” He says, but it sounds more like a promise. He pulls a pillow from the head of the bed and slips it under your head, allowing you to get comfortable. He unbuttons his shirt in the meantime, untucking it from his waistband, allowing it to hang loosely on his shoulders.

Obi Wan slips off the edge of the bed before parting your legs with his hands on your knees. “You look good all soaking wet, can’t wait to get a taste.” He mumbles before leaning forward, allowing his tongue to explore your slit before slipping his three fingers inside of you, all while beginning his assault on your clit. He begins to pump his fingers at an agonizingly slow pace, while his tongue dances the alphabet. You arch your back up, grinding up into his face, begging for more. He snickers against your core, and looks up at you from between his lashes.

“Look at you, grinding against my face. You’re so desperate for me, aren’t you?” He taunts, allowing his breath to fan over you as he speeds up his fingers, earning a moan from you. “Thought so.” Seemingly out of nowhere, a switch flips in Obi Wan and he finds himself fingering you faster, while devouring your cunt at a vicious pace. Maybe it was the moans his speed earned from you, or maybe it was how badly he wanted you to come undone on his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to slow down.

As soon as he felt your legs beginning to close around his head, and the uncontrollable shaking, he knew he’d be getting his wish soon. He kept up his speed, almost groaning against you as he pushed you over the edge for the first time tonight. He obscenely lapped up all of your juices, not even allowing a single drop to go to waste. He pulls his head from between your legs to see your blissed out figure, panting on the bed. He crawls over you, bringing his lips to your ear. “We’ve just barely started, Kitten..” He nips at your earlobe as he pulls away to gauge your reaction, which was shock, and this amused him.

He slowly reached down towards your core once more, his fingers ghosting over your sensitive nub, causing your body to jolt from the overbearing pleasure. “Think you can handle another?” He questions, as if you actually had a choice. He flips the two of you over, you now on top. “Come sit on my face, Kitten.” He coaxes, guiding your hips to his desired place above his lips. “Could eat you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner..” He mumbles before sucking your clit between his lips once again. The pleasure was almost too much to handle, and he knew it. Each time you tried to move away, he’d hold your hips down firmer against his mouth. He’d make you grind down against him, his beard adding extra stimulation to your most sensitive spot.

“Obi.. I.. I..” You stutter before your vision turns white, and the shock of another orgasm racks through your already tired body. He lifts you up off his face, allowing you to lay against the mattress once more. “No more.. I can’t..” You plead, aftershocks making your body jolt every few seconds. He gently takes your hand in his. “You can..” He places a kiss to your knuckles. “And you will..”

He smiles down at you sweetly. “I want to fuck you up against the windows so everyone can see how good you take me..” He stands up off the bed, helping you to your feet. You nearly collapse, but Obi helps you over to the windows, allowing you to brace yourself against it. He runs his hand down your spine, leaving a small whack against your bum. “I wonder what your boyfriend would do if he knew what you were doing right now..” Obi muses, before sliding his entire length into your tight cunt from behind. You lean your forehead against the glass, taking a moment to adjust to his size before he decided it was time to move.

Before long, that moment had arrived. Obi grabbed your waist tightly, and began pulling you back to meet his thrusts, completely bottoming out each time. Gradually he sped up his thrusts, putting more and more force behind each one. He removed one of his hands from your hips and slid it around your throat, leaning forward to leave bruises in the flesh of your shoulders. “You look so good with my hand wrapped around your throat, Kitten..” He comments, allowing his grip to tighten slightly, enough to make your head spin. “Do you want to cum, pretty girl?” He asks, letting a few stray moans escape in between his words. You nod, not completely trusting your words at the moment. “I want to hear you beg for it, babygirl.” He demands, sucking a harsh mark into the supple skin of your neck. “P-Please, Sir.. I’m begging you, I’ll do whatever you want, please, just let me cum..” You beg desperately. “Scream my name. Scream my name and you can cum.” He whispers, allowing you to make your decision.

Without hesitation, Obi Wan’s name escapes your lips in the most pornographic scream he had ever heard, your release triggering his. He moans your name and buries is head in your shoulder, his cock as deep as it could possibly go, his seed coating your walls. He could see your fucked out body about to collapse to the floor, but swept you up into his arms before you could. He laid you gently against the mattress, helping you slide between the duvet. He crawled into the bed next to you, breathing heavily as he stared deeply into your eyes. “Don’t get too comfortable, Kitten, I’m hardly done with you for tonight.”

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 22: Pumpkin Patch (originally published on August 9, 2021)

AN: At long last, the homestretch of Part 3, which I have already dubbed the Tearjerking Three last time. And for our first entry into this trilogy, we finally get an update on the relationship between Peridot and Lapis, which I found to be done so dirty in Future as a Lapidot shipper. I mean, they didn't even interact with each other even when they were in the same episode together! Plus, Pumpkin just disappeared into thin air once the movie came along, leaving the only hint of where she is now are those similar gourd puppies from The Future. But enough griping, let's get my personal answer on what really happened, and maybe a big surprise that I no doubt have already spoiled on DeviantArt anyways.

Synopsis: Steven, Peridot and Lapis reminisce on the anniversary of Pumpkin's death.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven, Pumpkin

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Laz, Zuli

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Ocean Jasper

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Jeff Bergman as Farmer

Featuring Billie Eilish as Turquoise

--

"Maybe I'll find myself smiling on that distant shore," Steven sang to himself while gazing at his watch as the oven timer counted down in front of him. "Maybe I'm not alone."

The timer beeped, notifying Steven that whatever he had in the oven was ready. After putting on some oven mitts and opening the oven, Steven pulled a pumpkin pie out and set it on the counter to cool. "This one is for you two, guys." He said before gazing at a nearby calendar that read June 7th. "I remember it like it was yesterday." Steven then began to reminisce on the aftermath of his visit to Homeworld.

--

A few weeks the Crystal Gems have successfully convinced the Diamonds to help them in healing the corrupted Gems on Earth, these Gems now needed somewhere to live. As far as Steven knew, there was no way they could expand the Temple to make room for all of them, and he's sure none of the newly healed Gems wanted to return to Homeworld, so the Crystal Gems decided that their only choice now was to build them their own little town. They had some basic ideas down, but all they needed now was a name.

"How about Peritropolis?!" Peridot suggested as she wrote down her choice of name on the whiteboard, with little sketches of her face surrounding the name for emphasis. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"How about something that won't stroke your ego?" Steven frowned at the idea.

"What about Barnstantinople?" Lapis proposed. "We are building it around where the barn used to be after all."

"Speaking of which, how's clean-up on that going?" Amethyst asked, looking out the window to gaze at the wreckage that was once Lapis and Peridot's barn house home. "I think some bits of it might be useful somehow."

"I say we put that on hold." Lapis stated. "That old barn caused just as much harm to Peridot and me as much as it did good."

"You serious about this?" Peridot asked her blue roommate. "I mean, we had so many good memories in there."

"Yeah, and a lot of those memories were you just bending over backwards trying to keep me happy." Lapis added. "I know you're still sad about me jumping ship and coming back with only a "Hey", but I still got things to work out, y'know."

"OK." Peridot said just as their pet Pumpkin opened the door. "Oh, hey Pumpkin!"

In contrast to Peridot being excited to see Pumpkin, the little canine fruit let out an exhausted bark before sitting down to nap, revealing wrinkles around her eyeholes.

"Hey, is your little buddy there doin' alright?" Bismuth asked. "I barely know a thing about the lifespan of organic creatures, but even I know she ain't doing so hot."

"Oh, I'm sure she's just tired!" Peridot assured Bismuth. "Just needs to rest, that's all!"

"Don't be so sure Peridot." Garnet advised the little Gem. "Pumpkin was brought to life with magic, which means she's probably lived longer than a pumpkin normally does."

"Just let her be happy Garnet." Pearl whispered into Garnet's ear. "She's already been through so much recently, and I don't think she can take anymore."

"You sure she's OK Dottie?" Steven asked Peridot regarding Pumpkin. "Nothing lasts forever, you know."

"Oh, she just needs some extra time in the Sun!" Peridot laughed. But despite her insistence, that wasn't how the story really went.

--

"Okay, a little to the left!" Peridot commanded Squaridot as the eye Gem Peridot levitated a lifeguard chair around while Bismuth, Ocean Jasper & Teal Zircon dug up the ground to build a swimming pool. "No, your other left!" she corrected herself. "Wait wait, your other OTHER left!"

"There's no such thing as an other other left!" Squaridot yelled and grumpily set the chair down next to where she was standing. "How's this?"

"Perfect." Peridot gave her fellow technician a thumbs up before turning around to see the Lapis twins walk towards the construction site. "Oh, I see our lifeguards wanna start early!"

"Why was it necessary for us to dress in these?" Laz wondered while modeling the red one-piece she was wearing. "I don't think red is my color."

"I don't know about you Laz, but I make this look good!" Zuli declared while flaunting her body in a matching outfit. "We look just like the hotties on Coast Patrol or Destiny from CPH season 3! By the way, where's Lapis? She's head lifeguard, so shouldn't she be out here with us?"

"She still has the suit, but she's not coming out because today is a special day." Peridot stated. "It's the anniversary of a certain something."

"Hey, I think I can see Steven's car!" Ocean Jasper cried out as she peeked out of the hole to find Steven disembarking from his Dondai Supremo and walking over with the pumpkin pie in hand. "And he's got a pie, maybe as thanks for our hard work."

"Naw, I don't think it's for us Ocean." Bismuth said just as Steven walked over to Peridot. "I think we should leave them alone for a bit and get back to work."

"Aw, but I wanted a pie!" Teal Zircon complained.

"I see you got the pie." Peridot said to Steven while gazing at the pie in his hands. "In case you're wondering, we worked on a new meep morp last night dedicated to her."

"Okay, why don't you show me?" Steven offered.

"I'd be happy to." Peridot smiled before turning back to everyone at the in-progress pool. "Keep up the good work everyone, I'll just be taking the rest off!"

"Yeah, take some time for yourself, Peri." Bismuth replied while Squaridot used her burgeoning ferrokinesis to lift the blacksmith out of the pool. "Just don't get too teary-eyed and fill up the pool early."

"Yeah, we're planning on filling the pool for our opening ceremony!" Teal called while struggling to get out.

"And I'm just gonna catch some rays." Laz declared as she sat down on a lawn chair, pulled some sunglasses over her eyes, and began sunbathing. However, her moment of peace was cut off by Zuli loudly blowing into her whistle and laughing.

"So, who's the pie really for Bis?" Ocean Jasper asked as she climbed out the pool before helping Teal and the two sat down next to Bismuth.

"You two got a moment?" Bismuth asked, and the Jasper and Zircon nodded in affirmation. "Well, the pie is actually for a friend of theirs."

--

Steven and Peridot kept walking away from the pool and eventually found themselves in front of the Little Homeworld house that Lapis & Peridot shared. It looked like a smaller version of the barn the two Gems once lived in, but instead of being decorated with a mishmash of items around the barnyard, it now looked like Peridot did most of the construction with bits of metal and advanced technology sprinkled onto a simple-looking two-story cabin.

"Hey Lapis, we're here." Steven called out to Lapis as he and Peridot entered the cabin to find Lapis napping on the couch with a manga on her lap and a red one-piece hanging on a clothes hanger nearby. "Lapis, wake up."

"Agh, don't go with her Pierre!" Lapis yelled as she woke up from her nap and rubbed her eyes to find Peridot & Steven before her. "Sorry you guys, I was trying on my lifeguard uniform, but then I got bored and decided to relax a little."

"You still remember what day it is?" Peridot asked while Steven presented his pumpkin pie.

"Yeah, I still do." Lapis declared sadly. "Want to see the meep morp we've been working on, Steven?"

"Sure." Steven replied before the two Gems took him upstairs to their shared bedroom & workshop, where a very large sculpture of Pumpkin stood, a big smile permanently etched onto the front beneath a pair of innocent eyes. "Almost like the real thing. Except bigger."

"Showing this to you makes me miss her even more." Peridot began to hold back tears. "I still remember how I coped with it too."

--

The groundbreaking ceremony of what would soon become Little Homeworld went quite swimmingly for the Crystal Gems, thanks to the support of their Beach City friends and the Diamonds. But amidst the rejoicing of a new beginning for Gems on Earth, there was some bad news that flew right under everyone's noses.

After Peridot marked the giant pit where the barn once was with Little Homeworld's flag, Pumpkin came strolling up to her green owner looking far wearier and more decayed than she did previously, a sight which worried them greatly. As soon as the ceremonies ended, Pumpkin was rushed back to the beach house.

"Please Steven, you gotta do something!" Peridot begged Steven while Pumpkin laid before the trio with a heavy sigh emitting from her mouth. "Pumpkin doesn't have much time left, surely you must have the solution like you always do!"

"I'm really sorry Peridot." Steven said regretfully. "As much as I would love to help you and Lapis out, Pumpkin wasn't long for this Earth anyways. Death is a perfectly natural part of life. It can be real sad and scary to watch someone you treasured so dearly go, but ultimately, their time will come all the same."

"So, she was going to die regardless?" Lapis said apprehensively while stroking the living gourd's rotting body. "I don't really see how this is possible since you did bring her to life with your powers, but I can deal with it."

"Well, I'm not!" Peridot objected tearfully. "It's not fair! I've already been through so much, why does the universe have to keep nailing the hammer into the coffin?!"

"Peridot, I know you're upset, but you gotta listen." Steven tried comforting his little green pal. "Death is completely natural, even if it's scary. I mean, my dad might die someday, and so might Connie. I'm not sure if I can die like a human though."

"Well, your race is different." Peridot declared. "None of you will ever know what it's like to live forever!" With that, she stormed out of the beach house to vent, leaving her two friends to worry for Peridot.

"I don't think I want to know where this is going." Lapis muttered.

"If it's anything like what happened to Peridot after you left Earth, I don't think she'll take it very well." Steven agreed.

--

Using a trashcan lid, Peridot flew far away from the general area of Beach City and into the countryside, where farmlands were very prosperous. Farmlands like the ones she and Lapis tended to together in the past, and the ones where Pumpkin was born. The very sight of all these fresh crops made her more miserable. What gave them the right to grow so healthy while Pumpkin looked so withered?

"Rackum frackum produce, I'll show you what for!" Peridot mumbled as she touched down in front of a pumpkin patch and swiftly got to work on destroying them. "You walked so Pumpkin could die!" she yelled as her green body became covered in orange pumpkin insides. "Why can't anything go my way for once?!"

"Hey, get offa my crops ya gremlin!" a farmer yelled at Peridot while stomping over to her with a pitchfork in hand. "You got any idea what it's like to work so hard on a great harvest, only for it to be ruined by a bunch of punks?!"

"No, but I'm sure you don't know what it's like to love someone only to lose them!" Peridot argued with the farmer, a retort that stunned him a little before he tried to look more sympathetic.

"Coping, eh?" the farmer said. "Look, you have every right to get mad, but that don't mean you can just stomp all over someone else's hard work! You gotta find better ways to vent, ya know!"

"Look, sir, I literally just ran away from home, I don't have time right now." Peridot coldly rejected the farmer's advice.

"Well, looks like you left me no choice." The farmer shook his head before reaching behind his back and pulling out a scary mask to frighten Peridot with. "BOOGEDY BOOGEDY BOOGEDY!"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Peridot screamed loudly before flying away from the farm on her lid.

--

As soon as Peridot returned to Beach City, she soared right towards Steven's house, where she found him making a grilled cheese sandwich, and began pounding on his window.

"Steven! Steven!" Peridot yelled from outside, getting the half-Gem's attention. "Let me in, I wanna talk!"

"You know you can just come in yourself." Steven suggested before opening the door for his green friend. "How have things been going?"

"I got an idea for you." Peridot stated. "How about in exchange for helping me with Pumpkin, I'll do something for you in return. Just name your price, I'll do anything!"

"Peridot, are you trying to bribe me into saving Pumpkin?" Steven asked. "Didn't I tell you earlier that death is a natural part of life?"

"But you managed to save Lars from death with your crying!" Peridot objected. "Why can't you do the same to Pumpkin?! Why does she have to die while so many other pumpkins have to live?!"

"Pumpkins?" Steven asked. "What other pumpkins?"

"I vented my frustrations by whaling on some farmer's pumpkin harvest." Peridot confessed innocently. "He didn't take too kindly to that."

"I think I know where this is going." Steven realized. "Five Stages of Grief, right? First was anger, now you're bargaining. Which means depression might not be too far behind." Just then, as if on cue, Steven's phone started ringing with a message from Lapis that he readily picked up. "Hello?"

"Steven, is Peridot there?" Lapis asked from the other end of the line. "Ever since she fled the house, I took Pumpkin back to our place, and now she wants to see us both before, you know."

"See what I mean?" Steven declared to Peridot, who was now on the verge of breaking down because now, she finally realized it was too late. "Do you want to see her?"

"Yes please." Peridot began to sob and hugged Steven tight. "Promise me that you won't ever leave too, Steven."

"I promise." Steven stated, hugging Peridot back.

--

Meanwhile, at the massive construction site that would soon become Little Homeworld, Lapis gently watched over the slowly dying Pumpkin, whose normally bright orange skin now had splotches of grayish-black, as she let out a weak yip. "Don't die yet, sweetie." Lapis assured Pumpkin. "Peridot will be here soon, I know it."

And right on cue, Peridot and Steven soared right towards Lapis on the trash can lid to see Pumpkin off one last time. Peridot raced as fast as she could towards the groundwork for her and Lapis's new home and tightly nuzzled her pet gourd, unaware that it wasn't in the mood for such a tight hug.

"Peridot, let her go! She's in pain!" Lapis yelled while prying the sentient pumpkin from Peridot's embrace, much to the green Gem's agony.

"No, please!" Peridot cried. "Just let me hold her!"

"I'm sorry Peri, but I don't think she can take much more!" Lapis argued while on the brink of crying just as much. "Pumpkin's already dying. She's so scared right now, so let's just-"

"Don't try to argue Lapis." Steven solemnly interrupted Lapis. "Peridot's already having a breakdown as is."

"I'm sorry about that." Lapis quickly apologized before she turned to Pumpkin. "Pumpkin, if you can still hear me, I want you to know that you and Peridot were the only things keeping me sane here, even when I ran off to the moon." She said to the dying fruit. "I can't thank you enough for brightening my day with your cute little smile, your barking, and all the days we spent playing together. Even if we find a replacement, none can ever replace you, little guy."

"You want a turn, Peri?" Steven said to Peridot.

"Fine, but I won't like it." Peridot sniffed loudly as she walked up to Pumpkin. "You were like an offspring to us, Pumpkin." She said quietly. "When I first saw your little carved face, those adorable stubby legs, it filled my heart with so much joy. Figuratively, of course, since we naturally don't have hearts. But every step we took together, every struggle, kept me grounded here on this crazy planet. Oh stars, now I won't know what to do now."

"Mah, mah," Pumpkin barked weakly with her last breath. "Mommy."

"I promise you," Peridot declared while her gem touched Pumpkin's forehead. "I'll never forget."

And with that, Pumpkin gently shut her eyes, allowing herself to pass on with her mothers and her creator by her side.

--

The funeral that followed was a private affair, with only the other Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg in attendance, and Pumpkin buried outside Peridot & Lapis's house. However, it was after the funeral when trouble began brewing. Just like when she had first begun living with the Gems, Peridot began hiding away in the bathroom for the next week to grieve the demise of Pumpkin and seemed resilient in refusing to come out, no matter how much they tried.

"C'mon P-Dot, open up!" Amethyst called while pounding on the door. "If you're planning on flushing yourself down the toilet again, let me tell you again, I tried that once and it didn't work."

"I think I know what to do." Greg proposed his idea and held up a boombox that began playing a song he knew she would recognize. "I look up to the sky, that's full of stars-"

"I'm trying to mourn here, leave me alone." Peridot despondently declared.

"I say we should respect her wishes." Garnet stated before she turned her gaze to Lapis. "Unless…."

"You think I should go in there?" Lapis asked.

"You are quite possibly Peridot's closest friend." Pearl agreed with Garnet.

"Closest friend?" Bismuth raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, we all know there may be something more than that!"

"Well, okay then." Lapis finally accepted with a shrug and slowly pushed the door open. "Wish me luck." She then said before entering the bathroom and closing it behind her. "You still in here?"

"So, they sent you in now." Peridot observed hoarsely. "I may have lost all hope, but I can still hear you know."

"They do say we're the closest." Lapis said before she sat down on the edge of the tub where Peridot had hidden herself away beneath a cocoon of Steven's bedsheets. "Come on now, get up and sit next to me."

"Okay, if it's you, I'll talk." Peridot succumbed to Lapis's offer and rose from her comfy shell to talk with her barn mate. "I'm sorry for worrying you all this past week, it's just that Pumpkin was basically our baby! Watching her die was like watching a child die!"

"Except the child wasn't human, it was a magical living pumpkin." Lapis remarked, which caused Peridot to glare at her. "No offense."

"But still, outside of our relationship, why did you volunteer?" Peridot wondered.

"Well, because I wanted to return the favor." Lapis answered. "Remember what happened after that boat trip I took with Steven and his dad?"

--

As soon as Lapis dropped Steven and Greg off at the docks following the boat trip gone wrong, she needed someone to lean on in her time of need. It didn't matter who, it could be any of the other Crystal Gems, or one of Steven's human friends. But right now, there was only one person, or rather Gem, that she could turn to.

Lapis could now see the barn in the distance, and as reluctant as she was to admit it, Peridot was the only one who could understand her regarding a certain Quartz. "Peridot, are you there?" she called for her green housemate. "I'm back!"

"Lapis, so glad you could make it!" Peridot exclaimed while racing out of the barn. "I discovered that I can move spoons with my mind, I made some decent progress on my Camp Pining Hearts essay; though I'm still stuck on the poutine theory, and-" However, she realized a bit too late what Lapis was feeling. "Is something the matter?"

"Steven and I found Jasper during the trip." Lapis said morosely. "She wanted to fuse with me again because she says I changed her. And to be honest, I think it was kind of my fault. Unfusing with Jasper drove her mad and I even said I missed taking all my frustrations out on her!"

"Lapis, are you serious?" Peridot gasped in alarm.

"Yes, I'm serious." Lapis declared as her eyes darkened and she turned away from Peridot. "Go ahead, run off and live with the Gems again so you don't have to be another one of my victims. If Jasper says I'm a monster, then I guess I really am one, especially after the way I treated you when we first moved in together."

"Okay Lapis, I don't want your garbage right now!" Peridot yelled, briefly breaking Lapis out of her funk with the almost exact words she described the tape recorder she broke. "I can see you're very stressed out. You want to scream so bad, to hit something, to let your anger out! But whatever you do, don't lose it on other people."

"Wh-what are you saying?" Lapis asked.

"I'm mostly just repeating stuff I read online," Peridot admitted. "I think what you need is a way to vent healthily, maybe on a perfectly defenseless object."

"Like what?" Lapis raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"One second!" Peridot exclaimed while walking into the barn and coming back out with an alien plush wearing a top hat and bowtie that she gazed at with a solemn expression. "I'm so sorry my sweet." She said softly to the stuffed toy before presenting it to Lapis. "Go ahead, hit it as hard as you can. Or maybe something else violent, whatever."

"Okay." Lapis sighed as she began feeling around the toy for something to do before grabbing at the bowtie and ripping it off the alien's neck, causing some stuffing to spill out of the hole she created. "Whoa."

"So, how did that make you feel?" Peridot asked as the alien dropped from her grip.

"Good." Lapis muttered in awe of what she just did. "I feel so much lighter now, like a real adrenaline burst."

"See, as I told you." Peridot smiled happily. "You just needed healthier ways to relieve stress."

"You're right." Lapis agreed when she got an idea. "Now, how about I try something a little heavier?" She then glanced over to a nearby pickup truck and used the water from Peridot's makeshift pool to lift it into the air. "How about this?"

"Yeah, I think that could work." Peridot nervously replied before Lapis suddenly tossed the truck into the air. "NO WAIT, THAT'S A LITTLE TOO-" she screamed and covered herself to avoid getting hit, but the truck instead crashed into the wall over the barn entrance, creating a massive hole that the vehicle filled. "Hm, guess I was wrong."

"Well, if we're gonna be living here together, why don't we make ourselves at home?" Lapis laughed and put a hand on Peridot's shoulder.

"Yeah, I think this is a good start." Peridot agreed while wrapping her arm around the taller Gem's waist and the two began brainstorming ideas for remodeling the barn.

--

"Yeah, I really was there for you back then." Peridot realized with a grin. "And from then on out, we were so close."

"You bet." Lapis replied and cupped Peridot's face in her hands. "Let me be a shoulder for you to cry on this time. I love you Peridot."

"I love you too Lapis." Peridot responded happily before the two began to kiss, and their gems started glowing as they began to fuse into a tall, slender Gem with turquoise hair, dark cyan hair in the shape of a maple leaf, Peridot's glasses, Lapis's top with a bright yellow star on it, a skirt with a bronze ribbon around her waist and dark teal sandals with bronze accents.

The new, accidental fusion of Peridot and Lapis looked around the bathroom and gazed down at her four hands. Feeling around her body, she felts the gems of her components on her forehead and back before coming to a shocking realization and let out a loud, confused scream. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"Is something wrong?!" Steven exclaimed as he barged into the bathroom to discover the fusion before him and started screaming as well, but this time in joy. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the new fusion continued screaming and covered her face in alarm at Steven as the two continued shrieking at each other.

--

"But was that fusion really an accident or maybe something more?" Peridot asked while she, Steven, and Lapis walked outside to her and Lapis's garden in their backyard.

"Maybe a mix of both?" Lapis answered with a shrug. "I mean, we did kiss each other after saying "I love you" to each other, but the fusion part came out of nowhere."

"Still, we were all so happy to see you two fuse at last." Steven said. "Words could not describe how long I've been waiting for that moment."

"I couldn't shapeshift, so I just assumed I couldn't fuse as well." Peridot observed before they happened upon a makeshift tombstone that read 'In memory of Pumpkin. A good girl to the end.' "You know, all this talk reminds me of a song I've been writing for the past few days. It may seem a little short and I pulled from other sources, but it's the best I got."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lapis suggested eagerly. "Sing for us."

"Yeah, we never heard you do a solo before either." Steven agreed with the ocean Gem.

"Okay, if you insist." Peridot declared before she cued a nearby Robonoid tending to the garden to start playing jazzy music, and she started to sing. "My sweet little pumpkin o' mine, a living gourd with a smile so fine. You made us smile with your bark, your stem's like emerald, and filled with seeds of gold. You were our most beloved work of art."

Almost as if Pumpkin was coming back to listen to Peridot's eulogy, many similar living produce like additional pumpkins, some gourds, and squashes, began coming out to watch. "You saw fields of corn, sandy beaches too. In summers so warm, it was just us and you." Peridot continued singing. "And I think to myself, what a wonderful pet."

Soon, Lapis began to join in on the song as well. "Though your time was short, like all things are." She joined Peridot in singing with her own solo. "We'll always think of you, when we look at your star."

"Our sweet little pumpkin of ours," the pair finished the song and embraced each other. "You were a wonderful pet."

With that, the two Gems fused into Turquoise, this time on purpose while surrounded by living Cucurbita, and smiled.

"Thank you for coming today, Steven." Turquoise said to Steven. "It really means a lot to us."

"Nothing to it girls." Steven smiled while rubbing his finger on his upper lip.

In Memory of Thea "Muriel Bagge" White

June 16, 1940 – July 30, 2021

"What courage you have."

--

So ends the first installment of the Tearjerking Three. In comparison to what will come next, I'm pretty sure this will be tears of happiness at these two dorky barnmates basically becoming an item at last and even fusing too (also, I totally took Turquoise's design from @artifiziell, she makes some amazing stuff, go check her out). But next time, we move on from someone being dead for real to someone being dead to Steven. Can you guess which one? Oh who am I kidding, if you watch me on DeviantArt, I basically spoiled everything after this.

[yanderedbh-moved]

Headcanons of the Harvest Moon One World Bachelors as Yanderes (Part 1)

A/N: I know this is usually a DBH themed account, but after more than a little burnt out for some time I’ve decided to start writing about characters from any video game franchise. (Obviously while still keeping to writing Yandere content.)

I’ve got a few more WIPs inspired by other games in the works, but I’ve got requests open for the moment, with all that said, please enjoy.

Content warnings, Slight mentions of NSFW, possessive behavior, yandere tingz

Braden

Braden will admit to anyone close to him, is he has nearly no experience with romance. He was always busy as a farmhand growing up and helping to raise his younger brother. His own love life wasn’t something Braden gave much mind to. Braden likely didn’t think he was the Romantic type and deep down wondered if maybe he was meant to be alone with his animals forever.

Yet all the same, when he met you, and he could feel himself warming up to you, in ways he hadn’t known before. Braden couldn’t help but succumb to his own emotions. Both his genuine and pure love, as well as an unusual obsession for you, his first real object of desire. Not that he would ever admit this to you, there's no way Braden would want to risk creeping you out or fumbling over his own words and embarrassing himself.

Other people, likely even Braden’s own family, told you he was a stoic man, keeping to himself whenever he could. This is why it came as a bit of a surprise to you, and honestly, even Braden when he began going out of his way to ask you for help. Little favors when he knew you were in town or even going out of his way to approach you in return treating you to fresh produce from his farm. Maybe even shyly leaving offerings at your house while you slept. He may have addressed this as a gift from a secret admirer, but you both knew he wasn’t fooling anyone.

For a while, long before you were in any way privy to Braden’s “darker nature,” you couldn’t help but feel yourself being won over by his rustic charm. Sure he wasn’t exactly the romantic type, but you knew he wasn’t as cold and emotionless as he wants others to think. As far as you were concerned, the two of you were close friends, and you knew you could always count on him.

And while he struggles trying to understand his own emotions, let alone others' feelings, he will do his best to maintain this level of simple kindness with you. Though when the two of you were alone together, and you made silly jokes about “rolling in the hay” together, he had a tough time falling asleep that night. Dreaming about bringing you into his home, caring for your needs, and picturing you begging for him on your back beneath him.

The first red flag you noticed something may be up with Braden was the way his face darkened when you tried to leave a little early after staying over at his house one night. It truly surprising to you when he insisted on you staying, and something about the way he was staring you down made you all the more certain you needed to get out now.

Another nasty little side effect of Braden’s inexperience with love, he tends to catastrophize things and assume the worst. Likely a bad habit he picked up from having to care for his little brother and little animals. He’s a bit of a mother hen in that sense, and he feels the need to make sure you’re doing ok if he hasn’t seen you in a while. (Whether you know he’s there watching you or not.)

Thinking if you didn’t want to be around him now, it was only a matter of time before you never wanted to be around him again. The mere thought of this brings Braden unbearable pain. He needed you and was sure you needed him in kind, and Braden would rather die than abandon you.

Braden fears that there are so many other bachelors in the area, people who can offer you more than he can. This would really bring out his more possessive side and would be his final straw before either strong-arming you into moving in with him.

If things were really getting rough for him, however. There’s a strong chance he would hold you, prisoner, in his barn with the animals until you convinced him you really did love him enough to bring you to his home as his lover.

Despite at least in some way, knowing he is in the wrong here. Braden knows what he’s doing is hurting you. Braden will not give up. In his mind, his goal justifies the means. And at the end of the day, all he wants is to hold you in his arms and start a family with you.

While Braden would never want to hurt you physically, he knows how strong and physically imposing he is. He wouldn’t be afraid to use physical intimidation to keep you scared and under his control.

Braden also loves to draw you while you’re sleeping, looking so calm, natural, and peaceful is beyond entrancing for him. Likely has a secret hoard of drawings he’s made of you. Braden’s waiting for the right moment to gift them to you.

Kanoa

If you weren’t expecting someone as pure as Braden would have any dark/ulterior motives for you, then you really didn’t see this coming from Kanoa. The moment you met him, you were captivated by his outgoing personality, strong body, and good looks. You were far from surprised to learn he was so popular in Halo Halo.

While he may come across as a car-free surfer bro, he’s actually far more attentive and observant than what others might think. Keeping extra close attention to what you like and what you say. He’s very people smart and is an experienced lover when it comes to romance, and he can’t start soon enough.

Even though he is super into you, Kanoa wants more than anything for you to be the one to fall for him. Maybe it’s his ego. Perhaps it's the way you make him feel so comfortable and alive. Before he even knew you intimately, Kanoa would have many fantasies of you infatuated with him. Dreaming of all the pleasure the two of you could share.

Kanoa isn’t afraid to use his good looks or his natural charisma to flirt and fluster you at any given moment. Whether it’s cute moments like feeding you soft ice cream on the beach. Plucking hibiscus flowers to put in your hair while walking with you. Splashing your clothes while the two of you are wading through the tides. Or more intimate events, like pulling you onto his lap while sharing drinks with a big group of people.

Needless to say, Kanoa would become your best friend in Halo Halo, and your unofficial guide around the town, and would be STOKED to see you participate in Halo Halo culture, and would be the best hype man. Always there to check up on you, and make sure you’re doing alright, and welcoming you to walk around the beach.

Anytime you’re in town, he somehow always seems to know and is always by your side, begging you to come back again soon, and even not-so-subtly suggesting you should move into town. You laughed it off quickly enough, but you couldn’t help but wonder if he was serious here.

Kanoa fell fast.

His hidden double intention here is to not only get a secure lock on your location at all times but also to keep any other bachelors in the area away from you. While he might be good friends with just about everyone in Halo Halo, there’s no way he would let anyone try and take you away from him.

Loves it when you cook for him but loves it, even more, when your cooking food is gathered for you. Whether it’s the fruit of the area, the fish from the bordering ocean, or even just brewing up some coffee for him, he can’t get enough. This isn’t even mentioning how he loves your passion for gardening. It’s like you two were meant for each other!

Absolutely would be the type into using pet names, in private and public, and loves public displays of affection.

Loves to take you out to the docs or the beach late at night to watch the moon and the stars together away from the crowds. While he intended this to be a cute moment between the two of you, he’s likely accidentally fallen asleep on your lap more than a few times. Cuddling your thighs and listening to the roll of the tides.

Likes to take you out on little unofficial dates in town during the daytime as well, so long as you stay by his side, that is. Whether that means sharing a seat at the local café or even just gathering fruit from the trees together, quality time and physical touch mean so much to him. (Gets quite hot and bothered thinking about going skinny dipping with you in the ocean once you were feeling more comfortable around him, of course.)

He truly is a rather touchy-feely kind of person in general, in public or in private. Which may cause you to get more than a little flustered at his amorous behavior. (Something which Kanoa finds endlessly adorable yet will pretend not to notice.)

While he isn’t the jealous type if he were to see you getting a little too close with any of his friends on the island, he might accidentally do something impulsive in the heat of the moment. Whether that means snapping at you, accusing you of cheating on him, leading him on, etc. Or starting a physical fight with another guy, accusing him of trying to steal his girl.

He certainly didn’t mean to hurt you, and he really is the last person in the world to take pleasure in bringing you pain. The thing is, since Kanoa is so confident the two of you were meant for each other, he can rationalize a bit of tough love every now and then, as it’s his job to protect you.

Furthermore, if you were to talk with others on the island about this strange behavior, they likely wouldn’t believe you. After all, it was the word of a newcomer against Kanoa, one of the most beloved members of Halo Halo, and there’s no way someone as bright and charming would hurt you. It’s not likely something anyone would say to your face, yet it would guilt you all the same.

Eventually, you can’t help but wonder to yourself if maybe you were too quick to judge Kanoa. He was a young man, and he was likely just overwhelmed by his emotions, and you misunderstood him. Perhaps if you were to just sit and talk with him, it would straighten everything out.

Your intention here was to sit with him and tell Kanoa he needed to respect your space and your emotions here. While you thought he was a great and admittedly quite attractive young man, the two of you weren’t meant for each other, and it was time to part ways.

For Kanoa, though, this was anything but a calm and rational discussion. Thinking that he was about to lose you forever, he would instantly assume he was but moments from losing you altogether. This would take his impulsivity right into the fight or flight territory, and he would kidnap you, bringing you to his home. Refusing to let you leave until he was positive you would never try to leave him again.

[aellynera]

Somewhat Worse for the Wear (Santiago “Pope” Garcia x Reader)

SOMEWHAT WORSE FOR THE WEAR (Santiago “Pope” Garcia x Reader)

(when i started writing this, i did not know it was National Tequila Day, but i guess it worked out? just another of my moments of my brain shouting that i needed to write this. bottoms up!)

Word Count: 2876(ish)

Summary: There are reasons why you should not drunk text. But there are also reasons why you should.

Warnings: Some language/suggestions. Alcohol consumption.

(((note: Pope’s texts are in bold. Your texts are bold and italic.)))

Hey.

...Hey.

What are you doing?

You were out with some of your coworkers, after an incredibly long and stressful day (and a horrible week, to be honest) and you were finally able to sit, have dinner and margarita, and vent about the trials of the day. You were chatting and laughing and talking about nothing in particular and having a much-needed night out. You were actually feeling happy, which you hadn’t felt in a hot minute and it was wonderful.

And then you found yourself answering Pope’s text. Dammit.

Why had he even texted you? Wasn’t he in Brazil, or Colombia, or...well...some other country far to the south of where you were now? The last time you’d seen him had been right before he left. He’d come to your apartment to say he was leaving, that he’d taken another mission, that he had to go and it was important, that he just wanted you to know. Which was fine, really. Except for the part where you’d stupidly thought that maybe your friendship with an extra side of carnal knowledge might actually evolve into something more. But this was Pope, who were you kidding?

Since he’d disappeared, he had only texted you three times. On your birthday, then that Christmas, and then the following birthday. No calls, nothing else. Just those texts and you had never replied. You had thought about it. You had thought about it, about him, so many times since he’d left, but you could never bring yourself to actually respond or reach out to him. Until now.

Out to dinner.

Oh. Hot date? :)

No, just coworkers. Long week.

He had told you he was leaving. You’d told him that sounded nice and to be safe. He’d asked if he could see you when he got back. You’d asked if you could talk about what had been going on between you for the past year. The answer to both questions was deafening silence that swirled between you, heavy and uneasy. He had looked away, somewhere over your shoulder, off to the distance with his jaw set. No words. So you asked him to kindly fuck off, and to his credit, he did exactly what you asked.

That was two years ago.

And now he was texting you and with a single word ruining your relaxing unwinding dinner.

Can I see you? I miss you. :( :( :(

And you were answering him. What were you thinking.  You told yourself it was just the surprise of seeing his name pop up on your phone, and it would be rude to just ignore him. Right? Your eyes scanned the room and narrowed at the bartender; totally his fault. He was making these margaritas way too strong and you were almost sure he was using the top-shelf to make a house drink, that bastard. Yep, totally the margaritas

And what was with the emoticons? Pope was most definitely not an emoticon kind of guy. You weren’t generally an emoticon kind of gal, either, but he started it.

Aren’t you like, in Colombia or somewhere? ;)

A winky face? You sent him a winky face. You considered crawling under the table to die of embarrassment at yourself, but you were already getting weird looks from your friends. Were you that distracted? Obviously. Because you sent him a winky face.

A few minutes passed in blessed silence, then your phone went off again.

Nope. Come on, let me come see you. I’ll buy you all the pussy you want.

Your friends gave you oddly concerned looks when margarita shot out your nose onto the table in front of you. Damn that burns…

EXCUSE ME?!

Drinks! Pussy ass drinks! That freaking girly fruit shit you always liked. Not talking about actual...unless you…

Santiago Garcia, are you drunk?

...no?

No, as in actually no, or no as in, I’m holding a bottle and most of it is gone.

The second one. More or less.

You sighed. You should never have picked up the phone.

Have to go, Pope. Please, just don’t do something dumb like drive.

Or send me more texts, you thought as one of your friends asked if everything was okay.

You nodded rapidly and mouthed that everything was fine, and quickly went to send a final text reply to Pope. A split second before you could get your words on the screen, another message popped up.

I love you.

That was not what you were expecting. Or needing to hear right now. Or had any idea how to deal with, so you just pinched the bridge of your nose, shot Pope a final message, and then shut off your phone.

Goodnight, Pope.

*****

It had been a few weeks since that night Pope texted you those three little words that you were not expecting to hear, and since you were fairly certain he was drunk, you let the whole thing slide. To his credit, there had been no more messages waiting when you turned your phone back on. Life continued, basic and normal.

Until tonight.

You were sitting in a bar on a Friday night after another very, very long day at work. You were kicking back and letting loose with your friends, finally getting a chance to let all the stress of the day (and the whole week, again, to be honest) flow out of you as freely as the liquor was flowing in. You were singing along, not necessarily badly but definitely loudly in the way that only alcohol can enhance, to the cover band currently up on the stage.

And then, after more than your fair share of tequila shots and a rousingly intoxicated sing-a-long of Pour Some Sugar on Me, you decided that texting Pope would be the most fabulous idea in the whole entire universe. Your phone was in your hand before you knew it.

Hey handsome.

I miss you and I wish you were here so I could bounce quarters off your ass.

Hey cariña. I’m sorry, what are we doing now?

You looked down at your phone and cackled hysterically even as your face flushed with heat. That...wasn’t exactly what you meant, but now you were having a very difficult time getting the image of Pope’s ass out of your head. Dammit. And, well, at least half of you hoped he wouldn’t reply, the other half hoped he would, and most of you wasn’t expecting him to.

But of course he replied. It was Pope, after all.

Lololol oops I mean wish you were here we could play quarters. Kick your ass.

Uh huh. What number shot are you on?

How did he know you were doing shots? Oh, right. You were now remembering that time when he said some dumb shit and you decided accepting his shot challenge was an incredibly brilliant way to shut his ass up, and the next thing you knew, it was a scene out of Raiders of the Lost Ark with a mountain of empty shot glasses and a mostly empty bottle of John Crow Batty between you and then you’d stumbled out into the parking lot and gone into the alleyway and...well. He knew you liked shots.

Irrele...Iverant… dunno haha.

Are you okay?

M fine. Out with friends. Shots.

Yeah honey, I got that part. Do you need me to come get you?

Nope. M good. Gonna uber home. No worry.

Okay, if you’re sure. But if you need me, you call me and I’ll come to wherever you are, no questions.

In a plane?

Sorry honey, what?

You’re in Braz..Colomb...wherever. You just gonna walk? Need a plane!

You were sure you could hear him laughing. Could people really laugh through texts? You could see him shaking his head with that bemused half-grin on his face. He had that look a lot around you, but especially when you had too much tequila. You were funny when you had too much tequila. He was funny when you had too much tequila.

You had definitely had too much tequila.

No, I’m not in Colombia anymore. Told you that last time.

Ohhhh. Did he? You couldn’t really remember that part. You were starting to remember other parts of your last conversation, though.

Sorry about last time btw. 

Huh. Was he? Were you? Your head was swimming and your brain was woozy and it felt like you were inside a washing machine with an unbalanced spin cycle. You no longer felt any real control over your fingers and what they were typing. You were definitely feeling like you needed to...to… - stop texting, stop texting, stop texting - you brain chanted. You were very willing to ignore it.

Ok so no planes. Fuck you Santiago I wanted you to make me fly.

...are you sure you don’t need me to come get you?

I’m sure. Gonna call that uber. Think too much tequila.

Ok. Hey, do me a favor, text when you get home? So I know you’re ok. Please?

You could do that. You could definitely do that. Maybe. Would your phone still work when you got home? Maybe it only worked here in the bar, or whenever you had some booze. You definitely weren’t going to have any booze when you got home so maybe your phone would just...stop working? You weren’t sure how much of anything worked right now.

Too much tequila.

Cariña?

For a fraction of a split second, your agave-addled brain caught up to what your fingers were doing. Suddenly you felt queasy and groaned, flagging down one of your friends and only having the fortitude to possibly mumble something about getting a ride. They nodded, calling for your ride as you typed one more message, then shut off your phone and threw it into your bag.

I love you, Santiago.

*****

You ended up not texting Pope when you got home. Hell, you don’t even remember getting home. You remember your friend calling the uber, you sort of remember leaving the bar, you kind of remember actually getting in your ride, and you ever so slightly remember actually getting into your apartment. Fortunately for you, you also remember that the uber driver was also someone you worked with in the office and a trustworthy person, so getting home in one piece wasn’t ever a problem.

Staying in one piece once you got there wasn’t either, as you promptly passed out face down on your bed. You woke up in the same place, in the same clothes, vaguely smelling like a distillery. Sitting up proved to be your worst idea in at least the past several hours and you crashed back down onto your mattress, groaning.

As you fell forward (the motion doing having no actual benefit for the throbbing in your head) the mattress gave a little bounce and your phone fell out of your bag, which had ended up lying on its side up by your pillows. Grabbing it, you opened one eye to turn it on and check the time. Why was it off? Oh, right, the fuzzy edges of your memory from the night before said, you’d turned it off at some point...maybe at the bar? In the uber? You could recall very little. Until about two minutes later when that evil little piece of technology beeped an extremely uncalled for series of pitched tones and all your new messages loaded.

And then you saw it all and remembered everything.

Your head was throbbing mercilessly as you forced yourself to read through all the messages. Quarters. Shots. Airplanes. Offers of assistance. Pope’s ass. Telling Pope that...dammit.

How much tequila did you drink?

Pope had sent you six messages since you’d told him...that. Wincing, you read them quickly.

Hey, you get home ok?

I hope you’re ok. Please just let me know?

Cariña? Honey?

Please don’t make me send in the cavalry to check on you.

One tequila two tequila three tequila fucking call me.

That’s it, I’m coming over to check on you. No arguments. I need to know you’re not like drowning in a puddle of half-digested Patron or some shit.

The time stamp on the last message said he’d sent that particular one twenty minutes ago. No, no, no, you did not want him coming over. How did he even know where you lived? He spent the last two years in the jungle somewhere, it’s not like you sent each other postcards. There was still time to call him off. You summoned any bearings you could pin down and sent him a text.

Hi. I’m fine. Hangover. Don’t need to come over. Sorry about last night.

That should be direct and to the point. Pope always did appreciate a direct approach.

Too late, I’m in the parking lot.

Fuuuuuuuck.

You dragged yourself over to the window, peeking out through the slats in the blinds. Sure enough, you could see him - the back side of him anyway, but you’d recognize that backside anywhere - leaning into the back of his SUV. You let the slats snap back into place and faceplanted back on the mattress. Was your headache getting worse?

Really I’m fine. Feeling sick. Gonna be in the bathroom all day.

Coming into your building now.

Pope, seriously.

At your door.

Sure enough, you heard a light knock. Dammit. Santiago Garcia was officially the most annoying, most persistent, most frustrating, most caring and loyal person you’d even had the (mis)fortune of knowing.

You still weren’t going to open the door.

Come on, cariña, open up. I come bearing gifts.

He was just on the other side of your front door and he was still sending you texts. Of course he was. He probably thought it was hilarious. Part of you had to admit, if the roles were reversed, you would think so too.

I don’t want anything from you, Pope. I want to go back to bed.

Not leaving until I see for myself that you’re ok.

Santi, please. Can’t do this right now.

You thought you knew him well enough that, if you really insisted, he would leave you alone. And you knew he normally would have done what you asked; he’d done so before, left when you asked. And it had been two years since he’d listened to your directive and today, frankly, he wasn’t having it.

Baby, let me in or get ready to call the cops on me, because I can and will pick this lock.

He would, too, that asshole. Growling in frustration, you somehow made it to the door without too much swaying and tripping, turned the lock and the deadbolt. You pulled the door open and the vaguely surprised look on his face dissolved into a grin. He was biting his lip trying to hide it. It wasn’t working.

Your hair looked like a very cranky bird had taken up roost on top of your head. Your eyes were ringed in black from where your mascara had rubbed away and a smeared streak of eyeliner ran down your left cheek. The right side of your face had wrinkled indents from where you landed on the mattress and spent the night on top of your rumpled comforter. Your eyes were bloodshot and puffy and the expression on your face could only be described as pissed off and exhausted.

You were beautiful.

He handed you the bag in his hands, then took his phone back out of his pocket. You just blinked at him in confusion until your text alert went off again. Rolling your eyes, you reached for your phone and sighed.

I brought you ginger ale. And also a burrito from that place you always liked, the one around the corner.

You opened your mouth to make a snarky retort, but Pope shook his head and nodded towards the phone in your hand. You tilted your head in an approximation of really? and he just raised an eyebrow in response. You rolled your eyes - ow, that hurt - but did as he was indicating.

How did you even know where I live?

Figured you probably didn’t move. But asked Frankie just to make sure.

Gonna have a talk with that boy about giving out my personal information. Pendejo.

Pope laughed softly at that and picked up his phone again. The corners of your mouth turned up slightly despite your best efforts.

I also brought you a giant bottle of Excedrin and a sleep mask. And I’m really good at giving hangover-curing massages. What do you say?

You wanted to say no. You wanted to close the door in his face and pretend that every text you’d exchanged over the past few weeks was a bold-faced lie. You wanted to believe that the man standing at your door was just an illusion and the real one was still somewhere deep in the jungle, far away from your house and your heart.

But none of that was true.

Dammit.

You stepped aside to let him walk in the door, and as he did, he opened his mouth to say something to you. But you closed your eyes and shook your head for just a moment, then his phone dinged and he looked down at the display.

;)

~end~

[thatringboy]

All of my other TWST HCs

Because my Twisted Wonderland Headcanons have been my most popular posts, here I am giving the mob what they want! An almost complete list of Headcanons I have about every character and house!

This is by far my longest post and it took me three days to type, so I hope you guys get a laugh out of it!

WARNING: THESE ARE MY PERSONAL OPINIONS ABOUT EACH CHARACTER. IF YOU DON’T AGREE WITH ONE, PLEASE DON’T ATTACK ME OR OTHERS WHO SUPPORT MY HCS. JUST DON’T BE A DICK.

Heartslabyul

The word “Queen” is gender neutral

Frequently allows students from other houses to study with them

Recently expanded into two buildings dedicated just for dorms to house all of the students

Actually lots of words are gender neutral

Riddle

Does rebellious things with Trey sometimes

Actually struggled with gender for a while because of his mother and responds to all pronouns (he/she/they), but identifies as male

Sometimes uses the label “Androgynous Male”

Is attracted to Trey, but he can’t tell if it’s because of his childhood or because he genuinely likes his Vice DH

Has Tea Time TM with Vil

Abolished gender roles in NRC despite it being an all guys school

During Summer Vacation he wears jean shorts and mint green tank tops with red flip flops

Has a pet crab that is red and named “Queen” despite Riddle not knowing Queen’s gender

Queen is the mascot for Heartslabyul despite being a sea creature

We stan Queen the Crab in this house.

Trey

Enjoys breaking the rules with Riddle, even if it’s not very often

He dyed his hair green as a joke with Cater during his first year, but decided to keep it 

Has fallen for Riddle. Hard.

But between his dignity, his position and him not knowing if Riddle likes men, he won’t say anything that could ruin the friendship

Rook found out by accident and actually helps Trey try to work up the courage to ask Riddle out, but Trey always backs down

Invented a type of Tea that soaks clover leaves and it tastes like vanilla mixed with mint

Cater

#SELFIE

Not really a drama queen, but will egg on fights for views

Sometimes his clones will develop different accents and that’s how you tell them apart

Has a pansexual flag in his room

Spends more time partying in Scarabia than in Heartslabyul

Is close friends with Kalim and actually crushed on him for a bit, but got over it once he noticed the way he looks at Jamil

Actually gives good relationship advice

Deuce

Was Bi-Curious during his Pre-NRC days and actually tried to put it behind him like everything else

However, like, everyone at NRC is some flavor of gay

So he gave up on his internalized homophobia and now lives his full authentic life!

Still uses the labels Bi-Curious and Questioning and often goes to Cater for advice

But his buddies love and support him no matter what

Is a huge feminist

Cater fully believes that Deuce likes Ace, but he actually doesn’t

Deuce admits when men are attractive, no matter if it makes them uncomfortable or not

Didn’t go over well with Jack

But the two are cool now

Ace

Probably one of the straightest guys you’ll ever meet besides Rook

Actually learned what the different teas smell like so that he never messed up again

Enjoys his fights with Grim, even if Grim is a little shit

Like seriously Grim is a little flying rat shit turd fuck but that’s just my opinion

Almost never learns from his mistakes and always pays the price

Chaotic Good.

Loves going on adventures with the Prefect and Grim!

Has never gone back to the Mostro Lounge without Jack or the Prefect

Also got really into Mermaid culture and regularly goes back to the Atlantica Memorial Museum to talk with that one guard

Has memorized the script from the Little Mermaid

Can sing You Pour, Unfortunate Soul in a perfect baritone vibrato despite his high voice

Also takes singing lessons from Azul, but only if someone else is in the room with them

Savanaclaw

Throws pool parties regularly

Octavinelle is almost always invited

Magift between the two houses is insane

Leona

Raging Bisexual, need I say more?

Goes to great lengths to find loopholes and just be lazy

Also goes to great lengths to help Ruggie

Hates his brother, but loves Cheka and his sister-in-law

Can’t properly digest seafood, but eats in in front of Azul and the Leech twins just to be a bitch

Is kinda clingy

Even if he doesn’t want to, he goes to all of the Savanaclaw vs Octavinelle vs Pomfiore karaoke battles

Can’t sing for shit, but likes to watch Ruggie and Jack duet and destroy everyone

Constantly reminds Malleus about the time they swapped robes

Actually swaps clothing with Malleus quite often on purpose to see how they feel

Ruggie

A good singer

But kinda self conscious about it??

Also a Raging Bisexual

Play flirts a lot with Leona, even though they don’t like one another like that

Is FtM Transgender, fully transitioned, and wears his scarf to cover the fact that he doesn’t have much chest hair and his scars

Only Leona and Crowley know

Gets a little dysphoria because his voice is still so high and because he’s shorter than everyone in Savanaclaw, but takes one look at Riddle, Lila and Ace and forgets about it

Jack suspects, but the two make a killer duo during karaoke!

Jack

Is straight, but won’t get in your face about it

Actually learned how to become a fast swimmer just to flex on Jade and Floyd

Has memorized almost all of Heartslabyul’s rules just because he didn’t want to be disrespectful

Arm wrestles with Floyd often

Helps out in the Mostro Lounge pretty often when he’s bored

His karaoke skills are out of this world!

Also has memorized the layout for Ramshackle Dorm just so he wouldn’t get lost in there

Tsundere? Maybe.....

Knows something’s different about Ruggie, but can’t figure it out

Respects privacy like crazy

Just a cool guy to be around

Octavinelle

Hosts the karaoke battles

Now pays their employees in the Mostro Lounge

Gives free singing lessons

Azul

Choir Gay TM

Aromantic Homosexual

Constantly has Boss Bitch by Doja Cat in his head

Actually has shit handwriting and it made his Golden Contracts all the much more powerful

His handwriting is beautiful underwater, though

When he’s feeling lazy, Azul transforms into his Merman form and uses his 8 extra arms to do things for him

Has a single picture from his childhood that he has not edited (or tried to edit)

It’s of him, Jade and Floyd graduating Junior High

All three of them are linking arms and smiling brightly

It sits on his nightstand in a golden frame

Gives most of the singing lessons

But doesn’t participate in the karaoke battles

“I’ll join if Leona joins.”

Petty about the karaoke

Jade

Once swapped clothing styles with Floyd for an entire day and was just chaotic towards everyone

Does this more often now just to relieve stress

Only the Prefect could ever tell them apart

Not even Azul knew they had swapped

Is Pansexual and liked Azul during Junior High, but got over it once they started at NRC

Can scare someone so badly that they tell the truth regardless of Jade using his magic

50 students were asked who they’d rather have to fight, 42 of them said “Floyd all the way! No way am I fighting Jade!”

Was actually popular in Junior High, but turned down opportunities to be more popular to spend time with Floyd and Azul

Can cuss in 8 languages

Floyd

When he swapped clothing with Jade, he actually enjoyed being calm and responsible

Loves to do things like that for Jade

Raging Homosexual, need I say more?

His Bakugou impression is on point

There are several videos of him just standing at the end of a dark hallway laughing and whispering “Die, Deku!”

Also really likes Volleyball despite being on the Basketball team

Takes Bean Day a lot farther than it needs to be

Flirts with Riddle a lot, knowing it upsets Trey

But doesn’t know that Trey actually likes Riddle

Has sea related nicknames for everyone

Scarabia

Everyone has to help take care of Snake

Monthly competitions where Kalim hands out free vacations

The competitions involve taking care of Snake

Who is Snake? You’ll see.

Kalim

When he learned what Pansexual was, he went around Scarabia clapping pans together to come out

Cater was the one who explained it to him

Loves to party and flirt with Jamil, but can be serious if needed

Sometimes holds group therapy for his dorm residents

But also PARTY 24/7 IF IT HAS ALCOHOL WE CHUGGIN’ TONIGHT!

PARTY ROCKERS IN THE HOUSE TONIGHT

Named his magic carpet “Jamil Jr.”

Flexes on Azul with Jamil Jr.

Is open about his attraction to Jamil, but also respects Jamil’s personal space

He and Lila sneak out at night to mess with people

Jamil

Has a pet snake that he never named

Just calls the snake “Snake”.

When Jamil’s busy, other residents take turns taking care of Snake

There is an entire chore chart and half of the chores involve Snake

Snake isn’t even the dorm mascot, he’s just Jamil’s pet

Tsundere TM

The only reason he doesn’t accept Kalim’s professions of love is because of his family obligations to serve the Al-Asim family

Takes family and traditions very seriously

Internalized homophobia? Maybe....

Petty as well

Has poured sand into people’s shoes and hidden scorpions in beds

Pomfiore

Usually wins the karaoke battles

Unless Ruggie + Jack join

Make up tips

Vil

I’ve said most of my HCs about him

But I’ll retype them

Wine Mom TM

Musical Theatre Gay TM

Tea Time TM

Fashion Police TM

NRC James Charles

But also respective of people’s sexualities

Has poured water into people’s makeup

Has attempted to give Rook a make over, but Rook is more acrobatic then he looks

Has never actually sung in public

Likes to keep people guessing over his singing voice

Has a cherry apple tree in the school garden that he spends time every day taking care of

Runs NRC’s GSA

Rook

Heterosexual TM

Wears Doc Martens sandals with beige cargo shorts and white polo shirts when not in uniform

Can be seen back-flipping away in this outfit while Vil chases him around the dorm

Is allergic to strawberries

Epel’s bodyguard

Throws rotten fruit at people and calls it a prank

His bangs were by accident

But decided to keep them

Pretends to hunt, but can’t shoot for shit

However does go on fishing trips

Has to have some Heterosexual Hobbies TM

Epel

Is an actual Prince

Like owns land

Everyone in the dorm protects him

Is actually like Honey Senpai

Will put you in your place.

Like fr is a top.

Despite being so small

I don’t know what his sexuality would be

Probably Bisexual

Can lower is voice a lot if needed

Ignihyde

There’s magic inside of the dorm that turns all fire blue, but the fire turns back to normal once outside the dorm

Doesn’t apply to Ortho’s hair, though

Has the most LGBT residents - even more than Pomfiore surprisingly

Actually, not surprising - have you seen Disney’s Hades????

Iida

Cat-sits for Professer Trein

Everyone believes he can set his hair on fire, but he actually can’t

His hair is naturally that fire-y color

Loves to prank people, but never in person

Social Anxiety? Personified.

Before he rebuilt Ortho, Iida had a robot he controlled from his room that went to class for him

The robot was named “Meg”

Now he just uses his screens

Owns a crop top that has a cat face on it that Ortho made for him

Actually wears it a lot, but nobody ever sees below his shoulders on his screens

Oh yeah, also constantly questioning his sexuality

Currently likes guys, but that might just be because he goes to an all-guys school

Ortho

Has tons of cat plushies in his room despite not needing to sleep

Also has a mini library in his room, but he memorized all of the books

Burns things with his hair

Also sews a lot

Spills tea about the dorm residents with Trey, Jamil and Lilia

Has a couple pictures from before he became a robot, but doesn’t remember taking them

Has a bulletin board where he hangs pictures of his friends and family

Actually takes photography classes from Cater

Doesn’t focus on sexuality, so he just goes with “Queer”

People assume he’s scared of water because of his fire hair, but he loves playing in pools

Once cosplayed as Alphonse Elric and Iida was Edward from FML

Has pictures of that as well

Diasomnia

Basically one big family

Even more-so than other dorms like Ignihyde

Has a vault of hard liquor that has been sitting there for centuries

Malleus

Responds to Tsunotaro

Smuggles hard liquor into Scarabia despite not being a drinker

Has a YouTube account where he visits old buildings

Floyd ruined his Ramshackle Dorm video by standing at the end of a hallway and laughing

Can turn into a Dragon

His horns aren’t sensitive

Lilia once hung Christmas lights from them and Malleus didn’t notice for the entire day

Sometimes Lilia jumps and pulls on Malleus’ horns when he’s being dumb

Polysexual, but leans towards men

When he looks surprised by something - he genuinely is surprised, not faking it for someone else

Doesn’t believe in hiding emotions

Is actually like 300 years old, but was frozen for a good amount of it

Also immortal and is stuck at being physically 18

Damn Fairy magic

Oh and he didn’t mind wearing Leona’s ceremonial robes that one time

They were comfy

Enjoys swapping clothes with Leona a lot

Also had a crown made of thorns that is uncomfortable to wear

He burned it, but hasn’t told anyone yet

Takes the term “mom friend” to another level

Just ask Silver

Lilia

Only calls Malleus “old man” to be a prick

Is like 500 years old

Has gone through high school many times

Can undo stitches in people’s clothing without them knowing until their clothing falls apart

Asexual Homoromantic

“Who needs sex when you can be a bitch?” - Lilia Vanrouge, 2020

Is Malleus’ royal advisor

Spills tea like crazy

Has catfished people

Is the cool dad

Sebek

Is a Malleus fanboy???

He named his horse Draco

I don’t have many Headcanons about Sebek actually

Probably drinks tea with Riddle sometimes

Oh and definitely a bottom

Is he Bi? Poly? Pan? No one knows

But he’s a power bottom

Silver

Doesn’t have a last name because he was raised by Lilia and Malleus

Is indebted to Malleus because of this

and Lilia too, but like I said, Lilia is the cool dad

(he is actually indebted to Malleus in canon, but idk if it’s for this reason or not)

just let him have two platonically gay dads that go to school with him

Once in a Diasomnia/Savanaclaw sleepover, he and Leona passed out on each other’s shoulders while Ruggie and Lilia took photos

The photos haven’t been seen in a while, but are still around somewhere

Actually has several photos of him falling asleep with his head in Lilia’s lap

His bed stretches across his entire wall, forming a bench almost

Owns a suit of armor

It has a sword

He can use the sword if needed

Can he just get a nap????

Because of his relationship with Malleus, seeing fireflies calms him down

Is this guy wholesome? Yes.

Is he a Bisexual top? Also yes.

Can’t make everything wholesome

Holy fuck my fingers hate me. If you managed to read this far, I hope you enjoyed my headcanons for Twisted Wonderland students and houses! I don’t know enough about the teachers to make headcanons for each them, but I do have one for the staff:

Sam and Dire Crowley

Married

This is the only reason Sam runs the school store

Sam is not qualified for anything else

But Dire loves him too much to fire him

Forget the wholesomeness between the Dorm heads and their Vices

This is the most wholesome pair

Okay seriously - I need to stop making these headcanons it’s midnight at my house. I’ve spent probably close to 13 hours (give or take with a lot of breaks) writing these down and doing research on characters just so that my headcanons don’t seem completely out of the blue. Also, don’t be afraid to post your own headcanons, even if canon doesn’t always support them. That’s the thing about fictional characters - they’re open to interpretation!

And now to the long list of tags....

[tamakiamajikistentacles]

Apples & Cherries {Katsuki Bakugo}

A/N: Please be sure to reblog, comment, review, and like if you enjoy! Feedback is what keeps me motivated! This is pretty self-indulgent and the fact that my island is named Isla Nova makes even more obvious lol but I hope you’ll enjoy regardless. Also I chose to ignore that the Japanese version of the game apparently adds Island to whatever name you put because I really didn’t want to change what I had in mind!

Never a stranger to late nights in the dorms, she wasn’t surprised to see the lights on in the common room or hear the faint digital noise floating into the kitchen where she stood searching the freezer for a popsicle at almost 1am. Once she had the treat in hand she turned to see who was playing what, but even slouched low on the couch, the shouting gave them away.

“How the FUCK am I supposed to catch this shitty fish if it doesn’t fucking SPAWN?” he complained, grey smoke rising in a thin line from beyond her view.

On the screen she could see a bouncing blonde villager with a fishing rod standing halfway down the pier jutting out into the dark water. In the distant corner of the screen she could see an object floating lazily to the left, and her original idea of walking away was overcome with the need to see the prize within.

“There’s a balloon coming in from the right,” she said, apparently startling him as he sat up quickly and whipped around with a crackling palm. Upon seeing her he lowered his hand with a click of his tongue and turned back to the television, his villager running up the large expanse of beach to shoot down the balloon. In his pocket, a single gold nugget was unwrapped.

“Don’t sneak up on people,” he grumbled, slouching down again.

She nibbled on her popsicle, the cherry flavor pleasant on her tongue. “What were you trying to catch just before I came in?”

“Why do you fuckin’ care?” he snapped, his villager gathering shells on the shoreline.

“I play too and I’ve caught all the fish leaving at the end of the month,” she said as she scuffed her slippered foot against the carpet. “Maybe I could help?”

“Don’t need help,” he said bluntly.

Crunching another piece of her popsicle, she stayed quiet for a moment as she watched his villager stalk the beach for fish to catch. At one point her eyes wandered from the screen to the TV stand itself and she nearly choked on her last bite.

“You got the limited-edition console?!” she nearly screamed, coming closer to where he sat on the couch. “I wanted one so bad but I didn’t have the money to preorder!”

Bakugo sighed and set his joycon butterfly to his left, turning to face her once more with a tired expression. “Are you just going to stand here and bother me until I tell you what I’m trying to catch? Because if that’s the case it’s the blue fuckin’ marlin. Now go away.”

“You were yelling about how it wasn’t spawning, right? If you make a shit ton of bait and keep using it off the pier you can force it to spawn.”

Picking up his joycons he silently resumed his search for more fish. Figuring he truly didn’t want her help she sighed and moved to go to the elevators; she had her popsicle and that could be her victory for the night.

“How much is a shit ton?”

She stopped, teeth sunk halfway into the frozen treat. Turning back to him, he was still facing the TV but his head was cocked as if listening for her answer.

“It depends,” she finally said. “It took me about forty to catch a tuna.”

“Forty?!” he said loudly, moving to meet her gaze. “How the hell am I supposed to farm forty fucking clams and craft bait and it could still not be enough? I’ll be up the rest of the damn night!”

“I…” she cleared her throat and tried again, “I could help you. If we both take a side of your island we can get a bunch and then while you use it I can keep digging. But only if you want.”

He was quiet for a moment and she finished her popsicle as he considered her offer. Finally, his eyes determined, he nodded.

“Alright. Bring shit to make extra shovels because you aren’t chopping any of my trees if yours break.”

She nodded eagerly. “Yeah, sure, just tell me your Dodo code!”

Bakugo watched her sprint into the kitchen to get rid of the popsicle stick before returning to stand by the couch, her hesitance to sit next to him obvious. But even more obvious was a greater threat to his mission for the blue marlin.

“Where’s your phone?” he asked casually. When she furrowed her brows and pulled it from within her shirt as he’d expected, he followed with, “If you’ve got your Switch in there too I’ll actually be impressed.”

Her face went red immediately and she pointed behind her weakly. “I-I’ll just uh…”

He ignored her stuttering and started digging up clams, allowing her to trail off and run to the elevator where she let out a frustrated sigh as the doors closed. Why couldn’t she keep it together?

Going into her room she grabbed her Switch, slightly self-conscious of her choice of cherry blossom custom skin but she pushed it down as she started the game. Once it was loaded and her villager had stepped out of the house she ran back to her orchard and gathered six of her native fruit, an additional offering to her explosive classmate.

She boarded the elevator and was able to gather enough materials for three shovels just in time for the soft ding to sound and the doors to open at the first floor. Rushing back to the common room, she found Bakugo still on the couch but shifted to lean against the right armrest. Before she could think too much about their close proximity she took a seat to the far left and entered her airport.

“Got enough materials to make three more shovels,” she said. “And I grabbed some of my native fruit in case you didn’t have any. They’re cherries.”

“I could use ‘em. You got a thing for cherries or something?” he asked, remembering the scent of the popsicle and eyeing the red stain on her lips.

“Oh, uh, yeah. They’re my favorite fruit,” she replied. “You can judge me if you want but I reset my game until I got cherries. Got ‘em third try!”

Bakugo shrugged lightly as his villager went into his airport. “I can’t judge. Did the same thing to get apples.”

“Are they your favorite?”

“No.”

“Oh, then why did you want them?”

“Are you going to ask this many questions all night?” he asked as his game connected to the dorm’s wifi for a code.

She sighed. “I’m just trying to be nice and make pleasant conversation. I’ll shut up now. Sorry.”

He was quiet, glancing at her as the screen displayed the code and she typed it in, and then exited the small lobby to stand at the end of the ramp to wait for her. They both watched her descent and arrival to his island, her villager titled as an Untamed Lass smiling cutely in a green dress and black beret as she also exited the airport and met him on the grass, dropping cherries and standing back so he could pick them up.

“I wanted apples because when I got my quirk, the first thing I ever blew up was an apple. My parents couldn’t decide if they were excited for my quirk manifesting or upset that they had to give me another bath.”

“That’s kinda the coolest,” she giggled. Catching sight of the black flag with an explosion symbol in the corner of the screen she added, “Your flag’s really cool too. Anyway, do you want me to take the left side of your island’s beaches so you can stay near the pier?”

“That’s fine.”

She set off to her assigned beach, a printed shovel in her villager’s hands. Just as she was stepping onto the sand, she gasped at the sight of a certain squirrel sitting on the beach with a sandwich in hand.

“You have Marshal?! I’m so jealous!”

“First one at my campsite.”

“I love that little blonde bastard.”

His eyebrows lifted at the fondness the would-be insult held but didn’t comment on it as she fell silent, the soft music coming from her console almost synched with the tune coming from the dorm TV. Every so often he could make out the sound of her shoveling up a clam and excited notes trilling at the discovery.

The quiet peace continued between them as they crafted bait at two benches set aside from the pier, her dropping the finished product for him to begin using and then dashing away to find more clams to continue her little farming operation. He gathered the offered bait and stood at the end of the pier to drop the little flakes, backing up when the fish’s shadow seemed large enough for the blue marlin.

It was slow going a first, the bait seemingly wasted as a majority of the shadows were too small to even be worth casting out his line. When he did actually see the right size, he wound up with a ridiculous amount of seabass and the odd olive flounder. He was beginning to understand why she said it could take a while as the sixtieth bait gave a tiny silhouette sure to be a seahorse or clownfish.

A frustrated sigh escaped him as she dropped twenty more bait on the beach before setting out for more. He put them into his inventory and resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be on the couch the entire night tossing bait into the water. Taking his place on the pier he dropped the flakes only to see a large shadow appear, his hope returning just a bit as he cast out but deflating when the harsh vibrations of a good catch didn’t begin as it bit. Then, as if catching a seabass wasn’t bad enough, his fishing rod disintegrated in his villager’s hand.

“For fuck’s sake I hate this,” he growled, eyes closed and fingers pressed to his temples when his joycons were cast aside.

“Here.”

He looked to his left and when she nodded toward the TV he saw the small red toolbox in the sand behind him.

“Thanks,” he grunted as his villager picked it up. “For this and the bait, I guess.”

She shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

Bakugo knew it was just a bunch of addicting pixels they’d paid entirely too much money for but he felt like it was something. He was an unpleasant bastard to be around and he’d snapped at her half a dozen times already in just the last thirty minutes but she’d offered to help and actually done it; it definitely wasn’t nothing so he resolved to be more cooperative if only slightly.

Shaking away his thoughts, bait number sixty-two was thrown and he cast his line, perking up at the heavy vibration in his hands. He didn’t want to get his hopes up when it was likely just an oarfish.

‘Yes! I caught a blue marlin! Listen to this fish. It’s got a point.’

“FUCK YEAH!”

She jumped at his shout but her face broke into a wide smile when she caught site of the large fish in his villager’s hands. She was happy he was able to check it off of his list and even happier that she was able to help even if it was only by digging up and crafting bait.

“You got it with plenty of time to spare!”

“It’s in the critterpedia and once I take the bastard to the museum I don’t give a fuck if I ever catch another one again!” he said.

She chuckled. “Well now that you’ve got your marlin I can head back to my island. Do you wanna kick me out or should I go back to the airport?

“Go back to the airport. Grab some apples on your way out.”

It was progress.

“Thanks, Bakugo.”

After that night their relationship changed from classmates to some semblance of friends who sent each other items in Animal Crossing. Bakugo had asked for her Switch code a few days later and added her through there and through the game to be best friends a week after that. Their text thread was created and almost explicitly used for the purpose of exchanging furniture and alerting the other as to when something was happening on their respective islands to interest them.

He had let her know when Redd showed up with all real art and a white rattan armchair which she had searched for since the game was released. She in turn sent him the black imperial bed he’d been praying would fall from a balloon each time he’d shot one down.

It was a good system, and one that allowed them to get closer to one another in real life too through conversations had about the game. Since the first night when she helped him get the blue marlin she had learned of his quirk manifesting to blow up an apple, that he spent extra for expedited shipping for an Apollo amiibo coin from the UK because he loved the eagle villagers the most due to a book on birds he had obsessively read when he was younger (he also wanted Queenie off of his island—“I kicked that bitch out the second I could!”), and his favorite activity was mountain climbing which is what inspired the jagged cliffs and custom made signs to indicate the sport was welcome on GroundZero.

“What’s the story behind your island’s name, if you have one?” she asked over their voice chat one night as they played. He’d gone home for the first half of the weekend while she stayed in the dorms but he was coming to her island to sell fish and get a model from the ridiculous beaver they both hated.

“You first,” he replied after a long minute.

She shrugged even though he couldn’t see her. “I picked Isla Nova because I think space is cool and novae are beautiful. A bright burst and then a slow fade is tragically poetic.”

“Bring the mood down why don’t you.”

“Your turn,” she reminded. When he was quiet for another drawn out moment, she furrowed her brows, ready to ask if he was still there. He finally broke the silence as she opened her mouth to call his name.

“The world watched All Might’s career end in the heart of Kamino that night,” he said softly. “You know the statue they put up? They called it the statue at ground zero and that it would stand as a reminder of the last act the Symbol of Peace had done to protect everyone. To… to protect some punk ass kid trying to be a hero who got himself kidnapped.”

Her heart broke at the subtle crack in his voice. “Bakugo…”

“That statue is gonna be there for the rest of my life as a reminder that I should’ve been stronger. All Might can tell me it wasn’t my fault until the end of time but I can’t stop feeling like it was. So if that statue is there to remind me that I wasn’t strong then, my hero name is gonna be there to remind me why I have to be strong now and exactly what type of hero I need to be.”

She wasn’t sure what she should say, her mind working to process everything she had just heard. It was no secret to those who paid attention that Bakugo had blamed himself for All Might’s retirement and was self-conscious of the fact the League had sought him out for his potential as a villain; he carried a lot of guilt for things outside of his control. And now he had taken one thing he had control over, his hero name, and built it around that guilt to resolve to be better. The name Ground Zero was his beginning as a real hero and he was willing for it to be his end.

“Does anyone else know about your hero name?”

“Not the backstory, no. Aizawa knows it’s what I put down for my provisional license. I told Best Jeanist first and Kirishima knows too, but other than that you’re the only one who knows the reason behind it.”

Her heartbeat sped up. “Thanks for telling me, Bakugo.”

“Whatever. Are you gonna talk to this buck-toothed asshole or what? He’s by the climbing walls.”

Just like that the mood shifted once again and the calmness of the game enveloped them both. Rainy weather was perfect for fishing and getting the most bells possible for their catches at the late hour, their villagers running about in their raincoats with hers a dotted light blue and his solid green. It was a nice escape, and she enjoyed the peace until she was back on her island and their call had ended.

As she was turning her light off to sleep, she returned to their earlier conversation around his island name and ultimately his hero name. It was strange to have a serious conversation with Bakugo and for it to hold as much meaning as it did made her shudder. On the other hand, it made her cheeks flush to think that he trusted her enough to speak about something so important to him. In two months they had gone from classmates who rarely spoke one on one to friends.

She had to sleep before the grin on her face stuck permanently.

It did return the next day when she found out that her island would play host to shooting stars that night and she eagerly texted Bakugo to let him know, well aware he hadn’t had a meteor shower since they started playing together.

All day her excitement had her wound tightly and hyper, her love of both astrology and space being indulged by Celeste and the beautiful event not able to happen soon enough. Once the blonde came home in time for the class to gather for dinner, he was teasing her for her jitters but happily making plans to meet in the common room around ten to play.

When the time came the common room was empty as expected, their classmates taking a night to themselves in their room after spending so much time with one another. Despite the television being free neither of them docked their consoles to play on the bigger screen, instead opting to play handheld and find a classic rock channel to provide background music to the stars.

Bakugo could admit to himself that he enjoyed this. Quiet music drifting through the air and bright stars across the dark blue sky on his screen was peaceful, something he didn’t get to experience often. He knew the girl sitting beside him was also a big reason as to why it was so nice. Strong, pretty, and sweeter than the nerikiri Sato had served after dinner, he was happy to have her next to him.

They sat together in comfortable silence wishing on the stars, each making their own wordless wishes and wondering if the other was truly making a wish and if so, what was it?

In truth, there were multiple wishes they each made. She wished that she continued to improve with her quirk training, for an opportunity at her preferred agency after the impending summer break, for a safe training camp this year. Bakugo wished for the skills to be number one, for the training to pay off and make him stronger, for the opportunity to redeem himself from Kamino. But they also shared one wish too—I wish there could be more between us.

Nearly an hour after they had sat down Bakugo turned to ask if she wanted to split the last few pieces of desert left over only to find her eyes closed and breathing steady, grip on her joycons slack around a darkened screen. Chuckling to himself, he gently took it from her hand and unlocked it. Tilting the screen up to the sky he held it in his lap next to his own and continued wishing on the stars falling across both screens.

By midnight she hadn’t woken up and his eyes were starting to droop. He kicked himself off of her island and saved her game as his villager returned to his own island, saving once he was able to. The noise of him turning off the TV woke her, her face scrunching cutely as she gained her bearings.

“How long was I asleep?” she asked with a yawn.

“’Bout an hour. I kept wishing on your game so you don’t miss out on any fragments tomorrow,” he said.

She smiled tiredly. “You’re my hero. Thank you, Bakugo.”

He didn’t think her calling him a hero should feel as amazing as it did, igniting a fire in his chest and warming him from the inside out. He wanted to be her hero just as much as he wanted to be a hero in general. He wanted to be her hero, but not as Bakugo. He wanted to be her hero as Katsuki, and maybe the way to get to that point was presenting itself.

“You don’t have to thank me, but if you really want to, how about we go to breakfast in the morning?” he suggested quietly, placing his Switch into it’s carrying case.

A grin bloomed across her face and she nodded eagerly, planning to meet him back in the common room at nine the next morning. He agreed easily. If their friendship could start in the common room, maybe a relationship could too if that’s where they met for a first date.

A/N: Please be sure to reblog, comment, review, and like if you enjoy! Feedback is what keeps me motivated! If you’re curious about all of Bakugo’s villagers, I did make a list but couldn’t find where I wanted to mention it so he has: Coach, Shari, Apollo, Bluebear, Lolly, Hugh, Marshal, Blanche, Rod, & Chrissy. “She” (to continue the self-indulgent nature of this lmao) has Lyman, Katt, Nibbles, Flurry, Olaf, Lobo, Filbert, Francine, Julia, and Papi!

[bicepsie]

Rainbow Scavenger Hunt

Day 1: Related to Pride

@buddiefirstkissweek

Relationship: Buck & Eddie

Word Count: 2700 

“I need 2 volunteers to do the scavenger hunt with the kids.” Cap tapped a pan against his clipboard as he looked around the room.

“Eddie and I’ll do it!” Buck raised his hand. 

Cap nodded, writing down their names. 

Eddie stared at the side of Buck’s head, waiting for him to turn his head. After a few moments, Eddie grew impatient and he nudged Buck with his elbow. “Why’d you do that?”

“Would you rather be on cleanup duty?”

“Good point.” He definitely didn’t want to clean after a bunch of kids and their parents. Or taking down decorations. Eddie shuddered. 

*** 

Kids ran around the station, yelling and laughing, chasing each other. A few stuck with their parents, mostly the smaller ones. The grown ups, mostly parents and a few grandparents, observed from the distance. They stood in pairs or groups talking and enjoying the pastry the local bakery so generously donated to the fire station. 

Cap stood by the door, looking around the station with a small smile.  

Buck spotted Eddie leaning against the wall by the fire extinguisher and he sauntered over. “I love Pride!” He leaned against the wall, his biceps touching Eddie’s. 

“Yeah.” Eddie smiled and gently elbowed Buck.  

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet balloons floated on the ceiling, their rainbows strings hanging just low enough for grownups to reach them. A huge LGBTQ flag hung from the balcony, next to each color He had written down its meaning white capital letters.

His eyes landing on Christopher, his smile brightened up the whole room. He was talking to a boy his age, gesturing wildly. 

“Who’s Christopher talking to?”

“Ben, his new friend.” Eddie glanced toward Buck. 

“Why haven’t I heard about this new friend?” Buck frowned. “Can he be trusted?” 

“He’s 9.” Eddie shook his head. “He goes to the same school as Christopher. They really hit it off.”

Buck stared at this Ben kid, he looked normal. But so did most serial killer. “What do you know about the kid?”

Eddie chuckled. “His parents just moved here, they’re both in the military. Christopher’s been talking about him all week. He’s so excited to have a close friend.”

“I don’t trust him.” Buck crossed his arms. Who just moves somewhere and instantly makes friends? “Maybe I should talk to him, find out what his intentions are with Christopher.” Buck pushed away from the wall and took a step forward. 

Eddie grabbed his forearm. “Aren’t you overreacting? I should be the one worrying.”

Buck narrowed his eyes at Eddie. “Why aren’t you?”

“Because he’s 9. They’re just kids. Besides, I’m just glad Christopher made a friend.”

“He’s got friends.”

“You don’t count.”

Cap got their attention from across the room and waved them over. 

“I wasn’t talking about me.” Buck pouted as they walked toward Cap. 

 Fire truck sirens blared around the station. Kids and grown ups stopped what they were doing and stared at the truck with flashing lights. 

Cap turned off the sirens then jumped out of the fire truck. He greeted everyone, welcoming them to Station 118 Rainbow Scavenger Hunt 2020. Rainbow Scavenger Hunt would have been enough. Everyone knew this was station 118 and the year was 2020. But when Buck had proposed they shortened the name to Rainbow Scavenger Hunt, he was outvoted. And now a huge banner, which he had to paint, hung above the fire station entrance. 

Cap instructed the kids to pair up for scavenger hunt and hold their partner’s hand. Ben grabbed Christopher’s hand right away. What if Christopher wanted to be paired with someone else? This Ben kid was very presumptuous, Buck had every reason to be suspicious. 

Leaning in Christopher whispered in Ben’s ear, making both boys laugh loudly. 

“Don’t worry,” Eddie clapped Buck on the shoulder, “you’ll find another partner.”

“I thought I’d be me and Chris against you.” It was a perfect plan. Buck would help Christopher win. And they’d both make fun of Eddie for losing.  

Eddie chuckled. “Well, seems like you’re stuck with me now.”

Glancing around the station, Buck noticed everyone was already paired up and Eddie was right, he was stuck with him. Not the worst person to be stuck with. Buck’s lips stretched into a soft smile. 

*** 

“I’m RED and big with 4 wheels.” Eddie read from the first clue card. 

“Uh…” Buck scratched his head, putting on a show for the kids standing next to them. “Eddie, what’s red?”

Eddie spun around, seeing a few of the older kids already searching around the fire truck. “I don’t know. Flowers? A car?” 

“It’s the fire truck!” A little boy yelled and ran toward the fire truck. 

“A fire truck!” Buck hit his forehead and frowned. 

While the rest of the kids ran toward the fire truck, Eddie stayed behind. “Did it hurt?” He smirked, watching a red palm print appear on Buck’s forehead. 

“When I fell from heaven? Yes.” Buck winked.

Eddie shook his head. Buck was a giant kid himself. He’d be a great dad someday.

Joining the kids, Buck and Eddie searched around the truck. Buck crawled on top of the truck while Eddie circled around it, checking all the sides for any hidden clues. 

A girl with rainbow bow in her blond hair pulled an orange card from behind the wheel. She sprinted to her partner and grabbed her hand, pulling her away. They whispered and giggled as they tried to hide their orange card.

Buck jumped from the truck and stood next to Eddie as they watched the rest of the kids pull orange cards from behind the truck’s tires. 

*** 

I’m an ORANGE fruit. The next clue read. 

Kids quickly figured out the answer was orange, but they had trouble finding them. Buck and Eddie let them run around for a few minutes, searching for oranges.  

A boy and a girl stood next to the ambulance and stared at their card. The girl stomped her foot and crossed her arms. “There are no oranges here!”

“Psst.” Eddie leaned over the hood of the ambulance. “Wanna work together? We can’t find any oranges also.”

Buck peered from behind Eddie. The little girl glanced to her brother who had a giant smile on his face and was nodding enthusiastically. 

“Fine. But only for this clue.” She jutted out her chin. 

When Buck had children of his own, he wanted his daughter to be just like this adorable little girl, strong-willed and fearless. And his son to be like Christopher. His eyes sought out Christopher. He was standing by as Ben looked around the gym equipment. A kid who thought to look for oranges in the gym was definitely not good enough to be friends with his Christopher. 

“Where do you think they’re hiding the oranges?” Buck asked the girl.

“You’re a firefighter, shouldn’t you know that?” the little girl stared at him. 

“Right.” Buck looked at Eddie with wide eyes. “Eddie, where do we keep oranges?”

“With the rest of the fruit?”

“Where’s that?”

“Kitchen!” The siblings yelled at once.

“That’s right!” Eddie shouted and pointed toward the stairs. “The kitchen’s that way.” 

The kids ran, Buck and Eddie forgotten.

“That’s the thanks we get. I’m never working with them again.” Buck crossed his arms and stomped his foot.

Eddie chuckled and patted his back. A brief touch, but Buck felt the heat of Eddie’s palm on his back a long time after Eddie pulled away.    

“I can’t believe we keep oranges in the kitchen!” Eddie said louder than necessary as they walked past a groups of kids. 

*** 

Follow the suns. 

This one was easy. Kids had no problem following the sun stickers on the floor. 

Hen did amazing job with leading the kids all over the upper floor, through the kitchen, around the couch, and all the way to the balcony where Hen and Maddie waited to help the kids slide down the poll. 

“Need any help getting down?” Maddie smiled at Buck.

Buck jumped on the poll, saluted, and effortlessly slid down  

“Show off.” Eddie muttered. 

“Come on, Eddie. What’s taking so long? We’ve got a scavenger hunt to win!”

So cocky. Eddie shook his head, smiling. He grabbed the poll and swung onto it. “See you later.” He slid down, his feet landing on the concrete floor with a loud thud. 

“Great job. 10 out of 10.” Chimney clapped.

“Hey! Why does he get a 10 and I got a 6?” Buck brushed against Eddie’s arms.

“Perfect landing. You fumbled yours.” Chimney pulled a green card from his pocket. “Your next clue.”

“But I slid down with only one hand. I deserve extra points for that!” 

“Better luck next time, Buck.” Chimney pushed the card toward them.

Buck and Eddie reached for the card at the same time, their hand brushing for a moment before they pulled away and the card sailed to the floor. 

*** 

GREEN GREEN grass.

By the time Buck and Eddie got outside, the kids were already picking up envelope size paper LGBTQ flags from the lawn and waving them around. 

Christopher and Ben sat on the grass huddled together, laughing. They held pride flags in each of their hands. Christopher looked up and when his eyes met Eddie’s, he waved. 

Eddie nudged Buck and nodded toward Christopher. 

“I still don’t like that kid,” Buck waved back. 

“Let’s get a flag.” Eddie walked forward and it took him a moment to realize Buck wasn’t following. He turned and spotted Buck marching toward Christopher and Ben. 

“Buck!” Eddie hurried to catch up to Buck. 

“Hey,” Buck smiled down at Christopher, ignoring Ben. “How are you doing? Got all the clues, yet?”

“Almost.” Christopher slowly got up and Eddie had to stop himself from reaching out to help. Ben handed Christopher his crutches. 

“Buck this is Ben. He’s my best friend.” Christopher smiled up at Buck. No one could resist that smile, especially not Buck. 

“Best friend, huh?” Buck stared down Ben for a moment before he smiled. “Nice to meet you, Ben.”

“You too, sir.” Ben stood straight and shook Buck’s hand. 

Buck looked at Eddie with raised eyebrows. 

“Ben’s dads are soldiers. That’s almost as cool as firefighters.” Christopher said. 

*** 

Look for the man with BLUE umbrella, he’s hiding somewhere inside the station with your next clue.

“Last one!” Cap held out a blue card as Buck and Eddie walked inside the locker room. 

Grumbling under his breath, Buck snatched the last card from Cap’s hand. “This is stupid. If you’re gonna hold an umbrella, at least do it outside. Who needs an umbrella inside?”

Cap closed his umbrella and laid it on the bench next to him. “Not me, anymore.” He walked out. 

Buck put his hands on his hips. “Umbrella? Inside? That’s just… no.” He stared at the blue umbrella with pure hatred. 

Eddie laughed. “And this is why I went with Chimney’s suggestion to have Cap in the locker room.”

“Wait...” Buck narrowed his eyes. “It was you! I lost that by one vote!” 

“No.” Eddie snorted. He tried not to laugh, but it bursted out of him and he doubled over. 

“You were supposed to have my back,” Buck said, smile evident in his voice. 

Looking up, Eddie was shocked to see Buck right in front of him. “I’ll always have your back.”

Buck stepped closer to Eddie until Eddie could feel the heat of Buck’s body. He stopped laughing, mesmerized by the softness in Buck’s eyes. 

“You should laugh more often.” Buck said quietly and reached toward Eddie’s face with his right hand. “Even if it’s on my expense.”

“There you are!” Chimney barged in and Buck jumped back. “Cap’s waiting for you.” Chimney looked between Buck and Eddie. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” they said at the same time.

*** 

If I was a VIOLET balloon where would I be?

“Next year, we need harder clues.” Eddie tore the last clue card from a string tied to a violet balloon. He let go of the string and the balloon flew into the sky. 

Buck hasn’t said a word since they left the locker room, he hasn’t even looked at Eddie once. Eddie hated it. He wasn’t sure what happened back there. One moment they were talking, teasing each other as they normally did, and the next Buck was looking at him like he wanted to kiss him. That couldn’t be right. Buck didn’t want to kiss him. If he did, Eddie was sure, he’d knew about it. No, Eddie was imagining things, he was projecting his own feelings onto Buck. 

“You two are the last ones.” Hen walked up to them. “I think they’re hard enough.” Hen smirked. 

“That’s not nice,” Karen smile. “They did their best.” They walked away, holding hands and laughing. 

“You two are hilarious.” Eddie deadpanned. 

This was what Eddie wanted. He wanted someone to always be on his side, someone he could have fun with, someone to hold hands with as he walked down the street. He glanced toward Buck, wishing that someone could be him. 

Eddie held up the card. They didn’t have to read it, they knew what it said: Congratulations! You won! Get your prize from the Captain. 

Each kid got to pick their own prize. There were toy fire truck with rainbow stickers, toy firemen wearing rainbow helmets, dolls with rainbow hair, and rainbow teddy bears. If Eddie got to pick his toy, he’d pick the fireman with a rainbow helmet. Maybe if he was lucky, one would be left and he could take it home. 

Eddie turned, wanting to ask Buck which toy he’d choose, when Buck rushed past him and marched into the station. 

Frowning, Eddie looked around. What just happened? 

*** 

Eddie followed Buck, half his attention on Buck’s tall form, half on all the kids running around and playing with their toys. 

“She’s got rainbow hair!” The girl with rainbow bow in her hair thrusted a doll in front of Eddie’s face. 

Eddie jerked to a stop and sidestepped her. “She does. She’s really pretty. Almost as pretty as you.”

The girl blushed and hugged her doll to her chest. She looked at him from under her eyelashes. Then ran away. With a smile on his face Eddie watched the girl run to her mom.

Standing on his tiptoes, Eddie tried to find Buck. Where did he go? He only talked to the girl for a few seconds, and apparently that’s all it took for him to lose sight of Buck. 

Spotting Maddie and Chimney by the refreshments table, Eddie rushed toward them. “Have you seen Buck?”

“No.”

“Aren’t we suppose to ask you that? You two are joined at the hip most of the time.” Chimney bit into muffin, crumbs falling from his mouth and rolling down his LAFD t-shirt.

“Is everything alright?” Maddie tilted her head, looking at Eddie.

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, I just lost him for a second and…” Eddie looked around the station, still not seeing Buck anywhere. He excused himself, avoiding any more questions. 

He checked half the station before he made his way up to the second floor. It was quieter up here. With the scavenger hunt finished there was nothing worth seeing up here so everyone prefered to stay downstairs. All, except one. Buck. 

“I’ve been looking for you.” 

Buck’s back stiffened as Eddie approached him. He pushed away from the table and stood. “I’ve been here.” He walked around the table toward the kitchen. “Do you want water?”

“Sure.” Eddie shrugged and followed Buck into the kitchen. 

Buck pulled two water bottles from the fridge and thrusted one toward Eddie, still not looking at him. Instead of reaching for the bottle, Eddie grabbed Buck’s hand, making Buck finally look at him. “What-” 

“I can’t do this!” Buck pulled his hand away, the water bottle dropping to the floor. “I…” Buck blinked several times, he looked at Eddie’s lips, then eyes, then back to his lips. 

Stepping over the water bottle, Eddie got closer to Buck. “You?”

Buck blinked and turned his head to the right. He pressed his lips together and stared at the closed fridge door. 

 Reaching up, Eddie cupped Buck’s cheek. “Me too.” 

Buck turned, finally looking at Eddie. Eddie smiled, he leaned forward and tilted his head then gently pressed his lips against Buck’s. Buck stilled for a moment before kissing Eddie back, capturing Eddie’s top lip between his. 

Eddie slid his hand from Buck’s cheek to his neck, pulling him closer, his other hand resting on Buck’s waist. Buck melted into him and wound his arms around Eddie’s shoulders. 

It was just them, everything else around them disappeared.

With a groan, Eddie pulled away. His eyes closed, he leaned his forehead against Buck’s. “Wow.”

“Yeah… Wow.” Buck said breathlessly. 

[border-spam]

Leech Lord : Appetite

(Ty and Sei under the cut)

Troy

The first time Sei had seen him eat had been on the second day of being awake on her ship after his fever had broke and his twin had taken the opportunity to rest. If she didn't already have a million red flags screaming for her attention, this one would have floored her.

Troy swiped all of the food on the plate into the center, messily carved through it with his knife, then just shoveled it into his mouth. He didn't actually look like he was chewing it, not even finishing choking down a heaping spoonful of mismatched food before moving to scoop up another.

Seifa had chuckled as he reached for a third serving and he'd frozen... staring at her guiltily from under his hair while shaking like a kicked Skag-pup. Her laugh had caught in her throat. It hadn’t been funny.

He learned very quickly in the first couple of months that he didn't need to do that anymore. They'd never discussed it and never really do, but the manner in which Troy ate had developed from many, many years of being expected to feed himself and Typhon. There was never enough. He'd wolf down whatever he could get his hand on as quickly as possible before anyone else could notice and point out he should be sharing.

Some horrible mix of guilt and desperate hunger had shaped it, and it took him months to be able to relax while eating. He'd never really learned how to use cutlery either. Leda had died too early and left them with a parent who figured all you needed was a good knife, never noticing how much their one armed child struggled to prepare his own plate without ending up mixing bite sized pieces into a mound he could eat as quickly as possible.

Troy's obsession with "Fitting In" and learning social graces means he stopped doing this in public very quickly, but when he's very relaxed? If he's around people he doesn't feel on edge with?

All the food goes into a pile in the center of his plate, and he laughs at any looks of disgust aimed at him.

It tastes better this way, he swears. You get ALL the flavors at once!

When it comes to his body, If Troy did absolutely nothing extra on top of his normal life routine, he'd retain his lithe wiry physique with no effort. That's who he is, it's his default build.

Sadly, he is also God King Calypso, and Calypso has sculpted abs, lats you could grate with, and needs enough definition at all times for the camera to pick up... so Troy has to work. 

Hard.

The problem is, Gods don't need to put in effort to look good, they are flawless, above human, so Troy's routines are something he keeps completely private.

He struggles to maintain weight even on a healthy day and tends to substitute a lot of daily calories with shakes, tasteless protein slabs ; anything he can hork down in a couple of minutes at the start or end of his day without eating too much time.

He's hyper aware of his appearance always, to a very unhealthy level. Will deny spending hours on sleepless nights poring over comments about his physique on media, would be offended at the implication but.. it's Troy. Of course he does.

He relies on the calisthenics of carrying the massive prosthetic for a lot of his general definition, but has a simple setup in his project room in sanctum for his morning routine. Pull-up bar for shoulder/back, hanging crunches for his stomach, and he runs.

He loves running.

It's almost as relaxing as climbing out in Pandora's craggy hills at night for him. He'll run on the high end treadmill in the corner of that room untill he pukes, and often does.

He knows he's not really going anywhere, but when he closes his eyes and focuses on the burn of his shaky lungs and the fire in his chest as sweat drips down the crease of his spine, he's not Troy anymore. Not Calypso at least. Maybe DeLeon, chasing down the Manta his snare injured.

He's not here, he's not on Pandora for those 30 minutes, he's free in a body pulsing with pain and life. He’s somewhere else. Someone else.

Then he showers, drapes the God King's bloodied skin back over himself, fixes the mask in place... and steps out of his Sanctum.

Tyreen

Ty very rarely eats at all, but when she finds something she can actually taste like an extremely sour kind of citrus or highly spiced and smoked meat, she really takes her time enjoying it. She eats very slowly and will chew what’s in her mouth till there is barely anything left to swallow just to pull as much flavor out of it as she can.

She far more often enjoys smelling food than eating it, and will usually have a plate full in front of her at any celebration or feast to enjoy the aroma even if she won't be able to taste any.

She loves watching other people eat and not in a remotely sinister way. If she's surrounded by people eating and you pay enough attention go the God Queen, you'll catch the genuine smile as she flicks her eyes around the table and enjoys the satisfaction and happiness surrounding her.

Very often asks Troy to describe how things taste to her when they are out of the public eye. He knows how to describe using the right smells and memories for her to be able to imagine the sense she's missing.

Snotty little shit when it comes to smoking though, is convinced she's got an amazing palette for the tastes and mouthfeel of different blends. Doesn't, Troy just lies about what he rolled for her 90% of the time and hides the smirk.

Ty's never noticed any changes in her body regardless of how much energy she gluts on, so doesn't really put any actual effort into maintaining it. She's always... the same.

Even during periods of having very little of substance to feed on while growing up, she never got thinner. Just hungrier. The Leech seems to be highly tuned to making sure its host does actually get everything she needs to be healthy, though she's not sure if that's really a good thing. She'd rather have that control herself.

Ty is active enough in her day to day to retain a fit look, but she swims a LOT and is pretty sure it's to thank for her tone. She doesn't do it to stay looking tight though, that's just a nice bonus. 

There's a private room sized pool along the balcony of the twin's upper cloister that overlooks the plains Pandora's main sun sets across, and letting herself sink under that cool fresh water has always felt like it's wiping away the day's sin. When she's left with just the thrumming of her heartbeat in her ears and the pressure of the water silencing everything else, she's herself - slipping through the crisp waters of the lake they lived by on Nekro.

Troy's a poor swimmer and avoids doing so in general, this is all hers and hers alone. Something she's great at and he's always struggled with. It's nice to be reminded as the water laps at her skin, that she's good at some things that are normal.

Seifa

Is a trash can and was shocked to find out that's not actually the norm.

The migrant colony she grew up in under Boss was NOT picky about food, couldn't be. With a constant flow of new faces from different cultures and planets as well as not having a sure flow of supplies, you ate what you got and where happy for it.

None of them ever went hungry, but you'd not question what you were given and half of the time you'd never even find out what it was. She's got a highly varied palette but no idea what a lot of the things she's eaten in the past actually were, so only tends to realise she's eaten something before when she's handed it again as an adult.

Puts a huge amount of seasoning in everything, too much for some people, but that's part of her past too. Food wasn't always fresh, spices hide spoilage.

Likes to cook and tries to do so for friends often enough, it's one of her newly created family-esque rituals she isn't aware she's doing within the HC. Getting people to her ship for evenings to eat and sit, talk about the week, unwind, and gently bully Troy as he turns red and stammers to remind everyone he's a fucking God and they should watch their mouths, all while trying not to let how happy he is to be included show.

She has a massive sweet tooth and really enjoys fruits.

Sei is a vain little shit and puts a lot of energy into maintaining her appearance which includes her preferred weight and strength.

Years of lifting and pulling heavy machinery and parts have given her a decent enough core for her size and that's not something she needs to put a huge amount of thought into as it's still involved in her day to day job, and she doesn't actively exorcise in general, but she's the kind of person who weighs herself every morning and night and plans her meals ahead to match fluctuations.

She'll skip breakfasts, feed friends and not plate food for herself sometimes. She devotes more brain power to managing her own stats than a lot of other people would, but like all of her weirdness with numbers and control - she thinks it's totally normal.

She's not super fit, toned, or strong, but she's at a happy point with each for where she wants to be and likes the look of. There aren't enough hours in her day to be lifting weights or sweating on cross trainers. She's found other ways to manage that don't involve actively working out.

Asks are Open!

[fictorium]

31!

31. “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”

* * * * * *

Kara doesn’t exactly mean to fly halfway across the country, but that one big shot of Aldebaran rum had been the Kryptonian equivalent of Dutch courage. What made the Dutch so brave anyway? The windmills? Pfft. 

Okay, so maybe Kara was a little tipsy. Still not a good enough reason to have hurled herself from National City to Opal City in a matter of minutes. Maybe it wasn’t too late to go see Barry and Iris, or try and flag down Sara for a ride to a different time period. One where Kara wasn’t supposed to be getting married at the weekend. 

The hotel suite door loomed in front of Kara, and she might well have fled without knocking if it hadn’t opened at that very moment. Cat stood stock still, keys in her hand, gaping at Kara like she’d never seen her before. 

“How…”

“I always know where you are, Cat. Not in like, a stalker way. It’s just your heartbeat is louder than just about anyone else’s. It jumps out at me even when I’m not looking.”

“Is this something I need to speak to my cardiologist about?” Cat’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Because honestly I’ve been blah blah to all of Barbra’s campaigns about women and heart disease so–”

“You’re fine. Better than, as always.” Kara felt her first genuine smile for months tugging at her lips. This was why she came. This was the way to feel better. “I sent you an invitation but you haven’t responded. I came to get my answer in person.”

“Well, I’m staying here for a few weeks because–”

“I know. I didn’t come to talk about him. Why didn’t you respond to my invitations, Cat? Skip the wedding, sure, but the bachelorette party? That really hurts.”

“Come in,” Cat said, shoving the keys back in her purse. “If we must finally do this, let’s keep the witnesses to a minimum. TMZ never rests, even in Opal City.”

“Do what?” Kara asked, even though she knew deep in her bones what Cat was referring to.

The suite was as opulent as Kara would have expected, though some of the touches she’s arranged as Cat’s assistant weren’t in evidence. Bananas in the fruit bowl, no extra cushions on the couch. Someone had been slacking. 

“Talk about why you would invite me, of all people, to your wedding?” Cat lingered by the bar in the corner, but didn’t pour herself a drink. She seemed to need it as more of a physical barrier between her and Kara. “When was the last time I saw you, Kara?”

“It’s been a while.”

“And you were crying over another boy. One you admitted wasn’t worthy of you, but there you were anyway, throwing your life away on him. I only hope this one is an upgrade, although I doubt it when you couldn’t even make it work with James.”

“Hey! William is a good guy. He–”

“Let me assure you that I couldn’t care less. I know who he is, or at least the cloning factory he came from. His shirts are always pressed, and his hair is always styled, but not fussy, oh no. He’ll have manners, sure, and everyone who knows him would use words like ‘decent’ or ‘standup guy’. Am I close?”

“Oh, so not being an asshole is a type now?” Kara felt guilty cursing, but somehow around Cat it felt right. It felt daring. “Excuse me for not wanting to make my life even more complicated. When a nice guy who loves you wants to get married and give you a nice, normal life, who doesn’t say yes to that?”

“Now try saying it without looking like you want to throw up.” Cat poured a drink then. She didn’t offer one to Kara. “He doesn’t even know, does he? About… the cape.”

Cat popped the ‘p’ in cape in that way she had, the way that made Kara stare at those pouty lips. 

“For… for his safety! And so I can have a normal life.”

“Marriage based on lies has the shelf life of sushi left out on a warm day.”

“You would know. Four and counting, right?”

Cat set her glass down just long enough to break out in sarcastic applause. “Kara Danvers grows a backbone. There’s a CatCo exclusive.”

“How would you know?” Kara advanced on Cat then, her temper well and truly up. “You walked out on CatCo just like you walked out on…”

“…you?” Cat finished for her. “What are you doing, Kara? You should be getting past this preoccupation with me, not seeking me out when you’re getting married to someone else.”

“How could I not? Here I am again, trapped in another relationship that’s fine, almost good even. And all I can think about is you, and how much I still miss you. And how no matter what we went through together, I never got so much as a chance to kiss you.”

“We all have our crosses to bear, Supergirl. You said four and counting? Not much chance. I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”

Kara felt whatever had been holding her back for years dissolve in that moment. Cat had finally admitted it. Their spark, their connection: she felt it too. If Kara had learned one thing in the past few years, it was the importance of being brave when the moment presented itself. She closed the remaining distance between them in two steps.

“You wouldn’t have to pretend, if you’d just kiss me.”

“Kara–”

“I’m leaving him. I’m calling it all off tonight, I promise. It won’t be easy, or all that fair to William, but I am so tired of never, ever getting what I want. I have given everything I have to give, Cat.”

“I can’t be all you deserve, Kara.” Cat reached out at last, caressing Kara’s cheek with her thumb. “You can’t give up real shots at happiness just for me.”

“But you’re all I want,” Kara said, the tears threatening. “So please? Can’t I just have what I want?”

Cat answered her with a kiss, slow and tender and full of all the same yearning Kara had been pushing down for years. It felt better than flying ever had, than any kiss had ever come close to. They fit, somehow, as though the kiss had just been waiting for them both to fall into it. Kara didn’t ever want it to end. 

“Mmm.” Cat finally pulled away, eyes still closed. “Damn. I knew once it happened I’d be screwed.”

“Not yet…”

“Kara! Danvers! Did you just lower the tone? Fascinating. And here I thought I’d be practically teaching you.”

“I’m not some blushing virgin, Ms. Grant. But I’m happy to let you lead. Tonight, though…”

“You have to go do the right thing. And you are blushing. I’ll be back in National City in two days. Can you wait?”

Kara looked towards the suite’s very prominent bedroom, heaving a little sigh of frustration. “Yes? I mean, we’ve waited this long.”

“There’s that self-denial again.” Cat kissed her, hot and heavy this time. Kara’s resolve weakened by the second. 

“You know, since I can fly and all, what if I just did the breaking up and came right back here?”

“Now you’re talking,” Cat replied. “I have a dinner, but let’s say… three hours?”

Kara nodded, moving toward the suite’s balcony for a speedy exit. The prospect of ending another relationship weighed heavily on her, not least how she’d explain to Eliza about calling off the wedding, but there was no denying that things felt right for the first time in too long.

She took off her engagement ring and slipped it into the pocket of her super suit. Blowing a kiss back at Cat, Kara took off into the night skies of Opal City.