#locked in too hard and collapsed 2 ish times and had to take a day ish off and just goto the spa

[toriliashine]

I locked in

[kumzume]

glam ft. todoroki shotō [smhub]

wc. 2.8k :3

warnings. ownership, soft-ish!dom reader, edging, v v lowkey pet play (u call him bunny lol), quiet whiny shoto, begging, miss k*nk (?), slight humiliation k*nk, crying, um

an. SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG HOLY S WORD I HOPE ITS OK I DIDNT GET ANYONE TO BETA IT SO IF THERE ARE ISSUES M SO SORRY LOVE YALL TY FOR WAITING

▼・ᴥ・▼

shoto todoroki was so pretty.

it wasn’t like he wasn’t aware — he’d heard the whispers amongst the girls back at U.A. about how attractive he was. that didn’t keep him from believing those words, his insecurities gripping him so tightly that he was unable to even imagine that anyone found him remotely appealing.

that is, until he met you.

when you first transferred into 3-A, the class was thrown into an uproar. you were beautiful, kind, and funny with a powerful quirk to boot! and yet, you never believed that you were better than anyone else, always treating every single person with respect — even bakugou (shoto couldn’t even pretend to understand how you did it but still, the behavior was so undeniably you).

it was all of your remarkable traits that ended up being shoto’s downfall. he believed you were way out of his league — you deserved someone emotionally available and sweet, things that todoroki felt, no knew, he was not. besides, with every single guy in the nearest vicinity falling for you, he knew he didn’t even have a chance.

so, shoto resigned himself to observe you from afar, watching your interactions with his closest friends and classmates, wishing that he could make you smile as wide as kirishima and deku or laugh as hard as sero and denki.

he knew he didn’t measure up and while he tried to make himself okay with that, he felt jealousy bubbling up beneath his skin when he observed shinsou helping you with your homework or bakugou training with you after school.

of course, he realized he didn’t belong to you or you to him and he had no real reason to be envious of whoever you chose to spend your time with but that didn’t stop him from fucking his hand late at night at the thought of you hovering over him, pressing soft kisses to his mangled scar and calling him beautiful.

shoto came embarrassingly quick with that fantasy, the shame and disappointment overwhelming him to the point where he’d purposefully ignored you for days after.

he could tell you were hurt by his behavior — he wasn’t entirely oblivious — but he knew it was for the best. you deserved so much more than him.

the both of you graduated and moved on to your respective agencies, shoto swiftly making his way up to the number 2 spot while you sat comfortably at number 17. neither of you saw each other very often but when you did, conversation was stilted and a bit awkward due to the intense attraction and inability to act on it on shoto’s part.

shoto was willing to go the rest of his life like this; seeing you briefly in passing, stumbling through a discussion with much difficulty, and then returning to his penthouse to hump his pillow and cry out your name.

it was a pretty good system for the most part. shoto had no worries about ever having to face his feelings for you and was content to live out his days suppressing his inner turmoil just for you.

unfortunately, the universe hates him.

at least that’s what he told himself as he stood in the center of a boardroom next to you, clad in your hero outfits and listening to instructions on an upcoming mission that required you and shoto to work together. alone. for days at a time.

what the fuck.

to be honest, shoto completely tuned out the minute he heard “one bedroom,” his mind racing with all the horribly tempting ways his fantasies could play out.

by the time the meeting was over, he was hard in his pants and entirely distracted as you attempted to make friendly small talk about your mission. shoto sort of felt like he should apologize for being an absolute brick wall, giving you curt one word answers until you decided to leave him alone.

he felt bad but what else could he do when you stood there, wearing your obscene hero costume that revealed way too much of your skin?

well, shoto was being a little dramatic but that’s how he felt! your suit was a play on the playboy bunny costume but instead of being black leather (he thinks he would actually die if you wore leather in front of him), it was a white, lightweight fabric that helped with your quirk.

it was entirely too sexy and reminded him a little too much of one of his secret kinks that he was determined to never let see the light of day.

it was going to be ok! he reasoned. all he had to do was do his job, ignore you like he’s done for the past 3 years and everything would be just fine — right?

wrong. so fucking wrong.

the mission had gone well on all accounts. you both had kicked ass, much to your enjoyment, and were able to go back home a day early!

you were so excited to finally be back in your own bed and away from the weird tension that being around todoroki brought. it wasn’t that you didn’t like him — in fact it was quite the opposite.

you found shoto alluring and gorgeous, his awkward yet endearing mannerisms drawing you further into the mystery that was shoto todoroki. regrettably, it didn’t seem like the man in question was on the same page.

every time you tried to speak with him, he would either stutter and blush or refuse to look you in the eye and give you one-word answers. it was actually ridiculously cute but he would always disappear the first chance he got.

it hurt but you weren’t one to push boundaries where you weren’t wanted.

that’s why that night, instead of going back up to the room to watch tv (uncomfortably, might i add) and knocking yourself out, you decided to go down to the bar and celebrate a job well done.

one of the perks of being a relatively unknown hero was that you could enjoy a night in public without anyone approaching you, a luxury you knew not many top 20 heroes could afford.

with that thought — and the memory of the stifling hotel room awaiting you upstairs — in mind, you made your way to the sparsely populated bar, sitting down and immediately requesting a drink (bourbon, on the rocks).

you scanned the area, counting the number of exits and patrons before your eyes landed on the handsome bartender down at the other end of the counter.

with curly brown hair, bright green eyes and a smile that could kill, there was no way you could lie to yourself and say he was unattractive. even as your mind briefly entertained the notion of taking the brunette out into the alley and fucking him within an inch of his life, your heart just wasn’t in it.

your mind just couldn’t stop drifting to the tall, dual-haired, oh so pretty, man who was (inadvertently) waiting for you upstairs. of course, you weren’t even his to wait for but you didn’t know how to keep from imagining that he was.

a deep sigh escaped your parted lips before you downed the rest of your drink, wincing at the burn it left as it went down your throat. it was getting late and you weren’t planning on spending your night alone with the janitor.

you sent the cute bartender a soft smile while pressing a crisp $20 to the counter. he sent you his own grin back as his eyes trailed down your body clad in your tight hero suit, licking his plump lips in arousal.

you were flattered, truly, but you were a little occupied with getting back to your room, changing into some comfortable pajamas and conking the fuck out.

the trip back up to your room was long and arduous to your sore body, the elevators being out of commission leaving you to take the stairs.

by the time you were at your door, you were so worn out that you were ready to collapse but before you could manage placing your key against the lock, something caught your ear.

“p-please miss,” a breathy moan of your name followed by a wet slapping noise rang out through the door. “i’ll be your perfect bunny, just let m-me cum, please-!!”

holy fuck.

shoto todoroki, the man you’d been crushing on since your years at UA was now touching himself to the thought of you doing god know what to him and he was calling you miss?

you felt heat flood your core, your knees buckling under the heavy weight of your lust. now braced against the door, you leaned your ear against the wood, determined to hear exactly what was getting him off.

more wet noises permeated through the walls — did he just spit in his palm??? — before a long whine left his pretty pink lips.

“m-miss, i belong to you, y-you own me,” he gasped, the creaking of the bed just barely audible beneath his wavering voice.

by now, you knew you’d soaked through the crotch of your hero costume, your clit throbbing painfully beneath the fabric of your panties. you also knew you should turn around, head back to the bar and order another drink, leaving shoto to finish himself off but you couldn’t.

your feet were implanted in place, ear glued against the door as you listened to your partner masturbate to the thought of you owning him.

quietly, you lifted the hand gripping your key to the door, allowing the touchpad to register before slowly pushing the door open.

the sight that greeted you was otherworldly.

the blinds were parted allowing a dreamy haze of moonlight to envelop the room, casting the pale man before you in a somehow whimsical light.

he was stripped down to nothing, lying on his back with a hand wrapped around his gorgeous, swollen cock, furiously stroking himself to completion.

the plump lips that you had spent so much time admiring were parted, allowing whines and whimpers to leave them sporadically as his lithe hips bucked up into his hand.

shoto’s eyes were clenched shut so he was unable to see your dumbfounded, painfully aroused face as you crept into the room, leaning against the wall with your hand pressed to your mouth.

it wasn’t as though you’d never seen a man naked before — you’d had your fair share of men naked in your bed begging for you — but this was something else.

this was shoto — somehow more intimidating than anyone else you’d ever brought to bed and yet you’ve never wanted anyone more.

which is why you were almost surprised at yourself when you opened your mouth and whispered, “stop.”

immediately, shoto’s eyes shot open, wide with fear and apprehension as he lied there frozen, his hand still wrapped tightly around his girth.

the both of you stood there staring at one another, neither of you able to move. you let yourself have this moment to look at him, your eyes tracking all over his muscular form before landing on his length, not missing how it twitched under your gaze.

“i-“ shoto started but he was quickly interrupted by your own voice. “s’this what you do when i’m gone? touch yourself to the thought of me? you’re so dirty bunny.”

it was impossible to hide the low groan that echoed out in the hotel room, shoto’s cheeks burning red in humiliation. a grin crept across your face as you made your way towards him, giggling to yourself at the way he moved up and away from you on the bed.

“now you’re trying to hide, bunny? you weren’t hiding when you were moaning out my name.” your hand slid up his thigh until it was resting on his sharp hipbone, an abrupt gasp leaving his chest.

your hand continued its trajectory, fingers trailing across his tummy before coming to wrap around the base of his cock.

“o-oh fuck, miss—“ a thick drop of precum leaked from his slit and onto your awaiting hand as a low moan departed from the dual-haired boy.

one of his hands shot out to hold yours, drawing your attention to his heterochromatic gaze. shoto’s eyes held so much emotion, small tears already littering his lashline while the moonlight illuminated his crimson scar. he was ethereal.

“pretty,” you hummed, giving him a gentle smile while your hand squeezed his in reassurance. you’d had enough experience to know that that kind of comment was guaranteed to get some kind of vulnerability but what you were not expecting was the expletive shoto muttered before leaning forward to press his lips to yours.

immediately, he was over-enthusiastic, his lips and teeth clashing with yours messily, almost painfully, before you took control of the kiss, slowing shoto down before slipping your tongue inside his mouth.

his quiet groan vibrated into the kiss as you deliberately laid him down, resting his back against the pillows. from there, you had more access to his body, your lips trailing down to his neck while your hand took its place back on his length, lazily pumping him up and down.

“m-miss!” shoto choked, his eyes widening yet again, holding you with his stare. you chose not to respond, instead stroking him quicker while pressing kisses to his shoulder.

“miss,” he tried again, this time more deliberately. “p-please tell me i’m yours...”

with him asking so sweetly, a few tears leaking from his gorgeous eyes at the overwhelming moment, how were you supposed to deny him?

“of course bunny,” you purred, leaning down to peck his nose, sending shivers through his body. “you are mine.”

shoto’s reaction was instantaneous. his eyes rolled back in his head and his mouth dropped open as he felt his pleasure begin to crest, determined to push him over the edge.

you, of course, noticed his body’s response and quickly pulled your hand off of him, painfully ripping his orgasm from his grasp. a disappointed whimper resonated throughout the room as shoto’s eyes found yours, staring at you with such betrayal that you almost found it funny.

“c’mon bunny,” you moved until you were kneeling between his legs, your hands leaving featherlight touches to his inner thighs. “you can hold out for me, right?”

shoto nodded before he could stop himself, desperate for anything you would give him.

besides, it couldn’t be that hard to hold off, right?

...

wrong. so very wrong.

it had only been 30 minutes but it felt like 2 hours since you started playing with him and keeping him from coming.

shoto was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, both hands tangled in his bi-colored locks, eyes squeezed shut with tear tracks now drying on his cheeks and his cock standing fully at attention.

it was purple, throbbing, and covered in precum as you licked a stripe up the side making shoto sob in pleasure.

he had never been harder in his life and he was certain that he would just die if you didn’t let him cum soon.

“p-please, please, miss, please, let me cum,” he babbled, shaking his head mindlessly while bucking his hips up into the warm heat of your mouth.

you chose to ignore his pleas while you moved your mouth over his tip, sucking hard while your hand pumped what wasn’t in your mouth.

“a-ah-!!” shoto shrieked, his back bowing off the bed, his orgasm coming on so hard and so fast that he felt like he was going to explode. “c-can’t hold back m-miss, i can’t, i can’t!”

your hand continued to pick up speed before you pulled your mouth off of him, toying with his tip while leaning up to breathe into his ear.

“cum for me bunny. you’re mine.”

with a cry of your name, shoto came, thick spurts of cum covering his abs, chest and thighs as his body convulsed under the weight of his bliss.

it was the most all encompassing orgasm he’d ever had and you, his former classmate, current partner, and future lover, was beside him through it all, helping him ride it out.

in the back of his mind, shoto knew he should be at least a little worried about how your relationship was going to change after all of this but he couldn’t bring himself to care. you were here and now, bringing him the most pleasure he’d ever undergone with nothing but kind words and a smile, filling his touchstarved heart with heat and, dare he say it, love.

shoto may not have been the funniest or the most open but you chose him, even if it was just for the night. and now that he unlocked how much he loved you, nothing else mattered — just you and him.

as he collapsed back into the sheets, his head just barely registering the cool rag wiping him down, he took pride in how he finally admitted it to himself; shoto loved you and he would be damned if he let anyone else take him away from you.

now, all he had to do was tell you but that was a conversation for another day.

▼・ᴥ・▼

taglist. if your name is in bold, i cannot tag you!!

@anikazoldeck • @hakunamatatayqueen • @alilsumnsumn • @sukunaslefttesticle • @hawksyoongi • @rivviespens • @kenmas-nintendoswitch • @myumyutie • @unicorngluttony • @bloomyagi • @shantellmcintosh • @queenhxla • @yeyehdom • @persies-main • @yikes-buddy • @nnmesis • @thehandsresisthim • @hinatabokeboke • @joongsite • @amazinghefi • @sarcasticambiguity • @mr-bombastic • @i-am-literally-deranged • @ch0pi • @aonjuh • @www-bubblefish • @meliorist-midoriya • @maizurie • @idkdude776 • @midarislonglostlefteye • @queerloser17 • @franklyrobin • @ravioliplease • @ashsera • @chirumi • @yamashiro888 • @xxjosiexx • @krstnn • @bbsista • @seij6hs • @franklyrobin • @chirumi • @melodysakura

[justoneday-namjoonii]

Quarters. | 9

☼1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 

prompt: “I don’t know why I’m crying, I just-...I really love you, like, just staring at you really fucks me up.” — soul-gazing

pairing: Jungkook x reader

warnings/au: please keep warnings in mind—dysfunctional relationship with a capital D, toxic relationship themes, but they’re attempting to get better, probably inaccurate therapy but i tried, m-ish, humor(i try), mentions of drug usage, cheater cheater pumpkin eater?, fluff, angst, boxer!au, iceskater!au. 

authors note: Hello!!💖it’s been a while since the last update but here we are. ✨This chapter is pretty long✨. Unlike some of the other parts, it is following the timeline of the previous part(pt. 8) so just keep that in mind. See m.list for other parts. Enjoy!🥰

“Do it again, you need to stop relying on your right leg so much!”

Your coach yells for the third time in the last hour, she’s being a tyrant today. Your poor ankles are about to break off, your legs are straining and the cold air is starting to feel like vengeful needles. It’s been about two months since the incident with your leg and the doctor at your last check up granted you freedom to skate again. You’re glad it did to because you were about to go crazy. After the scandal came out about you and your ex-coach judge, she asked you if you wanted to get back into pairs. She went on about how Lucas was open to joining pairs again and that maybe you could get back with him—tempting offer. You’ve thought about it, though you still haven’t made a decision. It has been months since your injury, you can no longer use it as an excuse to take things easy. 

Determined to get it right, you skate back to your starting point and try it again. You skate forward, bending your knees just slightly to gain more momentum and once you turn, you take off into a triple salchow. Perfect.

”Finally,” You mutter, skating over to the edge of the rink where your coach is just getting off a phone call.

“Okay, Lucas will be here on Thursday to practice with you,” She smiles, tucking her phone in her pocket, “there’s a competition in two months and I think you two should sign up for it.”

“Coach, I haven’t decided if I want to get back into that,” You put on your blade guards and walk over to the lockers, “I just don’t know yet.”

“Think about it,” She leans against the lockers as you untie your skates and put them in your bag, “if you’re seriously pursuing this career, you have to be flexible. You’re not getting any younger. I hate it just as much as you do but you’ll get positive exposure with him and maybe even pick up a sponsor for the season.”

“Fine,” You zip up your duffel bag and slip your hoodie on, deciding to leave the yoga pants on, “but I need a break. I worked a night shift last night so I’m only standing because I took three espresso shots and I’m about to take another one, I’m exhausted.”

“I know you are, try to get some rest this weekend. You’ll be at the ballet studio for half of next week so you won’t be on the ice,” She says that, hoping it’ll give you some relief, “just don’t forget to soak your feet tonight.”

You gather your stuff and walk out of the center, waving at Carrie the desk clerk like a zombie. It’s only 8 o’clock but you’ve been here for two hours, you feel like you’re in a time loop. An eternal warp created to keep you totally spent. When you hop in your car, you crank it up and turn the heat on. Not long after, your eyelids begin to feel heavy so you drive over to the closest coffee shop. When you look down at your phone, you see a missed call from Jeon Jungkook. All prior emojis have been removed from his contact.

His call will stay missed, just like the other five. You’re not in the mood for his sob story. About two weeks ago, you decided that you two needed to take a break but he took it hard. You remember sitting on your couch with crossed arms and staring at him as he twisted and squirmed uncomfortably.

“What kind of break?”

Are there different kinds?

“The kind where we stop seeing each other all the time, I don’t know what kind that is, Jungkook. But I can’t deal with this right now, it’s causing me major stress and anxiety...”

“You can’t deal with me?” He sounds hurt.

“Not with you Jungkook, with your crap. I have a ice skating career to try to work out, a job, school, the last thing I need to worry about is whether you can control yourself,” You frown, “you were just at my house with my niece and next thing I know you’re out getting high and fooling around with other girls.”

“You’re still upset about the photo,” He concludes, “baby, I told you, it didn’t go anywhere with that girl, I pushed her off. I wasn’t completely sober but I know I didn’t let her-”

“That’s exactly my point, you were doing drugs. And for what? You don’t need it. I understand a little bit of smoking every now and then but I can’t handle when you do that other stuff. That night was a disaster. I got stabbed, how does that even happen? But of course, it would happen to me,” You massage the sides of your temples. “I’m just over it, I’m tired.”

“You want to give up on us? Just like that? I’ve apologized a thousand times, I don’t know how to prove to you that I’m sorry,” He twiddles his fingers and bites at his bottom lip, “I don’t know what else to do.”

“I’m not giving up,” You defend, “we need some space to work on our selves.”

“Why can’t we work on ourselves together?”

“We’ve been doing that and it doesn’t work.”

The conversation continued on until you two ended up arguing for a good hour before you lied, saying you had to go to class. He left and you haven’t heard from him since, not a a call, a text, a call, not even a like on any of your recent posts. He’s taking this well.

*

“Why did you do that!? She’s gonna think I called her,” Jungkook snatches the phone from Jimin, “fuck, are you trying to get me killed?”

“Come on,” Jimin roles his eyes with a grin, putting his boxing gloves back on, “you guys can’t stay away from each other, you expect me to believe you two aren’t talking-”

“I’m serious, we haven’t talked for weeks,” Jungkook locks his phone with a frown, tucking it in his gym bag, “she’s done with me.”

“Oh, aw man,” He is serious, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you guys broke up.” 

He had been by you and Jungkook for the entirety of the relationship, it always seemed like you preferred things to be spontaneous. Admittedly, he knew Jungkook would do something that pushed you over the edge one day but he didn’t think it would be so soon. 

“We didn’t break up,” Jungkook mumbles, tying his hair back with a head band, “we’re just taking a break, that’s what she told me at least.”

“Aw, that sucks,” Jimin has to contain his amusement, it’s not funny but the fact that Jungkook is giving you full control over the relationship is unusual to him.

“Every time I think about trying to talk to her, I just remember that face she makes and that tone she uses. That’s when I know she does not give a single fuck, it’s scary.” 

“Is there a reason she’s being so hard on you? Don’t get me wrong, you were in the wrong. You shouldn’t have been there but it’s been weeks.”

“Her past relationship was rough on her mentally and emotionally. When she was young she had some things happen to her that causes her to have a hard time trusting others.”

“If you knew that then why did you do what you did?”

“I don’t know, okay? Everyone's been beating me up about it but I just don’t have an answer for you. I said I was sorry,” Jungkook shakes his head, fists making brunt contact with the punching bag, “I just I miss her,”

“It’ll be alright, she’ll come around,” Jimin holds the bag, keeping it still for the lovesick boy, “just give it some time. Hey, I’m taking my niece to the ice-skating rink in town, you should come!”

Jungkook, dramatically collapses to the ground, laying back on the ground with his boxing gloves on his face. “Ice-skating, why would you suggest ice-skating!?” He whines. “That’s literally what she does, it’s just going to remind me of her...”

“Aw Kook, I know,” Jimin can’t help but giggle at Jungkook’s overreaction, “that’s okay, you’ll be fine, and besides,” He pulls him up from the ground and pushes his shaggy hair back, “you can’t stay away from each other forever..”

“What about this one?” You step out of the dressing room, turning from side-to-side to let her see, “I like the color.”

“That’s the one,” Harmony scrolls through her phone, eyes going between you and the screen, “perfect.”

“Harmony, you’re just saying that!” You whine, turning to look into the mirror again with a frown.

“Y/n, this is the 11th dress you’ve tried on, it looks great. I’m serious.”

“Okay, I’ll go with this one then,” You smile, going back in the dressing room to change back into your clothes. Yuna’s having a party for the charity she works with. All of the money donated goes to buying toys and clothes for kids in foster care and orphanages, you attend every year. 

“You know, I heard Jungkook might come with Taehyung,”

Ugh, you forgot that your groups of friends are also friends. Jeon Jungkook, you still consider him your boyfriend in some aspects, but you don’t want to face him right now. Maybe you’re dragging this out too far but honestly, you don’t care. You love him but right now, you’re doing too well to let him crawl himself back into your life. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t creeping on his social media every now and then, you do care enough to see how he’s doing on there. 

“Hm,” 

“That’s all you have to say?” She giggles.

“Yup.”

“Did you officially dump his ass yet?”

You step out of the dressing room, rolling your eyes harder than necessary.

“Look, what happened to you was terrible. You couldn’t skate because of him. You caught him with another girl and you still let him take you home,” She was still bitter about Jungkook taking you away the way he did, she still thinks she should have insisted more.

You clear your throat, “I rather not talk about it.” 

It’s been admittedly awkward every time one of your friends bring that night up. On one hand, you understand why they bash him so hard but on the other hand, it’s hard to hear. You two leave the mall and grab lunch to eat in the comfort of your car..

During this break, you’ve decided to try and take things slow, relax. Admittedly, it would be nice to have Jungkook around again, to run errands with, to cuddle with. It’s hard not to miss him, you knew it would be. 

“We should go to the pop-up ice-skating rink on campus today, it’s a family thing I think,” Harmony squeezes ketchup onto her fries with a thoughtful him, “it sounds fun.”

“It’s funny you say that, Lucas invited me to go ther. He was going to go with his family, I told him I probably wouldn’t be able to.” You sigh.

“Oh, that’s right! The prince is back in town,” Harmony always had a thing for Lucas, even in high school. When you two were partners years ago, she still had a crush on him, “then we definitely should go. Are you getting back into pairs with him?

“Yeah, we’ll do one season together next year.” You have to admit, you are excited to get back into the practice with one of your best friends. 

“I’ll definitely have to brush up on my ballet lessons and I was always a bit too shaky during lifts. Our instructions used to say if I don’t look comfortable during lifts on the stable ground, I can’t expect to look good while I’m being lifted and Lucas is still skating. I trust Lucas a lot more now so I think it’ll go well,”

“Jungkook will love that.”

You take a bite of your chicken sandwich with a heavy sigh, “He’ll live...”

“Uncle,” Yona sits with her little brother in the back seat while they wait for Jungkook to finish pumping the gas, “why does your friend look so grumpy? Doesn’t he want to go skating with us?”

Jimin glances back at Yona and smiles, thinking of how he should explain Jungkook’s situation. “He’s just upset, he’s fine.”

“What is he upset about?” Jimin hesitates for a moment but Jungkook signals that he’s running inside for something.

“Well,” He turns to face her, “can you keep a secret?” She eagerly nods. “Kookie is a little sad because he misses his girlfriend.”

“Oh, what happened to her?” Yona frowns, fearing what Jimin might say.

“Nothing happened to her, he’s okay, they just haven’t seen each other in a long time,” He rakes his brain, trying not to say too much about Jungkook’s love life, “but it’s okay, he’s alright. Just try to understand, he’s not trying to be a grump, he’s just a big teddy bear who pretends to be tough when he’s sad,” He grins, “but don’t tell him I said that.”

“Oh,” She nods adorably, pitying Jungkook, “I won’t,”

in the nick of time, Jungkook comes back with a receipt and mumbles something about the poor management in the convenience store. Jimin notices how Yona looks at him with sympathetic eyes but Jungkook doesn’t seem to notice. He’s too wrapped up in his phone to see that a 9-year-old is pitying his dysfunctional love-life.

It doesn’t take long before the four of them arrive at the skating rink and Jimin is helping, Juda, Yona’s sleepy 5-year-old brother out of the car. Yona takes the liberty of escorting her self out and walking over to Jungkook.

“Hi,” She looks up at him, not even a little intimidated by his towering stature over herself.

Jungkook looks around, as if she’s talking to someone else. “Hi,” He gives her a small wave, “it’s Yona, right?”

“Yes,” She nods, walking by his side, “uncle said your girlfriend skates, do you skate too?” 

Jungkook mentally cringes, bracing himself for whatever Jimin told this little girl about his personal life. “No, I’m a boxer, she’s the skater.”

“Ahh, ice skating is prettier than boxing, you should ice skate too,” She looks back at Jimin and Juda walking side by side, wondering if she should walk with them or stay with Jungkook. Just when she was about to further judge Jungkook’s life choices, Jimin and Juda catch up. Jimin leads the four of them to the skate rental booth where Jungkook avoids eye contact with the girls behind the counter. It’s hard enough to be in your environment, let alone be surrounded by couples and families skating to their hearts content. It’s not the same without you, it doesn’t feel like he should even be trying to enjoy himself after what he did to you.

Jimin and the kids get their skates on, but Jungkook tells them to go ahead without him. The more he sits here, the less he wants to be here.

*

“We decided to come and skate for a little bit, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take your invitation, I didn’t think I’d be able to come.” You and Harmony skate out onto the ice.

Lucas stands at the edge of the rink, smiling. “It’s okay, I’m here with my family so don’t sweat it, hey! You wanna practice a routine, for old time sake?”

“There are way too many people to be practicing a routine. Besides, I’m already sore from practice yesterday.”

“Where’s your boyfriend? I thought you told me he skates with you sometimes,” He skates a circle around you, a toothy grin on his face, “I want to meet him.”

“He was busy,” You lie. You don’t know where Jungkook is or what he’s doing, “It’s just us.″

Somehow, he believes you and skates off with his family while you breathe.

“You lie,” Harmony shakes her head as if to say shame on you.

“What was I supposed to say? I’m not gonna burden him with my personal problems.”

You two go back and forth until she surrenders, claiming she’ll leave you a Jungkook’s relationship out of her mouth for the rest of the day. You highly doubt she can but you appreciate the effort. 

Nononononono—why is he here? And blonde. Your eyes widen, your palms get sweaty, just seeing him affects you. You’ve missed him. Judging by the way he’s sitting on the bench with his skates beside him, he looks sad. Who is he here with? 

”Y/n, Harmony, hey!” Jimin skates over to you with two little kids by his side, they’re so cute. “What’re you two doing here?”

”Jimin? Hi, fancy meeting you here, we decided to come last minute,” You’ve connect the dots now, “who are these two cuties?”

“I’m babysitting my niece and nephew,” He holds both of your hands and the both of them say a shy little greeting, “say hello guys,”

“Hi,” Yona waves at you two and you greet her with a bright smile.

Jimin glances back at Jungkook who has yet to notice you. “Y/n, can I talk to you for a minute?” You nod.

“Harmony can you please watch them for a second?”  “Me? Um, I guess but-”

You skate to the edge of the rink and Jimin follows, you already anticipating what this conversation is about.

“Jungkook is here.”

“I know, I saw him,” You deadpan.

“Look, I know what happened between you guys and he probably doesn’t want me to say this, but he’s been the biggest bitch since you two split, I’ve never seen him so at odds with himself.”

“What am I supposed to do about that? That’s not my fault.” You frown.

“I’m not saying that you need to do anything,” Now he understands what Jungkook meant about your infamous tone. “I just wanted to let you know, I figured you haven’t talked.”

“I’m sorry,” You hold your face in your hands, “I’m not trying to be mean, I just have a lot on my mind and I wasn’t expecting to have to deal with him today.”

“Maybe you two can talk, I’m not saying you should get back together but maybe talking face to face will help you find common ground?”

That’s advice that you know you should take but the thought of talking to him makes your stomach uneasy. It’s easier to ignore him, erase him from your life while you figure out what you want. You’re very childish in the aspect of talking things out, he is too.

“Here he comes,” Jimin looks over at Jungkook who is slowly approaching you two, “I’ll give you two some space-”

“Jimin, I swear, if you did this on purpose!-” Your threat is cut short when he skates away and Jungkook skates up to you. As if you don’t even see him, you quickly skate away, uninterested in anything he might have to say.

Jungkook knows he can’t possibly out-skate you. He mumbles a few curses before skating over to Jimin and the kids as frustrated as ever. For a moment, he almost changed course because Harmony, his biggest hater, is with them and she is one of the last people he wants to see.

“Jungkook, hey,” Jimin sighs, dreading the angry frown in Jungkook’s brows, “I’m glad you decided to-”

“Did you know she was here?” Jungkook cuts straight to the punch, not paying any mind to Harmony whose staring at him as if he’s a mass murderer.

“No,” Jimin shrugs, voice low in order not to alarm the kids who are skating near by, “you know I would have told you.”

“I’ll be in the car.” He skates off, anxious to get off the ice but he’s stopped when another skater bumps into his shoulder.

“Sorry!-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jungkook shrugs, but just when Jungkook was about to leave the guy gives him a weird look. 

“Wait, what’s your name? You look so familiar,”

“Jungkook,” He responds with a bit of impatience, “I don’t think I know you from anywhere, sorry-”

“You’re Y/n’s boyfriend! She showed me some of her pictures pictures,” Lucas smiles but Jungkook’s eyes darken, “I’m Lucas, we’re competing in pairs again next season, I’m sure she’s told you.”

“Oh, I didn’t know, probably slipped her mind,” You haven’t mentioned it on purpose. Then again, how could you? You haven’t talked in weeks.

Just when he thought this day couldn’t get any worse, he meets your partner, and he’s not ugly,

“She said you couldn’t come because you were busy, did you come to surprise her?”

“Something like that- I’m sorry, I gotta go.”

“Okay, well...nice to meet you,” Lucas waves him off but Jungkook doesn’t pay him any mind. 

He thought this might go differently, why did he think that? As soon as he saw you, that tug in his heart came back, that desire to be around you came back. When you walked away, it made him feel like crap, you didn’t even want to look at him.

While he’s skating off to the side to leave the rink, he sees you taking off your personal skates and putting them in their bag. Of course, your caddie is right next to where his heavy black boots are. He enters the room opens the caddie with the little pass-code they gave him when he rented the skates. You spare him a glance as you tie your sneakers and he sits to get his shoes on.

“Did you have to ignore me like that?” He decides to speak up.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” You frown, “I don’t even know why you’re here.”

“Since when did you start caring where I go?” He bites back. “You’ve been ghosting me for fucking weeks and suddenly I’m not allowed to go out?”

“I didn’t want to see you...I was doing so good, I was forgetting about you.” You lean back, not giving him eye contact.

”Wow, just what I wanted to hear,” He thought you would say something like that but he didn’t expect you to be so blunt. 

“You can’t say you’re surprised, can you?”

“No, but the least you can do is talk to me.”

”Fine, that’s fair. What do you have to say?” You stand to your feet, your bag tight in your hand/

”Believe it or not,” He gets up to lean on the wall behind him, “I love you, so I'm letting you drag me along and make all of the rules but I’m just asking that you communicate with me, I need to know what you want,” He tends to ask this question when he’s most desperate for your good side to emerge.

“Why don’t you tell me what you want? I’m not the one going around making decisions that hurt our relationship, not recently anyway.” You throw a jab at him, you couldn’t contain it anymore.

“If you’re trying to make me feel like shit, you’ve succeeded. You’ve been succeeding for weeks now, it’s actually starting to get to me, mentally.” As he says that, an unsuspecting few individuals come in to get there things.

“Can-” You pause and walk over to him to eliminate the awkward distance, “Can we talk about this somewhere else?”

His spirits brighten a little because at least you’re interested in continuing the conversation, you haven’t even attempted to do that until now. So when he stutters out an “okay”, his feet move as soon as yours do. He’s walking right next to you and you find yourself keeping your arms crossed, away from his hands that you would normally be holding. By the time you walk out to the rink, Jimin is still with the kids and Harmony is gone, probably in the restroom. You find a secluded area near the concession area and take a seat, he does the same right across from you. 

“Do you want to break up?” 

He puts it out there. He’s never been the one to hesitate, especially when his heart is on the line.

“What do you mean?” You swallow, not expecting to be confronted with that question.

He almost scoffs because you’re having a similar reaction to his reaction to you telling him you wanted to take a break.

“Do you not want to be in a relationship anymore? If this isn’t something you’re willing to do anymore, I need you to tell me so I can grieve in peace...I feel really lost right now.”

“Grieve? I’m not going to die if we break up, Jungkook, and I never said I wanted to break up—I never said I didn’t love you either. That’s not what this is about, it’s not about whether we love each anymore, it’s about trust.” 

“How can I gain your trust?”

You look around, making sure no one is listening in on you two before mumbling out your answer. “I don’t know...I just don’t trust you, I can’t tell you how to make it up to me because people who screw me over, I normally stay as far away from them as I can.”

All you can think about is the lies from your birth-mother, the betrayal and humiliation that came over you when you found out about your ex. Situations like that always come to mind when the subject of trust is mentioned. You’ve been hurt and Jungkook knows that, he knows when you feel like you can’t trust someone, you shut down. You want nothing to do with that person, your pain blinds you—its your character flaw.

“You’re lucky I’m even talking to you right now,” You mumble, nibbling at your bottom lip.

“Yeah, I know.” He scoffs, a look of disbelief that turns into an understandable shrug of his shoulders. 

“I’ve always thought of you as someone I didn’t deserve, you know that,” He glances down at his twiddling fingers, “when we got together, you changed me and I’m so grateful for that...I was such a shitty person before I met you- I mean, I’m sure you think I’m shitty now but I was way worse.” It surprises you when you see tears welling at his eyes that he quickly wipes away, tattooed fingers getting a bit wet.

“Jungkook,” You lay a hand over his with sympathetic eyes, “I still love you.”

“Seriously?” He glances up at you, surprised. 

“Yes...You hurt me, you made me feel stupid and I’m not over it...But I never forget those times where I made life difficult for you, you never made me feel irredeemable. No matter how awful I acted, you never made me feel like a burden. That’s more than I can say about a lot of people in my life.”

The more you talk this out with him, the more you realize how harshly you’ve been treating him. It doesn’t change how you feel about your relationship, but it does open your eyes to the standard you’ve been holding him to. You don’t know if you’re ready to start again.

“Well, I have to be honest with you,” He looks at you through his dirty blonde locks, “it still hurts like hell to have you treat me like a stranger. That shit is painful, even for me.”

“I’m sorry,” You murmur out an apology before you can really think about it, “I’m just upset at you is all...” Slowly, you take your hand off of his and your eyes wander back to his dear-like eyes. 

“Everyone’s telling me I should let you go but I don’t want to. I just need to know that you’re willing to wait for me, and to work on yourself...”

“I’ll do anything, I’ll do whatever it takes for us,”

Shortly after that day, you found yourself thinking more and more about your future. It made you cringe at one point, what were you planning to do with the rest of your life? Whatever you planned to do, you always imagined Jungkook would be by your side. Now, you’re coming to terms with the fact that things may not go as planned.

“Y/n, are you ready?” Lucas calls your name from outside of the dressing room.

”What are you doing in here? This is the woman’s locker room,” You open the door, now fully dressed in your new leotard.

”We’re the only ones here,” Lucas stands with a matching outfit, far less sparkly as yours.

”Why does she always pick these leotards for me? You always get the toned down looks-” You walk over to the mirror, furrowing your brows, “Oh, actually, this one is kinda nice.”

“She knows you’re the most dramatic out of the two of us, maybe that’s why,” He shrugs his shoulders before quickly running back out into the ballet studio. Your least favorite part of your career is the ballet lessons, it’s the most grueling.

“Come on out, Y/n, we only have the studio for the morning so we need to use our time wisely.”

“Sorry,” You walk out with an urgency, “the costume fits okay, a little snug but it’s doable.”

Coach gives you a knowing look, she’s been floating the idea of a diet around. As committed as you are to your craft, dieting is one thing you don’t think you need to do well. You try to stay fit but sometimes you’re more concerned about your dwindling love life than you dress size. The ballet instructor emerges from around the corner and you cringe, the next few hours are about to be painful. 

Yet, as the class progresses, your thoughts drift farther from the positions and you find yourself zoning out completely.

*

*

At one point in time, you couldn’t imagine being without Jungkook. Out of all of the people who’ve come and gone out of your life, he stayed. He became your best friend and your first love.

“I don’t want to be here anymore, please, just let me go home,” You sat on the hotel room floor, hair pin in your hands and a painfully cold ice bag on your ankle, “...I can’t go back out there.”

She stands with crossed arms, her unchanging expression not doing anything for your emotional state.”Y/n, you are a professional, and do you know what professionals do?”

”No.”

“They finish the competition, no matter what. You need to stay for the judging, “

“Why? I fell on my biggest jump on live television. Cindy. I look like an amateur...There’s no way in hell they’ll even consider placing me. That means I’m done for, I might as well kiss nationals goodbye.”

”That was the last program, you still have a chance-“

”Not after Charlotte’s routine! You said it yourself, I had to be flawless or Charlotte would take my spot in the qualifying team, there was no room for error. This is the one time it had to be perfect...” You use the bed to help you up and you sit down n the edge of it.

”It won’t be perfect every time. You work harder than any girl I know, and not just in this sport, you work hard at whatever you do and you support yourself, you’re the only girl I know who’s parents aren’t paying for you to be here. You deserve to be here, you made one mistake, one. It’s not the end of the world, sweetheart,” Cindy takes a seat beside you, a comforting hand going to your shoulder, “these things happen.”

You take a deep breath, trying to calm down and think rationally. Cindy is trying her best to talk you off of the ledge but you’re very much still there. She says you work so hard, but what do you have to show for it? You’re doing this alone a majority of the time. Your family only comes to support you sometimes, they don’t have a lot of free time to spend on your hobby. Your iceskating is a glorified hobby to them, they won’t say it but it’s true. After they told you to pick a major and find a good paying 9-5, they stopped paying for your iceskating. They’re paying for school but that’s it, you’re supporting yourself in every other aspect. That gave you all the reason to try to prove to them that you were an exceptional athlete. To prove to them that you did it all on your own, that’s your only goal. Yet, the more you reach for that, the farther you get from it.

”Listen, I need to check on the other girls, alright? I hope you reconsider.” She pecks your forehead, a motherly affection that you’ve come to appreciate from her. She is like a mom in some ways. She cares for the entire team, and she would never say it, but she has a particular soft spot for you. She can see how much you want this, how the ice can take you to a different place.

You were meant to do this, she always tells you that. She saw the fire in you as soon as she accepted you on her team. Your passion attracted her to you, you never stopped, you had so much drive. Some people are meant to fight tooth and nail for what they want, sometimes you have to ask yourself, why do I have be one of those people?

Ignoring your better judgment, you packed your bags and took the 2-hour drive back to your apartment. All while you were fleeing the city to seek refuge at home, you received multiple phone calls from Jungkook but you couldn’t bring yourself to call him back. When you got home, you took off your tracksuit and sank face first into your coach. 

As much as you wanted Jungkook to come to the competition, you insisted that he stay and take that job. He hasn’t been boxing as much so any extra art job he can take, you encourage him to take it. He told you he’d streamed the competition while working on the mural at a nearby bar. His heart sank when you took that fall.  You put hours of practice into that routine and perfected it, he had seen you do it flawlessly several times. 

All he wanted to do was hug you and tell you that you did well but all he could do was hope that you weren’t beating yourself up. He could only imagine how devastated you were and to not be able to be there for you, he couldn’t stand it. He finished up the mural and you had finally texted him saying, ‘I came home early.’ He went straight to your apartment with the big pink bunny he bought for you, you need it even more now.

”Hey, it’s me,” He opened the front door and announced himself softly and walks further inside. 

The television barely illuminates the living room but he sees you laying on the couch. He sits the bunny down behind the couch so you can’t see them before walking around to greet you in your depressing state.

“I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow, baby,” He rests a hand on thigh and kisses your cheek, “you must’ve known how much I was missing you,” His attempt to make you smile goes painfully unnoticed. 

He bites at his bottom lip in thought. “Did something happen?...”

You swallow the lump in your throat and finally look him in the eyes, “Did you watch my second program?” 

“I did, you looked beautiful-”

“I’m quitting.”

He turns his whole body to you, brows deeply furrowed like a cartoon character. “What?”

You cover your face with a pillow, successfully hiding your tears, “I’m calling Cindy to tell her I don’t want to do it anymore, I quit.”

“Woah, wait, why?” He takes the pillow from you to see your face, “Y/n, calm down, what’s going on? Tell me what happened.”

“I- I didn’t make the national team, that was my only chance until next year. All my hard work went down the drain and everyone saw me screw up..” You wipe your tears with your sleeve.

“Hey, it’s okay, you cry if you need to,” He pulls you into a hug, cradling your head to his chest, “I know this is tough for you but it’s not the end of the world, it’ll get better.”

You pull away from him as if he were suddenly hot to the touch and bury your face into the arm of the couch. “You wouldn’t understand, the pique of my career was riding on this, and I blew it. It feels like the end of my world, okay?” 

You know your words are muffled by the couch, that’s probably for the better anyway. “T- that’s just how I feel...” 

He doesn’t pry any further after that. He knows there’s not much he can say to change your mind right now. Instead, he scoots closer to your side and places a comforting hand on your back, rubbing soothing circles as he waits for you to continue.

“I have nothing if I lose this, there’s all this pressure on my shoulders and its tearing me apart...” You turn to wipe your face and sit up. “I love skating, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do...if I stop, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

You’ll never forget that night. 

He lifted you into his lap and kept his arms tight around you. “You’re so much more than just your skating. You’re so good at but it’s not all that you are.” Jungkook has a way of talking you off of the edge but that night, you were especially down on yourself.

“Yes it is...” 

“No it’s not,” He sighs, “look, I know what it feels like to find your identity in something and then all of a sudden, that something is gone...When my portfolio got rejected, I felt like a failure. My family never got behind the boxing thing, so I’ve always tried to find another way to support myself just in case for whatever reason it doesn’t work out...I didn’t start realizing that until recently. I’m constantly torn between giving up one dream for the other but I want to do both, you actually inspire me to do both.” You furrow your brows, briefly abandoning your own issues to listen to him. 

“You work so hard and you’re showing your family that you can do this, you just have to believe in yourself, and you know what? You’re doing amazing. Tonight was just a bad night, it happens.” He squeezes you tight and you do the same, arms fastened around his neck as if it would kill you to let go.

You didn’t need to say anything after that. You settled your mind and you were no longer at the edge, you were still close, but not there. With your head resting over his shoulder, you try to peek over the couch to see what he dropped back there when he walked in.

“Hey, what’d you think you’re doing?” Jungkook leans forward and your grip around him is loosened so you can no longer look back there. “You think I got something for you?”

You look down a bit embarrassed that he caught you, “Well, yeah...you did,  didn’t you?” You smile for the first time tonight and he breathes a sigh of relief. Finally.

He was going to tease you for wanting your gifts even though you just had a meltdown. But how could he? He wants to keep this smile on your face for as long as possible.

“Sit,” He lifts you off his lip and back to your previous seat on the couch, “no peeking.”

You hold your hands over your eyes, excited even thought have no idea what it might be.

“Okay, open.”

When you move your hands to see you squeal in excitement. “Oh, Jungkook! It’s so cute!” You stand up to take the pink bunny that’s almost more than half your size. “Thank you,” You lean into him with the bunny between you two, “it’s so big and soft, like you.”

“Yeah I know,” He sways from side-to-side with you in his arms, “you feeling better?”

You muffle your sigh into the stuffed animal, “I still wanna quit.”

“Oh stop,” He pulls the from your grip and tosses it onto the couch, “you’re just being bratty now,”

“No I’m not,” You whine, the issue still very fresh, “I’m still sad...I just really like my gift and I’m happy to see you...But I am still upset.”

“Aw, I’m sorry,” He lays on the couch and beckons you into his arms to lay on his chest, “let’s cuddle you until you feel better then, will that help?” 

“Maybe...”  

You’d be lying if you said you could live without that side of him.

*

A few days later, you’re surprised you hadn’t heard from him. But when you get back from the gym with a missed call from him and a solemn text to  ‘call back when you can’, you actually call him back.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothings wrong. Thank you for calling me back.” 

His voice sounds relaxed but a bit anxious.

“Did you need something?” You sigh, pouring your boiling water in your mug.

“Are you free to go with me somewhere at 11? And then maybe, we could grab dinner? Just-...Don’t be mad, please.”

Anxiety bubbles in your chest.

“What’re you talking about?”

“I signed us up for couples therapy.”

“You did what?” Somewhere in your mind, you had wanted him to bring this up—you never imagined that he actually would.

”You said we don’t know how to work on ourselves together, I read that therapy helps with that. Will you go with me? If you don’t like it, you never have to do it again I swear.”

“Jungkook...I appreciate the effort, I really do, but how did you find this therapist? Do you trust them?”

”Of course. He has great reviews online and my-...Well, my mom found him actually.”

You pause, a bit taken aback. He talked to his mom about your relationship and he took her advice about seeing a therapist? He must have really taken your words to heart about getting help.

“Can you pick me up?”

“Sure, I’ll be there in 20.”

When he picked you up, you were reminded just how well he could clean up. Sure, he always dresses so well and smells amazing, but he’s different today—you can tell he put in a lot of effort. You’re glad you decided to do your makeup and where a nice sundress, you would have felt terribly under-dressed.

“Hi, how can I help you?

“Hi, we have an appointment for Jeon at 5, with Seojoon.”

You stand next to Jungkook at the front desk, your hands tightly clutching your purse. It’s hard to not think the woman is judging you and Jungkook for being here. She’s probably seen hundreds of people come into this office but something in you can’t shake the feeling. She directs you two to the waiting room and says he’ll come get you two in a few minutes.

“So,” You begin, glancing at Jungkook, “I’m nervous...” 

“Me too.” This is new for the both of you. In only a few seconds, who you assume to be Seojoon emerges from the hallway and you look at him a bit wide-eyed. 

“Hi, Jungkook, Y/n, are you two ready?” 

“Oh, um, yes.” You stand up in sync with Jungkook, already wanting to run out of here but you resist.

You have to admit that the office is really nice, not stiff and sterile looking, the energy is very calming. Seojoon opens the door to a cozy-looking room with tons of natural sun light. There’s warm-rose colored couch that you assume is for ‘the couple.’

“Alright, you can take a seat right there, make yourselves comfortable.” He smiles, taking a seat and you two do the same.

“So let’s get right into it. What brought you two here today? If you could both tell me your separate answers, that would be great.” Despite Seojoon looking at you directly to presumably go first, you divert your eyes and look at Jungkook to say something first.

“Well, we’re- I think we’re going through a lot right now and I just want to save our relationship.” Jungkook sits back, resting against the arm of the couch as he gazes at you to give your answer.

“What about you, Y/n?”

You glance down at your lap, feeling very out of your comfort zone and not confident enough to verbalize what you would like to say. Alas, you try.

“I feel the same way, we’re not in a good place and I’m confused about what to do-...I just want what we used to have.” You confess a bit of your true feelings but ignore the longing look Jungkook gives you.

“When did you start feeling like the relationship was changing?”

“Fairly recently. We were fine, at least I thought we were until I saw him with another girl back in an old lifestyle that I thought he gave up...”

Seojoon diverts his attention away from you and to Jungkook. “Jungkook, do you want to share a little bit about that?”

“Not really,” He answers honestly at least.

“Why not?”

“To be honest, I don’t know why she keeps throwing the same jab at me. I’ve told her the truth but she doesn’t want to hear it. I went out that night,” He almost glares at you, “I didn’t plan to. I ran into an old friend and I just-...I thought it was harmless and I got caught up...” 

Seojoon scribbles something down. “Okay, so can you fill me in a little bit. Are we talking about unfaithfulness? Addiction?”

“Unfaithfulness,” You interject. “he said he didn’t cheat on me but...” You mumble, your confidence faltering for some reason. “It’s hard to believe that.”

“But you think he did so you have some distrust. Were you unfaithful, Jungkook?”

“It doesn’t matter if I say I did or I didn’t, she thinks I did.” He shrugs.

”Y/n,” Seojoon puts an end to the death stare you had on Jungkook, “can you tell Jungkook what cheating looks like to you?”

”Not sleeping with her doesn’t mean you didn’t cheat on me. Letting her put her hands on you- And I don’t care if it was just a kiss! You shouldn’t have been in that situation, and for me to have to see it on social media? I could have killed you I was so mad. You should ask Jungkook what cheating is to him. We obviously have different standards for defining it...”

”What does cheating look like to you, Jungkook?” He heeds your suggestion without any push-back.

”To me,” He hesitates, feeling a bit scrutinized, “it’s when a person violates the intimacy of the relationship by giving it to someone else.”

“What kind of intimacy?”

��Emotional, physical, every kind,” He turns to you, “I wouldn’t do thingst that I do with Y/n with anyone else, not by choice-”

“Yes you would! You did...Are you trying to tell me that you were assaulted? That she forced her way on you?”

“I was blitzed! I don’t fucking know. All I do know is that she got on top of me and I pushed her off. That’s it. I swear, if anything else happened, I don’t remember it.”

“I don’t care. You know what I’ve been through, to even allow another girl to even get close to touching you like that...It was a slap in the face.”

Seojoon’s ears perk up at the mention of your past. “Did you have to go through a similar situation in a previous relationship?” 

“Yes and he knows this. I was being cheated on before and the guy had a literal baby on the way throughout our entire relationship...It was traumatizing.” It stings his ears to hear you say that. But it’s true, he knows your past and he didn’t let it stop him. 

“What happened must have triggered you,” You nod to yourself, “but you’re here to try to work through forgiveness and build trust. If you two are comfortable with it, I’d like you do do two exercises; one here and one when you’re alone. The first one that you’ll do here, I need you to face each other, preferably close, and I have some questions for you two to ask each other.”

“Like this?” Jungkook answers instantly and turns to you, getting closer to you than he has in weeks. You face him slowly, eyes wavering a bit. His face has always been a soft-spot for you, staring at him makes you feel weak.

“Actually,” Seojoon stands up, gesturing for you to do the same, “two chairs might be more comfortable, yeah? Let’s go to my other room.”

You follow Seojoon to a small room with three chairs a small table in front of them. Jungkooks pulls seat out so they’re facing each other. When you look up to acknowledge him with deliberate eye-contact, for a moment he thinks you might be softening. 

“I want you all to start with ‘I’ statements, tell your partner how you feel or how you felt in this case. Try to maintain eye-contact and truly listen to each other.”

“I’ll go first,” You volunteer because you want to get this over with.

“I feel alone and helpless when you go back to your old habits, I feel like you’re hiding things from me...” You find a way to keep your eyes-locked to his. 

“I’m not asking you to be perfect but I just want you to make me feel special to you...Like you wouldn’t dream of being with someone else. Because I don’t think of loving anyone else, and trust me I’ve tried to imagine it but I can’t,” You bite your cheek to keep from crying, “you make it so hard to trust you. You don’t listen and you don’t change until it’s too late.” 

Being emotionally inept is something you are both too good at. It’s difficult for you to share your true feelings with a clear mind, but when you do, you can never guess what will happen next. 

“I feel trapped by you. I know I fucked everything up, okay? You don’t have to keep reminding me.” His tone is harsher than you anticipated. 

“I’m trying to put in the fucking effort to help us, and I’m giving you time. But when you tell me you still want me but you won’t even let me come around, it’s confusing. You’re confusing, that’s just how I feel.” His brows furrow and you notice Seojoon watches the exchange intently.

“But I miss you and I want you back, I don’t want to take a break,” He leans forward with his hands firmly gripping your knees over your dress, “I know you think I’m an asshole but I try to change, I’m trying, you know I wouldn't bring you to this if I could think of any other way to prove that to you.” The strain in his voice only stirs more emotions inside of you. 

“Jungkook,” Seojoon calls his name softly and Jungkook looks over as if he forgot he was there, “try not to engage in any physical, okay? It can be overwhelming.”

“Sorry,” He takes his hands from you and sits back, “that’s all I want to say.” 

“Alright, well, um,” Seojoon clears his throat, eager to break the tension up a little bit, “unfortunately our session is up but I want to give you two a list of exercises and talking points. I know this was a consultation appointment but I want to give you some things to work on at home. I’ll have Kelly type up your homework, alright?”

“Okay, thank you,” you both thank the therapist but you get up with an urgency and leave the room before Jungkook can follow you. When you make it out to the waiting room, you spot the bathroom and you bolt to it. Before you have to spend a car ride with him, you need to get your emotions together. 

“Mr. Jeon,” The receptionist calls him from the hall, “this is for you, you can bring it back to the next appointment for a discount.” Jungkook halfheartedly thanks her before going to the car. He doesn’t even know if there will be another session. He needs to smoke before you come out and you’ll freak if he smokes while you’re in the car. 

“Why did I come here...” You look at the mirror and frown, you look so rough. It was nice to get everything out in the open but you knew he’d get intense eventually. Only when the toilet flushed did you remember that there were multiple stalls in here. When you look away from the mirror to fumble through your purse, just trying to avoid talking to her. 

”Hi, how are you?”

“I’m okay, how are you?”

“Oh god, nervous, I’m nervous. Me and my husband, we’re newly weds, our appointment is in five minutes and I really don’t know what to expect. Did you have an appointment with your partner?”

“I did,” You sigh, “it was-...It was fine, don’t be nervous.” In your attempt to comfort her, you find your self in a highly hypocritical position. “Me and my boyfriend, we’re different so ours was a little- A little chaotic but I think it helped a little,” You hesitate, “I don’t know.”

“That makes me feel a little better, hopefully my husband behaves himself,” She tosses her wavy brown hair over her shoulder and smiles, “well, it was nice meeting you.”

It takes you a moment but you gather the strength to wave goodbye and go face your boyfriend.

”Excuse me, Miss, I think your husband forgot to grab this.” The receptionist waves you over and hands you a little folder.

”Oh,” You try to hide the blush forming on your cheeks.  he’s not my- We’re not married.” 

”Oh, I’m sorry! He only put his last name on the appointment so I thought it was your name as well. Sorry about that, have a great rest of your day.” She bids you farewell with a flustered smile.

When you walk outside, you see Jungkook leaning against the car. You thought he might’ve been smoking but you can’t detect any small. That’s a relief.

”You feeling okay?” He questions gently. 

You nod, hopping in the car with the desire to be home already. He gets in the car and glances at you from the corner of his eye, he worries that this might have been too much for you. 

“Where do you want to eat?” 

“There’s a ramen place down the street, that’s fine with me.” You suggest, eyes trained on your phone.

The air in the car isn’t tense or stiff, its just quiet. There’s a lot to unpack from the session and you figured Jungkook was thinking through it too. That’s why when you two arrived at the ramen shop, took your seats, and placed your orders, the silence was getting to be a bit too awkward for you.

“I like the new hair, you’ve never gone this blonde before,” You glance up at him, trying to start a conversation, “it looks good.”

“Thanks, it was an impulsive thing. I heard you decided to get back into pairs,” He brings the coke to his lips, “I was surprised to hear that.”

“Oh, yeah,” You figured he would find out soon, “I’m back with Lucas for the season.”

“Good for you,” That’s not a reaction you were expecting from anti-pairs-skating Jungkook. Then again, you know him well enough to know that he’s probably keeping his true opinion to himself.

“The receptionist gave this to me,” You pull the paper out of your purse and show it to him, “I think it has additional information.”

“Let me see,” You hand it to him, “hm, soul-gazing? What the hell is that...” He reads over the description and it makes him giggle. “Nonverbal communication between lovers, allows couples to explore intimate places in the relationship. We do this already, but it’s a little more than eye contact,” He recalls those dreamy moments that he used to share with you so often, gazing at you with a smile.

“We can try that later maybe,” You avoid his smile with a glance out the window.

“Okay. So, about the session today, I hope you understood where I was coming from...I didn’t expect to say all that, I’m sorry if it was too much.”

“Don’t apologize, I wanted to hear how you felt.”

“I’m sorry,” He extends a hand out on the table, hoping you’ll take it, “I’ve thought about what I’ve done and I’ve tried to repent for it. But at the end of the day, it’s up to you. But just tell this once, you miss us, don’t you?”

“I do, Jungkook...It’s just, I’m in a tough spot and I don’t- I don’t want to disappoint anyone or myself.”

“You’re talking about your friends or your family?” He frowns at the thought of either party trying to discourage you.

“My family doesn’t know anything about this, it’s my friends who are concerned for me. They saw me get hurt and they don’t want to see it happen again, they want me to be happy.”

“Don’t listen to them, all they do is talk shit about me and try to tell you what you need. The only people who have a say in this relationship is you and me. We choose what makes us happy, not them.”

“But I’m not happy,” And it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still being judged, “I’ve actually been depressed when I think about us, when I think about what we used to have and what we have now, how did this happen?”

“I’m sorry I did this to you,” He sighs when you finally reach out to take his hand, “I never mean to hurt you,”

“I want you back so bad sometimes,” You break, letting your true feelings out to him, “but just because I want it doesn’t mean I should, it’s always been hard for me to separate the two.”

“That never stopped you before,” He flashes that smile, the one you fell so hard for on the roof of his car. 

“Now look where I’m at,” You take your hand back, “going to therapy with you.”

*

*

Jungkook took you home and sunset had passed, it was already dark. You found yourself inviting him in, hugging him longer than you should have when he was on his way out. Why were you holding on to him so tight? His bomber jacket lands on the floor and you relish in his arms, you haven’t felt like this in a long time. Maybe it won’t hurt to let him in, indulge. It doesn’t take long before you let him kiss you for the first time in weeks. It feels new, it can happen a thousand times and it’ll always feel new. 

But then your phone begins to ring and reality washes over you like a cold shower.

“Wait,” You pull away from the kiss and slide off of the counter to his dismay, “I need to get that-”

“Ignore it,” Jungkook cups your jaw, trying to persuade you with longing eyes, “please ignore it-”

“I can’t, it’s my mom, something might be wrong,” You quickly answer the phone and walk into the living room. “Hello?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at home, is something wrong?”

“You forgot, didn’t you? Your brother Leo, you were supposed to pick him up so he could stay with you for the night. me and your dad had to take Milo to his Taekwondo tournament for the weekend.” Your mother stresses over the phone.

“I’m so sorry! Mom, seriously, I totally forgot,” This is the worst possible timing, “doesn’t Leo have his license, he can drive here, can’t he?”

“We have the car. Don’t worry about it, it’s handled now, his friend came by and he’s staying with him.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how that crossed my mind,” You can’t help but feel as if you’ve disappointed her by forgetting such a simple thing, “I’ve been busy, I’m prepping for the next season, I’m working and in school, it’s a lot right now-”

The conversation  ends with a cold lecture from her and a solemn goodbye when she hangs up. You massage your temples, and look at Jungkook who’s coping with the best part of his day being ruined by a phone call.

“Everything okay?”

“I forgot to pick up my brother, my mom asked if he could crash here but I forgot all about it..”

“When have any of your siblings actually visited you? Except for your sister when she needs a babysitter.” Jungkook always sports a defensive tone when your family comes into the conversation.

“He’s only come over a few times. But he has friends who live over here so that’s normally why,” You take a deep breath. “She sounded frustrated so I know she’s upset.”

”Don’t stress about that,” He comes in close, wrapping his arms around your waist. “your mom shouldn’t beat you up about that, especially since she knows how much you have on your plate.” He smooths down your hair and kisses your forehead gently. That innocent forehead kiss quickly migrated down to your neck and you bite your tongue.

”Jungkook, please,” You get out of his embrace and leave him longing.

"Why do you keep pushing me away? I know you, this isn’t like you. You push me away but never for this long,” He follows you to your bedroom where you kick off your shoes and take off you cardigan. ”If you’re serious about making this work again, you’ve gotta help me out a little here.” 

You feel him looming behind you, so close that you feel the warmth of him on your lower-back, or is that his hand?

“You’re here, aren’t you? I’m being really nice right now,” You step away from him, “but you need to stop.”

“Stop what?” He feigns ignorance.

“If that’s what you were hoping for you should just go,” You pick up his jacket and hand it to him, “it’s not happening.”

“Ok, but do you mind if I stay the night?” 

You stare at him in disbelief for a moment, debating whether or not that’s a good idea.

“Why? It’s not even that late yet.”

“I don’t want to make the drive home, I’ll leave first thing in the morning.” He pleads, those big round eyes helping his case immensely.

“Fine. But you’re on the couch,” He looks a bit disappointed but he was expecting that, “I’m gonna shower, you can wait for me or use the guest bathroom if you want.”

With that, you walk off into your bedroom to get your clothes and then into the bathroom in the hall. Though you hesitated to let him stay, it’s really not a big deal now that you think of it. He’s stayed over more times than you can count so you feel no need to punish him by saying no.

Baby steps. 

Jungkook falls into the couch, relieved and anxious—but mostly relieved. He was sure you were going to throw him out. When he hears the shower turn on, he begins to wonder what you might be thinking about, do you want him the way he wants you right now? If so, you’re hiding it pretty well. Just being in your home makes him feel comfortable and happy, that and your presence. You’ll be a while in the shower so he figures a few moments of relaxation on the balcony won’t hurt. 

*

When you step out of the steamy bathroom, you hug your robe tightly to your body. Curious to see what he’s doing you peek out of the hall and see him on the balcony, shirt nowhere to be seen and smoke wafting from the little stick in his finger. Jungkook has always been a temptation, a forbidden fruit so to speak. You had one bite, and that’s all it took. 

It’s a warm night, that’s probably why he’s showing all of the neighbors his tattooed glory, you giggle to your self at the thought. You run to your room to slip a t-shirt and shorts on so you can join him, you can indulge him in conversation at least.

“Hey, I was going to get a snack,” You open the sliding door and he looks back at you as he exhales a a cloud, “are you hungry?”

“I’m okay,” He puts it out in the ashtray, “thanks,” 

“You didn’t have to put it out for me,” You step onto the patio and close the door behind you.

“I was done anyway,” He says that but he clearly wasn’t, he’s just being sweet, “how was your shower?”

“Good,” You sit beside him, “you can go ahead and shower if you want to, you know where your clothes are.”

“I will in a minute,” He looks out, enjoying the view of the city, “it’s beautiful out here...”

“Yeah,” You smile, reminiscing on the many moments you two have shared together on the balcony.

“So,” Jungkook sighs, probably reminiscing on the same thing, “do you want to do that exercise?...”

“Exercise?- Oh, the eye-contact thing, we can...” You turn to him and he does the same, “so, do we-”

“Shh,” He holds a finger to his lips, “we’re not supposed to talk,” 

You swallow, eyes locked on his and his on yours. His eyes are so dreamy and mesmerizing, they always have been. This eye-contact is giving you a great excuse to analyze his face. The little mole under his lip, his cute nose and cheeks—you’re trying not to look at his body but it’s hard to do that right now. 

He’s doing the same thing to you. Your eyes, nose, lips, he’s just taking it all in as if your a sculpture at a museum. Looking at each other like this reminds you both to see each other, to really see the human you both decided to love.

“Jungkook,” You know you’re not supposed to talk, “don’t cry...” You thumb the tears away from his cheeks, your motherly habits kicking in.

“Shit,” He wipes his cheeks, “I don’t know why I’m crying, I just-...I really love you, like, just staring at you really fucks me up.” He’s so emotional, it’s more endearing than anything.

You cup his jaw and kiss the apple of his cheek, then his lips. His hands are almost shaky when he reaches up to hold your face, you lead his hand to your face to let him know that you don’t mind.

“I love you too,” You breath, your head in the nape of his neck, “but I can’t do this, I shouldn’t...”

Once you realize you’re no longer in your own chair but in his, it’s too late to pretend you’re not equally as desperate. It escalates and the best and worst happens. 

[itisannak]

Tease (Ashton Irwin Smut)

Summary: It's (Y/N)'s birthday and Ashton has planned a little private party. (Smut / Unprotected Sex / Striptease / Oral; Female Receiving) (Request: @shamelessaussiefangirl​) (Words: 1.9k) 

"What time are you going to be back from work?" Ashton asks me as I rub some lotion on my skin post-shower. "I don't know. 6, 6-ish... Depends... Why are you asking?" I ask him, turning my head to look at him. "I just want to make dinner plans for us tonight." He shrugs his shoulders and I groan, my face morphing in an unwilling expression. "Can we just get takeout? I wanna be with you tonight, just you." I ask and he hums, pecking on my bare shoulder. "Whatever birthday girl wants, birthday girl gets. Any preferences for the cake?" He asks. "It can be whatever you want, as long as it is chocolate cheesecake." I comment and he chuckles. "That leaves so many options..." He mocks me, tracing his finger over my skin. "Birthday girl gets what birthday girl wants." I shrug, standing up from the bed. "She sure does... Especially when she looks mighty fine like you do." He whistles, making me roll my eyes at him. "Are you trying to get in my pants, Irwin?" I ask him, picking up the outfit I've picked for the day. "Is it working? Because I have more if it doesn't." He states and I bite my lip, kinda into his whole mood right now. "Oh, it is working alright. You will just have to wait until I get back from work." I chuckle and he hums. "I'll be right here waiting, princess." He winks, eyeing me up and down as I dress up.

My day at work has been pretty boring; other than the birthday cake my colleagues brought for me, I had nothing else interesting at work. Maybe because my mind was stuck back at home, imagining me spending the day with Ashton. My first birthday since we've moved in together, and I really hoped I could have spent it with him instead of at work.

I push my key in the keyhole, unlocking the door and letting myself in. The first thing I notice is the flowers all over the floor. From roses to baby's breath and wildflowers, the floor is full of paths made of them. "Ash?" I call, leaving my purse and keys on the island by the entrance. "Dinning room. Go wash up." He responds, making me strut cheerfully to the bathroom. I have been absolutely famished for the past couple of hours, and I really wanted to have dinner the moment I walk into the house.

I find him leaning back against the table, wearing a pair of leather pants and a white shirt that is ridiculously buttoned way low, giving me plenty of a view of his chest. "Hi there." I greet him, licking my lips at the sight; really appreciate the fact he hasn't shaved his little chaff yet, which really makes him look a little rougher. "Sit." He orders, pulling a chair out for me. "Where's the food?" I ask and he points at the chair. "I said sit." He says sternly, making me press my thighs together at the tone of his voice. "Promise you are not going to laugh at me..." He says, turning to grab his phone. "When have I laughed at you?" I ask and he cocks an eyebrow at me. "Wanna have this conversation, really?" He asks me, starting the music. He leaves the phone on the table as Birthday Sex starts playing, and he moves before me, swaying to the beat of the music as he unbuttons his shirt more.

I bring my hands to cover my mouth, eyes sparkling with excitement as he strips for me. "Holy fuck." I utter, scanning him as he moves his hips. He was never much of a dancer, but he looks way too sexy right now. He moves closer, grabbing my wrists and putting my hands on his body. "You learned how to dance? For me?" I ask and he hums, letting my hands roam his body as he moves. "I saw the way you were gawking at the guys from Magic Mike..." He replies thrusting his hips forward. "You look so much better than all the guys combined..." I comment and he hums. "I know I do. I've been planning this for 2 months now..." He states and I gasp, feeling a little special that he put so much effort into my birthday surprise. "Wanna help me unzip the pants?" He asks, pushing my hand down until it grazes over his bulge. "You are hard..." I whisper and he nods. "Wanna see how hard?" He asks, rolling his hips. I look at him mesmerized, my tongue wetting my lips. My hand reaches for the button of his pants, opening it and sliding down until it opens and he lowers it down his hips. He pulls them completely off, kicking them to the side. He leans closer, placing his hands on my thighs and lowering himself as he spreads them, making my skirt rise up.

He starts kissing along my thigh, all the way towards my slit, which has been pulsing since he started his little show. "You are wet, aren't you? You are wet for me?" He asks, his eyes darkening. "You don't even know..." I moan and he hums, pleased by his achievement. "Oh, I think I know." He slips his hand under my skirt, running two fingers along my core over my panties. My body jolts and I slide on the chair, giving him a bit more access. "I shouldn't leave you dripping on like that..." He says, hooking his arms under my thighs. He picks me up, carrying me only for a few seconds until we reach the table.

He unzips the zipper of my skirt, making my shimmy out of it as he pulls it down. I work on taking off my blouse, arching my back as I raise it off my body. Ashton spreads my legs and kneels between them, pulling me closer to his face. He pulls my underwear to the side, giving my core a long lick, from my entrance to my clit, flicking his tongue over it before he hooks his fingers into the hem of my underwear and tearing them apart. He gets right into business, burying his face in and swirling his tongue around between my folds. My eyes flutter the moment his tongue curls on my clit, toes curling at the sensation. "Ash..." I cry out, bringing my hand to his hair. The fluffy black locks feel silk soft in my hand, so pulling on them is actually so satisfying. He laps on my pussy, keeping eye contact with me the entire time. "Ashton, I need more..." I plead, bucking my hips up in the air. He parts my lips and slips his fingers inside me, pumping them fast on my spot. His lips wrap around my clit, sucking harshly as I roll my hips on his face. "Fuck..." My eyes roll back and I tremble, feeling electricity running down my spine. "Ash..." He moves his fingers faster, making me dig my nails in my palm. He brings his face away from my core, planting kisses on my thighs. "I need to be inside you. Or else I will burst in my pants." He groans and I moan in approval, stroking his head. "I need you." I whimper and he chuckles, standing up and bringing his fingers out. He lowers his briefs, freeing his cock completely before he spreads my legs more and wraps them around his waist. "I am going to fuck you up so well, princess..." He licks his lips, lining up to my entrance. "Please." I whisper, wrapping my fingers around his wrist. Music is still playing in the background, setting up some tempo.

He thrusts in, making me slide a bit back on the table. I feel a tightness in my stomach, making me groan as he moves inside me. His face morphs into a tensed expression, his teeth tugging on his bottom lip as his eyebrows are pushed together. "You look so hot like that." I mumble, bringing my hand to stroke his cheek. "You should see yourself, princess. You look so hot with my cock inside you..." He groans, leaning closer to trace his lips over my neck. "It's going to be so weird eating on this table from now on." I whimper, pulling him closer by his waist. "It is going to be the best part of the day." He states, thrusting inside me more forcefully. I bite my lips and close my eyes, letting the sensation sink in. He groans while my walls spasm around him, making him slam his hand on the table as he stops for a moment, just feeling me around him. I watch his arms flexing, the veins and knuckles of his hand becoming more prominent. I buck my hips, driving his cock deeper inside me, making me more greedy for him. "I am going to fucking lose it." He growls, bringing his hand to travel up the curve between my hip and ribs, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. "I really wanna fucking cum inside of you... I really wanna fill you up..." He whines; his breath is becoming more rapid, shallower and a little forced as he looks me in the eye. I look at him with my doe eyes, eyebrows furrowed, and lip pouting as I nod my head at him. "Fill me up, daddy..." I assure him and arch my back, letting his cock hit my spot a little better.

I feel him twitching inside me, veins bulging against his length as he slams into me, holding onto me tightly as he becomes more intense with his thrusting. "Call me daddy again and I will make you a mommy..." He says through gritted teeth, making my spine tingle with excitement. "Please, daddy." I dig my nails in his arm, dragging them down to his wrist. "Fuck..." He screams; it is almost animalistic, coming from deep in his chest. I cum around him, and I swear, my face takes the stupidest expression, with my mouth open and my muscles tensed up. I throw my head back and arch my back more off the table. "Shit... You look so good like that." He groans, giving me slow, deep thrusts. "I can't take more..." I whine as I feel him against my cervix. "Yeah, you can... Of course, you can, baby." He praises me, stroking my hair. "Please, cum... Cum..." I plead and he groans, giving me everything he's got. He cums inside me, making his face tense and jaw twitch as he shoots his load in me. It feels warm and nice, him pulsing inside me only adds to my orgasm.

He collapses on me, still buried deep inside me. He is warm and a little sweaty, but he feels like home to me. "Happy birthday, babygirl..." He says, smirking at me as he presses his lips on my nose. "It has been the happiest birthday of my life actually." I comment, grazing my fingers over his face. "We are having a party on Saturday. A proper celebration for you. But tonight, it is you and me." He says, planting his lips on mine. "Just how I like it." I giggle against him lips, making him chuckle. "I have ordered food, and of course there is cake..." He says, making me moan at the thought of getting some food in my stomach. "I am starving..." I state, making him sigh. "Ok... Let's get clean and we can have dinner." He says, moving from inside me. "Can we watch a movie with dinner? And cuddles? I've missed you cuddling me..." I pout and he hums, smirking at me. "Ok, princess. I can't say no to you, can I?" He asks and I shrug. "I guess not." I bite the inside of my cheek.

My Masterlist

[goldenworldsabound]

Return To Motostoke II

Golden and Kabu meet up for a battle! Except for his ace, Kabu treats the battle as if he were the gym leader in the Galar challenge to account for Golden’s team being mostly freshly caught. Both of them grapple with their feelings and the fact that Haunter keeps causing trouble. Direct sequel to Return To Motostoke I.

Content warnings: None. Word count: 4413

"Ninetales, go!" Kabu's expression was serious as he released his Poke'mon onto the field.

"Alright, have at it, May!" Golden's Drednaw appeared on the field. From day 1 May had been eager to train, so it had the good fortune to have evolved already. The same could not be said of the shy Sizzlipede that had draped herself over Golden's shoulder, watching with shiny eyes. Meanwhile, Tak and Haunter were sitting at the back of the field together, cheering on Golden and their fellow Poke'mon.

"I'm not surprised you're going for the type advantage." Kabu commented.

"That is the advantage of not being a type locked gym leader." Golden quirked back. "It's also a little coincidental in the case of May."

The two trainers were not idly making banter. Both of them was sizing up their opponents Poke'mon, contemplating how the battle would go. Ninetales was faster, but weaker to physical hits. But if it landed a Will-o-wisp on May, that would have quite an impact on the battle. But there was no doubt that in casting such an attack, Ninetales would take a solid hit. Both trainers were aware of this immediately, and adjusted as such.

"Will-o-wisp!" Kabu commanded suddenly. If he could get the upper hand quickly...

"Protect!" Golden called out. May ducked into it's shell just in time, Will-o-wisp passing harmlessly by. "Rock Tomb!" If May could move fast enough, Ninetales could be slowed and trapped-

Ninetales dashed away, dodging the falling rocks with an impressive grace. Golden cursed under her breath, but even Kabu could see from across the field that she was grinning.

"Quick attack!" Ninetales moved fast, and May had little hope of dodging.

"Water gun!" Despite the attack being Special rather than Physical, and thus far weaker, Golden didn't see a better option. Ninetales darted in and out, taking the occasional hit from water gun. This was a battle of attrition. But Golden had a feeling there was more coming.

"Fire spin!"

"Protect!" In a battle of attrition, a move like that would turn the tide. Golden grit her teeth, knowing what was coming next. She had no doubt Kabu had known she would use Protect there.

"Will-o-wisp!" "Liquidation!"

Golden gave out her command at the same time as Kabu. He looked surprised, but understanding crossed his face. Ninetales was already too close to change course - it had no chance to dodge May's full-bodied water attack. While Ninetales did get it's Will-o-wisp attack off, the cost was most of it's hit points. If the battle of attrition continued now, it was clear that Ninetales would lose. Kabu weighed the situation. If this was a gym challenger, he would go all out to knock out Golden's Poke'mon. But they'd agreed on one-on-one matches.

"We concede." Kabu raised up a hand, stalling Golden's attack. "I wasn't expecting you to know liquidate already! You and May must have been training hard."

Golden grinned. "May was very eager. I'm sure if Ninetales had been fighting at full strength it would have been a much different fight!" Golden commented though, trying not to seem overly pleased with her victory to save Kabu's feelings.

"Hm. In any case. Ready for round 2?" Kabu quirked a brow at her, face still serious. She could sense a hint of humor in his tone, and was relieved by it.

"You bet! Xarkussi!" Golden tossed the Poke'ball with a flourish, revealing a Runerigus.

Kabu looked surprised as he drew his own Poke'ball. "Runerigus is a rare sight."

"It was certainly a pain to get the little fella evolved." Golden commented, face growing focused as Kabu's Arcanine appeared on the field. "Took a fair amount of time!"

"I would imagine so." Kabu replied, biding time as he considered the situation. Runerigus was slow. Arcanine was fast. But if Golden's Runerigus had trained as much as her Drednaw had, and it knew Earthquake...speed wouldn't much matter. Arcanine didn't have much to counter that. Even if Kabu switched over to using his full strength, it would be a rough fight for him.

"Agility." Kabu figured his best bet was to outspeed Runerigus and lay into it with damage.

"Shadow claw!" Golden didn't waste the opportunity. Xarkussi slashed at Arcanine with a shadow that rose up from the floor, landing a solid hit. Arcanine shook the attack off, but shivered. The shadow remained stuck onto it's fur, making it a slightly easier target.

Kabu frowned at that. "Bite!" Arcanine latched onto Xarkussi. Golden was glad that Runerigus tended to have such high defense - the attack hit hard regardless though.

"Sand tomb!" It was hard for Xarkussi to miss at such a close angle. That and the effects of shadow claw made the attack hit harder, damaging Arcanine a fair bit. It growled in response, relinquishing it's hold on Xarkussi to back up to a respectable distance, flinching as the sand rubbed against it painfully.

"Agility, and follow that up with another Bite!"

Arcanine had time to make both moves, but the sand was distracting. Runerigus still took the hit, but it retaliated immediately with Disable. Kabu's signature scowl deepened as he realized his super effective move was out of play. Fine - Flame Wheel was strong enough.

"Agility, and then Flame Wheel!"

Again, Runerigus took the hit like a champ, it's expression still unerringly pleased. As Arcanine retreated, Golden made an important play.

"Haze." A blue ish haze filled the arena for a moment, reducing all stat changes the two Poke'mon had taken. Kabu's eyes widened. His Agility advantage was diminishing. Unfortunately, Intimidate was lifted now too, making Runerigus stronger. Was she going to use Earthquake now?

Arcanine was still faster.

"Flame Wheel!" Arcanine lunged forward, making contact with Runerigus. It's health went dangerously low. But Runerigus grabbed onto Arcanine.

"Stone Edge!" With the assist from Shadow Claw still loosely in effect, Xarkussi landed a critical hit. Arcanine collapsed with a yelp as the stone struck it from below.

"Okay, that was pretty stressful." Golden said, slouching for a moment, and wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"I was convinced you were going to use Earthquake." Kabu replied, healing up Arcanine.

"Xarkussi isn't quite that high level yet. But I was able to buy a Stone Edge TR off of someone."

"I wasn't expecting that Haze either. Very devious of the two of you."

"Oh! Thank you!" Golden looked down shyly, feeling her heart swell as Kabu praised her. It felt nice to win, even if she knew he wasn't at his full strength.

"I'm not sure you would have won if you hadn't disabled Bite, though."

"Yes, that's...very true. In truth, I should have sent Xarkussi out to fight Ninetales if I was really thinking about type advantages."

Kabu nodded. "But you managed without doing that, using your Poke'mon's natural talents and a healthy dose of planning."

"Absolutely. Now it's time for the serious battle. Ace against ace." A bead of sweat dripped down Golden's face. Last time they'd let the two Poke'mon sort it out themselves for a while. Golden had thought long and hard about how to defeat Kabu's Centiskorch, and she was sure Kabu had done the same for her. She still didn't have a fool proof plan for the Gigantamax scenario. But she fully expected him to use all the tools at his disposal. She'd been clear that it was what she'd wanted.

Athens and Centiskorch took to the field. Golden wasted no time.

"Thunder Wave!" She called out. Athens responded instantly, their plan having been discussed ahead of time. Despite the shock that flashed across Kabu's face, Centiskorch dodged out of the way, weaving through the bolts of electricity gracefully.

"Fire Lash!"

"Retreat!"

Athens took to the air, a lick of flames brushing their underbelly as they didn't entirely escape Centiskorch's surprising response. Golden grit her teeth. Had Kabu been holding back in their first fight? Or had his training really been so effective? Or perhaps he'd simply found his motivation again.

"Air Slash!" Athens swooped down and blasted air at Centiskorch, who took the hit, unable to dodge the flurry of wind. In return, Centiskorch launched another Fire Lash, which landed more squarely. Golden knew that Fire Lash reduced the target's defense. She could see the effect on Athens, who was shaking off sweat as they flew out of reach, waiting for Golden's next command. Centiskorch had learned how to predict Athen's movements more consistently, and Golden knew they wouldn't get in any free hits.

Without waiting for Golden's command, Athens dove in, feinting for an Air Slash. At the last second, they changed their form, letting out a cry as they unleashed a Thunder Wave. Centiskorch was unable to fully dodge, but grabbed onto Athens with a Crunch, preventing the Poke'mon from taking to the air again. Athens cried out.

"Dazzling Gleam! Break free!" Golden cried urgently in response.

"Don't let go, Centiskorch! Keep Crunching!" Kabu yelled.

But a Dazzling Gleam to the face was more than Centiskorch could handle, even as the paralysis making it's jaw stiff made it hard to release. Athens made a mad dash for the sky, wavering for a moment before gaining sufficient altitude.

This was much worse than last time.

But Golden (and Athens) watched Centiskorch, noticing the Thunder Wave still arcing over it's body. Now there was a chance they could land hits unhindered.

"Another Air Slash!" Athens dove down, landing a hit before Centiskorch could retaliate. The paralysis was doing it's job. This continued for a few turns - Athens would dive in and assess if it was safe before landing an Air Slash on the poor Centiskorch. Kabu was gritting his teeth. The tide was turning.

"We'll risk it." Kabu murmured. "Get ready to Gigantamax!" Kabu held up his Dynamax band as he withdrew Centiskorch. Within moments the poke'ball had grown large, and Kabu threw it onto the field with fiery eyes. The massive Gigantamaxed form of Centiskorch appeared on the field. Golden felt a burst of heat from it, holding an arm up over her face. Athens was in a tizzy now, darting around trying to figure out how to be out of reach now.

"Remember our plan!" Golden yelled up at it. Centiskorch was still paralyzed. If they could dodge the first attack, maybe they could blind Centiskorch with a Dazzling Gleam right up in it's eyes.

"Max Flare!" Kabu called out.

Athens sped away as fast as it could, but with Centiskorch at that size, it was difficult to dodge it's attacks. Athens took the attack, tumbling to the ground. Golden could see that their health was low. But neither of them would give up.

Athens had tactically fallen closer to Centiskorch. With the attack ended, they made a beeline up to Centiskorch's face.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Golden called out unnecessarily, as Athens was already executing the plan.

Centiskorch screeched, surprised by the bright sparkles in it's eyes. It thrashed about in response, the combination of the temporary blindness and the paralysis making it unable to respond appropriately.

"Hang in there, Centiskorch! Max Flare!"

"Air Slash before it recovers!" Feeling confident despite the odds, Athens took the paralysis as an opening, slashing across Centiskorch's back, avoiding it's blazing hot stomach. As Athens flew into sight again, Centiskorch overcame the paralysis with a massive Max Flare. Athens felt to the ground again, but this time did not get up, barely hanging on to a single hit point.

"We concede!" Golden yelled, dashing onto the field with a Full Restore at the ready. At Kabu's signal, Centiskorch shrank down to it's normal size. It looked to Kabu, who was already jogging out to give it a Full Restore and head pats.

They headed over to Golden and Athens in time to see Athens looking sorrowfully at Golden.

"Aw it's okay Athens, you did your best! That Gigantamax thing is...whew." Golden wiped some sweat from her forehead. "And Centiskorch here is a very worthy opponent."

Kabu chuckled quietly. "Thank you for that. You did a remarkable job, Athens. That paralysis could have left us high and dry if you'd landed a more solid hit with it." Athens chirped appreciatively in response, while Centiskorch chittered it's agreement.

"You've really stepped up your game since last! Or were you going easy on me the first time?" Golden asked slyly, holding out a hand to shake. Kabu blinked at the question, but shook her hand firmly.

"I wasn't going easy on you. I think I'd just lost my fire." He admitted, laughing a little to cover how silly he felt saying that. "But you helped me bring it back."

Golden grinned. "Well I'm glad! If you keep fighting like that, you'll take the gym spot back no problem!!!"

Kabu smiled. "I hope so. I'll give it my best." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "If you really want to be a competitor in Galar, we should get you a Dynamax band. It's very hard to counter your opponents Dynamax if you can't do it yourself. Your attempt was very admirable, though. I didn't expect that Dazzling Gleam."

"Aw, well, thanks." Golden laughed as well. "I suppose it won't do me much good outside of Galar, though." Kabu shook his head. Golden didn't say any more, and Kabu took the hint. She's not sure if she'll be coming back here.

"In any case, despite the odds, you did great." Kabu reiterated with a friendly smile.

Now that the battle was over, Kabu found himself taking in her appearance. She was in grey basketball shorts and a black t-shirt - clearly not her most put together outfit. But he found himself considering that she'd look good in just about anything. Her hair was pulled back, but a few extra strands had fallen as she'd run around during their match. Her cheeks were pink with the exertion.

He became aware of his own flushed state as he took in hers. Even in this state...

She was undeniably attractive to him. He swallowed, looking away.

For her own part, Golden was having very similar thoughts. From the sweat on Kabu's brow that made the unruly strands of hair stick to his forehead, to the way his muscles flexed as he moved about. She was feeling rapidly more and more undone as she looked at him, hazarding a glance over his body as he looked away.

"I guess I don't get your super special ultra rare card thing after all, then." Golden said with a sigh, forcing her eyes back up to his face. That wasn't much better, it turned out. His flushed cheeks were distracting...and there was a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face...

"You won 2 out of 3." Kabu replied, tilting his head and furrowing his brows as he met her gaze.

"Oh, yeah, but...at our full power, you still won!" Golden explained, gesticulating mildly.

Kabu shook his head. "That's not how that works. Here," He reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and fishing for a rare league card. He held it out to her.

Golden walked up to him, looking at it curiously.

"Oh! It's you!" Golden exclaimed, gently taking the card and holding it up to look at it.

"Yes. It is my league card after all." Kabu replied, a hint of humor clear in his voice.

"Er, yeah, it's just, it's you, but, but you're young." Golden couldn't help but stare at the card for a moment. She could safely say he'd been just as handsome back then as he was now.

Kabu chuckled quietly at her reaction. "Wonderful powers of observation."

Her gaze shot up to meet his, and she was glad her face was already warm, masking her blush at his words. His mouth was quirked upwards at the corners, a subtle smirk to match his teasing tone.

"Well I didn't know what to expect! I've never seen a rare league card before, geez." She grumbled, wandering over to her bag to put the card in her own wallet, where it would be safe from her sweat and grime. "Um, thanks, though." She smiled shyly at him.

"You earned it. Sorry I can't give you a badge."

Golden waved her hand dismissively. "Next time, you'll be in that position. I'm sure of it." She grinned at him, and he felt his heart race again, felt motivation swelling in his heart. "To that point, now that we've got the battle out of the way, we can do some real training. What do you say?"

Kabu nodded. "Let's get to it."

------------------------------------------------------------------

The training session had been rough. Golden had known she'd been taking it easy lately, with no challenge currently occupying her, but she hadn't realized how soft she'd gotten. Kabu's training sessions weren't just for the Poke'mon - he got in there and worked out with them as well, and she admired that. She had no doubt it made the Poke'mon work harder too - when their beloved human was pushing themselves too, they could draw extra strength!

She was exhausted, and Kabu was merciless. If she had asked for a break, she'd no doubt he would have given it to her. But she didn't want to lose face. Well, no, it wasn't that exactly. She just...wanted to impress him. Or at least keep up.

"Well, I think that's enough for today." Kabu commented.

"Oh, yeah? Good, yeah...good workout...whew..." Golden was hunched over, catching her breath. She smiled weakly at Kabu's words.

"Hit the showers?" Kabu suggested, coming to stand next to her. She stood up straight with a grunt of effort.

"That sounds nice." She paused, furrowing her brows. "Well, actually, all my clothes are at the hotel so...I should probably just head back there."

"Will you be able to find your way?" Kabu asked.

"Hm? Yeah, I should be fine, it's just like a short walk from here- HEY WAIT A MINUTE." Golden pouted, glaring at Kabu, who was clearly fighting off a smile. "How would I possibly get lost between here and there, huh?! I'm not that hopeless!"

"I was teasing you." Kabu said, putting a hand over his mouth to muffle a quiet laugh. "I'll shower here and then meet you at the hotel afterwards?"

Golden sighed. "Yes, yes that's fine. See you soon." She hesitated for a moment, then stuck out her tongue before spinning on her heel to leave. Even without looking back, she could feel Kabu's eyes on her. And even as she left the building, she could imagine them still, piercing silver that seemed to soften just for her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kabu walked up to the hotel lobby, greeting the desk clerk before taking a seat on one of the couches. It had hardly been a moment when Haunter floated up from the couch cushion next to Kabu, pushing affectionately against the man's shoulder.

"Oh, Haunter. What are you doing down here?" Kabu rubbed the purple ghost's head gently, earning a purr out of him. Haunter pushed against him again, but this time it was clearly less an affectionate act and more of a, 'hey! Move!' motion. Kabu frowned.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, fixing Haunter with his stare. Haunter shook his head.

"Haunt, haunt, ter." Haunter said, floating to be between Kabu and the elevators that went to the hotel rooms. He pointed with one hand, beginning to float towards the elevators.

"You want me to come up with you?" Kabu asked. Haunter nodded. "Oh. Did Golden ask you to bring me...?" He was a little wary. As much as he wanted to trust the ghost type, there had been an incident or two.

His fears were put to rest as Haunter nodded vigorously, smiling and cooing. Satisfied, though a bit nervous, he followed Haunter into the elevator. He wondered why Golden would want him up in her hotel room to begin with. Was...was she...was there a certain intention there? He felt his face warm at the thought. While he certainly wouldn't object the idea flustered him a great deal. And it didn't seem terribly in character for her, from what he'd seen so far. But you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. There was likely some other explanation, even if he couldn't think of it at the moment.

As they arrived at the door, Haunter phased through and opened it from the inside. As Kabu stepped inside, he realized he could hear the water running in the shower. He looked at Haunter suspiciously.

"Are you sure...?" He asked, brows furrowed. If she had intentionally invited him up here while she was showering, that was...he swallowed. Haunter nodded furiously, motioning for Kabu to come further in. He hesitated.

The chittering and cooing of June and Tak caught his attention. The Sizzlipede skittered over to him, squeaking at him before climbing up his leg and torso to finally rest on his shoulder. Kabu laughed at the feeling. Meanwhile, Tak remained on the bed, clapping his hands with excitement. This convinced Kabu, for the moment. He sat down on the bed next to Tak, putting a hand on his head gently to let the fire-type know he was there. Tak giggled gleefully. Kabu couldn't help but smile.

"Did you two enjoy your training?" Kabu asked. June hadn't seemed terribly interested in battling, Golden had told him, but she'd thoroughly enjoyed the obstacle course they'd set up in the gym. She scurried up and over things happily. Tak, meanwhile, had practiced the moves that Golden considered safe for him, and had even been set up to try some of the stronger fire type moves, with some precautions due to his blindness.

The Poke'mon cheered in response to his question.

Kabu grinned wider. "I'm very glad to hear that." The water stopped. Kabu kept speaking. "June, you did a wonderful job with that obstacle course. You're quite fast." The Sizzlipede chittered at the remark, looking pleased with itself. "And you, Tak! That was a very powerful ember you had!" Tak nuzzled against Kabu's arm with his head, practically beaming.

Meanwhile, as Kabu continued his praise of her two Poke'mon, Golden was towel-drying her hair with a puzzled expression. Was she hearing another voice...? That couldn't possibly be the case. She wasn't expecting anyone, nor did anyone have access to her room. Unless there was a mistake...but surely it was obvious she was here, what with her Poke'mon and the running water...

It didn't make a shred of sense.

Shaking her head, she finished drying off her body before slipping on panties and a bra. She supposed she'd just have to wrap herself in a towel and go verify that no one was in her hotel room. She'd feel a little bit better if she had been able to get fully dressed, but she must be imagining things anyway.

Taking a breath, she forced herself to be confident, reminding herself that someone in the room was very unlikely despite what she thought she was hearing. Maybe June and Tak had gotten the tv on somehow. She opened the door and stepped out, eyes scanning the room. She froze as her eyes met Kabu's. She felt her face warm even as she saw a blush spreading across his face.

"K-Kabu! What- what are you doing here?!" She choked out, tightening the towel surreptitiously.

"I- I thought- Haunter-" Kabu spun around to look for the ghost, but he had disappeared into a shadow. "Haunter led me up here, I thought you- I thought you were behind that." Kabu's face felt incredibly hot as he stared down at his lap.

"O-oh. I see. I'm going to kill him." Golden said plainly, forcing herself to smile despite her blush, scanning the room for prickly shadows.

"I can leave." Kabu replied suddenly. He lifted June off his shoulder gently, placing her on the bed. June cried, immediately crawling back onto his lap. Tak seemed reluctant to let him go as well, gently wrapping his claws around Kabu's arm. "..."

"No, it's, um, I mean..." As much as Golden was feeling mortified, she was also delighted by how shy Kabu seemed about the situation. This felt safer, if not more intimate. A part of her was tempted to drop the towel and see how Kabu reacted, but she knew she didn't have it in her. But if she did...what kinds of things would happen, behind closed doors like this? Her heart pounded at the thought. "Just go face the wall and I'll get dressed and, uh, and it'll be fine."

Kabu swallowed, once again trying to remove June. June cried again. "June, didn't you hear Golden? And you too, Tak." At Kabu's words, Tak relinquished his hold on Kabu, chirping quietly. June scuttled up to Kabu's shoulder defiantly, staring at him.

"Good enough." Golden mumbled, crossing her arms. Her position was putting her on edge.

"Right, yes." Kabu cleared his throat, getting to his feet and crossing the room quickly. He clasped his hands behind his back tightly as he stared at the wall, biting his lip. He squeezed his eyes tight for good measure.

Golden watched for a moment. Even facing away from her, she could see his eartips were still red.

Kabu quietly held a breath as he heard the rustling sound of clothing. It felt like time was passing slowly. He wouldn't dare betray her trust and turn around to gaze at her. But he wanted to, and he had to acknowledge that within himself. His face continued to burn.

"Alright, I'm all done." Golden said, crossing her arms and trying to appear casual, though her pink cheeks betrayed her. She'd tossed on her yellow skinny jeans and a dark t-shirt. "So, um, was there something you had in mind for this afternoon?" She stared at him until he turned around and his eyes met hers.

Kabu was quiet. "Lunch." He replied, nodding to himself. That had been the reason he'd wanted to meet up again. Well, the surface level reason. "But, before that, I'm sorry." He bowed his head. "I shouldn't have entered your space without your explicit permission. And I should know better than to trust your mischief maker."

"I- it's fine. Let's not talk about it anymore." Golden suggested, feeling further heat rise on her face. "Well, other than to make sure Haunter knows he's in the doghouse the next time I see him."

They went to lunch.

[usagichanp]

lexthan

*rubs hands together* I was hoping someone would ask me that

This is gonna be a long one folks.

General:

Rate the Ship -  

Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - Life long partners, babey.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - I think they had crushes on each other for a while. They didn't officially say "I love you" till a few months into their relationship, but they thought it sooner.

How was their first kiss? - I wrote a lesbian Lexthan version of their first kiss, though I don't think canon Lexthan's first kiss was like that. I imagine it to be not really planned out; just like they're talking to each other in the car and lock eyes, then slowly lean in and kiss. Since they've had kisses before, it's not a catastrophe, and it's actually fairly soft.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Ethan. Wrote a whole ass fic about it.

Who is the best man/men? - I know who the best man is in my fics (it's my man Marsh, for those who have read it), but idk about the canon Ethan's best man. Maybe Danny (the Smoke Club Boy) but I'm not sure if they'd be friends enough to be his best man. He might not have one.

Who is the bride's maid? - Hannah. Duh.

Who did the most planning? - Ethan, but Lex chipped in too. Tom might help as well if asked lol

Who stressed the most? - Ethan. Though their ceremony isn't big, he still wanted it to be a good memory down the road (it was)

How fancy was the ceremony? -

Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

First they had just a courthouse wedding where they signed the papers, then had a tiny wedding ceremony with only close friends. Even if they could afford a proper wedding (Canon Lexthan prolly couldn't afford it) I don't think they'd want a big affair anyways. It's be exhausting.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Lex's mom. Obviously.

Sex:

Now we're getting to the good part lads

Who is on top? - Ethan is a fucking switch. You can't convince me otherwise. He tops maybe like... 60/40 or 65/35. But when Lex tops, she tops bitch.

Who is the one to instigate things? - Ethan likes instigating things since he's a horny teenage boy, but it Lex doesn't want to, he stops. Sometimes Lex instigates, but usually when she does she's in the mood to top.

How healthy is their sex life? -

Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

I'd give it a 7.5, depending on the situation. While they try to tone it down around Hannah, when they have alone time they'd totally go for it. Ethan's glovebox in his car has a box of condoms in it at all times. What can I say, as I said before, they're horny teenagers

How kinky are they? -

Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

They don't like seeing each other hurt so they wouldn't like BDSM. They're not vanilla but nothing too crazy- blindfolding, light bondage (aka tying hands up with rope or cloth), scratching, light spanking, pegging

How long do they usually last? - It depends on how much time they have to have sex. They've done quickies in bathrooms or whatever before, but if they have all night then they're pretty good at prolonging it.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - Absolutely. It is said in multiple fics (I think?) of mine that Ethan makes sure Lex has the same amount of orgasms as he does. Always.

How rough are they in bed? -

Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

They certainly can have slow, soft, romantic sex, but Ethan is also 100% capable of rocking Lex's world so hard she can't walk right for a week. (That happens in my first fic, Cassieopia, albeit off screen)

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? -

No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

1) I fucking love that metaphor 2) They don't get much physical affection at home, so they fucking love snuggling and cuddling- whether it be after sex or just hanging out. Sometimes they cuddle as a form of stress relief after a shitty day.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - 2, maybe 3.

How many children will they adopt? - I think they might prefer to have children naturally, but in my California series they gain custody of Hannah when she's 12. Does that count?

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Lex forces Ethan to learn how to change diapers. That being said, Lex isn't half bad at changing them either, since she helped change Hannah's when she was a child.

Who is the stricter parent? - They're not exactly strict parents, but both Lex and Ethan can definitely scold the kid. ("hAnNaH! tHaT bEtTeR bE fUcKiNg fLoSs!!!!!") That being said, both take care to not be abusive to their child, especially Lex. She doesn't want to be like her mom, so she tries to keep her temper in check.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Ethan has good reflexes, and has stopped his kids from falling and hitting their chin on a playground structure more than once. (Fun fact! That happened to me when I was 3. I fell from a steel elephant shaped jungle gym at a German zoo, hit my chin on a steel bar, and bit through my lower lip/knocked 3 teeth out. I still have the scar years later lol)

Who remembers to pack their lunches? - Lex. Though the lunches aren't always the healthiest.

Who is the more loved parent? - I think they're both loved, but maaaaaybe Ethan a bit more.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - Neither would attend PTA meetings out of the goodness of their hearts. If Lex or Ethan would go to a PTA meeting, it'd most likely be because they wanted to yell at a teacher or principal. They might go seperately or together depending on the severity of the issue.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Ethan wouldn't admit he cried, but he did. So did Lex.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Oh bitch, Lex and Ethan both said fuck the law. If it was just like, an overnight jail cell for some stupid misdemeanor, they might try to break their kid out. Otherwise, Lex would probably the one paying the bail because Ethan would try to punch the cop in the face if the cop talked shit about Ethan's kid. That reaction is not exclusive to cops.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Neither of them are exactly 5 star chefs, but they can hold on their own. Lex is better at cooking breakfast and Ethan is better at cooking dinner- but if he's exhuasted from work, Lex can cook dinner for him.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Neither are picky. Both of them grew up young scrappy and hungry just like their country without really the chance to be picky. They had to take what they could get.

Who does the grocery shopping? - Lex. She's good at calculating totals in her head. I wrote that in an unrealeased fic.

How often do they bake desserts? - Rather rarely. Perhaps on special occasions or to bond. Ethan has ruined the kitchen with his kid trying to bake a cake for Lex at least once. Maybe more.

Are they more of a meat lover or salad lover? - Meat lovers, babey. Fuck that fancy plant bullshit.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Ethan. I wrote that in the proposal fic.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Depends on what you count as "going out". Lex likes going to McDonalds, but Ethan is the one who suggests eating at actual restaurants.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - Ethan, but both have had near misses.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Both had fairly messy rooms as teenagers so they're not super anal about having sparkling clean rooms. That being said, when someone comes over Lex does try to tidy the place up a bit. At least enough to make it seem like they have their shit together. Ish.

Who is really against chores? - Ethan can be a bit of a lazy bones sometimes, but Lex isn't exactly a huge fan of chores either. However, she is used to doing chores since she practically raised herself and Hannah.

Who cleans up after the pets? - They take turns. Both hate it.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Ethan, because he doesn't want to incur Lex's wrath.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Lex. As I said above, she actually actively cleans the house beforehand. Not to the level of that freaking out mom from the comedy video who's name I can't remember tho.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Ethan. He has a nack for finding random bits of money. Score.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Lex, though both take relatively quick showers to save water.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - They actually like doing it together. It's nice to get some fresh air, and they enjoy each other's company.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Ethan goes over the top, partially to annoy Lex. You know that Christmas tree Chris Pine vine? Yeah, Ethan would fucking do that.

What are their goals for the relationship? - Live a better life together than they did in Hatchetfield. White picket fence and California dreams shit.

Who is more likely to sleep till noon? - Ethan, but Lex is known to sleep till 3 in the afternoon if she's really tired.

Who plays the most pranks? - Ethan. That's literally canon.

I can babble about them all day lol

[gaypasta]

maybe 16 or 2 for reddie!

“Are you hurt?” “No.” “Then why are there bruises all over your face?”It wasn’t that Richie didn’t like being at home - he did. Maggie and Wentworth were great and all of the Losers were treated like an extension of the family whenever they would crowd into Richie’s living room with bowls of popcorn and a plethora of sugary snacks. The issue was the Richie didn’t really like being alone. He got antsy, he couldn’t concentrate and more often than not, couldn’t fall asleep. 

It happened first, with Ben. Sweet Ben who couldn’t have kicked Richie out even if he wanted to when Richie knocked on his bedroom window of the bungalow and wormed his way into Ben’s bed and talked and talked until he’d talked out all of his energy and he passed out with Ben sat beside him wondering what the hell just happened.

Then it was Bill, when he was understimulated. Richie would pedal all the way to Bill’s, climb the tree, then hop onto the porch roof and then pull open Bill’s bedroom window - which was always a little open. Bill liked the fresh air. He would wake Bill up and they’d play video games or go for a walk or do anything to get Richie stimulated enough to be able to fall asleep without twitching in the bed like a live wire. 

Then, Richie chanced it with Mike. An hour long bicycle ride later and he stumbled his way around the farm up to the house and shouted for Mike to let him in. Richie was mad. So mad. It was after the fight between him and Bill and he had thought it over and over and over again in his head until he wound himself up into a ball of rage and Mike brought him around all the animals with a flashlight in hand and let his anger dissipate. 

Then it was Stan. After the sewers. They all had nightmares, sure. Richie could never get back to sleep. He hated sleeping alone. So, he hopped on his bike and made the trek to Stan’s. Stan didn’t sleep well after. He didn’t really sleep at all. His bedroom light was on and Stan opened the window when Richie climbed up onto the tree beside it as if Stan had been waiting for him. The nightmares bled out of his head and they both slept as Richie told Stan about how he didn’t want to be forgotten, how he didn’t want to fade from people’s memories like all those faded gravestones in the Cemetery and Stan told Richie all about what he saw in the Deadlights.

Richie would sit on the fire escape and tap Bev’s window out-of-view and she would open it some minutes later with her smokes and a pack of matches and they’ll talk about things. Beverly talks about Ben but no one knows what Richie talks about. Something important, probably.

Then, lastly, some months after the sewer, it was Eddie. Richie threw rocks up at Eddie’s window and Eddie asked him what he wanted, “Let me in, Eds. Open the front door,” And Eddie did. Richie’s face was red and puffy and his eyes were ringed much the same.

“Have you been crying?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah, I saw your Mom in the shower,” Richie replied, voice taut with sniffles.

 “That’s frickin’ disgusting.” 

“Yeah, it really was.” 

Eddie knew something had happened - he wasn’t slow. He knew Richie didn’t go to Ben’s with tears in his eyes or sneak through Bill’s window with a sad, faraway look on his face. Eddie knew that if Richie wanted to talk about it, he would. But he wouldn’t want to talk about it - Richie breezes over difficult questions with clever quips and silly voices and Eddie pretends he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

So it went on like that. Every so often, Richie would throw a pebble at Eddie’s window and Eddie - without looking - would flutter downstairs and unlock the back door to a subdued Richie who would ruffle his hair with a sad, wet smile. 

There had to be a line to how much Eddie would ignore. And one day, he found it. 

It wasn’t nighttime, it was barely three in the afternoon when he heard a familiar thump on his bedroom window. Eddie opened it and shouted that the door was open, come on up. Eddie barely had time to put away the deck of cards he was playing with before Richie all but slammed open his door. He shot about two feet in the air. “Hey!”

“Sorry, I’ve been working out.”

“Jerking off doesn’t count,” Eddie said, putting his cards on his bedside locker, when Richie didn’t reply he took a look at him, but his head was low and he couldn’t see his face, “What’s wrong.” 

“Nothing.” 

“Richie.”

Richie sat down on the bed after kicking the door closed and flopped backwards, nearly collapsing onto Eddie’s lap. Eddie barely choked back his cry of shock when he saw the state of him. A smash of blood from his nose, exploded onto his Freese’s tee. His glasses cracked and warped and his eyes an angry shade of purple - visible even through the cracked coke-bottle glass. “Take a wild fuckin’ guess.” 

“Bill finally had enough of you imitating his stutter?” Eddie joked, even as he moved forward to get a closer look.

“Nah,” He said, lifting his glasses off to clean them, but Eddie took them out of his hand and set them out of reach, “Asked your Mom to sit on my face.” 

Eddie gave his cheek a light slap, “Beep-beep.” The more Eddie looked at Richie’s face, the worse it looked. His lip was busted open and he had scratches and gravel all up the side of his cheek, like roadburn. Richie didn’t meet his eyes as Eddie looked over him, but he did wince when Eddie brushed some of the gravel off of his cuts. The air was steady and Richie seemed content in sitting in silence, but Eddie couldn’t leave it there. He’d found his line and this was it. “Bowers?” 

Richie stiffened under him, “Bowers didn’t sit on my face but thanks for that image.” Again with the deflection.

“Richie, I’m serious, okay - stop fucking about.” 

“I didn’t come here for a fucking lecture!” Richie said suddenly, whipping himself up into a sitting position only to let out a wheeze of pain and fall straight back down with a groan, “I can’t move right now but emotionally I’m storming out and slamming the door,” Richie winced as he touched his nose and groaned in pain.

“So it was Bowers?” He didn’t quip back at Richie. It was no fun when he was rolling about in pain. 

“Yes.” Richie’s voice was a little nasally and gurgled. He sat up a little and blood came trickling down his nose and into his mouth. Eddie wretched and threw a box of tissues at him. Richie got through about six before his nose stopped bleeding again. 

“Are you hurt?” 

Richie stared at him blankly, “No.”

“Then why are there bruises all over your face?” 

“He loaded me with sedatives before he beat my shit into the pavement.” 

Eddie huffed and shuffled towards Richie and tore the tissue from his nose, “Stop being an ass. I’m trying to help, Rich and I don’t need you running your mouth and being a sarcastic asshole when I’m doing it. Sit there, don’t touch anything or …. bleed on anything. I’m gonna go and get some stuff from the first aid kit.” 

“Hey, Eds?” Richie piped up in a soft voice as Eddie was about to leave the room. The softness of his voice caught him off guard and he didn’t have the heart to tell him not to call him that.

“Yeah, Rich?”

“One of your tampons should fit up my nose, it’ll stop the bleeding, right?” 

“No - but I could see if my knuckle will fit up your nose - want to find out?”“Nah,” Richie pointed at his nose - “Henry already tried.” 

Eddie got the things he needed from the first aid kit and brought Richie into his bathroom and locked the door. Richie was sat on the toilet seat, with Eddie leaning over a little to get a good angle to dab at Richie’s nose with a wet wipe. The blue-ish tint from the fluorescent lighting of the bathroom only made Eddie’s gut fall, more than he had expected really. Maybe it was the sad look in Richie’s eyes, too. “Why did he do this?” Eddie muttered, not really a direct question, but one Richie answered nonetheless.

“Cause I’m a faggot,” The matter-of-fact way Richie said it made Eddie’s stomach lurch.

 That word - or anything related to being gay, really - always set Eddie on edge, always made him paranoid and his hair stand up on the back of his neck. Like there was a monster standing behind him, breathing rotten breath on his neck that would unhinge its jaw and swallow him whole if he even thought about other boys. The tone that Richie said that threw him off enough to ask, “Are you?” 

Richie looked from the wet wipe, covered in Richie’s blood, that Eddie had moved away from his face a little, to Eddie and back to the wet wipe, “No. It was a joke.” 

Eddie caught Richie looking at his own blood and felt sick, “I don’t think gays have AIDs - I saw the way you were looking at me. Anyone can get it - I read all these journals about it and it’s a disease. It doesn’t pick who it infects. Did you see Princess Diana shook hands with a patient? It’s terrible, don’t get me wrong but it’s not as contageous as the news is saying, and it’s definately not a ‘homosexual disease’ and-” 

“You think I’m gay?” Richie cut him off.

“I - no. I don’t. I wouldn’t care if you were, though, for the record. I wouldn’t care if any of the losers were,” Eddie said, words rushing into each other as he spoke quickly, moving back to dab at Richie’s nose. It was hard to concentrate with the way Richie was looking at him. Like he was examining him. 

“Are you?” Eddie flinched like he’d been shot when Richie asked that and he didn’t mean to physically take a step back. He opened and closed his mouth but nothing could come out. Nothing will come out - he’s fuckin’ sure of that, “I wouldn’t care either, you know.” 

“Okay.” Eddie forced out.

“Okay.” Richie said. 

They both agonised in the silence. Both a little wild-eyed like hares in headlights at each other. Richie’s face was clean of blood now. His shirt was still ruined but he didn’t look quite like he’d just gotten out of a bar fight now. He looked a lot better. Richie always looked kinda good, Eddie thought. The thought always embarrassed him. Richie was a bit strange looking, with a short face and his awful glasses and giant teeth that Richie insists he’ll grow into, but Eddie could never help the way his stomach lit when Richie laughed - or even when Richie pinched his cheeks and called him cute. 

Richie thought the same thing. With Eddie and the way he was so quick to rile up, going from placid to in a rage at the drop of a hat. The way Eddie, all five-foot-three of him, kicked a fucking demon clown square in the snotter. When Eddie got his cast re-done because he got his ruined in greywater and he asked Richie to help re-write the LOSER on it. Eds sure was cute. The cutest fuckin powerhouse in all of Derry. 

“I am.” Richie said suddenly, like a bubble bursting and suddenly his world was bigger. No longer closed in on himself, “I’m gay.” 

Eddie looked like he’d seen a ghost and the wet wipe fell from his hand, “Yeah. Yeah, uh - okay. Me too.” 

Richie blew a huge sigh of relief. A massive weight off of his shoulders. Although, when he looked at Eddie he didn’t feel the same radiating off of him. Eddie looked like he was about to either cry or pull a Johnny Twango and go mad, “You okay?” Eddie shook his head, not lifting his eyes off of the bathroom floor, which had suddenly gotten very interesting, what craftsmanship. 

Richie pulled Eddie’s hand into his own, “Scared?” Eddie nodded, “I’m scared too.”  Eddie finally willed himself to pull his eyes off of the incredible craftsmanship of the bathroom tiles and met Richie’s eyes, soft and vulnerable, “Scared together?” 

“Scared together.” Richie squeezed Eddie’s hand and Eddie squeezed back. Eddie’s eyes widened suddenly and his hands shot up to Richie’s face, Richie flinched and looked up  in confusion, “Your nose is broken, I’m gonna set it,” Eddie said and pinched Richie’s nose - Richie’s eyes blew open and he voiced his distress but they were cut short before Richie had the chance to push Eddie away as a loud CRACK sounded out into the air. 

“YOU PIECE OF SHIT - THAT FUCKING HURT.”

Eddie laughed and laughed and laughed before he wiped the tears from his eyes as Richie was still complaining and groaning in pain, “That’s payback for my arm, dipshit.” 

[renaer-is-allegedly-hot]

session 9 notes

Tea time as in the oneshot period session u do

Adam is rolling at disadvantage medicine check

Sylvia is playing as Sarah (16)

Marguerite is Snapette (14)

Has not had it before

Lillian is Samantha (15?? 14???)

Has had it before

Can provide inspiration

Sarah picks room c painted purple and dripping stuff from the ceiling

Takes snapette and samantha with her, do it

Adam casts message

"are you guys ok?"

Snapette is a little freaked out bc hasn't had it yet

"I don't knowww"

Samantha says don't worry it's just a routine procedure "she'll be ok don't worry about it"

6

Adam casts shatter at the wall

3d4 damage from middle school girls roll to hit above an 6

Adam has to roll wisdom saving throw at 15

At disadvantage (on next attack)

ROLL INITIATIVE

Adam: 12

Sarah: 5

Snapette: 19

Samantha: 19

Samantha

Snapette

Adam

Sarah

Samantha's turn

2 for persuasion

Snapette

5

Adam casts sleep

Snapette is asleep

Sarah

4 for persuasion

Samantha

6 for persuasion

Adam

Hideous laughters samantha but on the ground laughing

Sarah

        Ok next one as in real one ig

     "lillian has a gaming setup confirmed"

"lillian is a hardcore gamer"

Ok actually

 Last session we were following a lead, we took a rest but now we wanna go to the cemetery

We're gonna go get that rock

"Does the rat have a bed ??"

It's a cemetery but also a park

It's still foggy

We're gonna walk until we come across a taxi ig

Aerana is leading in front, adam towards middle, cel towards back

Asyna and theo don't care

Not fog it's rain

Don't see too many ppl out but as we leave the dock ward we see ppl trying to find cover

Pass through the dock ward unhindered

Eventually we flag down a carriage

V old tiefling man w an eyepatch and a beard coming down in two forks but w one shorter than the other

3c each

"take these coppers . Old version of me"

"eh . What r u doing up this time of night"

"oh we're just gonna go pay our respects to the graveyard"

"we have many graveyards which one r u going to"

"just u know the general - the city of the dead"

"ah headed back there again, eh?"

"again?"

"what do you mean by again?"

"my eye must've been deceiving me I could've sworn I spoke to u the other day"

Adam is not allowed to roll perception???????

"oh no no sir I haven't met u before in my life"

His depth perception is gone

He was doing typical rounds and ran into young man who needed ferry into city of the dead

"there's a lot of tieflings in the city . We all look the same"

No one else is on the carriage

It's late afternoon-ish here

Just dark bc cloud cover it's v rainy

Fast travel ?

He tries some conversation but normal guy

Arrive at a thing with a cage castle thing that's locked up

Metal grate thing in front of the door??? PORTCULLIS

It's so rainy

Looking beyond it there's a lot of carefully manicured lawns

It's locked

A wench looks pulled

If adam were stronger he could push it open

Cel rolls perception for guards

10

Can see light or smth passing through ?? Smth in the place

Kinda bobs a little that "might suggest a lantern"

We can't see it

Adam casts mage hand to try and open the wedge from the other side

There's an actual lock

Lillian rolls a 6

Everyone is confused I am also confused

Everyone is low rolling; cel rolls 8

"how climbable does the wall look"

23 aerana unlocks the door

You're trying to figure it out in the rain

Adam is mage handing the inside part

20

Could not put the lock back on but close the gate

Adam is putting it in george the bush

"I'll be so happy to take this lock off your hands"

It's an awakened bush

"we'll come back to you george bush"

Passing through, it's p creepy

We follow her instructions

Small lake w a small bridge

Asyna has 14 passive perception

This is a p sizable area

she hears out of sync footsteps

Someone stepping when we aren't

Someone walking with us behind us

Asyna rolls perception check disadvantage

a 2

Asyna pretends she looks back to talk to someone behind her

Looks over shoulder, still walking w everyone

Doesn't see anything

The rain and the dark r making it hard for us

Adam is leading

"hey adam . There's someone maybe following us"

Adam's already terrified and now he's peeing

He has actually peed

Was already kinda freaked out by the bus driver

Adam stops leading

Turns to asyna "y ou wot"

"what ? Keep walking let's keep walking"

"but you said"

"nononono"

Asyna perception at disadvantage

11

Adam stops

We've all stopped

As adam is talking to asyna asyna hears the footsteps where we've stopped walking and then they stopped

Cel roll 6

Aerana rolls 20

U whip ur head back to see

U hear ??? "what languages do you guys speak"

U hear what sounds like someone cursing u can't tell what it is

U tell the group

Asyna just says "hey"

Oh we can hold an attack

Let's hold an attack

Adam is holding his urine

"adam's a heavy drinker . You guys don't know that about him" - jacob, 2020

The hey is not answered

Hear a little more squelching

Sounds from the right, 7 perception check

Hard to tell, maybe

Adam does not have detect magic

Bruh dom's gonna kill us right now

On our right we hear stomping in the mud

4 short hooded figures randomly appear

Some kind of weapons they're holding w longer grayish beards and the start rushing to us to attack

I literally rolled a nat1

17 for adam

7 for theo

6 for asyna

Nat1 for cel

Nat1 for aerana

Adam is first

They look like dwarves but they're hooded w v white beards

Four of them in melee w us

All will make charisma saving throw

They don't look like zents or guards

Look like kind of thugs

Fail, nat20, nat20, fail

Whenever the failed ones make an attack roll, -1d4

Uses cutting words on one of the passed one, on next roll needs to -1d6

Two of them rush over after adam does and suddenly it looks like they start to straighten up in posture but they just grow in size

For better or worse they've become larger like the dweargar

They're dweargar

One of each of the attacked ones ig

A third grows in size

Theo's turn

Tries to shoot small one

"kill the baby dwarf"

Rolls an 8 to hit, misses

Asyna's turn

"It would just be a soggy ape"

We're trying to figure out which animal asyna should turn into

She's gonna turn into a crocodile bc one time jones put a crocodile out

We're going to the zoo after this session

There are dippin dots at the zoo

There are not dippin dots at the zoo?

The ice elemental could make a version of dippin dots

Dom gets frozen lemonade at zoos

There are not dippin dots at the zoo but in the summer they have the equivalent of shaved ice

Now asyna's gonna attack

18 to hit

7 damage

Bite attack ? Grappled ? Dc12 saving throw ? No dc12 to escape

He's stuck in the jaws

Who's stuck in the jaws ? The big one one of the big ones the bained one

Oh wait how big is the crocodile

Large

It works

Small one becomes large now all four are large

Cel's turn

Takes the one that just turned big

Casts hunters mark and then hits with sword

1d6 of damage, 2 from hunters mark added

15 to hit with bow, 14 damage

Aerana's turn

11 damage

Big one that adam didn't hit

U poke a lil hole

He's wearing chain armor and u shear through it a little

Adam

Casts vicious mockery on the one you just hit

He will take 3 damage "the only reason you got big physically is because you're compensating"

And disadvantage on next physical attack

He's next

Ah he's gonna attack u

He misses

Other one goes

The big bained one

Marguerite took the small bained one

Nat1 lmao

Tries to swing at adam and doesn't hit

Grappled man gonna try to escape, is large so does he escape ? Yes he escapes

Theo's turn

Theo will hit the one that just tried to escape w bow

14 to hit, does it

Deals 5 damage

The one u n adam hit is a little worse for wear along w the last one to turn big boi

Theo can add sneak attack bc asyna is within melee range

Adds 8 damage for total 13 damage

Now he's also not looking great

Theo abandons bow to sneak attack w sword

Asyna's turn

18 to hit

6 damage

Same guy theo got

"how do you want to do this?"

Chomps him in half

He tastes salty

Ok so in total like 26 damage to take out ?

Upon seeing the crocodile the other one is gonna fight asyna

Despite -1d6 to hit, has advantage bc larger size and never mind ?

12 armor class, he hits

6 damage

He smashes snout in "it hurts . But ur fine"

Cel's turn

It is the one with hunters mark

Uses bow

23 to hit, 11 damage

Looks like he's on his last legs

Aerana deals 14 damage

"how do you want to do this"

Cut off the legs then he slides off his own legs and collapses

Bleeding out as he kicks the bucket

Adam

"how do you want to do this"

1 health lmao

"what I roll will tell me the level of roast that kills him"

"your mother was a badger mole and your father was a worm"

He hyperventilates, asphyxiates, then dies

Bruh next time u should pull a criminal minds death smh

He rolls a 3 and doesn't hit anyone

Theo's turn

Makes an athletics check to climb onto him?

I want a burrito

I'm gonna make a burrito after we play so I can start s14

Gonna try to intimidate

" we just killed all of your friends but we'd be willing to keep you alive if you answered some questions for us "

"that is the most polite intimidation I've ever heard" dom, 2020

Rolls with advantage

8 lmao

He looks scared but it didn't work

"is theo like a mormon or something???" jacob, 2020

"dnd but it's mormons"

Asyna's turn

Rolls a 2, snaps and it doesn't work

Cel's turn

Pulls out sword to intimidate

"last chance fucker or we kill you"

17

Bc we're in melee he drops his weapon which did not grow in size with him

Adam is gonna change his shorts

It looks like he's wearing a skort

You take his war hammer

Time to interrogate

Cel is pulling him down???? He's medium size and cel is filled with rage

Eye contact ???? Or ok athletics check

14 athletics check it works gets him down to eye level

"who sent you?"

Doesn't answer

Asks in undercommon

"I was sent by noska"

"noska's with me at the guild"

It is the xanathar guild

"why?"

"we figured you five would have the stone"

Adam comes back

"we do have the stone in fact"

Deception check

19

Intimidation and deception are specific ways of persuading

19 deceives

"we already had it"

He looks at adam and says "that so? Well uh then you have it on you now?"

"uh no . Check the bottom of the ocean ."

His eyes widen

"so why don't you go tell your xants"

"you . You didn't ."

"oh . We did."

He's not used to communicating through an interpreter

Says smth along the lines of "you idiot there's half a million dragons in there"

Now he's just yelling at us

Cel whips out sword and offers to behead him against the

We could cut out his tongue and opposable thumbs

And then let him go as a sign to the xants

Carve a message into his chest

"who else are you hunting for"

"nobody right now . I guess ,, well, no .. No, not really - mostly just the rock"

"well it's gone . See rock see stone at the see shell at the see shore"

"here's the thing buddy boy we know you're looking for it and we don't like you"

"so you can skedaddle"

"when did adam get so cocky?"

"right after he learned vicious mockery"

Adam spanks him

He shrunk to a medium size

Or maybe adam didn't spank him

Tl;dr he's not gonna snitch and doesn't give us a name

"I still wanna know your name, fucker"

It's gorrick

Sylvia would've called him ocean

"if you know a crow person named bingbong-" "that's not his real name" "-if you know a kenku whose name is a gong sound, can you tell us where he is?" "well there's lots of different kenku but I don’t' know they all look kind of scruffy and they all wear cloaks so I can't tell" he doesn't know

"he reluctantly gives you his pants" dom, 2020

"but is he packing tho" marianne, 2020

"roll for perception at disadvantage" "16"

"from what you can tell… this guy can taste enlarge/reduce on himself, so yeah" dom says, begrudgingly, 2020

For the record . I was joking . But he made me roll

"is that dead one packing shmeat" "NO, HE IS N O T" jacob and dom, 2020

"you idiots are dead xants r gonna come and make your lives hell"

We see lantern lights just bobbing around in the darkness

Arrive at one of the wealthier areas w big pillared, raised pedestals w coffins n statues

Eventually make it to a small covered stone building not too much larger than a shed

One of the things has been pushed open

Smashed lock on the ground

Adam thaumaturgies and walks in

Adam makes the light blue

10 feet in there's a 10ft open chamber; off to left and right are two different stone coffins that have been covered up; don't depict any particular person but some writing on it

Further in two raised sections with set of stairs leading into darkness between them

Cel rolls investigation check to see if someone was there

Rolls 21, somewhat dusty inside and can see some footprints

2 pairs that look human-sized

Writing on coffins just have names of garloth family with age and short passage

The footprints look like they go both in and out

Honestly ? Proud of my question asking if the footprints are going in the same direction . Me one year ago would not have thought

Adam goes deeper into the darkness

Going down it's warmer, pathway abt 10 feet wide

More coffins; one to right one to left

Contents have been ransacked

Tops have been broken (wood)

Some bones have been removed

Cel rolls 21 to see if they were buried w anything

Passage extends 50 feet down

All coffins here have been ransacked

Two more coffins have also been ransacked

60 feet down adam can see a side passage

Bc of the light adam can see smth sparkling in the dust

Door set into the wall

Adam picks it up

Looks like a key

Adam tries it for the locked door

Adam runs 19 investigation but it doesn't appear to be trapped

Looks like this door has scratches like long gouges

Key adam found does not fit

Cel picks it

More ornate coffin inside, untouched

Cel rolls for investigation, 10

Unsure abt traps

More dusty in here, some dirt falling from ceiling

Adam looking for rat-sized entrances

Investigation check

11, can't see

Other coffin made to look like a person, last name garloth

Cel opens the coffin

Strength check w advantage

Nat20

Wedges crowbar under stone, it slides off and hits the ground, kicking up some dust

Inside is a dead person

Cel investigates for stone

13, it's just a dead man

Rings just look fancy

Based on our info

The stone is p sizable

Adam puts all the rings on at once and as he tugs the rings off the skeleton the head rolls and falls to look at adam

"I'm gonna cover the face and keep tugging - does it come off?"

"the finger comes off"

Naya's gonna scry w the key

"are you still a crocodile?"

"oh ok I guess I'll revert then"

Naya hops away

Will do investigation checks for rest of tomb

Adam is licking the floor, rolls 13

Adam gathers the door was not opened before we came in

Hard to tell w the footprints now that we've come in

Someone did come in tho before us

Cel is investigating and adam is giving inspiration

"are you doing bardic inspiration then?"

"yeah"

"do I get a song?"

"there once was a halfling named cel she was searching for bodies in a cell but there was one trap everyone did a laugh(?) and down the hole she fell"

"you've been inspired to avoid all danger"

Four were unopened Ig

11 it doesn't open ?

Nat20 for second coffin

Dead person inside

Investigates for stone, 8

Doesn't see anything

There's an entrance the door at the front of the mausoleum that a rat could fit through

No rat-sized holes in the coffins

Only lead is the key

Naya looks like she's leaving so we're gonna follow

Eventually led to another entrance/exit of the cemetery in a different direction

Still raining but not quite as heavily as before

Getting closer to midnight

Naya starts leading us towards trades ward

Pause point?

[jaywrites101]

The City In FreeFall: Chapter Four

This is part of my ongoing Beta for my new book The City In FreeFall, slated to be released sometime early in 2020. New chapters are released here and on AO3. Special shout out to my StreetTeam members: @ciestess and @leave-her-a-tome for their advanced reading and suggestions.  On to the story! Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Beaten, bruised, and broken. Oh yeah, today was going exactly according to plan… 

I made it through the front door of our apartment and immediately stumbled towards my bed. The alarm clock next to the bed read 1:48 in bright, red numerals. I wasn't failing Math, so I did a few mental calculations. I had to be at the warehouse by 8:30, which meant I'd have to leave the house by 7:00 at the latest. That left five hours to sleep and set the third part of my plan in motion.

The agonizing pain in my lungs reminded me that five hours wasn't nearly enough time to recuperate. Stupid lungs. They should know better than that by now.

As I approached the bed, everything went dark. I could vaguely feel myself collapsing, in a numb, underwater sense. I was well past my breaking point, but this was different. My mind was still running at top speed, even though my body was failing. Last time I blacked out, it happened too quickly for me to process what was happening. This time I was aware enough to be afraid of it. 

I woke up tied to a chair. On top of our apartment. Leaning over the precipice.

I panicked! The sight of the street below filled me with adrenaline. I threw myself against the straps, completely disregarding my previous injuries. But an orange, scaled hand stopped me from leaning forward.

I thought he was a myth! But that hand was real. The sun setting behind him burned right in my eyes! He pushed my chair further and further back despite my protests. My heart was trying to beat itself out of my chest. Wind tousled my hair while I screamed. Once again, I couldn’t stop myself from looking down. The ground was so far away, the pedestrians below were like ants on a picnic table. My eyes were glued to the asphalt twenty stories straight down.

With a herculean effort, I forced myself to look back at the thing in front of me. Burnished orange scales broke up his silhouette. Humanoid, but not human. His head--Oh God! There was nothing human about that head. Bulged over with a massive lower jaw. And at the top. Two glowing crimson eyes. It was like staring into the depths of Hell and seeing that Hell was staring back!

Movement behind him drew my attention to his tail. It twitched aggressively. "What do you know about Warehouse 15!" he growled. His voice! Even now, sitting alone in my cell, I shiver just remembering it. It was a low growl, impossibly loud! It was the voice of a dragon.

This was DinoHyde.

"Don't kill me!" I pleaded.

"Wrong answer!" he roared in return. With one hand--one--he pushed the chair all the way over the edge. I thought for sure I was about to fall. But the monstrosity still had hold of the back of the chair. Even as all four of the legs swung out into space, that grip held the chair in place. The straps cut into me. Slicing my already bruised body with every shudder.

"Y-you won't kill me--You can't kill me! DinoHyde n-never kills people." At this point, I was pleading more to myself than to him. He pulled me up, just enough to force me closer to those wicked eyes.

"What do you think happens to those people who mysteriously disappear in this city?"

"They were killed by the gangs?"

DinoHyde didn't answer. He didn't need to. I'd heard the tales in the Heap. We all did. Stories that a wild dinosaur was cloned in a lab and exposed to human DNA. No one really believes it. We all grew up just outside that lawless age where vigilantes took up arms to keep the peace. Most of us just assumed DinoHyde was just another vigilante dressed up in a spandex suit. 

Those scales seemed real to me. Somehow, those eyes bored themselves into my skull and pulled out my greatest fear from the deepest recesses. Tears burned their way out of my eyes. Even my mantra was forgotten.

"What do you know about Warehouse 15!" he asked again.

"I-I don't know anything about Warehouse 15," I cried, expecting to fall at any second. "It's just an abandoned Barron Corp storage site. I needed to find a place the SmashStones and the BloodBlades could go wild without getting anyone else hurt! That's it, I swear!"

DinoHyde seemed taken aback. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, at any rate. "You're not working for Lawson?"

"Who?" The name struck a chord with me, but I couldn't place it. I certainly wasn't working for him, whoever he was.

DinoHyde seemed to sense the truth. More confirmation of his supernatural powers. "It's not important," he said. He paused for a minute, his head cocked unnaturally. 

A breeze blew around me. For a moment, I actually thought he was going to drop me. But the moment passed and DinoHyde swung me around back onto the roof. I was stuck facing away from the mutant vigilante. 

I craned my neck so hard I swear something popped, but I still didn't get a good look at him--he just stepped into my blindspot no matter what I did. "You should be in school, kid," he said. His voice was still gravely, but much less harsh. He still didn't know what to make of me.

"I'm not going to school anymore. I'm not going ever again," I returned stubbornly. God, I was such a prick.

"You don't know what you're playing at."

"How can you say that? We're on the same side!"

DinoHyde growled. "You're not on anyone's side, kid!" His voice returned to that deep reverberating tone that scared me so much. "You've made enemies of everyone in the city what with the stupid stunts you just pulled! Stealing a cop car, joining the SmashStones, marching right on up into the BloodBlades stronghold--it's a wonder you haven't killed yourself already!"

At the mention of my heroic deeds, my injuries started throbbing again. In addition to the busted ribs and the hole in my chest, I also had bruises on my back that stung like acid, a tender, itchy line across my throat, a cramp in my left leg, and a collection of cuts on my arms and shoulders. "I guess I just don't have the talent for dying."

DinoHyde smacked at the back of my head lightly. My vision doubled as my eyes crossed from the pain. Add one concussion. Lovely.

"Give it up, brat. You don't have what it takes to make it in this line of work."

"Screw you!" I spat indignantly. "You know, i-if you were out protecting people instead of throwing kids off building tops, I wouldn't have to be here, a-and my friend would still be alive!" 

You know, I didn't think I was doing anything particular by bringing the conversation around to Jerry again. It took me by surprise to realize I meant it this time. Seeing the myth right in front of me… Damn… That gave me someone to blame. Someone besides the gangs. After all the lies and half-truths… This was real. And it hurt. Like a bitch.

I bawled for a solid minute. I've never been any good at handling grief. Even now it's easier to just escape into the past and forget the last couple of days… forget what's happening to me.

DinoHyde let me cry. He waited for me to calm down before he said, "I was sorry to hear about Jerry." That was it. No nonsense, or he's in a better place now like all the other adults kept repeating. 

Just, sorry. 

"He was a good kid,” DinoHyde continued. “Smart. Honest. I wish I could've stopped what happened to him."

"THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU!" I shouted. "You're the monster vigilante! You're the one going around playing hero! Why didn't you--or any of the others--protect him!"

I expected him to smack me over the head again, or maybe tell me off for being a brat. I would've deserved either. But instead, DinoHyde just made an odd wheezing noise that I eventually recognized as a sigh. "It happened in the daylight. I can't operate so freely during the day."

"Whatever," I huffed. I wasn't ready to forgive him so easily. "As soon as you let me go I'm going to clean up your mess for good. There won't be any more kids in caskets."

"It's not that easy."

"Well, maybe you just haven't been trying hard enough!"

DinoHyde spun the chair around into the setting sun once more. He towered over me, those red eyes blazing. "Listen to me kid! What you're doing won't work. The gangs aren't just going to kill each other off just because Sam Farsight has a grudge against them. All you're going to do is start a war that'll burn down this whole city."

I dug my toes into my shoes and forced myself to stare anywhere but at his eyes. The building next to us had a park on its roof. Empty, of course. Most buildings locked their roof access at sunset. It was--

"Sunset…"

"What are you going on about now?" DinoHyde asked.

"It's sunset! And none of the buildings near my apartment have a park on them! Where am I? What time is it??"

DinoHyde huffed. "Relax, kid. We're near the docks, and it's only 7:30-ish."

I quickly ran some more mental calculations. "There's still time, but I've got to hurry. Are you going to let me out of this chair?"

"I will. But I won't help you. What you're doing is suicidal. Both Cutter and SmashStone will be pissed. Even I can't take them both on at once."

"That's fine," I snapped. "I didn't want your help anyway."

"This isn't a game, brat!" DinoHyde growled again. (He does that a lot.) "If you go through with this they will kill you. And I won't be there to save you."

"Then I'll die!" There was something in the force of it that gave the vigilante pause. Conviction, plain and simple. I knew the dangers. But that wasn't going to stop me. "At least I'll die knowing it wasn't in vain. Knowing that I made a difference."

"Kid…" DinoHyde began. But he stopped. Making another one of his strange sighs, he reached behind me and unbuckled the straps that bound me. I wasn't going to stay and chat. I was already limping off to the door.

"Kid!" he tried again. "Listen to me--look, there's a better way. A proper way. Just back down from this madness and I'll--"

"I don't want your help! I'm doing this my way. I don't want anything to do with you!" I limped down the steps, all twenty flights of them. DinoHyde didn't follow after me. I don't know what he did after I left. I didn't care. Was I reckless? Yes. Was I stupid? Yes. Do I regret my actions that day? Oh, most definitely. Did I care at the time? Nope… I was convinced I had things figured out. DinoHyde was just one more test of my resolve.

[pedrospookie]

Satin Slippers Part 1 - Allegro

okay so this is my first ever fan fic that i have posted! please let me know if you like it, if you want more, or if you have suggestions as to how i can improve!

Stark!Reader x High School!Peter Parker

Fluff-ish (I promise to get better at it!)

word count: 3178

You had always been such a daddy’s girl. Tony raised you all on his own, with some help from his dear mother, Maria. It was as if you were Tony’s shadow, constantly following him into the lab to work on parts for suits. If you were lucky, he’d let you help weld together the metals, after he put you in safety goggles, of course. You grew up listening to Black Sabbath, ACDC, Metallica and wearing converse while all the other little girls at school wore sparkly flats. To be honest, you didn’t care. Your dad always made you feel like the most important girl in the world, regardless if you had grease smeared across your cheek or sweaty hands from working in the shop.

As much as you cherished this time with your dad, you always looked forward to seeing your grandmother. She had fostered a love for the arts that was rooted as deep as your love for mechanics. She would take you to see the Nutcracker every year at The Metropolitan and enrolled you in piano lessons. This created an outlet of expression that you could share with her. This special bond between you and Maria, felt like the deepest, most sincere secret in the whole world, even though everyone knew about it.

The day she passed away, you had locked yourself in your room and listened to Chopin polonaises and waltzes until you fell asleep. Tony knew it was your way of coping with this impactful loss. He too felt comforted hearing the soft lull of Chopin fill the halls in the tower. Part of him wished that he had been able to create a bond with her the way she had with you.

------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Y/N!” your freckled friend, Annabelle, called. She plopped her anagrammed gym bag beside yours on the bench in the changeroom.

“Your jumps are getting so good! I can’t believe how you’re able to leap up with such force!” she exclaims sitting down on the wooden bench to untie her point shoes.

“Well, I just wish I looked half as graceful as you, Annie.” You joke back, bending down to untie your satin slippers. Annabelle was a tall girl with a slender frame, who lived and breathed ballet, way more than you ever did.

“Oh, you will! Practice makes perfect, you know!” She beams as she puts her blush coloured point shoes into her quilted gym bag and zips up her fleece sweater. “Well, I will see you next class. Have a good night!” Annabelle chimes as tosses her bag over her shoulder and skips out of the room.  

A large sigh escapes your mouth. Finally, you we’re able to go home and eat. As much as you loved dance, you were always starving after since you always had to rush from school to dance. A granola bar and chocolate milk on the subway barely cut it after a taxing class. You we’re all preparing for the spring recital where you were going to perform Chopin’s Les Sylphides.  Quickly switching your baby pink point shoes for some dingy, beat up converse, you wiggled into some boyfriend jeans and marched out the door ready to powerwalk back to the tower.

---------------------------------------------------

As the elevator doors slowly opened, you could smell the sweet scent of dinner. You had no idea who could be cooking, but it didn’t matter, if there was food waiting for you, you were happy.

“Hey Y/N! You hungry?” Steve’s voice calls from the kitchen. ‘Oh, looks like Dad has company tonight’, you thought to yourself. You enjoyed having the Avengers over. The company made the tower less quiet at night, especially if dad was away for business or busy in the shop while you were cooped up doing homework.

“Hey Steve, I’m starvin’ Marvin!” You smile, resting your dance bag on the couch as you walk into the kitchen. You noticed Peter sitting at the high top doing some type of math homework that you were grateful not to have. You give him a small wave and a smile that causes the boy to blush and give an incredibly enthusiastic smile.

“He-hey Y/N!” the boy stutters. He was so incredibly cute when he was embarrassed.

Peter was in the majority of your classes, but you had decided to take functions rather than algebra and calculus, leaving you to your own devices when it came to studying. Besides Ned, you were the only other student at the school who knew he was Spider-Man. Peter while shy, was always so kind. He would always be the first to help you with your homework even though you knew your dad would be able to help. You didn’t mind though, you secretly enjoyed spending that alone time with Peter. It’s as if knowing he is Spider-Man has created an intimate bond between the two of you. Part of you felt that it was more than a bond…you liked Peter, a lot, but you knew that telling him could cause a lot of tension especially in the tower and it was a huge problem when it came to missions and your safety. At least that’s what you assume your dad would tell you, as that was the exact reason your mother left him.

“Fantastic! I’ve made homemade mac and cheese that will be out of the oven in 5 minutes.” Steve replies, closing the oven after checking the casserole. He placed the red and blue checkered mitts on the counter before leaning over and giving you a hug.

“How was your dance class?” He asks, you could see Peter perk up when Steve asked you the question. Peter had no idea that you danced, let alone what genre.

Taking out the bobby pins and unraveling your hair from the mandatory top knot, you smile. Steve always cared about you and your interests. He has come to ever show and seems to truly enjoy everything you have to say about your passions.

“Steve, it was fantastic! Not to brag, but we we’re practicing jumps to see who will have a small solo for our spring recital, and I have to say…I kicked major ass! I was able to get so much air with full leg extension! Our ballet mistress was incredibly impressed. The music was just so inspiring that I let my body feel it, and it worked!” You beamed telling Steve your incredible news. You could see the pride in Steve’s eyes and he grinned at you with the most admirable look in his eyes. Peter just stared at you, completely mesmerized by your story.

“Of course, you did! You’re a superstar, kiddo!” A voice chimes from the door frame. Unbeknownst to you, your dad had walked in behind you, mid-conversation, and overheard the entire thing.

Out of pure love, he gives you a tight bear hug and kisses your cheek.

“You know Tony, she looks more and more like your mother every day.” Steve points out, patting the hair on the top of your head.

“Well, there could be uglier people that I could resemble.” You joke, elbowing Steve as he puts the oven mitts back on.

Peter nearly choked on the water he was drinking when he heard what you said. He had no clue as to what Mr. Stark’s mother looked like, but if she looked anything like Y/N, she must have been simply beautiful.

“Parker! Help me set the table!” Tony asks, waving a handful of forks and knives at the boy, pulling him out of his trance.

“Oh-uh, yeah, sorry Mr. Stark!” He mumbles, scurrying off the bar stool to grab a stack of plates. He could feel his cheeks grow warm every time he looked at you. Your H/C hair cascading down the nape of your neck looked so effortlessly beautiful, paired with your vibrant smile.

“Okay, boys and girls! Bon appetit!” Tony chimes, placing the casserole dish filled with golden mac and cheese in the center of the table. The smell dragged the rest of the Avengers from their hiding spaces to the table.

Once dinner had settled, Bruce, Peter and your dad left to work in the shop, while Natasha and Steve read in the parlor. Thor was on clean up duty and was struggling to scrape the casserole dish clean. Hearing his constant grunting and cursing under his breath, you took over.

“You know Thor, sometimes it’s better to let it soak a little.” You giggle, watching the God get frustrated over some melted cheese.

You could see the look of confusion on his face as you took the scrub brush out of his hands. Clearly the God has never had to wash the dishes before.

“It’s when you leave it in the sink filled with warm and soapy water, it helps to get all the crunchy bits off.”

“Ah! Like a warm bath!” Thor chimes, sounding so proud of himself.

“Yes, Thor. Like a warm bath!” You chuckle to yourself, seeing Steve raise an eyebrow as a smirk grew across his face.

“Natasha, I’m going to go work on some homework. Could you help Thor with this in 20 minutes?” You beg, Nat sighs as she looks up from her book.

“Only if Rogers can be on back up if Thor starts breaking mugs again.” Her dark eyes glare at Thor as a small smile forms on her lips.

“Go study, Y/N, we’ve got this.” Steve laughs as he lowers his newspaper just enough to look over it at you.

---------------------------------------------------------

You walk down the hall to your bedroom, passing by walls of photos filled with memories. There was something so comforting about reaching your room after a long day and shutting the door. It was as if it signified the long day finally being over.

Collapsing onto your bed, you flip open your lap top and run a hand through your tangled hair. ‘Hmm, what would pair nicely with my reading on World War 2 and Propaganda Tactics?’ you think to yourself as you scroll through your iTunes library. You settle on Debussy’s Arabesque No.1. As the music starts to fill your room, you light a couple of candles and crack open your thick history textbook.

Meanwhile, in the lab….

Bruce and Tony were hard at work patching up Peter’s spider suit as it had been practically demolished after their last mission.

Sitting on a stool, Peter watched the two men hard at work. He was just there for input.

“So, uh, Mr. Stark? H-how long has Y/N been dancing?” Peter asks quietly, a blush raising to his cheeks at the mention of your name.

Tony’s head perks up from the workbench and looked right at Peter. To him, it felt as if Mr. Stark was peering into his soul.

“Since she was small…Why?” Tony asks hesitantly, giving the boy a strange look.

“No reason…” Peter’s voice drifts off as he stares at the ground, feeling stupid for bringing it up.

“You know kid, you could just ask her yourself if you have questions.” Tony mentions as he attempts to fix a circuit on Peter’s suit. “Bruce, could you bring that light a bit closer?”

“Peter, she won’t bite your head off. She’s a sweet girl, just go talk to her.” Bruce says calmly as he adjusts the angle that he is holding the light to help Tony.

“Uh—No, no it’s okay...” Peter peeps shyly. His head felt like it was running in circles. He had talked to you before, he talks to you all the time when it comes to school work or at lunch in the cafeteria. But for some reason this felt so different, like a pill that was impossible to swallow. Peter could feel his cheeks getting hot and his palms starting to sweat.

“Well, are you just going to sit there, Parker? Or are you going to finally go make a move on my daughter?” Tony says nonchalantly, sighing as he zaps the circuit panel in the chest piece of Peter’s suit.

“What!?” Peter blurts, shocked at Mr. Starks quick words. Had Peter been that obvious?

Tony puts his tools down on the workbench and crosses his arms, giving Peter what felt to be a deadly glare.

“Kid, you sit here almost every night like a dog with its tail between its legs. All you do is ask questions about her-“

“and your face turns bright red.” Bruce adds, a gentle smile on his face, “Just go talk to her.”

“I bet she’s in her room. It’s down the hall from the kitchen, just don’t touch any of the sculptures. Pepper will have a bird if she sees finger prints.” Tony smirks walking over to give Peter a pat on the back.

“Speaking of, where is Pepper?” Bruce asks as Peter walks slowly and nervously out of the lab.

“Dubai for work!” Tony’s voice rang as Peter walked to the elevator.

With a deep sigh and the feeling that his heart was about to explode, the elevator doors closed and Peter thought he might die.

----------------------------------------------------

 After an hour or so passes by, you ask yourself what the point of reading these chapters are when you have a living war relic in your living room. Giving up, you peel off your sweaty dance clothes and opt to have a relaxing shower.

Scrubbing the stress of the day away, music fills the speakers in your ensuite bathroom. You hum along happily as you wash your hair and rub your achy shoulders.

Just as you step out of the bathroom you hear a soft knock at the door.

“One second!” You call, as you hurry to throw on some comfortable clothing. You decide on a pair of grey joggers, a black sports bra and one of your dad’s zip up Black Sabbath hoodies.

“Come in!” You chime as you flip your head upside down to wrap your wet hair in a towel. As you come up, you see a bashful Peter Parker standing in the door.

“oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were chang-showering, I-I can leave?” Peter panics as he lowers his gaze, his face slowly turning a bright shade of red.

“It’s okay, Pete. I’m all done anyway…what’s up?” You half smile, wrapping the sweater shut. You didn’t have the time to zip it up as you thought it might have been Natasha. She usually was the only person, other than Pepper, who would come into your room. You walk quickly to the edge of the bed and plop down. You pat the spot beside you to silently ask Peter to join you.

“Uhm, well your dad said you’d be in here and that I should ask you my questions instead of him…” Peter’s voice trails off, as his glace searches around the room, his heart pounding a mile a minute.

“Uhm…Yeah okay! What questions do you have? Just shoot!” You smile, trying to relieve the tension. There was something so charming about the way Peter got so uncomfortable. You knew it was because he was trying to be gentleman like and non-invasive, which was so incredibly endearing to you. You could feel a knot grow in your stomach being so close to the boy.

His warm brown eyes looked right at you and searched your face momentarily, you wondered what he could be looking at. You had never been able to look at him the closely before, his brown eyes had flecks of gold and orange in them.

Peter could see what Steve meant. He took a moment to look at the photo of Maria hung in the hallway on the way to your room. You shared the same eyes, nose and lips as her. The same charming and dazzling smile that could take your breath away. Steve had mentioned to him, one time, that you know you’re in love when someone can take your breath away from just one look and smile.

“Earth to Peter?” You laugh awkwardly as you wave a hand in front of his face, trying to get rid of the butterflies in your own stomach.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Y/N!” He says, embarrassed for day dreaming. “I was wondering what type of dance you do? And how long you’ve been dancing? You didn’t specify earlier but maybe I shouldn’t have been listening-”

“Well, I have done jazz, tap, modern, lyrical and folk, but my one true love is ballet.” You smile, interrupting the rambling boy, scooting closer to him on the bed. “And I’ve been dancing since I was three.” You add, grabbing Peter’s hand. Peter gave you a surprised look.

“Wow! You must be like, really good.” He smiles. You had never noticed the freckles that ran across the bridge of his nose until now.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. I’m not nearly as serious as some people. But I enjoy it and it is something that I shared with my grandma. It will always be something that I cherish deeply…but it hasn’t been the same since she passed.” You sigh, looking down at your feet.

Peter could sense the sadness that slowly filled you. He presses up against you and you rest your head on his shoulder.

“I understand that.” He inhales sharply. “Uncle Ben and I loved everything Star Wars. We could binge watch them time after time, and every morning he would greet me with a line from one of the movies. I still love everything Star Wars…but it’s not the same. It feels kind of empty. May does try to say a line to me in the mornings, but she usually butchers it.” He chuckles softly, remembering the time she said for him to “take the high ground” to school.

You look up to Peter, his sad, brown eyes now looking at his calloused hands that are bunched up in yours.

“That exactly the feeling.” You say as you sit up and look at Peter with tears in your eyes, feeling as if someone finally understands how you feel.

“Uh, how about we change the subject?” He half-smiles as he tucks a strand of hair back into your towel wrap.  “When do you have your next show?” Peter asks, a full smile forming on his face.

“In a couple of weeks actually. We’re putting on Chopin’s Les Sylphides.” You bite your lip as you wipe the tears from your eyes.

“Uhm, can-would people be able to come see that?” Peter asks shyly, his big brown doe eyes looking right at you.

“Of course! Steve comes to every single one.” You smile at the thought of having Peter there. This idea makes your heart leap in your chest.

Peter’s face lights up at the thought of getting to see you perform. “Cool!” Peter says a little too enthusiastically, “So I could come see you?” he asks so innocently.

“I’d love it if you came, Peter.” You smile, grabbing his hand again.  The boy looks right at you, his free hand coming up and touching your cheek. His soft fingers tracing the growing blush that fills your cheeks.

[the-fiction-witch]

DEC 9: ChildHood 2

REAL LIFE: PART OF LARGER PLOT LINE COUPLE: TBS X READER RATING: SMUTTY ISH

Y/N POV:

I sat on thomas’ old bed still giggly 

“Its funny” I giggle

“How is it funny?” he asks

“Watching you get ready for bed in your old room” I giggle

“Ohh...why? you imagine back to when we where horny little teenagers locked up in here together” He smirks getting into bed with me “sat in here,summer time holidays, in the dark, with thunder birds on on a loop, snuggling up together, with a few little breaks here and there to...you know” he smirks

“little breaks to, jerk each other off or try to fuck while watching TV, the teenagers dream, the day we realized you could bend me over down the bed and fuck me while we both watch TV”  I giggle

“that was a good day I woked that out” he smirks

“You worked that out it was team effort to work that out, it needed me, you and some art supply's” I giggle

“yeah that took us about six drawings to try and logistically get it right” he laughs snuggling closer to me “But it meant I could be inside you and get to watch TV” he smirks trying to kiss me

“thomas? do you remember the first time we had sex in your bed” I giggle

“Of course I do...that was fun, having to be slow so the bed didn’t knock to hard on Ava’s wall, and so we didn't wake up my mum and dad” he smirks kissing down my neck

“It didn't go too well, you moaning like a crazy person” I giggle “your dad came though four times trying to check what we where up to” I giggle “every time he came in you just laid your head on my chest and pretended we where snuggling” I giggle 

“I swear he didn't believe us he just didn't want to ask questions about us having sex” he smirks sitting up for a moment “ I wonder” he smirks moving under the bed for a moment “YES!” he smirks getting up

“Oh your kidding it’s still in here” I giggle grabbing the bottle of vodka we had hidden away from so many years ago still un opened “I would have thought your mum would have found that at some point” I laugh opening the bottle and taking a bit of it before passing it to him

“I’m surprised she didn't... even Ava” he laughs just as we heard a noise like a hitting and some light moaning “Oh my God Ava...she’s getting fucked in her old bed” He sighs

“you could be if you get me drunk enough” I laugh taking the vodka back 

“I’m the older brother I have to set the example” he sighs

“says the boy literally drinking out a ten year old bottle of vodka he had hidden under his childhood bed” I giggle

“The older brother cant get drunk as fuck to set an example” he laughs laying down more so I giggle laying down with him too taking the bottle for my sip 

“My god she’s vocal” I laugh

“so’s he, he could bloody bring the house down” he laughs

“How come your dad doesn't bother them, yet when we snuggled together we where being monitored like criminals” I sigh as the noises got faster and louder “Wait for it” i giggle

“Its gonna happen” he laughs as we heard them get faster and louder and closer 

“3....2...1″ we both giggle and the banging stopped with two loud moans

“Wow!” I giggle as we laugh

“well done Marcus you got her there” he laughs

“Yeah well done Marcus and Ava” I giggle having some more vodka 

“why arnt we fucking?” he asks

“cause I am not drunk enough thomas to sleep with you in this room” I giggle

“why not?” he asks

“because thomas as much as I like fucking you at home you know its a big grown up bed and a grown up apartment, and I may have liked fucking you in the you know little boy bed room when i was a little girl but Im a grown up, I cant over look the baby boy stuff in here” I giggle

“what if I showed you how much off a big boy I can be” He smirks

“Ohh like what” I giggle sitting on his lap with the vodka “like showing off your big boy dick” I giggle

“well its a lot better then it was when we where sixteen I assure you that” he smirks

“Fine” I giggle putting the vodka on the side table and kissing him and digging though the draw looking for the condoms we always used to keep in there

“Dont bother baby, we can go without just once cant we? it is Christmas” He smirks at me

“Fine...but if you knock me up I’ll cut your dick off thomas” I smirk....

“Uhhhh Y/N!” he moans loudly as we fuck on his old bed 

“Thomas!” I moan back both of us being as loud as we wanted to letting his bed hit the wall fast and hard until suddenly the door swung open and there stood his mum and dad luckily anything important was under the covers

“What on earth are you two doing?” they ask

“Ohh bugger off Mum!” he yells back

“WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME!” she yells

“Ohh mum bugger off” he sighs as still thrusting like crazy

“Thomas are you drunk!” his dad asked

“I have had half a bottle of vodka I’m not drunk just... EXPRESSIVE!” he yells back “I am  BLOODY ADULT! Why cant I fuck my girlfriend In peace? Come On Ava got to get fucked like a oxford street hoe in her childhood bedroom” he yells “Why cant I fuck my girlfriend like I did when we where teenagers” he smirks 

“Ohh fuck it” his dad sighed leaving taking his mother away too shutting the door as thomas kept thrusting and soon enough finished inside me and I just laid giggling

“What?” he asks

“It took 27 fucking Years” I giggle “27 fucking years for you to at last tell your mother wheres she can stick it” I giggle

“27 years, a bottle of vodka and your irresistible pussy” he smirks kissing me making me laugh

“I love you” I giggle hugging him

“I love you too” he smirked at me “wasnt this the way you told me that the first time?” he smirked

“nope that was in the park thomas” I giggle as he laughed kissing me again before collapsing in the other side of his bed and cuddling me “can I go to bed now?” I giggle

“Nope, give me five minuets and I’ll fuck ya again” he smirks finishing the vodka

“thomas I know you, you take a hour and a half to get back to Bonner again” I giggle

“not if I still have the Viagra hidden in here” he smirks “You know the stuff we bought online and hid in here for when we wanted to snuggle, and then you used to nick it and slip it in my tea you dirty girl” he laughs

“It was once...your parents where going out all day I slipped you some snuggle drugs so we could fuck on the dinning room table” I giggle 

“I remember that” He laughs “that was like two days after your nineteenth birthday” he laughs

“yeah...that was fun, we then had to come up with a way of masking the very obvious sex smell the whole downstairs had for like a week” I giggle

“I found out why that was” he laughs “we left the condom undone and there was like a tiny bit of cum on the carpet” he laughs

“that would explain it” I giggle “but thomas even if those pills are still in here they likely went out of date years ago” I laugh

“true...I didn't pack any I didn't think we would be doing this” He shrugs “But...I still have thew stuff under the bed” he smirks going back under again 

“Twinkies never go bad” I giggle grabbing one and sitting and eating it in bed

“this takes me back” he smirks

“what...sitting around naked from the waist down, covered in sex sweat, drunk of vodka, eating Twinkies from your under bed stash of food and cuddling up worried your mum might walk in” I giggle 

“Yeah...just need star wars on n the background and we would be back to 2009″ he smirked

“come on we had wall-e in 2009 on DVD i remember sitting and having that on while you finger fucked me I remember that” I laugh

“I finger fucked you with Wall-e on in the background?.....Oh yeah....we tried to eat year old malteasers....that fucked up” he laughs

“yeah we got super sick and I missed out on going on holiday” I sigh

“you got to stay here with me instead...and if we hadn’t we would never have learnt how much i like you being a dominatrix” he smirks kissing me “Oh fuck” he sighs turning and throwing up

“Twinkies and vodka...gets you every time thomas” i giggle

[akaiikowrites]

to build a home pt 3

Summary: “I’m just… Fucking… Look, my heart burns for you.” Katara’s the most terrifying girl in the world. Zuko’s kind of in love with her.

Notes: It took almost ten months but we're back at it again with more High School AU. Light on the "high school" in this chapter. But for a good cause? There's going to be one more chapter after this, so we're in the home (ahahahaha bad puns) stretch. Thank you again for all the kind feedback on my trash.

Rating: PG-13/T for cussing, sexual(ish) content, and pure old fashioned Wisconsin cheese.

Part: One and Two

Uncle doesn’t complain that he spends a lot of their remaining vacation taking pictures and texting. Actually, once Uncle catches on that it’s Katara on the other end, he makes a game out of finding things for Zuko to tell Katara about. It’s both obnoxious and endearing. Because he feels generous, Zuko decides it’s more endearing than obnoxious, and humors his Uncle.

(It helps that Uncle found the weird statue of a crab in hula gear that had Katara laughing so hard that Sokka was able to steal her phone and get a picture of her mid-cackle.)

But their last night in Ember Cove, Zuko leaves the phone in their room and goes out onto the porch. It’s not that he doesn’t want to talk to Katara it’s just that he’s realized soon they’re going to have to actually talk about things that matter again instead of whatever dumb thing they just snapped a picture of. Uncle is out on the porch with a cup of tea. When Zuko takes a seat on the porch steps, Uncle says, “It is a beautiful night. Very peaceful.”

With a sigh, Zuko lets his head thump back against the railing and wonders how he’s supposed to explain any of this. Part of him had hoped Uncle would pry. Instead, it seems that his Uncle is feeling philosophical enough to let Zuko come to him. Fuck.

It takes almost a half hour for Zuko to figure out what he needs to say. During that time Uncle finishes his first cup of tea in slow, deliberate sips. Then rises and disappears back into their rented cabin to make himself another cup. Zuko finds the exact words as Uncle emerges back into the humid night and takes a seat in the well-worn rocking chair he favors. There’s a creak from the chair and a satisfied hum from Uncle as he takes the first sip of his fresh cup. Zuko breathes in deep and says:

“Katara knows about Mom. I didn’t tell her but she knew. That’s why she became my friend. Because she felt bad for me and wanted to fix me. Help me. I don’t know.” The old frustration surges up. Fresh and raw as it had been the first time. He can feel his hands curling into fists but he doesn’t try to stop it. Just lets the feeling rush through him because he needs to do this. Bleed the poison out of this wound. He just doesn’t want to hurt her again. “That’s why I didn’t talk to her. Because it’s fucked up. Making someone your friend so you can fix them. But she called. Christmas morning. Told me that her mom died and she blames herself and that’s why she does it. Fixes people. Helps them. Whatever it is she does. I don’t want to be a fucking project to her but she needs me and I don’t know how to forgive her but I can’t—”

There are no more words and he’s honestly amazed he made it this far. It feels like the inside of his mouth has been all cut up with razor blades, like he needs to punch something to focus the pain, like he’s exactly the kind of wounded creature who needs a beautiful girl to save him. Zuko knows his eyes are pleading as he looks at his Uncle.

“Katara is?” Uncle says. Philosophically.

Zuko launches to his feet and begins to pace across the width of the porch. “I don’t know. Katara’s…Katara.” Pacing isn’t helping but he knows he can’t vent his anger by hitting something. So he growls, and tangles his fingers in his hair, and clenches his eyes shut. “Katara is someone gentle, and smart, and fierce. She sees all the worst things about life and then decides she can somehow change it. She takes in people because they need it, not because they deserve it. She stays kind even though nothing else is kind. She demands a better world.” Without meaning to his feet come to a stop. He opens his eyes. His hands slide from his hair to fall to his sides. “She makes me want to demand a better world.”

Out here the light is pretty shitty. Reliant on the small lamps that light the pathways between cabins and the heavy moon above them. But Zuko’s pretty sure he’s not imagining the faint gleam to Uncle’s eyes. Or the hoarse edge as he says, “Then the question is, nephew, if your pride is worth more than all that Katara is.”

No. It’s not.

Zuko Himura 11:48PM we need to talk when i get back

Katara Foster 11:49PM i know

It takes them all day to get back to Republic City. They nearly die once because Uncle sees a tea shop and whips their car across five lanes of traffic to get at it. When they pull into the driveway there’s a good six inches of fresh snow that’ll need to be cleared tomorrow. Zuko goes straight upstairs because a week and a half solid of socializing with Uncle is exhausting. (It’s good, too, in a way that he can’t articulate.) After kicking the door shut and dropping his bags, he collapses face first onto his bed, ready to take the world’s longest nap.

The world’s longest nap is only about three hours long.

Zuko wakes up blearily to the faint whine of the tea kettle. It stops but he’s awake, now, so he half rolls onto his side. For a while he just lays there. Cocooned in the warm dark, looking out the window, at fresh snow that swirls backlit against streetlights. Somehow the room feels safe, and cozy, and less like a place he just goes to fall asleep or do homework. The therapist would call that progress if he still went to them every Tuesday.

Falling snow reminds him of Katara. Of that day when they went to the coffee shop. With a groan that sounds more like a growl he rolls onto his back and puts an arm behind his head. The hand resting on his stomach taps out a rhythm.

Even a month later his body remembers her—warm and small and laughing—cuddled against him. It had seemed like too much to handle at the time. What kind of loser jerks off to the memory of giving a girl a piggy back ride? But now he wonders what would’ve happened if he’d pulled her into an alley that day and kissed her. Maybe everything would’ve been different if he’d been braver. Probably not.

Reaching into the front pocket of his jeans, he fishes out his phone and turns it on. Light flares brilliant and white and makes him squint. It’s almost eight. He ignores the next texts from Sokka, the Ultimate Frisbee group chat, and an unknown number to pull up Katara’s conversation.

Katara Foster 2:49PM text me when you get home k?

Feeling a little like a jerk, he taps in, got home a couple hours ago but needed a nap. Then he erases that and sends home instead. That makes him feel more like a jerk but he’s barely had time to feel the full weight of his jerkish behavior when the three little dots that signal an incoming response pop up.

Katara Foster 7:53PM good

Katara Foster 7:54PM are you like super tired?

Even with the nap he feels kind of worn at the edges. But he dutifully says not really why? She reads the message immediately but it takes a full six minutes for her to reply. Zuko imagines it might be because Sokka started doing something obnoxious or GranGran needed help with something. That doesn’t help the nerves. Especially when the three dots pop up and just. Stay there. Taunting him.

Katara Foster 8:02PM meet me at the coffee shop

Katara Foster 8:02PM please

Of course she’s beaten him there. She’s hunched over a steaming cup of coffee that’s cradled in her hands. When the bell above the doorway goes off she looks up, instinctively but not hopefully, like she’s already done this a few times. Except this time it’s actually him. Or at least he assumes that’s why her entire face lights up and she straightens her shoulders and the coffee cup is left forgotten on the table. Zuko barely has time to brace himself and open his arms before she’s in them, face pressed tight into his chest, fingers digging deep into his leather jacket.

“Hey,” he says. It feels like the air’s been knocked out of his lungs and it’s not just because she slammed into him. One arm’s curled around her waist reflexively but he tries to smooth the other over the back of her skull because he’s fairly certain she’s shaking. “Hey, are you okay?”

Katara pulls back very carefully but stays in his arms. It’s okay. Now that he’s touching her, he’s not sure he could let her go, even with everyone in the coffee shop eyeing them. He can’t remember if she’s always felt this delicate or if maybe he only thinks she feels that way because he knows she’s not invincible now. Zuko wants to pull her closer and wrap her up in his jacket. Keep her safe for once.

“I’m okay, I’m just so glad you’re here,” she says. There’s a very soft lilt to her voice that makes him think she’s holding back tears.

Not thinking about the consequences, he leans down and presses a soft kiss to her forehead, lets himself stay there for a moment as he breathes in the scent of her. He pulls back. Katara’s got her eyes closed. The lines of her face are still and easy in a way they hadn’t been before and he realizes suddenly how tense she’d actually been. Slowly, like someone coming up from a deep dive, she opens her eyes.

“I’m here,” he says. Their eyes lock. It occurs to him that she is steel and glass layered together so firmly that he’s not sure if he’s glimpsing the vulnerability beneath her strength or the courage beneath her fragility. “I’m here,” he promises.

Somehow they manage to completely avoid talking about it.

At first, in those hazy moments in the coffee shop in the hour before closing, Zuko thinks maybe it’s because they’re still too raw. Or because the coffee shop is too public. Or even because they’re too enamored of being around each other again, their knees bumping under the table, her hand eventually settling on his bare forearm like an anchor.

But the last three days of winter break go by and they’re around each other constantly. They have the opportunity. It’s just that they don’t want to, maybe. So it’s like:

One day, they’re sledding in the park with everyone from the Foster’s neighborhood, including one boy with a shaved head who watches Zuko with intense suspicion. Another day, they’re walking through the mall with Sokka and Suki, playing with the Christmas decorations that haven’t been stripped down yet. That last day, they’re going to the indoor pool at the local YMCA so Katara can do some back to school thing for underprivileged elementary students, and Zuko can’t even remember how he got dragged into this when he hates the pool but it’s worth it for the way Katara smiles at him over the heads of thirteen shrieking eight year olds.

After the YMCA, Katara offers to drive him home but Zuko says he’ll walk. It’s only a mile and a half. It’s not even snowing now. What he doesn’t say is he needs time to think because it finally occurred to him as she ruffled her towel over his chlorine damp hair that she’s waiting on him.

Walking is a bad idea. He wakes up the next morning with a sore throat, a stuffy nose, and the kind of vague headache that feels like being underwater. Uncle takes one look at him and says to text Katara for the homework.

The door to his bedroom creaks open. Uncle left him alone after lunch to nap. He’s not sure if he actually slept. It feels like maybe he has.

“No more tea,” he groans. Uncle force fed him an entire pot, he’s pretty sure, and his throat feels better but if he never has to drink another cup it’ll be too soon.

Someone laughs and says, “You sound terrible.” Dread, or mucus, clogs his airways as he turns over to face the doorway. Hazy winter sunlight softens her edges. Zuko watches, feeling bemused and enchanted, as she pushes up the sleeves of her loose cable knit sweater to her elbows and puts her hands on her hips. Purposeful. Amused. Fond. Home improvement stores don’t have paint that can match the blue of her eyes. Zuko can’t breathe and he’s pretty sure it’s not just because he’s needed to blow his nose for the last nine minutes. “You look terrible.”

“You’re awful,” he says. Rolling away from her, he fishes around in the covers for his little packet of Kleenex. Nothing immediately meets his fingers. So he tries to sniffle without it being loud just to get the worst of the snot controlled. Which of course means it seems to echo off every available surface.

Another laugh, muffled this time. “Wait, I need a picture for Sokka.” Floorboards creak beneath her weight and he hears a heavy bag dropping to the floor. The bed dips beneath her as she puts a knee on the edge.

“No,” Zuko says. With great feeling.

“Aw, c’mon,” she says. One day he’s going to figure out how she can sound teasing and worried at the same time. Leaning over him, she grabs the packet of Kleenex and puts it into his hand. “A picture for me then?”

“No,” he says. With even greater feeling.

Katara’s lower lip juts out just a bit. If she’s trying for a convincing pout then she’s failing because he knows what he genuine pouts look like. They involve a slight crinkle at the corners of her eyes, like she’s trying not to cry. It’s a manipulative pout and he’s on to her. “But…” she says. “I need it.”

“Why?”

One of her shoulders lifts in a shrug. “To prove a point. Mostly to Song and Jin. This would prove that you are not handsome and brooding at all times.” Arguably, he’s not handsome at any times. He can’t say much about the brooding. Why Katara would care about any of this in the first place he can’t imagine. “None of the girls at school would think you were some mysterious bad boy if they could see you with a runny nose.”

Since he clearly has no fucking dignity left as she looms over him and confirms that he looks exactly as pathetic as he feels, and that she plans on letting everyone relevant in his age group know as much, he makes deliberate eye contact and blows his nose in a fresh Kleenex. Being herself, Katara maintains eye contact, and then once he’s done goes, “Feel better?” It’s a challenge. Like he’s ridiculously gross and she knows they’re both acknowledging that fact. But also like she wants him to know she saw that petty display of pissiness and she’s above it. Zuko could tell her she doesn’t have to bother. Everyone already knows she’s the most terrifying girl in school. Reaching toward his nightstand, she grabs an entire box of Kleenex, probably one that Uncle left during one of Zuko’s many naps. Handing it to him, she says, “I think you need these.”

“I might hate you,” he says, batting the box away so it thumps onto the floor.

There’s a flicker behind her expression. Fleeting helplessness writ large in the way her eyebrows nudge toward one another and her teeth catch her lower lip. Gone before most people would really catch it. But he caught it and now he’s reminded that she’s not the most terrifying girl in school when it comes to him.

Feeling like a jerk, again, he reaches out and wraps a hand around her wrist. It’s cool to the touch because of his fever. Rubbing a thumb over the soft skin of her inner arm, he says, “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Don’t be,” she says. “I shouldn’t have pushed. You don’t…” It kills him a little, how she pauses, her eyes settled on some loose thread in his comforter. Even though he knows she won’t say it he knows what she’s thinking. You don’t let yourself be vulnerable. Disappointment clings to those unspoken words. Because Katara’s waiting on him. After giving him all the rawest parts of herself on a silver platter. Katara’s waiting on him. Or maybe not, because her eyes are shuttered and her smile now is strained, and she’s saying, “I’m sorry,” like it’s an absolution.

Panic claws at him and he fumbles for explanations. Zuko’s never been good with words and sick muddled as he is they refuse to come at all. In his mind there are the memories—of being sick after his mother left and burning his hand on the stove while he made chicken noodle soup because his father would not feed him if he was weak and he hadn’t eaten for two days—that he needs to share with her so she’ll understand but he can’t figure out how and she’s standing up with that same strained smile as she murmurs goodbyes about letting him rest.

If he lets her go now, he thinks, there will never be another chance.

Zuko uses his grip on her wrist to tug her hand to his face. Most of the skin of his scar is dead, nothing to feel there but pressure and the occasional pain that comes with sudden weather front, but he swears he can feel the rasp of her fingertips as they settle over the ruined skin. Katara doesn’t look like she’s breathing. “Stay.”

Now she sucks in a shaky breath. Her free arm wraps around her own waist like she’s trying to hold herself together. “Why?” she asks. “You haven’t forgiven me. You haven’t even asked if I still—”

Focusing on her glassy eyes, he says, “It doesn’t matter.”

Katara lets out a choked sound and pulls her hand free of his grasp. Wraps her other arm around herself. “The hell it doesn’t,” she says.

Later, he thinks he’ll try to figure out how things went this bad this fast. How they got from gentle teasing to restrained tears. How they even managed to reach this point in the first place instead of exploding or fizzling out so much earlier.

But this, at least, he has words for. Zuko’s voice is hoarse and awful and steady and he tries to gentle it for her but he has to say it, whether she wants it or not, because he can’t lose her like this. “I realized I’m going to choose you being in my life because I can’t imagine not choosing you.” In the hazy winter sunlight, she’s still soft at the edges and so beautiful it aches, and he’s willing to beg. “Please,” he whispers, “Stay.”

Tears build like a flash flood in her eyes and go spilling down her cheeks. One of her knees bumps his ribs as she scrambles onto the bed and tumbles into him. Ignoring that he’s sick and gross and wearing a sweat stained tee she crawls under the covers and presses against him full length. All their limbs are tangled up together. It feels natural to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer. Anchor her into him so that maybe the world will stop tilting wildly on its axis or maybe that’s just his inner eardrums protesting. But when she touches his scar again it’s achingly gentle and she’s saying “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here.”

[butiaintgonnaloveem]

Crapulous

Characters: Dean, Reader, OC Patsy

Word Count: 2700-ish (whatttt?? that’s it??)

Warnings: Language, alcoholic consumption, sass

A/N: The morning after an alcohol-soaked case, the reader is doing her best to recover with little-to-no help from Dean. I wrote this for @seenashwrite‘s 200 followers celebration. Prompts are bolded throughout the fic. I also managed to sneak in the Hiatus Challenge prompt from @thing-you-do-with-that-thing. *Nash, although I didn’t sign up for it, there’s a bonus prompt in there, too!! Many thanks to @idreamofhazel and @kayteonline for being fabulous and helpful betas. As always, feedback and constructive criticism are welcomed and appreciated!

I groan as I feel sleep drifting away from me. My head is rocking and bouncing with the potholes in the road, but I fight it, desperate to hide away from consciousness and the hangover that would come with it. The beginnings of it already start to creep in on me, my body sore and achy, the foul taste of hard liquor remnants coming alive as I lick at my dry mouth. My eyes scrunch further shut and my nose crinkles in displeasure as the heat from the sun beats down on me.

“Nooooo,” I moan, feeling the immediate jack-hammering to my skull, making my brain throb as I start to wake. “Oh. Bad.”

A feeling of nausea rolls through me, my stomach quivering as it threatens to heave up its contents.

“Well,” Dean says, gratefully gently, “Good morning, starshine.”

“No,” I grunt, cutting him off and making him chuckle.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m dying. I don’t ever want to drink again.”

“Aww, come on. Can’t be that bad.”

“Shut up.” I whine. Completely pathetic.

“Hey. Don’t pass out on me again.”

I wave him off as he chuckles to himself again, and once I swallow the nausea back down, I resettle myself to pass back out. I’m just finding the sweet spot when I feel the car swerve then start to shake and rattle, the loud thundering from beneath us jolting me upright as I cling to the dashboard.

“Ohmygod!”

Dean turns the wheel, pulling the Impala away from the rumble strip along the side of the highway. “You gotta wake up, we’re almost in Hays.”

“Ugh, again?” I look at him, my face scrunched up in pain. “Can’t we just go home so I can die in peace?”

He purses his lips, at least pretending to think it over. “No can do. I’ve got a date with a plate of bacon and a sweet, sweet woman.”

“Dean, it’s unhealthy.”

“Look, leave the bacon alone-”

“No, not the bacon - Patsy. Because you - prolapsed rectum that you are - are infatuated with her, whose cobwebby old snooch, by the way, I can smell from here.”

“Pshh,” he shook his head at me, “You sound jealous.”

“You. Wish.”

Twenty minutes later, Dean pulls off the highway and into a lot overgrown with weeds and rogue patches of grass. The restaurant lacks a sign out front, and if it weren’t for the huge, dingy windows, no one would have known people were inside. Dean quickly hops out, waiting as I force myself from the car, every bit of me protesting as I go.

He pulls open the creaking screen door, following as I walk through first, and lets it slam shut behind him. The short, leather-skinned waitress pushes through the kitchen door, mouth curved into a wrinkled frown.

“There’s my special lady!” Dean shouts from behind me, making me cringe. I glance to my left, noticing a group of college kids looking like they’re still going from the night before, and on the other side, a few other stragglers who seem just as confused as I am as to why they are there.

“Well hey Dean, Y/n. Go on, sit down, you’re blockin’ the breeze,” she says, shooing us away from the entrance and the swiveling fan that pulls in nothing but dry, hot air from outside.

Dean shoves me into a booth, just settling in as she places down two waters, condensation already dripping down the sides of the slim glasses.

“Didn’t expect to see you so soon. You keep up with all these visits and you’re gonna make my husband jealous,” she croaks. Her sandpaper voice, perfected by about 80 years of smoking at least 2 packs a day sends my skin crawling with irritation.

“Which husband is that - number four or number five?” I ask, rubbing my head on my palm.

She tilts a hip, setting her hand on it. “Four. And if I have my way, Dean will be my lucky number five,” she responds matter-of-factly.

“Ohhh, Patsy, I’m yours. Just as long as you vow to make me that pie of yours.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” she scolds him. “You’re gonna be my trophy husband. Can’t let you go and get all plump on pies.”

“More like consolation prize,” I mutter.

“Please honey, this boy is arm candy and you know it,” she emphasizes with a bony finger pointed at me. Dean sits up a bit straighter, pleased to be so blatantly objectified as I roll my eyes, regretting it immediately as the movement strains my eye muscles.

“So what am I in this whole situation?”

Patsy eyes me up and down for a moment, clumpy mascara chunks sticking together as she lazily blinks.

“I’ll let you be his mistress. I’m sure he’s got the stamina for it, and Lord knows you ain’t got the brains to lock him down before someone else does.”

I bark out a laugh, setting off a fresh wave of pain in my head. “More like I’m too smart for that.”

She gives me a pointed look, droopy eyelids hanging down despite the eyebrow she’s raised.

“What? I am,” I insist.

“Right, because you walked into ‘Stripper’s Discount Warehouse’ and said, ‘Help me showcase my intellect.’”

I drop my mouth open, amusement and shock hitting me in equal measure. Dean slams a hand down onto the table, making the silverware rattle as he tries to contain his laughter.

“Patsy, go easy on her, she’s had a rough night.” He gestures at me and I glance down at myself, assessing whether or not I look as awful as I feel. I’m still wearing my ‘bait’ outfit that helped me blend in with the rowdy, drunk crowd from the night before. It’s more than a little off-kilter; I wipe under my eyes, pulling away the residue of eye makeup.

“Well, Dean, if that’s how you leave the ladies the morning after, I might have to reconsider our relationship.”

“Please, Patsy, you know I’d treat you like a queen.” He grabs her hand, holding it tenderly.

“And I’d never let you out of bed to see the outside world again.” She winks. “Now, let’s get some food in y’all before Y/n here goes green.”

Dean smiles and shakes his head in awe. “I love you.”

She pats his shoulder condescendingly as she walks away humming ‘Looking for Love,’ refilling a few coffee mugs and jotting down an order for the cook waiting at the griddle.

“So, fill me in on last night. I’m guessing the bloodsuckers didn’t give you too much trouble?” I ask, sipping the water and letting my fingers trail along the condensation.

“Nah, it was pretty easy to get the location of the nest. However, you...at last call, that’s a whole other story.”

“Yikes.” It’s as much of an apology as I can give at the moment, but he accepts it. I dig an ice cube from the glass and pop it into my mouth, “Next time, I’m dangling you for bait.”

“What? I don’t get an encore?” He smirks.

“An encore of what?” I ask with a tilt of my head. Desperate for the pain to go away so I can focus on remembering what happened.

His smirk spreads into a wide smile, his eyes shining with mischief. How he looks so good while I feel so terrible just makes me more frustrated and ready to backhand him. A flash of red and green zooms past before I hear it plunked onto the table, drawing my attention away from our staring contest.

“Quit makin’ eyes at my man and drink up,” Patsy interrupts.

I turn to her, getting a stern look in reply as she nods at the table. A short glass of thick, red tomato juice with a huge celery stalk sticking out of it rests before me, which I stare at suspiciously.

“Hair of the dog, hun. It’ll perk you right up.”

My stomach rolls and Dean laughs at the gurgle.

“Oh, well, I hope that’s got some whiskey, and some tequila, and let’s see -  does rum sound right to you?”

“I'll be...ugh….bathroom,” I mumble and gesture as I scramble out of the booth, tripping on anything and everything on my way. A watery belch escapes from my stomach, burning on the way up.

“Gross,” I whisper at myself, trying to ignore the giggling from the table of college kids that got an earful.

The bathroom smells like piss, and wet dog, and more piss - not helping my uneasy stomach, but at this point I'm sure puking would make me feel worse. I hover over the seat, weakly tugging at the fabric at my hips to pull it down, until the urge becomes too much and I shove them down, letting out an ahhh of relief, followed swiftly by a confused, “What the -?”

After taking a moment to wipe some cool water over my face and clean up the smudged makeup and drool marks, I do my best to walk back without wobbly legs, barely making it before collapsing back into the booth, sliding across the vinyl to unflattering noises, grateful to have to put little to no effort into sitting.

“Dean?”

“Yup?” he asks, popping the ‘p’ harder than necessary. His bottom lip is stiff and trembling as he tries to hold onto a straight face.

“Whose underwear am I wearing?”

Before I get two words out he's folding over in laughter.

“Fucking tequila,” I spit, angry at drunk me, and more angry at Dean for enjoying it so much.

He's trying to form words between laughter, but only gets out snippets that don't make any sense. “The band...and these paper hats...he had beef jerky...and you...and you…” He gives up as I stare at him flatly, not following a damn bit of it but certain I had violated at least a few local ordinances by his reaction.

“And what did you do that whole time?”

He digs his phone from his pocket, wiggling it in his palm. “Surveillance.” He winks.

My head hurts more. My brain rattles in my skull with every hard beat of my heart, the blood struggling to pump through my dehydrated body. I close my eyes and wrap my hands around the glass of tomato juice, hoping what's in there is enough to provide relief until we get back to the bunker. If Dean’s this thrilled, I must have done something good, but it's all blank, hours lost to a haze of alcohol and loads of blackmail. God Damn it.

“For I am a sinner in the hands of an angry God.” I attempt to sound repentant.

“Prayers won't help you with this one.”

I open my eyes, staring at the cocktail in my hands and the absurd celery stalk standing in it like it's a Magic 8 Ball, ready to provide me with an answer as I continue my prayer. “Bloody Mary, full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. Pray for me in the hour of my death, which I hope is soon. Amen.”

“That was very moving.” I look up, surprised to see Patsy there with a tray of food and a smirk on her face. She sets the food on the table in front of us, moving things as she pleases to make room.

“It was something,” Dean laughs, shaking his head back and forth, staring at his phone screen.

“I'm too hungover for this.” With a groan and all the speed I can muster, I reach across the table, barely snatching the phone from his hand before he can react and dropping it right into the thick, red juice sending it splattering across the table.

I pick up the glass and hand it to Patsy. She takes it gingerly between her fingers, eyebrows lifted in disbelief.

“Patsy, dear sweet angel that you are, can I please get another? There's something in this one.”

“Waste of vodka,” she grumbles, walking back into the kitchen.

Dean has his head resting on his fist, a bored look in his face instead of the angry one I expected. “Feel better, sweetheart?”

“Maybe.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Why?”

“Sammy’s got everything backed up. The cloud, ya know,” he waves a hand in the air, “Now all you did was piss off Patsy.”

“Whatever, she knows you're an ass.”

“Blue ribbon ass.” He takes another bite, talking through his food. “Don’t forget, I’m a prize.”

“You sure are honey,” Patsy croons at him. “But darlin’, you mistreat this girl right here and I don’t care how sweet that ass is, I will beat it up and down main street.”

Patsy sets another drink down in front of me, sending a nod of solidarity my way as she sets Dean’s napkin-wrapped phone in front of him. I finally take a sip, only slightly gagging as I push more alcohol into my system.

“Careful, Patsy, I might like it,” he calls over his shoulder as she walks away.

“So would I,” she hollers as she pushes through the kitchen door.

“Could you be any louder?” I whine, grasping my head in my hands, wanting nothing more than to sink down into the seat and go to sleep again. “Next time you’re the bait.”

“You just wanna see me in a skimpy outfit.”

“I’m gonna puke.”

“So, the case,” his picks up, muffled by a mouthful of food, “There’s good news and bad news.”

“Lord, take me now.” I pinch my nose in frustration.

“Okay, ignoring that. So, good news, the plan worked and we drew out the nest.”

“How could there be bad news?”

“We still gotta take them out.”

“Excuse me? H-how? I mean. Why?” I watch as he shoves more food into his mouth, ignoring me.

“Yeah, so it looks like we’re still on clean up, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“Oh, I liked that show,” Patsy chimes in, breaking the tension as she fills up Dean’s half-empty coffee mug. “And, ya know, I like them Twilight vampires, too.” She walks away, not adding anything further to the conversation.

Dean’s face curls in displeasure, his voice dropping low, “Oh, Patsy. No.”

“Patsy, yes.” I smile sleepily. “You know, opposites attract. I can see why you like coming here so much.”

“Shut up.” He wipes his hands and face.

“So,” I gulp down more of the cocktail, “Where are they?”

He stares down at the egg residue on his plate, swirling it with the tines of his fork. “They’re, uhhh, West. Just over the Colorado border.”

I squint. “Dean. That’s where we just came from.”

He glances up at me, lips pinched shut as he chews. His eyes wide with a fake look of surprise.

“God damn it, Dean!” He freezes and I lower my voice. “You mean to tell me you just dragged my hungover ass two hours away from our hunt for some breakfast.”

“Not just breakfast,” he insists, shaking his head. “Patsy.”

“You’re seriously obsessed. Are we sure she isn’t a siren or a witch...or mayyybe some kind of rogue leviathan hybrid -”

“Please don’t ruin this for me, Y/n.”

“What if she’s got the whole town under a spell, and we’re screwed because she’d dumbed us down with food…”

“Please stop,” Dean begs, eyeballing the skillet in front of him.

“Oh no no no. Just imagine, we’ve got her cornered, torching this godforsaken place, but we’re too dumbed down to move, and like, a big sweaty fireman carries you out of the burning building and you think - Yeah, okay, he’s gonna give me mouth-to-mouth - but instead he just starts choking the shit out of you, and the last sensation that you feel before you die is he’s squeezing your throat so hard that a big wet blob of drool drips off his teeth, and just - flurp - falls right onto your popped-out eyeball.” I finish describing the scene with my hands clenched around the air.

Dean stares at me blankly, chewing uneasily on the food in his mouth. “That was cruel.”

“What was cruel? Something wrong, hun?” Patsy stops, nodding at Dean’s unfinished plate.

He gives her a skeptical up-down. “No, no, just gotta, you know, hit the road again.”

“Love ‘em and leave ‘em. Typical.” She shakes her head as she slaps down the bill. “Til next time, darlin’.”

He watches her shuffle away, eyes shifting between the waitress and me. He leans in, whispering, “You don’t really think? I mean, it’s Patsy.”

“Seriously. Grossly. Infatuated.” I shake my head in disbelief, “If we check her out and she’s clean, I won’t come between you again, I promise. Now let’s get back out there and you can tell me about what happened to my underwear before this vodka wears off.”

Tags y’all:

@aprofoundbondwithdean @attractiverandomness @mrswhozeewhatsis @deathtonormalcy56 @kittenofdoomage @jpadjackles @supernatural-jackles  @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @babypieandwhiskey @brewsthespirit-blog @mysaintsasinner @impala-dreamer @sis-tafics @littlegreenplasticsoldier @whywhydoyouwantmetosaymyname @ultimatecin73 @mrsjohnsmith @bringmesomepie @sharingan-rasengan-chidori @muliermalefici @mogaruke @feelmyroarrrr @kayteonline  @notnaturalanahi  @anokhi07 @deandoesthingstome @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog @ceeceewinchester @roxy-davenport @anotherwinchesterfangirl @demondean-for-kingofhell @iwantthedean @klaineaholic @wheresthekillswitch

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Reflection 12 (FINAL) | Netjuu no Susume 1 | Mahoutsukai no Yome 1 | Code:Realise 1 | Kino’s Journey (2017) 1 | Dynamic Chord 1 | Houseki no Kuni 1 | Anime-Gataris 1 | Idolmaster Side M 1

Kekkai Sensen seems to be off limits, even when I try to comprehend the relevant JavaScript after dodging region lock. Grr…I spent and hour and 30 mins just trying to figure out that code!!! Oh well (dejected tone), at least I have Classicaloid…

Reflection 12 (FINAL)

Oh please, X-On. Fighting fire with fire is the worst thing you can do. Haven’t you learnt that over the course of this show?

Gahhhh! Finally, the magical girls have arrived! Thank you, Stan Lee!

Wowee, that was some concentrated sound, so to speak.

Well, that’s just original, y‘know? Pyramid. In the desert. Whoop-de-doo.

Rule number 14138008 of crime-fighting: Always make sure you have a backup in case someone uses yorur kryptonite against you. Or in this case, a superpower-stripping technique.

I don’t think X-On’s become one with the Darkness yet. He has some flippin’ plot armour on his side, after all. Why haven’t any of these guys succumbed to the ageing process yet?

Well, I got my answer to my previous question, but how did vision!Eleanor appear, anyway?

Wait…wait. I knew he had plot armour! Argh! X-On! What the heck did you do to deserve plot armour???

Oh, the magical girls are part sentai and part actual magical girl. Notice they have kanji across their chests for their associated element.

“Why won’t you accept Darkness’s darkness?” – Okay, “Darkness’s darkness” is a bit too redundant, y’hear?

Wait…wait. Ninth Wonder only had 4 members??? Wat. Then Ian goes and undoes all their hard naming work by calling them by their real group name, dangit. You ruined a perfectly good magical girl show, Ian.

They didn’t even put in the crack on X-On’s helmet…head…thingy.

Okay, I am so confused…Guh. Thank goodness it’s over.

Netjuu no Susume 1

I like the rare stories where a girl transforms into a boy for non-hentai reasons. This is the closest anime I’ve gotten so far to that concept, so…yay, me?

“Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life” and “Recovery of an MMO Junkie” mean two very different things on the same topic. What was happening in the localiser’s mind when they created this title for the English-speaking audience???

That scene where Moriko collapses on her bed…for some reason, someone was watching a show with the Moonlight Sonata in the background, so now I think MMO Junkie is sad. (Which is probably wrong.)

Oh, by the way. The –juu in Netjuu gives the word a special kind of connotation. A riajuu is what’s known as a normie, or a non-otaku, non-gamer sort of person. A netjuu must therefore be a net addict. Kiznaiver taught me that.

“I chose the NEET life.” - I know that feel, Moriko.

Oh, they even gave Moriko’s character Saiyan hair for a moment, LOL.

Okay, here’s a pun. Mori (forest) is 3x ki (tree) and hayashi (grove) is 2x ki. That’s using the kanji, though.

The guy with the glasses looks like a dude from Occultic;Nine. I have bad memories of that show because of Ryouka…er, big knockers girl.

Owee. I once joined an RPG because of some IRL friends but I forgot to ask them what group they were in, and so I was a solo quester…so I know that feel, Moriko.

This is based on a Comico manga, so the designs are simple to draw and they were originally in colour, so they just needed to be reworked for animation. See? Backing Comico in my Superstar wa Nemurenai days wasn’t such a bad idea, now, huh?

Himeralda? For a guy character? Well, that broke the gender barrier.

Christmas is a holiday for lovers in Japan, so I suspect it’s something to do with that.

Lawson -> Cowson, LOL.

Despite all the obviously still motion shots, I’m really enjoying this. Why does it have to be 10 eps??? (By the way, why didn’t I get Kekkai Sensen??? Dangit, Funi!!!)

Oh, this is so adorable! Lily even dressed up and Moriko got her chicken! It’s such a heartwarming Christmas for these guys.

These transitions, while not original, I find are really cool. Not Disney-level, but still inventive. Also, that green dot is definitely Hayashi and the pink one Lily.

LOL, Lawson was a sponsor this ep, it seems. Had I paused a little later, I would’ve missed its credit!

This is a keeper for sure. I’m just disappointed about the short ep count (due to the nature of Comico)…and Kekkai Sensen, uwu…

Mahoutsukai no Yome 1

Le hype. That’s all. I’ve been watching 1 – 2 eps per day (for these first eps of the fall season) and since the weekend is so full of good shows, I don’t know how people can watch entire seasons like this…As for my take on this show, it’s pretty and well-received after the OVA and advance screening, so hopefully this will deliver. I’m not an AMB manga fan by the way.

It’s normally a bad sign to start with an OP, but it shows off the animation, so I’m not complaining.

The English title shows how interconnected the world is these days…it’s kinda scary, actually.

Chise looks lke a bride here, or she’s on her deathbed. Both symbolic meanings are applicable.

I never thought Japanese people would be able to capture Western elegance so well.

The chibi-ish style doesn’t suit such a serious show. Are these chibi-ish sections also part of the manga?

I thought the woman with the bonnet was called Silky? Not Silver? The promo materials all say “Silky”, and the OVA did too IIRC.

I think the biggest descriptor of this show is “whimsical”.

Historically, fairies lure people into Fairyland like the stereotypical portrayal of sirens, and they’re not as benign as my portrayal of them in One Wish They Never Wanted.

The irony of a dog-face skull calling you his puppy. It really brings an odd sense of humour to this show.

Welp, that’s another safe keeper. I’ve being quite definite about my choices, as you might have noticed, since the weekend is positively overloaded with shows (as I mentioned earlier).

Code:Realise 1

It’s an otome game adaption. They don’t always go down well, but it’s worth a shot.

Isn’t it “London Bridge is falling down”?

CR seems to have forgotten to title this ep “London Steam” on their site.

Well, they’re guards. Y’think lowering their guard would’ve been a funny pun, at least if this were dubbed in English (which this will be…eventually).

Ooh, so this plain bishie is Arsene Lupin? Me likey.

Like, seriously, Where are this tiny spark-star-thingies coming from?

Impey…who? Update: Google (plus previous spoilers) tell me that Impey is Impey Barbicane, accomplice to Lupin.

LOL, I’ve watched me too many Kaito Kid heists. Me likey, once again. However, the thing I don’t get is the voiceover. Couldn’t Lupin have actually said these lines instead of putting them on voiceover???

Gahhhhhhh! This eyecatch’s bishie has such horrible eyes that they burn mine! Get me out of here!

How does Impey know Cardia’s name??? Update: You’ll get the answer later…

It’s a few generations too early for a man to go to the moon, LOL. Poor Impey.

Victor…well, I never. Anime really does cover everything. Plus, Frankenstein ain’t his monster in this one, which would make Mary Shelley proud.

Hey, Kaitou (Phantom Thief) Lupin is one thing but using your real name as your kaitou identity is taking it a bit far. Sure, there was Kaito Kuroba, but at least he was Kaito Kid as well.

Sheesh, the Horologium sounded like nuclear power before Lupin explained it was Cardia’s heart…that would’ve been tonnes scarier, had Cardia been a nuclear monster.

LOL, Lupin’s so tsundere! Hahaha…

Oh please. Don’t let the vampires steal away Cardia (LOL)!

Victor being pegged as a terrorist has something to do with Isaac, right?

Lupin’s so effin’ short. No wonder he stands in high places when he lords over the British Army, haha.

Smol corgi with cyborg leg is probably my new dog aesthetic, haha. Plus top hat. I like top hats.

Shouldn’t the corgi have died when Cardia grabbed it though, or was that because of its leg?

The rainbow transition was a bit much, but okay. I can live with it.

So smol corgi is called Sisi? What a weird name.

It’s…not bad, I could probably watch until the end. However, the colour scheme seems to be “bright” with these recent female games (see Sengoku Night Blood for another example of what I mean). Well, since I said that, it’s a keeper. (I think the random James Bond-esque scene involving shooting guns then being in front of an explosion in the ED sealed the deal though, LOL.)

Kino’s Journey 1

I’m a noob to the world of Kino, so please don’t spoil me on anything you’ve seen in the previous adaptations! All I really know is the shtick: Kino is neither a guy nor a girl. They stick around in a country for 3 days then leave. They have a talking motorbike named Hermes…that’s pretty much it.

Lerche? On Kino? Y’think someone else could’ve done it better? I feel like a washed-out, subdued feeling would suit this show best. However, these words are coming from a Kino’s Journey noob, as I just said, so disregard me if you want.

Mori no naka de…b? What’s the “b” for?

A few times when they say “country”, I imagine a sea. That makes sense, considering it’s the sea that separates a lot of us.

How does Hermes talk???

Hermes is CGI. Trust my eyes, they’ve seen a lot of CGI for their time.

The gun is called Cannon? Wuh? The other gun is called the Woodsman? Wuh wuh???

A motorrad appears to be a motorbike, but…okay. It’s a BMW make of motorbike. Like a Ford Gran Torino.

*Kino points the gun* Whoa! What a fakeout!

Kino is CGI sometimes, too, it seems.

Those cows seem to be angry at Kino for some reason…

Why does no one question the talking motorbike???

Oh, I see. That was what I suspected from the moment the rifle was shown in the store. Public order is good here because people simply turn a blind eye.

I think Kino hopping behind Hermes should’ve been 2D. It’s not fluid enough in 3D…not quite yet to convey a proper sense of action, but enough to create a sense of disquiet. (Which is what I believe the show wants, so I’ll take my words back for the moment.)

“Ow!” is an understatement, considering it (the arrow) must’ve severed a muscle or two.

Ah, loophole. I didn’t see that coming.

Whoa. What dramatic irony.

I swear they recycle parts of this footage over and over again. I’m getting dejavu.

Hahaha, that crepe ending was funny. It wasn’t an ideal way to finish such an unsettling episode, but it was a good punchline.

Well, I think this is going to be really repetitive, so I’ll put it on hold and roll the next show up.

Dynamic Chord 1

More Ume. As an Ume fan, I’m spoilt for choice this season.

Cherry blossom opening is probably a bad omen. It’s probably the most cliched opening you could go for.

Holy eye colours, Batman! “That yellow should not exist as an eye colour,” is all I’m saying.

Honestly, this is the least gripping band/idol anime I’ve tackled all season. If they’re just going to be angsty in the rain, they should’ve been one season earlier because I would’ve taken this over The Reflection or In Another World With my Smartphone, laser eye boy be damned.

Wait, is pinkhead in the car or out of it? Update: He’s in a convertible. So it’s a yes and a no.

That metronome transition was pretty bad. Really hamfisted.

That transition away from the metronome, I couldn’t even tell that was a transition!

Aw gawsh, spare me. This looks like one of those ads you see play between shows on TV channels without company sponsorship. Or an only-half-decent MV.

I think they’re trying to be Dark and Edgy (TM) in comparison to, say, TsukiPro, but that was better than this.

Extended Pans for No Reason Whatsoever (TM)! Also, Bumblebee car. I’m having fun ripping this show apart, man. Now I see the real quality of Hatewatches (with a capital H), but it’s only been 5 minutes...

Dual eye colour boy (Reon), oi. You really didn’t do anything. Don’t give yourself unnecessary credit.

Bumblebee boy has way too long eyelashes, by the by. Did I ever mention that?

At least they justified the previous shots. That one there, at about the 6 minute mark, was not justified.

Based on Dai Murase (Ume’s role in TsukiPro), I thought the Kyohso doppleganger was gonna be Ume, but he thankfully got someone more attractive (Kuro of apple polisher). I still don’t like the name apple polisher though, how the heck did that name “get popular overseas”???

The camera shakes sometimes for no reason at all.

Reon seems constantly grumpy for some reason…

C’mon…this production is visually quite junky. Admit it.

Please don’t make this another ad fakeout. Only play your cards once for a certain trick…

Pink and blue eyed boy looks like a villian, but he’s probably a “hero” in this story.

This is probably a music video, but if I wanted a music video, I’d go to YouTube. Not an anime, unless it were an anime musiv video (a proper one, not an amateur effort YouTube Poop).

Wait, they spent 5 minutes just showing us a music video? It was pretty bad, so of course I noticed it in a bad way.

What is up with black and blue guy’s hair? I thought bumblebee guy was bad enough.

Sometimes removing the volume is all you need to figure out if an anime is good, since if they cared about their visuals and plot enough, then they wouldn’t be relying on shots of dudes rocking backwards and forward so much.

I get not all band people are singers, but still…bumblebee boy, if you’re so willing, why not you take Reon’s place?

Wait, so pink-haired convertible boy is the famed Yorito??? Dorito, more like it!

If the animators for this show were any good, they’d animate the fingers when the guitarists play. I’ve seen people play the guitar before. I used to take music classes. Geez, Pierrot. Stop skimping.

Another Skimping Technique (TM) – Speedlines in Replacement of Actual Motion (sic).

Too bad Dorito’s skipping practice, eh, Reon?

C’mon, Dorito. First it’s an angsty rain scene, now it’s an angsty shower scene? You don’t even look half hot here. Or half wet, for that matter.

I know anime is meant to look flat, but these sections I’ve been calling “music videos” are…superflat, to give them a name. They look like paper overlaid on the anime background, with little to no real animation being done, and that’s why I’m giving this show such a bad rap.

All that angst…for this? It seems a little anticlimatic, is all I’m saying.

Well, I made it through one episode. It’s probably not as bad as I made it out to be, but I do hatewatch picks for my own pleasure and this just became one of them. Onto the drop pile it goes…

Houseki no Kuni 1

This is the last debut of the fall season, at least until someone hands me Kekkai Sensen. Okay, here’s the story about why I’m here: I heard good things about Steven Universe in my home country, so I went on a trip and tried some Cartoon Network there. Thing is, Steven Universe didn’t resonate with me as much as I thought it would. Therefore, to take the concept and turn it into a real anime – would that do it for me? Let’s find out.

Hmph, I had the sound on this time and I had the feeling all the gems were voiced by women. Like Steven Universe.

When they said “sunspots”, they…uh, kinda meant it.

I feel like Master Kongo’s VA is a bit too soft. Otherwise, this show is pretty good.

Whoa. Seeing Phos shattered like this and still conscious must be freaky. Makes for some good body horror, eh?

Well, this show has some excellent worldbuilding. That’s something I haven’t said in a few seasons…in this simulcast commentary, that is. Made in Abyss has good worldbuilding too. The only problem with this is…where did Phos’s gloves come from?

The eyecatch seems to be in English. Like Princess Principal last season.

The echo, I think, had a worse effect this time than when Kongo destroyed Phos.

“Don’t use that hand!” - LOL.

So Cinnabar’s poison creates amnesia and (an indirect need for) amputation, eh? What a duo of afflictions.

Well, it’s…actually pretty good. Let’s press on.

Anime-Gataris 1

I actually wanted to pass on this, but after seeing Karandi pass judgement on its second episode and seeing a Haruhi reference, I decided I would pass a judgement on it too. Well, it’s an anime about anime. What do you expect, really?

Hahaha…Oarai is known for being popularised by Girls und Panzer, so Galtan is short for Girls with Tanks.

Haritaro = Hamtaro, Dezumon = Digimon, PreFae = PreCure. Haha, it’s an anime watcher’s paradise of parody anime!

“Double riding is illegal.” - I think that’s a reference to the first episode of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun and the tandem bike.

Fish??? Wuh???

Aw. That fakeout, I was hoping for it to be A Certain Magical Index or something.

Geez, typical School Council Pres with optional Ethereal Glow. Now available in Blonde too, it seems.

Sebastian Michaelis right there.

The teacher just did the flippin’ Ringo (from UtaPri) intro! Holy gender-barriers, Roppongi is a man??? Why I don’t react like that to Ringo, I’ll never know.

The “I should go by myself” bit is also from UtaPri, IIRC. The bit where one of the boys reveals he’s actually the star Haruka likes.

Obvious Chuunibyou with extra Fake Magic. Geesh, if it weren’t for the anime references…I really wouldn’t be covering this…

That’s my face when people talk about anime, LOL. Hero School = Boku no Hero Academia while R:Zero is Re:Zero.

Shika = deer, hence the weird deer. I don’t know what the references around the Shikabari one are, though, including the fence jump.

You picked a fight with the wrong anime lover, Anime-Gataris (I specialise in recent anime, for obvious reasons)! Tamukeda = Tanakeda (Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge) and Toramiko = Kumamiko. Clearly someone doesn’t remember that Kumamiko was a controversial flop, anime-wise.

Bakusou = Bakuon. Therefore, Shikabari is probably…Kiznaiver? No, it’s Kabaneri. That’s the best match, considering we’re talking about spring 2016. Time Travel Shonen = Time Travel Shoujo. Still don’t get the fence jump though.

Kyou Kara Sessha Wa!! = Kyou Kara Ore Wa!!, where “sessha” is an pronoun for…I think it’s older males. Angel Story = Angel Legend (Angel Densetsu).

The OVA references went over my head again…

Gachiemon = Doraemon, naturally. Nobue = Nobita and Karashi = Takeshi (Gouda). Well, while looking for the Gachiemon movie, I found Reddit spoiling it all for me. Refer to it if you don’t want me doing it for you, because I’m going to...ignore it! Haha, you thought I was going to use it as a crutch now, didn’t you? I like this challenge.

The dog one is A Dog of Flanders, Everstrike is Evangelion. I thought the Cinnamon Roll one would be the not-often-mentioned Powerpuff Girls anime  but Reddit says it’s Dragon Ball??? Autumn Wars = Summer Wars.

Light music club = K-On, classical literature club = Hyouka, NJ club = GJ Club.

The cover of this magazine appears to be Newtype or Animage, which I think both started around the 70s or 80s. That’s definitely Urusei Yatsura on the front, though.

The Girl who Slept Through Time = The Girl who Leapt Through Time and Replica…Paprika, perhaps? (Think I was recalling Reddit there.)

Is that…a Boueibu reference?! Or is that just a cliché…? (If it’s a cliché, I’d feel sad, man.)

I feel like the video quality seems to warp a little at infrequent moments. It’s quite disappointing for a 2017 anime to be suffering from strange visual problems like that.

There’s a KonoSuba poster…sort of.

Maria Clara doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen although it does kind of look like Hatsune Miku or Elsword.

Dang that fakeout, I thought she meant the beret.

I feel like this is best binged to get at all the references, so onto the on hold pile it goes. I think its plot will be cliché but its references are the best thing about it.

Idolmaster 1

Time to thin out the herd! This’ll be tough, since all the contenders I’ve kept have the potential to be great.

The pun here is that 315 (saikou) can mean “the highest”, or in this case, “the best”.

The eyeless producer (and Saito, by the by) was probably a bad idea.

Hey, it’s a 315 business card!

The cardboard boxes say “Bear Mark Moving Company” (Kuma no Ma-ku no Hikkoshi Kaisha).

Ooh! I like ponytail boy. I have a thing for bishies with ponytails.

“Handwriting” is probably the wrong word for a typed contract, CR subbers.

An odd juxtaposition between lawyer (or any other job) and an idol. That’s what piqued my interest about this idol anime specifically – because there is clearly going to be some dirty stuff that comes to light once characters have debuted as idols, and the more disconnect between the past and the present, the more the paps are gonna eat it up. At least, that’s my thoughts, having written Half-Paid Heroes. (I’m currently not sure if I should continue on HPH though, since I had a fight with fellow Honeyfeed writer Aura…).

Nice shirt, Teru (LOL).

When Kaoru broke the cheery atmosphere, Teru’s shirt suddenly said roiya (“lawyer” in katakana, transposed to hiragana).

Dandou literally translates to “male way”. It’s actually hilarious since it sounds really macho…in a bishie show intended to capture a female audience.

“I want us to work together…”

Does this producer have a name? I get the feeling he doesn’t. Maybe, instead of that woman producer they were hinting at at the end of Side Jupiter (was that a woman?), it was this guy.

Sakuraba’s being kind of awkward on the side with his fistpump. I like him.

“Then from now on, the three of you…”

If you know me from Boueibu, you’ll know the line Saito says should actually be “Boys be ambitious”.

The board up the back of the Dramatic Stars’ party says “Celebrate! Dramatic Stars’ Formation”…or something like that, anyway…(Happoro beer, LOL.)

Oh, it’s Hokuto, Shouta and Touma from Jupiter.

It’s this shot from last episode. Oh, okay. It’s kinda like Death Parade in that there are two backstories leading to the same ending shown in ep 1.

What’s with those 17 badges, guys???

This frog mascot looks kinda funny in a (LOL) sort of way. I think Ume’s character will be in a unit with the shota that likes this frog mascot, so…good on me.

At least “Drive a live” doesn’t sound as bad as “Burny!!” or “Crazy Baby Show”, namewise. It does, however, sound like a slogan for a drink-driving government prevention scheme.

I think Ume’s character is the guy behind the counter, although I’m a bit sketchy on that. We’ll see in a few eps.

I think I’ve probably been missing out on something by not listening to the trio with the music. Even though I threw the others out based on visuals and plot, an idol/band show is nothing without its music, so I’ll put Idolmaster on hold so that I don’t become too attached to any of the trio and maybe someday I can evaluate TsukiPro vs Idolmaster better.