#nobody told them that what they were doing was freaky so they kept doing it. good for them

[dycefic]

Tom Saves The World

Everyone knows that it’s super-heroes who save the world. They fight the aliens, or the monsters, or the bad guys. And mostly, that’s true.

But not always.

I’m a psychic. The thing is, my range isn’t that great. I don’t have much detail more than about 36 hours out, 48 for something really big. I’d had a nebulous sort of bad feeling for about a week before this one finally hit, and it was big. Something very tough and very supernatural was going to come up out of the harbor of Nova Roma, and the death-toll was going to be high. Crazy high.

I did all I could. I told the Unaligned Supers Job Placement Agency, and they put the word out to everyone on both sides of the Line. The Henchman’s Union don’t like natural disasters any more than anyone else, and they’re often quite helpful against eldritch horrors and stuff like that. Things that don’t hire henchmen and ruin the property values.

The trouble was, nobody big was around. The only really big team of heavy hitters on the West Coast were away dealing with some sort of doomsday cult - I never was clear on what that was about - and Guarde and Dog Fox were out of touch and even Mx Frantique was out of town at someone’s wedding. It was going to happen in less than two days and we couldn’t find anyone to help and I was seriously considering calling in some kind of bomb threat or something to get people away from the docks, at least.

And then, about eighteen hours out, it just… went away.

Which never, ever happens.

My powers might be short range, but they’re reliable. I don’t get stuff wrong, and I hadn’t been able to find any way to prevent what was going to happen, or even been able to identify anyone who could. But someone did. Someone had done something to stop the threat, something that happened literally while I was opening my car door. When I reached for the handle, thousands of people were going to die. By the time the door was open, there was no threat at all.

At first I thought it must have been a ranged thing. Like, whatever I’d been seeing (all those teeth, I saw them in nightmares for months after) had been distracted by something tasty on its way here and gotten off track, that it’d come up somewhere up or down the coast. My range isn’t that big, either. Anything outside about thirty miles might as well be on Mars for all I know about it. So we kept a watch out, and warned the chapters of the Union and the Agency in other cities.

But nothing happened. Nothing at all. I couldn’t explain it, and I was really unpopular for a while. Supers do NOT like people who cry wolf. There’s enough freaky shit we have to deal with without someone panicking everyone with a dire prophecy that fizzles out.

Thank all the gods that Tunny showed up. Nobody’s really sure what Tunny actually is - sentient fish creature, some kind of really mutated human, an alien, or what. She changes her story a lot. But she’s pretty friendly, especially for a twenty-foot-long horror-movie-mermaid-thing with four arms, so when she came into harbor to pick up some supplies a guy from the Agency went out to tell her what I’d seen. I’d gotten a wharf and dock number, so she went down to check.

I don’t think anyone had ever seen Tunny scared before. Her English wasn’t good enough to really explain what she’d found hibernating down there, but it was something very old and very powerful and very dangerous, and if it’d been woken up my vision would just have been the start of the crisis.

She rounded up a bunch of whales to help her move it, once she was sure it hadn’t been agitated and wasn’t likely to rouse if moved carefully. They towed it out before dawn, not wanting to scare the civilians, and when I saw the footage from the helicopter the Union sent up, when I saw how big the swell was, how many whales were pulling, I swear I nearly crapped myself. No wonder I’d been getting hints a week in advance. Somehow we dumbass humans had built a whole fucking city almost on top of some kind of Ancient Old… THING, and eroded the sea-bottom until it was exposed, and if someone hadn’t done whatever it was we’d all have been dead long before Tunny arrived. And not just all as in ‘all of Nova Roma’, it could have taken out half of the continent... or all of it.

It took me years to find out what happened. YEARS. It turned into a kind of hobby, tracking everything that might possibly have come into contact with Wharf 38 on that particular day.  

And what I found, eventually, was a city employee named Thomas Briggs.

I’d found out early on that 38 wasn’t in good repair. Not that bad, but not great. It was old, things were getting a bit saggy in a few places, but there’d been no sign that anything was likely to fall off on the day. It had sat there for a couple of years after the crisis that never happened,, doing its job without problems then been rebuilt without any drama at all.

Entirely, completely, and totally because of Thomas Briggs.

The story, when I finally pieced it together, went like this.

There’d been some project or other to build some sort of high-budget science project over on the other side of the harbor, hanging it off’ve Pier 8, the furthest out on that side. Something about tracking sea-life or ships or something. My conversational English is near perfect, I’ve been here for years, but I don’t speak science nerd in ANY language. It’d all been approved, some university was covering most of the cost, it was all gonna be fine. And it was gonna be over on 8 because that side of the harbor is the shallow end. It’s where the sailboats go. All the big stuff that would block visual sensors and deafen the thing with engine noise was over in the thirties, in the real deep water.

They were almost ready to install the thing when a bunch of rich dudes suddenly got their panties in a bunch over having a big sciency tower thing ruining the view from their yachts, and tried to get it moved.

To, and I’m sure you guessed this, Wharf 38.

Which was completely insane. It wouldn’t be able to do its job over there, it’d be way more in the way, and (although they couldn’t have known it) the installation would definitely have woken up the Thing sleeping by the wharf and we all would have died. But rich dudes with yachts don’t care about that stuff. They’d bitched out and bribed up their friends on the city council, and those friends had done their thing, and the scientists had been left in the dark, and it’d almost gone through. They’d figured to install it right away, so that when the science guys found out it’d be too late and they’d either have to pay a lot to move it or just use it where it was.

Enter Thomas Briggs.

Mr Briggs, Tom to his friends, didn’t give a crap about the yachts or the science. He was a senior money guy for the commercial wharfs, the one who figured out things like how much money they’d take in in a quarter, and what the repair budget should be, stuff like that. He found out about this thing two days before the disaster would have happened, and sat down and did the math.

Then he sent out an email to the guys trying to push this through, and he ripped into them like they’d threatened to knife his mother. I got my hands on that email, and I didn’t understand a lot of it any more than the council guys would have. It was ALL numbers. But at the top he wrote it out in plain English. Pier 8 was new, and rated to handle the weight of the thingy. Wharf 38 was going to be scrapped in a few years, and it was NOT rated for that kind of structure. Pier 8 had plenty of room around it. Wharf 38 was already a tight fit for the big commercial ships, and adding a structure sticking out on one side would block off at least half of the wharf to those ships completely.

Bottom line, putting the thing on Wharf 38 would cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars more per year than putting it on 8, AND the city would have to eat the cost if 38 collapsed under it which it could easily do, AND the city would have to pay to move it in a couple of years anyway when 38 was due to be rebuilt.

And he cc-ed every important person he had an email address for, including the mayor, the anti-corruption people, and several reporters.

He must have sent that email right when I was opening my car door.

The whole plan collapsed right there, and some people got fired. There was no news story because the whole plan got killed before the reporters even got to the right office. The installation was started on Wharf 8 a few weeks later and I never connected it to a commercial wharf on the other side of the harbor.

One email, and a man who I never could have located in time, a man who had no powers at all, a man who was just conscientiously doing his job looking after the city’s money saved the city, and the continent, and maybe even the world.

Who could have predicted that? Not me, that’s for damn sure.

I can’t deny that I went home and got drunk off my ass that night. Just thinking about how close that had been made my hands shake. One man. One honest man who’d done the math.

I put the word out, once the hangover wore off. What had happened. That Thomas Briggs was the reason we were all alive and everyone better make his life real nice from now on, because he’d done what none of us could do and nobody but the supers would ever even know it.

He’s got a lot of luck coming to him, I can tell you. We don’t forget debts like that.

And I knew that’d freak him out, because honest men don’t like it when people start doing them a lot of favors for no apparent reason, so I tracked him down at the little bar where he likes to have a quiet beer on Friday nights before he goes home. Hell, I was the one who’d gone through it all, back then. I should get to tell him.

I sat down beside him at the bar and looked at him. I saw a thin, small, balding man who looked like he worried too much and didn’t get enough sleep, with lines around his eyes. Yeah, he looked like a man who’d do the math. “Thomas Briggs?”

He blinked at me through his glasses. “Yes? Do I know you?”

“No, you don’t. My name’s Barkhado Omar, and I’ve been looking for you for a long time.” I offered him my hand and he shook it, still looking confused. Which was fair, ‘cause I doubt a lot of seven foot tall Somali women came up to him in bars even when he was young. He’s got to be close to retirement now.

He frowned. “Looking for me? Why?”

I smiled at him. “Tom, let me buy you a drink and tell you about the day you saved the world.”

It’s usually us who save the city, or the world. We have all the intel, all the advantages, all the powers.

But sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s someone like Tom Briggs, doing the right thing at the right time and never knowing that he changed the course of history.

Wild, huh?

--

This story is a direct result of me and my ex chatting about how different the entire Marvel Universe would have been if Jean’s first ‘resurrection’ - being found in a life pod under a wharf, IIRC - had happened at like... any other time. Earlier. Later. It would have changed SO MUCH.

And we speculated about how it could happen, how someone just puttering around in middle management might have unknowingly saved countless lives, prevented Madelyne’s corruption, the legacy virus, all of it, just by postponing that particular set of repairs a bit longer.... and I couldn’t resist writing a version of the story in which Tom does, in fact, save the world.

[nikaii-koi]

YOU HAVE LITERALLY MY THOUGHTS—well i have a theory of how stick sparked his vision but ill write/maybe draw it later tehee— i mean what if stick need dragon to harness his power so monkey can see that he is a powerful weapon (with how the place where he stood radiates and glows)?? Or perhaps stick needs the machine so he can talk to monkey first?? In movie stick were unactive when not with monkey right? We also know that only by monkey's touch stick can wake up/turn on (like some battery), so why in their first meeting he out of sudden active annd talk to monkey first?? Aannddd it happened again in the final battle,, but ofc yesh sometimes stick can be conscious too when monkey is conscious,,, grrahhhhh so confusingg. Just some hole from the movie i guess

Although we can sure that stick recognizes dragon in monkey's ceremony,, it means for 5000 years stick was fully awake right?? Scene when monkey and stick talking, dragon and other sea creatures didn't hear/see them (stick's glow) sooo what if stick tried to talk to dragon but his ass can't hear stick over his fruity demeanor

does stick actually have free will to be independent and has merely been sassily playing with monkey and dragons feelings because he enjoys the attention of those two competing for him

WHAT IF THAT REALLY HAPPENED HUHH—

Let me play with this dragon real quick. Dang he can't hear me. Lol he’s just sitting there all sad and bored. Maybe I should put on some lights show, a little treat for what he done to my place. Phew that was fun, look at his face omg— wait, he want my power for what now? It's not fun anymore. Oh another playmate! You can hear me? I've been waiting for this moment! Ok i want you, take me and let's get out of here. Oh it's dragon again! Gosh gentlemen stop fighting over me~ im serious stop it <- Stick probably

Just a pretty centerpiece

OH OHMY heres another one, do you think dragon built the machine like it's a dress up game?? "My gorgeous machine," cmon man he act like a mother dress up her kid with a gown machine she picked out, and like a kid playing with their doll and getting mad when another kid wants a turn,, anyway heck yeahh stick is pwettyyy~~

I MEAN LOOK AT THIS— is that a normal reaction when someone tells him that everyone loves his stuff (staff)??

"How dare you! Only me can love him" ahh reaction

GOODDAM YESSHHHHH MORE ANALYSIS POSTT YIPPIIEEEEE

I will live for the next 4 years dw ill be here when you done CANTT AGREE MORE stick is the key, the fundamental, the essential, the foundation, the boundary and the connector on how the protagonist and the antagonist explored, pushed each other, and transform into their better/bigger/stronger version of themselves when with him!!

As their lives revolve around stick.

One had lived with him since the dawn of time, one will live with him until the dusk of time.

Stick, The Monkey King's Plot Device: An Analysis

a matter of Free Will, Creativity, Control, Ownership, Choice, and Consent of an animated inanimate character

aka chronological notes of what happens in the movie with interpretative thoughts

for 5,000 years, stick only ever stood in one place in silence

the crystal palace was either; built around him, or he was left there tho it's hard to believe the center pillar of dragon king's home just has a spot reserved for him. I believe it's the former however it was, he never had a choice

dragon had stick stuck in a machine that will force and use him and his power to create a storm and flood, which is the opposite of what his original purpose was that got him down there to begin with thousands of years ago. an overglorified water meter

monkey was in search of the ultimate weapon, but stick said the first word. he's been waiting and immediately calls him "the most powerful being". this is promptly followed by being complimented not once, but twice from the guy he just met (ie "you are incredible") it is important to note monkey had never any positive assurance in his entire life, yet he says these things to stick, he makes this about stick, rather than himself

stick jumps into action and carries the battle, but he prioritises monkey's safety

he is a go-getter, taking the lead to take his new friend forward. he is a driving force that enables monkey to do what he does. he is excitable, violent, eager to please. stick has never been used in so long, he has a lot of pent up energy just bursting to get out. he protects monkey, but he is obedient to the point of losing his self by taking things literally. this should teach monkey how he works, that he is dependent on his wielder, his master, and that's why he couldn't have left the palace or dragon himself. he is a tool, who's entire existence is in the hands of whoever possesses him. he wants to be used and be useful. he wants to serve a purpose

monkey tells stick what to do, he listens, monkey tells stick to stop, he does so. and stick will do the best possible thing for them to show monkey what they are capable of together, giving him the confidence to trust his weapon as much as stick's chosen to trust him, that no matter what happens as long they communication, they will have each other's back

stick shares monkey's joys and sorrows. he cheers along the troop for his new name and groans when it seemed monkey got sad. they share excitement and aggressive tendencies too

they are more like a single entity with two equal parts rather than a pair, but it's not wrong to call them that either. mind & body, heart & soul, in action they are one, as people they are two, but must be kept together in order to work perfectly. stick is an extension of monkey, and monkey is an extension of stick. they match each others freak save for minor differences in preference and personality. when not in use, stick stands on his own, he reacts similarly as monkey, turns to him, and provides emphasis for the occasional words. he is completely supportive and always by his side if only a foot apart or at arms length, never out of reach

monkey is the same in the way that he values stick's own desires that are seemingly separate from himself. he is considerate of his weapon's wants despite having no impact or benefit to his own except maybe boost his ego. they share an ambition, yet something so minor like playing the guitar is so important to him because it's something stick wants. he didn't even ask if stick wanted anything, he already has him in mind, it was a matter of what and absolute that he gets it

the theme song is sung by stick's voice actor, the singer "ultimate screaming master" aka nan li from voodoo kungfu, an outstanding "world heavy metal music" band. so you could say stick wrote and sang a song about monkey throughout their 99 demons together. I know the lyrics are from monkey himself, the words are his, stick is the music, together they create harmony

stick is bloodthirsty, and he is an artist. both actions are forms of self-expression after lying dormant for millenniums. the same can be said for monkey in that he created an imaginary family, paired with his and stick's signature head-bashing, skull-splitting move, except he does this in sought of attention for being deprived of it his entire childhood, stick has always been the center of, yet was never heard, and the only thought he wants and cares about is from monkey

it was his idea the way they defeat red girl, unpromptly suggested

stick left his "home", because he finally could. he was stolen from dragon, who housed him. he was found by monkey, who allows him to be. stick can't be on his own without his wielder's permission and even then they're in close proximity of each other. monkey allows for stick's autonomy and will to be as free as he can be. he treats stick like a person more than the actual people he interacts with, while dragon still treats stick as property even after discovering he could talk. he doesn't care that stick has feelings, he only wants to abuse his power

Monkey: “What's wrong, Stick? You know this chump?”

Dragon: “Stick? You never talked to me!”

when dragon showed up, this is the only time stick vocalised in a way that it aggravated monkey enough to close his ears. stick doesn't get to say anything else, and he doesn't have to because no one but monkey listens to him, he doesn't need an explanation to come to his friend's defence. the same way stick is in-between the demons and monkey, this time monkey is shielding stick from dragon. a former roommate, acts like a controlling parent or possessive ex

Monkey, to Dragon: “You love my Stick, everyone loves the stick, but no one appreciates Stick like I do.”

Stick: “[incessant urgent warbling]”

Monkey: “Quiet Stick, the grown-ups are talking.”

of course monkey isn't perfect either, in the heat of the moment he ignores stick to protect him, and stick never holds a grudge or resentment towards monkey for his blunders, only dragon was met with initial hostility, but then none at all for the rest of the movie. stick is never really even annoyed with his partner, it just seems like he loves everything about him and wants the best for him, because that would mean what's best for himself too

dragon tries to talk to stick to come back, but monkey says he only listens to him. dragon responds with "I don't see a ring on it, honey" which is from the euphemism for a marriage proposal. dragon clearly doesn't approve of their relationship though this implies that in order for them to be together, they need to be wedded

without monkey, stick doesn't have a will. without a person, he is useless. he has no life, no will to life. it's meaningless without monkey, who he's waited for forever

he laughs at his jokes, they share a sense of humour

stick knows about hell. he knows about the scrolls of life and death

he could not have learned this during the 100 demons slaying because monkey would have known. the reason why stick never mentioned "crossing your name to cancel your death in order to become immortal" is that monkey was under the impression he would win the immortal ones' approval by conquering demons like the elder lead them to believe. why stick never corrected him, this wasn't the mission. stick is at his service, not looking specifically for the most efficient way to do things. he is able to have fun and live his best life with monkey and if the adventure ends, what is there left to do? he wouldn't want to be abandoned again. so he answers monkey's questions because monkey asked, not because stick has an obligation to be conscious or aware of how things play out, but because he's literal and needs to be direct with. whatever it is, he will enable monkey's desires, because what he wants, they both do

they argue about bringing lin along, in which stick advocates for her and scolds monkey because he knows her worth and neither of them can read. if monkey completely owns stick, why would he allow him to knock some sense into himself and fight about something like this? does stick actually have free will to be independent and has merely been sassily playing with monkey and dragons feelings because he enjoys the attention of those two competing for him, or does monkey allow stick to be his own person without the restraint of pleasing his ego in that he is cared for even if he doesn't like it because he subconsciously understands he can't do everything on his own and needs stick to be his conscience too, for both their sakes

their expressions often mirror each other, the way they move even apart is in sync, and they exchange glances, like you do with your best friend

stick also knows about cloning, which he also never told monkey that he knows they can both apparently do. the situation called for it so it's pretty reasonable, but why does stick know more about monkey's abilities than he himself does?

steroids, another song by voodoo kungfu, is used during the fight

although apparently stick didn't know enough as "cancelling your death date" only makes you half-immortal, but monkey immediately blames lin despite it being entirely stick's idea

stick is already immortal, he's an eternal object and looks good for above 5,000 years old. he just needs to keep his friend, who he's known for at least a couple years, alive. least he becomes alone again

stick finds monkey's prank on lin hilarious, monkey makes him laugh

stick sings along with monkey while they search for lin, he yells at her after too

monkey considers stick his best friend and family

stick doesn't care to say anything during the entire peach grove scene. not about benbo & babbo, not about dragon, even though he was used to jab at him. monkey is drugged, therefore his mind isn't intact, which seemingly affects stick's behaviour as well in that he isn't very conscious. they both get knocked ou

he jolts awake after monkey does

stick is empathetic, monkey is apathetic. there is a little bit of the other to them in a yin-yang sense, because stick only empathises with monkey, and maybe lin twice on-screen, while monkey has no consideration for anyone but himself, stick, and eventually lin to an extent. they only care for each other, as stick isn't concerned about anyone else, but monkey does in a way. both for selfish reasons

stick cannot be wielded by a baby monkey, he goes to sleep

monkey tells stick to help lin, he shrinks down for her to use

he sleeps again when monkey is kicked through the roof

despite being unconscious, stick extends himself towards monkey to give the elixir

stick is just as excited as monkey is, if not more, and is ready to fight, but when lin falls, he got worried for her too

lin teases monkey, talking to stick, and he laughs with her. he isn't above laughing at his friend's expense and with someone other than him no less, someone monkey handed him over to in the moment. he was trusted with to assist her and wasn't even aware of lin's attempt to steal him away. if monkey was a controlling master and stick the obedient weapon that he is, how is it that he's able to freely make fun of his own best friend? monkey shuts him up, and he complies, but the fact is while he is always supportive of monkey, he is capable of poking fun at and arguing with him too, usually provoked

stick is left alone with lin again, and is promptly sold out

"momentary fling" sir this is a family movie

stick is inactive throughout his entire hold in dragon's clutches. he is nothing but a prize to be won, a tool to be abused. monkey may need him in every battle to win, but stick has been a damsel-in-distress twice. he is handled by dragon, forced back into a machine that awakens and makes him grow. none of this he chose, none he wanted, he can't leave without help. while he is fulfilling a purpose, he isn't doing this out of his own will. he doesn't choose dragon and doesn't consent to being used this way, but it doesn't matter because dragon doesn't need his compliance, as long the machine works and he's useful

they are so happy to see each other, and missed one another so much,,,

stick is devoted to monkey. he enables him, needs him for his entire being and existence. if it were to be anyone in the universe he will always choose monkey. caught in the middle of the final battle, despite the brief grasp dragon has on him, he is able to fight for his self because monkey is there for him to return to and fall back on. to live in utter depravity under someone who only takes from and forces you into doing his bidding, it's not living at all. monkey gives him a life, stick lives for him and gets to be himself because he's allowed to be as much of a person any object is capable of

monkey is incredibly significant to stick. he is his entire world, and the same goes for him to monkey

they're separated again, the last thing he heard was monkey's desperate cry of his name after he couldn't handle buddha's clutch

lin found stick, either by chance or he called out to her. and he shrank for her once more so she could easily reunite him with his monkey. he doesn't even know she's the one who gave him away, but I don't think he'd hold it against her. he's a staff, not human or demon with complex thoughts and feelings. a simple stick who has a colourful personality, vibrant soul, and passion for music

he flies right into monkey's hold thanks to lin

monkey is stick's home, he is his best friend, his family, his life. they are symbiotic and co-dependent, for breaking them apart would leave them wrecked on their own, one completely helpless and the other out of his mind. there is a fear of abandonment within stick and separation anxiety in monkey, but only one of them has the ability to do something about it, and monkey allows for stick to be unbound by his own ego. they're a team, each others comfort

they meditate together, being one with each other, and stick is just as important as monkey because "the world needs us"

to summarise; stick is a deeply emotional, straight-forward, fun-loving, whimsical, thrill-seeking sentient weapon who's been deprived of activity for thousands of years, which affected the way he expresses himself through bloodthirsty violence and screaming, but he does have an ambition to learn and play the guitar, already being a singer himself. it is a creative outlet for him to release all that pent up energy when he lay dormant, and is allowed the freedom to live a life he wants alongside the one person who values and loves him for who he is

in conclusion... they are both crazy, and stick likes that about monkey

[jungle-angel]

Joint Lessons in History (Bob Floyd x Reader)

Summary: You and Bob love the days when you guys can lay back and enjoy the show with your classes

Tagging: @sebsxphia @bobfloydsbabe @bradleybeachbabe Helena my love, I heard you were having a bit of a rough evening and I figured you could use a little pick-me-up. I wanna write more of this AU down the road so if you wanna be on a mini taglist let me know

Friday afternoons before school vacations were always the best, because for you and Bob, it meant a joint history and literature class together. You always loved days like this, because not only would you be with Bob, but it meant shenanigans with your students before having to go home and tend to the house. Luckily for you, your mother and father-in-law were there to help keep things in order, making it easier on you and Bob.

"Alright my freaky little aliens, everybody up on those desks!" Bob announced.

The group of sixteen and seventeen year olds were excited as ever. The day before winter break was always the most exciting with Bob making it easy on them by doing review games for whatever the main lesson block was that week. This week's rewards were pieces of the endless arrays of candy and chocolate-peanut butter fudge that Bob kept in the desk drawers.

Up on the desks they went, sitting cross-legged or with their legs dangling over the edge before your class entered the room to join them.

"How goes Mrs. Floyd?" Bob mumbled before he kissed you.

"We might need to stop for coffee on the ride back," you answered. "I've had more than enough water and I'm exhausted."

"We've got the next two hours to decide where we're gonna stop," Bob told you, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "Momma called earlier, she and Dad made us dinner for when we get home."

"Oh thank God," you sighed, relieved that your mother-in-law had done so.

Bob took his place at the front while you hopped up onto the edge of his desk, making yourself right at home on your favorite little perch.

"Pop quiz guys," Bob announced. "Rulers of Lothlorien in Fellowship of the Ring, who were they?"

"Celeborn and Galadriel!" Deshawn answered.

"Awesome dude!" Bob said, tossing Deshawn a mini kit-kat bar. "Speak friend and enter, what's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon!" Kelsey answered.

"Young lady, ya'll have just earned yourself a Mr. Goodbar!" Bob answered enthusiastically, reaching into the drawer of his desk and tossing the mini chocolate bar to Kelsey, the girl in the navy blue and orange varsity jacket.

"Alright, lets see if Mrs. Floyd can stump you guys," Bob said.

"Aragorn's nickname is what?" you asked.

Every possible name for the character was shouted through the room until Justin threw both of his hands up in the air. "The dude who never showers!" he blurted out.

"Justin Daly sit your ass down this instant!" Bob laughed.

You and Bob couldn't help but laugh. "Alright who's got the real nickname, c'mon, don't be shy," you told the kids.

As soon as Birdy O'Connor shouted out "Strider", a mini packet of M+Ms went flying in her direction. You and Bob were able to waste the last two hours of the day playing the game with hardly a break in between.

"Gandalf's famous words to the Balrog?!" Bob called out loudly.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!!" the kids chorused together.

"Alright guys everybody's getting a piece for that one!"

Everyone laughed as you and Bob tossed the mini chocolate bars, packets of gummies, Nerds, Reese's peanut butter cups and mini packets of Skittles and M+Ms to your students when they answered correctly. The enjoyment of the game however, was interrupted by one of the admins ringing the handbell to signal the end of the day.

"Alright guys, you know the drill," Bob announced. "Chairs up, bags packed up and make sure nobody slips on their way out to the parking lot. It's slippery out there!"

The clatter of wood on wood echoed throughout the room as students picked up their chairs and turned them over to put them on the desk, packing up their backpacks with whatever they needed for the duration of school vacation.

"Wanna make a run to grab coffee?" Bob asked as you walked out into the freshly falling snow.

"Why not?" you asked with a cheeky little grin. "I hear they have that new chocolate-peppermint flavor you love so much."

Bob pressed a sweet kiss to your lips. "Love you Mrs. Floyd."

"Love you too Mr. Floyd," you answered, eagerly returning the kiss before you hopped into the truck and pulled out of the dirt parking lot, the heat blasting and waring you both up.

[thegeminisage]

star trek update time. monday we watched ds9's "in purgatory's shadow" (ohio edition), "by inferno's light" (ohio edition), and "doctor bashir, i presume" (ohio edition), which did blow my tits clean off, and then last night we watched voy's "unity" and "darkling" (south carolina editions, sadly).

in purgatory's shadow (ds9) (ohio edition):

kira and odo's little moment at the beginning of this episode 🥺 he was soooo embarrassed to be caught attempting to try and learn how to snag a spouse but she didn't judge even a little. girl, break up with your stupid ass boyfriend. odo is right here

i really loved bashir pointing the phaser at garak when he figured garak was lying. i was like oh damn he knows him so well and i love when this twink has had enough and becomes a little evil BUT THEN IT LITERALLY WASN'T HIM! what an incredible plot twist. we literally had to pause the episode and work out the timelines to see how long we had been living with changeling bashir. it was sooo good and i wasn't expecting it at all. mwah

jadzia and worf are so good. her personality being settled into like, comic relief makes for such a good match to his whole straight man aura. obviously she taunts him with his klingon operas. please.

also lol "at the first sign of betrayal i will kill him" <3

i do NOT like whatever they are doing with garak and ziyal. first of all, he's gay. secondly, she is like at LEAST 20 years younger than him. i want to trust them but after jake dating all those older women i am so suspicious

the backpedaling they're doing on fun and friendly former facist dukat is insane. not to say i'm not enjoying it. also, i like when he threatened kira and she was like "pffft whatever" like what a blow to his fucking ego. get his ass

VERY cool to see martok again - totally unexpected

our last wonderful surprise of this ep was tain being garak's DAD- it makes so much sense and puts so much into perspective, and, hi, JULIAN WAS IN THE ROOM DURING THIS. garak could have asked him to leave and he would have. garak could have told tain he was there. but he didn't, because he wanted the moral support, and because he wanted julian to know something true about him. AUUUGHGHGH

like, we haven't had NEARLY enough garashir since s2, but this was SUCH a good moment, even though it feels like they're trying to backpedal on that too. what a series of plot twists for this ep 10/10

by inferno's light (ds9) (ohio edition):

dukat's betrayal here i like vaguely saw coming, but jesus christ lol. he is back to FULL villain status...such a change from his little fireworks show for sisko and jake

garak's claustrophobia <3 absolutely loooved this especially since julian had to go in and get him. bangs tankard on table MORE GARASHIR! there literally has NOT been enough. i would love to know more about tzenketh but i know they will never ever tell us but wow <3

i am SO tired of seeing worf lose fights this episode was fucking great. not only did he not lose any fights except under an extremely unfair circumstances he totally kicked ass even while injured. FINALLY. even that jem'hadar guy was like i can kill him but i can't defeat him so i give up. SOOOO true finally let's respect my boy worf. why don't you bitches call him a pussy NOW

anyway, the little moment worf and garak had at the end of this episode...mwah. put them on the fuck chart

extremely excited to see gowran in this episode. he and his freaky eyes are so special to me

"this station was built by cardassia" "that's funny i thought it was built by bajoran slave labor" I LOVE WHEN SISKO IS FUN AND FERAL.

also i know the circumstances were extenuating but i cannot BELIEVE julian just fucking murdered that jem'hadar <3

watching little fake julian run around was so distressing...i kept yelling when he came on screen because nobody KNEWWWW he even fooled US! what a cool twist, again

overall these two episodes were incredibly good even though the strong action-y episodes are usually not ds9's forte. absolutely baller content for everyone except ziyal. i will at least take comfort in the fact that garak looked very uncomfortable to be hugged

doctor bashir, i presume (ds9) (ohio edition):

AGAIN. THIS ONE BLEW MY TITS CLEAN OFF

i'm mad garak wasn't in it. AUGHGHGH

okay, my main beef with this one was pacing...i thought they resolved the problem extremely quickly after the cat was out of the bag, and it's because they spent so much time on the doctor and leeta and rom. which would have been a GREAT b-plot for any other episode, i LOVE leeta and rom and i was cheering for him the whole time, but even though the EMH (sorta) cameo was very welcome, i do not welcome it at the expense of time taken from one of the most pivotal episodes for julian bashir probably in this whole series, especially when i have the sneaking suspicion that it won't be brought up again

and i did LIKE the resolution of this episode, his parents paying for what they'd done, but it didn't feel like he got to sit with it for long enough, and it certainly felt like we skipped over a few pivotal moments - the scene where he found out his best friend knows could have been EXTREMELY meaty. is he afraid of judgement? is he angry? is he worried miles will be angry? etc. but we just kind of breezed right on by it. like, i loved the way miles sat and let him get it out of his system in a fun inverse of julian talking him down from suicide but we could have had SOOO much more

anyway side from that i love. I LOVE. holy shit

like, i can't even talk about the episode itself, just this entire concept. like, they did essentially kill their kid. they made him the way he is, a new kid, and then hated him for the way he is. SPOCK CORE. and then to find that out as a teenager...

like, you know he had to google "does being genetically enhanced make me a bad person" and then of course what google spits out is "did you know about khan noonien singh and would you like to?" and he was like Oh No

like, he went into MEDICINE. and i know he had other reasons and all but he went into MEDICINE because that's the most harmless you can possibly be. he's using all his ill-gotten brainpower to HEAL PEOPLE because his first reaction was to not want to be khan...2! you can enhance genetics but just like o'brien said that can't grow compassion, which is what makes julian who he is

I WISH GARAK HAD BEEN THERE.

anyway, i will continue to think about dr bashir for a very long time and he definitely just rose a couple of notches in my character ranking

unity (voy):

i actually liked this one a lot. i love borg eps and i'm fascinated by a post-borg life lived by these people

that said, this lady gave off SUCH evil vibes that even after the truth was revealed and she and chakotay fucked i kept waiting for her to stab him in the back. which only kind of happened i guess

also, :( that chakotay is out here running around on janeway. SAD

i did love the borg meld scene though. it was incredibly scary. and i was TWIRLING MY HAIR when he got possessed or whatever the fuck

it was also so fun that he spent half of this episode dazed and stumbling around because of his little head injury. excellent material overall

oh yeah and i KNEW that corpse was gonna wake back up. i think it's so terrifying that when you're borg, even if you die, you aren't done. you can be revived because nothing kills you, not even the vacuum of space. that is easily the most horrifying part of it all

i also really liked chakotay and janeway's moment at the end. like, she was distrustful the entire time and he was too trusting, as he tends to sometimes be, and then at the end she was like aw but they weren't so bad and he was like [thousand yard stare of guy who has fucked 2! women who later betrayed him and has now been radicalized against the borg]

like i'm not saying it wasn't 99% consensual with riley or seska but i AM saying that he was hopped up on the borg meld when he fucked riley and later riley was willing to use chakotay's body for her own means when push came to shove and i'm saying that seska knew full well the whole time it was happening that it was under completely false pretenses and she stole his dna without his consent to make a baby he also didn't consent to, even if it turned out she fucked up and got that kaxon baby instead. like, chakotay better be careful or he's gonna start fitting into captain kirk's niche

darkling (voy):

this one fucking sucked so bad

like, sure, yes, emh evil now. does he have to keep creepy-touching all the women

also, WHAT? we get ONE LINE about kes and neelix breaking up and he's not even IN this episode? why did they even break them up??? just because they wrre planning on having her leave soon????? absolutely baffling

i don't think evil emh was very compelling...i am glad he got to act or whatever, but i didn't even get the usual "battle of the selves" that we often wind up with when we do these kind of tropes. it was just...a malfunction, and eventually it was corrected

also, what a BAFFLING b-plot. if you measure each of kes's years (except the first, i suppose) as a decade in human beings, we can assume she's in her thirties now, so she just...breaks up with her boyfriend to smooch the hot alien guy she met a few days ago and then maybe wants to run off with him? in her THIRTIES?

i DID like the EMH quoting the oath at the end, but without any sort of battle of the selves or real emotional investment in what he did when he was evil, it feels kind of wasted on this episode. it's a fine concept, but the execution falls soooo flat

NEXT TIME: voy's "rise" and "favorite son."

[legacyshenanigans]

I've been fairly busy since I woke up today, but now that i'm settled I've got another one of my lucid dreams which I had today. To (mildly) entertain you all with 🤣

Just incase anyone doesn't know what Lucid dreaming means, it means KNOWING you're dreaming which happens to me pretty regularly. Weirdly sometimes I can control the whole dream, but sometimes I can't, like this one, things have to play out as they are, but I'm just fully aware it's a dream and can control myself but not my surroundings. Also, usually, to wake myself up from these dreams, I tend to just tell a person in my dream that I know I'm dreaming, some crazy, creepy shit will happen, then I wake up. Anyway, onto the dream haha.

So, I was at an airport with my partners parents and his sister, and weirdly, my partner wasn't there. We sat at an airport bar, and his sister hands me a 5-pound note and says, "Can you go and buy me a can of sweetcorn?" I said yeah and took the money and wandered off. The airport was massive and there was plenty of shops, but I thought to myself "Where the fuck am I gonna get a can of sweetcorn? Do you they even sell cans of sweetcorn in airports?" So I was going in every shop, just looking around.

Then I came to an area that had a bunch of massage chairs in it, and saw my Nanna on one of them, and I thought "Oh cool, my Nannas in this dream" so I wandered over to her and said Hi, she asked me what I was doing there? And I told her "I can only assume I'm going on holiday with me being in an airport" then I asked her if she was going on holiday too, and she said "airport? We're at my house"

I turned around to look and I was indeed suddenly at my Nannas house, I turned back towards her and she was just sat at her dining room table, I then asked her if she had a can sweetcorn 🤣 and she looked at me like I was a weirdo, then I thought to myself "Oh wait a minute, this is a new dream segment, I don't need to worry about the fuckin sweetcorn anymore." But I felt in my pocket that I still had the money my fellas sister had given me, so I pulled it out and looked at it, and it turned from a 5 pound note to hundreds of pounds worth of notes. And my Nanna said, "That's a lot of money," and I was like "Yeah" and shoved it back into my pocket, and she said, "Give it to me?" So I was like,"Nah, this is mine, " and my Nanna casually whacked out a knife and threatened me, saying, "Give. Me. The money." So I was like "the fuck?" And ran out of her house and was in the local town, I saw a Morrisons (UK supermarket) and ran over to it and went inside.

There was NOBODY in there, it was just me, and I remember thinking "Where are all the people? Why is nobody in here?" Then I turned down an aisle, and saw my Nanna again at the other end, with the knife, and she yet again said "Give me that money!" And she started running towards me fast as fuck and I was like "Nanna what the fuck are you doing?!" So I started running away from her as she chased me around the supermarket, but everytime I looked back at her she was changing into something else. In the end I looked back and she'd turned into this REALLY tall, bald man, who kinda looked like Withers from BG3 🤣.

I kept running, but my feet were getting tired and I was out of breath, then I thought "I don't even need this fuckin money, I'm in a fuckin dream" so I turned around to this freaky bald man and I was like "Take it!!" And threw the money at him, but he just laughed and carried on chasing me. So I started running again, but got fuckin sick of it and thought to myself "I'm gonna have to put an end to this dream" so I turned and I did the thing that I knew usually woke up form these dreams, and I said to the dude "I know I'm dreaming right now, this ain't real" and he froze on the spot and didn't move again, but I didn't wake up! So I was like "For fuck sake." So I headed towards the exit to leave the supermarket and the doors were gone, then I was like "Great, I'm stuck in this dream, in an empty fuckin Morrisons" So I was wandering around and I went down the chilled goods aisle looking for this yogurt I really wanted and wondered if I'd be able to eat it in my dream 🤣 then a fucking HAND darted out of one of the fridges and grabbed me and I was like "The fuck?!" I turned to look and it was my Nanna again, but normal and herself, and she said "Come into the fridge and you'll wake up" and I remember thinking "Anything to get out of this fucking dream" so I entered the fridge which turned into a long, dark, cold hallway, I was freezing and turned to look at where my Nanna was, but she was gone, and so was the door to the fridge, I was just in the middle of a dark, cold everlasting hallway, and I said, "Nan?"

....Nothing....

So I shouted really loudly and angrily

"Nanna?! Where you at?!"

And I woke up.

So there you go, another weird ass dream from me. 🤣🤣🤣

[paperboy-pb]

Now that the prologue is done, I can't thank the fans of this series enough.

No, we haven't hit any particular follower milestone. The story has just begun. And most of you haven't given me any sort of financial support to help me out, either. (And that's alright! I haven't asked, lol.)

I'm thanking you for just being apart of the audience.

I started PB in a little blue notebook during the summer of 2015. It was originally meant for my eyes only. And a big part of the reason why was that, when I googled things like "Special Ed makes me feel bad," there wouldn't be much of anything coming up. There were Quora forums! A couple of YouTube videos. Articles here and there.

But it wasn't a lot. Not enough to help me out for long. And it only hammered the idea further into my head that I was alone in what I endured. As I got older, grew up, and away from the program and people who took my disabled youth, I constantly felt this urge to talk about it. What SpEd had put me through. What I'd lost. What I'd seen & heard. The things I did and didn't learn. Even though I was never a very open kid, let alone teenager.

I hated that no one was talking about it. And how nobody knew what happened to kids like me behind closed doors. At 13 and 14, almost none of the new friends I made had ever heard a life story like mine. And I've always found that wild: I had a LOT of friends! (Still do!)

So I kept drawing it out. Kept working on the story in notebooks, sketchbooks, my friends' DMs, and anywhere else words could go. Sometimes, my family would catch glimpses of the concept art. Sad sketches of Matthew crying, freaky drafts of Monster, or tense moments between what would become Class 7-C.

And one of my parents would be like, "Why is your art so depressing?" They'd roll their eyes. And they'd add on, "People's parents aren't gonna like it!"

No, I never told them what the story was about. I never even told them it was a children's media (because it kinda isn't! I'd personally put PB as 13+?) These were judgments made with just one glance at computer papers covered in pencil strokes; sketchy and shapey little kids who didn't look like they were having fun.

I knew they were wrong. But the audacity still pissed me off. There aren't many times where it's appropriate to boss somebody else around in how to tell their story, you know? Not only that, but I also worried about not having an audience back then. Sure, all my friends loved my work. But at the time, I was the only one who'd really experienced anything "Special Education" in life. Thus, these were General Ed kids watching it unfold. Able-bodied eyes and (as far as I knew back then) neurotypical minds, watching and learning from whatever I made.

And I liked that. But that wasn't the only group I wanted to be seen by. I wanted disabled people, especially youth in their teens and twenties, to see it. That's my primary audience. And shit like that made me wonder if I'd ever find it. Had me second-guessing myself a little, you know?

But I shook it off. It's like that thing teachers always say in class. "If you're confused or have a question, ask: whatever it is, you probably aren't the only one thinking it!"

And I searched for stuff like PAPERBOY, hadn't I? Yeah. I had. So by that logic, other people definitely would be, too.

So I stuck to my guns, and... check it! Y'all showed up!

One thing I've noticed ever since publishing part 1 is that the PB Nation is pretty damn devoted. You guys have been patient, passionate, silly, and unapologetically yourselves since the get-go. And the response to every old promotional comic or post I've made has been OVERWHELMINGLY positive and curious. I've gotten fucking fanart, man! More than once! I've had the honor of meeting a few of you in person already! And for the ones who haven't caught me out with my friends in New York, believe me, I REMEMBER who comments what.

By the way, you guys should spam my comments more. Fuckin' love that shit. SPEAK TO ME, lmao. Even if it's like, the most irrelevant PB question ever. Keyboard smash in my comment sections. Send me disability reels you like. Tell me what you wanna see from the story. Whatever, as long as it doesn't bleed into parasocial territory!

I've gotta have one of the best audiences out there. So thank you! For just... being around. Here's to hoping y'all enjoy the journey we're aboutta go on.

[gyahyahyahayhahayahyahyahyahyaha]

had a dream i was in a house where everyone was scrambling to move or for a. trip or smth. at first it felt like were weere the cast of a reality tv show or we weere gettijg ready to be prt of one. but i realized this wasnt the case much later on...everyone kept crossing paths and running intoeachother.. i was also getting ready. i saw that my carry on luggage was

gone and all all the things that weere supposed to be in it were stashed away in this closet amidst all these bags that looked like they all weighed a ton each. i stepped back slowly amd exlaimed to whoever was in the room with me and watching me uncover these bags, that," wow! these bags sire are huge! they could easily crush me if they werent so securely set in place!"

they werent secured at all. merely opening the closet door was enougb to have them falling down onto me anc crushing and killing me. but they didnt. but i was thinking about it a lot. like "huh... what if..." someone came into the room and saw what i was doijg and told me to get ready or whatever and i just left after a bit. i went upstairs. i saw a computer amd inlooked at it and these like reallu cool videos with like scary colour bleedout effects were happening. with super high contrast to the point that you could only see pink yellow cyan white and black and maybe some red. i remember it was like otherwjse security camera footage of a pool at a house in a dream i saw a lokg tome ago OR someone was recording this by standing on the roof of their house. the vodeo showed 3 different stationary angles of 3 different locations ome by one and would only swotch to the next location after the colour in each location "bled" out to be completely of one of thr colours i mentioned before. after the 3rd one i think ptherwise the vide ended or i got up to do something else.

i remember thinking something along the lines of "that was really freaky and cool. its like i saw some kind of angel" and then rememberinf that in that entire video i did see something/someone vaguely humanoid shaped staring directly into the pov. it doesnt even feel right saying camera...

i went to go back downstairs. i noticed a lot of things were missing and all my things were neatly placed amd piled om top of the stairs. i couldnt hear the hustle and bustle of everyome looking for thier things and packing up. i couldnt hear anyone. i didnt see anyone. the stairway bannisters and railinf were comepletely gone. there was a few things here and there left about the place but none of them were mine aside from SOME of my stuff placed on the stairs. i made it past my stuff and. nobody was there. it looked exceptionally bright out even tho it was closer to night around the time i went upstairs. nobody was there.

most of the stuuf that was being packed up was still lying sround the place. some of it wasnt... i explored around like as if i had never been here before. like there was something or someone i was bound to encounter. alla sudden i could hear and detect someones presence. they were walking around. it felt like i would never meet the source of those footsetps, but its not like id ever want to. i could recognize those movements based on the sound. i was mad. out of all fucking people it had to be them. i was so fucking mad that my initial fear was blasted outta the fucking water.

li think i woke up shortly after that

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Forgotten Ties - Chapter 1 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

Nim rolled onto his side and pressed his knees against the bedframe in an attempt to get comfortable on the top bunk of a bed that was much too small for his large body.

He'd been attempting to read the assigned book for English class for the last couple of hours, though he wasn't sure he'd actually retained anything.

It felt like there was always at least one child either shouting or crying in the background.

He wasn't sure why he was even bothering.

The school career counsellor had made it clear to him that the only place he might find a job was in construction.

She'd been so fucking chipper about it, too.

His strength and physique made him perfect for such things.

He'd pressed her about why he couldn't get any other job when his grades were fine, just to try to make her uncomfortable but people these days were shameless.

She'd insisted it would be the ideal place for him.

That the culture there would be welcoming.

It was all bullshit, of course and Nim knew that because his mum had worked construction.

She'd gotten on fine with the other hybrids on the crew but there had been no shortage of resentful, insecure humans.

Living here, living at all, felt like treading water sometimes.

He had no future.

People still had some sympathy for kids, no matter what brand of freak they were but once you became an adult, they just wanted to get rid of you in any way they could.

They'd hauled Nim's mum off to jail for camping out in the woods.

She was still locked up or... something.

Nim didn't know.

He wasn't allowed to visit her.

He didn't even know where she was being kept.

When she'd been arrested, Nim had demanded one of the police officers tell him what they had been supposed to do.

Nobody would rent to them and they weren't allowed to sleep in homeless shelters or on the street.

Was living in a tent in the woods and bothering nobody really such a crime?

A human wouldn't have gone to prison over that but every charge against them was amplified a hundred times over because they were dangerous.

The police officer hadn't had any answers.

Nim had gotten a warning for aggressive behaviour, spent several hours chained up in a cell and then he'd been sent here to this group home for freaky children.

One day the human population would just drop all pretence and put a bullet in his brain.

Or try to, anyway.

His mum had always told him not to cause problems, not to be one more case that ended up on the news and made the humans fear them even more but if that ever stopped mattering... Well, he wouldn't go down easily, that was for sure.

For now, though, he just had his tiny bunk bed in his tiny bedroom and his stupid English book in a house full of constantly screaming children.

There was a knock on the door and then Joanne opened it without waiting for a response.

One of these days, she was going to walk in on him jacking off and he'd be pissed off if he copped a charge for some kind of sex offence over it.

The young man she guided in behind her had long, tangled brown hair and beer-bottle green eyes too big for his face that stood out against light brown skin.

He was slender and dressed in clothes a size too big for him that looked old and smelled clean, a contrast to the earthy smell he held about his body.

"This is Skye," Joanne said, a hand resting on the boy's shoulder.

"Skye, this is Nim. You'll be sharing a room with him. He's about your age."

"Oh," Skye said, his gaze holding with unwavering intensity on Nim's face. "How old am I?"

"Uhh..." Joanne said as she sorted through the papers she was holding.

"Well, they don't have a date of birth for you but your estimated age is seventeen."

"Okay," Skye said.

He was still watching Nim, like he was waiting for him to do something.

When Joanne left the room, he didn't stop staring.

"What?" Nim asked.

"You're big," Skye said.

Skye seemed to think that over for a good long moment and then he walked over and climbed onto the bottom bunk.

Living in a house crammed to bursting with screaming children and hormonal adolescents had already been enough without having to share the tiny bit of space he got to himself but Nim had known it had been coming.

Everyone shared.

He was lucky he wasn't four to a room like the littler kids.

When he peered over the edge of the bed to check on Skye, who had gone suspiciously quiet, Nim found that he had curled up on the end of the bed and fallen asleep.

Well, that would save Nim from having to deal with him for a little while.

The group home existed in a chaotic, tenuous balance born of necessity.

There were two adult carers and around ten kids at any given time and that math did not work out, so some of the kids had to become carers in their own ways.

Not Nim.

Nim wanted no part in any of it.

Marigold took the opposite approach and dedicated everything she had to taking care of the other kids.

She was the closest thing to a mother many of them had.

She had hair made of yellow wool for some God-damn reason.

Not even like wool fresh from a sheep's back.

It was processed wool.

It was yarn.

She was like fifteen or something and did more parenting than either of the social workers whose job it was to watch over them.

Frankly, though, Nim could hardly blame the two social workers, Joanne and Peter, for sharing the load.

No way could they take proper care of ten kids.

The only way to cope was to let survival of the fittest take effect

.In the four months Nim had been here, one kid had run away, one had been arrested and one had last been seen very dead in a dumpster surrounded by a group of Fae.

That last one had been the final straw for Nim.

He didn't want to get attached to anyone here.

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Scary Good Time - Steve Rogers x Reader

A/N: Welcome to freaky friday! this is part of @kellyn1604​ ‘s Spirit week: spooky edition! Dividers by @firefly-graphics​

This one shot is technically also a sneak peak into my upcoming (super long ass) series as it will take place in that universe, this can be read as a stand alone obviously but for some context:

The reader is half human half Asgardian. 

her birth mother died when she was a baby and Odin (her father) took her to Asgard where she lived until the events of the firsts avengers. 

She has powers over the elements. 

This takes place after the events of Captain America: The Winter Solider and before Age of Ultron. 

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Spooky Stuff, Anal Stuff (JKS), Fake Blood

Masterlist

For the first time since moving into the Avengers tower there was absolutely nobody around. Tony was spending a week away with pepper, Thor was off world, Bruce was at a science convention and both clint and nat were away. Steve didn’t know where and when he asked they told him it was confidential.

It didn’t bother Steve though because it meant you and him had an entire week to yourselves. The first night to alone the two of you got comfy in the cinema room for a movie night.

“So what are you thinking? A horror movie?” You smirk earning a glare from Steve.

“No, anything but horror” Steve says as you laugh.

It was a well known fact between the two of you that Steve hated horror movies. Steve wasn’t sure what it was about them but he just hated them, always has probably always will. He thought that maybe being in the modern world would make it easier, that they’d be less scary but after watching Saw with you he refused to watch another.

“Even though it’s Halloween in a couple weeks?” You smirk earning another glare from Steve “okay okay, we’ll watch disney instead” you chuckle.

“Thank you” Steve sighed as you put the movie on and pulled you closer.

Now Steve wasn’t a skittish person in anyway. There wasn’t much that scared him. However throughout the week he’d noticed things weren’t quite as they should be.

To begin with Steve’s rational mind won out, there’s was perfectly fine explanations for everything. Like he’d just forgotten that where he left something, or you had moved it without telling him. That the only reason Steve saw one of Tony’s suit activate was a system update like JARVIS explained.

But as the week went on more things were happening that he couldn’t explain. Like the temperature suddenly dropping, or random dripping noises. The peanut butter jar suddenly moving when his back was turned and you weren’t in the room. At one point he could have sworn he heard voices in the wind.

It was your last night alone before the team all came back so Steve was determined to make the most of it. You had cooked the two of you a delicious meal putting out all the stops. You relaxed together with a bottle of wine. However Steve’s mind kept going to all the strange things that had happened.

“Do you believe in ghosts?” Steve asked making you raise a brow.

“Um I dunno, on Asgard we believe our dead go to Valhalla or the stars, and they’re kinda looking down at us observing which I think is nice, especially knowing Loki and my mother could be looking down on us” you say shrugging your shoulders.

“But then again… we’ve seen so many strange things, aliens, evil elves, a computer nearly blew us up a few months ago, so maybe ghosts isn’t that far fetched” you continue making Steve nod his head slightly.

“Why’d you ask?” You ask taking a sip of your wine.

“No reason, just you know Halloween and that” Steve says waving it off.

You raise a brow at him as if you didn’t believe him. You didn’t say anything though just moved in closer and snuggled up onto his side.

That night steve woke with a start as if something had slapped him awake. He blinked a couple times before looking over to see you fast asleep with your back to him. He sat up gently suddenly feeling the chill in the air as he rubbed his eyes.

He was about to settle back down when he heard a low creaking down the hall. He furrowed his brows pushing himself out of bed. He heard you stir and murmur as he stood up.

“Where you going?” you murmured half asleep.

“Just getting a class of water” he tells you quickly as he shrugs on a jumper.

As he steps outside of the room he glances down the corridor where he heard the creaking but there was nothing. Rubbing his forehead he makes his way towards the kitchen.

As he steps inside he goes to flip the light switch but the lights don’t turn on. He sighs trying them a couple more times hoping they’d work but to no avail.

“JARVIS, what’s happened to the lights?” Steve asks but he gets no response.

“Great a power cut, I thought Tony’s arc reactor stopped that” Steve grumbles as he moves to grab a glass.

He moves over to the sink which starts spluttering before Steve even put his hand on the tap. He jumped slightly before quickly turning the tap off. He turned it back on and it worked normally once more. He sighed shaking his head as he filled his glass and gulping down a couple mouthfuls.

“Get yourself together Rogers” he cursed to himself as he put the glass down.

He started making his way back to the bedroom. He was just in the common room when he stopped in his tracks when he heard his name. He glances down the corridor expecting to see you but there was no one.

He stuffed his hand in the pockets of his hoodie when a chill ran through the room. Then he heard his name being whispered again, carried by the wind. It was a voice he didn’t recognise too.

“Hello?” Steve questioned starting to feel unnerved, especially after a week of unexplained occurrences.

Suddenly the TV screeched to life the sound of static filling the room making Steve jump and shout in surprise. He quickly grabs the remote and tried to turn it off but it wouldn’t work.

He then heard his name again but in a deep growling demonic voice that sounded like it was coming from everywhere. He looked in horror as a face appeared in the black and white static looking as if it was screaming.

One of the lamps then went flying across the room smashing against the wall making steve duck for cover. When he looked back round he saw bloody hand prints on the wall where the lamp had smashed. He watched in horror as the blood dripped down the wall, it was only then that he notices the bloody footsteps facing directly at him. He took a step back when he saw them approaching.

His back was about to hit the wall when he felt hands slam against his shoulders and shouting.

“BOO!” You scream making him suddenly turn around so quickly he fell to the floor.

He looked up at you to see you doubled over and for a moment he panicked that you were hurt. But then he heard you laughing so hard that you could barely breath.

“(Y/N)- what- what?” Steve stutters unable to work out what was going on.

The lights came back on and as Steve looked around he saw the rest of the team step out of their hiding places all laughing. Steve had to wait until you were able to breath again before he could get any answers.

“What are you all doing here?” Steve asks looking around at the team.

“(Y/N) let it slip that you hate horror movies so we decided to have a little fun” Nat chuckles hands on her hips as she caught her breath.

Steve looked back at you to see you burst out laughing again “I’m sorry, it was Tony’s idea” you say pointing over at Tony.

“You were the one that pulled the majority of it off!” Tony argues still laughing.

“What is going on?” Steve asks finally getting to his feet.

“We never actually left” Bruce explains “and throughout the week we’ve been sneaking around trying to freak you out”

“But the blood? And the growling” Steve says still confused.

“Clever tech but all projections look” tony says waving his hand around disrupting the projections.

“And the growling in the wind” Clint says point over to you.

You bite your lip before cupping your hand around your lips. You then made your voice deep using your powers over the wind to make it carry and distort your voice.

“I also made the temperature drop too” you say shrugging your shoulders.

“So this was all you lot, this entire week?” Steve questions looking around at the team.

“Yes, a prank Loki would be proud of don’t you say?” Thor laughs patting you on the shoulder.

“I hate you all” Steve huffs shaking his head.

“Oh sweetie I’m sorry” you chuckle walking over to him and wrapping your arms around his waist smiling up at him.

“Yeah its all a laugh, see JARVIS play the footage” Tony says the TV turning back on.

Steve turned to look at it seeing the CCTV footage of him in the kitchen and common room. He watched as the pranks played out and his reaction to them all. The entire team laughing hysterically at the footage. Steve had to admit it was pretty funny, trying to keep a straight face as he watched.

“Hey you’re laughing!” You say pointing up at him.

“I still hate you all” Steve chuckles shaking his head.

“Don’t worry I won’t let it happen again I promise” you promise him your hand running over his chest feeling his beating heart.

“Thank you” Steve says his arm moving around you pulling you closer, kissing the top of your head.

“I will get you all back for this” Steve warns looking round at the team.

“Yeah right there’s no way you’ll pull of a prank” Tony scoffs shaking his head.

“No but I could double your training” Steve smirks, making everyone’s jaw drop.

“You wouldn’t dare” Nat mutters.

“Try me” Steve smirks victoriously.

Masterlist

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

inventory, m | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: You’re missing a piece of inventory from your erotica shop. Surprisingly, you find it in the same day. It’s around your boyfriend’s neck, who also happens to be your sub. Hm, well, you have to act accordingly, don’t you?

warnings: rated M (18+) for language; non-idol!AU; dom/sub dynamic; feels and there’s a decent bit of buildup; smut (mirror kink, spitting, cock ring usage, cock-slapping, scratching, spanking, vibrator use, overstimulation, edging, m-masturbation, cum eating, f-receiving oral); fluff; noona dom!reader x sub!Jungkook

technically part iv of ‘customer service’ series, but can be read alone

–

customer service part i | part ii | part iii

-

Jeon Jungkook was a problem.

Technically, your problem.

You tapped your pen against your recordkeeping book. No one was in the store. It was the middle of the week. Not usually the time to get freaky. People got freaky on the weekends. You usually spent these times doing the boring stuff. Setting up the deliveries for the rich customers that purchased clothing from you. Cleaning the store from top to bottom and finding some interesting fluids in interesting places. Typical. Answering emails, accounting, taking inventory. You were missing one piece of inventory, but those things always turned up eventually. You weren’t worried.

Eh, wasn’t a big problem.

Your big problem was Jeon Jungkook.

He wanted to be exclusive. Okay. He wanted it to be a relationship. Slightly less in your comfort zone, but you were willing to give it a shot. Unfortunately, Jungkook also wanted one more thing.

He wanted you to lose you temper at him.

Now, there were several things you, personally, did not do anymore. And number one on the list was losing your temper. You did not want to be in power and actively angry at the person you were fucking at the same time. It was dangerous. It was irresponsible. You’ve gone too far before and hurt your sub. You weren’t going to repeat it.

Not with Jungkook, no matter how much he tried to rile you up.

And he tried. Disobeyed you outright. Talked back. Taunted you. It took a lot of your skill and redirection to focus his attention elsewhere and not at his ultimate goal of pissing you off so much that you used sex as a weapon, because quite frankly, that was a fucked-up thing to do and you were not going to do it. You would rather leave than become that.

You told him this. You told him that he should not try to provoke you, especially not this early in the relationship. His body couldn’t handle it, he couldn’t handle it mentally, and you didn’t want to end up emotionally and sexually abusing him, even if it was an accident. Because it was your responsibility to not do that and you took that shit very seriously.

Jungkook had agreed reluctantly and he still tried.

Sigh.

You rubbed your forehead. If he was an experienced sub, then maybe you could be less strict. But he wasn’t. And yeah, maybe you were a little scared. Because your last relationship had ended very, very badly, because you had gone too far and your sub had been too scared to use the safe word even when it was too much and that really, really fucked you up. You regretted it, even after all this time, even after all the apologizing, even after your sub had forgiven you, multiple times.

You had never forgiven yourself for it.

The whole relationship had fallen apart because of that one time.

After that, you didn’t really date. All you did was have one-night stands with subs you already knew. It was easy having sex with no strings attached. Now you were dating Jungkook. Yeah, that. The dating bit. It was messing you up. It was making you overly cautious. You didn’t want to repeat your mistakes.

You let out a tense exhale.

You didn’t tell Jungkook about this, mostly because you didn’t want to admit it. You didn’t want to admit your sub had been too scared of you to use their safe word. You were ashamed. Scared of yourself and what you were capable of.

Sometimes, when you thought about it, you wondered if you should stop. Give up on the dom/sub thing and have vanilla sex instead with some nice guy who had a normal job and raise some babies and fucking chill out. Seemed nice. Life wasn’t about needing a power complex when being intimate after all. You could have a perfectly satisfying sex life with two people in equal power. Could even still be kinky without the whole ‘I’m the authority and you have to listen to me’ thing.

Yeah, well. Before you could commit to that, Jeon Jungkook decided to fucking seduce you in your own damn sex shop.

You placed your hands on your head and let out a big sigh.

Damn you, Jungkook.

-

You found your missing piece of inventory.

It was around Jeon Jungkook’s neck when he opened his apartment door for you.

Your face was completely neutral, one hand in the pocket of your black trench coat. The other holding your black leather briefcase. Underneath the coat, you wore a simple floor-length black skirt. Black heels. Nothing but your face and hands uncovered. In one second, you took in every detail upon seeing Jungkook.

One, his long black hair was tied back, his bangs framing his large brown eyes. Two, he was wearing a little bit of makeup. Slight amount of eyeshadow and liner, lip balm to make his lips pinker. Three, he was wearing a very low V-necked black t-shirt that was quite obviously meant to show off his shapely collarbones and sculpted pecs. The ink-black tattoos in his right arm stood out against his tan skin. Fourth, he was wearing leather pants – not the ones you made him, that would be indecent exposure showing up to the door like that – but, still, black tight faux leather trousers that he half-tucked his shirt in so his crotch was visible.

And.

Fifth.

He was wearing a black leather collar around his neck, one with a large silver ring hanging down at the center. It had silver studs with in the shape of a diamond pattern punched into the leather. It closed in the back with a silver buckle.

How did you know this?

It was your missing piece of inventory, of course.

You clicked your tongue.

“Oh! Noona,” Jungkook said nervously, biting his lip.

You little shit, don’t you ‘oh, noona’ me. You almost turned around and left. Almost. Irritation was putting it mildly. You were pissed. He had stolen from your shop. Became an actual fucking thief to get a rise out of you. You two weren’t going out on a date. It was already late, so both of you had intended on having a nice night in. He’d dressed up for it, as one does. Made himself pretty for you to ruin. Jungkook knew what he wanted. And he wasn’t being subtle about it, wearing the stolen inventory right in front of your face the second he opened the door.

He wanted you mad and he wanted you mad from the start.

You did not look at the collar. Instead, you stared into his eyes, furious internally, but completely placid on the outside. His brown orbs were observing you in anticipation. He wanted it. Bad. You had refused to let him cum last time because he had talked back to you. That was a week ago. You wondered if he had jacked off or not. You put no such restrictions on him even though he asked you to. You were curious on how far Jungkook was willing to go, so you let him choose.

And, clearly, Jungkook choose death.

Just kidding. But he was really testing you here. And so, you made up your mind.

You waited, raising an eyebrow.

Jungkook flushed and backed up, holding the door with two hands.

“C-Come in.”

You stepped inside, heels clicking on the hardwood. Jungkook closed the door behind you. The large, floor-length mirror was in the living room again. The incident in the fitting room must have really had an impact on him. Maybe he was developing a mirror kink because of it.

You felt Jungkook slide up next to you, his breath against your ear. Shallow, needy, already horny. You weren’t surprised. Nobody dresses like that and doesn’t want to be fucked.

“N-noona…” He was making his voice desperate and breathy, already submissive for you. “I really missed you.”

“That’s lovely to hear.”

You kept your tone light, no pet names, stepping out of your heels and walking towards the couch. Jungkook followed you like a shadow, still chewing on his lip, messing up his own hard work of making himself pretty for you. You placed your briefcase on the coffee table. He hovered as you undid your trench coat slowly, pulling open the tie and unbuttoning it deftly, fingers dancing on the placket.

“I can help you?” Jungkook offered, holding his hands out.

Your eyes gradually lifted, locking your gaze with his. You saw him visibly shiver in excitement.

“No need.”

You saw Jungkook pout as you slipped out of the coat, one arm, then the other, revealing the white dress shirt that was neatly tucked into your black skirt. It had pleated detailing down the front and silver collar pins, completed by the silver cuff links you used to close the sleeves. You folded the coat elegantly and laid it over the back of his couch.

“Are you mad, noona?”

You want me to be mad. Thankfully, at this point you had calmed a little. Yes, Jungkook was an idiot for doing such a thing, but he wasn’t doing it because he was trying to hurt you or actually steal from you. Maybe it was something he’d seen or read in porn. Maybe it was something his brain devised because he felt some weird need to prove to you that he was a good and obedient sub, because he knew you had previous partners and he wanted to outdo them or something. Maybe he wanted to see how much of a dom you really were.

And, most likely, it was all of those things.

“Jungkook.”

This time, you said his name with a sharper tone.

“Y… yes?”

You turned your right hand upwards, entirely aware of the placement of your fingers. Pinky, ring, middle curled inwards. Index up, thumb out. Poised, elegant, almost haughty. You flicked your cuff link, straightening the backing to slip it out. It was a diamond-shaped accessory, completely unnecessary for everyday life and completely necessary to force Jungkook to wait on you one more second. One more heart-stopping moment.

You glanced at his crotch. Hm. Interesting. Then you blinked and your eyes were on his. Hair hanging around his cheekbones, pupils dilating, swollen lips parted as he let out light pants of desire. He was slowly but surely losing it.

Maybe it was because his erection was suffocating in his leather pants.

You twirled your cuff link in your fingers. Jungkook watched the action, entranced by the dexterity of your digits. You knew what he wanted. He’d been texting you all day, trying to work you up. You had made him wait. Just like how you were making him wait now.

“What is your safe word?”

That was the question you used to start off the scene.

Instantly, you saw the relief, the hunger, the absolute need to serve flood his dark brown eyes. Now you were the dom. Now he was the sub.

“Euphoria,” Jungkook nearly moaned.

You nodded slowly, placing the cuff link on his coffee table. You upturned your other wrist, removing the other with a swift flick. You heard him whimper at the quick action. You almost smiled. He really wanted it. Ah, but you are a bad, bad boy, Jungkook. The metal clinked as it touched the walnut wood of the tabletop.

And there are consequences for being a bad, bad boy.

Your gaze connected with his once again. His eyes were practically begging for instruction.

“You look like you want to ask me something,” you drawled. His teeth sunk into his lower lip once more, the tiny mole underneath winking at you. “Go ahead.”

His eyes flitted about, trying to search for the trap. He swallowed, straining against the collar.

“Do… do you notice anything different about me?” Jungkook asked hesitantly, taking a step towards you.

You didn’t move from your position, observing him closely. His hands by his sides were antsy, itching to touch you or be caged with rope. You hooked your thumb at the base of your cuff and rolled it down. Once. Twice. Three times.

“You’re wearing makeup for me,” you replied, letting a small smile drift to your lips.

“A-ah…” He blushed. “Is it… is it too unmanly?”

Who the fuck put these ideas in Jeon Jungkook’s head? You just wanted to talk to them. And by talk, you meant flog the living daylights out of them. You had a big one at home. It could be arranged.

“No, of course not. You look very handsome.” Pause. “And fuckable.”

No reason not to tell the truth.

Jungkook’s cheeks flushed a dark pink. “T-Thank you, noona.”

During the entire conversation, you had folded the sleeves of your dress shirt up to your elbows. The stiff, crisp fabric held, and suddenly you were imposing, sleeves rolled up, black skirt skimming the hardwood floor. The neutral façade you had upheld for so long dropped away. Jungkook noticed the change instantly, even though you hadn’t actually said anything yet. His eyes widened a little, shoulders tensing.

Your eyes flashed, chin lifting.

“Or is that not what you meant, pretty boy?”

You did not hide the irritation in your voice this time. His breathing hitched, the muscles his arms ripped and Jungkook very, very much wanted to be punished.

“Um…” He fiddled with his hands guiltily, eyes skirting about. “It’s not what I was referring to, no…”

“Look at me.”

He snapped his head up, gulping. So obvious. His neck strained against the leather. You raised an eyebrow, crossing your arms over your chest.

“What were you referring to?” you questioned icily.

Jungkook was shaking all over. He lifted his hand slowly, reaching up to his neck, hooking two fingers around the metal ring of the collar. He tightened them, tugging down a little, eyelashes fluttering, a tiny moan rumbling in his throat. You were going insane on the inside. Fuck, did he know how submissive he was? Did he know how his small, cute little actions made him look so fucking appetizing?

“T-This.”

“Ah, yes,” you finally acknowledged. You waved a hand and he removed his, biting his lip again. “I did notice that. A nice touch. Is it for me?”

He nodded quickly. He seemed to forget for a second that he stole it from you. “Yes, noona, it’s for you.”

You sighed. Jungkook’s expression changed, becoming slightly confused.

“Pause.”

The indication that there was an intermission in the scene. You narrowed your eyes at him.

“You are testing me, Jungkook, and I do not like it.”

Jungkook’s brows knitted together, looking down. “I’m sorry, noona.”

“I told you that you shouldn’t try to make me angry on purpose.”

He closed the distance between you two, placing his hands on your elbows. His brown orbs anxiously found yours. “I… I just… please…” His fingers pressed into your skin, his breathing deepening. “I want to see how far I can go. How far you can take me. You won’t…” Jungkook shook his head, hair flying everywhere, ponytail bouncing. “You’re holding back, but I can take it, noona, I promise. I promise I can.” His fingertips caressed you, determination in his eyes.

Hm. Jungkook could tell. You breathed in deeply, inhaling his clean scent.

You are aware of your mistakes. You have learned.

You pursed your lips.

I really, really do not want to hurt you, Jungkook.

“You must promise me.” You looked deep into his eyes. “You must promise me, that if it is too much, if you cannot handle it, if it is not something you want, you must use your safe word.”

He nodded quickly. “I promise.”

And then you crumpled a little bit, your strict demeanor falling, the fears rising, the vulnerability making your voice quiver as you unfurled your arms and grabbed his t-shirt, shaking him roughly.

“No, Jungkook,” you pleaded. “You must promise me.” And you couldn’t explain, couldn’t bring yourself to say why, but he could tell how serious you were because you were suddenly weak, suddenly the parts of yourself that you kept under wraps revealed themselves, the parts you were ashamed of appearing, and you were letting him witness it. Because he said he wanted you. Not just dom you, but you.

And this, well, this was you too.

Jungkook’s eyes softened and he smiled. He leaned in and kissed you, long, sweet, delicate. It was like time stopped. As if the world froze and there was nothing but Jungkook’s lips on yours, reassuring and comforting. He drew back and opened his eyes slowly, warmth in his chocolate orbs.

“I promise.”

You looked up at him, stunned. He grinned at you, showing off his teeth, a little cheeky and embarrassed all at once. You removed your hands from his shirt, lowering them gradually.

“Sorry, I…”

Jungkook’s hands dropped and held yours tightly. He shook his head.

“No, noona. I understand. I know you are looking out for me,” he said brightly. “Because I’m always trying to get into trouble.”

A muscle in your eye twitched. At least he admitted it.

His teeth caught his lip, still smiling. Less nervous now, more playful.

You removed your hands from his. Okay. Okay, fine. Jungkook wanted you to be the dom. Not a dom, the dom. You let out a breath, controlled, clean. Step back into your role. You are in control. You can do this.

“What is your safe word?”

You cracked your neck, a sharp pop that made Jungkook jump.

“Euphoria,” he replied automatically.

“Very good.”

A beat passed. Jungkook remained close to you, unsure what was going to happen. His eyes wide and flighty, chin trembling, hands in front of his chest. You lowered yours, placing them behind your back. Piercing gaze on him, taking a step. His eyes followed you as you slowly circled him, speaking carefully and deliberately.

“So, Jungkook, tell me,” you began, skirt grazing the floor as your glided around him. “What makes you think you’re wearing the collar for me?”

Jungkook’s head whipped around quickly, following your movement with darting eyes. Damn, his ass looked great in these leather pants. He looked unconfident, brows furrowing, trying to conjure the right answer to get what he wanted.

“Um… I thought… maybe you might like it…” He stumbled through his words. “B-Because you like controlling me…”

You smiled at him. Jungkook brightened.

“I do.”

The eagerness beamed off his face as you stopped in front of him, still smiling pleasantly.

“I love controlling you.”

Then the smile dropped. The air around you became ten degrees colder with your shift in demeanor. Jungkook barely had a half-second to realize the change before your hand shot out and gripped the silver ring, yanking down harshly. He yelped, arms flying out, falling to his knees hard, gripping your skirt for balance. Your other arm was still behind you, folded into the small of your back. You narrowed your eyes, holding the collar ring so tightly that your knuckles were white.

His eyes flew up, pain and surprise.

You ticked your head. “But clearly, I’ve done a poor job, because you’ve gone and stole from me, you bad boy.”

Jungkook shook his head quickly, scooting himself forward, clutching your skirt tightly. “N-No, please, noona, I only–”

You yanked the ring up and Jungkook gasped, words cut off from the sudden jerk of his head snapping back. “You only what? Pickpocketed? Broke the law? Took my hard-earned money from right under my nose, to hurt me?”

“No, no, never,” Jungkook whimpered, looking up at you, blinking rapidly. “I don’t want to hurt you, noona. Never.”

“Then explain yourself,” you barked severely.

His eyes were turning teary, pleading. “I only… I only wanted to borrow it. So you could punish me and so I could show you I could be a good boy and take what I deserve.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Your other punishments weren’t enough?”

Jungkook’s lower lip quivered. The shame of his true intent was creeping in his eyes now.

“I… I wanted to see you angry, noona.”

“Even after I told you that you shouldn’t?”

He nodded, scurrying himself even closer on his now, most likely, bruised knees. Eyes on you, holding onto your skirt, whole body trembling. He angled his hips forward, showing you how hard he was in his pants, straining it even more by pressing his erection into the zipper of the leather. His lips open, black curls hanging around his face, almost pathetic but not quite, because you knew Jungkook was acutely aware of exactly what he looked like. Doing it to entice you, doing it to assure you that he wanted it.

“Y-Yes,” he admitted.

You forcefully let go of the ring, flinging him away from you. Jungkook squeaked, releasing your clothes as his body twisted to the side from your sharp movement. You swept your skirts away and took a step back.

“Noona, w-wait!”

Jungkook tried to scramble to his feet, but you snarled deep in your chest, making him freeze.

“Crawl.”

He looked startled, looking at you with wide puppy eyes. You took another step back. Jungkook followed you, on hands and knees, his bangs flared out, the low neckline of his shirt hanging down, revealing his chest. You could see his back muscles rippling under the fabric. Fuck, he was so handsome. You weren’t heading for the front door. You watched his mind calculate the angle of your body, mood lightening as he realized that was the direction of the bedroom. You, however, stopped at the floor-length mirror in the living room. Pointed to the patch of floor at your feet.

“Here. Now.”

Jungkook immediately complied, getting on his knees in front of you, hands between his legs, keen to please, facing you.

“Other way,” you clarified, sounding disappointed.

He lowered his head at his mistake and spun around, now facing his reflection. You glared through the mirror, making eye contact. He looked very sorry and very dejected. You almost forgave him just like that. Maybe Jungkook didn’t like this. Maybe you were being too harsh.

“Do you want to use your safe word?”

His eyes on yours. He shook his head lightly, not breaking your gaze.

“No, noona.” Your heart thudded in your chest at his tone of voice. “I’ve been a very bad boy.”

Jungkook licked his lips slowly, not looking away, the tip of his pink tongue lingering before sliding back into his mouth. He kept the same look in his eyes, but his actions were giving you the go ahead.

Shit.

You raised an eyebrow and lowered your hands. They floated above his shoulders and you were reminded of the first time, in the fitting room of your erotica shop, the moment he seduced you and pulled you into his pace. Jungkook tipped his head back, long hair sliding to his ears, the reflection of the stolen collar taunting you.

This brat.

Slowly, finger by finger, you placed your hands on his face. Fingertips pressing into his jaw, cheek, temple, into his soft skin, nails slightly digging in. Scratching up his pretty face a little, claiming it as yours. Jungkook had perfect bone structure, high cheekbones, sharp jaw, pretty forehead. He was panting, mouth open, hot breath drifting down. Hands on his thighs, clutching them tight.

You bent down, chin above his head so he could feel your hot breath on his scalp.

“My pretty boy,” you murmured softly. “Why must you be so bad? Do I not treat you well enough? Do I not give you what you love?”

“You do,” Jungkook whined in your hands, the guilt creeping into his voice. “You do, noona. Your pretty boy is… g-greedy.” He rolled his hips a little, spreading his thighs more, staring at his own reflection of his low-necked shirt and his thighs open, cock bulging in his leather pants.

Your fingers slipped down, down, tracing the leather collar. You let your index finger circle around the metal, not yet touching his chest, so close but so far. Jungkook kept trying to raise it into your touch.  Your other hand reached back and grabbed his ponytail, yanking his head back. He moaned right into your chin, too turned on to pretend he was hurt.

“I am going to my briefcase,” you stated, not looking at him under you and instead staring at his reflection, torso straining from how sharply you were forcing him to arch his back. “You are to remove your clothes. Whatever is left on you will remain for the rest of the night. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes, noona.”

You abruptly let him go, striding to your briefcase swiftly, hearing a flurry of noise as Jungkook flung all of his clothes off. Snap, open, grab. You had already packed a black velvet bag holding the things you intended to use on him tonight. You spun around to see him practically ripping his leather pants off, the panic and regret evident on his face as he tried to shove them down his muscular calves. Smart boy had removed his underwear with his pants, smearing trails of pre-cum down his legs and onto the floor. You waited half a second for Jungkook to pop them over his ankles and he threw the pants to the far wall, so hard they made a loud slapping noise. Jungkook was on his hands and knees, panting, beads of sweat on his forehead.

It was actually hilarious to watch, but now was not the time to laugh.

Jungkook snapped his head towards you, eyes wide, his hard cock smacking his thigh. You raised an eyebrow at him. He gulped. Wearing nothing but the collar. Oh, he looked so good. You could tell him to get into position.

Or.

Tease him.

“Want to put my mouth on you, handsome boy.”

His cock twitched as his jaw dropped.

Your tongue slid out and stayed at the side of your lips as you spoke. “You look so tasty for me. When was the last time you came, Jungkook?”

His hands curled into fists on the hardwood floor, legs falling open, cock throbbing. The veins stood out against the hardness, head swollen and red.

“F-Fifteen days ago…” he whimpered.

He had denied himself. So cute. What a good boy. You smiled at him, still holding the velvet bag. “Really? You didn’t cum, not even once, without me?”

Jungkook shook his head rapidly, hair flying everywhere. “Wa… wanted to be tasty for you.”

You pouted a little. “Hm, that’s half a month. You waited so long.”

Jungkook nodded, chewing on his lip. You gestured for him to adjust his position and he turned his body to fully face you.

“Eyes on the mirror.”

He turned his head to face his reflection. Hands on the floor next to his ass, slightly leaning back, legs open.

“Look away and I’ll walk away,” you warned.

“Y-yes, noona.”

You floated down to the floor. He couldn’t exactly see you, but you slid into the frame of the mirror, right between his legs. The velvet bag was out of his sight, next to his leg, but Jungkook wasn’t paying attention. He was staring at his stiff cock and your proximity to it, holding his breath. You collected your saliva on your tongue and opened your mouth. It dripped down in a thin, slim line, hitting the angry red head of his cock and causing it to jerk at the sudden impact, coating it.

“A-ah, s-so good…”

“What do we say?” you purred, collecting more.

“T-thank you, noona,” Jungkook moaned, watching as you dropped more onto his aching cock, splattering onto his crotch. You lowered your head, closer. Closer. Jungkook sucked in a breath, waiting, needing, trying not to move. You made eye contact with him in the mirror.

“You’re a bad boy, Jungkook.”

And then you spat on his balls.

His head tipped back as he groaned, eyes barely open as he watched himself, chest shuddering as he felt it trickle down and onto the floor below. You spat on his genitals again, more force this time, spraying it across his cock and stomach. He cried out, slamming one of his fists onto the hardwood.

“Y-yes, noona, I’m a bad boy.”

And then you produced a cock ring seemingly out of nowhere, eyebrow raised as he wailed loudly.

“N-no, please, please don’t,” Jungkook panicked as you brought the black silicone ring closer and closer to his now saliva-drenched cock. “Please, I promise to be a good boy, please don’t do it…”

You said nothing, simply placing it on the engorged head and using three fingers to hold it, pushing down slowly.

“Noona, a-ah… no…” His eyelids fluttered, eyes on the reflection of his thick cock being viciously squeezed into the silicone ring. He let out a choked sob as it popped over the bottom of the head, sliding down, down, all the way to the base. You barely touched him, removing your hand as Jungkook shuddered, his pulsating length now bound by the black band.

You raised your head. He was still, very obediently, staring at the mirror.

You smacked his cock with your palm.

Not hard, but enough to make it bounce and for Jungkook to squeal, hips rising as his dick shook from side to side, unable to move much from the tight cock ring. He was making it move more by rocking his hips, heightening the feeling of being bound.

You waited until it stopped swaying.

“Your neighbors will hear you, Jungkook,” you said calmly. You turned your head and looked into the mirror. His eyes locked on yours, pupils dilated, strands of hair clinging to his sweaty face. “Should I gag you?”

“N-no, noona,” he whispered hotly, breathing shallow and tight. “They have to know I’m being punished. B-Because I’ve been b-bad.”

Good gracious, Jungkook.

Your panties instantly soaked. Who was losing it here? Was it him or was it you? Fuck.

You slowly smacked his cock back and forth, back and forth, staring at his face in the mirror. His head tipped back, not closing his eyes, moaning wantonly as his stiff length was roughly shoved around, barely any pressure and too much at once because of how hard he was. You stopped, watching his cock bob, almost purple-red now. Pre-cum beaded at the tip.

You couldn’t help it.

You leaned down, tucking your hair behind your ear so he could see, and gave the slit a tiny kitten lick.

Fuuuuuuuck.

Jungkook lost control, eyes rolling back into his head, and you almost moaned, his strong, intense taste all over your tongue. He tasted so good. So fucking delicious. You pulled back, pretending not to notice that Jungkook had looked away from the mirror as he quickly collected himself, back to staring at his reflection. You grabbed his hips and dug your nails into his skin, dragging him so his body was tilted.

“Flip over,” you growled.

You backed up, taking the velvet pouch with you as Jungkook obeyed, on his hands and knees now.

“On your face.”

Jungkook whimpered, lowering his cheek to the cool floor, leaning against it. Now his ass was up in the air, vulnerable and exposed.

“Both hands on the ring.”

His teeth sank into his lower lip, scooting his hands so he held the silver collar ring with fingers on both hands, arms against the floor to hold him up. His cock stuck straight down, stiff and swollen, trapped in the silicone circle. You waited to let Jungkook readjust his knees to be more comfortable and so he could see everything. The muscles on his back tensed with anticipation.

“I didn’t cover your mouth for a reason.”

“Yes, noona,” Jungkook breathed.

You raised your hands and raked your nails over his back, all the way to his ass. Hard, deep, leaving lines of pink and red, almost breaking the skin. Jungkook moaned, tongue sliding out, body shaking, eyelids fluttering. You did it again, and again, creating your pattern of lust on his back.

“Mine,” you growled possessively. Your eyes locked with his.

Thump.

Had anyone ever looked at you with so much adoration before?

Jungkook nodded.

“All yours, noona.”

You slapped his ass with your open palm.

He yelped, shoulders hitting the floor, face sliding a little against the wood. Pupils dilating, whimpering for more. You smacked him again, and again, and again, never the same spot, always with the full palm, all over, causing large red handprints patterned all over his ass. Jungkook was a groaning mess, legs slipping, the head of his cock touching the hardwood.

You stopped.

His ass was bright red, covered in your slaps and scratches.

Jungkook opened his eyes. He seemed to realize he wasn’t looking at his reflection anymore. He panicked, seeing your glare in the mirror, and tried to raise his hips, but your hand stopped him. The tip of his cock was in contact the floor, dripping pre-cum.

You pressed his hips down a little and shifted them from side to side.

Even the little stimulation of the head against the hardwood made Jungkook moan, pleading with you as he desperately clutched the collar.

“Noona, p-please… Please let me c-cum…”

You removed your hand. Jungkook continued rubbing himself in his own puddle of pre-cum on his living room floor, as you predicted. You didn’t stop him. You reached into the velvet pouch again. Jungkook’s eyes had fluttered closed as he continued stimulating himself, probably not enough, but he didn’t seem to care. You pressed the thing in your hand onto his scrotum and turned it on.

“A-ah!”

Jungkook’s hips flew up, balls suddenly shaking violently from the bullet vibrator in your hand. He shut his legs, sticking his ass out into your hand as he gasped, pressing back into the vibrator as you lazily drifted it around his balls.

“Oh, fuck, noona, oh, fuck!”

He was still holding onto the collar somehow as he tried to get more, wiggling his hips, but you were faster, grabbing his ass with one hand and digging your nails into it.

“Stop.”

Jungkook froze, whimpering and panting on the hardwood, cheeks hollowed out, eyes glazed over.

You traced his asshole with the tip of the vibrator.

His eyes rolled back, tongue lolling out.

“Oh, please, noona, put it in me, p-please…”

You drew figure-eights around his asshole and his balls, calmly.

“I bet you would love that, but you’ve been a bad boy, so I don’t think so.”

Jungkook whined, shaking his head, dark curls fluttering, soaked with sweat.

“P-please, I’ll be good, I need it, I need you to do it, fuck, please.”

“No.”

You pressed the vibrator into the cock ring and Jungkook nearly screamed, cutting himself off by snapping his jaw shut and yelling into the floor, hips jerking in your hands. You kept it there for a good five seconds before you removed it and backed up, reaching into the velvet bag again. Jungkook had maybe one shaking inhale before you gripped him under his armpits, hoisting him up.

“Let go of the ring,” you commanded, and his hands dropped, helping you get him to his knees. His bruised knees. Still, he leaned against you, soaking your clothes with his sweat, spreading his legs out more so his body lowered and your head could be seen past his shoulder. 

You reached down and removed the cock ring, Jungkook gasping in relief. It rolled away, now forgotten.

“Get yourself off.”

“B-but, noona…”

Your hands appeared and pressed against his nipples, turning on both bullet vibrators at once.

“Get. Yourself. Off.”

“F-fuck!”

His hand immediately flew to his cock, viciously pumping himself as you rubbed his nipples with the toys, his groans rumbling in his chest with the vibrations, so strong, so intense, his tan skin glistening with sweat, arm tattoos dancing as he stroked himself fast, his cock so hard it was purple now, veins popping out.

And, like the masochist he was…

Jungkook grabbed the head and squeezed firmly, cutting off his own orgasm with a wail.

You responded just as fast, dropping your hands and shoving the vibrators against his balls, twice as much stimulation as before. His head fell back against your shoulder, half-moans, half-screams of your name as he bucked into them, working himself up once again, your breath against his neck, your eyes watching Jungkook’s reflection – his shaking legs, his balls cupped in your hands, his abused and overstimulated cock popping in and out of his tattooed hand, his now inflamed nipples, sweat dripping down his neck, long black hair flared out against your cheek, the mole under his lower lip trembling with his cries.

Fuck, he was everything. Everything you ever wanted.

“Ah, noona, yes, yes, you’re so good to me, so good…”

“Cum on the mirror,” you demanded. “Cum all over yourself, pretty boy.”

Jungkook whined, snapping his head back down, feeling you increase the vibration setting on his balls and that was it, the tipping point as he sobbed out your name, shooting all over the mirror in large splatters of white, jerking his hips so it traveled higher, sticking onto the reflective glass, all over his reflection.

And he watched it, moaning, so entranced by his likeness covered in his own cum, dripping down in slow smears, messy and dirty.

You turned off the vibrators, withdrew your hands from him.

“Lick it off.”

Jungkook was exhausted, wheezing, hoarse, and yet he still removed his hand from his cock, crawling to the mess he made, pink tongue flopping out, licking his own cum off the mirror, eating it up with groans of satisfaction. You watched him, fascinated, surprised he even listened to you, surprised he was still going, because honestly at this point, you really thought you had gone too far, but Jungkook was enthusiastically making out with his own face with his orgasm at your command, and loving every second of it.

“Jungkook.”

He pushed himself away from the mirror, immediately coming to you, his dark brown eyes hazy with pleasure. He dumped himself in your lap. You still wearing all your clothes. He looked up at you, lips curving into a naughty grin.

“I love it when you turn me into your plaything.”

This guy.

“What do you want?” Jungkook panted. “I’ll do anything. Anything for you.”

Oh, that’s right. You had spent so much focus and energy on Jungkook that you completely forgot about yourself. How did that happen? Ah, but you were so tired now. You let out a puff of disbelief and slid down to the floor.

“I want a nap. Get back to me tomorrow morning.”

-

You woke up slowly to something wet and hot between your legs.

Can I wake you up by eating you out tomorrow morning?

If you brush your teeth.

Really?!

If you brush your teeth, yes.

Your fingers curled into the sheets, breathing in Jungkook’s scent. His bed. His tongue against your opening, softly lapping, burying his nose into your core. You pursed your lips, sighing softly. The tip of the wet muscle slid up, licking at your clit. You pressed your hips into his face and the large hands around your thighs tightened, holding you closer.

He moaned, so hot, right into your pussy.

Your hands released the sheets, sliding across the fabric, up your hip, tracing his fingers. Eyes still closed, feeling for his long hair, clean, fluffy, wild from sleep. Burying your fingers in the strands, pressing him down into you.

“Ah, Jungkook…”

He licked faster, lips closing around your clit, pushing his head into you as he pressed your thighs into the sides of his face. You could feel his cheekbones, his jaw rubbing against your skin. Felt his wet warmth, rapidly rubbing your sensitive nub.

“That’s a good boy,” you purred and he whined, vibrating your pussy with the sound.

Your fingers tightened in his hair and you hissed, gliding into your orgasm, dripping into his mouth as your clit throbbed against his tongue, pleasure flooding you like a warm blanket.

You finally opened your eyes, breathing out as you saw Jungkook’s handsome face between your legs, cleaning you up. He kissed the insides of your thighs, nuzzling your skin. He seemed to feel you watching him and his eyes looked up, bright, doe-like, chocolatey. His pink lips glistened with your release.

“Noona?”

“Mhm?”

“Can I keep the collar?”

You raised an eyebrow. He smiled at you, playful, naughty.

“If you pay for it,” you replied, half-joking.

His tongue flashed out.

“I can pay in cash and in orgasms.”

You laughed as Jungkook dove down between your legs once again.

--

masterpost

[ssamie]

epilogue. “your girlfriend’s kinda hot”

kozume kenma x fem dazai!reader

(bsd x hq)

tw: mentions of suicide and suggestive themes + dirty jokes

masterlist.          suicide freak!

"hey uh, welcome to my stream i guess" he said as he spared the camera a quick glance "im not really playing tonight because an incident has recently occurred in this household" kenma said with a tired sigh 

nobody else knew it, but the said 'incident' was y/n accidentally setting half of their living room on fire 

the reason? apparently, she wanted to try burning herself to death in the furnace. obviously, it didn't work. and all that's left from that is more shit for kenma to clean up and a trip to yosano-san. 

kenma is stressed. and y/n is still alive. both of them are facing problems. 

"can you please wear a maid outfit- no."

kenma shook his head as he continued playing, glancing at the chat once in a while to read the veiwers' questions and comments

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: how about cat ears?! 

user: ^^ cATBOY CATBOY CATBOY 

user: u suck at this game wtf

kuroo.tetsu: hey kenma ;) 

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

"first of all, i do not suck at minecraft thank you very much" kenma scoffed 

"second of all, go away kuroo. im still mad at you" 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: LMFAOOO kuroo what did u do?? 💀💀

user: he probably broke kenma's pc 

user: PLSS he's the one kenma’s throwing shade at on twitter 

kuroo.tetsu: STOP THE SLANDER 😔✋🏼

user: rooster head lookin ass 

user: ^^ NOT THE HAIR 

kuroo.testsu: 😃😃

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

kenma sighed as he continued building a cute little cottage. he was currently vibing, just building y/n a cute cottage for her to probably burn later on. 

and he decided it would be nice to go on stream since his oh-so-lovely girlfriend was still out for work. 

ah yes, kenma has somehow kept y/n alive all those years. 

barely. 

hence why his phone was being bombarded with messages from her, all of which being blurry selfies. 

the photos had her sporting a huge grin while atsushi panicked in the background. 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: ayo, ur phone's blowing up 

user: do you have a girlfriend? 

user: KODZUKEN LET ME SUCK UR TOES 😋😋🤩

user: ^ ayo chill 😃

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

kenma simply ignored them and continued on with his task. all was going well until a loud slam was heard. his cat-like eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice singing from downstairs, it was undoubtedly y/n. 

kenma chuckled nervously and muted his mic. 

but of course, cute dumb catboy didn't actually mute his mic. haha <3

he ignored all the questions in the chat, all of them being  speculations that he has a girlfriend. which he does, but they simply did not need to know that <3

"kenma~" she yelled out "i have a surprise for you!!" she said, followed by menacing giggles. 

kenma glanced at the camera before hopping off his gaming chair and peeking his head out of the door. 

"y/n, im streaming!! stay down there!" he yelled out in panic 

"aw, you're playing hard to get aren't ya?" she chuckled 

kenma deadpanned as he saw her limping up the stairs, with her bandages torn and unravelled, same with her clothes. he didn't really think much of it since this is usually how she comes home. 

its most likely just due to work and/or another suicide attempt.

"so, kenma.. you'll never know what just happened to me today" she started off with a goofy grin 

"im streaming, atleast let me turn it off first-" 

she paid no mind to him as she peeled off her ruined coat and pointed to her poorly bandaged stomach

"i got stabbed!" 

"you got what?!"

kenma furrowed his brows as he immediately rushed over to his side, cradling her face and waist as he inspected her injuries

"are you okay, kitten?" he asked worriedly 

"yep, apparently it wasnt deep enough to be fatal" she sighed dejectedly 

"please don't be sad about that." kenma groaned "can you undress?" 

"ara ara~ whats this?" she cooed "you're getting real bold, kenma" she smirked at him 

she unbuttoned her shirt and started pulling down on her skirt "but since you asked so nicely-" 

kenma simply sighed and shook his head. "i was gonna prepare you a bath but now im considering leaving you here to die" 

"but the second option would've been better though" she smiled at him 

"oh my fucking god." 

kozume kenma. (22)

╰─▸ university student, stock trader, pro-gamer, youtuber, ceo of bouncing ball lpt. 

╰─▸ y/n's struggling boyfriend. definitely needs a pay after all he's been through.

╰─▸ currently panicking because his girlfriend got stabbed.

l/n y/n. (22)

╰─▸ operative/member of the armed detective agency. 

╰─▸ kenma's girlfriend. kinda dumb, very hot to compensate for it. still hasn't died yet. 

╰─▸ currently bleeding and wounded. also hoping for severe blood loss.

"kenma, did you know" she mused in a teasing tone "lack of sleep and too much stress could possibly lead to poor memory and lack of awareness" 

kenma looked up at her with a look of confusion. he was currently kneeled down before her while she was sat on the bed as he cleaned her wound up with a damp towel. 

"why are you telling me this?" he asked 

"i just thought it probably applied to you" she snickered 

"why? i didnt forget anything-" 

he cut himself off with a huge intake of air. he slowly turned his head to look at the screen which still had his stream going on. to make it worse, the camera was on and they were both clearly in the camera's field of view. 

to make things worse worse, his mic was on the whole time and the live chat was in shambles. 

"i hate it here" he sighed 

kenma laid his head on her lap as he continued on patching her up, honestly not caring that this whole scene was being recorded for thousands or millions of people to see. 

"well, atleast the internet could finally see my beauty before i die" she laughed 

she ran her fingers through kenma's hair as he grumbled under his breath. kenma was a pretty private person. he made sure not to overshare, given his current 'influencer' status. and he was planning on keeping his relationship a secret, though it seems he can't do that anymore. 

"might as well say hi" she shrugged 

so of course, she then decided to walk up to the camera looking utterly dishevelled and roughed up. 

for context, the newly wrapped bandages around her stomach was being stained already by a crimson red hue and it was only getting worse the more she moved, undoubtedly messing up her wound. 

"hi, im kenma's girlfriend and if i see you flirting with him i will make you regret it" she grinned 

"y/n!" kenma groaned from the bed "you're close to dying right now, turn the stream off" 

ignoring him, she proceeded to read the veiwers' comments, laughing at some of them while she joked around. 

╭─━━━━━━��━━━━━─╮

user: heLLO?!?! 

user: GE HAS A GIRLFRIEND NOOO

user: bruh, did i just hear that right? were you fuckin stabbed? 

user: ur kinda hot tho

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

kenma furrowed his brows as he reluctantly walked up behind her, reading the comments with varying reactions 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: well damn, hot bloody girl comes in and suddenly im lesbian

user: kenma looks so done

kuroo.tetsu: hi y/n ;) 

user: HER NAME IS Y/N

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

"jesus christ shut up, kuroo" kenma grumbled out with a sigh 

"yup! yup! im y/n, and no, i am not a criminal. i swear." she shook her head 

"i got an injury from my job, that's all." she cleared up 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: tangina nyo sana ol

user: MSKAKAKKA

user: THIS IS LOWKEY ICONIC

user: time to scratch another gamer boy off my possible bf list 😔

user: girl wtf happened to u

user: that's wack bro 🚶‍♀️

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

"great question, random person from the internet!" she beamed "see, what happened was.." 

"i went on a certain mission and got severely injured. though, when i called for help nobody responded" she said 

kenma furrowed his brows at her words. "why didn't anybody respond?" he asked. she sighed and fiddled with her torn bandages, pouting her lips as she does so. 

"well, when i told them that i was finally on death's door, all they said to me was 'congratulations!' and all that.." she said "what's your take on that, hm?" she asked kenma 

"im not surprised" he said 

she grinned at his words and leaned in for a kiss. "you're so mean to me, kenma~" she whined 

she licked her lips as she held his blushing face in her hands, she nuzzled their noses as she leaned in closer to him. 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

kuroo.tetsu: oh shit 😳

user: we all know where this is heading ;) 

user: sana ol talaga punyemas 

user: AYO CHILL 

user: why we goin so fuckin fasstttt 😳

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

kenma hastily turned the camera off as soon as y/n's lips touched his. 

"kitten, were still- hmph-" 

he was only silenced as she slipped her tongue in his mouth, smirking lightly as she ran her fingers through his hair 

"thanks babe." she said as she pulled away, giving him a soft peck on his cheek and a nod "anyways.." she hummed as she turned the camera on once again 

she looked through the chat while kenma slaps his face to get rid of his blush. 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: ur fuckin freaky 

kuroo.tetsu: oya oya 😼😼

user: MS MAAM I JUST MET U AND I LOVE U ALREADY WJABSJSJJS

user: not me blushing chiiilllleeeeee 🏃‍♀️

user: KENMA IS FLUSTERED

kuroo.tetsu: kenma, i didnt expect this from u 😼

user: im so fucking JEALOUS GRR😡

user: girl r u bleeding rn 😃

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

upon reading a certain comment, she subconsciously grazed her fingers against her bandaged wound. her eyes slightly widening as she felt a concerning amount of wetness seeping through

she glanced at kenma who was still calming himself down and inspected her wound 

"oh my.." she muttered, though she couldn't help but let a smile slip through 

so like any normal person would do, she simply ignored her bleeding wound and the fact that she was getting a bit lightheaded. haha <3

"anyways, let's answer some questions!" she beamed 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: what's ur full name

user: what's ur job miss girl 

user: are you possibly looking for a gf, because i am more 

than willing to take the spot 🚶‍♀️

user: how did you meet?? 

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

"alright, those are all very nice questions" she chuckled. kenma, who's now calmed down, sat down beside her to look at the chat. 

"first, im l/n y/n" she mused "nice to meet ya" 

"second im a detective! mhm, im cooler than your fathers" 

"third, it depends, belladonna" she cooed as she sent the camera flirty smirk "are you perhaps willing to join me in a double suicide?" 

"oh god.." kenma grumbled. he pouted at her and shook his head in disapproval. "don't flirt with random girls" he whined 

"why not?" 

"uh- because i am your beloved boyfriend, is that not good enough of a reason??" 

"... anyways, we met at a cafe way back in high school" she said with a smile "also, i asked him to join me on a double suicide" she said 

she was smiling and nodding as if it was the most normal thing in the world, all while kenma nods along 

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: wtf are u okay 🗿

kuroo.tetsu: teenage romance 🤩

user: cute ❤️

user: im concerned ❤️

user: ur a detective?? cool

user: LMAOO I'LL GO ON A DOUBLE SEWER SLIDE 

WITH U MOMMY 😩😩😋

user: ^^ SAME 😩

user: CHOKE ME WITH THOSE BANDAGES MOMMAE 😩

user: u r still bleeding 🚶‍♀️        

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

kenma was simply glaring at the chat as more compliments and flirtatious comments came flowing in, all of which were directed to his girlfriend. 

"this is why i didn't wanna let people know about you.." kenma grumbled 

"aww, why not?" she asked with a playful pout 

"people are flirting with you." he sighed "also, stop asking for my girlfriend's onlyfans! she doesn't even have one!" he snarled

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

user: LMAOO CATBOY IS ANGRY 😩

user: y/n-senpai spit on me 😡😡

user: drop the onlyfans 

user: chupapi munyanyo 😩

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

"anyways, i'd hate to ruin the mood" she chimed in with a sluggish giggle "but im so wet kenma" she whined out 

a menacing smirk was etched on her lips as kenma spluttered in response, a bright red hue covering his face almost instantly as he faced her with widened eyes 

"y-y/n! why would you say that?!" he whisper shouted 

"cuz i am" she whined out as she grabbed his hand and trailed it down her abdomen 

she faced the camera and gave them a shit-eating grin as kenma mumbled out incoherent words 

"y/n we should-" he cut himself off as he felt the concerning amount of blood drip down his whole arm 

kenma's face paled as he looked up to see her smiling like a kid in a candy store, completely unbothered. 

"y/n, you idiot! why didn't you tell me!" kenma exclaimed 

"um- my girlfriend is bleeding. excessively. so uh- bye i guess" it was all he said before hastily ending his stream and turning off his computer. 

"y/n, let's get you to a hospital" he said as he reached down to carry her away. though she simply slapped his hands off and closed her eyes. 

"nope. this is my time, kenma. don't ruin it for me" she said 

"you're fucking dying!!" 

"well, would you like to join me?" 

"no"

"damn." she muttered in response 

"so...wanna fuck?" she asked sheepishly 

"for the love of god-" 

this was so messy :/

[solaneceae]

REFUGE : a MFKZ oneshot

AO3 link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/33567571

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

So... Things weren't looking too great.

Vinz pursed the lips he didn’t have, looking up from his sketchbook- he wasn’t a good artist by any means, but mindless doodling had always been his go-to activity for stress relief. Unfortunately, Angelino hadn’t moved an inch. Hadn’t for days now.

Nobody knew what was wrong with him- they’d tried just about everything to wake him up, to no avail. It was like his body was fighting against itself- the professor’s words, not his. Something about his weird biology shifting, disrupted by recent stress.

Well, whatever was going on, his best friend looked awful- his usually inky black skin had an unhealthy ashen tint, deep shadows under his eyes making him look even more bug-eyed than usual. He was also eerily still and silent, save for his deep, raspy breathing, and his eyes that sometimes moved rapidly for a few minutes before stopping. Beads of sweat were gathering at his temples, his clavicle, his stomach, falling slowly on the fabric of the couch he was laid on- one of the only pieces of furniture in the bare little cabin they’d been assigned to.

Or confined to, given the disapproving looks the hothead got from their saviors whenever he tried to go further than the water hole behind the wooden house.

Their saviors- the luchadores. As crazy as it sounded still, him and Lino had been rescued from that nightmare facility by none other than their wrestling idols- and had the circumstances not been this terrifying, Vinz definitely would’ve been fanboying all over the place. Both Tigre and Diablo were even more impressive up close, their booming, commanding voices rattling his bones.

But that was the thing- the admiration, the awe, the fluttery feeling of being starstruck… it hadn’t lasted very long. Not when they were running from bloodthirsty aliens -aliens!- with some weird old man who knew way too much about Lino for it to be comfortable.

Vinz groaned, getting off the floor- his joints cracked as he walked to the couch to sit by Lino’s bedside, feeling completely useless. He stifled a flinch when he spotted a few roaches in the palm of Lino’s hand, apparently watching over their beloved master.

It was equally sweet and gross, in Vinz’ opinion. But he couldn’t be mad- not anymore. Not when the swarm of crawling black pests had been the cause of their salvation. He distantly wondered if his friend’s true nature had something to do with the strange connection he had with his roaches.

Yeah… That was another thing he’d had to unpack in the last few days. He’d figured from Angelino’s recent athletic exploits and murder-y, tentacle-y episodes that something very weird was up with his best friend. But this… this was a little too much.

As it turned out, Lino was an alien. An honest-to-God alien- or at least, half of him was. The guy had never, ever talked about his parents, his earliest memories only going back to the orphanage they’d both grown up in. God knows how he’d ended up there, but considering how the Machos (and what stupid-ass name that was for an alien race, for real) seemed to view relashionships between humans and their kind… Vinz could take a guess at how that little love story had ended.

He wasn’t an idiot, despite what all the people he’d worked with might think. In the short moments where he’d been conscious and the big suit guy was around, he’d heard him mention something about ‘finishing what he’d started’ as he glared at Lino’s unresponsive body.

That had told Vinz everything he needed to know. Whoever Lino’s parents had been, they were long dead. And that man was responsible for it.

Angelino didn’t need this. He didn’t deserve any of this, to be torn from his family, hunted down like a rogue animal, and even now, being looked down at like some interesting science experiment.

Oh, Vinz saw them alright. The curious stares, the inquisitive glances. The hushed conversations between the masked men, like Lino held all answers.

Like he’d said- he would’ve fanboyed hard about his favorite fighters being around. But the way they looked at and talked about his best friend made his blood boil and his flames burn hotter. It didn’t matter that Lino was a hybrid, that he had freaky powers, hell, he could’ve been the second coming of Jesus for all Vinz cared.

Angelino was his best friend in the whole world. They’d been through so much together, even before this mess- they’d been living together their whole lives, they trusted each other, supported each other no matter what.

Vinz had wondered why he’d been so angry at Lino, at that girl. He briefly considered the possibility that he was harboring feelings for his best friend, that it was jealousy. But it quickly occurred to him that no, that wasn’t the nature of his feelings for the black ball-headed man.

Vinz loved Lino, yes. More than anything in this world, if he was being honest with himself. But he wasn’t in love with him- there was a distinct difference. He wanted to protect him, stand by him. He wanted them to keep watching dumb movies together late at night, on their shitty couch, in their shitty apartment and yet shittier neighborhood. And he’d be content with that- as long as Angelino was here, he’d be okay.

Angelino. His best friend. And his partner, for life.

This ran probably deeper than mere friendship- not like Vinz would know how to even call it. It might not have been romantic… but it felt equally as strong, and precious. Vinz sighed, crossing his arms on the couch and resting his skull between his arms. He’d considered running away- take Lino and run, run on the line between ochre sand and purple skies of the desert. Hide out somewhere, wait for everything to finally blow over. Watch over Lino until he woke up, as he was doing now.

But that was a pipe dream, and Vinz knew that. They weren’t the survivor types- they’d just die within a few days without the luchadores’ help, and then what? No, as much as Vinz disliked it, staying here was the smartest thing he could do right now.

So Vinz kept watch- gently cleaning Lino’s exposed skin with a wet sponge when his body ran too hot, replacing the cool rag on his forehead and eyes. Covering him with a blanket when he got too cold, whispering hushed reassurances.

Shhh, it’s okay, you’re okay.

I’m here.

I’m not leaving.

Come on Lino, please.

Come back to me, okay?

I can’t do this shit without you.

I’ll be better, I promise.

I’ll protect you this time, so please.

Please wake up.

[purebarnes]

courage to change— (fem!avenger x bucky!)

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ ➢ sam, bucky and y/n get in an intense therapy session when bucky gets arrested, lashing out at eachother only wanting to finish the mission and go their separate ways.

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ➢ 3.1k

ᴅɪꜱᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇʀꜱ ➢ angst, mention of deaths, intense convo, yelling/swearing

ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ ꜱᴘᴇᴀᴋꜱ ! ➢ nothin, please enjoy!

every once in awhile, silence would creep upon y/n and it was completely be torture for her. she would stay quiet for along time and just stare at the floor or even at a wall. it was unhealthy for her to not talk about how she felt but she had no one. she stared at the all slumping into her chair just waiting to get off the plane. sam looked up to see bucky and y/n silent just not saying anything. he closed his eyes and then spoke up, “you alright?” she swore every time someone would ask that question, she grew even more aggressive. it wasn’t their fault but she hated that question and it was even worse when she wasn’t. she looked up to meet sam in his brown eyes before nodding to not worry him about anything.

she was someone to express her feelings and especially to sam or bucky, she saw them as family even when she didn’t want to admit it. sam went on to go and ask bucky if he was fine, “let’s take the shield. let’s take the shield and do this ourselves.” bucky spoke wanting to have that shield back so badly, “we can’t just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it. do you remember what happened last time we stole it?—maybe—I’ll help you in case you forgot. sharon was branded enemy of the state, and steve and i were in the run for two years. i don’t know about you, but i don’t wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. we just got our asses handed to us by super soldiers, and we got nothing.” sam explained.

y/n looked up to see them, “not entirely true.” bucky got up his seat and went to go sit next to sam moving slowly, hearing his dog chains move along while he went to sit. he wouldn’t say anything until he spoke up, “there is someone that you guys should meet.” they made it to baltimore and had to walk down to someone’s house. the girl honestly was going to leave and not look back but sam dragged her because he didn’t want to be alone with bucky. they encountered two kids playing on he streets, “hey, it’s black falcon, what’s up?—it’s just falcon, kid.” sam told the little kid, “no, no. my daddy told me it’s black falcon.” sam stopped with y/n to hear how this was going to end, bucky kept on walking.

“is it because i’m black and the falcon?—well, technically, i mean, yes—so are you, like, black kid? i got him, right?” sam chuckled when he rolled his eyes in defeat while y/n kept walking to meet behind bucky to finally be standing in front of a grey house and a sign that said no trespassing. y/n looked over to see the neighborhood, bucky knocked on the door making it open. “we’re here to see isaiah—nobody named isaiah lives here.” the boy said not wanting them to enter but bucky begged.

bucky told him, “we just want to talk to him—you must not hear what i just said. you ain’t getting in this house. y’all can leave now.” he said to them making y/n stare at him uneasy, “tell him the guy from the bat in goyang is here. he’s gonna know what that means.” the kid went to leave to see if they could all come in and once he came back, he opened the door and let them all in. y/n grew confused as what was happening and how bucky knew this older man as he never told her anything about him. “look at you—this is, uh, sam and this is y/n. sam, y/n, this is isaiah.” he introduced all of them to each other.

“he was a hero. one of the ones that hydra feared the most. like steve. we met in '51—if by met, you mean i whupped your ass, then, yeah.” bucky smiled lightly, “we heard whispers he was in the peninsula. but everyone they sent after him, never came back. so the u.s. military dropped me behind the line to go deal with him. i took half that metal arm in that fight in goyang, but i see he’s managed to grow it back.” isaiah said noticing the metal arm bucky had on, “i just wanted to see if he got the arm back. or if he’d come to kill me.” he finished before bucky spoke, “i’m not a killer anymore.” bucky whispered softly, “you think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be? it doesn’t work like that. well, maybe it does for folks like you.”

the man through a lot and y/n could tell how, the way he spoke and the pain in his voice. “isaiah, the reason we’re here is because there’s more of you and me out there—you and me.” he interrupted him not believing anything he was saying, “and we need to know how—i’m not gonna track about it anymore.” isaiah grabbed something and through it into the wall with a lot of force making y/n look at him. he walked to bucky, “you know what they did to me for being a hero? they put my ass in jail for 30 years. people running tests, taking my blood, coming into my cell. even your people weren’t done with me.”

the pain in his voice and hurt made y/n want to show sympathy but he wasn’t having it from her, “get out of my house!” he yelled as y/n walked behind sam following them outside and y/n couldn’t believe what was happening. “sam—why didn’t you tell me about isaiah? how could nobody bring him up? i asked you a question, bucky.” sam was angry, “i know—steve didn’t know him, did you know?” sam pointed at y/n and she shook her head , “no, she didn’t. i didn’t tell her or steve.” bucky said looking at her, “so you’re telling me that there was a black super soldier decades ago and nobody knew about it?”

the next thing they heard was siren and they all looked up to see what was happening, “hey—what’s up, man?” sam asked not wanting to cause anything, “is there a problem here?—no, we’re just talking.” sam tried once again to not cause anything with the police. y/n knew what this was about and it was wrong of them, “can i see your id?—i don’t have id. why?” y/n sighed at the police men and was grossed out to them, “okay, sir, just calm down—i am calm. what do you want? we’re just talking.” sam said.

“give him your id so we can leave—no. i’m not giving him shit. we’re just talking.” y/n moved from behind bucky and the police saw her and softened when she noticed who she was, “oh, miss stark. is he bothering you?—what, no, he’s not bothering me. do you know who this is?” she raised her voice as bucky pulled her back, they both whispered something about them being the avengers. “oh, god. i am so sorry, mr. wilson. i didn’t recognize you with the goggles. i’m really, really sorry about this.” the officer laughed nervously which no part of what he was doing funny at all. bucky moved to them before whispering, “i didn’t tell anyone because he had already been through enough.” sam just looked at him in disbelief.

the officers went back to all three of them, “mr. barnes, there’s a warrant out for your arrest—the president pardoned him for all that.” sam said telling him before the officer explained it again, “not for that. you missed your court-mandated therapy. it’s like missing a check-in with your po. i’m sorry, mr. barnes, you’re under arrest.” bucky sighed walking over to get handcuffed and entering the cop car.

sam and y/n went to the police station to see bucky but was met with a unknown face. “sam. I’ve heard a lot about you. i’m dr. raynor. i’m james therapist.” she stopped when she saw y/n looking at the floor just think about anything, “and you must be y/n. i have heard a lot about you as well, a little more than expected, miss stark.” y/n looked up smiling and got up to shake her hand and greet her and her heart ached a bit. “oh, it’s nice to meet you.” sam thanked her to get him, “that was not me.” she said before looking at john.

the door buzzed and bucky came out while bucky kept staring, “james, condition of your release, session now. you too, sam and y/n.” she said before y/n could protest to not wanting to be in a therapy session with bucky. “no... that alright, i’m—that wasn’t a request.” she told them as y/n sighed before following her already looking annoyed. they all sat next to each other not speaking already. “who would like to start?—all right, look, dr. raynor? i get it why you want us to talk to freaky magoo over here. but i’m 100% fine.” sam said gesturing towards bucky.

“it’s my job to make sure that you’re okay. and so, yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional, but it’s the only way that i can see if you’re getting over whatever’s eating at you.” she told them while y/n rolled her not that this lady was bogus but that she didn’t need this at all. “this is ridiculous—yeah, i agree—yup.” they all agreed not wanting to be in that position, “see? making progress already. so, who wants to go first.” no one spoke up and the silence was eating them alive, “no volunteers? wow. how surprising. okay. we’re gonna to do an exercise. it’s something i use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together.” bucky glanced at y/n but she kept looking away so she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“sam, i want james and y/n to go first though. turn around face each other.” she said while sam moved to the side waiting for bucky and y/n to face each other. y/n moved her chair and bucky did the same meeting her eyes but she just stared at the wall. dr. raynor saw y/n not meeting bucky’s eyes. a moment passed before she spoke, “okay, y/n tell me what bothers you about james.” y/n looked up to see bucky and glared at him as bucky went to stare but in a timid way, “he’s prevaricator. yeah you know it’s funny because sometimes i thought you would turn out different but i guess they were right.” she said.

bucky looked at her wanting to say sorry for everything he has done to her, “honestly, i feel fine. i don’t need this okay?” she told them sitting up straight crossing her legs. dr. raynor looked up and sighed since she wasn’t getting anything from her, “y/n, you’re father died. i lost many people, you must feel some type—nope, i’m alright. when will people stop telling me how to feel.” she sighed not meet the therapist’s eyes because deep down she knew she was right. “he’s gone. but nothing will bring him back... i’m waiting for some easy way out. i was isolated in my room and i wouldn’t leave, not when i had no one.” y/n breathed out, her foot shaking.

it was something she did to calm her nerves, “i never called.” bucky paused looking back up to see her staring to see what he would say, “i never called because i didn’t know what to say.” bucky felt this way because the winter soldier was the one that killed her grandparents. she knew that but she also knew that he was brainwashed and so that wasn’t him. not the real him. y/n inhaled and sensed, “i lost everything, i... uh, i was hurting and all i wanted was someone. to ask me how i was doing or to tell me everything was gonna be ok but— i kept hoping to get a call from the person that i loved..”

bucky looked up to her and looked at her with sympathy as she said she loved him but winced at that being in the past. he couldn’t let her be in pain but could anything he would say to her, help at all in the situation. “i guess miracles don’t just happen.” bucky sighed when she got up and moved to the side.

after dr. raynor went to write a few things in her notebook as sam went to move his chair, “you should really enjoy this—i’m going to—i know you are.” not even ten seconds and they started bickering at each other while turning to see each other. “let’s do it. let’s stare. this a good exercise. thanks, doc—all right,get close. get closer.” she said when they went to get close, “which way you want to go?—right or left?—you know what? fine here.” they kept arguing about how close they wanted to be, “you happy now? we’re locked in—that’s a little close.”

“that’s very close. that’s what you wanted right?—guys.” dr. raynor told them to stop it before telling them to look at each other, “look each other in the eyes.” it took a moment before they both looked up, “there, you see? that wasn’t t so hard.” they started staring at each other trying to intimidate each other as y/n rolled her eyes at their childness. “wait. what are you doing? at you having a staring contest? just blink.” she snapped her fingers causing them to blink. she asked what agrravated bucky about sam.

bucky smirked wanting to say something, “and don’t say something childish—why did you give up that shield?” y/n could sense something was going to happen between them both, she knew this was a horrible idea. “why are you making such a big deal out of something that has nothing to do with you?—steve believed in you. he trusted you. he gave you that shield for a reason. that shield. that shield is... that is everything he stood for. that is his legacy. he gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing—shut up.” y/n was hurt by hurt bucky was feeling, she understood what he was feeling but maybe sam had a reason to do that.

“so maybe he was wrong about you. and if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me.” bucky seethed while sam asked if he was finished so he could go, “all right, good. maybe this is something you or steve will never understand. but can’t you accept that i did what i thought was right?” sam scoffed wanting to end all that was happening. “you know what, do ? I don’t have time—no, we don’t have time for this.” sam looked at y/n, “we have some real serious shit going on. so how about this? i will squash it right now. we go deal with that, and when we’re done, we both can go on our separate, long vacations and never see each other again.” sam spoke.

y/n nodded while getting up, “thanks, doc, for making it weird. i feel much better. let’s go y/n. i’ll see you outside.” she nodded walking out the door before glancing at bucky then making her outside. this was a chance where she could leave and not look back. when sam and bucky noticed she wasn’t by their side, bucky went to call her name. no response, bucky sighed going to walk towards her and grab her hand as she yanked it away. he stepped it back and it was a habit that she would do.

she bit her lip them turning to see him, “where are you going?—i’m leaving bucky. this wasn’t a good idea. we both know that.” she scratched the back of her head while sticking her tongue inside of her mouth. “you can’t leave. we need you.” bucky put his hands in his pockets as the wind his his face, “no, you guys don’t. i’m unstable and will ruin—just stay. please, i need you to stay.” bucky wanted to bring up what happens back there but he saw sam calling him over. “stay here. give me a minute.” she nodded waiting at the exact same spot, him running off.

the girl could hear faint arguments from the boys and john but didn’t seem to care. she was getting colder as time went by, she saw them walking towards her. y/n shivering and her nose red and her not having a coat or jacket made everything worse. bucky noticed her getting cold and started to take off his jacket but she stopped him, “keep it. i’m okay.” she lied right through her teeth, she wanted that jacket so badly but she wouldn’t show him that he had that effect on her. he took it off completely and handed it but she wouldn’t grab it.

bucky took that as she didn’t want it then he went to put it around her shoulders. she gripped her shoulders from behind and tensed at the feeling when he let go. the tension they both had for each other made things difficult and sam watched them awkwardly not knowing what to say. “yeah, ok. can we go?” bucky looked at him, glaring at his direction leaving to walk with both of them.

y/n asked what john had to say to them and they just told her that they needed to stay out of his way. she raised an eyebrow at what they told her, walking around. “i know what we have to do. when isaiah said “my people”—don’t take that to heart. that’s not what he meant.” sam told him when bucky went to explain what they needed to do even if y/n was still going to work with them. “no. he meant hydra. hydra used to be my people.” sam scoffed not wanting to listen to bucky about his new plan. “walker doesn’t have any leads—i know where you’re going with this and no.” y/n spoke up and bucky turned to see her and when she had his jacket wrapped around her arms he smiled but not enough so she could see.

“y/n, he knows all of hydra’s secrets. don’t you remember siberia?” y/n shook her head not understanding the whole concept of what he was getting out. “so you’re just gonna go sit in a room with this guy?—yes.” bucky hesitation come from him while sam and y/n shared a look then sam spoke up. “alright. we’re gonna go see zemo.”

[ontheblock]

it’s my mental illness and i get to chose which character is vent through❗️❗️anyway, i have been struggling with writing the ending of the second part of my latest patrick hockstetter request and since this has been sitting in my notes for a hot minute, i decided to post it. enjoy this little story absolutely nobody asked for<3

night terrors

no warnings ig- maybe alcohol

Summer never really was plagued by night terrors the way Morty was haunted by them. Whenever she did have a bad dream as a little girl, her parents let her cry it out unless she came to their room themselves. The rare times someone did come over was when Beth was blackout drunk and Jerry followed the soft wailing of his daughter to pet her head while he listened to her sob story of a nightmare. It never helped that Jerry basically coddled baby Morty whenever he woke up - a desperate attempt to even out the neglectful way they treated her first child because they were kids themselves. But all of Jerry‘s attempts were fruitless. Summer heard Morty whine and whimper almost every night through the drywall, even more so since Rick arrived. It was ironic for her to turn out fine with her mother’s neglectful ways. Jerry should’ve maybe considered listening to Beth more with Morty. Or maybe it was meant to be like this. Poor fucker. If his nightmares didn’t take form of bullies anymore it was definitely the looming danger of acid drooling monsters or aliens smart enough to conquer their planet if a self-proclaimed god in a lab coat fucked with them. Yeah, that sounded terrifying for a child. Or maybe the thing he feared most was more simple and childish - their grandfather who took out threats like that for breakfast. But tonight wasn’t a night like that. Summer didn’t wake up from Morty hitting his bedroom wall out of reflex. It was some faceless nightmare of her own that sent her lurching upright with a struggle for air. Whatever it was, she didn’t remember much aside from Jerry‘s face and a leathery hand reaching for her out of the black abyss surrounding her but she felt the aftermath of a sprinting heart and sweat sticking her tank top to her back. Her throat was dry enough to make her reach out to her empty bedside table. She never put a glass of water by her bed, but then again she never needed it.

Swiping back a stray hair, Summer pushed her blanket off to stand up on wobbly legs. She made her way over to the door, stepping over the creaky floorboard. The hallway was quiet but as she crept down the stairs, Summer noticed the flickering lights of the TV pouring out the living room. She had half the mind to blackmail Morty about watching TV on a school night but she definitely kept the info in the back of her mind for tomorrow’s breakfast as she avoided more creaky floorboards on her way to the kitchen. The moron even turned down the volume.

"Morty, I swear to god. Your nightly water trips are getting on my- on my last nerve."

Summer blinked once, twice to place the voice. The distinct alcoholic slur and the audible frown was familiar to her even in a sleepy state. And surely, it was Rick. Shuffling closer, Summer could peek over the couch‘s back to see her grandpa lounging in his oil stained wife beater, tinkering with a cube shaped hunk of metal. Like this she could see his hands at work, talented fingers coaxing loosened screws into their threads. He hissed a low "me cago en tu madre" when the phillips head slipped from the screw he was working on. Summer could make out the blue mesh of veins under the withered skin on the back of his hand. Rick really did have the hands of a worker - a mechanic or construction worker. They looked nothing like the office worker hands of Jerry, if he had even that. He seemed to sense her presence - if that was even possible - because his head turned to look at who he assumed to be Morty.

"Summer? What the fuck are you doing here?"

What was she doing here? She came for a glass of water but her throat was less parched now and something about her mysterious grandpa reeled her in like a damn fish. She took her bait and ran her clammy palm over the couch cushion by her grandpa‘s neck. "I woke up, obviously. I had a nightmare. No big deal." Her eyes pointedly stayed on Rick‘s hand holding a screwdriver or the coffee table with half a bottle of whiskey standing next to Rick‘s feet that he casually propped up onto the wood but she never met his gaze. Why was she even this honest? She could make some kind of excuse but it’s been months since her family showed interest in what she was doing. "Nightmare, huh?" Rick echoed her as if to taste the word on the tip of his tongue. Summer wondered if he had nightmares sometimes. She nodded, eyes finally flickering to his face. The TV casted lights and shadows on his old features. Right now he looked normal, not like that crazy scientist with a mean silver tongue that intimidated her the first time they met at the breakfast table. Summer was used to see the hollow green glow following Rick like a fucked up halo or even the zapping blue rays from devices that can both end and create wars. But now the angular features showed a different side. The soft studio lights of some late night show made him look like a regular addition to the family and it helped Summer release her tense shoulders for the first time in a while, like she didn‘t need to be sarcastic or indifferent all the time. A little voice in the back of her head told her that Morty could be his awkward idiotic self so why couldn’t she?

"Why are you up, grandpa?" She leaned her front against the couch back and kept her voice down just in case Morty did wake up again. "I‘m - bergh - well over the age of bed times. This piece of shit is m-more important." Rick averted his gaze and waved the cube in his hand. Summer hummed and reached for it only to have Rick shuffle it to his other hand and hold it out of reach. "Well, what is it? Can it, like, cause mass destruction or something? Or does it contain a totally freaky virus? Or—" Rick shushed his granddaughter and tossed the cube on the coffee table. "Calm your tits, Summer. It‘s- It‘s to cure Granorian crystals. The, the, the-" Rick rotated his hand as if to underline his search for the most simple explanation "-easiest planet to harvest them happens to have the most impure growth." His hand fell into his lap, the other one snatching the whiskey from the table. "You should go to bed. It’s Tuesday." Summer snorted but it sounded off. "Since when are you the responsible grandparent?"

"I‘m not." His gaze locked on the TV again and he knocked back a sip or two of liquor. "Just thought I get one night free of my annoying grandkids." Ouch. Rick delivered both praise and insults in the same gruff tone - not that he had many kind words to spare, save for Beth when he needed to get his way. "What do you need them for? Can’t you just get, yknow, earth crystals?" Rick belched after a deep gulp from the bottle and dismissively waved his free hand in Summer‘s general direction. "Don’t think about it. Do me- just do us a solid; go back to bed, Summer." Rick expected a bit of huffing and a snarky comment before Summer relented and went back upstairs but he saw her unmoving in his peripheral vision. Summer stared down at the couch cushion‘s seam as if it told her whatever kind of questions were important to a girl her age. Probably if that one guy in school liked her or not. Her fingers rubbed over a stain that looked like red wine her mother spilled last Christmas. "I don’t want to. It’s not like I can go back to sleep anyway. Not- It‘s not because of the dream or anything. Just-" Summer stumbled over her words to find any excuse that would save her the embarrassment of admitting she was a little scared to go back to sleep again. She bit the inside of her cheek when Rick cut her off with a long groan. "You really are Jerry‘s kid. You‘re- Y-You know dreams are just- bullshit hallucinatory experiences aaaaall the way up the hippocampus? It’s not- It’s imaginary, Summer. Just your dummy ape brain processing a bunch of shit while you’re asleep." Rick‘s tone was agitated while he gesticulated but he still scooted closer to the left, ultimately creating more space on the couch. Summer didn’t know where dreams came from, she wasn’t interested in it either but she silently rounded the couch to sit down next to her grandfather. Being this close, she would smell the faint whiskey breath and the Old Spice lingering around her. It was nice for once, calming even. "You know, I‘m not staying because I’m scared because that’s totally lame." Rick just grunted in some kind of indifferent agreement but Summer felt the need to clarify her decision even more. "I mean, it’s just a dream. I‘m not a loser like Morty. I don’t piss my own bed. That‘d be totally— gross." Summer turned back to Rick, fully expecting him to not even pay her any mind but when they locked eyes Summer finally shut her mouth. She never saw a look like this one on Rick‘s face. Not even around Morty - who was quite obviously his favorite grandchild and Summer reminded herself that she didn’t care about that.

Right now Rick‘s withered features looked almost soft even though the hard lines on his face didn’t even out at all. Maybe his resting face just looked mean like that - maybe he was frowning for so long that it became the default for Rick. But still, he looked almost fatherly. Summer‘s pathetic little attempt to look tough in front of the most powerful man she knew stirred something dead in his ribcage.

He remembered a tiny Beth sneaking into their old kitchen where Rick was fixing a leak in the sink. A single glance at his wrist watch told him it was time for Beth‘s nap because if Diane didn’t make her take one Beth would be tired and grumpy all evening. He tried to shoo her back to her room but only got a tantrum out of his daughter until he reluctantly set his task aside and laid down on the living room couch with Beth resting on his chest until Diane came back with their groceries.

"Yeah, sure. What - uhrp - Whatever." Rick looked back at the TV and Summer fell into his silence, her back sinking into the soft cushions. She barely followed the plot of whatever Rick was watching. It looked like some 70s war movie with bad explosions and subpar camera quality. Rick didn’t seem to be the type for nostalgia so it probably just happened to be on at this time of night. The dull colors made her lashes feel heavy again and she let her eyes roam the coffee table Rick still used as his footrest. The cube laid by his foot, forgotten until Rick needed to purify his drugs alien crystals. The whisky bottled left a wet little spot on the wood that she knew Rick wouldn’t wipe away. Jerry wanted to replace the table for a week now. Morty‘s latest comics were scattered on the other side of the table. He always left them in the living room because the idiot just has to get distracted two pages in. An unfamiliar pack of Newport Reds Non-Menthol caught her eye and Summer took a quick glance at Rick. If he noticed, he ignored it. Rick did always have the remnants of cigarette smoke on him but Summer never seen him with one before. There was probably a lot that Summer didn‘t know about her grandpa. She wondered how much her mom really knew about him.

The movie crept close to its finale when a warm weight sank onto Rick‘s thigh. He lowered the bottle from his chapped lips to find soft ginger hair draped over his khaki pants. He went still for a moment with his granddaughter‘s head on his lap. This was territory he hadn’t wet his toes in for decades. Rick wasn’t a stranger to the warmth of another body but this was tender and innocent, enough to take him back in time. He downed the last of his whiskey in one gulp and indulged in the hot rush that followed. The credits rolled on the screen while the bottle neck dangled from his bony fingers.

"How drunk are you right now?"

Rick hummed as if he was doing the math in his head before answering. "Wasted." He put the empty bottle on the fuzzy carpet and shimmied his feet off the table without disturbing Summer in her position. Not that he would admit that.

"So in the morning this didn’t happen?"

Rick took his sweet ass time eyeing Summer and weighing out an answer before he gave a low "yeah, Sum-Sum" and looking back at whatever commercial was on. If Rick ever was good at anything it had to be pretending. He could pretend for Summer just this once too.

[jinxhallows]

A Chaotic Freewrite Pt. 4

You’re still here? Well I’ve decided to make things a little more freaky and switch POVs.  You’re welcome? Idk. Let’s find out what happens next. Only if you want to.  I totally understand if you tapped out by now.  Too bad I like to develop plot before I get to smut...oh but you’ll be gone by then, right? Lol  >:]

                                              Eijirou “Eij” Kirishima

“Hey dumbass!”

My attention remained on my cell as I continued to frown, speaking aloud, “I told you not to call me that.” I kept refreshing my email as I remained deep in thought.

“Yeah well I told you to stay off your damn phone so we can finish this shift.”

“Relax, Bakugou, it’s a Tuesday night nobody’s around.” I refreshed again before sighing and putting my phone back into my pocket.  Although I was pretty distracted tonight by things going awry in my own life; Bakugou, my partner in this district, and close friend for nearly two decades, was indeed, correct.  I had a job to uphold and I couldn’t do my best if I allowed distractions to take center stage.

We continued to walk the city blocks.  The area we were in seemed quite desolate during times like tonight.  Middle and lower class housing lined each street, many of them just simple, red brick apartment buildings.  It was summer, so the evening was warm, and we were only lit by the streetlights.  They cast an eerie orange glow on the town that made things seem to stand still in time.  Some of them flickered, threatening to go completely off like a few stray ones that were scattered in the neighborhood.

“Guessing you haven’t heard anything yet, huh?” Bakugou stopped walking and pulled a cigarette out of his pack that he stashed in one of his belt pockets.  He propped himself against the wall of an abandoned brick building and snapped his fingers in front of his face, igniting the cigarette with a single small spark and taking a drag, a few strands of his blonde hair falling down into his face.

“Bro, you’ve gotta start trying to get off those…” I chided, like I always did.  I wasn’t the most perfect person,  but I was definitely health conscious.  I complained frequently about Bakugou smoking, but Bakugou being Bakugou, he wasn’t going to stop until he felt good and ready to.

“I’m gonna take that as a no.” He replied to his own earlier question that I tried to ignore, flicking the ashes onto the ground, taking another drag.

I pushed my hands into my pocket as I shrugged.  I tilted my head back, feeling the weight of my wild red hair as I stared into a streetlight directly above me.  “I can’t help feeling like something’s wrong, man.  I can’t shake it tonight.”

“Didn’t she tell you chicken little is flying her back in a couple weeks?” He countered.  “That island has shit service, I don’t even know why you keep checking your phone.”

I started walking off on my own again. 

“Hey, Eijirou!” I heard him call after me.

I kept walking.

I had too much on my mind to deal with Bakugou’s negativity.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?!”

I guess he put his cigarette out, because he caught up to me quickly.  “Eijirou, stop.” He grabbed my arm, which caused me to stop in my tracks and finally look at him.

“What.” I asked flatly, snatching myself from his grip.  I began detaching my face mask from around my nose and mouth as he spoke.

“Look, I know you and India were in love.  I was there with you when you bought that ring, remember? Before you even found out about your quirk genetics, and the whole time after.”  he explained.

“I feel a ‘but’ coming….” I replied, shaking my hair back into place and running my fingers quickly through it, as I pulled my headgear off.

“Because we both know it’s there, man.  She didn’t choose you.  Even after she married someone else, she’s still escaping to someone else.  Someone who isn’t you.”

“Hawks can fly, I can’t.  That’s why she said she’s escaping with him. Her letter said she had to get off the island late at night, and as quickly as possible.  I can only get there by boat, and in the daytime.  I’ll never be that fast.  I just want her back safe, Bakugou. I don’t care who does it.” I argued. 

What did he know anyway? Only what I allowed him to.  He couldn’t begin to understand the dynamic between her and I. I loved her so much that I just wanted her to be happy.  Of course I selfishly hoped it’d be with me, but she’s endured so much trauma recently, my brain could rest if she just came back alive.  Maybe it’s the hero in me, maybe it’s my love for her.  Either way, I could sense something misleading about her letter.  It was as if she was trying to pacify me in some way and lead me to believe she was ok.  The last time we spoke, she said she couldn’t get off the island without speaking to Deku first.  I needed to know what secret he was holding that could free her, and I was slowly growing resentment towards him for never choosing to utilize it for her until things became this desperate.

“Whatever.” He grunted.  “I'm not gonna keep telling you how stupid you sound; But when you get fucked over again, don’t cry to me about it.”

“Which means you’re sticking around to help me until I do get fucked over, right?” I grinned, trying to quell the small creeping feeling of hopelessness when it came to my situation with India.  It’s as if I could feel like it wasn’t meant to be, although she had been with me through so many hardships, essentially she helped me to grow as a man.  Maybe that was her one unique purpose for crossin’ paths with me.  Either way, as a hero, I can’t let someone I care about suffer any longer.

“Ugh, what are you about to ask me to do, dumbass?” His brow furrowed as he sensed the mischief in my tone.

“It’s been weeks and I still can’t find any sign or news of Deku-“

“No.”

“C’mon Bakugou-“

“I don’t hate Deku, but he’s so goddamn annoying, little pretentious shit, and I’m not his keeper.  It’s not my job to find Deku.  He’s an adult, he’s thirty, he can hold his own” He growled.

“It was the last thing she asked of me when I saw her.  I promised.  Just help me keep my promise, bro.  I’m asking as your best friend, man.” I scratched the back of my head, “Plus, even if you don’t care, Deku and I have no bad blood.  If he’s actually missing, and didn’t just run off, whoever has him is extremely dangerous.  If someone can kidnap the number one hero, they’re gonna come for number two, and then you bro.”

He paused for a moment to huffily consider my point.

“Let’s just say I agree to this...” Bakugou crossed his arms over his chest, “Where would you start?”

“Shoto.”

“You think Deku is hiding out in the fucking countryside?” He barked.

“No, but I think if he trusts anyone with his whereabouts, Shoto is a damn good place to start.”

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

                                             Izuku “Zu” Midoriya

It was quiet.  Almost too quiet.  The air was damp and musty, and the echoes of dirty water droplets could be heard in the abandoned tunnel.  As I stood there waiting, I pushed my jacket sleeve up, identifying the time on my watch.

“2:01 am” I muttered aloud to myself.  I shook my sleeve back down and looked down each end of the tunnel.

He was late.

By one minute, but it still felt suspicious no less.  Every second was another one spent watching my back.  I heard footsteps merge with the droplet echoes from the distance.  Blue flames smoldered on each side of a shadow emerging from the darkness in my direction.

I furrowed my brow as I crossed my arms.  “You’re late, Dabi.”

“Since when am I on your time? I had loose ends to tie up.” Dabi calmly shrugged as he stopped walking and stood in front of me.

I eyed him up and down for a moment before speaking.  “I did everything you asked.”

“Yeah?” Dabi’s attention perked slightly, he lifted his brow in curiosity.  “So where is it then?” He gestured to my empty hands.

“I need a favor first.”

Dabi growled, “Me? In your debt? You’re the one who hazed yourself into this bullshit to begin with.  Your needs aren’t any of my concern.” His flames brightened in the palms of his hands, but he remained blunted.

“You’re right.” I smirked, “But maybe you’ll reconsider who owes who since I happen to know there’s defector walking among us that could dismantle the entire organization, for good.” I adjusted the wrists of my leather gloves, giving Dabi time to weigh his options and speak carefully.

“Where’s the money, Deku.”

“I have it.  I did exactly what you said; but you won’t get it, and you might not live to even spend it if you don’t work with me here.” I replied.

The flames grew even brighter, and I could now feel the heat reflecting onto my body. “Are you threatening me?” Dabi asked in a low growl.

I stepped closer to him, “I’m trying to save what’s left of your artillery.  You’ve been laying low Dabi, all of you have.  Ever since Shigaraki was killed, none of you have led this organization in an even remotely advantageous direction.” I felt a heat rising inside of me and out of my peripherals I could see the green glow emerging from my own palms.  I shook my hands out and exhaled to calm myself. 

“C’mon Dabi, you were never in this to be a leader.  You had your own agenda.  You killed your father. Game over. You’re done.  But you’re stuck here now.  I know how to lead, I’m powerful, you know this, I can resurrect this back into a real army with a bigger purpose than death and petty crime.”  My head started spinning and I felt an adrenaline rush that seemed to enhance my senses.  

“You can’t get far with fear tactics, no.  You have to infiltrate a system and dismantle it slowly by executing small maneuvers in key locations, over a long time.  The power and influence you gain this way is far more beneficial than the money you’re scrounging up, barely surviving.”

I chuckled, thinking of how my skin prickled with excitement at all of the planning I had accomplished.  “I’m rambling.  I do that a lot. Sorry.” 

Over the past three years my anger has been getting dangerously close to consuming me completely, and more recently in the past 3 months, I’ve recently started blacking out.  I never spoke a breath of it to anyone, not my family in South Korea or my mother in Japan. Not India. Nobody.  I was beginning to fear myself, and felt as though I was losing grips on my sanity.  I soon realized I was a danger to myself and those around me, so I confided in the only person I could trust with this newfound knowledge of my mental state - Shoto Todoroki.  He helped to safely get me to his estate far beyond the city limits, where I could figure out what was happening to me, and calculate my next moves. 

“One favor.  That’s all I need right now. Then you get the money, all of it, plus interest, and I’ll tell you what’s really been going on around here.  I’ll be in your total and complete debt.” I made a conscious attempt to negotiate kindly, trying to restore the neutral tone to my voice.

Dabi’s palms quelled with a sudden stop, and we were left with nothing but the faint glow of moonlight from outside of the tunnel that reflected on the small, dirty puddles of water in the gravel.

“You get one, Izuku Midoriya.”

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

                                                        India

Levi rolled his eyes, with an unamused expression as I held up the bag of asparagus and the box of salad, weighing them back and forth in between my head as we stood in the middle of the local grocery store.  I turned around to look at him, “I’m not sure what goes with a steak better? Asparagus or a side salad?” I tilted them back and forth again, knowing I was purposefully getting on his nerves.

He crossed his arms, the basket in one of his hands.  “You know I don’t care.”

“Can we make tonight the one night you’re not such a killjoy?”  I set both items in the cart and then walked over to my husband, placing my arms on his shoulders, “Come on babe, it’s our anniversary.”

Levi placed his firm hands on my waist and kissed my forehead, my nose, and then my lips.  “You’ve put up with me for five years now.” He finally gave me that smile I loved so much.  Very small, just a tug at the corner of his lips, but genuine nonetheless.

A smile I tried to implant in my memory forever as a happy time.  If this was the last night I would be seeing him alive, I wanted a pleasant image in my head.  The thought made my stomach lurch, but I knew I couldn’t take one misstep, or this would end very badly.  We held hands, casually walking around the grocery store and pointing out foods, picking out things for the house.  After checking out, we strolled the quiet, evening streets together.  

I replayed the conversation I held with Zu a week prior, as we met up at the summit underneath the full moonlight…

~~ 

“Are you sure this won’t kill him? I’m terrified, I can’t do it myself.  I can’t be the one to do it.” I said in a quavering voice, hesitantly taking the capped syringe needle from Zu’s gloved hand in between my own fingertips.  The moonlight reflected off of the clear liquid in the small, 3ml syringe as I turned it over in my hands, worriedly looking back up into his eyes.

“I promise I don’t want you to have to do this.  I wish it didn’t have to be this way at all.” He said, a softhearted nature to his speaking voice.  His voice was always so comforting to me.  I remembered when we were together, how he could always talk me off of any ledge within minutes.  Even as close friends, he still knows how to get to that part of me that I keep in a black abyss.  It wasn’t always that way, but five years in a strained marriage can do that to anyone I’d suppose.

“It’s a paralytic.  I -” He trailed off for a moment before continuing, “--figured you didn’t want him to struggle.  Makes the end come quicker that way.” He explained softly. 

A breeze billowed past us gently, I could hear the trickling of the waterfall beneath us into the ocean encompassing the island.  The breeze carried his scent with it, woodsy like amber.  Tufts of his hair blew into the side of his face as he watched me study him.  We both remained quiet but it was organic.  This moment, this event, was not something to be taken thoughtlessly.

I placed the syringe into the small, black messenger bag that laid in the grass at my feet.  As I stood back up, I exhaled softly.  “Why are you doing this for me?” I asked.

He approached me and grinned as his eyes fell over the features of my face individually.  “Simple.” He sighed, “I can’t go about living my own life, knowing you’re edging closer to taking your own.” He reached out and ghosted his leather-clad fingers along my cheek.  “I’m doing this because I love you. ” As his fingers trailed down my neck, I caught a shiver  that ran the length of my spine.  I fell deep beyond the well of jade that filled his irises.

He continued to speak as I fell under his spell like I constantly fucking did, and guilted myself for every damn time.

“Hawks didn’t come here.  Isn’t that weird that he’s number one now that I’ve left.  He’s finally the number one hero, and he couldn’t save someone he seems to love…so much…” Zu’s voice trailed off, his fingers continued their predestined path, down my collarbone, faintly along the very perimeter of my breast.

Another chill.

His eyes followed behind his fingers, and he stopped before he spoke again.  “And Kirishima, what was his advice?” Zu chuckled, seemingly to himself as his fingers travelled underneath my breast and back up the center, following slowly up to my chin, which he, very gently, tilted upwards.  He bit his lip, seemingly holding back a laugh at his own thought as he spoke it aloud,

“Oh right, you should just…get a divorce.” Finally his eyes landed upon my own and I felt my legs grow weak.

“Not a single...fucking…hero…stepped up to the plate like I did.  That’s why I’m not like them, India.  I can’t relate to this…need to be a hero for purposes of satisfying some sick savior complex.” He held my attention with his two fingers remaining under my chin, keeping me obediently engaged to his every word.  “I felt that way as a child, and what a fucking fool I was; believing I was destined to become a savior, when all I left was destruction in my path.”

I noticed his attention falter, he seemed to fade out of reality for a very brief moment, “When you grow up, things happen.  Things happen that make you realize the system is all fucking backwards.”

I listened keenly.  He appeared to bring himself back to reality with a very small shake of his head and refocused his eyes on my own.  “I’m rambling again.” He grinned, “Like I always do.”

“I’m listening.” I said, breaking into a smile myself, “Like I always do.”

Zu dropped his hand to his side, my heart finally left my mouth and returned to my chest, metaphorically speaking.  I knelt down and gathered up my messenger bag.

“I’m rambling,” He said as he knelt down in front of me and grasped my arm, I looked up at him in confusion, “-but that didn’t mean I was done with you.”

With a crash of his lips against mine, he crawled between my legs, I fell back onto the grass as we both stopped and looked at one another, breathing heavily.  Before I could catch my breath, he did, stopping just inches from my face, watching my expression as I felt my back arching, lips desperate to crash against his.

He leaned over me and I felt his lips ghost my ear, sending chills down my body again.  He kissed my ear, and softly spoke, “Not yet.  Be a good girl and be patient for me...” 

“India.” Levi calmly reached in front of me and turned off the kitchen sink that I was mindlessly running.  “Stop wasting water.” He walked back over to the cutting board, where he was previously in our kitchen, and adjusted his rolled sleeve before continuing to chop up the vegetables.

I glanced behind my shoulder at him before my eyes diverted down into the sink in front of me, watching the suds spiral down the drain.  I was beginning to space out, starting to get nervous.  I felt nauseated, like I would throw up, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to fake it through eating an entire dinner.  I don’t understand why I’m having cold feet all of a sudden, when the entire time leading up to this, I was practically co-spearheading my rescue operation alongside Zu.  According to our original plan, I knew his location on the island, I knew he was watching from somewhere undetected. 

Reminding myself of this, I quieted my nerves a little.  Tonight, I would be given my life back, finally.

[platypanthewriter]

Breeze

Harringrove April Prompt 20: Breeze Billy doesn't know what's the most nightmarish about Hawkins--the stuff he can see, or the stuff he can't.

Billy’d been just gonna drop Max off at the Sinclair place, but then the sky turned green with the sounds of screaming, and somebody—who turned out to be Lucas—ran towards them from the house, and banged on the window.  “Tornado!  Get in the storm cellar!” he yelled, through the noise and the dust, and waved them to park in the barn.  

Billy didn’t wanna admit he was spooked, but he definitely walked a little faster than a saunter to that door in the ground.  It was pitch black inside, and he kept bumping into Max, who swore at him.  “I can’t see where I’m going!” she hissed, and Billy growled, “I can’t stand up,” from where he was still wedged against the door.  

“Come down heeeeeere,” came the voice of one of Max’s little shithead friends, the curly one.  “We have a ouija board.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Max said, and Billy heartily agreed, biting his lips together.  

“It’s traditional!” said Curly, lighting a candle, and Max groaned.  He lit five candles in a circle, which looked creepy as shit, because they were all blowing in the same direction—into the darkest part of the cellar, not even something logical, towards or away from the door.  Billy tried not to wonder what was in the darkest corner, sucking up the light.  

Nobody wanted to sit there, he noticed, all the kids gathering around the other side, so Billy had to man up and sit with his back facing the sucking darkness, a soft breeze bringing up goose pimples all along his shirtless spine.  “Where the hell are your parents,” he growled, half wondering, half wishing there was an actual adult around so he could ask how likely he was to find a cow halfway through his Camaro after the tornado went through.

“They got sucked up in the last tornado,” said Lucas’ little sister, and Billy stared at her for a long second, until Max and Curly started snickering. 

“Ask for Great-grandma,” Little Shithead Sinclair said, elbowing her brother.  “She died in the kitchen,” she told Billy, who glared back at her.  

“Fuck off,” he said.

“No, that’s actually true,” Curly said, grinning over.  “It might have been murder.”

Billy hated them all.

“Our old dog used to stare at her, wandering around the spot where she died,” Lucas said, his mouth twitching.

“Where she was murdered,” his sister whispered, like a ghoul.

“It gets really cold in their kitchen,” Max reported, and Billy glared at her, wondering why the fuck everyone in Hawkins was weird as shit, and why he was in their creepy fucking house, when suddenly the whole cellar lit up, and filled with the sound of screaming wind like a passing freight train.  

“Hey!  Everybody’s down here, huh?” came Steve Harrington’s voice, and Billy wished he was dead.  Harrington yanked the cellar door shut again, humming like a lunatic as he walked from death into the basement of a haunted house.  

Lucas shifted closer to Tiny Evil Sinclair to make room, Max, the traitor, shifted close to Lucas, and all the space was left around Billy.  

Harrington stopped when he saw him.  “Oh,” he said, then, “—uh.”  He grimaced, and then sat down between Billy and Curls, and Billy just set his jaw, keeping his eye on the ouija board.

“Oh!” Harrington said again, like a genius.  “Ghosts, huh?”

“Just my great-grandma,” said Lucas, and Max nodded, like oh, yeah, the Sinclair fuckin’ murdered grandma ghost, of course.

“Can she check for…” and here Harrington honest-to-god side-eyed Billy, like he wasn’t supposed to know about their freaky Hawkins bullshit.  “You know,” Harrington whispered.  “Other things?”

“Ohhhh,” said Lucas, like that made sense, and Billy wanted to shake both of them and yell “What fucking other things, Harrington?!” but he just glared at Max, biting his lips.  

The little coward avoided his gaze.

“How far can she look?” Harrington asked, like they were doing got-damn military reconnaissance, and Billy leaned over and punched Max’s leg, so she’d look up.  She didn’t.

Steve reached out and put his hands on the ouija board thing, with Max and Curly and Smallest Sinclair, and it sped over to ‘no’.  The house rattled around them.

“Wait,” Lucas said.  “Does that mean they’re not out there, or she can’t?” and Billy was left to hope they were all united in fucking with him, because he did not want to know what was creepy enough to send a ghost to surveil.  

They got super into it, even drawing a map of Hawkins in the dirt on the floor, while Billy noticed the shelves and shelves of lumpy reddish substances in jars, and peered closer, wondering whether he was about to become an organ donor.  The wind was so strong the weighted door was slamming in a regular rhythm, like a heartbeat.  

“It’s jam,” Max hissed, and he nodded, like he hadn’t jumped at her voice.

“Out by the Steelworks,” Steve said.  “Better all stay away from there.  Hopper and his deputies can check it out, okay.”  He glared around, and Curly and Lucas rolled their eyes and nodded, Max glowered back, crossing her arms, and Tiny Ghoul Sinclair snorted a laugh.  “I mean it,” Steve said, glaring even at Billy, who raised his eyebrows.  “We might not get so lucky next time.”

Billy just raised his eyebrows back, thinking he was damned if he was going anywhere these freaks thought was creepy.  “What,” he said.

“Don’t go out there,” Harrington repeated.

“Gee, I really wanted to,” Billy sneered.  “Steelworks.  Sounds rad.”

“No, don’t,” Max said, sounding shaken.  “Billy.”

“What the fuck is out there,” Billy blurted, and they all kinda...glanced at each other.  

“Guys,” Harrington hissed.

“....ummmmm,” said Tiny Sinclair, kinda sing-songing it, and Billy ignored her to glare at Max.  

“Uh,” she said, wincing.

“Clayface?” Curly said, and Lucas screwed his face up in thought, slowly nodding.

“What?” Steve asked, frowning at them.

“I don’t read comics,” Billy said, which was a dumb thing to say, because they both stared at him.

“How’d you know he was from a comic, then?” Curly asked, raising his eyebrows, and Billy groaned.  “It looks like somebody you know, right, but it’s not,” Curls told Max, who groaned.

“Bullshit,” Billy growled, but looked over to see Harrington biting his lips together, his eyebrows raised.  

“Nobody can hear us in this,” Max said, suddenly.  “Nobody.  Nobody is listening.  We can just—tell him.”

“Who the fuck would be listening to you,” Billy bit out, but everyone scooted closer to the candles.  

“You know Will Byers,” Max said, glancing over her shoulder.  “He disappeared last year.”

If they hadn’t all looked so shaken, and if Harrington hadn’t gone along, his knuckles whitening as he flexed his fists, Billy wouldn’t even have listened—but he had nowhere to be, and even if Max was insane, her version of the last few months in Hawkins answered some questions.  

When they got to the day Billy’d chased Max all over hell and gone when she knew he’d get in trouble, he gritted his teeth, but kept listening.  

“You know this sounds crazy, right,” he said, and Max sighed.  

“I’ve got a picture of one in my wallet,” Curls said, whipping it out, and handing over a bent photo of something huge and slippery-looking wedged in a fridge.  

“...what the fuck is that,” Billy breathed, and they all leaned in around the candles, pointing out stuff in the photo, and talking about Steve Harrington like he was a superhero.  

“So you can’t go out to the Steelworks,” Max said, glaring over, and Billy held back a laugh.

“I didn’t want to!” he told her.  “I’m not going near anything you all think is creepy,” he snorted, gesturing at the whole world around them, and Steve cocked his head, then nodded, like Billy had a point.

The wind outside sounded even louder—they were all shouting to be heard—and the breeze towards the darkest corner hadn’t stopped.  The breeze licked up Billy’s neck, and he full-body shuddered.  It was really cold, back there, and Billy scooted back over next to Harrington, who gave him kind of a weird look, but then went back to their creepy map with big X’s on it.  They kept saying things like “How many,” and “—that’s not good, that could be infecting…”

“Stop fucking with me,” Billy muttered.  “You’re just moving that thing yourself.”

“What?!” Max said, and Lucas opened his mouth, and then closed it, setting his jaw.  

“Let him do it,” said Curly, and Tiny Shitstirrer Sinclair grinned evilly.  

“Why the fuck would I want to,” Billy asked, but Max grabbed his hand and smacked it down.  

“Close your eyes,” she said.  

It did feel like it was tugging, and he did hold it in fucking place, because all he had left was denial.  “See?” he said.  “It didn’t move.”

The candles blew out at the same time, into the direction of the fucking haunted breeze from behind Billy, and everyone yelled, Billy the loudest, half falling into Harrington.  

Harrington started laughing, silently, Billy could tell, but it was pitch black and the wind was still screaming outside, and as Lucas lit the candles again, the plastic pointer thing in Billy’s hand moved to I—A-M—H-E-R-E.  He yanked his hand back, wanting to punch Harrington, just as the cellar door blew open, rain blew in, pelting around them, and the candles blew out again.  Billy grabbed for the nearest anything, and found Harrington’s arm.

“It’s okay, Hargrove, I’ll protect you,” Harrington said, laughing, and Billy was ready to shove him away and stumble off into the freezing cold basement, when Curly’s voice laughed shakily.  

“Yeah, you better.”

“S’what I’m here for, right?  You okay, Erica?  Max?  Lucas?” Harrington asked, and they said they were, but they sounded rattled.  Billy didn’t lean into Harrington, but he didn’t move away, either, and then he thought of the candles, patting towards them as Harrington stood up.  The door clattered shut again, and it didn’t bang.

“I put the board across this time,” Harrington said, as Billy lit a candle.  

There was movement behind the Shittiest Sinclair.  Billy squinted, as his stomach dropped.  “Everybody behind me,” he said hoarsely, trying to make something different out of what his eyes were telling him about the dark shape on the floor in the flickering candlelight.  

“What?!” she asked, glaring at him, and he said it louder, trying to keep his voice even.  

“Everybody get behind me right now.”  

Harrington glanced at his face and then grabbed Curly and tiny Sinclair, shoving them at Billy, and Billy took a shaky breath of relief, pulling them closer as the coiled snake in the corner raised its head.  Steve swore and grabbed Lucas, as Max yelped, seeing it finally, and scrambled towards Billy.

“Cottonmouth,” said Curly.  “Water moccasin.  Should leave us alone, over here.”

“Shit,” Harrington breathed, stepping close to Billy, so the raised hairs on the back of their arms brushed.  

“Are they poisonous,” Max hissed at Lucas, who was pushing her behind Billy, while glaring at his little sister.  The snake eased back down, shutting its mouth instead of the eerie white gape.  In the light of only two candles, it was nearly invisible again.

“They’re in the viper family,” Curly breathed, staring.  “So it will just rot your flesh.”

“What,” Steve said, which was what Billy was thinking.  

“It’s called necrosis, it’s like gangrene,” Curly said cheerfully, and Billy kinda wanted to feed him to the snake.  “It’s way better than anything that causes nervous system damage!”

“Probably down here to get away from the tornado,” Lucas sighed, and they stayed there, because every time one of them ventured forward, the snake raised its head.  Smallest Sinclair kept trying to wedge her way out, and Billy shoved her back.  

The portal to the nether realms or whatever the fuck was still behind them—probably the Upside-Down, Billy thought, shivering from actual cold the way he never thought he would in the summer in Hawkins Indiana.  Harrington kept shooting him glances, like there was something weird about standing as far as possible from a huge poisonous snake when you couldn’t leave a basement the size of a bathroom.  They finally slid back down to sit against the ground and the wall, pressed up against each other in the darkness.

“...there’s some kind of...wind back here,” Max muttered, used to such things, probably, in Hawkins Indiana.  Billy’s little fucking sister would probably be one of those old ladies in zombie movies that ran into a zombie and hit it with her purse, he thought, biting back a grin.  He kept his mouth shut, for once, because he’d been sweating in his car on the drive over, and now the fucking graveyard breeze had him shuddering with cold.  

When the tornado outside finally slowed, Harrington tapped Lucas’ shoulder.  “Go unbar the door,” he said, watching the snake.  Lucas slid out and did so, and then Small Evil Sinclair, and Billy realized he was going to be alone in the basement with Harrington, and Harrington’s grudge.

Curls and Max went last, and then it was just Billy and Harrington—and Billy couldn’t stop shivering, in no shirt, with the soft, freezing cold breeze wafting against his arms, back, and neck.  Everybody would believe Harrington, Billy realized, if he said Billy’d tried to fight a snake, and Billy grimaced, not liking what that said about his image.

“Close your eyes,” Harrington said, and Billy jerked his head up to squint at him through the darkness.  He could just make out a concerned frown, in the light from the open cellar door

“What?!” he hissed back.

“It’s fine, I’ll get you out of here,” Harrington told him, putting both hands on Billy’s biceps, like that made sense.  His hands felt like heaters in the haunted breeze, and Billy set his jaw and didn’t lean in.

“The hell are you t-talking about,” Billy tried to growl back, but he full-body shivered in the middle of his sentence, and Harrington gripped him tighter.  

“Shut your eyes, I’ll get you past the snake,” Harrington said against his ear, and Billy realized between his shuddering, and his reaction earlier...Harrington thought he was terrified of snakes.  “Come on,” Harrington said, “—I won’t tell anybody, just don’t look at it.  I’ll get you out.”

Billy stared back at him.  “...what,” he said, blankly.

“You can’t stay in this corner forever,” Harrington told him, frowning at the snake.  “They’re pretty chill, but I’m not just—leaving you down here.”  Billy shivered again, and Harrington’s frown deepened.  “Trust me.”

It was not how Billy’d thought the day would go—the fucking tornado, or the snake, but certainly not Steve Harrington trying to help him save face.  He nodded, finally, and Harrington insisted he close his eyes, and walked him over to the stairs, telling him every bump in the floor, and when to lift his feet for the stairs.  “You’re okay, it can’t reach you, it’d hit me first, even,” he kept saying, and stuff like it.  

“That was cool of you, putting yourself between it and Erica,” he said, off-handedly, and Billy wondered what the hell kind of person Harrington thought he was, that he’d hide behind a little girl, and then shivered again at Harrington’s breath on his neck and shoulder.  “Shit, if you hadn’t been down there, somebody coulda died,” he said, laughing shakily.  “I’ll get you away from snakes anytime, man.”

At the top of the stairs, he let go, and Billy stopped automatically, so Harrington walked into him.  “You can open your eyes now,” he laughed.  “...you okay?  You need anything?  Want something to drink?” Harrington asked, drawing him away from the storm cellar by the wrist, like Billy was having some kinda breakdown, just because he was a shivering mess.  He kinda wanted to keep playing it up, keep Harrington watching Billy like he needed protecting.  Billy rubbed his arms, but he didn’t pull his wrist out of Harrington’s grasp.

The yard was a mess of blown branches and trash, and Billy wondered, sinkingly, about his Camaro.  “...I owe you one,” he told Harrington, sighing.  “Two, I guess.  Hit me up.”

Harrington was silent for a long second, and then he nodded.  “...yeah,” he said, trailing off awkwardly, before changing the subject.  “Jesus, it was freezing down there next to that storm window,” he said, and Billy said, “...what?”

Steve pointed to a cracked chunk of plywood screwed just above the ground, and Billy realized it was right over his haunted devil’s corner.  “Didn’t you notice?” Harrington said, shivering.  “Kept letting in a breeze.”

"God fucking damn it," Billy breathed, his face heating as he started to laugh.

The other Harringrove April prompts I’ve done!