#nothing will make me laugh harder than these silly little headphone games

[hanfocus]

🤨🎧...⁉️

[untaemedqueen]

Red Sus (M)

Idol!Jeongguk x Girlfriend!Reader

WordCount: 3.9k

Genre: Smut, Porn With Little Plot, Fluff, Among Us!Fic, Among Us!Crack?

Warnings: Jeongguk’s Hot Headed Ass, Taehyung LITERALLY THROWING THE GAME, Impreg Kink, Big IQ Brain Power Plays, Fingering, Dirty Talk, Fellatio, Face Fucking, Praise, Edging, Unprotected Sex, Belly Buldge, Cunnilingus, Pussy Slapping, Spitting, Doggy Style, Multiple Orgasms, Cream Pie

A/N: Sooooo I’m too obsessed with Among Us to not make a fic? And even though this is shorter than most that I make I thought it would be fun to whip something up in the spirit of BTS’ competitive games. Do I believe 100% that Kim Taehyung would throw a game? Absolutely. Thank you so much to the forever squad @ppersonna, @ladyartemesia, @xjoonchildx for letting me rant and talk about this insanity of a one shot and reading it! Thank you to baby Bucca @thejooncrew​ for reading it! I hope you enjoy the silly and the smutty! 

The house is filled with loud screams, mainly from your boyfriend as he ties his hair up into a ponytail.

You can see the sweat on his neck beading as he sits in the voting screen.

"Oh yeah?! Then Taehyung hyung, where were you? Because I went to reactor when it was called and you didn't follow me and now Hobi hyung is dead." Jeongguk goes quiet as he waits for his answer and you begin to smirk as the muscles in his back tense up.

"WHAT THE FUCK? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? LAME. LAME. LAME. RED SUS. RED SUS AS FUCK! There is no possible way you were in cafeteria! Because I ran through cafeteria from admin to get to the reactor!" Jeongguk has gotten angry during games before. But, this is the first time you've seen his neck veins bulging.

"Hyungs! It's not me! I didn't kill Hobi hyung!" He whines out before putting his elbows to his computer table and cupping his forehead with his hands.

"You're fucking throwing!" He complains and you watch the screen as his black character racks up smaller bodies beneath his name. He scoffs loudly as he mutes his mic before turning to you.

"I want you to play with us. I can't play with them. It's so frustrating." He whines as he rolls his chair over to you. He throws himself out of the chair and onto your lap as you caress his handsome face.

Guk has always been so competitive, so good with everything that you can understand him being frustrated in a game like this one. Sometimes he needs a little pick me up. A little incentive to get him going again. And you know just the thing.

"Alright, I’ll play. But how about if I win, we make a baby?" You ask and his eyes flash over with mischief.

“Yeah? You want to make a mini crewmate with me?” He asks playfully and you narrow your eyes at him for the bad joke.

“Okay. Okay. Sorry, no bad jokes. Only filling your pussy with my cum.” He says before he chuckles deeply as his hand roams over the curve of your side.

"That sound good? We play and if I win you can fuck a baby into me like you’ve been trying to do?" You ask once more. 

His bottom lip is between his teeth as his fingers drift over the imprint of your puffy nipple through your tank top.

"How about you play with the boys but I have to play with you while you do it? And if you win either Imposter or Crewmate then I'll fuck my baby into you like I've been dying to do since I met you five years ago." His offer is tempting and you begin to smile as he does the same.

His fingers drift over your nipples, watching them strain and become erect against the thin fabric.

“Game on, Jeon Jeongguk.”

With a sharp breath between his teeth, he leans up on his elbows. His tongue peeks out of his mouth to place wet kisses against your clothed chest. His tongue flicks at the stiff peaked bud, enjoying how the lavender shirt becomes darker with his saliva. 

"Guk?" You can hear faintly from the computer and he sits up quickly as he hears them call his name.

The word Defeat flashes on the screen and he sighs loudly as he shuffles back over to the computer desk. Fixing his erection, he puts his headphones back on.

"Y/N is going to play for me. I'm going to take a shower." He says calmly as you open up your laptop. He hands you his mouse as he gives them farewells. Booting up the screen, he reads out the letters of the private server before situating himself behind you.

You take in a sharp breath as he pulls your tank top over your head. Your mind already becoming foggy with thoughts of lust as the server boots up.

"Hey guys." You call out as you join the Discord server. 

"Hey hey!" Taehyung cheers as he runs around your purple character on screen.

You've played Among Us before with your friends but never your boyfriend's group. This will be interesting. You're usually very good and right now you need to be. There's nothing you want more in the world then to start a family with the man you love and adore.

"Start." Jin calls out and Jeongguk mutes your mic for you.

You take in a sharper breath than before as his thumbs swipe across your nipples. His lips trail from one shoulder to the other and you shudder as the Shhhh screen disappears.

"Impostor." You tell him and he chuckles to himself before nodding.

"Better hope you're good if you want me to fuck my cum into you and make this baby." He jeers. 

Faking tasks for you is easy, but it's considerably harder when your smoking hot boyfriend is behind you. He's touching every bit of flesh he can. Rolling and pinching your nipples just perfectly to distract you from the task at hand.

His lips are kissing at the shell of your ear when you get your first kill on Jimin in Navigation before hopping into the vent. 

"Every good kill you get, I'll reward you." Jeongguk whispers before peeking at the muted mic. Drifting his fingers south, he watches you as you jump out of the vent in admin before pretending to stalk the admin screen.

"Clean." Jeongguk whispers as Hoseok runs into the room. 

As you exit the admin screen, the dead body report comes up and Jeongguk holds his breath.

"It's Yoongi hyung! It's Yoongi hyung!" Taehyung chants and Guk laughs as you unmute your mic.

"What?! Why would you say that?!" Yoongi yells as you giggle.

“First of all, where’s Jimin’s body?” Namjoon asks and you hear Taehyung hum.

“He’s in Navigation.” He replies.

"I saw Y/N in admin so she's good." Hoseok calls out and your boyfriend gives a thumbs up.

He shoves his hand in your pants and you squirm nervously.

Parting the now slick folds of your pussy, his middle finger rubs smooth circles onto your clit. Your back falters into his chest at the pleasurable feeling and you find yourself giving the smallest whimper.

"Y/N, what did you do this round?" Namjoon asks and you clear your throat.

Jeongguk pauses to let you collect yourself.

"I did card swipe and wires in admin before staying on the admin screen to see if anyone vented." You say before hearing hums of agreement.

"Yeah. I'll take that. And, I did see her in admin so I believe it." Hoseok says. Jeongguk begins his unrelenting torture to your clit once more as he kisses softly down the back of your neck.

"YOONGI HYUNG IS SUS!" Taehyung screams and you can't help but giggle before gasping gently at the pleasure and muting your mic.

"Shut up Taehyung! You're the worst third impostor I've ever fucking seen. You're throwing, you IDIOT!" Yoongi screams back.

"Skip." Jin mumbles before the screen goes black once more.

"You're doing so well, baby girl." Guk whispers as he trails his slender fingers along your slick folds.

"Fuck. Guk." You whine as you put your head back to his shoulder.

"Better pay attention. If you want me to fuck a baby into you that is." He reminds you.

You were intrigued when you first found out about his kink but after watching some porn videos with him and hearing him talk about it in bed, it's certainly grown on you.

You stopped taking birth control a while ago and have been trying to have a baby for so long now. But, fun games like this couldn't hurt. They're exciting.

Starting the round, you head off towards reactor and pretend to do Simon Says when Namjoon enters to do 1-10.

You can barely focus as your boyfriend pinches and rolls your nipple between his fingertips. 

"Can't wait till you're swollen with my baby. Gonna let everyone know just how much I love on you. I can't wait till these pretty tits fill up with milk just for my child." Jeongguk whispers in your ear and you shiver before killing Namjoon and venting.

You sabotage the doors all around the left side before popping out of the vent in lower engine and running into electrical with Jin.

"Lean back a little bit for me, baby girl." Your boyfriend demands and you do as you're told. He thrusts two fingers deep into your cunt and you moan loudly at the tiny burn.

"You're so excited to have my baby. You hear how wet you are for me? Getting your cute little panties all soaked." He whispers before nipping at your earlobe.

You kill Jin before venting and Namjoon's body is found by Yoongi.

"SELF REPORTED!" Taehyung screams and you moan as Jeongguk curls his fingers to the delicate bundle of nerves inside of you.

"Shut the fuck up Taehyung. My God!" Yoongi whines.

"Where's the body?" Hoseok asks.

"Reactor. Oh shit. Jin is dead too. I think it's Taehyung or he's throwing." Yoongi says matter-of-factly. 

"Y/N, where were you this round?" Hoseok asks.

Jeongguk keeps pressure to your g-spot as you unmute.

"I did gas can top and then gas can bottom. Then went into electrical to do the three spinning things." You say before muting yourself again.

"I trust Y/N." Taehyung says before clearing his throat.

"Fuck Guk, keep going. My pussy is so wet for you." You whine as his large hand spreads your leg wider.

"We have to vote here guys." Hoseok calls out.

"I'm voting for Taehyung. He's putting the blame on me so it's got to be him." Jeongguk laughs behind you as he begins to fuck you with his fingers again.

"I'm going with Taehyung too." Hoseok says and you vote the second youngest out before moaning your boyfriend's name.

"That's it baby. Fuck, you love this." Your boyfriend mumbles as he pulls his cock out of his sweatpants.

"Kill one more and you get a fat load of cum up your needy cunt." He reminds you as Taehyung floats through the air. 

The heel of his palm digs into your clit and you whimper out as you watch Hoseok stay near the emergency meeting button.

You call reactor quickly and run across with both Yoongi and Hoseok as your cooldown meter ticks away to nothing. Finally you kill Yoongi and breathe a sigh of relief as you win the round.

"Damn. It wasn't Yoongi?" Taehyung asks dumbfounded.

"I said it wasn't me like fifty times KIM TAEHYUNG." Yoongi yells.

"Gg fellas. But I gotta go. Bye!" You squeal as you exit the Discord call.

Jeongguk puts your laptop and headphones on the floor before tackling you to the mattress with a sly grin.

He tugs off your sleep shorts and your underwear before taking off his sweatpants and smiling widely. 

You absentmindedly lick your lips as you stare at his rock hard cock. It was a sight you could never get tired of. Slightly curved and beading precum at the tip of his long length, he begins to chuckle as you eye him. The pink rose veins of his cock call out to you and you wrap your hand around the thick base earning a whimper from your boyfriend above you.

“Fuck. Baby.” He whines as you stroke him, feeling the velvety soft skin against your palm.

His cock twitches with need as you sit up.

Looking up at him below your thick lashes, he takes a sharp breath through his teeth anticipating what’s to come next. 

Your tongue swirls around the head of his cock, picking up the beads of precum that linger. Guk moans loudly above you, his hands grasp at your head as you enter him into your mouth. 

“Oh fuck, you’re so good at sucking my cock baby, shit.” He moans out. 

His perfectly manicured nails dig into your scalp and you bob your head. 

“Just like that. Keep going. I love when you slobber on my cock. Shows me how horny you get for me.” His bottom lip tucks between his teeth again as he pushes your head down, losing himself in the pleasure you’re giving him.

Your eyes spring with fresh tears as you gag on his large length and the sound only goads him on to hear more of them. 

Swallowing around his cock, he preens as he goes deeper and deeper within your throat.

“Such a good girl. Fuck.” He praises through gritted teeth. His eyes lock onto yours again as tears stream down your cheeks. 

“Yeah. Fuck you love this, don’t you? Love being a little cocksleeve for me.” His cock begins to throb within your throat and you whine at the feeling before he’s pulling out and sighing loudly.

“Lay down for me, baby girl.” He says as he pulls his hair tie tighter. 

Doing as told you let out a soft moan as his lips encircle your areola. His tongue flicks at your stiff peaked bud as his cock glides through your folds.

The stimulation to your clit is so powerful, you feel almost breathless. Every rut against your core has you losing all semblance of reality. 

“Yes. Yes. In me, please.” You beg as he shows love to your other breast. 

Aligning to your core, his hand cups your cheek. He gives you a small smile before pressing his lips to yours in a passionate kiss.

Gasping as he enters you, his tongue glides over yours as you grip his tattooed arms.

"Oh fuck!" You whine as your head lolls back.

"Oh my God." Guk groans as he buries his face into your neck.

Wrapping your legs around his waist, your nails scrape down the honey toned skin of his arms.

"Fuck, you feel so good baby. So wet and tight for me." He moans against your skin as he begins a relentless pace.

Taking his head away from your neck, he situates his hands on either side of your face before thrusting harder into you.

His eyes drift slowly down your body to where you are joined and he moans loudly before pressing his hand to your womb.

“Fuck, look how big my cock is in your tight little pussy.” He moans and your eyes drift to where he’s looking.

His cock is so long and thick inside of you, you can see the outline as he thrusts in and out of your soppy cunt.

“God, you’re incredible!” He whines as he picks up the pace.

Sitting up on his knees, his hips continue to snap and roll as a thin sheen of sweat graces his body.

Your fingers drift over the hard muscles of his abs as you moan for him. He fucks you so well, muddling your mind and drying your mouth and throat.

“You’re gonna look so good, nice and pregnant with my baby. So fucking perfect carrying my child inside of you. Shit! You’re so fucking wet!” He cries out as he grips your hips.

His perfect nails scrape down the skin of your hips and the slight twinge of pain earning a loud groan from you.

He’s so perfect. So yours. And, so eager to put what’s his inside of you.

“Tell me how much you want my baby inside of you.” Jeongguk demands as his hand reaches for the apex of your thighs. 

Rearing back and spitting on your already soaked pussy, his thumb begins to rub circles onto your clit. Your thighs lock and shake through the intense pleasure and you can barely think before he’s slapping your clit to demand words from your mouth.

“I want you to fuck a baby into me so badly. Want you to cum inside and watch me get all big with your baby.” You whine as you palm your breasts in hand.

“Fuck yes. Can’t wait till you're nice and big. Get to fuck you from behind with your belly in my hands.” He mumbles as his head lolls back.

You could feel yourself starting to reach the height of your pleasure. The pressure within you becomes almost too much to withstand. 

“Guk, please. Please! I want to cum!” You whine and he lets a smirk grace his features before he’s fucking you up the bed.

Your hands grip the sheets, white knuckling them as your eyes flutter shut. 

“Cum on my cock, baby girl. Show me how much you want my baby.” He demands as he pinches your clit.

Behind your eyes, a galaxy explodes and paints the back of your eyelids as you orgasm. Your ears ring and you can barely hear him praising you for all you’re worth.

“Oh fuck! You’re going to make me cum!” He whines as he pulls out of you.

You whimper at the loss. You feel drunk off his pleasure. Sluggishly you watch as his tattooed arms wrap around your thighs. 

Laying down between your thighs, he ruts his cock against the mattress as his face reaches towards your core.

“Guk!” You whine as he wraps his lips against your throbbing bud.

Your body jolts and tingles with overstimulation as you grip his ponytail.

“T-Too much! I can’t!” You cry out but he doesn’t listen. 

He gives soft licks to your clit, pushing you through the overstimulation until you’re preening for him again.

His name tumbles from your lips like a prayer as you begin to grind your spent cunt against his face begging for more.

Leaving your clit, his nose brushes against your nub as his tongue enters you. The muscular organ goes rigid as he fucks you before whirling around inside of you. With a yelp, you grip his hair harder within your grasp. Tugging almost painfully, he groans against you. The vibration seems to course through your body. The noise reinvigorating you for more.

“Oh fuck! Jeongguk!” You cry out as he grips your thighs harder. 

His eyes flutter shut and your breath hitches as he pulls away. 

“You taste so fucking good. So sweet.” He mumbles. 

The image of his handsome face, covered and shining in your slick is almost sensory overload for you. 

He smacks your pussy playfully once more before his hands grip your sides. In an instant you’re on your stomach, face pressed down into a pillow. 

Guk positions you to his liking, his hand roaming over the soft skin of your back before knocking your legs open. 

Grippin the back of your neck, he places soft kisses across your shoulder as he aligns himself back to your entrance.

“Fuck, I love you.” He murmurs into your ear.

“I love you t-” The final word is cut off with a loud moan as he enters you in one swift motion.

You can hear him groan low and deep in your ear, and can feel the rumble of his chest as he presses himself against your back. 

“Your pussy is so fucking sloppy. You’re creaming all over my cock, filthy girl.” He punctuates each word with a harsh thrust and your moans become stunted and muffled into the pillow.

Pulling away from your back, his hand grips your hair into a makeshift ponytail before tugging harshly as he fucks you with everything he has. 

You can hear his ragged breathing and his gentle moans letting you know how good you feel around him. 

“I can’t wait to fuck your pregnant pussy. I read it feels so much warmer and tighter. So much sweeter. You’re going to drive me insane with this pretty little cunt of yours.” He informs you as he hooks his hand around your throat.

Pulling you upright against his chest, he fucks up into you at a speed that should be illegal. Your hands scramble to grab anything as he applies the perfect amount of pressure to the column of your throat. 

Gasping in your pleasure, you grip at his arm feeling his muscles and veins flexing and protruding. His forehead presses against your temple and he curses softly in your ear as his cock thickens and throbs within you.

“Goddamn, baby girl. You’re going to make me cum. Rub your clit for me, cum on my cock first.” With a shaky hand you do as told, rubbing furious circles against your clit as your arousal drips down both his and your legs. 

“Guk! Fuck! I want to get pregnant for you so badly!” You cry out as his teeth gingerly clamp your earlobe.

“I know, baby girl. You want me to cum in your needy little pussy so badly. I can feel it. You want to watch your belly swell with my baby and let everyone know who keeps you so well stuffed.” He whispers in your ear. 

Your eyes roll back in your head as the pressure builds up again within you. Your legs shake and your moans become whimpers as you focus on his throbbing cock inside of you.

“Want to hold your big belly walking down the street letting everyone know Jeon Jeongguk put that baby inside you. That no one gets to have me but you. Fuck!” He curses loudly as his thrusts begin to get sloppy.

“Guk! I’m going to cum!” You whine as you grip his arm harder.

“Good girl, cum on my cock. I’m- Fuck- I’m not going to last.” He cries out as his eyes squeeze shut. 

As you orgasm the second time, he gasps loudly behind you. Letting your throat go, he cups your breasts behind his large hands and squeezes roughly as he begins to cum. You can feel his warm cum painting the walls of your pussy and he whines your name gently as he buries his face into your neck.

With a gentle cry, your orgasm becomes tenfold feeling how warm his cum is inside of you. 

“Oh shit.” He mumbles as he holds you tightly to his chest. 

“Fuck.” You whisper as he presses soft kisses to your heated skin.

You stay like this for a minute before he’s flopping both of your bodies down onto the bed with an exasperated sigh. 

“God, I hope we get pregnant this time.” He whispers and you know he’s praying to God for it to come true.

“I hope so too.” You whisper as your fingers drift over the skin of his arm.

The silence is comfortable for a few minutes and his grip on your tightens as he hugs your body to his.

“Wanna play another round with the boys before we order dinner?” He asks innocently and you begin to smile as you nod.

“If you win again, I’ll fuck more cum into you. Deal?” He asks as he pulls out of you.

His fingers spread your battered pussy lips as he watches your cunt begin to cream with his cum. 

“Deal.” You say with a giggle as he runs his fingers over your womb.

“I think it’s Y/N.” Jeongguk mumbles into the mic before turning his head to you and narrowing his eyes. 

You stay stone faced as you look at him before turning back to the screen, “It’s not me. I did all my tasks. I’m just following people around to make sure they don’t die. I think it’s Taehyung. Red sus.” You say as you lean back against the headboard of the bed cracking your fingers.

Jeongguk rolls his eyes as everyone begins to agree with you.

“Red is always sus. Especially when you’re Kim Taehyung.” You hear Jimin say with a laugh.

You begin to smirk as everyone votes Tae, you can hear him protesting and screaming. With a triumphant laugh the victory screen appears and you fold your arms as you quip an eyebrow at your boyfriend.

He grumbles gently before muting his mic. 

“Fine. Spread those pretty legs for me.” He whispers as he leaves the game. 

[98prilla]

Absorbing Anxiety

Based on @loveceit ‘s concept of Virgil being able to absorb the worries of the other sides! It was such a great concept and I loved it, so here’s my little take on it. Please let me know what you think!

They were all in the kitchen of the mindscape. Usually, they each grabbed food individually or just conjured up stuff when they wanted to eat, but Patton insisted once a week they all cook and hang out and eat with each other. A family supper, you could say.

Currently, Patton was looking over Roman's shoulder, trying to instruct him in making spaghetti sauce. Virgil was sitting at the kitchen island, watching them bicker, absolutely sure they were going to start the stove on fire. Then it would spread to the rest of the kitchen, the table, their rooms, it would be nothing but searing heat and dancing flames. He could taste the ash in his mouth, feel the smoke choking his lungs, his skin burning and blistering as he fought through the fire, trying to escape, but it was everywhere, there was no way out.

“Yo, edge lord!” He jerked at Roman's voice, cutting through his daydream. Or day mare? Whatever.

“what, prince of annoying me?” he asked, glaring slightly up at him from under his bangs.

“Honestly Roman, did you even bother to read over the recipe for this dish before you began cooking?” Logan asked, entering, distracting Roman. Virgil breathed out a slight sigh, glad to feel the attention shift away from him.

“Please, I’m a master chef! I can improvise with the best of them!” He replied, spucking spaghetti sauce against the wall as he gestured with the spoon he’d been using for stirring. Virgil snorted and Logan sighed, adjusting his glasses.

“He’s doing great, Logan! He just needs some more practice.” Patton countered, gently taking away the spoon from Roman anyway.

“So did Undyne” Virgil muttered to himself. He didn’t notice Logan’s attention shift his way, or the hint of puzzlement that slipped into his gaze. Virgil had seemed more, well, anxious of late, and he was going to solve this mystery.

They were at the table, Virgil having set the places while Logan monitored the kitchen, which helped put his mind at ease about the whole fire thing. Despite Roman’s best attempts, the pasta was quite good, and Virgil could practically live off garlic bread, which always accompanied this meal. It was relatively quiet as they all ate. Usually Patton would finish first, and then quiz everyone else about their day.

They all had their own schedules, though obviously they worked together quite a bit. Logan got them all up by 9am usually. They would all scrounge for breakfast, or Patton would make pancakes. Usually Roman would grumble and moan for twenty minutes before actually getting up, while Virgil was one of the first in the kitchen, making coffee. They’d socialize a bit, then split off, Logan trying to make sure Thomas followed his schedule, usually having to reign in Patton, who wanted to chase after every dog they passed on the street. Roman was usually brain storming or questing through the imagination for new and interesting ideas, sometimes bringing the rest of them along. Virgil hated to admit it, but he actually kind of liked these excursions. It was a bit like playing live d&d. He was a rogue type, obviously. And other than that, Virgil kept Thomas aware of his surroundings, of any dangers, of impending deadlines, of things that needed to be worked on urgently and things that could wait. Usually they all had some down time in the evening they spent together, or with Thomas as well, then it was off to bed. Virgil usually was up the latest, going down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories or loose ends from the day, trying not to keep Thomas awake.

“Could you pass the bread, kiddo?” Patton asked. Virgil smiled, coming out of his thoughts.

“anything for you, Pat.” He replied, passing the plate across the table to Patton. For a moment as the plate passed from one hand to another, their fingers touched.

Insecurities. About being too silly, not being taken seriously, not being listened to, being dismissed. He only wanted to help, but it seemed nothing he did was ever good enough, or just caused more harm. All his nostalgia and daydreaming just distracted from what was important, what was real and there and now, but he couldn’t let go of the past, even when it hurt. So he clung to it like a lifeline even when he knew it was better to let go, and it hurt…

Virgil bit his lip as he pulled his hand away, making sure no one else saw the slight flicker of shadow that vanished into his skin, absorbed by his being. He noticed with satisfaction that Patton chartered away the rest of the meal, eyes bright and filled with excitement, all the clouds gone from his mind. He didn’t notice Logan’s appraising eyes on him. Virgil went to bed early that night.

                 Roman was pacing the living room. Virgil was sitting on the couch, headphones on, playing some podcast he was only really half listening to as he watched Roman endlessly walking back and forth, wearing holes in the carpet. He was muttering to himself too, which was never a good sign. With a sigh he pulled the headphones down around his neck.

         “Having trouble, Romeo?” He asked, smirking despite himself. It was always fun to see Roman in a bit of a pickle, it didn’t happen too often that creativity couldn’t think of anything creative.

         “I’ve been brainstorming for hours, and I’ve got nothing, nada, zero! It’s hopeless. I’ll never have another idea.” He plopped dramatically onto the couch, arm splayed across his forehead. Virgil snorted.

         “Please. You’re literally the embodiment of ideas. How hard could it be to think of an idea for a video?” He asked, and Roman immediately sat up, a gleam in his eye as he looked at Virgil.

         “Oh alright. Hit me with something. Give it a go. What’ve you got, off the top of your head?” Roman asked. Virgil didn’t even blink.

         “Ghost hunting. Get an audio tape, an emf reader, and boom, video.” Roman shook his head.

         “You know that will scare Patton to death, and Logan will be talking our ear off the entire time about the scientific impossibility of ghosts. In the end, Thomas won’t believe we’ve found something even if a full bodied apparition appears in front of us.” Roman replied. “Anything else?”

         “Hmm could do more gaming stuff with his friends. Everyone seems to love that, haven’t done a Kingdom Hearts episode in a while. I know you love Disney.” Virgil teased.

         “Tempting, tempting, but been there done that. I’m trying to think of something different, something we haven’t already done before.” Virgil groaned, leaning back against the couch.

         “Alright, maybe this is a biit harder than I was giving you credit for. But you’ll think of something. It’s what you do. Go run around in the imagination for a while, beat up the dragon witch, I dunno.” Virgil replied, reaching up to push back his hair, grazing Roman’s arm with his own as he did so.

         Worries. Nothing he did was original anymore, was showstopping, amazing, attention getting. It was only a matter of time before everyone found out he was a fraud, before he ran out of ideas permanently, and then Thomas’s career would be over. He’d have ruined it for all them, for Thomas, let them all down. Or worse, he’d be deposed by Remus. Thomas’s content would turn into a dumpster fire and all of his loving fans would turn against him, the backlash would be on national TV, he’d be the laughing stock of the entire internet, no one would care about him anymore. And he’d be powerless to do anything about it, because deep down, he was just a faker. He was nothing, nothing at all.

         Virgil barely registered Roman’s rushed farewell as he hurried off to his room, alight with some new idea he needed to start sketching out before he lost it. Virgil flipped his hood up, looking at his arm. It took the darkness longer to fade this time, and he didn’t know why. It had never felt like this before, so overwhelming, so built up. He drew in a breath, trying to contain his own spiraling thoughts.

         It had to be something to do with being originally a “dark side” now living in the “light side”. It had to be something to do with the others. Deceit, if he had to place his bets. Because of him, he was so full on his own personal stress and worry that it was harder and took longer to absorb the other’s. But he had to. If they wanted to get anything done, he had to. He could handle it. He always had, anyways.

           It was dark. Whispers chased him through twisting corridors, faint voices that whispered he was worthless, he’d never be forgiven, he was unworthy of their love, he was a liar and a fraud and a cheat. He ran faster, trying to outrun those words, trying to scream, to say it wasn’t true, but his words caught in his throat until he choked on them, falling to his knees, unable to breath. The whispers buzzed around his head, burrowed into his skin, each one biting deeper than the last until there was nothing of him left and he dissolved into a shadow. Desperatly, he tried to reach the others, but they couldn’t seem to hear him.

         He watched them wait for him for breakfast, only for him to never arrive. Saw them knock on his door with worry, force it open to find no sign of him. He saw Patton crying, sitting on his bed, hugging tight the card Virgil had once made for him. He tried to reach out, to comfort him, but the scene burned away, flaking away like ash, leaving him once again in suffocating darkness, knowing there was nothing, nothing he could do.

         He jolted awake to a knock at his door, breathing heavy and panicked, unsure for a moment where he was.

         “Virgil? May I speak with you?” It was Logan. He furrowed his brow, looking at the clock beside his bed. It was early, seven am, but Logan was usually an early riser. Then he looked down, biting back a yelp.

         His arms were covered in inky shadows, no doubt the result of his nightmare. It looked almost like his skin was luminescent with darkness, like he was becoming a shadow himself. His breath hitched again at the thought. What if his nightmare was a warning? What if he was going to fade away and only be able to watch as everything fell apart, and no one would be able to keep Thomas safe anymore, and he’d no doubt do something stupid and get himself killed.

         Or worse, selfishly worse, what if nothing changed? What if Thomas was happier, what if he was more productive? What if he got videos done on schedule and came up with innovative ideas and found someone good to love, because all this time he had only been standing in Thomas’s way, and they’d all been too blind to see it?

         “Virgil?” He barely heard Logan’s voice anymore. His airway was constricted, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. The room was swirling, closing in around him, and he didn’t have any space, any air, there wasn’t any room, any light, any sound…

         “Stop it.” He whispered, the buzzing words swirling around him, eating away at him. He covered his ears, tears tracking down his face as they grew louder and louder, drowning him out. Coward, useless, stupid, foolish, childish, dreamer, idiot…

         “STOP IT!” He shouted, and suddenly the whispers ceased, the darkness vanished from his skin, the room expanded and it was blessedly silent. He collapsed against the bed, curling into himself, unable to stop shaking. It was so much, when had it all become so much? How did he ever do this without any problem? This was his job, it was what he was made for, made of, why was it hurting so much now?

         “Virgil. Please. Please just… just open the door.” Logan’s voice was steady as ever, but something about it, the tone, the octave, made Virgil listen without registering what he was doing, and his door clicked open.

         He heard footsteps, slow and soft, like Logan was afraid of scaring him away, like he was a startled deer ready to bolt at any moment. He felt the bed shift beside him, felt Logan’s weight on it.

         “You’re not feeling well.” It wasn’t a question, and Virgil didn’t bother answering, no point in denying it. Then Logan reached out.

         “Don’t-“ He yelped, trying to pull back, but Logan had already grabbed hold of his wrist. As he watched, it turned almost translucent, revealing the shadows swirling around inside, thick and viscous, like a combination of oil and smog roiling beneath his skin. He heard Logan inhale sharply, felt his eyes on him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up. To see the disgust and fear and pity on his face, to see him recoil now that he’d seen what lay beneath the surface, now that he knew what he really was.

         “I thought so.” Was what he mused instead. Virgil’s head jerked up, looking at Logan, who was staring into the distance, as if calculating something in his head. “How long have you been using this ability?” He asked. Virgil hunched his shoulders, hugging his knees to his chest.

         “What ability?” He muttered. He felt Logan’s stern gaze on him again, then heard him sigh.

         “I noticed you doing it to Patton the other night. You touched his hand, then he became noticeably more… well, cheery. And Roman, the other day. He’d had writers block for hours, then two minutes with you and he’s writing up a storm. I’ve noticed other times, too, where short interactions with you suddenly leave one of the others more lighthearted and you more downcast, especially and concerningly so as of late. So, I will ask again. How long have you been using this ability?” Virgil bit his lip, hesitating, before shrugging.

         “Always. I’ve always had it. Always used it, even when I was... was one of Them. Makes sense, right? Anxiety can absorb other Sides’ anxieties. Makes it easier for everyone to function, doesn’t impede me doing my job. After a while it just, I dunno, fades away from me.” He replied.

         “But now it isn’t, is it? Instead of gradually fading away, it is instead accumulating to previously unforeseen levels, perhaps dangerously so and to your detriment.”

         “I’m fine, teach. Just some added worries. Nothing I can’t handle.” Virgil replied, giving Logan a smile, stretching. Logan simply frowned.

         “You’re not fine, Virg. I could feel you, the whole mindscape could. You’ve never felt like that, not even during a panic attack. This, what you’re doing, I don’t know why it’s hurting you this way now, when it wasn’t before, but you need to stop using it, at least until we can figure out why.” Virgil looked like he was going to argue for a moment, but then he deflated, seeming to sink into himself.

         “then what good am I? If I can’t even do my job, what’s the point?” He whispered, voice shaking.

         “Oh Virgil. This isn’t your job. It’s not your job to take away everyone else’s worries, it’s not your job to put all of that on yourself, it’s not your job to keep it all inside you until you fall apart and your emotional well being is compromised. Your job is to keep Thomas safe, and doing what he needs to, in order to survive.”

         Then Logan was suddenly hugging him. He blinked in surprise before leaning into it, letting all his own stress cry itself dry. Virgil was too preoccupied to notice, but Logan wasn’t, as he watched some of the darkness swirling inside Virgil slip onto his own skin, and sink into it. He felt a bit heavier, a bit more stressed for no particular reason than usual, but it wasn’t cumbersome, and it wasn’t a hinderance to his function.

         He realized that just as Virgil could siphon away other’s stresses and worries, he too, could siphon away some of Virgil’s. He wondered if all of the others could do it. It made sense, that it would work both ways. He supposed it would naturally fade away over time, but that it faded faster the less there was, just as worries, once stacked on top of each other, lingered longer than if they had been one single thought.

         He ran the calculations in his mind. He could take a bit from Virgil, make sure it dissipated fully, then take some more, and soon he would be back to normal levels. As long as he monitored the situation, and started easing some of the added worry before it built up to such high levels again, it shouldn’t affect either of them. He would have to be discreet, of course, just as Virgil didn’t want anyone to know he was siphoning away their anxieties, Virgil wouldn’t approve of Logan taking away his.

         “It’s ok, Virgil. It’s ok.” Logan whispered, hesitantly stroking Virgil’s hair as he rocked him. He generally wasn’t the one dealing with emotions, and was slightly out of practice in comforting people, but his efforts seemed to be working as Virgil’s sobs slowly came to a halt, and he drew away, wiping his eyes.

         “I don’t know why it’s so much. Why it… it hurts, so much. It’s never been like this before, never. Something must be wrong with me, something isn’t working right.” Virgil rambled, wiping his nose on his sweater sleeve.

         “Just take a break from using it for a while, alright? You have so much accumulated right now, it just needs more time to break down. Don’t use it for, let’s say a week, and then we’ll see how you feel. As long as you are honest with me about the state of the build up. Ok?” Logan asked, Virgil meeting his eyes as he nodded.

         “Ok teach.” Logan smiled softly.

         “good. Now, do you want to try and get some more rest, or do you want to come help with breakfast?” Virgil smiled wryly.

         “I think sleep is out of the question. Might as well make sure the kitchen doesn’t go down in flames.” They made small talk the rest of the morning as they cooked, the repetitive pattern of it soothing Virgil’s mind somewhat, letting him relax without realizing it, making Logan sigh with relief.

         It seemed he’d managed to get this power of Virgil’s under control once again. But that begged the question, if it had been previously under control, who had been siphoning away the stress from Virgil? Certainly not Remus. So, it must have been… Deceit?

Not for the first time, Logan wondered how close Virgil had been with the others before moving to the other side of the mindscape. Close enough that small touches of affection were acceptable, if Deceit truly had been managing Virgil’s skill. Yet Virgil seemed to hate him so vehemently now. He sighed, flipping pancakes. That was a mystery for another day.

[wolfess19]

Beach Ritual

[Disclaimer: Obey Me! is copyright of NTT Solmare - I do not own anything other than the story created below]

“Feels good to be back in the Human World, isn’t it?”

You turn your head to Lucifer and smile. “I still can’t believe you actually convinced Lord Diavolo to let us spend the weekend here,” you said as you looked out at the lapping waves in the distance, “It’s been so long since my last beach visit.”

“Not just any beach, mind you,” he reminded, waving his hand towards the luxury resort behind you, “I believe it’s only fair we relax in style.”

You couldn’t agree more – these past few weeks in the Devildom as one of the human exchange students could get tiring at times, and this isn’t from making sure you aren’t another demon’s next meal. The resort before you is massive – palm trees swaying gently in the sea breeze as they lean in slight angles on fine, golden sand; little bamboo huts topped with straw roofs dotted the shore, providing shade for those who do not wish to spend too much time in the sun; lounge chairs close by for those who would be in the open, large parasols either open or closed depending on who would prefer to sunbathe. Behind this beach are a row of white buildings lined up along a marble catwalk – condominiums with balconies on the top floors as well as a shaded roof for those who’d prefer a panoramic view of the location.

“Well, we’re not going to stand here all day,” Lucifer reminded, “Let’s settle in.” You nodded and picked up your luggage as you walked over to one of the condominiums. Almost immediately the sound of two of the brothers could be heard as you opened the door.

“As the second eldest, I believe I should get the fancy room with a balcony overlooking the beach!”

“That’s not fair, I got to this room first!”

You and Lucifer shared a sigh as Mammon and Levi argued on who gets to have one of the rooms on the second floor. “Should we try to break up the argument or...” you trailed off, seeing Leviathan eventually give up and head to another room instead, “Never mind.”

You padded up the stairs with Lucifer – personally you’d also like a room with a balcony, but having just a beach view from your window is perfectly fine. You had just started to change out of your jeans and blouse when your door burst open. “Hey, MC! Let’s – GAH!!” Mammon started before turning around abruptly, hiding the blush from his face, “Sorry!!”

“Couldn’t you knock first?!” you scolded as you stood half-naked by your bed. “R-Right, I’ll just...wait outside,” he stuttered as he closed the door, thankful Lucifer isn’t standing nearby to see this. “What do want anyway?” you asked as you picked out a change of clothes from your bag. “Well, I was thinking...uh...” he replied, still flustered from seconds ago, “You know what, I think I’ll ask later.”

“You just walked in on them mid-change, didn’t you?” Leviathan teased, laughing as Mammon blushed harder. “We just got here and already you two are being troublesome,” Lucifer growled, though secretly amused at Mammon’s embarrassment. “It’s fine,” you assured, “He probably got too excited anyway.”

You opened the door to find they’ve all changed into their beach attire. Mammon has on a simple black-and-white tank top over loose black shorts with gold palm tree silhouettes; Leviathan wore a multi-shade blue muscle shirt over Goku-inspired beach shorts. Lucifer, being modest as always, decided to wear a crimson-and-black Hawaiian button down over loose black beach pants; the buttons on his blouse were half-open, revealing a hint of his bare chest underneath.

You decided to go with [choice of top] and [choice of bottom] in your favorite color(s). “I feel under-dressed compared to you guys,” you giggled. “Don’t be silly, you look good!” Mammon assured, “Not as good as me, though!”

“Seriously, stop hogging all the attention...” Levi muttered, “Any more of that and you might as well be Asmo right now.”

“Did someone call my name?” a voice floated from the first floor. You looked down over the stair railing to see Asmodeus smiling up at you. He’s already changed into a dusty pink loose top over black-and-pink Hawaiian shorts. “Beel’s already started cooking breakfast, so I thought I should call you over while it’s still hot.”

You were already rushing down the stairs as he was speaking, knowing Beelzebub would most likely already start chowing down before anyone came over.; followed him to the condominium next door. The fresh smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the air, combined with a meaty note of handmade burger patties as they sizzled in a pan. “Could someone go ahead and wake Belphie up?” Beel asked, knowing his twin had already decided to take a quick nap in his room upon arrival, “I’m almost done cooking.”

“I got him,” you offered as you headed upstairs to Belphie’s room, finding him asleep in the middle of unpacking his luggage. You gently nudged his shoulder until his violet eyes opened. “Oh...morning, MC...” he greeted sleepily, “I meant to get changed, but this bed looks so soft – I couldn’t help myself.”

“Well, get up and get changed already,” you giggled, “Breakfast is ready downstairs.” He nodded and sat up, yawning loudly as you left his room. You headed back down just in time to catch Beelzebub serving stacks of pancakes on a large plate. “Need some help?” you offered as he started carrying them to the table. “Sure, you could grab the other stack on the counter,” he replied. You looked back at the tall pile of pancakes before carefully lifting the plate; walked slowly to avoiding dropping anything.

Breakfast time is conversational as usual, though minus anything to do with RAD as per Lucifer’s request – he admitted that while he didn’t mind handling Student Council matters, it actually feels nice to not do any work for a change. “You’re telling me! Sure is refreshing to see you finally chilling with all of us,” Mammon agreed. “Kind of rare to see you all-relaxed and stuff,” Levi joined in. “Oh please,” Lucifer snickered, “I’m not always that busy.”

“Sorry we’re late!” Satan apologized as he showed up with Belphegor, “I got distracted by a new book I got.” The former had gotten into a Cuban blouse over matching pants, while the latter decided to wear a loose multi-shade indigo shirt over navy blue beach shorts; carrying his pillow as always.

After breakfast was over and all the dishes cleaned up, Mammon decided to head out to the beach to catch some surf and sun. “MC, you can come with if you wanna snap pics of me on the waves!” he offered. “If anyone’s asking for pictures to be taken, that’d be me...” Asmodeus countered, “After all, I’m the best-looking one here.”

“Wait, are we actually going outside?” Leviathan asked, “Like outside-outside under the sun and feet on the sand?”

“There’s nobody else but us in this resort,” Lucifer replied, “I made sure to book this weekend just for ourselves.” His assurance calmed him down. “I got the ice cream!” Beelzebub called out as you all head out of the condominium, balancing the tubs in one arm and carrying a sleeping Belphegor on the other. “How does he keep falling asleep most days...” Satan sighed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lucifer and Satan relaxed on a couple of lounge chairs, one reading a book and the other napping with sunglasses over his eyes. “Alright, surf’s up!” Mammon called as he ran towards the shore carrying his surfboard, “MC, make sure you got your D.D.D. up taking a video!”

“Already am!!” you called back as you ran after him, “Go catch that wave!!” Leviathan sat in one of the nearby bamboo huts already gaming away, headphones blaring music loud enough for anyone near him to hear it. Asmodeus settled in another, licking a Popsicle Beelzebub handed him to combat the heat. Belphegor eventually woke and looked up from his pillow to see you standing on the shore, water lapping your knees.

Mammon pulled himself further into sea before standing up on his surfboard as the wave began to build up. “Watch this! The Great Mammon is gonna ride the biggest wave of all -!” he boasted before he slipped, yelping as he splashed backwards into the water as his balance gave out. “Instant Wipe Out!!” Leviathan called out, pausing his game just to laugh hard, “Lol, you suck!”

You couldn’t help laughing yourself as Mammon dragged himself out of the water, soaked head to toe making his clothes cling to his muscular body. “Sh-Shut up, I slipped...” he argued, unable to fight a blush forming on his face. You were about to say something to him when something on the water caught your attention.

It was far off, but you could see a boat – a catamaran, to be specific. White sails trimmed with blue and purple lines catching the wind as it floated gracefully on the waves; the boat’s body had a name painted on the side. A name that you barely remember -

“MC?”

Mammon’s voice snapped you back to reality. “You okay? You were staring off into nothing for a few seconds.”

“I saw a boat...” you trailed off as you looked back at the water, noticing the catamaran was gone. “A boat?” Mammon asked, “But there’s nothing out there – maybe the heat’s getting to you.” You felt him pull you away to seat you under some shade; left to grab some ice cream to cool you both.

‘I know I saw it...’ you thought, ‘But where did it go?’

Mammon caught you staring out the sea again, this time deep in thought. “MC, are you okay?” he asked, concern laced in his voice. You turned to him and smiled. “I’m peachy!” you replied, “You’re right, I’m probably just seeing things.”

He chuckled and handed you your ice cream before sitting and eating his ice cream next to yours. You were staring off again after a while, this time worrying him. “I’m alright, really...” you assured, unaware Lucifer woke up hearing your voice shake for a second. “You could head inside for a bit,” the eldest brother suggested, “I understand not all humans could handle the heat.”

You decided not to argue and headed back to the condominium on your own, unaware the rest of the brothers are now getting more than concerned for you. “I don’t think it’s the heat getting to them...” Satan spoke.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That night, you were strangely silent during dinner. “MC, is something wrong?” Leviathan asked, “You were all smiles earlier today and now you seem...down.” You put on your best smile and assure him that you’re just tired. “In fact, I think I’ll just go to bed,” you added before excusing yourself. Mammon was about to follow you but got stopped by Asmodeus, the latter shaking his head.

As soon as you closed the door to your room, the pain in your chest grew heavier. You recognize that boat. You remember all the memories you had about it. Memories that you decided to bury in the deep corners of your mind. “Hey, MC?” Belphegor called from the other side of the door, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine...” you replied, quickly wiping away any tears as he let himself in. He found you seated on your bed staring out the window; sat close and gently draped his arm around you. “Were you crying? Your eyes look puffy...” he pointed out. “Just something in my eye – probably some sand or an eyelash,” you answered.

He decided not to push you any further and planted a kiss on your forehead. “Alright, just holler out if you need company,” he said before getting up. “Thanks...” you whispered as he left.

Sleep was the last thing on your mind, however. So as soon as you felt the brothers had turned in for the night, you quietly left your room and silently padded down the stairs, taking care not to make the door squeak as you headed out. You then made your way back to the beach, the cool night air feeling refreshing on your skin as the salty sea air hit your nostrils. You eventually reached the shore and stood silently, eyes scanning the horizon hoping you’d see that white catamaran again.

“...where are you...” you asked no one in particular.

“Who are you talking to?” a familiar voice asked from behind you. You gasped and saw Lucifer standing a short distance away from you. Besides the fact he looks tired from getting up this late, there was also a hint of worry behind those crimson eyes. “As for why am I out here, I heard you sneaking out,” he explained, “So you can either explain what happened to your mood earlier this afternoon, or I could make you talk.”

You sighed and looked back towards the sea. “There is a reason why I haven’t been to the beach in a long time,” you started, “But I doubt you’d be interested to hear me out.”

“Try me,” he countered, seeing you reveal a small glass bottle with a rolled up piece of paper inside. “When I was a kid, the only family I had was my father...” you began

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You were 10 years old.

You and your father were preparing for another fishing trip for the weekend; loading up supplies on his white catamaran, Angelus Gloria. The weather station said there was gonna be a storm coming in, but neither of you paid any attention as you were both risk takers. “Do you think we’d get a huge catch this time?” you asked as you jumped onto the deck. “We’ll see, kiddo!” he replied, untying the boat from the harbor as you began to set sail.

Unfortunately the storm was much worse that you anticipated. “Hang on!!” he called out as the catamaran rocked and swayed precariously on the rough seas. You couldn’t tell which was louder: your screaming or the boat suddenly splitting apart from being tossed onto some rocks.

The next thing you knew you were tossed overboard, body hitting the freezing cold water hard. Luckily you could swim and immediately grabbed onto the first floating item your hands brushed against – an inflatable raft that your father had hastily prepared moments ago. You climbed in and clung for your life, calling out for your father as thunder clapped overhead. “Dad!!” you screamed, tears mixing with the salt water splashing around you. You eventually exhausted yourself and passed out, curled up alone on the raft.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I was eventually rescued the next morning,” you continued, “But when I told the coast guard that my father could still be out there, they told me they couldn’t find any trace of that boat.”

“Earlier today, Mammon told me that you claimed to see a boat on the water,” Lucifer pointed out, “Was that it?”

You nodded. “I remember those sails; I remember what she looked like,” you explained, “So when I saw her, I thought my father has finally come back.” Tears began to form but you quickly wiped them before they could fall. “But it couldn’t be for real, right? I know the boat was destroyed during that storm, but a part of me kept wishing that somewhere out there my father is still alive; just taking his time to return to me.”

You looked down at the tiny message bottle in your hands. “Since then, whenever I was at a beach I’d stand at the shore; stare out all night hoping to see those beautiful sails.” You forced yourself a smile, but almost immediately felt it turn into a frown. “And every night, I’d prepare a bottled message and send it out to the ocean, hoping he’d at least find one and learn I’m still waiting.”

Lucifer quietly walked closer and gently hugged you from behind. You couldn’t hold back anymore and let the tears out, sobbing and sniffling before falling to your knees; he didn’t miss a beat and fell with you, holding you tighter. “It’s alright, let it out...” he whispered, slowly turning you towards himself to comfort you.

“I’m sorry...” you whimpered, “I didn’t want you to see me like this...”

“You shouldn’t be bottling up your emotions,” he countered, stroking your back; assured you he doesn’t mind you crying into his chest. He stayed in that position until you calmed down; gently wiped away your tears. “Feeling better?” he asked.

You nodded; standing back up with him as you clutched the bottle to your chest. “Hey Dad...” you started, “Sorry I haven’t been around for a long time, but...I just needed space. I just hope my message reaches you, wherever you are.” You then stepped out further, the water lapping around your ankles as you crouched and released the bottle; watched it float away with the tide. “I just hope one day...” you continued, “We’d meet again – even if it’s in another life.”

As soon as the bottle disappeared into the horizon, you let Lucifer lead you back inside; allowed him to tuck you back into bed before retiring to his room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“You’re all smiles again today,” Leviathan pointed out as you helped him cook breakfast, “Did something happen?”

You giggled and smiled. “Nothing for you to worry about,” you assured as you served up some french toast. “Well, at least you’re back to normal,” Mammon laughed as he poured himself some coffee, “Just don’t get us all worried again – especially me!”

“Must it always be about you?” Asmodeus chimed in, “But I agree – you’re looking much better today, MC.”

“I think we should have a barbecue lunch by the beach today,” Satan suggested, “The weather’s nice out and you don’t get this back in Devildom, so wouldn’t it be a waste if we don’t get to experience that?”

“I feel more like going for a swim,” Beelzebub agreed, “But sure, an outdoor barbecue will beat that any day.”

“You and your love of food...” Belphegor chuckled, “Keep at it and I may get as hungry as you!”

Lucifer nodded in agreement, but secretly still a bit concerned in regards to what happened last night. It was confirmed when you all then headed out and he caught you staring out at the ocean again...but this time with a smile.

Maybe this little beach vacation wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[longhornmarley]

A Night In || Roseberry

Who: Marley Rose & Rachel Berry

Where: Waxahachie, Texas, hotel room

When: April 17th, 2020

Notes: After getting to the hotel, Marley and Rachel spend some time together and get emotional.

MARLEY

Since the moment she found out she was pregnant, Marley had barely talked. She smiled when she was just being polite and the whole trip had her using her headphones and listening to music. She kept just thinking about the baby and Finn and Rachel. It was all so crazy and she couldn't believe it was happening. She wanted to just stay at the dorm, but couldn't come up with a good reason to so she came. 

 Once they got to the hotel, she went with Rachel to check in before going to the room and just getting on her pajamas. She kept the headphones in her ears as she got under the covers and laid there for a bit. She didn't know what to do or say. Soon, she got hungry and was craving pizza. She bit her lip before stopping her music and getting up to talk to Rachel for really the first time all afternoon.  "Um, are you hungry? I was thinking of ordering pizza." She said quietly and played with her hands nervously.

RACHEL

Marley had been acting strange all afternoon and Rachel didn't like it, one bit. She wanted to make her feel better but she didn't know exactly how to do that if she didn't know what was going on. But they had went together to the Faire and checked into the hotel room.  Marley had been in her bed for most of the day and Rachel had spent the time doing her homework and studying so she could really spend her time with Finn this weekend without worrying about anything else.  Finn.  Just thinking his name right now made butterflies flutter crazily in the pit of her stomach. She really liked him.  Really wanted to see where things could go with him.  She could definitely see a future with Finn...maybe even the whole thing.  She had been playing a game on her phone when Marley finally spoke and she smiled brightly at her fellow brunette.  "I'd love to!"

MARLEY

She gave the other a small smile and sat down near her. "Is pepperoni, pineapple, and green peppers okay? I... I feel like that." She said a little louder than the first question and avoided using the word 'craving' in her sentence. She didn't want any hints of pregnancy in the room right now. "Maybe some breadsticks?" She suggested as she pulled out her phone and looked up the closest pizza place to order online from.

RACHEL

Rachel nodded. "Yea I could be down for that" she said with a smile as she looked over at Marley. "Will you order some Sprite too?" she asked putting her phone down, pulling her knees up to her chest in the chair.  "I brought some face masks we could do while we wait for it to come?"

MARLEY

Sprite. That actually sounded good. And maybe it would help the morning sickness she was feeling. She really hated that it was called that. She nodded as she put in the order and the information for what room number and the payment before tossing her phone onto her bed and looked over at Rachel. "Sure. That sounds nice." She couldn't avoid her the whole trip. And she didn't want to. Rachel was her best friend and this felt normal. She needed that right now.

RACHEL

Rachel smiled and clapped her hands going to her bag to pull out an array of sheet masks and a couple jade rollers.  "Pick your poison" she said with a grin. "I want to make sure I look good tomorrow so that way all the regulars are jealous" she teased with a laugh

MARLEY

She watched as her roommate pulled out all sorts of things. If it wasn't for Rachel, she wouldn't have any kind of skincare routine or even know what the rollers were. Her face fell a little about the talk of the weekend to come and she nodded. "That won't be hard. You're beautiful." She assured her before grabbing whichever mask was closest to her. "And Finn is going to love seeing you all dressed up."

RACHEL

Rachel looked between all the masks trying to decide which mask she wanted to use. When she had decided she opened it, putting it on smoothing it over her skin.  "Stop that..." she said giving a shake of her head to her friend.  "You're beautiful too and this is going to be a great weekend...we'll have to go shopping at some of the booths" Rachel said with a grin, glad that the mask covered the blush that covered her cheeks

MARLEY

She opened up her mask and started putting it on as well. They always felt so nice and cool on her skin. After her day, she needed this. "It's true. Trust me." She said and threw the trash away. "We will. I'm not doing much this weekend. I have a plan with Sam, but otherwise, nothing. That's if you have time, though. You don't have to make time with me." She told her just like she told Finn when he said he wanted to spend time with her this weekend.

RACHEL

"Of course I want to spend time with you Mars Bars," she said with a smile. She sat on her bed and started to use the roller on her skin, enjoying the feel of it pushing the serum in the mask into her face.  "What are you and Sam gonna do?"

MARLEY

She smiled a little at the nickname the brunette used for her and slowly started to use a roller herself. "Well, I'm free whenever you are." She didn't want to refuse. She had to act like nothing was bothering her. "We have plans to learn court dancing. I'm not too sure I want to do that still, but I don't want to cancel plans with him."

RACHEL

"oh my god, that sounds like so much fun!" Rachel said with a smile.  "I want to do that too!" she said with a put on whine laughing as she did so. "I think we need to buy all the things at all the booths and get everything out of this...we deserve it"

MARLEY

Marley was glad she couldn't see her alarmed face before nodding. "Yeah. I'm sure it's going to be great. You and Finn should check it out." She suggested, but regretted immediately. "Maybe. We'll see what they have going on." She said. "But it'll be worth it to see."

RACHEL

Rachel laughed and shook her head.  "I don't think that's Finn's thing..." she said with a shrug.  There was a knock on the door and she went over to the door to get their order, giving the delivery boy a 20 before turning and holding the boxes up to show Marley.  "We have been delivered" she teased, putting the boxes down. She went about taking her mask off, and rubbing the excess serum into her face before going to wash her hands.

MARLEY

"I'm sure he'll do it for you." She commented and watched as Rachel opened the door and got the food. She stood up and started taking off the mask and such as well. "Have you guys discussed what you'll be doing while at the fair?"

RACHEL

"I believe that we're going to go to the jousting tournament...he talked about wanting to go to the haunted house," Rachel scrunched her nose. "I think I'm going to end up Shaggying him but if that's what he wants to do why not" she said with a shrug.  "I mean it won't kill me right?"

MARLEY

"Oh, I can see him liking both of those. He seems like the type." She commented before washing her hands and going back to get some pizza. "I'm sure that's why he would want to go." She said and took a bite of the pizza. Exactly what she wanted.

RACHEL

Rachel took a piece of the pizza taking a bite. "Maybe..." she said, covering her mouth as she chewed.  "I'm excited to go though cause I've never been to something like this"

MARLEY

She nodded. "Neither have I. It seems fun. Part of me wishes we did this a different weekend, but it was nice for us to get this chance to have a little break." She took a breath. "I noticed everyone got outfits. I wish I had done the same, but I'll be fine."

RACHEL

"I totally understand" she said with a nod. "I wasn't sure about it either but when Finn asked me to come I figured I could give it a go...I mean...I really like him...like a lot...and I'm scared, but I'm really willing to try you know?" she asked. "We can go early and get you something at the faire!"

MARLEY

It was getting harder to keep bringing up Finn. She took another bite if the pizza to hide her frown and took a breath. "Why are you scared?" She asked curiously before shaking her head. "No. I'll be fine. Besides, Sam and I are going from the bus to the dancing." She explained.

RACHEL

"I mean what if he's the one?" she asked licking her lips.  "Like I know that's silly cause we haven't started dating dating...but this isn't like being in high school you know?  This could be forever...and what if we aren't and I lose him? It's scary...but it's this scary that I want to go for...Like I feel like I would regret if I didn't try" she shook her head.  "That's dumb though...But you and Sam are going to have an absolute blast"

MARLEY

Suddenly, Marley felt sick. More sick than before and she honestly thought she was going to lose it. Rachel felt this serious about Finn and here Marley was pregnant with his child. This could ruin their relationship and what kind of person was that going to make her? She felt a tear come to her eye and quickly wiped it away. "It's not dumb. It's something I think about too sometimes. Not about Finn, but in general." She lied of course but there was more than one guy she had to think about. More than just herself. "Its normal. But you have to try or not trying will be worse."

RACHEL

Rachel sighed and nodded, opening a can of the Sprite that had been delivered and took a sip.  "I know...and I'm trying so hard to do that...to do the not thinking thing about it, because it could all be nothing you know?" she asked looking over at her.  "I could just be seeing something like this cause I dream of my own Disney movie love" she teased with a laugh.

MARLEY

Marley nodded and sighed. "I think we all do that. Girls at least. We all dream about fairytale love and when it doesn't turn out, we break." She shook her head and finished off her slice if pizza. "I wouldn't worry about Finn, though. You two are kinda perfect for each other."

RACHEL

Rachel blushed and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I don't know...but I know that I like what we're doing right now and I'm glad to see where it goes...whatever that may mean in the end is...what it is" she said trying to be as calm as she could be.

MARLEY

Part of her wanted to run and lock herself in the bathroom to cry. Or puke. Or both. It was all becoming too much, but she had to be calm. "That's all you can do, I guess." She said and looked down at the floor while fighting her emotions.

RACHEL

"Are you okay Mars?" she asked biting her lip.  "You look a little green around the gils"

MARLEY

That was one way to put it. She was definitely not okay, but what could she say? She was going to have a baby with the man her best friend might consider being the one? How well was that going to go down? Besides, she told herself she wasn't going to ruin their weekend. She wanted to give them that. "Yeah. Just that bug still bothering me. Maybe pizza wasn't the best idea." She lied.

RACHEL

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, quickly boxing everything up to put into the small fridge to try to get the smell out of the room.  She went over to pull open the window to get some fresh air.  "I should have realized you wouldn't be completely up to this yet...Do you need anything?"

MARLEY

She watched as Rach hurried about to clean up and try to get the smell out. She was truly the best person Marley knew. Along with Finn. And she was going to hurt them. "No, it was my idea. I wanted it, but I guess it didnt agree." She looked at her. "Just a Sprite. It should calm me, right?"

RACHEL

"Totally" Rachel said grabbing a can and taking it over to her.  "Here...drink this and lay back"

MARLEY

"Thank you." She said and opened it before relaxing back on her bed. "Rach, I just want to say I appreciate you. You... you're truly the best friend I have." Tears lined her eyes and she bit her lip.

RACHEL

Rachel smiled at Marley and squeezed her hand.  "You're mine...no matter what, we're sisters and we stick together for forever" she said holding her pinky up to the brunette.  "I don't know if you know this, but pinky promises are the most important form of contract in the world...you can't go back on a pinky swear"

MARLEY

She smiled a little and locked her pinky with Rachel's. "Good. Because I wouldn't want to go back on this." She said honestly and wiped her eyes.

RACHEL

"Good...it's agreed...we're sisters for life" she said with a shrug and smile at her

MARLEY

She nodded. "For life." She echoed and took another sip of the Sprite. This was really a mess she got herself into and she hated that she may lose Rachel because of it.

RACHEL

Rachel smiled and turned to go grab her own sprite before sitting on her bed. "Hey Mars..." she said to the brunette.

MARLEY

Marley looked over at Rachel. "Yeah?" She asked and played with her can.

RACHEL

"I hope you're happy...really happy...with whatever it is you want out of life..."she murmured. "Like I hope your dreams are better than mine...."

MARLEY

She thought about what the other girl had said. She was confused now, yes, and didn't know where here dreams were now, but was she happy? That was still unknown. "I don't think we can compare that, but I'm sure you will get yours, Rach."

RACHEL

"Yea...but I hope you get yours"

MARLEY

She nodded. "I hope so too. Even if things are changing." She sighed and still looked at Rachel. "Is everything okay?"

RACHEL

"Things always change...that's the good thing about life..." she said with a shrug. "Yea, I'm okay...I guess...things just seem off and I don't know if its just me feeling something that isn't real, but I guess I just worry that...I don't know" she murmured, looking at her hands

MARLEY

She let out a little laugh and nodded. Good thing was questionable at this point. "I guess." She sighed. "You can talk to me. About anything." She sat up. "What's bothering you?"

RACHEL

Rachel shook her head. How could she talk about the fact that she felt like Marley was pulling away from her? And that sounded like Rachel thought she owned Marley and she didn't.  "Did I tell you...Dad thinks he found the perfect loft for us to buy"

MARLEY

She was concerned. She wanted to know what was going on, but didn't want to push. She couldn't do that right now. Her face fell at that. She forgot they agreed to live together for the summer with everything going on. Would she still want to when she found out about Marley's condition? "R-really? Where?"

RACHEL

"Downtown!" Rachel said, happy to have something else to talk about. "It's this beautiful building and Dad's going to actually buy it...he said its really nice and that it's bright and airy"

MARLEY

"Buy it? So it'll be like permanently ours? Well yours?" She asked and felt pale again. "I can't wait to see it." She forced a smile.

RACHEL

"Dad loves buying real estate...Daddy says he's always been like that," she said with a shrug. "Its ours Mars Bars...it's going to be your home too"

MARLEY

"That's great." She said and couldn't help but smile and she moved to hug Rachel. She felt tears start to go down her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut as she hugged her. "Thank you." She said softly and held in a sob.

RACHEL

Rachel wrapped her arms around the brunette, feeling the tension in her body.  "Marley, what's wrong?" she asked, not letting her go

MARLEY

She shook her head and the sob she was holding back came out anyways. "Nothing." She lied as she held Rachel tighter. She wanted to tell her. She wanted someone to know, but now wasn't the time. She just felt like she was breaking right now.

RACHEL

"Marley," she said pulling back to look at her.  "That's not true...What happened, who do I have to murder?"

MARLEY

She looked at her and shook her head. "No one. It's really nothing. I'm just having a hard day." She said and cried harder.

RACHEL

Rachel pulled her back into another hug, squeezing her closer to her.

MARLEY

She held her tight and just cried. She didn't know how much she needed to just let go until right then. It was coming out and she didn't try to stop it.

RACHEL

Rachel smoothed her hand up and down Marley's back just wanting to help her best friend feel better

MARLEY

It was several minutes before she started to calm. She took a deep breath and let go of Rach before wiping her cheeks. "I'm sorry." She apologized.

RACHEL

"Don't be...tell me what's going on"

MARLEY

She shook her head. "Its nothing." She said again. "This week.... month has been so crazy. Everything feels different and scary and I'm so tired, Rach." She said and took a shaky breath in.

RACHEL

"How can I help? There has to be something I can do to help lighten the load"

MARLEY

"There's not. I have to deal with it myself, you know? But it's so hard." She sighed and wiped her eyes again.

RACHEL

"Why do you have to do it alone?"

MARLEY

"Because I got into this mess myself." She explained. "I did this and it's going to effect so many people." She closed her eyes and shook her head.

RACHEL

“I can’t imagine you did anything with the intent to hurt anyone!

MARLEY

She took a breath. "I didn't mean to, you're right. But it's going to happen." She said. "I don't know what to do."

RACHEL

“Let me help you. That’s what you’re going to do”

MARLEY

She looked at Rachel. "I can't. I can't ask you to help me. It's too much."

RACHEL

“No it isn’t” Rachel said fiercely.

MARLEY

"It is. You've already been so nice to me. I can't do that to you." She swallowed. "Can we stop talking about it?"

RACHEL

Rachel bit her lip and frowned but nodded. “Okay...”she murmured.

MARLEY

She moved back to her bed and bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I... I'll tell you when it calms down, okay? You'll find out anyways, but not now."

RACHEL

“Sure Marls...whatever you need” she said softly.

MARLEY

She nodded and didn't say anything else. What else was there to say other than the truth? She would tell her within the next week, but Finn had to be first. That's how it had to be.

RACHEL

Rachel sat there in silence for a moment before sliding under the covers of her bed and laying down.

MARLEY

She hated doing this to Rachel, but knew it was better for now. Or was it? She reached over and turned off the light before laying down herself.

RACHEL

Rachel let out a small sigh rolling to her side away from Marley. “Goodnight Marley...”she whispered.

MARLEY

"Night." She said and closed her eyes tightly.

[sergeant-shorty]

My Generation

Requested by: @little-moonbeam-666

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

Word count: 1500+

Warnings: Smut (18+ only), unprotected sex (don’t be silly wrap your Willy), fingering, some language

Summary: Captain America isn’t used to the 21st century.

A/N: I didn’t have enough time to edit this so I’m sorry about the grammar, also he gif (like always) isn’t mine! 😁

—————���———————————————

You had always been a very independent woman. You were brought up in a household where equality was an expectation, not something you had to fight for. You strived to succeed in areas that women were thought to not belong. In highschool you were the class president, and valedictorian. After high school you trained with the best to become a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, and when it all fell you had been chosen to continue working with the avengers due to the level of skill you possessed.

You’d now been living with the Avengers for a couple years and it’s safe to say that they had all become basically like your second family. One of them had even managed to wiggle their way into your heart. Captain America was on of the most beautiful men you had ever had the honor of laying your eyes on. It wasn’t just his features that amazed you, but his passion to do good, his kindness and his dedication all added to the crush you harbored for him.

So over the years you did what you had always done, you flirted. You were always very straightforward because there was no point in hiding the fact that you wanted to jump his bones.

Sometimes you’d catch Steve after his run and you’d walk by him taking a nice look at the sweaty man before you, “Steve do you get this sweaty during sex?” Or, during breakfast when he cooked shirtless you’d sit at the island and admire the way his muscles moved, “Do you always look this good shirtless, or will I have to see for myself?”

These little games you played always ended the same, he would turn a nice shade of crimson and stumble over his words. You were currently running on the treadmill, Journey was blasting through your headphones when you suddenly felt eyes on you. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Steve staring at you, his eyes roaming your figure in your tight work out gear.

You decided to give him a show. You hopped off the treadmill and decided to do some stretches to loosen up. With your back to him you bent down touching your toes with your ass on full display. You continued to do different stretches well aware of the Captain gawking at you.

Steve could feel the tightness in his sweatpants. He wanted nothing more than to take you right here on the mat but he could never do that, you’re a lady and you deserved to be respected. But god help him he couldn’t take his eyes off you. He’d had a crush on you since he met you. You were a beautiful strong willed woman and you always got what you wanted. Unfortunately he didn’t know how to flirt, not in the forties and definitely not now. So he always admired you from afar knowing he’d never have a chance with you.

Suddenly you stood up and faced Steve with a wicked grin on your face, “Now Cap, it’s very rude to stare at a girl and not compliment her.” You watched Steve’s eyes widen as he tried to make it look like he’d been working out, “I-I-I um, wasn’t I-“

You cut him off walking towards him, “Do you see something you like Captain?” You backed him up against the wall pressing your palm to his chest, you could feel his heart beating wildly, “Because that tent in your pants tells me you do.”

Steve swallowed, he had wanted this for ages but he never knew it would actually happen. You raised an eyebrow with a smirk on your face, “Well Cap? Anything to say?” He leaned down pushing his lips to yours. For once during this entire encounter you were taken aback, you leaned into the kiss wrapping your arms around his neck deepening it. You bit lightly at his bottom lip pulling it between your teeth eliciting a groan from him.

His hands roamed down your body firmly gripping your ass in his hands. You had never been this turned on in your life but you wanted to make him work for it. You pulled away, turning towards the door swaying your hips as you went, “Be at my door in 5 Cap, if you’re up for it.”

Steve was at a loss for words but he collected himself and practically sprinted to your room. He knocked on your door nervous and yet excited all at the same time. You opened the door to reveal your sexiest navy blue lace lingerie to the very bashful Steve Rogers. His eyes practically bulged out of his head as he looked you over, “You look beautiful.” You blushed lightly at his words, “Enough sweet talk c’mere.”

You grabbed him by the shirt pulling him inside. You pulled him in for a kiss, the two of you not so gracefully maneuvering to your bed, the kiss only breaking to remove his clothes. Once on your bed he laid over top of you kissing down your neck and in between the valley of your breasts. He took one of your nipples in his mouth sucking and bubbling lightly while his other hand came down to your lace covered core.

He rubbed circles over your clit teasing you through the fabric while he continued his attack on your breasts. You were moaning his name like it was gospel. The need for him practically drenching through your panties as you attempted to get more friction on your clit by gyrating your hips against his hand.

Steve’s mouth left your nipple looking up at you hungrily, his hand removing your panties, “I want to watch you come undone on my fingers doll, and then you’re going to cum on my cock.” His voice was stern and you nodded your heading eager and needing for some kind of release.

He laid beside you on his side, pulling you flush against his chest as his fingers found your clit. He started teasing you, fingers moving slowly on your clit. Your head fell back bucking your hips up slightly, but he pulled his fingers away, “Oh no princess you don’t make the rules here. Be good or you don’t get to cum.” You nodded intensely needing him.

His fingers began to pick up some speed, his motions adding more pressure. Your arm gripped his shoulder whimpering against him, “Please Steve I need you.” He smirked to himself inserting two fingers inside you while his thumb continued to trace circles on your clit.

Steve watched you intently biting his lip. He loved the way your body moved while he made you feel good. He leaned his head down kissing at your neck, the sinful noises escaping your mouth making him even harder. He felt your walls flutter against his fingers and he knew you were getting close, he curled his fingers up brushing your most sensitive spot.

You arched your back, your core clenching around his fingers as you came undone. You breathed heavily as his fingers slowly worked you through your high. He kissed you again this time lighter as you pushed him onto his back. You lined him up to your entrance and you slowly sank down onto his length.

The feeling of being completely filled to the brim made your walls flutter and your head roll back, “Holy shit Cap, the girl must love you.” He smirked up at you, “With a mouth like that you’re going to get yourself in trouble.” You smirked as you started to roll your hips, a deep moan escaping from Steve’s mouth, “If you want to know what my mouth can do we will have to do this again.”

Steve could have sworn he was in heaven, the sight of you bouncing on his dick, moaning his name and scratching your nails into his skin was enough to almost send him over the edge. He began matching you, thrusting up every time you’d come down. He sat up taking your ass in his hands and forcing you down onto his length harder.

The pleasure you were experiencing was too much you scratched your nails into the skin on his back, “Steve I’m so close!” He nodded breathing heavily next to your ear, “Cum for me.” You screamed his name rolling your hips as your walls clenched against his length. Steve was right behind you emptying himself inside you.

You both looked at each other smiling bashfully, Steve broke the silence, “Cmon doll let’s clean you up?” You nodded sleepily still wrapped around him as he picked you up and went to ythe bathroom. He set you in the tub and started a bath before soon turning off the water and getting in behind you. You laid against his chest wrapping his arms around you, his head resting against your shoulder.

You smiled to yourself enjoying the peacefulness of it all, “Steve is this it?” He lifted his head leaving a kiss on your cheek, “Not if you don’t want it to be.”You laughed a little and he looked at you quizzically, “I don’t, it’s just that I’ve been hitting on you for months and you finally got it.” Steve’s cheeks heated up at your words before admitting, “I could never tell if you were picking on me or not I’m not used to your generation.” You laughed at him, “My new boyfriend is an old man.”

[gamegrumpiess]

Sleepwalk

I was listening to Sleepwalk by Renee Olstead, and I had this idea.

Grump: Danny (from now on, most will be Danny. Unless you request someone else, which I will be happy to do!)

Btw! I'm this plot, Renee didn't write the lyrics. You did! She isn't even a singer in this universe. Just a heads up.

-

Y/n's POV

I can't sleep tonight. It's been a month since me and Danny broke up, but I can't help but still mourn our relationship. It was mutual, at least that's what he thinks. I would've never called it off. I was so in love with him. I still am. We told the fans, and they were pretty supportive in what we did. A lot of them were really sad, as was I. Danny is a singer just like me. I do silly songs just like him. But he encouraged me to do a cover album or a cover song. I did one album, Cover Me Up was the name. It got a lot of love, which I am very proud of.

I turn on my phone to check the time. 4:23 am. The bold numbers shine at me in front of Danny's face. I couldn't bring it to myself to change my screensaver. It's not like anyone's gonna see. I miss him a lot, every night gets harder than the last. He was my world. I've known him since senior year of high school, he was a huge part of my life. And now... That's no more. He's probably living his best life. Being Danny Sexbang and all. He probably has girls flying at his feet, throwing him their panties and offering 'the night of his life'. I understand I might be over thinking, but I can't help it. He was mine, and now he's out there doing who knows what. I let a few stray tears fall down ontou pillow. It's so lonely here at night now. I love what I do, singing, dancing, having fun. It was just so much more amazing when I had someone to share it with.

I lay my head back a stare at the ceiling. I need to distract myself, so I reach for my headphones and plug them in, looking for my Oldies playlist. I click on it and the song that comes on is Sleepwalk by Santo and Johnny. Listening to the slow beat and light guitar, I cry even more. Just my luck, huh? I can't just lay here, I really should get up and something. Writing usually helps me calm down. That's when I get an idea for a song, it's a bit sad and people will know exactly who its about. But maybe that's what needs to happen. My feelings should be out there. And if something goes wrong, I'll accept the outcomes.

I pull up my pen and notebook and just start writing.

"Sleepwalk, instead of dreamin' I

Sleepwalk.

Cause' I lost you and now, what am I to do?

Can't believe that we're through.

Sleep talk. Cause' I miss you, I sleep talk.

While the memories of you wither like a soul.

Darling I was so low.

The night fills me with blame. I see your face, tears through my brain.

I know I miss you so. I still love you, drives me insane.

Sleepwalk. Every night I just sleepwalk. Please come back, and when you walk inside the door, I will sleepwalk no more."

I immediately went to my computer set up and staring out my own little version of Sleepwalk. More of like a piano and violin cover, rather than guitar and drum. Once I had it to where I wanted the beat and rhythm, I pulled up my microphone and started singing away.

Danny's POV

This morning was the worst. I couldn't sleep at all, I've been up since 3:30 am. I guess I haven't really gotten used to sleeping by myself. Without y/n's body near mine, it's hard to even get tired. I do miss her. A lot actually. I know it was my idea to call off the relationship, but I was scared of what would happen if I didn't have enough time for her. I have game grumps, starbomb, and ninja sex party. She deserves someone who has all the time in the world to give her all the attention she deserves. When we told the fans, I didn't expect them to be so sad. I even lost a handful of fans because of it. She agreed, but I knew her better. She was on the verge of tears when she left. She was trying to be strong so I wouldn't see that side of her, but I know better than that. When she left I broke down. Gripped and clawed at my hair, cried on the edge of the bed, wondering if I had made the right choice. I big-huge part of me was telling myself I didn't.

My phone buzzes, and I see its a text from Arin.

When you get here I need to show you something.

Oh what fresh hell does he have to subject my eyes to. Last time he said that, I had to watch 12 Days Of Elves... Don't ask.

I finally arrived at the Grump Space. I see everyone in their usual area. Ryan and Matt at the computers, Ross and Barry in the kitchen making coffee, and the only other people here this early is Arin and me. Everyone else usually is a little late. "Thank god you're finally here. You haven't felt your phone buzzing?" I give him a confused look. "Other than you texting me, no. You know I have notifications turned off for my social media. What's going on?" He turns on the computer in front of us. "You should hear this before anything. I promise you, it's important." I roll my eyes. "This better not be some stupid shit, Arin!" I say with a light laugh. He shook his head, and I knew from the look in his eyes that this was in fact important.

Once the computer was fully on, he went to YouTube. Looking up y/n's name, I felt my stomach turn. Did she have a new boyfriend? Was she sick? Did she die?! I understand that last one is a bit of a long shot, but I tend to over think a lot.

A video was uploaded at 7:00 am this morning? "' sleepwalk? ' isn't that an old song?" I say confused. But I'm not all that surprised. She always did love the oldies. He nods his head. "She added her own lyrics and tune to it. And I think you should hear it." I nodded and put on some earphones, pushing play on the video. Her voices comes on, and it feels so amazing to hear her voice again. Even if it is just an intro in a YouTube video.

"Hello everyone. I had this idea for a song at like 3 in the morning. I couldn't sleep, so I made this. I hope you like it..."

The video fades to black and then it shows her at her little office space she has in her room. The music starts up, and at this point I notice her eyes. They're a little red and slightly puffy. She did a good job covering it up, but I've known her since senior year. She can't hide that from me.

She sings softly yet with so much passion and emotion. The lyrics sink in, and I know why Arin wanted to hear this. Its about me. I scroll down to look at the description and comments, and they all say things along the lines of 'I fucken sad now.' 'Wow, Danny really did a number on her' 'DANNY YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS SHIT!' 'This makes me so sad because she literally couldn't sleep thinking about him... Danny get your girl back!' 'Damn that made me tear up... '

After the video ended, I look at my phone. Y/n's face still smiles at me from behind the screen. I didn't want to change it, I couldn't do it. I felt several tears hit my leg, I didn't even realize i was crying. "Hey Dan, are you okay?" Arin puts his hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "No... I'm not at all." I open up Twitter and see thousands of notifications to nsp and game grumps. All of which telling me to see what I just saw. I stood up slowly, feeling a little disappointed in myself. How could I let her walk out of my life so easily...?

Y/n's POV

After I posted the video, I decided I should really try to get some sleep. Especially since thousands of people will blow up my phone later on. Once in bed again, I tried to think of all the possibilities and outcomes of this. It could either go really well, or go really horribly bad. I guess we'll just have to see.

I wake up several hours later to my phone ringing. The sky is still a little bright to I assume it's not that late. 'Suzy <3' shines up at me. I smile, me and her always stayed quite close. "Hello?" I try to run the sleep out of my eyes. "Hey, are feeling okay? I heard your song, and I know it's about Dan. How are you, hun?"

It means a lot that she's not just calling about GET HIM BACK! She just wants to know if I'm okay. "Honestly? I feel so empty. Luckily today is just a lazy day so I don't have to adult today. But still.... I feel lost." I hear her sigh, "I know, y/n. It sucks. But you have me! And I'm way better than Danny!" She says jokingly. "Damn right you are! I'll call you a bit later when I'm more awake, okay?" We say our goodbyes and I sit up more in bed. I take a quick look at my notification bar and just as I expected, its blowin up. 'When will I stop being a pussy?' My thoughts we're interrupted by several rings of my doorbell.

Without looking through the peephole I open the door, only to see a certain curly haired man standing on my doorstep. "Danny? What are you doing here?" His eyes are glazed over and puffy as if he had just finished crying. He looked down. "I.... I heard your song. Was it... Was it about me? I'm sorry, I just need to know. I couldn't focus at all today during work. And on my way home, I just couldn't take it anymore. I have to know." My anxiety goes up a long shot. My eyes looking at everyone but him. "Y/n... I need to know." I slowly nod my head, still avoiding his eyes. "May I come in? I think we should talk.." I scoot to the side to let him in. "I'm sorry if I caused a lot of drama. I just thought... It would be better if I just made it into a song rather than.. Just telling you." I confessed. He grabbed my shoulders. "Don't be sorry, y/n. When we broke up, and you left. I broke down. I couldn't handle the fact that I just let you go.. I'm sorry."

"Then why did you do it? Why wait so fucking long to come to my house?! Why hurt me this bad, leaving me all alone when all I wanted was you! I hated knowing that YOU let me just walk out. And you looked like you... Like you didn't even give a shit..." I couldn't help it. I let all my emotions explode on him. "Why do you think I did?! Y/n, you deserve someone who has the time for you, who will give you all the attention in the world. Someone who will GIVE you the world! I want nothing more than to have you back again, but you don't deserve someone like me! I love with all my soul, hell, I'd give up everything for your dumbass! I didn't say anything till now because I thought you'd be mad, and I thought you'd moved on, hated me even!" He was standing pretty close to me by now. "Well no shit I'd be mad! You think I don't deserve you? Bullshit! You've already given me the world and more! Don't think that I don't understand about your job because I do the same fucking thing!!! I know it's hard, but I was willing to work even harder because I love you more than life itself! I deserve you just like you deserve me!" He rolled his eyes. "You're fucking gorgeous! You can have any man you want! What the hell is so special about me?" I got in his face once again, "because you are so much better than any other man I've met! We've known each other for YEARS and you think I'd just give all that up?! What kinda drugs are you on, Dan? Do you think I'm that fucken dumb? I haven't slept in weeks because it feels so horrible not having you next to me. That's some bullshit to say that I can have any man I want. I want YOU, dipshit!" I couldn't help it, I fell to my knees, shaking from trying to hold back tears. How he say that I didn't deserve him? He was my world, he still is my world. Nothing will change that.

He walks to me, and sits on the floor with me. I feel his arms wrap around me, and I lean into his chest. "I'm sorry.. I loved you more than anything. I still do. Can you please give me another chance..? Now, I won't ever think you don't deserve me. I won't think anything like that. You mean the world to me, y/n. Please don't forget that." I look up at him, seeing his eyes filled with new tears. "Well duh, how can i say no to this face?" I grab his cheeks and smush them together and laugh. "I love you too, Danny." He smiled and leaned in and gave me a much needed kiss.

[gemini-62-blog]

Chapter 1 - The calm before the storm

I opened my eyes. The sun was shinning intensively. It always felt great to take a little nap after lunch, but I had so much to do. I was not in a very comfortable position, laying in a weird angle in my bed with my phone right beside me. I picked it up to see what time it was. 

15:35 

I had been asleep for somewhat twenty minutes, but already had a few messages. I lied on my back, spreading my arms and legs, just like a starfish. I didn’t even have enough strength to read my texts, I didn’t feel like facing reality. I closed my eyes and meditated for a little while. Focused on my breath, then on all the sensations of my body, followed by feeling my own weight, feeling my body being pushed to the center of the earth, understand how light my mind could be, as long as I decluttered it every once in a while. I finished by focusing on a good energy cleansing my body and mind, while unifying all parts of who I am. I liked to meditate every once in a while, and it felt right at that moment.

I opened my eyes. My bedroom was really bright, the sunshine made everything feel really balanced, almost has everything in the room was weightless, I was in peace. It wasn’t necessarily hot, but rather satisfyingly warm. We were in May. The weather was getting better and better everyday. The sun was shinning brighter and brighter. Flowers were picking through every garden, giving us hope. Hope for a nicer time, away from exams, tests, papers and all kind of projects that involved hours and hours of work. I stared at my white ceiling for a while. I loved how every wall in my bedroom was white. It was so refreshing and helped me relax every time. I sat on my bed and looked around. It wasn’t really all that messy. A few pieces of clothing that could be either in my wardrobe or in the washing machine,

a few forgotten bottles of water here and there and some books laying on top of my desk, some that I wasn’t really needing at the time, but was simply not in the mood to put them in my wood bookshelf. I looked around for a few seconds. Finally, I stared at the hardwood floor. I gained the courage I needed and picked up my phone from my bed. Only a few texts from my friend Rachel . She wanted to meet up, as planned, so we could work on two projects that we had to present to the class. What a pain in the ass. She and Tara had had lunch together and ended up going over to Rachel’s house.

“I’ll be there in 20.” I texted. 

I got up and stretched while gaining the courage I needed to face what was ahead of me. I put my pants back on, brushed my teeth, fixed my hair and was out of the house in less than ten minutes, this time in my sneakers, since they were way more comfortable than the shoes I had worn that morning. I carried my backpack with my laptop and a notebook where we had already written part of one of the projects we were working on. I pulled my headphones out of my pocket as I was leaving my home, opened the Spotify app on my phone and shuffled through a workout playlist, trying to boost my energy. I walked pretty fast, not even carrying about the rhythm of the songs as I usually do. In about a month I’d be turning 17. By then, all of the school work would be over, I couldn’t wait. 

I got to my friend’s place, knocked a few times and, after waiting for a while, the door opened uncovering a beautiful barefooted redhead in a small top and shorts. She  inclined her head to the right and smiled. Her shinny wavy hair almost seemed alive. While most people would assume it took her forever to get it to look that way, as I liked to call it, “Victoria Secret’s status”, she didn’t put any effort on her hair at all. I noticed how it reached her yellow top, balancing on her chest. Her big green eyes welcomed me, enhanced by the black mascara she put on in the morning, that made her long but light lashes turn dark.  A curious nose popped at the door, this time it wasn’t a human, but her

Dachshund, Benny. The little creature was adorable, but was easily scared, so decided to hide behind his owner. 

“Hey Rachel, took you a long time to come to the door. Don’t tell me your fat ass can’t move any faster!” 

“So funny” she replied “Just so you know, me and and Tara just had lunch and I was doing the dishes just like a good girl would,” she faked an innocent kid’s smile. “Come on in.” 

I walked through the door and locked to the right where Tara was sitting at the kitchen table. “So Rach makes you lunch, does the dishes and you can’t even open the door? I picked the wrong people to work with...” 

We all laughed. We had been close friends for a few years. We felt more like family day after day, and there was nothing else like coming over to Rachel’s house after a day full of classes. Usually we would enjoy the delicious treats her mom always made sure to have somewhere in the pantry. I never understood how Rachel looked so good. Her body looked amazing, but she would always eat as much and whatever she would want. Her clothes that day showed off her body, a tiny waist and skinny legs that every girl would envy. She didn’t usually dress that way, though, only when she wanted to be comfortable at home. Sadly, I was not as happy to be there as I usually was. We weren’t there to eat and talk to each other, we still had to work. I took my phone from my pocket and connected it to Rachel’s amazing speaker. I ended up putting some Colombian music to lift up the mood while me and Tara helped our host with the dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

We sat at the kitchen table where there was more light. I took my laptop out of my bag and, after many attempts that would end up failing due to some kind of distraction, we started working. Since we couldn’t decide on what kind of music to play, we ended up not listening to anything at all, that way it was harder for us to get distracted. We worked for a couple of hours, until we were tired and decided to make a pause. I opened the curtains to find a less intense sun shining in the horizon.

“Open the window“ Tara asked. 

With a click I moved the sliding window and felt the fresh breeze in my face. Even though around midday it felt like we were already in the summer, the cold afternoons reminded us that we should still carry around a sweater with us. Rachel got a big bottle of coke out of the fridge while Tara open searched for the cookies in the pantry. 

“I’m kinda feeling like eating Doritos.“

“Tara and her Doritos! Just like Romeo and Juliette, only death can tear them apart,” Rachel said, while getting her hand to her chest in a dramatic pose ”I think I opened a bag yesterday and left it in the leaving room.”

I shifted my attention from the outside to the kitchen where we were standing. I felt so tired and only wished I could sleep eight hours everyday.

“Hey Rach, would you mind making me some coffee?“

“Welcome to Starbucks! What are you feeling like drinking today?“

Rachel got up and started searching for something in the counter. I went behind her pulled her beautiful hair to the side and whispered in her ear. 

“You’re the best!”

“Hey! Get a room you two!” 

“Glad you found your Doritos, honey,“ I said, “what about you eating them and minding your own business. Don’t you see we are saving ourselves for marriage?“

We all laughed. As far as I knew, everyone in that room had already kissed the others on the lips, we were pretty comfortable with each other. From silly games played in breaks at school, to weird conversations when the influence of alcohol was already noticeable, we learnt a lot about each other, we probably knew more about the others then our own selves.

I picked up my phone from the kitchen table, where it had been since we started working.

“What do you guys think about looking at the boys around us?“ I asked.

They both looked at me confused.

“I told you I downloaded Grindr, don’t you want to check it out?“

“Ohhh sure!“ Tara said. 

In a very brief moment i explained to them how the app worked. The dating app was exclusive to men looking for other men, often known for how easy it is to find some fun there. In almost no time we were surfing through all the different profiles of guys around us.

“HEY” Rachel yelled “I know that guy! I follow him on Instagram!”      

We had stopped in a profile of a guy whose photo showed him facing the landscape in front of the camera. It. was possible to see a little bit of his face since he was ever so slightly turned to the right. He seemed weirdly familiar, but I couldn't figure out who he was. Rachel left the kitchen, looking for her phone. Moments later she walked back in with a huge smile on her face.

“See? I told you I knew the guy!”

She handled me her phone opened on this guy’s profile on Instagram. It sure was him, the photo he used on his profile was on his Instagram too.

“But who is him? His name isn’t familiar,” I asked.

“He went to our high school! He is in university now. My mom is friends with his mom. And if you are interested on him, my dear Jacob“ Rachel smiled in a provocative way,“make sure you get him a good pair of high heels, he is so short you are only able to see the top of his head.“

“Don’t be so exaggerated, Rach! Poor guy. He is kinda cute, I guess...“

Rachel started giggling and me and Tara looked at her in disapproval.

“I am not interested anyway. I am not looking for anything.”

It was true. In fact I was not even allowed on the app, since I was under 18. I decided to download it because I guessed no one around me would use it. I was wrong. It was a nice feeling, having more people like me close by. But I still wouldn’t message anyone or reply to the messages people would send me. Everyone who said Grindr was full of desperate guys looking for “fun” seemed to be right. A lot of the messages I got only made me uncomfortable.

I had an idea.

”What do you guys think of just messing with those pervs? We could reply to some of the messages!”

Tara ripped my phone from my hands.

“I start!” 

We lost track of time fooling around with some guys. Finally, we were having fun again. My profile had no information about me, it was completely blank, no photo, no age, no description but I still managed to get some guys’ attention. A  lot of them were over 35 years old, and some of those were interested on younger guys. How young? As young as they cold find. It was quite disturbing.

“It is getting late,” I said “It is better for us to get back to work.”

“Oh please no! I am so done with all that crap! My parents won’t be home anytime soon, they went to visit my cousin at the hospital.”

Rachel lay down on the kitchen table, on top of all our work, as a form of resistance. I bend over and kissed her on her exposed stomach.

“That tickles!”

Her hair was pending from the table. The sunshine made it look like flames.

“C’mon Rach, you know we have to do this!”

Once again, a childish expression emerged on Rachel’s face, from her inter child, I imagine. It wasn’t a happy one, but a tantrum’s face, the kind a little kid shows when he doesn’t get what he wants.

“I am afraid Jacob is right, my dear,” Tara said while massaging Rachel’s head with her hand, just like she was a little kid “we have so much to do!”

Tara bend over, just like I did, and kissed her on the nose.

“When you two finish that lesbo sh*t, I wanna work!”

Rachel kicked me.

“Homophobic pig! Let us be lesbians!”

We all laughed. 

I looked over the window, it wouldn’t take much time until sunset. The soft sunlight painted everything of a beautiful golden tone. Rachel’s mom’s roses looked better than ever, as if they were made of gold. Everything looked sad, but beautiful at the same time. It was the calm before the storm. The sunset before every night. I tried to reached the light rays that were entering the kitchen window with my hand, in hopes of catching one and keep it forever. But we can’t freeze time, we can’t freeze our lives in the good moments.

“The calm before the storm...”

This words came out of my mouth in an involuntary whisper.

[delkios]

Fightstarter Karaoke (DC TV)

Oh, I have an idea for a silly, quick fic! 5K words later... Title from the song by Dropkick Murphys. Title: Fightstarter Karaoke (AO3) Fandom: DC TV Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 5237 Characters: Len, Mick, Lisa Summary: Mick does not approve of Len's diet and decides to start up a wager.

Living with Mick is the fucking worst. It's not actually- even trying to cram two grown men into a shitty one bedroom with a crappy sofa bed and crappier mattress, it's better than living with Lewis. But staying in the same place as someone he doesn't have to tread lightly around quickly became a game of 'Is This Habit A Previously Unknown Pet Peeve of Len's'. Mick is horrendously good at that game. He leaves wet towels on floors or counters, switches television channels in the middle of a show, puts his dirty projects on the table and hoards trinkets both valuable and not. Which isn't hypocritical of Len at all because at least Len organizes his stolen hoard and not just shoves them into whatever free space is available.

Len's aware, of course, that this is a two-way street and Mick doesn't hesitate to bitch about which of Len's habits is driving him up the wall this time: talking- making legitimate criticisms! -over shows and movies, putting his booted feet on everything, letting Lisa stay over for days at a time. Her staying Mick never actually minds, it's Len's tendency of informing Mick of this by dropping Lisa's bag on his stomach and kicking him off the least lumpy side of a sofa.

And his eating habits. Nothing gets Mick fuming like seeing what crap Len puts in his mouth. It comes to a head one day when Mick gets back from a grocery run and catches Len squeezing ketchup packets into a bowl of macaroni. Mick glowers at him and says, "You better be done with that by the time I finish putting refrigerated stuff away."

Mick doesn't get mad often- the kind that's not for show -and Len shovels his food down obediently. He knows from experience that Mick will toss out Len's food mid-meal and make him eat something healthier. He finishes barely a minute before Mick stomps over and towers over Len, arms folded and glaring- it's a testament to their relationship that Len doesn't feel compelled to shrink away from him.

"We," Mick says like an order, "are going to wager."

Len blinks owlishly, uncertain as to where this was headed. "On what?"

"Whoever wins our next fight gives the loser an instruction and they have to keep doing that until the next fight."

Granted, Len is very much aware of the fact he's been ducking out of these training bouts with Mick despite needing to be a better fighter and not just taking a hit which he's worryingly good at. And he always did think betting made things more interesting but, "Fuck no- you're always gonna win!"

Mick just gives a mean grin. "Incentive to make you fight harder."

True but Len isn't about to bet on certain loss. "No," he says firmly.

The following week is hell. Mick leaves his clothes everywhere, lets dirty dishes fester on the table, keeps the windows open a crack so bugs can get in, plays his music obnoxiously loud even through headphones. What makes it worse is the fact Len knows Mick is doing all this deliberately, so Len will be compelled to take the bet in the miraculous event he wins and could order some sort of reprieve for a while.

Len comes back to the apartment one day to find Mick on the sofa with his dick out and porn on the tv. Mick masturbating to bad porn isn't a surprising thing though he- like Len -usually does that in the bedroom like decent fucking people. Nor is it far from the first time he's seen Mick rubbing one off- time in prison aside, if one or both of them are horny but too lazy to go prowling, they have no problems popping in porno in the video player and jacking off right next to each other. But to have Mick doing so on the sofa, right in front of the door, is a shock. If he'd had Lisa with him, Len would have been livid- distantly he's aware that Mick knows she's at camp for a few months but the point still stands.

He slams the door and stomps in, standing between Mick and the screen, glaring. Mick calmly stares right back up at Len, hand still moving over his cock. Len snarls, "You're on."

~*~*~*~

Len's mouth presses into a tight, unhappy line as Mick puts a plate of something not greasy, mostly green and easy on his still-sore jaw in front of him.

"Eat," Mick orders and Len, for the third day in a row, forces himself to pick up his fork.

He chokes down the first bite. "When are we fighting again." It's more demand than question.

Mick grins, feral and happy. "Whenever you want, buddy."

~*~*~*~

The second time Mick wins by default because Len dislocates a finger punching his stupidly sturdy jaw. It's treated in short order- neither are strangers to dislocated joints -and the next time, before the fight, Mick sits Len down and tells him to hold out his hand. Len, not having a reason not to, does as he's told and Mick starts wrapping a long strip of cloth around his thumb, working his way up Len's hand. After Mick finishes with one, he asks, "Too tight or loose?"

Len looks at his wrapped hand, flexing his fingers. It's tight but not constricting, the wrap between his fingers an odd sensation but not uncomfortable. He tries to rotate his wrist, a little difficult with all the material but it's there for support, after all. "Good," he says simply and holds the second out.

It's done in fairly short order, Mick going on to wrap his own hands after. Len never wrapped his hands before. Then again he fights when he has to and not to blow off energy or to keep himself occupied like Mick does. Mick secures the end and smashes his wrapped knuckled together, grinning viciously. "Ready to lose?"

Len smirks, "Pride goes before the fall, Mick."

After, Mick hands a bag of frozen peas to Len. The lack of tenderness to his knuckles is a nice distraction to the pain to his face. "Give that to me when it's thawed," Mick tells him.

"Why? Gonna give me the frozen corn, next?"

"No, it's gonna be part of dinner tonight."

Len makes a face and grouses but keeps the bag pressed to his inevitable bruises.

~*~*~*~

Mick stands on the other side of the table, having already cleared away his dishes, and stares at Len as he pushes around the remains of his own meal. He's eaten just about everything but the broccoli. "You're always like this with the vegetables," Mick growls, glaring at his partner. "Stop being such a damn baby and eat them."

"If they weren't slimy and disgusting, I would."

"You gotta fucking eat them, Len. You're a goddamn twig."

"That's because you're starving me with these green shit."

"It's healthy!"

Len glares at his plate. "I'd rather get scurvy."

Sensing he isn't going to be winning this particular battle- and Len had scrapped every last bit of mango sauce onto his final bite of salmon -Mick yanks the plate away, leaving Len to hold his fork in the air. "Whatever, don't whine at me when you get rickets."

~*~*~*~

Len stands in the doorway watching Mick watch, of all things, Yan Can Cook. Not just watching, Mick is paying attention. Hell- he's taking notes! Len waits for the commercial break before asking, "What are you doing?"

Mick jumps and curses and his pencil fumbles out of his hand. "Jesus Christ, Snart! Don't do that!"

"Are you going to answer the question?" He presses, unapologetic.

Mick gathers his things and resettles, scowling a little. "What's it look like? I'm trying to find new recipes and thought since you like that Chinese take-out joint, I'd try to make something less greasy."

Len's stunned. "You're watching that for me?"

"If I find something you'll eat, I won't have to waste my time making food you're just gonna throw away."

Oddly touched and subdued as a result, Len edges his way back toward the bedroom door to make an escape. "Okay. I'll, uh, leave you to it."

~*~*~*~

"Lenny!"

He can't help but beam and Lisa runs at him, all but tackling him in a hug. Though he'll never admit it, Len is glad his little sister is unashamed to hug him like that, even as a young teen. When she steps back, though, Lisa's beaming smile softens into puzzlement.

"What?" Len asks, muscles along his spine tensing, alert for anything going wrong.

"You look... different."

"It's only been three months," he chides, "I can't look that different."

"You do, though! Less... skinny. Stronger."

Well, Len has been fighting Mick more regularly, he supposed more muscle mass would be a given. "Mick's been making me eat healthy."

She gives him a disbelieving look. "You don't mean, like, green beans and salads and stuff."

"Yeah, actually."

Lisa's expression is over-the-top horrified and she wraps her arms around Len again, mostly to hide the fact she's about to burst out laughing. "You poor baby!"

"I know."

~*~*~*~

Len wakes up the next morning to the smell of something cooking, something delicious. Beside him, Lisa also stirs, sniffing and licking her lips before she even opens her eyes. "What smells so good?"

"Breakfast," Mick calls out from the kitchen and the siblings are already beginning to gravitate. He's making pancakes. He's making a shitload of pancakes. Normally this is not a problem because the buttermilk pancakes Mick grew up on and was saint enough to share with Len and Lisa are divine on their but this? This is a goddamn smorgasbord of pancakes or all sorts, three stacked to a plate. "Figure since I'm trying to get a wider variety of food in your diet, shouldn't slack off with breakfast, either." He absently points at each plate in turn. "Regular buttermilk, blueberry, chocolate chip, cinnamon, banana, rum raisin, and pecan. For toppings there's whip cream, assorted fruits, honey, powdered sugar and a syrup caddy I lifted from Denny's."

"I've died," Lisa says reverently. "Lenny, I've died and gone to heaven and they have so many pancakes!"

Mick chuckles, "Try eating some before you say that."

She does. They both do. And then they eat everything because it would be a crime to leave even a crumb behind. Then they roll themselves back over to the sofa bed and vegetate because there's nothing they can do to prevent the food coma from descending on them. The last thing Len hears as he dozes off, Lisa tucked under an arm, is Mick's fond chuckle from the kitchen.

~*~*~*~

The night before Lisa's school starts up again- and Lewis is on another bar crawl -Mick suggests going out to a diner, one he'd complained to Len about how greasy it was not a week ago but is also one of Lisa's favorites if not just for the pie.

"Not worried about undoing all that hardwork you've done unclogging my arteries?" Len teases after putting in his order for a half pound hamburger with all the fixings, onion rings and a milkshake. Lisa's own order isn't much better.

Mick just shakes his head- he'd asked for a country fried steak himself, definitely no room to criticize. "I wouldn't trust their vegetables not to be covered in grease anyway."

Lisa huffs at them, kicking her legs up so they're next to Mick's seat and making him wrinkle his nose, "You two are so weird."

~*~*~*~

Len wrinkles his nose- not because of the ribs or potato salad, but because after a couple months absence, broccoli is once again on his plate. He doubts the cheese topping is going to make it any more palatable. He glares up at Mick, "I thought you didn't want to waste your time on food I won't eat."

He rolls his eyes in response. "Just try it, jackass. If you don't like it this time, I promise I won't make broccoli again."

Mick isn't big on making promises but his word is pretty much always good. At least where Len is concerned. Taking a deep, steeling breath, Len gingerly takes a bite, then looks up to Mick in surprise. "This... isn't bad." The fact he pops the rest of it into his mouth reveals how much he's downplaying it.

Mick shrugs a bit, acting like it's not a big deal but Len knows him too well by now. With the way he's shifting, Len knows Mick is bother proud and embarrassed by this. "Just cooked it different is all. Roasted 'em instead of boiling. Think I'm starting to figure out what you don't like so, y'know, hopefully I won't have to force feed you anymore."

"If other vegetables can taste like this, I might not have a problem with that."

~*~*~*~

Lisa frowns, jutting her chin to the leg Len is favoring. "What happened?" She hadn't been too happy when she heard about Len and Mick's new arrangement no matter how many times Len said he'd agreed to it. It probably isn't helped by the fact she found out about it when Len sported a prominent bruise on his jaw. She had cornered Mick the first chance she got and told him if he ever hit Len outside of their matches or hurt him enough to need a doctor (not a hospital, none of the three of them were good about hospitals), Lisa wouldn't hesitate to gut him.

What mollified her most was Mick bluntly saying if it got that bad, he'd personally hand Lisa a loaded gun and get down on his knees in front of her.

Len sighs at his knee. "I tried throwing Mick." Not actual throwing, like Mick is able to do to him, but some judo over-the-shoulder thing one of their drinking buddies had shown them. A seemingly petite woman with a body carved out of stone, she can toss Mick on his back like he weighs nothing.

"Well, that was dumb."

"I didn't get enough leverage, I think. He fell on my leg and twisted my knee." On the positive side, Len now knows not to put his leg there.

Lisa rolls her eyes. "You got in a shot, I hope." The only things she wants to know about these fights are what injuries Len took and if Len got any good hits in before losing.

He can't help beaming proudly. "I broke his nose."

She cackles, "Oooooh, nasty!"

~*~*~*~

Out of habit, Len reaches for his belt before realizing it isn't needed. He looks down at himself, like he'd somehow gotten the wrong body. His jeans feel snug. Not yet constricting, but enough that Len can feel the difference especially in his thighs and butt. For testing purposes, he tries on several other jeans. Most are similar- hugging his backside -while the ones he snagged when Mick outgrew them finally look Len's size. Len's oldest jeans are now so tight he has a bit of flesh puffing out over the edges.

Which is, in and of itself, it's own revelation, having enough flesh to actually puff over edges.

Clad in one of the jeans Len is slightly miffed he can no longer comfortably wear, he marches out to the where Mick is sprawled across the sofa and says, "You're making me fat."

Mick stares at him for a long moment. "What?" He asks eventually, as if Len had been speaking another language.

He rolls his eyes. "All that shit you keep feeding me. It's making me put on weight." He spreads out his arms, demanding Mick look at what he's done. "My pants aren't fitting right!"

Mick sinks down in the sofa, turning his eyes back to the television. "They look fine," he mutters petulantly.

"Pants aren't supposed to pinch organs. It's like wearing a corset on my ass."

If Len didn't know any better, he swears Mick is blushing. "Then buy some new ones. Jesus, ain't like we don't have plenty of money."

Len just sighs and shakes his head, stomping back to his room. Honestly, Mick is so clueless sometimes.

~*~*~*~

Though he will never, ever admit it aloud, Len has come to enjoy the food Mick makes for him. It certainly helps that in those months Mick's cooking repertoire has expanded from 'being able to make basic pasta' to 'the kitchen is stocked with ingredients for a week's worth of meals planned in advance'. But once it gets warm enough to break out the grill... Len doesn't know how his waist line is going to survive, honestly.

About once a week Mick will ease up on the healthy stuff and let Len eat junk food. Or, when they're not going out to eat, as close to junk as Mick is willing to get. This time around, seeing Mick break out both the grill and hamburger buns, Len is almost beside himself with anticipation. And when the first thick, juicy, seared burger is brought before him with all his favorite toppings, Len shoves it in his mouth before the plate is even on the table.

In retrospection, Mick must have had the burgers cooling for some time before serving because with the bite comes a molten flood of flavor. "Oh my God," Len gurgles, pulling it away, stunned to find, in a hollow in the middle of the patty, crispy bacon and caramelized onions and melted cheese. "Oh my God."

Mick grins proudly, "That good, huh?"

"Oh my God," Len says before going in for another mouthful. Sure, he's being a bad Jew but both he and Mick have long since agreed bacon doesn't count.

Mick roars in laughter, flicking a finger at the plate of beans and roasted corn on the cob. "Don't forget, you've got other things to eat."

"Never. Not eating anything else ever again." Len takes a third bite and just barely keeps from moaning. "God, I love you."

That seems to make Mick choke for some reason. He takes a deep swig of his beer and says, "You just like that I feed your scrawny ass." That's part of it but Len is too occupied with his meal to say anything more.

~*~*~*~

That night Len looks himself in the mirror, ignoring the scars and focusing on no longer being able to count his ribs, on the slight layer of fat softening the definition of muscle and just overall looking sturdy rather than lanky like he'd been a scant few months ago. And it's all because of Mick who watches out for him, who puts in the effort to take care of Len even when Len isn't appreciative of it. Mick who will watch cooking shows and struggle with reading books and his own writing to find something Len likes to eat, who laughs loudly when Len fails to hide how much he's come to like Mick's cooking. He thinks about the way Mick looks when he's focused on something, how sure and practiced his hands have gotten in the kitchen and he thinks he can spend hours watching him cook, with a kind of confident grace he only ever gets when fighting or fixing something or with fire. He thinks that if the rest of his life is like these last couple months, he'll be content.

Len's head thunks against the mirror. "Oh God, I love Mick."

~*~*~*~

Len tells Lisa this because he has to tell someone and her reply is a frustrated, "No fucking kidding." She then teases him about it the rest of the time they're together. Len decides he's never going to tell her anything again.

It won't last but it makes him feel vindictively better in that moment.

~*~*~*~

For the most part Len can ignore the sudden revelation. It still comes and goes like a tide of inconvenient feelings but he's confident he has control over it.

"Teach me how to wrap hands," Len says suddenly, as Mick pulls out the strip.

"What?" Mick asks blankly. "Why?" Len knows he isn't asking why he wants to learn but why he's suddenly interested now.

"Because I won't have to sit here and stare at you every time you do it for both of us." Len plucks the cloth from Mick's grasp. "Hold out your hand."

Mostly he has control over those feelings.

Mick does as he's told and Len scoots in until he can feel the heat radiating off Mick's body, probably closer than he needs to be. Mick's instructions are simple, voice low and gruff, correcting every time Len gets caught up with the way his fingers feel skimming over Mick's hand, at the rough callouses on his palm and pads of his fingers, at the thick, hard knuckles along the back. The second one goes a little quicker than the first, mostly because Len had to redo the first hand twice, but when Mick clenches his fists to test the bindings, he grunts in approval.

"You wanna try doing your own hands?"

Len holds his hand out without hesitation. "Equal partnership, equal workload."

Mick snorts but takes Len's hand. "Whatever, lazy bastard."

~*~*~*~

It's late when Len and Mick step out of a restaurant, asked to meet with a Family rep in a cordial but thinly veiled threat to keep from thieving their protected businesses, if, however, the two of them are determined to thieve but would like a list of rival Family businesses the rep just so happened to have on him...

They agree to the list and Len wonders how long it will take for the rep to realize they didn't agree to anything else.

It's warm despite the hour but Len has a jacket on anyway. He's frowning thoughtfully and Mick, alert next to him, asks lowly, "Something up?"

"I think you've ruined me."

"How so?"

"That chicken pesto alfredo was nowhere near as good as yours."

Mick's laughter echos around them as they head back to their apartment.

~*~*~*~

"Alright," Lisa calls as she lets herself into the apartment, mindful of the large container of still-warm soup in her hands, "why did you need me to tell the creepy cougar down the street that you were sick? Also why does it smell like charred death in here?"

Len hurries over and shush Lisa, taking the soup from her as he does. "It's for Mick."

She looks at him oddly, following her brother into the kitchen but making extra certain to step quietly to keep from waking Mick, sprawled out on the couch amid blankets, tissues and rattling breathing. "Why didn't you just heat up some Campbell's for him?" Then she sees what used to be the stove. "Holy shit! How did this happen?"

"Keep it down! I don't want Mick to see this!"

"He hasn't seen this?" Lisa waves at the blackened, partly melted stove top. "Did he seriously manage to sleep through this?"

"He couldn't stop coughing so I made him drink some NyQuil to get him to sleep."

"Again- how did this happen?"

"I was trying make him soup out of a cookbook."

"Like from scratch? Why?"

"He's always making good food for me, even when he's tired or like last night when he wasn't feeling well and I figured," Len starts feeling foolish now that he's saying this out loud, "he'd appreciate it if I made him something better than watered down instant soup."

Lisa stares. "Oh my God," she says with a mix of awe and horror, "you're trying to impress him."

"Yeah, well," he gestures at the former stove, "it didn't go so well."

"Okay, one- he'll be impressed you managed to destroy the stove. He'll probably also be mad that you can set the stove on fire but not him, or that he missed it."

"It's not like it was on purpose!"

"I'm pretty sure he won't care. Also, two- considering how often you cook in the first place, he'd be impressed even if you made him Campbell's." She grins wolfishly, "But at least now he's going to be enjoying the fact you've indebted yourself to the creepy cougar for him."

Len rolls his eyes and puts the soup in the microwave. He goes through his book of contacts, hoping one of them will know where he can jack a new stove without getting it traced back to him and tries not to think of what he'd just gotten himself into.

~*~*~*~

"Lisa, stop fussing," Len says, trying not to wince at the pressure she's putting on his black eye via ice pack.

"I'm making a fuss because he knocked you unconscious!"

"Yes, yes," he says impatiently," and Mick is miserable about it."

"Good," Lisa hisses uncharitably and puts more pressure on until Len hisses himself. "And you're an idiot for doing this Bloodsport bullshit."

"Love to know your opinion when you find out I'm going to talk him into continue- ow!" Len fumbles for the ice pack when Lisa shoves it against the tender part of his face and lets go.

"Why?" Len sighs to himself- in all honesty he's been waiting for her to explode about this. "Why do you want to get beat up so badly? I thought the reason why you left home was so you could get away from that!"

"This is different."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"I can fight back."

Lisa stares at him quiet and hard before relenting. "Whatever. I still think you're an idiot."

~*~*~*~

It takes multiple days to convince Mick that Len doesn't blame him for being knocked out and to continue their fights. Or sort of continue as the next bout Mick basically doese nothing but block Len's attack and manages to pin Len with an arm bar. The second time is like that, too. Len is determined the third will be different but he's going to need a little outside help for that.

Upon Len's request, they go to a bar and, about an hour into it, he enacts his plan by 'inadvertently' starting a fight with a local biker gang. The fight, due to the type of dive the bar is, engulfs everyone within and Len's pretty proud of his performance. Sure, he's still no powerhouse but he's put quite a few people on their asses before a couple strikes manages to shake even his impressive pain tolerance and Len staggers into a table. Someone yells out, "Cops!" and everyone scatters. A hand grabs Len by the coat and drags him out.

From there it's a blur but the sounds of sirens and other people fade and Len manages to clear his head enough to see Mick doubled over next to him, heaving for breath. "What," Mick gets out between gasps, "the fuck? Couldn't warn me before hand you were looking to get your ass beat?"

"Thought I was starting to get rusty," Len says. He flexes his hands and winces- his knuckles are definitely going to be hurting tomorrow. "Figured since you weren't interested in fighting, I'd have to get my training elsewhere."

Mick stares at him for a long, disbelieving moment. Then he starts laughing, albeit breathlessly. "You crazy, stupid bastard!"

That may be so and he might have a minor concussion but, to Len's immense pleasure, Mick's back to form in their third bout so Len considers it a success.

~*~*~*~

It's starting to get chilly again and Mick is taking every opportunity to use the grill before winter sets in. He offers to pick up Lisa from school- Lewis is too busy planning a job to notice her existence -on his way back from getting groceries. When they get back, Lisa calls out to her brother and follows the sound of his voice to the kitchen. Upon seeing her, Len grins brightly, never minding the fact he's peeling sweet potatoes for roasting or that his lower lip is split in two places. "I threw Mick!"

Lisa wraps her arms around her brother- deliberately making him hiss from sore ribs, "Nice!"

~*~*~*~

It happens. After a year and two months and eighteen days, Len finally wins. The small stand by the sofa is an unfortunate casualty but it also tripped Mick up enough for Len to twist his arms so Len considers it a heroic death. For almost a minute, Mick struggles but the awkward position gives him no leverage and eventually he has to concede. He looks over his shoulder at Len, face red from exertion and body warm under Len's hands. He gives a crooked little grin and says, "Finally got me. So what've you been waiting all this time to order me to do?"

And Len... freezes. He's been thinking about it for a good eight months now, has scenario after scenario planned out in his head, a veritable mental book of witty lines for every situation before he'd lean in to steal a kiss. But all that's gone out the proverbial window and Len just hovers there, hands locked around Mick's wrists, unable to figure out what he should be doing.

Mick slowly begins to tense, picking up on Len's unnatural stillness. "Len? Buddy- you okay?"

Before he can think better of it, Len blurts out, "Can I kiss you?"

Mick's eyes go wide. "Uh..."

"You don't have to, it's not a big deal, I just... really want to kiss you." Len will be horrified at the word vomit spilling out of him if his brain ever decides to function again.

Mick's face is still red and it takes Len far longer than it should to realize it's no longer from exertion. "Um. Okay? I'm... I'm not gonna complain or anything. Could you let go first?"

Len lets go and rolls Mick onto his back, still an awkward position because he's half-laying on the stand but neither care because they're grabbing at each other, bumping noses and fumbling before finally lining up for a kiss.

It's not mindblowing in that it's fairly chaste and clumsy but it also makes Len's heart feel like it's about to burst because it's Mick. They part and Len chases the taste of Mick off his lips with a flick of his tongue. Beneath him, Mick groans and Len shivers because there's a big, warm hand tenderly massaging the back of his neck. Len opens his eyes and pulls back, uncertain how to proceed from here.

"You, um," Len doesn't think he's ever seen Mick shy before, nor has he considered the possibility he'd ever think the man adorable, "you don't have to ask. To kiss me." Mick's face gets even redder and redder, "You can do that whenever, I don't mind."

Len sits up back a little, even though all he really wants is to get his lips back on Mick's. "So kissing-"

"-or more."

"-or more," and damn if that doesn't run a delicious thrill down Len's spine, "isn't part of winning fights?"

"No." Mick's other hand trails lightly over Len's side, catching against his sweater and giving him another thrill.

"So I can still give you an order, right?" Mick's eyes narrow but Len barrels on before he can backpedal, leaning in close, grin twisting wickedly. "Make me mac and ketchup."

~*~*~*~

Mick, fucking shit that he is, gets the last laugh anyway because Len can barely get passed the first bite before gagging.