#on one hand I literally want to just throw my hands up and spitefully walk away from all of my creations

[boundinparchment]

The fact that my motivation is a literal yo-yo is….something else…

[simpz-art-stash]

Late beginnings

Summary: Mac goes out for a drink, and happens upon some advice he takes into consideration about his skewered relationship with Wukong. Before finally taking some action to mend the long burnt bridge. (Author’s note: I barely did any beta reading for this so if it’s worded strangely that’s just how I write without the normal filter on. I’m country so HOWDY) Next Page ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The night was late, but he didn’t care, he might as well have been nocturnal with the way his whole life revolved around the whole stereotype of shadows and shit. He’d walked into a bar he’d passed through a few times before, donning his human disguise of course beforehand, and walked in without sparing anyone else a glance. Before planting his rear in one of the stools seated at the front bar, ordering a drink to get the night started. “I’m really looking forward to seeing that new Monkey King movie with the trailer they just released. You saw it too right?? The whole style of the film is on par with their most recent game- OH, you think they’re gonna make a game of it?? I bet you they wiiiill!~” Ugh, great, just what he’d come here to avoid.

Mac’s eyes glanced to the blabbermouth boasting about whatever new movie was being made about his ex, to see two girls residing a ways down near the other end of the bar a few seats away from him. Both looking to have had a fair night themselves already if any of the cups and plates hanging around their spot was anything to go by. “Probably. I hope it’s better than last game that came out on the Brick 360, the bugs in that thing were gross to deal with.” Their friend commented back. Before looking down at their phone and claiming that it was getting late and that they had to go. “Yeah I’ll see ya Monday!” The chick waved their friend off a lazy farewell after they’d paid their bill before going back to their drink, now taking less tedious sips as the mood seemed to smooth out from their conversation prior. “I see someone’s a pretty big fan of that ol’ man.” Macaque piped up from where he sat, earning the attention of the stranger he’d directed his comment towards. “The Monkey King yeah?” Sparks danced in the chick’s eyes at the recognition of the name, before the stranger perked up and beamed a smile back at him, “You betcha! I’m a total nerd for that legend.” ‘A legend, hah.’ “S’the whole reason I moved to China in the first place.” She jabbed a thumb at her chest, “All the way from America!” Mac whistled, “That’s a pretty far leap to take, even for a legend. What, you hopin’ you’ll get the chance to see em’ or somethin’?” He sneered, taking his glass and lazily swirling it in his hand. “I wish!” She laughed, “Nah I mostly just moved here for work. If anything though it’s cuz a them for where I am now. I’d never even heard of him till about five years ago!” Mac blinked, lowering his drink from his lips, “You’re joking…”

“Not at all! No one hardly knows the story back home. Only reason I found out was cuz I just started gettin’ into anything monkey-related as a hobby.” She pointed at him, “Don’t laugh either, it’s a wildly popular standpoint to have these days online.” Mac quirked a brow at that, he’d hardly touched the internet these days save for whenever he needed some quick info on something he couldn’t find elsewhere. He held his hands up, “Hey I ain’t judging…” He smirked a little to betray the look that he totally was though. It was kinda funny how ironic it was him being there right then. She squinted at him, “Anyways...Yeah, I’d seen stuff of him online, but I’d never paid much attention to it up until recently.” “What made you change your mind?” Mac boredly probed, taking a sip. She simply shrugged, “I was in a dark headspace, guy made me laugh.” He paused, “Wait, seriously??” “I mean have you HEARD half the crazy shit he’s done??” ‘Babe I’ve LIVED through half the shit he’s done.’ “Like, literally, the guy is HILARIOUS. My favorite story out of them all being one where he literally tricked THREE taoist immortals into drinking his own piss!!” She burst out laughing while Mac choked on his drink a little, not having expected to hear that of all things. Sure he’d heard a few of the shenanigan’s his peaches had gotten up to throughout his journey to the west but he’d never heard that one before. Nor had he the patience to read through all that mess of context that had been published either. “Ahhh man, it still gets me…” The chick sighed with a few leftover laughs as she wiped a tear from her eye. “What about you? What’s your favorite story?” She asked. And suddenly Mac felt like he’d been put on the spot as he stared back at her. “Come ooon, surely there’s one that’s gotten your gut rolling.” She pried. ‘Plenty, but there ain’t no way in hell I’d tell a soul.’ “Bahh...there ain’t the first one that comes to mind that I’d like. Honestly I’m not even much of a fan.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Whaaat?? Aw come on! There’s tons of cool n’ funny stories!” “Heh..can’t imagine what you find so charming about a guy who’s too good for his own friends.” Mac spitefully twacked himself mentally for spewing something so personal like that out. Ugh, and he hadn’t even finished half his drink yet… The chick sitting to his left seemed to tilt her head a little before she squinted at him. Her silence being what brought his attention from his drink to her as he blinked back with a quirked brow. “What?” “Your eyes, they’re like raging storm clouds.” She pointed out. He blinked, not really sure how to feel about that. The only one who’d ever really pointed that out to him before was… “...So?” “Nothing!...” She shrugged, turning back away towards her own drink as if no conversation at all had happened between them. Whatever...he had his fill of shit to drink to either way. The night might’ve been late but he was just getting started. “He makes me laugh though.” She pointed out, earning her a glance. “All his stories n’ stuff. If there was ever a man I’d want, it’d be one who could always make me laugh.” “Hmph, not one for strength?” He took a long sip. Ignoring the bitterness of others fawning over someone he’d come to love before he’d gotten so popular. “Strength is fine n’ all, but it can only take a relationship so far..you gotta have more pieces to put in that crockpot of a relationship if you wanna make it taste good. Stuff like patience, honesty, a little bit of everything to help it all come together to make it juuuuust right.” “Hm…” “It can’t be all just you putting the stuff in there either, it’s gotta be a contribution from both gardens. Otherwise you’ll just barren your lands and be left with nothing to spare yourself or others in your life with.” She glanced at Mac, “Relationships are tricky like that, but they should always be a 50/50 split~” She winked. That...actually sounded like pretty sound advice. Something he’d heard a little here and there before but never so simply laid out. Though it made sense from his standpoint, fairness n’ all that. But he’d been that way with Wukong before and it had never worked out, all the bickering and such, so what had gone wrong? “Can I...ask you something?” Mac inquired. “Shoot.” “What’re your thoughts on..a relationship that seemed fine, but then the other changed so much that everything about it fell apart?” “Mmm...care to sprinkle in a lil more context?” The chick eyed him. Mac’s face scrunched up a little, no idea why he was asking some random mortal for relationship advice of all things. “Hey man. We’re both probably never gonna meet again after tonight, so if you’ve got skeletons in your closet, your best place to let em’ out is here. Bartenders are known for being the most well kept secret keepers in all the world after all~” She winked at the bartender in question who simply looked the other way with a look that might’ve suggested such a fact as truth. “Hm…” Ah screw it, “Alright alright…” He sighed and put his drink down, “There’s..someone. We used to be real close, we were strong together but then uh..shit got real and he had to go deal with it. But when he came back he uh, wasn’t the same as before, an I might’ve sorta assumed he was cheating on me so…so we kinda fell out.” The chick nodded, “Ahh..the classic misunderstanding of change and cheating, a tale as old as time.” She seemed to hum a moment before she turned from where she was seated, if not to hop down off her stool and plop down on the one right up next to him. “Uh-” “Shhh, lemme see those eyes.” She squinted, leaning in and staring deep into his. It’d would’ve been really unnerving if she hadn’t said anything about them before, now he was a lil put off that he might’ve been asking a witch of all things for advice… “Right. Well, at least you feel bad about it. So there’s that.” He blinked and his brows furrowed, “Wh- of course I feel bad about it, it was his fault-” He suddenly had a finger pressed to his lips. “Nope! Nooononono, you do not get to throw all the blame elsewhere like that sweetheart. There ain’t no way in hell you’re gettin’ a second chance with them if you keep that up.” She pulled her hands back. His face scrunched up and he found himself crossing his arms, if he had his tail out it would’ve been irritably swaying behind him right then at just how annoyed he was getting at this weird lady and her words. “Oh yeah? An what do you think’s best then huh?” “I dunno if you’d be up for that kinda challenge…” She idly fiddled with an imaginative piece of lint off her sleeve, which only seemed to irritate Mac further at the thought of him not being able to handle Wukong of all people. Like sure he’d gotten his ass handed to him before but he could still hold his own! “Try me.” The chick glanced back at him with a smirk, which caught him off guard for a second before he shot her a glare back. “Alright, but it’s definitely not gonna be as quick or easygoing of a recovery as you might hope it’ll be. Nor is there even a chance of you recovering it in the first place. But, you at least got that spark enough to try so who am I to deny?” ‘Hmpt, dam right I got a spark.’

“First of all, no more blaming, if you’re gonna tackle this properly, you gotta do yourselves a favor an quit it with the blame placing. Sure it’s easy, but it ain’t gonna get you nowhere but back to square one. It’s all in the past, the now is now. So push forward to fix it and put it behind you two so you can focus on the more important things.” “Easier said than done…” “Hey man, even if they don’t follow the same ruleset at first you could always work things out to make it one later on. I’m just tellin’ ya right now so you won’t just go diggin’ yourself a deeper hole.” Honestly at this point he was pretty much six feet down under, death to him would’ve been a mercy right then. “Fine…” He rolled his eyes. “Next up, apologizing…” -----------~----------- “I thought I told you to stay off my island.” Mac didn’t really glance back from where he stood high up on one of the breathtaking ledges that which Flower Fruit Mountain bolstered. His arms crossed, eyes sternly held against the leftover warmth of the late afternoon sun as it shifted the skies hues from blue to blood red. Hopefully that would be the only tinge of red the Mountain would see after today. “I know.” “What, no witty remark? Give me one good reason-” “I just wanted to talk.” Mac stated plainly. “Why the hell should I give you the chance?” “...” Mac wasn’t sure if he could come up with a good enough reason after the shitshow he’d caused him the last few centuries, most recent being his spat with him between MK. “I’m sorry.” That seemed to catch the king off guard, as he paused in his vicious glare to stare at the other. “Excuse me??” “I’m.Sorry.” Mac turned finally to Wukong, that look of fiery malice having softened immensely upon meeting their eyes. “I was wrong for what I did and I’m sorry.” Wukong’s face looked like it had had a stroke with how frozen in place it was, almost like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Hurting everyone around you just to get back at you, I was wrong for doing that. And I just wanted to apologize.” Mac’s face twisted a little, the words coming out a little rougher than he’d liked, but he’d managed to get three steps in so far… “If you think a few sorry’s are gonna be enough to make up for all that crap then you gotta nother’ thing comin Mac.” Wukong finally shook off the surprise and crossed his arms with a steely gaze. “Nah I know they ain’t worth shit with as long as it's been...which it’s been..a really, really long time come to think of it..nearly 3000 years…” Fucking yikes. “What’s your point?...” Wukong raised a brow at him. “My point is...my point..” What was his point? To make amends and hope they’d get back together? To go back to the way things were? That couldn’t be done with the way things were now. Wukong had a successor, a moral compass, a lotta shit that Mac didn’t. A lotta shit that he wanted but never could figure out how to get his own. His face scrunched up a little and he sighed, “I..just wanted to make things right.” “Oh-hoh? After so long you finally decided to admit you were at fault? Sorry Mac, but it’s waaaay too late for that.” Wukong huffed, “Honestly, this is probably just another one of your stupid tricks if anything. The old Macaque would never throw himself down like that.” “Well maybe I’ve changed!” Mac exclaimed suddenly, his temper flaring a bit as his eyes flashed lightning. “3000 years later? As if…” Wukong rolled his eyes and turned away, “You’ve still got that same look in your eyes you always do whenever we fight. Do me a favor and just keep away from the hot springs this time yeah? The last time you were here you sent a whole dam boulder over there and smashed half the pools.” He waved his hand dismissively. “And I happen to take my once a month bath’s very seriously.” Mac’s nostrils flared a little at just how flamboyant Wukong was acting towards him and his attempt to make amends. How he just saw his attempt as a joke and nothing more, it pissed him off. Wukong had changed and everyone had accepted him, well not everyone, but still, why couldn’t the same be for him? Had he really fooled himself into believing that there was a chance he and Wukong could be together again? His shoulders slumped a little. Of course, who was he kidding. A 3000 year old pit of grudges wasn’t about to just up and disappear at the wave of a white flag. This was Wukong, the same guy who still playfully pestered the gods and demons around him for past conflicts that had happened between them. -----------~----------- “But you can’t just go, ‘ooo I’m so sorry for what I did.’ Nah, you gotta follow the five steps.” The chick claimed. “Yeesh, this a learning course now?” Mac tilted his head to the side. “It is if you wanna make things right.” She claimed matter a factly. “The five steps have never failed me before and have worked wonders for any an all my relationships. Might not quite have the same range of effect you’re going for but it’ll at least be a good start.” “Heh, you got the guts to back up that case?” Mac sneered. “I will if you don’t manage to screw it up.” The chick pointed out. “The five steps go as follows.” - express sorrow (I’m sorry) - own guilt (I was wrong) - name specific wrongs (I did X) - name impact (I hurt you) “And finally...” -----------~----------- “What can I do to prove myself to you?” Macaque asked finally. “What can I do to at least make it to where we can..not fight anymore..and just talk?...” Wukong stood there for a long moment, his features unreadable as their silence was muffled by the wind bellowing between them both from being so high up. “You really are serious about this aren’t you?...” Wukong’s head shifted ever so slightly, but not enough to where Mac could get a reading on his emotions. “I’m tired of fighting and waiting and thinking that if enough time passes things’ll go back to the way they were...when they never will. Trying to hurt you isn’t gonna make the old you come back, no matter how many times you beat me down...It’ll never be the same.” Mac admitted finally. A quiet gust settled down between them, before Wukong seemed to let out a dry chuckle and shook his head. “Can’t believe it took me 3000 years to beat the sense into you.” He turned and looked back at the other, where he no longer held a look of seething hate, but more akin to that of the same tired look just as the one Mac wore. Mac felt a sliver of guilt wriggle its way into one of the cracks of his heart and he glanced away, pulling a hand back and scratching his head. “Yeah well...your kid hit me pretty hard last time, enough to knock it in place.” A small smile crept a little onto his face. “Hm~ He’s gettin’ pretty good at hittin’ stuff with that old stick.” Wukong’s eyes glinted a little at the appeal of how proud he was for MK having taken Mac out the way he did. A little over the top and flashy, just like him.” “He’s got a pretty strong master to thank for that…” Mac found himself yearning a little for that same glint to be reflected on his memory the same way as MK’s. Not that he couldn’t see himself holding the same appeal for MK the way Wukong did, kid was strong, just a lil desperate in some of the cracks that shaped his outline. Something Macaque found that was easy enough to take advantage of, and something Wukong held a blind eye to. “Hm.” Wukong’s reply pushed him out of those thoughts for the moment as they shared a brief look between one another. A glimmer of reconsideration flashing between the two before Wukong finally turned his head away to drink in the sunset before them. “One chance.” Mac felt his heart nearly stop at that answer. “I’ll give you one chance, but if you screw this up, don’t even think about showing your face to me again.” Wukong replied, “I mean it this time…” Mac swallowed a little and nodded. Anything, he’d be willing to do anything to gain back what little trust he could from Wukong. “Good...you can start making up for it by apologizing to MK.” Mac blinked and sputtered a little as Wukong turned away and began to make his way back down the mountain. A smile playing on his lips while Macaque groaned to the heavens about his next trial.

[kuroos-moon]

『Hate’s Twin Called Love』

— request by anon whose initial ask i could no longer find 😫

❥ pairing: Iwaizumi Hajime x Reader 

❥ genre: enemies to lovers, fluff, mutual pining, denial  

❥ warning/s: language

❥ wc: 2.4k 

“I got here first,” you frown, narrowing your eyes as you placed a hand on the chair nearest to the window. 

“I placed my bag here, which means I got here earlier,” he casually replies, wondering why you won’t back down despite your height difference and his intimidating facade. 

Your frown deepens, and he does the same when neither of you give in. “I don’t care, I wanna sit here,” you say, your inner brat surfacing just because the way he glared at you ticked you off, so you stubbornly sit on the desk. 

“What a nuisance,” he grunts, sitting down on his chair as he rightfully should. 

Ever since then, you never passed up the opportunity to piss him off or give him even the slightest inconvenience of the day, devilish, you’re well aware. He’s the devil himself though, and only you could point that out. With him showing a sly grin your way when you lose a pen, only for him to proudly use it for you to see. 

“Hajime you asshole, give me back my pen,” you give him a death glare, and he innocently looks at you, acting confused. “I don’t have it, y/n.”

“Cut the bullshit, that’s my only one,” you grimace, irritated at the fact that of all the numerous pranks he could do on your never-ending war ever since highschool, he just had to steal your pen right before a test. 

“Don’t blame me when you’re the one who lost it,” he blinks, perfecting the art of acting clueless. “Give it back I don’t have another one!” You raise your voice, and he stops scribbling, looking at you in amusement. 

“What?” You huff, and he only chuckles under his breath, momentarily biting your pen to further irritate you. “I’ll fucking kick your ass after this,” you bite your tongue, wanting to scream at him if it weren’t for the many other students and a strict teacher here with you. 

And that’s just one of many encounters with the sly seemingly-mature ace who knew just how to annoy you like it were his second nature, but deep down, your day’s never complete without the usual sarcastic banters or the subtle mouthing of ‘fuck you’ or ‘whatcha looking at’ between classes, that’s why you sit bored in class for a few days when they’re excused for practice. 

Your happiness literally comes from seeing him so mad that he’s speechless as he sees you’ve uploaded an embarrassing baby picture source: oikawa or as he realizes you’re the one who’s been giving away his number. 

For him, you’re the exact same, you’re the devil’s spawn. Trotting along so casually as if you were an angel, only for the disguise to fall off the moment you open your mouth, profanity after profanity especially when you were talking to him. It wasn’t long before your string of curses was music to his ears and the highlight of his day, taking pleasure in having you yell at him, or in especially irritating occurrences, you’re throwing things at him. 

It just so happens when you’re casually sitting in the corner of the room, minding your own business as you listen to music. “Y/N-CHAAN!” You look up to see Toru, out of breath as he leant on the doorway of your classroom . “Iwa-chan’s talking with some girl, come look,” he grins, and just like that, your eyes twinkle with excitement. 

Time to to get back at him for that ruined test, you smirk to yourself, the clueless Iwaizumi standing at the end of the stairwell as he flirts with the poor girl who didn’t know at all how much of an asshole he was. 

“Babe!” You exclaim, the fakest and widest smile on your lips as you throw yourself at him, loving how he cringed away from you the moment you wrap your arms around his torso. “What the fu-

“I missed you, shall I come over tonight?” You gush at him, locking your hold on him with intertwined fingers as he tried to push you off without actually using too much force to hurt you. “Cut it out, you little shit,” he mumbles to your ear as he stills, waiting for you to unwrap yourself from him. 

“Who’s this Iwa-chan? Is she a friend?” You say enthusiastically, the deadly aura he gave off only making you want to piss him off more. “Iwaizumi is she your girlfriend? I thought you hated each other,” she raises a brow and you smile, looking up at Iwa. 

“That’s just our love language though, isn’t it babe?” 

He has had enough. It’s been days since you’ve bantered, the only interaction the past few days were the failed attempts to trip each other in the halls, but he wasn’t in class the whole week. Some part of him thought that he was relieved in your absence, but lately he’s been feeling empty. 

“Iwaizumi?” The blonde girls huffs, crossing her arms against her chest. 

“Iwa-chan, doesn’t she know how much you love me?” You pout, squeezing his bicep which you really hadn’t realize was this rock hard until now. It was the look of annoyance and pure hatred that made you smirk for only him to see, but you thought wrong. 

He wasn’t mad because you interrupted his romantic stairwell rendezvous, nor was he mad that you literally show up out of nowhere, being this close to him. He was irritated because you thought you were winning, you thought you were pissing him off; but joke’s on you, he actually found himself amused by this whole ordeal. 

“Babe let’s just go, you’re not cheating on me are you?” You add fuel to what you thought was a burning flame, thinking you had succeeded on ruining his day. 

“How ridiculous, you know I only have eyes for you,” he leans down, a teasing and excruciating mere inch between your faces, the side of his lips curving upwards so subtly you’re not sure it’s really there. Your eyes widen, and his grin grows as he could practically feel you stop breathing. 

He watches you storm off, knowing fully well he was victorious for this round. 

Iwaizumi - 1 

Y/n - 0 (Loser) 

The game against Seijoh and some other school was over, and like every other game, you got first-row seats, it was the one and only time wherein you actually admire Hajime (admittedly). You stood outside, waiting for your friends to finish gushing over Oikawa and you look up questioningly when you see pairs of shoes on the ground. 

“Uhm, do you guys want something?” You ask, confused, somehow feeling ganged up on with three girls surrounding you. 

“We’ll cut to the chase, stay away from Hajime,” she spitefully says, and you snort the moment you hear his name. 

“You don’t even have to beg me for it,” you say and they furrow their brows. “You’re acting so coy! Pretending to be some goofy girl who tries to piss him off only to get to spend more time with him!” 

You sigh, “I’d kill to have him away from me for as long as possible, what are you guys even on about?” 

“Just stay away from him y/n l/n, he’s mine.” Cue another chuckle from you, “yours? I question your taste but Hajime doesn’t belong to you,” you sweetly smile, not knowing where the sudden irritation came from. 

Seriously, how could she say he was hers when he probably doesn’t even know her name like the stupid non-caring jerk he is, but you somehow thank him for it, somehow relieved that he could barely name a girl in your class that wasn’t you. 

“What do you know?!” She seethes, about to land a palm right across your cheek but it doesn’t come, instead, she stood petrified as she meets Iwaizumi’s gaze, securely standing behind you as he firmly grasped her wrist.  

“That’s quite enough,” he glares, the girl immediately withdrawing her hand. “What are you here for?” You bitterly ask, the previous encounter in the stairwell still having your hate meter for him past its max. 

“Y/n-baaaaka, where’re those killer moves of yours that almost have me injured all the damn time,” he says, his lips tugging downwards as he looked at you, and you stiffen under his touch when he rests his elbow on your shoulder. Now looking at the girls, “You’re quite the troublesome bird-brained bunch, pathetic too. You better not come anywhere near us again,” he grunts, a dull ring to it in fact; but his usual voice was also usually intimidating, hence the effortless success of scaring away the girls for good. 

You scoff, “what’s with the sudden chivalry?” 

He raises a brow at you before a scowl forms at his lips, “shouldn’t you thank me?” 

“What? For coming to my rescue? How charming, nothing less to expect from our ace,” you huff, turning around to walk away. You know how much he disliked you, so why was he being kind? Why do you a favor and rest his elbow on your shoulder and act like friends, maybe lovers— you recall the position you were in last time, you clinging to his arm while he leaned in, face painfully close to yours. 

“Did you really mean that? You’d kill to have me away from you,” he chuckles, “what strong emotion,” and you halt, turning around to look at his expression which resembled the masking of hurt. “You were listening?” You ask, but he merely walks towards you.

“Thought I’d hear some sort of love confession,” he stops a foot away from you, “but that was fucking disappointing.” You’re beyond confused at this point, why in the world would he expect a confession out of you? YOU of all people, you’re enemies, same sides of a pole that simply will and never attract. 

“What would you have wanted me confess?” You narrow your eyes at him; your pathetic attempt to be defensive when in reality your walls were all crashing down, and he’d be free to walk in and capture you his; vulnerable and genuine, free from your lies and forced obliviousness. 

“I’m exhausted,” he says, leaving you stupefied when he holds your chin between his thumb and index, warm from having spiked the ball multiple times as the ace from the game earlier on. “I don’t give a fuck, just keep your fucking hands off of me Iwaizumi,” you glare, making him grin. 

“You swear a lot with that pretty mouth of yours,” he presses on you more, knowing this would either be a hit or miss. A hit for when you crumble and give in to him, spilling the truth about how you truly felt which he has long figured, because he can’t be the only one who felt this way, no? 

The miss wouldn’t be much of a miss though, he’d still love it if you exploded, punching him or something but at the same time postponing your long overdue truthful conversations because you convinced yourself too much that love and hate were separated by a thick line, which was far from how it actually was. 

“I hate you,” you spat, but he can’t see any hatred in your eyes at all. “Does that mean you don’t want me?” He taunts, his lips inching closer and closer to yours. You only find yourself looking down, unable to breathe at the suffocating feeling of having your emotions come out all at once. 

love or hate, which was it? The latter. No, it couldn’t be, you wouldn’t be finding yourself getting lost in his eyes if you did truthfully despise him. Then, was it the former? Perhaps... Maybe... Probably explaining why you were going to say it, “if you don’t kiss me right now, Hajime, I will.” 

Bingo, he wins, it was a hit. 

In one swift motion, he locks lips with you, your hands coming to rest on his broad shoulders as he tilts his head sidewards to deepen the kiss, not wanting to spare an inch of your mouth. It was the perfect kiss, one to show your yearning for the other through questionable means such as inconveniencing the other’s life, and one to express the raw passion of love that without a doubt made every bit of you ecstatic. 

“Oya, Oya, what’s this?” Oikawa’s annoying voice reaches his ears, Iwaizumi pulls away with one last peck on your lips. “I’ll fucking kill you,” he mutters under his breath, Toru flinching before letting out a nervous chuckle. “Uh, well then, I’ll leave you two to it,” he grins, waving at you before running off. 

“So you’ve had a crush on me all along, huh,” you smirk at him, his ears turning red as he looks at you. You snicker, poking at him teasingly as he covers his face with his hand. 

“Don’t push me,” he finally says, and you let out another laugh, of course you’re going to push his buttons, “eh, so what are we now, babe? I don’t think I like you at all, honey, that was charity.” 

“Charity?” He muses, grabbing your wrist to whisper closely in your ear, you gasp, his breath against your skin leaving you flustered. “If anything, all I did was fan service.” HE HAD YOU ALL FLUSTERED AND SPEECHLESS AND FOR WHAT? 

You push him away, irritation making you want to breathe fire, “FAN SERVICE?” You exclaim, wearing the deepest frown he had seen on you making him laugh. 

“Kidding, kidding,” he nonchalantly says, and you scowl, “I hate you.” 

“If you hate me so much then why not go out with me?” He says, all seriousness in his tone.

“What?” You blink, that was sudden.

“You should date me, cling to me, piss the fuck off other girls who try to get in between, and make sure I see your face everyday, that would ultimately make me miserable, and you hate me so much that you want that, don’t you?” He finishes, hands in his pockets as he looked straight at you. 

This time, he actually feared how this would turn out. He had revealed his cards already, there’s no going back to normal after this, things could only go from being strangers or to being lovers. 

“Sure, let’s date. Give me the luxury to annoy you everyday, and you better not break up with me for it,” you smile, and he chuckles, letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. 

“Then don’t break up with me if I make you mad like ten times a day,” a soft subtle smile plays at his lips while you both walk hand in hand together outside the building, the sunset striking so beautifully at the two of you but you didn’t have much time to admire it as you were kept preoccupied with each other’s conversations. 

_____________________

General Taglist [Open]: @noyasbitchh 

[slutsofren]

Danger Days Chapter 7: I Never Told You What I Do For A Living

summary:  Joel isn't looking good after the recent run-in at the university. Ellie and you have to do everything you can to stop the bleeding and save his sorry ass.

word count: 2,648

content warnings: gore, hurt/comfort, cursing, unconscious Joel, general canon-typical violence, you know the drill.

note: this was so exhausting to write lol

read on ao3 here / masterlist

“I think we're safe.”

You look over your shoulder, back to the stone walls that lined the university. The three of you narrowly escaping it and you wanted to scream, yell, throw a fucking tantrum at the situation but you held it in. “For now,” you replied spitefully. “C’mon, kiddo, we should put more distance between us and them.”

“How is he holding up,” Ellie asks you tensely,

“If I’m being honest, I won’t know until we find somewhere safe.”

“You gotta tell me what to do,” she was beginning to sound more and more scared as your back got coated with Joel’s blood. What little patching up you did on Joel wasn't holding up, and wouldn't for much longer.

“Keep an eye out for where we can hold down for a couple nights. I gotta watch Texas here and make sure he doesn't fucking die on me.” Literally.

Ellie looks over at Joel, “Let's go.”

The two of you took off, Whiskey sensing your agitation and being the gentle beast he is, didn't jolt around too much. Speeding as best you could've in the situation you were tied down in, you suggested to Ellie that it would be nice to find somewhere rather far away from the university, far from trouble. She agreed, not wanting to run into whatever group that was again.

After a couple miles, safety seemed within grasp.

“Look, over there,” Ellie points off to the distance. You can see it, just barely. A shopping mall.

Like everything else in the area, it looks abandoned. Even by infected standards. It’s quiet and private, therefore it’s perfect.

Upon further gazing at the storefront, you recognize the banner. “Is that Swirls? The yogurt place?”

It takes you a bit off guard, recognizing something familiar from the time before, but for some reason it brings you a tiny bit of hope. Maybe.

“It says ‘Colorado Mountain Plaza’ over there,” Ellie points out.

“Looks safe enough.”

“Thank fuck.”

“Language.”

“Sorry,” she apologizes. Then sarcastically adds on, “Mom.”

You snort at her, shaking your head. Although she teased, you’ve come to enjoy the way she called you mom, but those were thoughts for another day.

Approaching the yogurt bar, Ellie jumps off Callus and reaches for the garage type door and lifts it. It creaks loudly which puts the two of you on edge but no signs of infected ring out. Joel does grumble a bit over your shoulder, likely at the sound of metal grinding on metal.

“Careful, Ellie.”

She waves you off then ducks beneath the door, disappearing from your sight. You hear a muffled ‘it’s clear’ from the other side as she lifts it up again to its full height. She leads Callus in by his bit and you follow with Whiskey. 

“I’m gonna need your help, El.”

You try not to jostle around too much as Ellie comes close to your side, “What do you want me to do?”

After taking a couple moments explaining how to safely pull him down, you adjust yourself on Whiskey. Side-saddling him, you put your arms around Joel, “He is not gonna like this one bit.”

“Damn straight he’s not,” Ellie mumbles.

“On three.”

Sliding down Whiskey, you pulled Joel with you and with her help, the two of you managed to get him down with potentially only minor bruising. Laying Joel on the ground as gently as possible, he groaned harshly at the adjustment. “I know, cowboy, I know,” you said to him softly.

Checking over him one last time, Ellie looks up at you. “Now what?”

“Now,” you sighed. “We try to stave off an infection. The bar itself wasn't clean by any means. And you see this,” you pointed to where the puncture wound was. “This is where his large intestine is.”

“Okay,” she shrugs. “What does that mean?”

You hesitate for a moment, mouth agape. “It's where food gets absorbed and gets-,” you trail off.

Ellie looks at you for you to continue.

You sigh, “The biggest problem is his poop okay? Basically if the bacteria from his intestines, specifically his colon leaks out into his body then we're going to have much bigger problems than the wound itself.”

“Gross.”

Chuckling, “Yeah. Imagine how he's gonna feel if his own shit kills him.”

Ellie lightens up just a little at your off-colored joke. “He would be really pissed.”

“I'd argue maybe even a tiny bit of embarrassment.”

The two of you lightly laugh, both just as drained as the other. “How do you know all this stuff anyways?”

“I was a field medic with FEDRA, remember? Didn't last long there, after I lost my finger but I picked up a thing or two from the other nurses.” You shrug, you never found out much about the soldiers you aided, if they survived or not but maybe that wasn’t the best thing to tell her right now. 

You point towards the metal garage door, “Go lock that up for me will ya?”

She gets up and does it, using a padlock to secure it shut. “Think there's anything out in the mall?”

“Possibly,” you groan as you get up off the ground. “I'll have a look around.”

“No, you stay with him, I can go,” Ellie offers. For a moment you want to argue with her, you know what you're looking for, but you see it in her eyes. Just a hint. A hint of uncertainty and fear. “You know how to keep him alive.”

It takes you a second but it clicks, Ellie doesn't want to see Joel like this. “Okay,” you relent. “I saw a map on the way in, I think there's a pharmacy on the second floor.”

“What do you need,” she asks, shifting on her feet.

You rapidly tell her everything within reason - needles, thread, alcohol, gloves, anything and everything that could possibly help the situation within reason to help the fucking dying man laying in front of you. “I'd be grateful if you found a saline bag or a IV or, fuck, even a staple gun but that’s bein’ too damn hopeful. Whatever you find, just bring it back alive. Take your bow.”

She nods as she picks it up along with her backpack and you give her a tight hug. “There and back, Ellie.”

“There and back, promise,” she says, her words slightly muffled by the embrace.

She backs away and opens her mouth to say something but decides against it. Instead mumbling a couple words of encouragement to herself as she leaves. Turning on her heels and lifting the gate separating the shop from the mall with little to no hesitation, Ellie is gone before you know it.

As the metal slams behind her you sigh, listening to the sounds of her locking the gate behind her. Faintly hear her talking to herself. You chew on your bottom lip, thinking of what to do next.

Well, for starters, it would be awfully nice if the man of the hour didn't fucking bleed to death before Ellie comes back, you thought.

Taking off to your left, you scoured behind the bar looking for something, anything, that would help. The shop itself looks picked over so whatever is here isn’t going to be much. Finding nothing but nearly empty drawers until you find a roll of duct tape. Nice.

You walked back to Joel and dropped to your knees, taking off your backpack. Lifting his shirt up to see the poorly done bandages you had applied earlier were thoroughly soaked in sickly copper tinged blood. “Shit,” you whispered.

“Okay, Texas, this shit is gonna hurt like a bitch but you're just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it.”

You took a moment listening to Joel’s uneven breathing, the moans of pain. Hoping to hear some kind of response from him but received nothing from the man. Nodding to yourself, you went to work. “Okay, I can do this,” you mumble to yourself. “Nothin’ you haven’t done before.”

Reaching into your backpack you pulled out some fresh gauze, water, and the bottle of alcohol you were genuinely hoping to drink one day but it is what it is. Next, you grabbed the duct tape and pulled off some strips and lined them up, making a square patch. 

Lifting his shirt, you removed the front bandage from his stomach. A slight gag came up from the smell but you suppressed it, allowing yourself to dissociate from the situation and work mindlessly. Grabbing the water bottle, you rinsed your hands then his stomach, repeating the same motion with alcohol, and used one of the extra shirts you had in your backpack to dry him off. Blood still seeped from the wound but you used the gauze to seal the puncture then covering it with the duct tape square.

One side down, now the other.

“Hold tight,” you told him as you pushed him onto his side. His back looked just as bad as his front but you grabbed another spare shirt and shoved it under his head, adjusting him to make him lay on his stomach in an indirect way to put some pressure on the front.

Joel groaned in pain at the movement, you tried to be gentle but he was not being a rather good patient. “I know, I know, I'm sorry,” you whispered.

You got to working on his wound, doing the same as what you did on his stomach. Rinse, disinfect, gauze, patch. Once the duct tape square went on, you sighed heavily looking down at yourself.

Truly a sight of horror. Your hands and clothes were soaked in Joel's blood. Blinking once, then twice, turning your hands over, seeing the glistening and the flakes peeling off from long since dried blood, you rose and reached for more clothes to change into. 

Discarding the stained ones save for your coat. It was going to get colder, winter was soon. Shit, winter was already fucking here, you recalled the first hints of it when snow started falling earlier. It would be best to not throw away the only thing that would give you warmth in the coming days.

After you changed, you thought you should also change Joel. His dirtied clothes would only worsen his situation if any germs or bacteria got into his injury. You approached Callus and got Joel's pack, scouring around until you found a suitable shirt, flannel, and coat for him.

“This is going to embarrass me more than you,” you told the unconscious Joel.

If you were being honest with yourself, this was not the way you wanted to undress him but those were thoughts for another day. One where he survives this whole fuckin’ ordeal.

You got to work on him, doing everything humanly possible to be careful. Once the bloodied clothes were off and fresh new ones were on, you were going to take one hell of a break.

Adjusting the coat back onto his body, you laid him down gently as before, resting his head on a makeshift pillow. Now the only thing you could do is wait for Ellie.

She’d been gone for an hour tops, nothing to worry about just yet. Maybe the pharmacy was a bust and she’s looking around for first aid kits, you think. It wouldn’t do you any good to worry just yet.

The two horses start chittering behind you. “Looks like we got a couple of chatty birds over here,” you raise a brow at them.

Callus neighs a bit loudly at you and before you say anything you hear a very loud voice. “Hey! I hear the fuckin’ horse behind here! Help me get this open,” then the locked gate started rattling. Those fucking people must have followed you all through the fucking snow.

“Oh, shit,” you curse and immediately start rummaging through your things to reload your empty guns. Your hands were shaking, making the reloading just that much more difficult. You looked up once you heard another voice.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get the door. You guys keep searchin’, I don’t wanna get ambushed.”

No shit, I don’t either, you think.

You try to make haste and get your shit together. After you top off with whatever remaining bullets you have available, you corral the horses against the wall and drag Joel behind the bar to shield him from any debris or accidental fire.

Just as you finish you hear a loud bang, someone kicking the door in frustration. “Fuckin’ door!”

You couldn’t help but smile. Good door.

“Get the kid, take the woman, and find the old man. I’ll go for the door,” the same voice shouts.

Then another voice further away, “Shit! There’s someone out here.”

Ellie.

“Wait, shit, I think it’s starting to give,” the first one shouts as the metal door begins to creak and whine.

You decide to do something incredibly stupid but before you could talk yourself out of it, you dive and lay down next to the door. It begins to lift and you hear how the men start to cheer. Just as it gets high enough you take aim and shoot at them, unloading a healthy mix of lead, anger, and frustration into them.

Just as the door slams back down with a loud clang, you hear two soft thuds as their bodies drop.

“Oh fuck this, I’m comin’ Ellie,” you say as you get up and begin lifting the metal door. Just as it slides high enough for you to get under, you slam it shut behind you as you run forward and take cover behind some metal crates that were conveniently positioned just outside the yogurt place. As you do, you see a flash of pink and white to your left as Ellie comes running next to you.

“It’s the same guys from the university,” she says breathlessly. Her freckled face is etched with frustration, matching yours. It’s like none of you could catch a break, catch a breath.

You put a hand on hers, “We got this, sweetheart.”

Her hand squeezes yours and the two of you start fighting back. Fighting for survival, each other, for Joel, fighting for the sake of seeing another sunrise together.

A bullet whizzes overhead and hits the wall, “We got them pinned down over there! Finish them!”

You smile at the men’s clear underestimation of the two of you. Chuckling, “You go left, I’ll go right. Meet here in say ten with dinner?”

“Sounds good to me,” she bumps her fist with yours. With a nod, she’s off. You, the same.

Trying to take it easy, you found yourself trying to be stealthy by using the hunting knife Gustavo had gifted you months ago. It was hard between the harsh winter wind and lowering visibility with the ongoing snowstorm outside that was leaking through the broken roof of the mall. It possibly hurt more than helped.

Two gunshots rang out on the opposite side of the mall than a shout, “Shit! Infected!”

“I’ll take that as a no for dinner,” you mumble to yourself.

You pick up a couple bottles and throw them at the men who were hunting you, screams and clicks followed the noise until you heard more gunshots until silence. Figuring it would save you on ammunition if they just fought and killed each other. You followed this same sequence until there was complete silence, only for it to be broken by Ellie.

“That’s it! If anyone is alive don’t even think about surprising me! You’ll end up like your friends. You hear me? Yeah? Yeah.”

You laugh a little loudly, tears welling up. Just for a moment you let yourself reel in the moment that the two of you fucked up those people on your own. “C’mon kid, let’s save that old bastard of ours,” you shout at her.

[sweetchup]

Hate or Love?

Anonymous said: I love what you write could you write a NSFW scenario with Feitan? Maybe add a bit of vanilla and angst?? Just have fun with it! Thank you!

Type: Feitan x Reader

Au?: None

Word count: 3,300

Warnings: Mature Content, Smut, Blood, Vanilla lemon, bondage (rope, blindfold), possessiveness, a little angst (only a sprinkle), and physical assault.

Author note: Thank you!! Feitan is actually really fun to write and I’m actually glad I’ve been recently swarmed by Feitan fans. The Feitan love and thirst is real right now in my ask box.

“Oh man is it hot today!” You say out loud, while fanning yourself with a piece of paper. It was literally scorching though today, you were practically sweating through your clothes. It also didn’t help that you were working in your weapon shop today so you were often hunched over a hot flame or playing with boiling metal. Not that just sucked on a day like this.

Maybe during your lunch break, you should go grab some ice cream from the corner store down the street. Maybe also some lemona—

You are snapped out of your thoughts when the chime, from the front door of your shop, rings. You squint as you turn to face the glass windows which have off a golden hue shining through. You wonder who it is but soon smirk as your eyes finally adjust.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Mr.Portor~?” You tease causing Feitan to glare at you. As a previous resident of meteor city yourself and an old friend of Franklin, you often gave weapon offers for some of the Troupe members. You actually even got along with the members, even the boss Chrollo who once tried to steal your Nen. But, for some odd reason, you and Feitan could never get along. It was probably due to the fact that you could never keep quiet and always had to speak your mind, which annoyed him to no end. You actually liked Feitan, he was nice company, but the need to tease him more out way that.

“Me would suggest you shut up unless you want something to happen, (y/n),” Feitan threatens, causing you to let out a laugh. Aww what a cutie! You quickly dodge as Feitan throws a knife at your head. Still doesn’t change your mind, he’s still adorable.

“Sorry Feitan I couldn’t help myself, you just looked so adorable trying to glare at me~.” You say, leaning against the front desk causing your shirt to drop showing part of your bra. Feitan blushes and turns his head away. This would have been a clear sign that told you he likes you, he has actually had a crush on you dating all the way back when you were teens in meteor city. But since you're incredibly dense, you haven’t seen the signs up till now and since he’s wearing his robe you can’t see the blush and just think he’s annoyed with you. You just always have to find a way to tease him don’t you?, “So~ why ya here?”

You blink a couple of times as you see Feitan pull up his sword, a sword you made.

“What the fuck did you do? Did you fight a fucking herd of gorillas?”

The sword was absolutely wrecked, like it practically didn’t even look like a sword anymore. The metal part of Feitan’s concealed sword was broken into three separate parts, the handle was ripped and bent, and finally the umbrella part was shredded and burnt in multiple areas.

“Troupe business.” Actually, Feitan didn’t want to tell you that he actually fell into a trap and got surrounded. You already had enough insult ammo against him as it already is. Though, maybe you actually would be concerned about him? Not likely knowing you.

“Troupe business my ass. This is why I don’t give toys to little kids like you, I’m going to have to rebuild this whole thing,” you spitefully say, muttering a little bit at the end. Feitan clenches his fist at your comment. Do you not consider him an actual man? He’s tried before, he’s tried many times but whenever he’s attempted to take you out on a date or spend time with you, you just find a way to insult him or piss him off. He might like you but he is also a man who needs to keep his pride intact.

“Me not a little kid.”

You roll your eyes and walk to the back of your shop. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what a little kid would say!,” You yelled out, your back turned to him as you picked out the items needed to remake the sword. You technically shouldn’t be mad at him since swords will all eventually end up broken but you had spent so much time on Feitan’s sword. Way more than all of the other members combined. So you got a little heated that he was so careless to let it get THIS broken, “plus aren’t you like 5 feet or something?”

“Shut up. Watch your mouth (y/n). Or—“

“Or, you’ll make me regret it. Yeah, yeah, you’ve told me a hundred times.” You say mimicking feitan’s accent, waving your hand off in his direction. Now, you can’t get distracted by feitan, no matter how much you do, you have to get back to what you were doing. Did you melt copper along with the iron into the sword mold last time? Or was it silver? You honestly forgot. You hear a loud shutter and turn around. “Hey Fei? Whatcha doing? Is it too bright in here for your emo ass, or something?”

You stood there confused as to why Feitan had suddenly pulled the shutters down. The action had caused it so that hardly any of the golden light from the sun flowed into the shop. It also didn’t help that you didn’t have any lights on so it made the room hard to see with the limited amount provided.

“I’m going to say this once, (y/n). Beg.”

You blink as you watch Feitan turn around and stare at you. Was he serious? Did you actually piss Feitan off to the point he wanted to kill you? After a couple of seconds of thinking, you break down into laughter. Man, what a load of humbug. He’s probably joking like he usually is.

“H-holy shit. You actually almost scared me. Maybe if you grow a couple of inches it—“

Before you can even finish your sentence you are slammed face first into the desk. Fucking shit that hurt. Huffing, your eyes burn as you struggle to lift your head up from the desk. Blinking the tears out of your blurry vision, you see a pool of blood on the counter. From the pain you could feel, it was most likely coming from your nose. You go to check but as you begin to come to, you realize Feitan was behind you, forcing your hands behind your back. Shit, you were in a terrible position. On top of that it also didn’t help that you just got your fucking head slammed into the counter and couldn’t think straight.

“I’m giving you a final chance since you're one of our acquaintances. Beg. (Y/n).” Feitan whispers harshly into your ear. You could tell he was losing his cool. Honestly if you're on your deathbed, You might as well finish pissing him off and see a sexy angry Feitan. Smirking, you crane your neck to look at him.

“Now why would I beg to a—“

You couldn’t even finish your sentence as you're pushed by your neck into the desk, causing you to slightly choke in shock. You chuckle as you see Feitan’s angry face above you. You were correct, he does look sexy when he’s truly pissed off. He gives you one last glare before looking away from you to grab something. You feel his cold hands around your wrist replaced by a rough prickly texture, probably some sort kind of rope.

“Aww~ what’s wrong feitan? Made ya mad?” You snicker at him. Though you soon regret that as he puts a blindfold on you. This is new, You thought Feitan likes it when his victims see what sort of awful torture he was about to do to them. You grunt as Feitan harshly drags you over to somewhere and thrown onto another table. Your wrist aches from being pressed under your body weight.

You go to complain to him but you lose your voice as you finally notice the cold edge of what you believe to be a knife pressed against your stomach. Damn, he is actually serious about this. You're feeling are actually hurt. Feitan chuckles at you losing your voice midway and you curse yourself out for that one show of weakness.

Now, as much fun it is being tortured by Mr Sexy Goth man, you have other things you have to do such as finishing his sword so what should you do in this scenario? Run? No, he's incredibly fast and agile so that won’t work. Use your Nen? No, you need your hands for that and you won’t be fast enough to get them out in time. Wait, you still have your legs. They aren’t held back and you could focus your aura into them to create a powerful kick. Now, you just need to deal with that knife against you.

You mentally sigh in relief as you feel the knife pulled away from your skin, looks like you don’t have to worry about that after all. Now's your time to act. Your knees are about Feitan’s waist and he’s around 5 feet so, you should aim around here!

Quickly, when the knife is gone, you focus your aura into your legs and send a harsh kick up. You snicker as you feel the front side of your calf come in contact with his face. Bullseye!

As soon as you hear a smack, signaling Feitan is down on the ground, you jump onto your feet and break the bonds tying your hands. With one of your hands now free you rip off the blindfold. It was fun while it lasted Feitan—

You feel the blood in your veins freeze. Feitan wasn’t on the ground in front of you. Where was he? Startled, you go to activate your Nen but are cut off guard as hands grab the back of your knees and you are picked up and slammed against the wall. Crap how could you be so careless, Feitan was right behind you. You should’ve known, it was so obvious.

Suddenly, you turn crimson as you notice something. When did this happen? How in the world did you not realize your clothes were cut into shreds. Everything was out in the open. The only time you could think of this happening is back….back when he took the knife off of you. That’s right. It’s so hot out that you didn’t even feel a change in temp when the clothes got shredded or feel the loss of fabric since you are so sweaty.

Feitan chuckles as he sees your flustered reaction. You glare back at him only to mewl a couple seconds later as he grinds against your heat. The cool silk fabric of his clothes against your naked slit and clitoris felt so good. You clutch onto his back as he begins to bite and suck on your neck.

“Look at you. Mewling like a bitch in heat.” Feitan mumbles into your neck as he grinds harder in. You feel yourself clench at his words. This was so wrong, he hates you right, so why does it feel like he wants it. Why does it feel so perfect? So good. So right.

“F-F-Fei. Please”

Feitan pulls away from your neck and stares at you, placing his forehead against yours. He groans as he looks at you. You annoyed the shit out of him today but damn did you look hot right now. He originally wanted to just torture you, steal something you couldn’t ever get back and leave you begging for him to come back. But now, seeing your tear stained cheeks, your face covered in blood and your stupid ass mouth moaning out for him, he knew he couldn’t be settled for anything less than taking all of you.

“Please what?” Feitan grunts out. Leaning away from you, making you whine from the loss of pleasure. You go to push your hips up back into him but he holds you down. You really wanted more. You didn’t care what all of this meant, you just wanted Feitan, “Answer me.”

“P-please Fei. I want you to-to fuck me. I want you to fill me up. Please! I beg of you.” You tell him, your cheek flushed in embarrassment. He felt himself twitch in his pants, fuck that was too good. He was going to make you beg and whine for a little while longer but he needed you. He needed you now.

You are startled for a moment as Feitan puts you down on your feet but soon blush and moan as you see him pulling off his long black robe and unbuckling his pants. Damn, all that troupe work made him muscular, it was honestly impressive. And you’ve seen Chrollo shirtless tons of times before.

“Turn around. Now.” He orders, which you obey for the first time in your life. A shiver unintentionally goes up and down your spine as you feel his cool hands grab around your waist. The cold touch felt really nice against your hot and sweaty skin. You soon snap out of the nice feeling as one of his hands pulls away to help line himself up at your entrance. “You ready?”

This causes you to laugh. “You care now?”

Feitan tches, clearly unhappy you’re back to teasing him. Hmm… you know something that he would like. You catch Feitan off guard as you stick your ass up into him and give him a submissive yet seductive look.

“C-come on Fei. Prove that I was wrong about you. That even a short ass like you HA—”

Your plan definitely worked alright. Feitan cuts you off as he fully shields himself into you. Damn, you clutch your fist against the wall, you didn’t expect him to be this thick and big. It honestly caught you off guard. You moan as he pulls back out to move. Damn it Feitan, he knows this is your first time and he hadn’t give you enough time to adjusted to his size yet.

“F-fei. Hold it.” You say trying to push him away with your arm but he just grabs your wrists and presses your whole body against the wall. Trapping your body there.

“Shut it, (y/n). Shut your fucking mouth for once in your life.”

Fuck, you really couldn’t do anything. You could only just take it. Take every fast violent thrust he pushed into you. Take every pulse of pleasure that course through your body. Take every insult and word he whispered into your ear. It was so much at once, all your senses were overloaded.

“Fuck, look at you. So obedient. What happened to the old (y/n)?” Feitan moans as he feels your walls clench around him. “You like that huh? Like being obedient to me?”

You did you really did. Being submissive, being obedient, belonging to feitan, that’s what you really wanted. You just wanted him. Maybe, that’s why you two never got along. You never wanted to just admit outright your underlying feelings for him and just pushed him further and further away with your teasing. Fuck, you really didn’t want this to be a one time thing. A thing that will never be brought up again and be just a distant memory.

“F-Feitan, I-I love you. I love you.” Feitan’s thrust stop and silence fills the air. W-why did you say that? Why did you have to let your feelings take over your mind and shoot out some blubbering nonsense? Why couldn’t you keep your mouth shut f—

You're suddenly turned over, so your back is against the wall, and Feitan begins again. This time his thrusts are slower, like as if he’s savoring every bit, and he is trying to get more and more deeper, trying to fill you up as much as he can.

“Say it again. I want you to say it again.” Feitan whispers, placing his forehead against yours. Your lips were practically almost touching, “tell me who you love. Who you belong to.”

“You-u Feitan. I love you F-feitan. I love you so much.”

You let a sigh out. Even if the thrust were slower, they made you practically twitch in pleasure. They were so nice and loving. Each one hitting just that right spot. You were almost there. So close.

“Fuck (y/n).” Feitan curses out as he places his lips on yours. A passionate and loving kiss that takes your breath away. He was close. You could tell, his thrusts were getting more and more frantic and unpredictable. He isn’t wearing a condom either and you doubt he’s going to listen to you about pulling out. Crap, you clench at the thought, this is dangerous. Really dangerous. Maybe you’ll take one more risk for today.

“F-Feitan. I’m going to cum-m. Fill me up please. Fill me up with your cum.”

“You—shit.”

Feitan couldn’t finish his sentence as you moan out reaching your climax. As your walls clench and suck around him, it brings him to his end. He groans out as his warm cum fills you up while your walls flutter around him, milking him for all he is worth.

You pant out, tired from the events that had just taken place. Man you felt like you had just run a marathon. Maybe even two. You could honestly take a 12 hour nap around now. Though that thought is short lived as you feel Feitan move again, making you shutter.

“Huh? Fei-i? What are you...?”

Your eyes widened as you looked at Feitan. He looked hardly tired at all and only had a light shine of sweat. He chuckles darkly at your shocked expression. You couldn’t take anymore, your nerves were already starting to flare from overstimulation and he wasn’t even going fast. Also now that the adrenaline was out of your body you realized how sore you are and how much in pain your nose was. It might even be broken.

“Feitan-n please no more-e.” You beg, looking for any mercy from the man in front of you. But he only smirks back.

“You shouldn’t have opened your mouth (y/n). So don’t blame me for what’s happening next.”

After all, you belong to me now. And I’m taking everything.

Bonus:

(Later; back at the hideout)

“Hey Fei! How was getting your swor— oh man holy shit!! What happened to you?” Phinks shouts; running to his bitter bud who was a mess; hair all messy, clothes crinkled, skin sweaty and a little bit of blood on the side of his cheek. Phinks goes to touch it but Feitan slaps his hand away and walks away. “Feitan!”

Phinks just stares as he watches Feitan continue down the hallway, back to his temporary room. Phinks turns towards the others who were also just as confused.

“Man, (y/n) did a number on him. I wonder what he did.” Franklin mutters before looking back down at his cards. He had never seen (y/n) lose her cool around anyone before and he had known her since they were kids. He grabs a card and places it into the pile, “6”

Shalnark hums in agreement and places a card down as well “7. I wonder as well. Maybe Feitan insulted her looks?”

Machi scoffs “Not likely. I bet Feitan got too nosy when she was doing her work.”

“Feitan being nosy? That sounds absurd.”

Little did they all know of what really happened and that Feitan was actually smirking as he walked into the hideout.

[pixelatedrose]

Existence Said It Was So

Word count: 1,941

Pairing: Prinxiety

Summary: Roman is having a hard time trying to come up with a way to tell Virgil he loves him on Valentines day when a sweet note is slipped under his door.

Warnings: It’s literally 1,941 words of Prinxiety fluff and I love it

Once upon a time there was a particular person who lived in Florida who had the different aspects of his mind bustling about inside his head.

  And on this particular day- February 14th- his mind might have been calm.

  His logical side- who was named Logan- was busy stuffing his nose in a cookbook, carefully reading each of the ingredients that were required to make a cake.

  His moral side- one that was called Patton- was occupying his time making little cards for each of his friends, peacefully humming to himself.

  His anxious side- who would respond to the name Virgil- was surprisingly nowhere to be found. It was mildly disconcerting at first, but the host- a one Thomas Sanders- was not opposed to being anxiety free on a day like this one.

  All was fair and well inside Thomas Sanders' mind.

  At least that's how it seemed.

  For his creative side- one dubbed Roman- was having a quiet panic attack in his room as he worried and stressed over a certain someone.

  Discarded papers were scattered around his room, broken pencils, calligraphy pens, and spilled ink cartridges littered his desk and floor. 

  Roman had to face facts.

  He was at a stalemate.

  There was no romantic gesture he could throw at Virgil Anxiety Sanders to make him fall in love with Roman Creativity Sanders.

  Roman threw himself onto his bed and groaned into his pillow.

  "How and why can Remus get a boyfriend and I, obviously the better looking one and smarter one, have been met with nothing but…" Roman sat up and looked around his room, his gaze falling to rest at yet another crumpled up poem at his feet. He kicked it hard and watched it spitefully as it bounced against his wall. "Nothing but stupid poems and stupid roses and stupid, stupid, disgusting words!!!"

  Roman flopped over, letting his upper half hang over the side of his bed, his eyes falling to a flipped image of his door.

  He watched as he vaguely registered the shadow of someone’s shadow peeking out from under the doorway. And he only registered that someone had to have been behind the door when something was slipped under his door.

  Roman all but fell off his bed and for a moment lay on the floor contemplating the fact that he probably scared off whatever side it was that had been behind the door with the solid thump his body had made against the floor before he picked himself back up and went to the door.

  He opened it first just to see if he could see anyone there. Of course, he was greeted with nothing but empty hallway.

  He returned to the envelope that lay on his floor.

  It was a simple envelope, if nothing else a little crumpled around the edges. It had Roman’s name in beautiful, sprawling calligraphy and contained a small note and simple dried and pressed hydrangea flowers of blue, purple and white. Roman was careful with the flowers, delicate as they were, and placed each one on his desk carefully before pulling out the note.

  Happy Valentines day. You’re amazing and you really shouldn’t be alone today. You deserve a lot better than that. Heaven knows that and so do I. Besides, being alone is kinda Virgil’s thing. Smile! The world needs you. Love, Someone who probably cares more than they should.

  It should have been a simple little thing, but it made Roman excruciatingly happy. Not over the top happy, just the kind of happy the burns a little in your chest and makes you want to cry a little for a few seconds.

  And that only made Roman work harder. Inspiration struck him like a brick in the head and he wrote something down on a small piece of paper which he folded in his pocket.

  Roman went out into the hall and turned to the door which lead into the imagination. He knew where Virgil liked to secretly spend his time, even though he’d never admit it.

  He opened the door and found himself greeted with a beautiful painting of a scene. The sun was beginning to set, painting the area in pale colors, though not quite orange or yellow yet. The vast field that spanned out in front of him swayed in a soft warm breeze, rustling and yet never breaking the illusion of complete seclusion. Ahead of him, the forest cast ever darkening shadows dancing across the ground and to his right he saw over the cliff that overlooked the great and vast valley that had not always been a part of the imagination, growing over time and providing safe haven for all the worlds and adventures Thomas had been on.

  And right at the edge of the cliff, leaning on a small section of fence, the only section that existed, was Virgil.

  Before Roman could stop it from happening, his heart fluttered violently, as if it were a trapped hummingbird in its cage of bone.

  He grounded himself, trying desperately to calm his raging thoughts that threatened to turn him back around. Instead he thought of what he needed and plucked a few forget-me-not flowers nearby and made his way over to where Virgil stood, drinking in the sunset.

  Not wanting to disturb the mood by announcing himself, Roman simply walked up next to the anxious side and leaned against the wood himself, gazing out across the land that he and the other sides had built together.

  Virgil didn’t say anything. He knew Roman was there. But he didn’t say anything.

  Now that Roman really thought about it, most of the world that he had created had been with the help of Virgil.

  “Hey, Virge?” Roman finally spoke after a long while, the stress of his prior meltdown washing away in the ever fading light of the sunset.

  “Hm?” Virgil responded to Roman’s all too soft voice, at least to him it was. It was an unfair amount of soft and sweet and quiet and even hearing it made the anxious side feel like he was floating dreamlessly on the breeze, carried more by the light of the dying sun than the air.

  “You know, I don’t think I ever thanked you.” Roman said, his soft voice dancing in Vigil’s ear.

  “For what?” Virgil’s own voice was equally exquisite, sounding the way peppermint tasted and the way silver looked, but it was airy too, like bubbles shining with color as the drift lazily through the unseen wind.

  Roman settled his went to settle his beating heart, but found it was calm. As calm as a glassy pool undisturbed and untouched by human hands or eyes for the duration of its exquisite existence.

  “For helping make all of the worlds that I have. You know most of what I’ve made is because of you, right?”

  Silence.

  All that was between them was the breeze and the sound of grass and the feeling of quiet content.

  The sun was dipping low in the sky, and their view was cast in a warm array of splashing and streaming hues of pink, orange, yellow, and red. It was gorgeous. And it was warm. Roman hadn’t realized how cold he had been back in his room. But now he drank in the warmth of the moment and the sun into his skin and his memory. He never wanted to forget this moment.

  “You were the...You were the one who wrote me that note...Weren’t you?” Roman never tore his gaze away from the sky as Virgil turned to look at him, and if you didn’t know any better you might say that his cheeks and ears had stolen the pink hues from the sky.

  Virgil was unable to speak. He had been so careful to make it seem like he wasn’t the one who’d written it. He thought of rejection, he thought of acceptance, he even dared to think of reciprocation.

  Roman glanced at Virgil who had not yet seemed to notice he was silently crying. It was the closest thing he was going to get to a yes for now and it was already more than Roman could ever ask for.

  Roman reached into his pocket and for a moment almost gave Virgil the note and walked away.

  But instead he slipped his hand back out and gently held Virgil’s hands, placing the few stalks of forget-me-not in his pale and refreshingly chilly hands.

  “You gave me hydrangeas because you knew they were my real favorite flower, didn’t you? The only one who knows that is you, Virgil.”

  Roman noticed the way Virgil stopped to consider it all.

  “I’m giving you forget-me-not because like the flower, I wouldn’t want you to forget me or this moment forever.” Roman stepped closer to Virgil and lightly considered moving his hands up the other’s arms, but decided he would rather not risk scaring him away. Besides, he liked the way the anxious side’s hands fit so welcomingly in his.

  “Virgil, I don’t know how you feel about me, but I know how I feel about you.” Roman forced himself to look his love in his pretty brown eyes, seeing nothing but beauty and an starstruck galaxies reflecting worlds upon universes of emotion, those eyes holding an entire existence’s worth of futures, words, and emotions in them. The light breeze played gently with Virgil’s hair and the light of the fading sky of colors splashed against his skin, making it seem to glow under it’s light.

  “Virgil, I love you. And I wish beyond all hope I’ve ever harbored within me that you never forget that, and that if I ever stop loving you, the world is wrong and stars are blinking out and existence itself will cry out in pain for this is not how the universe was written. It was written that I love you. And it was written that I always will love you. And that I always have.” Roman took a deep, shaky breath. At some point he had looked away from his light’s face and he couldn’t face him now. “Even if perhaps you don’t love me.”

  “Roman…” Roman looked up at Virgil to find that he was hardly an inch away from him. And before Roman really knew what was going on, Virgil was kissing him gently.

  It was soft and quick but it felt like how the grass around them sounded, how the world around them sounded, the way Roman let his hummingbird heart out of it’s cage, finally free. Finally alive. Finally awake.

  They came apart and Virgil had truly must have robbed the sunset of all it’s beauty. “I love you too, and I really don’t think I could forget that. I told you the world needed you. But if I’m being honest and completely cheesy here, my world is nothing without you.” Virgil stepped closer, if that was even possible and set the dainty flowers on the fence beside them. He cupped Roman’s face in his relaxingly chilly hands and he gently wiped away tears that Roman hadn’t known were there. “So don’t ever think I don’t love you ever again.” And he leaned in and kissed Roman again, this time there was no room for delicately fluffy clouds as they each melted into one another.

  And the ever fading sun silently slipped behind the hills as the world fell away, and all that remained were two souls that the universe and the world and stars had written for each other, two hearts that would love each other for as long as existence would live. 

[nosleepstillweak]

cruller

My favorite type of donut is a cruller. Pity the man that begins his own love story with a monologue about his favorite pastry, but I feel like there’s something to be said here. It’s not like your traditional cake or long john or eclair. A cruller is in an avenue all its own. For one, it just looks cooler. Who doesn’t like a twisty donut? The dough is shaped into this endless spiral that flakes beautifully in the oven. Furthermore, the consequent increase in surface area also leads to the creation of these little pockets that are the perfect space for the outer glaze to nestle into. Top the whole affair off with a flawlessly reduced jelly filling and it’s like eating ambrosia. This opinion definitely isn’t mitigated by the fact that a literal goddess is the one to serve me these treats every morning, yet I still face opposition.

“You’re just a fucking weirdo, Jason.”

These are the words of my donut-apathetic comrade, Malachi. He’s a bit of an old-head, if you were to ask me, but sometimes the bluntness of his responses are in my best interest. As of late, he has been the staunchest--and sole--opponent of my onset infatuation with the owner of our newly discovered cafe destination.

“These twists taste like garbage. Admit it, you just have a thing for Donut Girl.” A key indicator of his disdain is the fact he continues to call her “Donut Girl,” even though her name-tag would lead me to believe that she actually goes by Sadie. Then again, given my previous history with “Pizza Chick” and “Gas Station Lady,” it’s fair to say that I haven’t necessarily made the best name for myself when choosing my romantic interests in the wholesale industry.

“Unsubstantiated opinions on Sadie aside, you can’t tell me that this isn’t a damn good donut.” I mean, he could, but he’d just be a liar. I take another bite in between sentences. “Plus, I don’t think you saw the way she looked at me this time. That was definitely some sort of signal.”

I can’t say that I’m not offended by Malachi’s responding scoff. “Yeah, a signal to round up all the idiots. I can’t believe you’re twenty-three years old and you still crush after women like you’re in a teen drama.” He scowls at me as I finish off the last of the half-dozen with a smile on my face. “Those donuts literally taste like sugar-coated metal.”

“Oh, heaven forbid they contain the slightest hint of high fructose corn syrup.” In traditional old-head fashion, Malachi is the type to complain about foods nowadays being too sugary; he gets a headache from eating a rope of black licorice. “Gather ‘round, folks, Old Man Malachi is mounting the soapbox again to preach about the dangers of processed foods--”

“Oh, fuck you, I’m leaving.” He, rather dramatically, snatches the coat off the back of his chair and storms out of the bakery. I can’t wipe the grin off my face when I remember that we literally work at the same office and will see each other again within the next ten minutes. What I find to be less amusing is the fact that he left me the entire bill, including his cinnamon-free cinnamon twists and extra-large black coffee. In lieu of my irritation, I take the situation as just a form of preparation: true love isn’t cheap.

“Here’s your bill.” A slip of paper slides across the table and then I’m blindsided by the sight of an immaculate Sadie smile. Now that’s priceless. I can’t describe it in words, but it’s just so… damn. By the time I’ve regained my senses, she’s gone off to help the next customer. I glance over the receipt, fishing through my wallet to produce the proper total and a hefty tip. My eyes widen when I catch something hastily scrawled at the bottom of the slip: a phone number. Next to a poorly-drawn smiley face, but that’s beside the point; the Sadie of Sadie’s Bakery just gave me her phone number. As I get up to leave, I even catch a glimpse of her smiling softly in my direction. I more than happily return the gesture. Malachi will come around eventually, but this train is definitely already in motion.

***

I have to hand it to Malachi because the first few weeks of my relationship with Sadie did actually feel like a teen drama. Our initial correspondence was nothing to write home about. I’d pick up a cruller every morning at the bakery and we’d chat for as long as it took for Malachi to spitefully gulp down his coffee and claim that we were running late for work. In between breaks at the office, I curated a myriad of internet bakery memes. Then, at night, I would bombard our text conversations with dancing donuts and cake icing videos and pretend to not absolutely lose my mind whenever she responded with a laughing face emoji. This continued for a while until I had to stage a self-intervention from giving myself diabetes. Sadie was surprisingly understanding and even offered to make me a sugar-free batch; had Malachi not physically taken my phone and responded with “no and goodbye,” I would have accepted.

In spite of his continued opposition, the train kept on moving. Sadie was actually the one who asked me out; I know, the misogynists are quaking in their boots. After she made the first move at the bakery, I wasn’t super surprised that she proposed the idea of dating one morning when I stopped by to pick up an office order. That being said, her delivery did not keep me from turning completely red and whooping at the top of my lungs in the otherwise moderately quiet cafe. I honestly still don’t know why Sadie got so embarrassed; she literally owns the place. All that being said, Sadie and I were officially a couple. Now, I just have to let Malachi in on it so he can be a supportive best friend and help guide me through my new--

“Jason, I love you, man, but this seems like a terrible idea.” Okay, ouch. This hadn’t been the first time he’d ever said these exact words to me, but for some reason, they hurt more this time around. “This is so sudden! I seriously worry that you’re getting ahead of yourself. What do you even know about this Sadie girl anyways?”

“Uh, well, for one, she runs the best bakery in town.”

“Debatable. Dinah’s Breakfast Cafe has killer pastries.”

“Unlike Dinah, Sadie’s smart and funny.”

“And you learned this from your 2 A.M. meme conversations?”

“Okay, either way, look me in the eyes and tell me she’s not beautiful.”

“Do you really want me to call your girlfriend hot?”

I throw a straw wrapper in his face and pout, genuinely upset. “That’s not the point and you know it.”

“Look, dude, I can understand that your initial feelings may be strong, but I just don’t wanna see you get hurt again. Physically or emotionally.” Malachi fixes me with a serious look and I suddenly feel like sinking back into my chair. “Especially after Gas Station Lady, I was hoping you’d make a little bit of a better assessment of things. I mean, like, do you even know how old she is? Friends? Family? Does she have any past relationships? Who’s to say that she isn’t hanging out with one of her ex-boyfriends right now?”

That last comment was a low blow and more than a little melodramatic, but I suddenly feel like I don’t know enough about Sadie to defend her. Now that I think about it, maybe everything is moving too fast.

“Just… be careful, man. Maybe reconsider. Again, the last thing I’d want is for you to get hurt.” Malachi shoots me one last sympathetic smile before walking out of the breakroom. Maybe there’s some truth to Old Man Malachi’s words. I stare at the cruller in my hand for a moment. When I finally move to take a bite, something inside leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The jelly filling doesn’t taste quite the same as before.

***

After that awful conversation, I decide it's best to have a heart-to-heart with Sadie. Our text conversations dry up for a couple of nights and I try to avoid the bakery as much as possible to give myself more time to think. However, as it turns out, the inevitable conversation didn’t end up being as painful as I thought it would be. Sadie actually laughs when I tell her that I don’t know anything about her; she says the same could be said about me. We spend the rest of the evening making donuts together and giving each other a basic autobiographical rundown.

Sadie Marissa Jenkins II is a first-generation British--it was at this point in our month-long relationship that I finally noticed the accent--immigrant who’d moved here in order to pursue her studies in culinary arts at the local university. She lives with her older sister, and her dog named Muffin, and she prefers riding her bike to taking the metro. She spoke of no past relationships and is in fact not currently cheating on me with another man. I was quite happy, and a little smug, when reporting my findings to Malachi.

“If you think she’s the one, then knock yourself out.” He’s speaking very nonchalantly for a man who’s wrestling with a stapler. “She actually gave me a free coffee this morning, so maybe she’s worth keeping around.”

“So free coffee is all it takes to get Old Man Malachi’s blessing?”

“Hardy-har-har.” He flicks a loose staple at my forehead. “This better work out, because I’m not picking your ass up again when you get dumped out of a pizza delivery car in the middle of town.”

“At least she didn’t run out of gas.” I jokingly shoot finger guns in his direction, snorting when he feigns a shot to the chest as he exits the breakroom. There are still a couple of crullers left over in the Sadie’s Bakery box on the counter so I help myself to one--and immediately gag. Okay, they actually do kinda taste like metal. They’re probably just stale from sitting out all afternoon. Yeah, that’s probably it.

***

I decide to lay off the crullers for a while and instead take the time to learn more about Sadie. What I learn instead is that both of us have pretty uninteresting lives, but I think it’s the thought that counts. Plus, her accent is precious and I can barely pay attention when we have midnight baking lessons at the bakery. These lessons are always followed by her getting into my car, me offering to drive her home, and us making out in the backseat instead. This goes on for several nights and I have never once complained about it. That is, until tonight, when she decides to take a chomp out of the side of my neck.

“What the--!” I instinctively push away from her and inspect the injury with my hand. My fingers come away smeared red.

“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!” Her hands hover over me as I frantically press the sleeve of my jacket to my neck to stop the bleeding. “I got carried away. Did I hurt you?” I mean, judging by the fact that I’m literally bleeding, I think it would be fair to assume that she did, in fact, hurt me. Nonetheless, I manage a smile.

“It’s fine, Sades.” Probably. The bleeding has stopped, anyways. “Honestly. I mean, it’s not like you said some other guy’s name, or something weird like that.”

“What? What other guy? When was there ever another guy?” Sadie jolts away from me like I’m made of fire. “What do you know about another guy?”

“Uh, nothing! It was just a joke.” A bad joke. “An American joke.”

“Oh. I see.” She nervously picks at the leather of the car seat, her teeth gnawing at her lower lip.

“Really, the biting thing was fine.” Probably. I lean forward and place a small kiss on her ear. “In fact, dare I say that it was kinda hot.” I don’t know what response I was expecting, but I was not physically prepared for the look that she gave me when I pulled away. Then, we were back at it again. From that point in the night on, it was just so… damn. Maybe I was just hallucinating before; I think the crullers taste just fine.

***

“You look tired.” Malachi inquires with a wink as he takes another sip of his morning coffee. To be quite honest, I probably feel worse than I look; after the whole biting incident and my subsequent flirtatious response, Sadie kinda took things into her own hands. I think it’s fair to say that what happened in that car stays in that car. Probably.

“I was just busy last night.”

“Busy?” Malachi snorts into his cup. “With Sadie?”

“Oh, shut up,” I tiredly flip him the bird, “don’t say it like that. We’re literally adults. It’s not like teenagers kissing behind the bleachers, or something.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, I forgot when you got so mature. Just eat your damn cruller.” He shoves the half-dozen towards me and I nibble at one for a bit before taking a bite… which still tastes awful. Did she change the recipe for the filling? I need to talk to her about that. “Then again, maybe you’re right. I don’t remember them wearing scarves in August in teen dramas.”

I literally choke on the bite of cruller in my mouth. Okay, so maybe the biting incident wasn’t fine. You live and you learn.

***

“Uh, hey there, Sades.” I make my way into the sparsely lit kitchen of the bakery. “Whatcha’ up to?” My real question is, why does the kitchen look like a literal crime scene? There’s donut filling smeared all over the counters; there’s even some on the wall.

“Oh! Uh, nothing, just washing my hands. Cleaning up.”

“Did you cook something?” I look around the kitchen a bit. No pots or pans. Not even a baked good. “I don’t see anything.”

“N-No, not really. I was just preparing something for a batch I was going to bake tomorrow.” For a baker, that’s a totally normal thing to do. Probably.

“Alrighty, then. Should we head out now?”

Sadie smiles, but her face still seems tight. “Lovely.”

***

“Something’s off about Sadie, man. I’ve been getting these weird vibes lately.”

“Oh, so now you see it.” Malachi rolls his eyes, taking a bite into a fresh-baked, sugar-free twist. “Did you two have a fight? Does she not like it when you burp halfway through your sentences?��

“What? No, to both.” Well, actually, that’s a hard maybe on the latter. “Nothing specifically happened, per se, but, like, the vibes were off. She was acting really strange last night.”

“What’d she do, exactly?”

“Well, she…” Washed her hands? What exactly am I supposed to say in this situation? “...actually, never mind.”

“Good. Because, if you were about to say some kinky shit, I literally would’ve punched you in the face.” He chortles as I push hard against his arm. “Look, man, relationships are weird. Whatever’s on your mind, just work it out with her. Better now than later. Regret hurts like a bitch, dude.”

I stare down at the cruller in front of me and swallow thickly. “I think you’re right, man. I should just talk things out with her.”

***

Oh, god, I was wrong. I was so wrong. Screw talking things out. Malachi was right. Regret does hurt like a bitch. I should’ve listened to him, the first time. I wish I could go back and listen to him. I should’ve known something was wrong from the random nighttime hand washing. Or from the biting incident. Or from when any human woman found me to be conventionally attractive. Maybe that’s it. Maybe she’s just not human. She probably isn’t, given that she’s pulling this shit. She’s literally crazy, and I fell for it.

You wanna know what was in those crullers? The jelly filling: it wasn’t cherry or strawberry or whatever other random red fruit we thought it was. It’s straight-up human remains. ...Plus a shit ton of sugar and preservatives, but that’s beside the point. That’s why Malachi thought they tasted like metal. There’s iron and calcium in blood and bones; she was just feeding us metal. People. And I ate them! Almost every day! For two months! Oh my god, what’s wrong with her? What’s wrong with me?

Malachi, or Mom, or Gas Station Lady, if you’re reading this, just know that I love you all. Actually, this is an inner monologue; you’ll never see this. Poetic cruller bullshit aside, this is absolutely crazy. Oh god, she’s back. Oh god, she has a meat grinder. Why would she have a meat grinder? This is the worst day of my life. Oh god, this is the last day of my life. I’m about to die. She’s about to grind me into bits and make me into donut filling. Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god. I should’ve known better, I should’ve--

Fuck, Malachi, please, don’t eat the crullers. Don’t eat the--

***

“I knew there was something up with you!”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh god, he even told me that you were acting strange recently--”

“Malachi, please, calm down. What’s the matter?”

“Cut the bullshit, Donut Girl. What did you do to Jason?”

A pause. Then, she smiles. “Welcome to Sadie’s Bakery, the best baked goods in town. Could I interest you in a cruller?”

[dear-yunho]

Date Night

Pairing : Kim Hongjoong (ATEEZ) x Female!Reader Genre : Mostly Fluff/Comfort Word Count : 2,310 Author’s Note : This is the first Joongie fic I wrote that I was happy with! 

The smell of popcorn seemed to stick physically to you as you and Hongjoong left the theatre, and pieces of it were actually literally stuck on parts of Hongjoong where an overexcited child had thrown the remainder of their card box box of buttery kernels at him. You couldn’t help letting loose a tiny giggle at the memory of his stunned expression as the mother hurried her child away, throwing a rushed apology over her shoulder. “What?” Hongjoong looked at you, completely unaware that there were still pieces left on him, “Hold still.” You told him, reaching out to pluck the offending food from him and showing him the small pile in your hands before dumping it into the nearest bin. He pouted, hands patting the rest of him to ensure there were none left. “It’s not funny, stop laughing at me!” He exclaimed, pout growing the longer you continued to struggle to hold in giggles. You bit down hard on your lip, filling your eyes with an apology to ease his lost puppy look. “It’s a little funny.” You choked out when he finally smiled back at you and he glared for a moment before grabbing you around the waist and crushing you in a one armed hug while his free hand danced against your sides. “Is it still funny?” He questioned gloatingly as you gasped against him, trying not to laugh at the tickling he was torturing you with. “Hongjoong!” You whined, slapping his arm gently until he stopped, grinning widely down at you now. “Sorry princess.” He chuckled, kissing you quickly and softly before pulling away and inspecting you with adoration in his eyes that made your knees weak. This was the first time in weeks that you’d been able to see him, his schedule had been so crazy and you’d wanted to give him space to deal with that without worrying about you, but you hadn’t realised just how much you’d missed him. You stood on your toes, mouth seeking his in a kiss that lasted only a few seconds longer than the last. He held your waist, smiling against your lips. He’d missed you too. After a few more kisses that you were sure would probably have people gagging at the sight of if they were wandering past, you realised the time. It was getting dark, and you had things to get done at home, because although it was Hongjoong’s day off, it wasn’t yours. And you’d already left it too late, you’d be up well into the early morning struggling to meet your deadline for a work assignment that was due in tomorrow. “Mm I need to go.” You told Hongjoong, squeezing his hands and stepping away from him. His face fell in dismay and he followed your steps back, hands catching yours. “Let me walk you home at least?” He begged, mouth twisting sadly when you began to shake your head before he was even done speaking. You tugged your hands from his, catching his face gently between them and kissing him one last time. “If you walk me home, I’ll let you come in and spend the night and I won’t get any work done.” You pointed out, giving him a small smile that he half heartedly returned. Being the leader of his group, you knew that he understood what you were saying. But that didn’t make it any easier for him, or for you. “I could help you.” He offered, already knowing your response even as the words left his lips. “You helping would be a distraction in itself.” You giggled, running your fingers through his hair, amazed that it felt so soft and silky still, even though it had just recently been dyed red. The colour suited him, bringing out the delicate features of his face and accentuating the natural blush that often sported his face when he was with you. “Okay, Okay.” He agreed finally, pulling you into a bone crushing hug, his chin pressed to the top of your head as it rested against his shoulder. You sunk into him, allowing yourself a moment to be encased in his arms, in the warmth of his body against yours. “Go now because if you don’t then I’m not letting you go.” He mumbled into your hair, squeezing you somehow tighter. You buried your head deeper against his shoulder for a moment, sighing softly against him. If it were possible to freeze a moment forever, this would be the perfect one to keep in your heart. With a lot of willpower you managed to force yourself out of his arms, chewing your lip as you weighed the cost of putting off your work further.

As much as you loved Hongjoong, and you did, even the night with him wasn’t worth the outcome that you’d suffer for not getting the assignment done. “I’m going now.” You informed him, smiling when he chuckled at you, his eyes shimmering in the moonlight that was beaming down on you. “Be safe, go straight home.” He told you, lifting his hand in a tiny wave that nearly had you running back into his arms. Instead you nodded, as if you’d be going anywhere but straight home. The hardest thing you’d ever had to do was turn around and start walking in the direction of your apartment. Every step felt like you were dragging a bag full of bricks behind you and you refused to turn and check behind you until you knew you’d walked far enough that you couldn’t possibly still see Hongjoong with the romantically lit up theatre entrance behind him. Suddenly the air seemed colder without his bubbly presence beside you and you shoved your hands deep into your pockets, seeking the warmth, and focused on hurrying your steps up. You ached to be at home, bundled up in bed with your laptop in front of you working on your assignment and occasionally messaging Hongjoong with updates. You were halfway there when you noticed the sounds of footsteps echoing softly between yours.

Immediately your heart sped up and the hair on the back of your neck stood up as you resisted the desire to take off at a run. Every cautionary lesson ever on being followed in the middle of the night on an empty street the victim gave in to their flight desire, only encouraging the pursuer into the chase. But things were much easier discussed in a safe classroom in the middle of daylight hours than they were acted out. After a few minutes the footsteps got heavier and closer, and faster and you swallowed heavily, fingers wrapping around your phone in your pocket. Really you should have pulled it out long ago to call someone, but a part of you figured that the moment whoever was behind you saw the phone they’d pounce. It could just be someone else walking home. You tried to convince yourself, fingers clenching and unclenching around your phone. It would be so much easier to believe that, but if you were wrong then believing that for too long was what could get you attacked. The decision was made for you when a hard grip captured your elbow, spinning you forcefully around to face a man that had to be at least twice your age, and definitely highly intoxicated. Terror trilled through you and you scrambled to loosen his grip, bringing your phone out and attempting to unlock it one handed. “Come on love, no need to struggle.” The man drawled, smirking in a way that made your skin crawl and your heart race in the complete opposite way that Hongjoong made it race. Hongjoong, you’d give anything to go back and ask him to walk you home now. “Let me go, you asshole.” You hissed at the drunk, trying your best to ignore how painful his grip on you was becoming as you twisted desperately in an effort to escape. If you could free yourself you figured you’d easily outrun him, hell even fast walking would probably throw him off, but he was twice your height and even drunk much stronger than you would ever be. “Nawh come on, there’s no need to struggle.” He repeated, eyes sweeping hungrily over your body as you struggled, bringing the urge to vomit to you. You didn’t bother to respond, still holding on to the hope that you could somehow manage to worm your way out of his grip, which was surely going to leave bruises. Idiot, bruises are the least of your concerns right now. You inwardly screeched at yourself. “Let her go.” A familiar, and yet completely unrecognisable, voice rang out quietly from behind the man, whose shoulder shielded you from being able to physically see who it was. But you knew. You’d recognise Hongjoong’s beautiful voice anywhere, although you’d never heard it quite so dangerously low and angry until this moment. The man scoffed, turning abruptly to face his interrupter, incidentally dragging you along with him thanks to his tight grip around you. Hongjoong was glowering, his hands curled in tight fists as he stared first at the man then at you, his eyes sweeping over you to check you were uninjured. “Joong.” You whispered, tears clouding your eyes. You made a mental note to thank him for following you after you berated him for the same thing. “Hey princess.” He said quietly, expression softening for a moment before it returned to your captor, hardening once again. If you were anyone but his girlfriend, you’d be terrified of him right now. “I’m not going to ask you again, let my girlfriend go.” Hongjoong directed his words to the man who spitefully gripped tighter to you, earning a reluctant whimper of pain from you. You could swear that the bones below his hand were close to snapping under the pressure of his hold. Hongjoong’s expression grew, somehow, darker and he stepped closer warningly. “What are you gonna do?” The drunk crowed, stumbling back and taking you with him, your eyes fixed desperately on Hongjoong. A part of you ached for him to close the distance and retrieve you, but another part was terrified of what would happen to the disgusting human holding you if Hongjoong got his hands on him. As much as you couldn’t care less for his life in this moment, you cared about Hongjoong’s, which would be ruined if he were arrested for beating a man to a pulp, even under the circumstances. “Honestly? I don’t think you want to find out.” Hongjoong told the guy, frowning in a way that made him look like Satan himself. Your body shook and you tried once more to tug yourself out of the vice like grip on your arm, resulting only in causing yourself more pain. Tears slid down your cheeks. “Ah,” The drunk rolled his eyes, glaring first at Hongjoong then you. “Stupid bitch isn’t worth it.” With that he flung your arm out of his grip, sending you tumbling to the ground at the sudden change and scraping your hands against the rough ground. Hongjoong was beside you in a heartbeat, arms encasing you and cradling you to him as an overwhelmed sob ripped out of your chest. You clung to him, shaking in his arms. “It’s okay Y/n, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” He whispered, kissing your forehead over and over, hands rubbing your back soothingly until you stopped shaking and the tears stopped trailing down your face. “It’s okay.” He repeated when you lifted your face to stare up at him with watery eyes, his thumb reaching out to sweep away the remaining tears clinging to your cheeks. “Let’s get you home.” He said softly, lifting you carefully to lean against his shoulder, his arm wrapping around your waist and taking almost all of your weight. Your legs weren’t injured, you wanted to point out, but you didn’t have the heart to and nor did you want to walk any further away from him than you already were. You held your injured arm to your chest, letting him continue to whisper soothingly to you as you both walked the rest of the way to your apartment. “I can go in alone.” You mumbled when you were standing outside the apartment door and Hongjoong was reaching into your pockets to retrieve your keys. He paused and looked at you with raised eyebrows. “If you think I’m going to leave you by yourself tonight after what just happened then you’re crazy.” He finally got the keys and slotted them into the lock, twisting it and pushing the door open. A rush of warm air indicated that you’d accidentally left the heater on before rushing out to meet Hongjoong, something that was now a blessing on your freezing skin as you both stepped into the small apartment. “My work-” You mumbled, eyes landing on your laptop, discarded in the middle of the kitchen counter. “Can wait. I’ll talk to your boss.” Hongjoong reassured you, closing the door and ensuring it was locked behind you before guiding you to your bed and gently sitting you down on the edge of it. He’d been in your apartment enough times to know where everything was without a light and soon he’d gathered your most comfortable clothes and dumped them on your lap, leaving you to change with a kiss and a gentle reminder that he would be in the kitchen calling your boss while you changed. When you’d finally managed to do it you slipped out to wrap yourself around him where he waited, sinking into the warmth of his body as he held you tightly. “Thankyou for following me.” You whispered against his chest, feeling him tense slightly at the words. Probably thinking, like you, about what would have, could have, happened if he hadn’t.

[pkg4mumtown]

Last Resort (Pt. 3)

Part 1 / Part 2

A/N: Alright, dudes, bear with me because this fic took control of the wheel, made a sharp left into soft-ville, and flipped me off along the way. Sorry, if I ruined a perfectly good fic with my thirst for soft!John. All the lyrics in this are by Avenged Sevenfold because that’s who I was listening to while writing this.

Warnings: Literally none this time, unless you count alcohol, angst, fluff...yea. Cool.

Summary: After your last contract with John and your stupid feelings manifesting, you decide that some space would be good between you two.

Taglist: @beyond-antares @anita-e-taylor @futuristic-imbecile @samanthagraceg @cuttlefishcatfish @gwenebear @derangedcupcake @cumberbatchbaps @celestiaelisia @lunaticgurly @onebatch--twobatch @shatter-me-now @xrevoltx @yes-captainstark 

I was grateful that the contracts sent to me for the week following that night were open, and therefore optional. I holed myself up, willing these feelings to go away. I had fallen for him, God only knows how. Maybe it was the glimpse of the softer side of him I was privileged to see, on occasion, but never for more than a second. Maybe the way he sometimes broke his façade and laughed softly at my dumb jokes. Whatever the reason, it happened, and I couldn’t be angrier at myself. That week I distanced myself from him, shut my phone off, hung up on relayed messages given by Charon from John, refusing contracts, even so far as to bribe hotel employees to not divulge my room number.

Just when I was beginning to relax into the idea that the arrangement might not be all that bad, that maybe I was willing to have him in my life in any respect, I received a closed contract. I stared at the screen for far too long, wishing that the words would magically change. I glanced at the price, chewing the inside of my lip as I did. It was nowhere near the price of the ones John and I normally did together but fuck me if I still felt the overwhelming urge to invite him. God, how I wanted to invite him, if only to hear his voice.

No. I don’t need him, or his smirk, or his hands, or his…no.

I gritted my teeth, as if it would prevent me from calling him. I simply sighed and got ready to head out. The lobby wasn’t empty by any means, but I was relieved to not see his face as I left.

I was thankful for the easy target, meaning minimal energy and low risk of injury. The target had very little security, allowing me to finish the contract with only a couple minor scrapes that were mostly my fault. It was a nice change from the voluntary vacation I gave myself, nearly causing me to go stir crazy.

I made eye contact with Charon immediately as I entered the Continental, his eyes flashing to the side in a silent signal. I looked over, seeing John standing in the closest walkway to the elevators. My blood ran cold at the sight of his clenched jaw and stoic features, knowing immediately that he was angry. I straightened my back as I walked, pushing past him without a second glance. He followed me, I knew he would, but I wasn’t about to air out our business in the lobby. As soon as we rounded the corner where the elevators were, he backed me up against the wall and examined the scrape on my forehead.

“Where were you? I’ve been trying to call you for days,” he revealed in a hushed growl.

The truth is, I wouldn’t know if he’d tried to call my phone. I shut it off the second I got back to my room after our last contract, only keeping my work phone on.

“Clearly on a job. What are you? My babysitter?” I rested my head against the wall, crossing my arms defiantly. I had to push him away. I just couldn’t let this continue and do this to myself.

“You could have gotten hurt,” John murmured, rubbing his thumb just shy of the scrape on my head.

I flinched away from his touch, shoving his arm away from me by the forearm, “And? That’s part of the job.” I laughed spitefully, “What do you think happened before we started this mess? I got hurt a lot.”

His jaw clenched and clenched repeatedly, his fingers circling around my wrist over my chest, “Still, I could hav—”

“Done what? Protected me? Why do you care so much?” I spat. I was getting tired of this conversation and the insinuations that I needed his help for the most mundane jobs. I took the opportunity to slap the elevator button next to me.

John was silent, as I expected him to be. He didn’t care, that’s what the funny part was. All this fussing because our little game could have been in jeopardy, his fantasies interrupted, and his guaranteed fucks cut off for good.

“That’s what I thought,” I wrenched myself away from his grasp, my chest aching with emotion as I turned my body away from him and slid into the elevator.

The elevator doors began to slide shut but opened once again when a hand slid in between them, trusting that the door would do its job and open again. They did, and not surprisingly, John was on the other side of them. I reached out, smashing the buttons for random floors before he could get a glimpse of what I had chosen originally. He strode in, attempting to back me against the wall once more but I stayed firmly in place this time.

“I care about you,” he whispered, flicking his eyes away from my face as he spoke.

I couldn’t help but feel unaffected by his words as he couldn’t even look me in the eyes. I felt scornful laughter bubble up in my throat, begging to be released. So, I did. I laughed, hard, “John, you don’t even know what that word means.”

I couldn’t see the hurt in his eyes, even if I wanted to. He was hardly readable unless he was angry. The elevator ride dragged on as I avoided looking at him, which was hard as he was literally pressed against me. I knew if I dared to look in his eyes, I’d either be a fool and believe him or breakdown all together and risk crying. John’s hand snuck around my waist, increasing the pressure between our hips while he dropped his lips to my ear. I couldn’t even begin to express how much I wanted him to continue.

“Stop,” my brain betrayed me, ordering him firmly with a hint of a crack in my voice.

His movements froze perfectly, as if I was his remote control. The elevator dinged, prompting me to slip out of his grasp.

“Good night, John,” I sighed, walking past him and out of the elevator.

I groaned in frustration the second the door of the room shut behind me. I had to climb a few extra flights of stairs just to make sure I wasn’t followed. I was careful taking my weapons off but ripped at my clothing in frustration. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t tear ballistic lining. I took a deep breath, shrugging my clothes off and throwing them in a pile. I stood under the hot spray of the shower head for far too long, my skin eventually going numb to the water.

I wrapped myself in a towel as I exited the bathroom, sending a passing glare to one of John’s undershirts that he’d mistakenly left with me weeks ago. I’d been avoiding it like the plague, knowing it probably still smelled like him, and I wasn’t about to torture myself like that. Fuck, did I miss his scent, though. I mentally kicked myself as I dropped my towel and slid the soft shirt over my skin. The scent made me dizzy and all I wanted to do was lay down and wallow for the next month.

I grabbed my personal phone, dreading turning it on, but I wanted to listen to music. I turned it on, grabbing my wireless headphones while the phone powered on. I immediately unlocked it and clicked the music app, the phone stuttering as the app fought for processing power with the slew of missed messages and other startup processes.

“Hey, I have a contract.” “Guess, you'll miss out, then.”

I clicked on a heavy metal band, craving the harsh music and screaming vocals.

“Can I see you?” “Are you okay?”

I snapped the headphones over my head, frustrated when I didn’t immediately hear music.

“Y/N, it's been days. Are you okay?” “Are you hurt?” “I'm not fucking around. Are you hurt?”

I fiddled with the controls, soon giving up and throwing them against the wall with an audible “crack”.

“Did you seriously bribe Charon?”

I grabbed my wired headphones, plugged them in, and laid down.

“We all need that person who can be true to you I left her when I found her And now I wish I'd stayed 'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired I'm missing you again oh no”

 “Are you fucking kidding me?” I rolled my eyes, skipping the song.

“Seize the day or die regretting the time you lost It's empty and cold without you here, too many people to ache over”

Skip.

Finally, a wailing electric guitar sounded with heavy drums. Harsh vocals graced my ears, allowing me to settle my head back into my pillow as I closed my eyes. I tapped to the beat with my fingers on my stomach, fighting the urge to belt out the lyrics.

“I'm not insane, I'm not insane I'm not insane, I'm not, not insane Come back to me, it's almost easy”

 My eyes shot open, my face contorting into a scowl.

Skip.

A piano started out for the next song, causing me to rip my headphones from my ears and throw my phone across the room.

“I asked for metal, not to shuffle all the fucking ballads!” I seethed at my empty room.

I grabbed the pillow next to me, throwing it over my face and pressing down while letting out frustrated growls. The lack of air only made it worse, my brain immediately imagining the way John’s hands fit around my neck. The way his hands knew just how to cut off the blood supply, making me dizzy until…

I threw the pillow down to my side, my chest heaving wildly. I rubbed my hand over my face, pressing my fingers into my forehead in an attempt to calm myself.

 Meanwhile, John was stalking grumpily back to the front desk.

“Is Winston in?” he asked Charon curtly.

“The manager is in the lounge,” Charon replied in his typical voice, not letting John's tone affect him.

“Daisy,” John called, an eager, full-grown beagle running out from behind the desk to greet him. He gave her a brief rub, before having her follow him to the lounge.

He immediately took a seat in the booth across from Winston, Daisy sitting obediently on the floor next to him.

“What room is she in, Winston?” John asked, taking a lighter tone with the older man.

“I’m afraid I’m sworn to secrecy, Jonathan.”

If looks could kill, Winston would be buried five times over, “Why is she acting like a child, like this is a fucking game?” he growled.

“Because that’s what it was, wasn’t it? A game?” Winston raised his eyebrows.

John stewed in silence, accepting a glass that Winston slid over to him cautiously.

“You feel something for her, don’t you?” Winston chuckled.

“Winston…” John warned.

Winston grew serious, “If you want her, go after her.” He paused, thinking over his words for a moment, “You know what needs to be said, Jonathan, but can you say it? She may hide behind humor, but she has feelings just like anyone else. Even you.”

John downed the glass in one gulp, standing and leaving the table. Daisy followed him to the elevators without a care. He ushered Daisy into the elevator, clicking the button for the floor I’d gotten out on earlier. He knelt in front of her, pulling out a piece of fabric and letting her sniff it thoroughly to separate John’s scent from mine.

“Seek,” John commanded as the doors slid open.

It took a while, but three floors and a couple false alarms later, Daisy plopped down in front of room 536. She looked up expectantly at John, receiving a head scratch for her efforts.

“You sure?” he asked Daisy, who simply stared at him.

John’s hand hovered over the door, fist curled tightly and ready to knock. He stopped before his fingers could meet the door, uncurling his hand and letting his fingertips touch the door with a sigh. What would he even say? I’m sorry, I have trouble expressing myself? He shook his head, letting his hand slide down the door and fall. His tongue travelled over his lips before he stalked away. If all else failed, he at least knew the room number.

 I woke up extremely late the next day, having not been able to fall asleep for a while last night. In my sleepy haze, John’s scent filled my nose, making me smile and reach out for him. My hand met cold sheets, causing my eyes to fly open in shock. I looked down at the offending shirt, letting my head fall back against the pillow. I threw my covers off, grabbing my, thankfully intact, phone. I plugged it in to charge, scrolling mindlessly for some time until I saw a notification drop down.

“Meet me at the bar,” John typed. I clicked it, my first mistake, since he would see that I’d read the message.

“No.”

“It wasn’t a question. Meet me at the bar, now,” he responded, making me let out a defiant huff, “Please.”

That was all it took for me to break. My walls all washing away with one word rarely uttered by him. I heaved myself up, throwing on my suit from last night. It was still the Continental after all, I couldn’t go around wearing whatever. I fixed my hair to the best of my abilities, under such short notice.

The walk to the bar was nerve wracking, my palms sweating as I wondered what he was going to say. He was probably going to end it because I’ve been a child the past week. The drama probably pissed him off. I wouldn’t blame him, it was my goal after all. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt coming from him, though.

I spotted him easily, no one daring to sit next to him as per usual. I slid in to the seat next to him, accepting the glass he slid over to me, “You have until I finish this,” I murmured, lifting the glass to my lips. He glared at me, telling me he was serious, “So, was this your last resort? Get me drunk so I’ll fuck you, or what?”

He actually looked offended at my words and I immediately wished I could take them back.

“Honestly? My last resort was going to be kicking your door in and tying you up until you told me what’s crawled up your ass,” he murmured, his voice husky from the alcohol.

“You don’t know my room number.”

“Five thirty-six,” he said proudly, tilting his head smugly.

“Who told you?” I grumbled.

“Beagles are great trackers,” he shrugged, glancing down at Daisy, who I hadn’t noticed until now.

“You used Daisy against me?” I refused to let a smile spread over my face. “Traitor,” I glared at the dog before petting her gently.

I rested my arms back on the bar, letting silence fall between us. His hand curled around mine, sending my heart rate into overdrive. I couldn’t give in. I retracted my hand from his, grabbing my glass and taking a long sip.

“What are we doing, John?”

“We’re having a drink,” he stated the obvious, closing his hand and bringing it back toward his body after the rejection.

“You’re unbelievable,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes and downing the last of the glass. I pushed my chair back, so I could stand, but was stopped with his hand taking mine before I could pull it off the bar top.

“Please stay,” his gravelly voice was full of emotion for once.

My heartstrings tugged at his words, the words I’d wanted to hear last week, and I immediately sat back down. He was silent, but I could almost hear his mind working, so I stepped in. The alcohol was already loosening my tongue, making what I was about to say a little easier.

“Look,” I sighed, “I know this was supposed to be all fun and games. I know it was just sex or stress relief, or whatever for you.” I flailed my hands as I nearly lost track of my words, but recomposed myself, “I—It turned into something more for me. I—,” my voice wavered as he finally turned his head to lock eyes with me. “I fell in love with you.” His mouth moved like he was going to say something, but I held my hand up to stop him, “This was supposed to be me ending the arrangement or forcing you to end it, so it wouldn’t hurt me as much later. I’m sorry for not dealing with it better.”

I took a shaky breath, willing myself to breathe normally after the confession. His hand came up to my face, brushing his thumb across my cheek. My eyes stung with tears at the gesture, but I held back as much as I could and turned my head away. My head immediately snapped back in his direction as I heard his voice speak in my direction.

“You managed to do something only one other person has done before,” he smiled sadly as he remembered his late wife. “You pulled me out of the darkness that I’d been holding onto since she died and I didn’t know how to function without it,” John murmured. “I didn’t want to fall for you.”

I nodded, pulling my face away from his hand as I felt a tear escape my eyelids. I clenched my fists, stood, and swallowed the lump in my throat, “I’m really sorry for all this.”

“Y/N,” he called my name softly, his heart breaking with the presence of tears, “I didn’t want to fall for you, but I did. I need you.” His fingers curled around my fist, “Fuck, I love you and I wanted you stay that night, I really did. If you’ll let me, I won’t let you leave again.”

I uncurled my fist, letting my fingers latch onto his. I gave him a gentle tug, telling him to come with me. The three of us entered the elevator, John’s hand never leaving mine the entire trip. My room was closer than his, so I pressed the button for my floor and led him to the room.

Once inside, I lost all train of thought but felt him bring be back to earth as he led me toward the bed. His hands snuck under my jacket, pushing it from my shoulders and letting it land on the floor. He shrugged his own jacket off and pulled his tie loose, letting both items drop unceremoniously. He toed his shoes off, mine soon joining his in the pile. I watched intently as he unbuckled that damn belt and slid it from his belt loops. He held it for a moment, gripping the leather so tightly it creaked before discarding it on the floor, as if it meant nothing. His arms wrapped around my waist, his forehead dropping until it met mine.

John's lips spread into a gorgeous smile, bringing one to my face by default. He sat on the edge of the bed, taking me with him so I was standing between his legs. I held his face in my hands, pressing a loving kiss to his chapped lips.

When I opened my eyes, John was clutching his used undershirt in his fist, a grin spread wide on his face, “What’s this?”

“You know what it is, doofus,” I rolled my eyes.

He brought it to his nose, inhaling deeply and chuckling, “You wore it to bed.”

I squinted my eyes at him, ripping the shirt from his hand and tossing it behind me. He let himself fall back against the bed, adjusting himself until his feet were no longer off the edge. He opened his arms to me, my body gravitating into his arms and fitting snugly against his side. I draped my leg over his and buried my face into his shoulder in an attempt to get comfortable with these garments still on. A lovesick smile took over my face as I felt his lips press against my forehead. The bed shook slightly as Daisy jumped onto the mattress and curled into his other side. His fingers sifted through my hair, lulling me to sleep as the emotional weariness got the better of me.

For once, since the arrangement, I didn’t have to worry about falling asleep next to him or fear over staying my welcome. I was staying, and so was he.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #158: When Avengers Clash!

April, 1977

What is not immediately evident is that we are facing another change in the creative team.

Steve Englehart was kicked off the book after #150. After that, Gerry Conway took over with an assist by Jim Shooter in #151 and #156. With this issue, Jim Shooter takes over until #177, a little after he becomes Editor-in-Chief.

And its another rough transition.

I don’t actually remember being a huge fan of Shooter’s Avengers on my first read through so I’ll see if that holds up. But in this issue at least, we get off to a semi-rocky start.

Last time: Wonder Man came back to life, causing non-ending angsts in the Vision right when he was feeling good about himself and his capacity for emotions. Also, a metaphor in the shape of a stone statue of Black Knight beat up the team but punched itself to death against Vision.

This time: Some continuity hiccups.

We start off with the Vision staring moodily, as he is wont to do, but specifically at the broken statue of Black Knight.

The heap of broken statue is a lot more recognizable as specific body parts then it was last time but it does make for a more striking visual. Also, Statue Knight is staring into my soul and its not okay.

Wonder Man walks into the room supporting Scarlet Witch, both in costume. Which is one of those continuity hiccups because they were both already in the room in a pile of defeated heroes and also not in costume.

So I have to believe that they left while Vision was ‘fighting’ Statue Knight specifically to get changed and then came back, instead of helping.

But seeing Wonder Man supporting Wanda is just too much for Vision. He angrily announces that because of Wonder Man he has already relinquished his foolish delusions of humanity and will soon relinquish his wife BECAUSE A ROBOT HAS NO RIGHT TO ONE but hey until he does, hands off.

And then he punches Wonder Man for copping a friendly demeanor.

Also, I notice he hasn’t consulted Wanda with this. Which just goes to show that maybe he’s the most human of all because real human men similarly disregard her emotions and wants and needs.

Its a wonder she didn’t murder them all sooner.

Anyway, so now they’re fight.

Even though Wonder Man was knocked out by a mailbox last time, it will take more than a single punch and also SOLAR BEAM to take him down this time. He’s apparently getting his strength back and also he’s tired of getting knocked out by cheap shots so much.

He tries to tackle Vision but, y’know, intangible.

Except Vision apparently has the human emotion of shit talking because he decides that he’ll humble Wonder Man on his own terms instead of just remaining untouchably intangible.

Of course, even if he’s diamond hard, Wonder Man can just knock him off his feet by attacking the ground.

Its fine, Tony will pay for it.

Speaking of the cool exec with a heart of steel, he comes to underneath the computer bank that Black Knight tipped over on top of him.

Because apparently Shooter skimmed the previous issue?

Because Iron Man was one of the heap of heroes that should already be in the room where Wonder Man and Vision are fighting.

But I’ll try not to harp on it too much.

Back to the fight where Vision continues to ignore Wanda’s desires by exchanging blows with Wonder Man even as she insists that they cut it out.

I guess he gets tired of punching a fellow tough customer about the chest because he tries to go for his insta-win sure fire finishing move and fists Wonder Man through the chest.

But Wonder Man is able to resist the pain and punches Vision in the face.

He’s not the only one that the sure fire fizzled on but I think it usually just doesn’t work at all rather than ‘I say that hurts like the dickens -pawnch-’

The rest of the heroes that should already be in the room show up and Scarlet Witch begs one of them to stop this nonsense.

But Iron Man goes “Let’s just let them fight it out!” but stops just short of suggesting they bet on the outcome.

Tony. Geez. I know they have to work out their issues but a) this is probably not the most productive way? and b) they’re liable to cause a lot of damage to your home before they finish.

Okay. I know the theory is that they have to get it out of their system but guess what? IT DOES NOT WORK. They have this exact same fight again during the Busiek era and eventually have to use their words to clearly express what their thoughts and feelings are, instead of their fists. Because frequently, words work better than fists in the very specific field of robo-angst.

In one of the few times its a disadvantage to be a robot instead of an ionically enhanced human, Vision’s solar batteries are running low while Wonder Man is just getting fired up.

In desperation, Vision drains his solar batteries even faster by using SOLAR BEAM right at Wonder Man’s face.

It’s SUPER EFFECTIVE!

But even though this apparently hurt worse than anybody ever hurt him before (even worse than dying!), Wonder Man has enough juice to BWA-AM Vision.

And now that both heroes have knocked the shit out of each other and are too shaky on their feet to continue, now Iron Man tells them to cut it out.

And now that he has only now decided it was a problem, he scolds Wonder Man for breaking the mansion even though he’s a guest.

Oh and he also tells Vision to act like a man or man-shaped robot instead of a child. Or you’re grounded, mister.

And now that the fight is over, Jarvis shows up to make them all feel bad. He also took the time after waking up from a stone cold beating to put on some fresh clothes but also he fielded an emergency call and told them they were shit out of luck because the Avengers were dealing with personal biz.

Also, are they expecting him to sweep up the stone gentleman or should he call a morgue?

Jarvis’ ploy, if it were that and I’m not simply making up motives, works. Because Iron Man can’t believe that they’ve gotten to the point where they’re turning people away to wallow in their own troubles.

Which might but then again might not be fair. How long did you watch Vision and Wonder Man punch each other?

Before that they were unconscious because a statue beat them up and before that it was Christmas damnit. Can’t they have just one quiet day?? Also, is it still Christmas? They never mention it again. I think they were unconscious through the entire holiday.

But, yeah, obviously just sitting back and watching Vision and Wonder Man beat each other up instead of literally any other thing was a bad decision and you should feel bad, Iron Man.

Meanwhile, we finally get to the plot of the issue.

Because apparently! Vision and Wonder Man’s tension coming to a head? Wasn’t enough of a plot!?

I’d usually discuss this at the end but here goes:

This issue, if it was going to have Vision and Wonder Man punching each other in the head because of Vision’s poor ability to both communicate and deal effectively with his emotions, should have been just about that.

And if the fight was only going to be part of the issue before moving onto something else, that something else should have been thematically connected. As it is, this issue feels disjointed.

It feels like Shooter felt obliged to wrap up this plot thread before moving onto stuff he’d rather write about.

And dang will I have small, mostly neutral comments to say about the stuff Shooter would rather write about. Later. After we’ve seen a couple examples.

So the plot happens in Canada because Marvel Canada is a fascinatingly terrible den of evil, worse than a thousand Mos Eisleys. Specifically a research community in the Canadian Rockies called Research City because scientists are bad at naming the things, some of the times.

And the worst scientist has taken over this research hamlet (it has fewer than ten buildings, it is not a city).

Frank Hall.

And he is nettled because one of the other scientists has disobeyed orders and tried to contact the outside world and request the Avengers’ help.

That is not how we do in Research Commonwealth, JOSEPH.

Just for that, Frank Hall is taking the entire community off the map. TRY TO SNEAK OUT NOW, JOSEPH.

And then he crushes Joseph with kirby krackle.

Not to death but enough that Joseph’s wife Judy begs Frank Hall to stop hurting him.

Frank does not take it well. He gets some real squinty eye face going on for reasons that will be revealed later. But he doesn’t kill Joseph. Just has him taken away and locked up.

Because he just had a wonderful, awful idea.

Which is him beating up the Avengers.

He just now realized that he could become a supervillain instead of being a tinpot bully dictator of a small research community.

...

Frank Hall has sort of limited ambitions considering his scope of power.

Also, he forces Judy to make him a supervillain suit.

Its not specified whether she made it to his exact specifications or spitefully made it to make him look like a prat but he kinda does.

Oh also his backstory: It is every backstory ever about a scientist fucking up science so hard that he becomes a supervillain.

Except slower.

He was working on a teleport beam, doubled the power to see what would happen, and accidentally gave himself gravity powers.

Instead of immediately going megalomaniacal, he at first used his powers to throw stuff at people’s heads. Because, as mentioned, Frank Hall is a petty prick.

But then people started to shun him, because he kept throwing stuff at their heads.

So he proved their impressions of him correct by seizing control over the entire not-city and pushing people around.

And that’s why Frank Hall, Graviton, is the worst.

Also, he’s an entitled, harassing bastard.

Remember how he got angry that Judy didn’t want Joseph to be hurt? It was because he decided that he deserves her. Because she’s his fave.

She’s a bit distracted even though he’s all touching up on her face though because behind his back she noticed the Avengers standing outside the window watching this whole thing with evident disgust.

So she does the thing that everyone does in such a situation and unconvincingly goes “tell me more” but Frank Hall is an entitled idiot bastard and falls for it.

Not that it matters.

Because another woman, Raquel, who was jealous of Judy, bursts in and announces that the Avengers are RIGHT BEHIND YOU.

And the gig is up so the Avengers dramatically fly through the window.

(Attack instead of Assemble? Whats the deeeeeal??)

Things immediately go to hell.

Graviton smashes Vision into the ground with gravity and then blows the rest of the Avengers away with anti-gravity. Because sure.

Vision increases his mass to max mass to max his muscles but Graviton just makes him weightless and flings him through the roof.

Clearly, it is time to pull out the big gun.

Cap readies his mighty shield because he knows that when he flings his mighty shield all who oppose his shield must yield. But Graviton saw through that ploy and increase the mass of the shield.

Now Cap is opposing the mighty shield and must yield. By getting crushed.

Although what kind of posture were you in, Cap, where your shield getting super heavy all of a sudden made you fall backwards with it on top of you instead of just dropping it?

Meanwhile, Judy tries to run away because honestly, wouldn’t you? And Raquel beans her in the back of the head with a vase maybe. Because Raquel is not a great person. Also, this will be important later.

Iron Man and Scarlet Witch attempt to blast Graviton but he just... gravities the floor up so that it blocks the... attack...

I don’t think Graviton knows what gravity is.

He says he made the section of the floor lighter than helium so that it would rise up to protect him but. It was still connected to other floor that was not lighter than helium.

Also, remember when Scarlet Witch’s powers had evolved so she had control over natural forces.

Bet those would come in handy here instead of just shooting generic energy. Alas. The thread has been lost.

Anyway, Graviton condenses some floor fragments into a super-dense sphere and hucks it at the two heroes.

Because armor is better than not armor in this scenario, Iron Man shields Scarlet Witch from the sphere but they both get knocked out anyway.

Although at least her head is still head shaped and not salsa.

Wasp and Yellowjacket try their patented and recently useless Fly Around While Tiny And Annoy Someone battle technique but Graviton knocks them out with a pencil.

It sure is exciting watching those two consistently be useless. =\

Finally, since its just the two of them left, Beast and Wonder Man rush Graviton together but he just drops the ceiling on them. While boasting about how he wishes there were more Avengers because of how easy this is. Womp womp.

Anyway the Avengers are now all defeated. Even Vision. Who we last saw crashing through the ceiling while weightless and also at his maximum density so something like that shouldn’t be enough to knock him out?

Maybe the ceiling was made of mailbox.

And okay. This kind of stomp happens to the Avengers sometimes and with increasing frequency in the near future. But at least Graviton’s backstory had him dicking with his powers for a while before using them in a fight.

Imagine how embarrassing it would be if he were pulling off this kind of nonsense after having just woken up from a coma and never practicing his powers.

Anyway, now nothing can stop him probably and he’ll rule the world possibly.

And Raquel smugly thinks that she’ll rule it at his side because she has some issues she needs to work though.

Next time: More of this. YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE HOW GRAVITON IS DEFEATED probably.

Hey, you should follow @essential-avengers. Why? When I get twenty followers, I’ll do a bonus post where I look at some Alternate Avengers. Avengers from the future? From when mangas roamed the Earth? Or from an alternate universe? Up to you!

[solskinns]

(F.E.Z) Chapter 2; Getting the Amulet

The sound of a car horn stands out from a group of cars in front of the school and ready to get the kids out and ready for the bright summer “come on guys let’s get a move on” that was my friend’s cousin: Jacob and is kind of jerk when it comes to his patience.

“We’re coming Jacob, geez!” and THAT is my childhood friend Crystal. Before we could even get to the door, our annoying but not terrible teacher came outside and if you say that’s harsh listen to this:

“Imma see YOU dudes and dudettes latas!!” as usual we just smile and wave goodbye just like ‘yeah’ and ‘okay’ kinda thing. Then, we finally get in the car oh, and by the way I have to admit: Jacob has a pretty cool car.

It’s a sports car in red with a picture of an eagle seen from a top view. The hood is detachable, although he rarely uses it due to the wind. Plus, the car is slim enough to be very aero-dynamic with the exception of one’s head. Jacob doesn’t use this car unless it was urgent and/or a special occasion

“So, are you going to take us to the place you’ve been talking about so much?” I say with an annoyed tone.

“What *pfff* no, of course not” he was lying. He kicks the gas pedal into high gear with huge excitement. So if you’re wondering how I knew he was lying: uhh lucky guess. Anyway, as we pass by a lot of buildings me and Crystal tell Jacob about our last day and what happened, but he didn’t seem interested so the two of us decided to have our own conversation to pass the time such as: what we did separately, the food we had at lunch, and the lessons we took (yeah there wasn’t really much to talk about). Jacob immediately stops the car causing me and Crystal to get pushed to the back of the front seats. As we get out, we see a very old temple that looks pretty obscure unless you were in my perspective and it was right in front of you which was compiled of stone “here we are” said Jacob.

“And where exactly is ‘here’?” I ask.

“The ancient temple that I have been looking for ever since I was told about the legend in this very town”

“Ohh, that’s very interesting just like the discovery of the plastic treasure chest from the last time” I sarcastically respond.

“Hey, it was a very convincing looking chest! How would I have known it was part of a scavenger hunt for little kids?”

“And yet the chest was worth more than an average wooden chest” Crystal added. We stop the conversation and Jacob tells us to get the stuff from the trunk, we agree and get the equipment out as we go I say “what do you think it is this time?”

“It probably might be a ‘gold’ chalice” Crystal responds.

“Ha! Yeah or a ‘magical’ scepter” I bring up. We both laugh, come back, and he takes the bag and electric torch he “earned” (bought on the internet) to goes inside the temple while we follow him.

The underground place is very old and has worn out walls covered with moss as well as medieval for its time. It also had a creepily dark hallway, with a light at the end of the tunnel if that wasn’t scary I don’t know what is. We go through a few puzzles.

The first one was an ancient matching routine that had a trick to it as some looked like they shouldn’t be able to fit.  This one was simple for Jacob since he had a knack for looking deep into things. He denies this idea many times, however Crystal and I would tell him the man that was buying into the idea that the Grim Reaper was a farmer or there exists a worm that travels back in time at random points because of a failed government experiment has no room to talk.

Another puzzle had all three of us memorizing symbols that are shown for a little bit and you make the combination without looking. This one was more of a job for Crystal and her photographic memory! She says it’s nothing supernatural and she does slip up from time to time, on the other hand she also seems to do so intentionally so I’m not totally sure yet.

“it’s just a thing I can do” She would say, almost spitefully so “it’s not out of the ordinary if I can do something better than you” okay definitely spitefully.

“Yeah okay, you must be an alien or secretly a monster from those black and white movies” I respond half-jokingly. We both have a laugh about that and besides, I wouldn’t really mind if she was a supernatural being because she’s soooo super cool…yeah.

Suddenly Jacob “Well actually-“

“No!” Crystal and I collectively interrupt from his interruption.

The last puzzle required a stone of purple that had been lost to time (at least that’s what Jacob says it is) that he pulls out of his bag and hands it to me to place onto because I was…just the only person who didn’t do anything yet and therefore the doors have now opened.

Finally, we get to the last room with a platform to go with it just to give it a knock-off of a cheap adventure movie.

“Well this is ‘nice,’” I tease “you have passed the 3 trials of a literal puzzle, a memory game, and a ‘place item here’ game” I say next in the impression of a wizard telling a prophesy.

Crystal carries on my bit “And as a reward, we bestow to you, an admittedly beautiful amulet that in no way is simply plastic from a Halloween store!” and we both snicker at it.

“Cute” Jacob continued “you won’t be so sarcastic once you see what that can do” Jacob walks up the 5 steps and takes the amulet that was on the platform he puts it on and says: “I call upon death’s power!” and

…

…

…

…Nothing!

“Bravo, bravo; such a beautiful act!” I sarcastically applauded.

“Truly we are shaking in our shoes, but still touched by your performance” Crystal joins.

“Oh, would you two shut-up! Why isn’t this working?” He hits the thing a bit, scratching his head on what to do with it until he finds the center disk is able to spin on its own. “Could it be this thing here that powers it up?” He whispers as he fidgets around with it.

as this happens, Crystal looks around with me at the place and stop at some really cool statues in stone; they aren’t very detailed, though also huge in size like those titans we read about in school.

“These have weird designs that look like they came from dark ages like that bear thing there in purple” I decide to point out.

“or even the one here that has a raven” Crystal adds.

We all feel a rumbling suddenly occur that has us jump into a panic. Jacob and us looks behind him and his eyes are greeted with the large statues that seemed slouched, but beefy as a rare steak in strength that pick up their bulk.

“RUN!!” And run we did, trying to escape the soldiers. Every time I look back I see the monsters smashing everything in its path. Pillars, traps, the floor bricks themselves you name it. As if it was on adrenaline and steroids which continued to freak me out.

We find ourselves at the exit when all of a sudden; it closes off. Crystal and I try to open it in fear, but we give up and look at him with scared, concerned faces to see if he has an idea. He seems to be confused because he needed to remember, where this miracle was. He remembers, and then gets his bag out to find his lucky bomb and throw it at the wall “GET DOWN!!” I grab Crystal and move us out of the way the bomb was real lucky because it made a big hole.

Unfortunately, the luck was running out because the hole began to re-close Crystal and I gasp. Jacob looks worried, looks at us then, the amulet. This repeats for a while until he takes off the amulet, gives it to me, pushes me with Crystal into the hole, and I see Jacob smile at me one last time that said ‘Don’t worry about me’. A tear builds at my eye when I realized it, however before our landing, the hole fully closed!

We got out, but Crystal got up “Jacob!” she cries “Zero, quick open the wall” she says as she begins to do so and I follow. We bang the stone wall hoping to break it, but with no such luck we could only listen and visualize (big mistake). We listen to the sound of Jacob say “come at me dude, come at meeee!” big footsteps, monster yells, cousin screams, and then: DEAD silence!

Now the door is fading away!? We both make an effort to have it not do that which in hindsight what were we going to do? Soon the thing had fully disappeared…no evidence…no temple…no cousin…there was nothing, but us in tears for nothing, it seems.

…Crystal bursts into tears so I try to calm her down and we have both of us hug each other. I get my mom to pick us up because Crystal has to see someone else before confronting her parents.

Mom drives up to us and we get in with silence. As she drives, she wanted to hear something from us “Are any of the two of you going to tell me what happened?” she asks our sad faces.

I shook my head “not…until we get home, mom”

“…okay” she gives up and keeps driving home.

We arrive at the house and I take Crystal to be inside, on the other hand she refused and wished to go home so I had no objections.

Mom agrees to drive her home. Crystal tells her parents about what happened (while also leaving out the monster part) as I did myself. I managed to keep the amulet with me and I concluded with the following: may we never forget this day.

[ruzek-halstead]

plus one

part three

pairing: jay halstead x hailey upton

hailey is invited to her exes wedding and there is no way in hell she’s showing up solo. luckily, jay is eager to show off how successful he’s become. unfortunately, hailey spitefully tells everyone he’s her boyfriend, so there’s that.

"i mean, he’s clearly a dumbass if he invited you and just ‘forgot’ about your temper.”

(alternate universe/fake relationship bc i’m a sucker for these)

part one || part two || masterlist

warnings: swearing, fluffery, hailey upton’s badassery

all it takes is one look at luke's face and jay's spine straightens and he immediately flinches away from hailey's touch.

this isn't what he wants. it is what he wants; he wants to kiss her and he's wanted that for as long as he can remember, but not like this. not at her ex-boyfriend's wedding, while the said ex-boyfriend glares daggers.

jay sighs when he sees the flash of hurt in her eyes and his chest constricts. it was almost like he could feel the physical pain he was causing her and it sucked.

"i—i should get another drink," she stammers, doing her best to avoid his eyes.

hailey turns on her heels and makes a beeline for the bar. she bumps into adam on her way, but hardly even notices.

"what the hell?" adam frowns, when he reaches jay. "did luke do something again? i swear to g—"

jay shakes his head. "no, it was me."

"dude, what?" adam exclaims, his eyes mirroring his disappointment. "she looked really upset."

jay rubs a hand over his face and drops back into his chair. "fuck. i fucked it all up."

"what did you do?" adam asks curiously.

"i think we had a moment," jay mutters, his hands still covering his face. "and i don't know, she looked at me and i think she wanted me to kiss her. and it felt right," he can't stop talking now that he's started. "but then i saw luke right behind her and he looked pissed and i just couldn't."

adam shakes his head, snickering. "how does he manage to ruin everyone else's day on what's supposed to be the happiest day of his life?"

"and it's his wedding, right?" jay adds nervously; his eyes are searching for hailey but he can't spot her. "i shouldn't do anything dickish? like go for his ex?"

adam smirks, clapping jay on the back. "bro, fuck that. i swear, if you don't get your shit together and go find her right now, i'm going to punch you in the throat."

jay's eyes widen slightly. "dude, it's his wedding day."

"exactly, his wedding. which means he married someone else and he shouldn't be doing that unless he's completely over hailey," adam explains, shooting luke a nasty side eye. "and hailey is not just his ex, she's so much more than that, you know that. she's our best friend and she deserves happiness more than anyone i've ever known."

jay cracks a smile, "damn, ruzek. keep talking like that and i'm going to shed a tear."

adam rolls his eyes. "shut up and go find hailey, or else i actually will punch you in the throat."

"couldn't even if you tr—" jay is not proud of the violent flinch he displays as adam's fist nears his face, and how he nearly trips over his own feet trying to get away. he sees adam laugh and stop to talk to another member of their graduating class.

jay is halfway to the bar, but he still doesn't spot hailey. not that it matters because he is quickly intercepted by the groom.

"oh, for the love of god," jay mutters. "do you not have guests to greet or something?"

luke smirks at him. "all in due time, jay."

"what the hell does that even mean?" jay replies, looking around for any reinforcements; unfortunately, no one is available. "also, where's your wife? shouldn't you be with her?"

luke frowns slightly. "i have the rest of my life to be with her."

"oh, what a great attitude to have a happy marriage. freaking fantastic," jay mumbles sarcastically. "anyway, i was just on my way to the bar, so if you don't mind…"

"i do mind, actually," luke replies and jay considers the multiple ways he can incapacitate him without getting in trouble with the law. "i'm just having trouble understand how you and hailey got together."

jay tried to hold his tongue for the sake that it's his wedding, but he can't any longer; the sass has been unleashed. "are you having trouble comprehending the fact that she got over your dumb ass?"

however, luke doesn't seem phased. "no jay, you're understanding this wrong," he is still smirking and jay has never wanted to hit someone so much in his life. "trust me, i'm looking out for you. i don't think you're understanding what a piece of work hailey is."

jay's eyes narrow, because he can't understand if luke is just that stupid or wants to earn a black eye on his wedding day. "are you forgetting that i've been friends for hailey for years? like i truly don't understand what you're trying to do right now."

"being her friend is not the same as being in a committed relationship," luke remarks and his smirk suddenly drops. "although, i'm not sure how much you would know about that. you were a regular in the friend zone."

jay clenches his teeth together so he can think of an appropriate response and get the hell out of luke's presence. "thanks so much for your concern, but i'm fine. and hailey's happy, which is more than she can say for the time she spent with you. so please, go find your wife and treat her better than you did hailey."

hailey cannot get out of there fast enough. the abrupt change in jay's face and body language hit her straight in the chest and she can't even breathe. she hadn't thought she was reading the mood wrong, but apparently, she was way off. jay looked uncomfortable, and she is just absolutely mortified.

"i—i should get another drink," she mumbles and turns away quickly. she bumps into someone on her way to the bar but she keeps walking. she doesn't want to risk looking at anyone for fear that she'll start crying right there and then.

she almost laughs. how is she crying, again?

hailey decides the bar is definitely not the place for her to be right now and turns to go to the washrooms instead. the one thing actually working in her favour today is that it's empty and she can wallow in peace.

however, that is short lived too.

"hey, hails, there you are!" she knows it's was kim's voice before she even sees her. "i was wondering where you'd gone off t—" kim stops abruptly as she sees hailey hastily wiping away tears from her face. "hailey, what happened?" she is about to rush to her best friend's side but a stony glare overtakes her face. "was it luke? did he do something? i knew i shouldn't of left my knives at home."

kim is halfway out the door of the washrooms, until hailey pleads for her to come back. "no!" she blubbers, way past the point of caring that her voice is cracking. "it wasn't him."

"oh honey," kim frowns, wrapping an arm around her friend. "what happened?"

hailey laughs because it sounds so ridiculous in her head, it's going to sound even worse out loud. "jay and i were having a moment. i thought—i thought he was going to kiss me," she laughs bitterly. "god, i'm an idiot."

"what? no, you're definitely not the idiot here."

hailey wipes the last of her tears away; she's literally cried more today than she had in the past two years. "i don't know why i was thinking anything was there. it's been years; if something was supposed to happen, it would have already."

"are you kidding me, hailey?" kim demands in a tone that has hailey looking at her in shock and silence. "god, for people as smart as you two, i don't understand how you guys are so dumb."

hailey is still looking at her, as if she has two heads. "what?"

"jay has been in love with you since i can remember!" kim exclaims exasperatedly, as if this is common knowledge. "he looks at you like you're his whole world and seriously, i don't understand how it's been so long and you two still aren't together. adam and i are honestly exhausted of scheming against you two."

hailey furrows her eyebrows. "what?" she finds herself saying, again.

"god, i swear hailey," kim mumbles, shooting her a murderous glare. "none of this matters. what matters is that we're at your ex-boyfriend's wedding, who inconveniently has been paying a lot of attention to you. of course jay doesn't want to make a move on you now, not when luke is constantly over your shoulder!"

hailey blinks.

"shit."

"shit is right," kim grins, looking extremely self-satisfied. "now, let's go. you really need to talk to him and i really need a drink."

hailey nods numbly and allows kim to pull her out of the bathroom. "what do i say?" she asks in a panic. it's one thing thinking of this all in your head but having to actually articulate the words to his dumb, adorable face is completely different. he always gives her his full attention and it intimidates her.

"no, no," kim shakes her head, "i'm done. this is all you."

hailey nods, trying and failing to gather some confidence. she's a doctor for god's sake - this is nothing! yet, she still feels like she's going to throw up any second. it definitely doesn't help when she sees luke talking to an individual with their back towards her. and it certainly doesn't help when she realizes that individual is jay.

they are so engrossed in each other, luke doesn't even notice hailey approaching. "being her friend is not the same as being in a committed relationship. although, i'm not sure how much you would know about that. you were a regular in the friend zone."

hailey's jaw drops and she knows this is the final straw. fortunately, jay beats her to it.

"thanks so much for your concern, but i'm fine. and hailey's happy, which is more than she can say for the time she spent with you. so please, go find your wife and treat her better than you did hailey."

hailey's chest fills with affection for this man she should have given a chance ages ago. she knows, without a doubt, she loves him, and she has for longer than she cares to admit.

"alright," kim snaps, making both men turn around. jay has his jaw clenched but his eyes soften when he saw hailey; luke looks surprised, but keeps his eyes on kim. "this has gone on way too long and frankly, i'm pissed."

"i—" luke starts, but kim cuts him off.

"do not interrupt me! this is your wedding day, what the hell are you doing over here?" she asks in an accusatory tone, hands on her hips. "you and hailey didn't work out, and you have no right to get involved in her life now."

luke seems at a loss for words; there is nothing he could say. he takes one more final look at hailey and turns to make his way to the bar.

"god, finally," kim flipped her brown curls over her shoulder. "now, it's time for you two to have a talk." with that, she stalks off.

hailey can only hope she leaves to confess her love for adam because this confident, take charge attitude she has is really working for her.

jay grabs hailey's hand and leads her off to the side. "i'm so sorry, hails."

"god, don't be sorry," hailey shakes her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "it all makes sense now. it's my freaking ex's wedding, i'm sorry."

jay grins. "i tried so hard to be nice to him, i really did."

"jay, i don't want to talk about him anymore," she says slowly.

"well, we could talk about that," his smile widens as he points across the room, to where kim and adam are sharing a sweet kiss.

hailey smiles wide as the couple separates and glances in their direction. kim looks sheepish but adan is ecstatic. as hailey turns back to jay, he's giving adam the thumbs up.

"i don't want you to be my fake boyfriend anymore," hailey blurts out and she cringes. out of all the ways to phrase it, she has to say that?

jay's eyes look confused, "um, okay? i figured we were done playing pretend anyway, you know, considering…"

"no, that's not what i meant," hailey shakes her head and now she looks sheepish. "i want you," she whispers quietly; he moves closer. "you've been with me through every milestone, every important moment in my life. and the truth is, i love you," she is preparing for the worst but all she sees is his smile widen. "i've felt something for you since junior year but i've never felt something so intense; i didn't know what it was. but it's love and i love you, jay."

jay surges forward, capturing her face between his hands. this time, his eyes don't stray; he is completely and utterly consumed by her, and he kisses her. it's soft and slow and not nearly enough, but they have all the time in the world.

jay doesn't get the chance to say he loves her back, but she knows. it's in his eyes and in the way he holds her close to him.

adam and kim make their way over with gleeful smiles and glasses of champagne. "i think today deserves a toast," adam says, handing jay and hailey a glass.

"here's to our next chapter together," kim cheers, clinking her glass with the rest. for as long as she can remember, it has always been the four of them. they always defended each other, took care of each other, graduated together and moved away together. she can't imagine a greater group of friends than the ones she was blessed with, and this next chapter would only bring them closer together; it's how it should have always been. "god, i love you guys," she whispers, her eyes slightly watery as they cheer and huddle for a group hug.

this is a bit too emotional for their usual so it doesn't surprise anyone when jay makes his next comment.

"can you guys believe hailey used to date the groom? talk about an upgrade."

they all groan, but they can't deny it's the best damn wedding they've ever been to.

that is, until their own weddings, of course.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #114: Night of the Swordsman

August, 1973

When Swordsman and his new ally Mantis get hold of a cache of Pym particles, they shrink the Avengers down to finally enact vengeance upon the team-

Wait. I think this is one of those covers that isn’t actually literal. Whoops.

Well just allow me one joke. THIS IS MANTIS’ BIG DAY!

So we start the comic with Scarlet Witch brooding. Because this is an Avengers comic and someone has to brood. But also because a bunch of jerks that strapped bombs to themselves and took off their pants almost killed the Vision. So she’s in a bad place, emotionally.

Not helped by someone making symbolic shadow puppets right outside her window.

In her moody wanderings, she also contemplates passing privilege and how since she could pass as human she never fully saw herself as different from humanity.

Unlike Pietro with his prematurely white hair and handlebar cowlicks.

Meanwhile, Captain America and Iron Man try to beat up Vision in mock combat in the Not-Danger Room to see how he’s recovered from his injuries.

To summarize:

He is fit.

Captain America agrees. Good thing Vision is an android! If a human had someone explode in their face, they’d still be bedridden, probably.

This sets off Scarlet Witch who was watching the little mock fight. Even their friends keep reminding them that they’re not the same.

She decides to go for a walk. If she hoped to calm down she’s out of luck because she instantly runs into the worst cat-caller.

Lets call him Harry Terribleguy. Harry Terribleguy stands in her way, snidely comments on her getting her jollies from kissing a plastic man (but not Plastic Man), tells her he finds her sexually attractive, and then says that its a shame that Vision didn’t die because then she’d be on the open market.

So Wanda blasts him through a hot dog cart and calls him a stinking human pig.

Which, y’know. They say violence doesn’t solve everything but violence is about to solve this particular situation.

Harry Terribleguy springs right back up from getting blasted through the air with the greatest of ease. He is downright peeved that she called him human like its a dirty word. Can you believe the nerve? So he decides to teach her a slap lesson with slaps.

[Then suddenly, from behind--] a new challenger.

Mantis joins the fray.

Already we see that Mantis is mighty impressive. With one glancing hit to the shoulder, she knocks Harry away from Wanda even though she was clearly punching him toward her. Her punches don’t just break bones, they make a mockery of physics.

Wanda tries to stop Mantis, saying random Harry is too strong. And Harry says that standing up to him is suicide.

And then Mantis punches him in the face... one, two, three... a lot. A lot times.

Mantis is apparently a master of preying mantis style kung fu. I assume. I don’t know enough to know whether the artist knows enough to portray it correctly. Also, Mantis is not a codename. Its her only name. I wonder if she was called Mantis before she mastered preying mantis style or what.

Also, she has antenna. She must have been hiding them in her six previous panels in the last two issues.

Did she learn preying mantis style because she figured ‘well I got the antenna already’? Or does mastering preying mantis style kung fu cause you to grow antenna?

Truly, Mantis is a mysterious character.

Anyway, Harry Terribleguy is gonna want some aspirin and probably ice to put on his face when he wakes up because he is WHOMP!’d. Mantis offers to escort Wanda home.

When they arrive at Avengers Mansion, the Avengers have all been worried about Wanda. She went somewhere without even leaving a note! They were about to go looking for her.

Geez, the Avengers are so clingy.

Anyway, Wanda insists that she can take care of herself (despite these comics going out of their way to spitefully disprove that whenever they can) and besides she made a new friend.

She invites Mantis inside but Cap objects. Unauthorized people in the clubhouse headquarters? THATS AGAINST THE RULES.

Wanda thinks Cap is being ridiculous. What harm could Mantis possibly do to the Avengers Assembled?

Swordsman pipes in to agree with Cap. If, for example, he were planning a sneak attack, their shitty, shitty security would have been no problem for him.

But he claims he’s not here to fight. Despite how reluctantly they accepted his help against Ares in issue #100, when he heard that Hawkeye had ragequit the team, he decided it was time for him to rejoin.

Cap is not quite thrilled. Swordsman is the worst security risk he has ever met. And in case anyone forgot, he runs through a little history of the Swordsman. The first time he conned his way onto the team, he was working to undermine them for the Mandarin.

And even if he claimed Mandarin had duped him into treachery, he then attacked the Avengers several more times for good measure. Remember how he joined Natasha’s Angels? 

But Swordsman gives his side of the story. Yeah, no. Everything Cap has said is true. Swordsman has been a shitty person. And guess what he has learned from that? It is a lonely, nasty life. You make zero friends. He is persona non grata across most of the world.

Eventually he stopped caring and let himself sink into the depths of degradation. It was only meeting Mantis that helped him turn his life around. It was her interest in him that made him want to be a better person. It was her that convinced him to rejoin the Avengers and live the right life for once.

Cap doesn’t buy it.

Wanda on the other hand is the only other Avenger on the team from that time. And in her opinion, there’s been too much prejudice involved with them lately.

And the Avengers side with Wanda. Iron Man points out that Wanda and Hawkeye all had criminal records before joining. And they both proved themselves. 

Thor argues that at the least, they can offer Swordsman a period of probation. With Thor taking the responsibility of keeping close watch on him.

And Black Panther just says that the name of the team is “Avengers” not “Revengers.” Which sure is an argument.

Cap loves democracy so he bows to the will of the majority. But he’ll also keep a close eye on Swordsman. Distrust but verify, y’know?

With that settled, Iron Man asks if Mantis is also asking to join.

Being an Avenger doesn’t really mean anything to her. She only wants to stay at Swordsman’s side. But screw it, I’m considering her an Avenger anyway. Try and stop me.

Wanda tells Mantis that of course she can stay in the Mansion and come on missions and spend girl time with her! Wanda really, really wants a girl friend to hang out with. Avengers Mansion is such a boys club.

In gratitude Mantis gives Wanda a big ol’ hug and gives the Guyvengers big ol’ kisses. I’ll talk a little about that later.

So, we get some compressed time. Several days and several missions go by with Swordsman on the team in his probationary status. Hmm. I’m reminded that his first time on the team was time skipped through as well.

At least this time we get to see some of it.

They fight sea monsters and robots and presumably other things and all throughout Swordsman acquits himself well. At no point does Thor detect any sign of treachery. Just bravery and skills.

So at the end of the vague number of probation days, Thor recommends Swordsman for full membership into the Avengers. The guy is really good with a sword, you guys. He even rivals any e’er seen in Asgard.

And its not that Vision and Black Panther don’t believe Thor. They just kinda want to see it for themselves. So how about a little friendly suspicious sparring match in the gymnasium?

So Swordsman and Vision shit talk each other a bit. Swordsman is the best blade artist in the world, Vision rarely offers a good target and also shoots solar beams from his forehead, I’ll see your solar beam and match you a sword beam that Mandarin put in my sword.

Black Panther jumps in. Did you mean that Mandarin who is a supervillain maybe?

Swordsman is a bit offended that Black Panther still thinks he’s trying to infiltrate and destroy the team. Black Panther offers a good point that in the middle of mock combat, he could “accidentally” kill of the Avengers with nobody the wiser so no way in hell is Black Panther going to give him the chance.

Plus, mock or no, the point of battle is to win so that’s what Black Panther is going to do.

And then he runs headfirst into Swordsman’s pommel with a TUNK!

Swordsman stands over the prone Black Panther with his sword pointed at Black Panther’s throat.

“You underestimated me, Panther! A lot of dead men made that same mistake, as their final act in life--”

But that’s not him anymore. All-New All-Different Superior Swordsman doesn’t kill anyone anymore. Especially not his teammates.

And apparently this puts to rest most of the suspicion the team has about Swordsman.

Another unknown amount of time passes until one day, Hawkeye is on the evening news. Because, remember, the Avengers get most of their information from television news.

Hawkeye is back in New York, making a name for himself as a solo act in Hulk #166. Swordsman dismisses Hawkeye as a grandstander. Swordsman taught him everything he knows so with him on the team, the Avengers don’t need Hawkeye.

And then he walks out of the fancy television news room with inadequate chairs.

Cap wonders if he should follow him... but decides that would just be neurotic.

Upstairs, Swordsman meets with Mantis. It is time, the hour has arrived. See, studying martial arts gives you limited knowledge of mysticism, obviously.

Which Mantis uses to summon...

THE LION GOD!

I told you he’d be back.

THE LION GOD promises the two traitors will feel the warm glow of his gratitude for preparing a path to victory and then he OH YEAHS through a WALL to attack Black Panther.

The Lion God is very big now. Also just as mean. He mocks the Avengers for believing in wolves wearing lambskins and also for thinking they could destroy a god.

Thor throws Mjolnir at the big Lion God but in the split-second he’s distracted catching it, Mantis punches Thor in a pressure point in the neck, knocking him out.

Meanwhile, Swordsman blasts Vision with an electronic ray that hits him even intangible. 

And Mantis puts a death-grip on Captain America to knock him out. So not quite a death grip.

And Lion God finally joins his own murder party and blasts Iron Man with his backup divine weapon, the Lion God Hunting Spear, sold separately.

And then with the rest of the Avengers knocked out, the Lion God just scoops up Black Panther in his big hand.

How tall are the roofs in this place anyway?

Except this time, Lion God doesn’t want Black Panther’s tribal secrets. I think he’s still a little pissed over last time. Instead, he’s going to burn Black Panther at the stake as a sacrifice to the Lion God glory.

Its always human sacrifice with this dude.

Swordsman thinks this sounds A-Okay.

But do you know what goes great with human sacrifice?

Live performances!

Swordsman performs a sword salute traditionally performed to pay homage to a liege. It looks like he’s just spinning the sword around by part of the crossguard but what do I know?

This is evidently a very sparkly salute. The sword catches the light and creates a compelling pattern of spinning flashes.

Not to be left out, Mantis dances a special sensuous dance just for the occasion! It just so happens that she’s dancing in the middle of Swordsman’s sword strobe show.

The Lion God is completely hypnotized by this. I dunnae. Maybe this performance should have come with an epilepsy warning.

My description does not do this justice. Check it out:

But so taken in by the psychedelic sparkle dance that the Lion God doesn’t notice Iron Man coming to. The armored Avenger blasts a button that drops an impenetrable adamantium cylinder right over the Lion God.

Since the Lion God was in his mortal form (begging the question of who he body jacked this time), he should be well and trapped. And Thor can just blast the Lion God into another dimension and keep him off T’Challa’s back for good.

Because that’s what Thor learned from his dad. Just dump your problems into other dimensions where they’ll be someone else’s problem.

Sure was lucky though that the Lion God was standing on the one spot where an inescapable cylinder would drop.

So about that...

IT WAS MANTIS’ PLAN. Her study of martial arts give her empathy with the natural world. After she and Swordsman arrived, she sensed a malignant force hovering over the Mansion.

So she came up with a plan to lure it into a trap by pretending to side with the Lion God. Then they’d use their distraction moves to steal his will to destroy and trap him.

So why didn’t they just tell the Avengers? Well. I mean. They were already suspicious of the Swordsman. What do you think they’d say if he told them he wanted to let the Lion God into Avengers Mansion and pretend to help him destroy the Avengers?

How do you think that would have gone over?

Thor thinks this is rad. Swordsman "played a dangerous game with great daring!” Thor does strike me as a guy with appreciation for doing things in the most awesome way.

Cap still finds himself suspicious. Faking being traitors to help capture the Lion God would be the perfect smokescreen to get away with worse treachery later down the line.

Cap is possibly paranoid. Possibly justly so. Who knooooows!

So! Mantis’ real first appearance for more than three mysterious panels!

Obviously, there are problems. Mantis being an Asian woman (specifically Vietnamese-German) with the power of martial arts. Also vague mysticism. Kind of leaning on stereotypes there.

I said I’d talk about the kissing and here I go. Its not a problem as presented where its just kind of charming. Its a problem as originally envisioned. According to Steve Englehart, "Basically Mantis was supposed to be a hooker who would join the Avengers and cause dissension amongst all the male members by coming onto each of them in turn."

That plan, thankfully, was largely abandoned.

More of a neutral than a problem but this is a densely packed issue. This is the kind of story that modern comics would stretch out to a multi-parter. Chris Claremont would probably unfurl a plot like this over a year of stories.

But despite all that, I love this issue.

There is so much good here! Using a similar-ish plot structure to sow suspicion about the Swordsman’s motives, making it plausible that he really did join the team to betray them to the Lion God. If you discount the mysterious panel appearances leading up to this issue.

That the Avengers still believe in second-chances even with everything that’s been happening in their lives.

Also, Mantis!

Mantis gets a strong introduction, at least in the sense that she gets to show off what she can do quite a bit. At this point she’s a bit of a satellite character to Swordsman, although the narration hints at mysterious dimensions to her.

Also, Mantis instantly becoming Wanda’s best friend because a best friend will break someone’s septum for you. Alas, this will inevitably devolve into love triangles and cattiness but dangit, it could have been one of the great superhero friendships.

(Imagine a Scarlet Witch/Mantis team-up book, for example. ‘She’s magic, she punches people in the throat. Together, they fight crime.’)

And lets never forget that Swordsman and Mantis defeat a god with some flashing lights and a distracting dance.

It was pretty glorious.

So now Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is out and I’m going to go see it. Because I’ve long hoped that my inexplicable fave Avenguardian would someday be in the MCU. She probably won’t save the day with a distraction dance but I hope she gets a cool, charming portrayal. Because that’s how she’ll be in the comics from then on.

Hey, if you like this cool Avengers liveblog, consider following @essential-avengers. One day, the liveblog will live there.