#or garbage lmao suits him better

[annonymouslyannoying]

Elite Commander Poki redesign and Invader Training Headcanons. (Futher info under cut)

Elite Commander Poki was Almighty Tallest Miyuki's second in command and most trusted advisor- As such she continues to wear the Irken Elite Miyuki Branding even after her death.

Her reassigning following the Initiation of Red and Purple involved the training of worthy soldiers to become Invaders for the upcoming Operation Impending Doom.

Much like Irken Slave Drivers and other Irkens in commanding positions, she wears a suit that makes her appear taller than she really is.

She's a no nonsense drill sergeant type- but below the surface she still hasn't gotten over Miyuki's death and often sees her failing students as a disgrace to her awesome legacy.

Contrary to what you might think, Irken defects are actually quite common.

The Control Brain's Irken Bioengineering Program contains an intentional margin of error- Allowing new or odd genetic properties to emerge and potentially be added into the base database for wide spread implementation.

The term "defect" however is reserved for specimens with genetic irregularities that are seen as problematic to the overall objective of the Empire.

But seeing as how defect Irkens are relatively common, it's no surprise that there were quite a few of them who were trained to be Invaders.

These 4 are proper defects in the sense that their irregularities are not seen as particularly useful.

Zim

•Intense and obessive thought patterns, for lack of a better word, Irken neurodivergency. Brilliant in some respects, but moronic in others.

•Capable of parental love from both ends of the spectrum. Looks up to his leaders much like one would a distant parent, and shows intense affection for his minions.

(This is very odd as most Irkens just see their helpers as tools and affection is looked down upon.)

•Selective hearing and auditory processing problems.

Skoodge

•Capable of romantic love and friendship. He is hated for this and seen as "soft"

•In love with ZIM specifically. He has such terrible taste that it counts as a separate defect.

•On the heavier side. He is seen as ugly for this but it actually makes him much more resilient to physical damage and can go without his Pak for much longer than 10 minutes.

(This is me attempting to justify that time they forgot to draw his Pak for a whole episode lmao)

Grinn

•Warped antennae. This distorts her senses and makes her very irritable to certain noises.

•A natural aversion to taking orders and a frequent questioner of the Empire's System.

•Covered in horrible red blemishes. She has an overactive immune system that manifests in extreme bodily reactions to minor stimuli.

(This is one of the worst defects to have when you drop out of the Invader Program and work in a literal garbage chute)

•Writes poetry

Skutch

•Actually evil. Like. Even by Irken standards.

•Will set things on fire for seemingly no reason.

•Rarely ever speaks and when he does it's incredibly vulgar. The only Irken that says Fuck.

•Has no soul, wants or desires. He only lives for the mild fascination elicited from watching the life drain from a living thing's eyes.

These 4 are seen to have more useful defects- Or in other words, they're "Gifted" Irkens. Okay not Gustavo but because he's tall he managed to not get lumped in with the last 4.

Grenty

•Intense regenerative properties. In fact, she struggles to control it properly and will just randomly grow new limbs.

Her regeneration is so good that she is essentially impervious to damage so long as her Pak remains intact.

•Irregular blood viscosity. Needs to be regulated with a patch.

•Overbite.

Mote

•Likes smooth Jazz

•Oversized antennae- He has insanely good sense of his surroundings and is tormented by having to accidentally hear everyone's horrible secrets he never wanted to know.

•Very frail

Fleep

•Abnormally physically powerful. She could break the arms of every other trainee here.

•Sort of capable of friendship but only the kind shared between High School Prom Queens and their evil lackeys.

•Otherwise very competent and professional.

Gustavo

•I hate Gustavo

•He's really friendly and normal by human standards but an UTTER FREAK by Irken standards.

•Joined the Invader program because he wants something to fall back on when he becomes a freelance advertising consultant.

•Gustavo must die.

•Is tall enough that the bias of the system has prevented him from being killed. (Unfortunately)

ALSO WORTH NOTING-

Zim is responsible for the deaths of most of the people here- The only ones to survive his Operation Impending Doom screw up were Skoodge, Skutch, and Grinn.

(Grinn never became a real Invader, Skoodge is basically immortal, and even Zim knows not to mess with Skutch.)

I imagine that most of the Invaders assigned to Operation Impending Doom 2 were from the generation after Zim and were still in training during the first operation.

Bonus content of Skutch setting fire to the wildlife

[manofthepipis]

Howdy mo! Kind of a silly question but do you have any personal headcannons based on the addisons/spam?

aaaaa hi!! :D not a silly question at all!! i actually do have a couple i've had in my notes as i've thought about them, most i've thought about while writing but haven't had anywhere to put them lmao

I say it's a little but it's a lot i lied haha

-banner does all different types of clothing and he even knits sweaters. he got survey into it one night while they were talking. (my personal headcanon is that banner is the one that talked to survey to give up their search for spamton, as clicks and sponsor never talked about it.)

-Sponsor sells pretty much everything due to them being a sponsor-ad. their advertising comes in many different forms, like items relating to lightners' searches. They are the most adaptable out of the group, and always carry a variety of random items to sell.

-Addisons have computerized inventories. Like a pop-up storage space. They use this for business and advertising primarily and carry handheld devices outside of the inventory. Spamton's has been broken for years and doesn't work properly, and whenever he tries to summon it, it will glitch and leaves the ground littered with a bounty of [pipis]. Because of this, he lugs around what he can in his pockets or garbage bags (say like his shop inventory with broken swords, potion bottles, etc). At one point he could do two things at once and carried items in his pillowcase as he moved from dumpster to dumpster. Still, purses and bags are fashionable, so sometimes an addison will carry one.

-speaking of that, spamton's addison abilities don't work anymore, but some are salvaged through neo (summoning white letter projectiles, the white light that can become a laser.) Some attempts he's made at pop-up ads haven't gone away and are still glitched up in the trash zone.

-During spamton's big shot days, the addisons were STEAMING in jealousy after what happened at the grille. Each one would do what they could to sabotage spamton's advertising when it would interfere with their own business, including tearing down posters, putting their own advertisement over things, the works. Clicks even went as far as to contact darkners that could help to block spamton's ads in the streets of cyber city, having billboards, links, etc as coming up blank. Strangely, they'd all turn back to normal the following morning, as if someone had reverted all of his progress. How strange indeed.

-Survey wasn't the only addison to look for spamton after he disappeared.

-It's rare to see an addison without their standard outfit, and to have spamton shun their appearance for better/flashier suits was a HUGE slap in the face for their darkner type's signature. As well as getting his hair dyed.

-Spamton's transformation took place over the course of a short time, and it wasn't his benefactor's intention to break him. He just was overloaded and mentally broke, and in an attempt to fix him, the man on the phone turned him into a puppet as his code got more and more out of control.

-Weather rarely occurs in cyber city, but when it does, it mainly freezes over. I headcanon spamton in this time would take abandoned clothes from the trash behind banner's storefront to stay warm. He'd learned to sew and patch clothing, but working with string is something he really has to mentally power through.

-Spamton learned to heal himself after the successful heist of the Keygen, because the swatchlings REALLY messed him up in their efforts to keep him out. This gives the other addisons the idea to make healing items of their own down the road, matching the items they sell, that could benefit the lightner, but nothing really compares to how effective spamton's healing is.

-Spamton doesn't sleep often now (sales could be at any moment!) but also because he sleepwalks. When he does, it's jarring to see, as he sleepwalks like a puppet being lazily made to move around. The addisons would find this immediately unnerving and try to calmly get him back to bed if they could.

-Spamton, because he doesn't have a predominant hue, can turn all colors, but it's an ability that, like many he has, is broken. Red is the only color that works reliably in tandem with his emotions (rage being the most constant emotion he feels), but the rest will come out of nowhere all at once at random.

-Spamton paid Queen to have his face and ads be in fireworks at one point.

-The addisons' businesses took a major hit during the early 2000's and they each got very competitive with eachother. Most resentment for Spamton came from this time, who knew his success was the direct result of driving them all apart. When Spamton disappeared, they started to heal from that aspect of their fallout.

-Spamton truly thought to go to the addisons after his world crashed and burned, but his priorities with Neo and with the light world proved more important. Besides, who knew if they'd even recognize him? As their names and memories were replaced by his ever-growing need for the light, the more he would find himself walking around the addisons street at night, and then wondering why he was even there.

-A customer naive enough to sample an addison's http cookies is just agreeing to be bombarded with a heap of said addison's advertisements around them as the customer taking the sample is just an invitation to get advertised to. (other addisons are exempt from this)

-by the time spam got his big break, he was so desperate for something to change in his life he would have snapped anyway if it hadn't happened. Dude was like constantly teetering on that line of 'I'm gonna lose my shit if I don't have one good day by tomorrow' lol

That's all I got for now!

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

Hello!! I saw you were doing match ups and that's so cool! I was hoping to participate if that's okay! Could I possibly get both male and female matchup? No poly please !

I'm nonbinary but i am physically fem, 5'5, with a bright red mullet that's like sorta grown out? Soft looking. My fashion sense tends to vary depending on my mood. Goth one day, cottagecore the next type of thing. One thing that's always a constant is my spiky earrings, kinda like the Fangs preset from the game! Necklace and my two bracelets. If I ever take them off I feel disgusting and off

Positive personality traits wise, I'm caring and selfless. I tend to be pretty cheerful and optimistic, goofing off. I think I'm smart? The most basic things tend to confuse me but then I'll bust out some complex knowledge lmao. I'm pretty creative too! I create stuff out of basically trash lol. I made a whole shield and sword sheath from recycled cardboard once.

Negative traits wise, I'm overly selfless, tending to put others before me. I'm very forgetful but thats cause of adhd. I can be messy and far too loud. Oblivious to a lot of things. I'm a big scaredy cat too which makes it hard to enjoy some stuff. I also tend to hide my negative emotions

My love language is definitely quality time and gift giving. Heavy on gift giving.

I have all kinds of hobbies but I'm not particularly good at any of them. Like video games, writing, arts and crafts, painting. And active stuff too like skateboarding. But uh. To be completely honest my main hobby is just sleeping forever lmfao

Likes: savory foods, coffee, aesthetic stuff, all kinds of animals, dressing up, reading, anything adrenaline inducing like rollercoasters, rainstorms

Dislikes: i cant eat any kind of fish/seafood I will gag, spiders, snakes, being vulnerable, people being mean (I seriously don't understand how people can be mean), the dark especially if I'm alone

Thank you so much! I hope that wasn't too much- or that I missed any requirements lol. Have a great week!!

A/N: Okay, for you @lord-westley … I’m thinking for romantic matchups your best bets would be… Gale (Male) and Karlach (Female)! 

Gale is a great match for you, as he’s quite similar personality wise. He’s kind and selfless; smart but also somehow clueless? He’s got a good spirit, and an old soul. He wants someone he can share his life with, and thinks you’re just the person to do that with. 

He thinks you look fierce, for real, he’s almost intimidated by how good you look, especially your hair. It’s bright and bold and something he’d never have the courage to try. It suits you, and it makes him feel all the more special for being with you. 

His style is fairly consistent, and he’s not the most fashion savvy, but he does appreciate a good look when he sees one. Be prepared for a bunch of horrible puns, and awkward attempts at flirtatious compliments. He wants to tell you how much he loves your look, it’s just that it comes off wrong more often than not. Please don’t be mistaken- he really does think you look great. It’s just that loving words aren't his strong suit. 

He loves how caring and selfless you are. He quite admires your capacity for compassion. He likes to think of himself as selfless, but he’s also aware that’s not the truth. But for you, it is. And he’s so honored someone as pure and kind hearted as you would choose him as your partner. 

He’s also very grateful you’re smart. At least, that you’re smart enough to sort of get some of what he says about magic. He has a tendency to infodump, and he really likes it when you make comments or ask questions that let him know you’re listening. And your creativity, good heavens! He’s so impressed. He thought as a wizard, he’d be able to think outside of the box, but his imagination is no match for yours. Thanks to your builds and use of garbage, he’s starting to rethink the way he goes about spell casting and brewing potions. Your perspectives are actually helping make him a better wizard. 

He does worry that you’re too selfless, though. He’s been used by powerful beings before, and he’d hate to see you get hurt similarly. If he thinks someone is taking advantage of your kindness, he won’t hesitate to bring it up to you. He just wants you to know your time and effort has value, and it should never be taken for granted. 

He’s understanding when it comes to your fear. He thinks it's rather healthy to be afraid, especially of death. It shows you have a lust and respect for life. He’s glad you understand the enormity of what it means to live, because he wants you to protect your life so that the two of you can grow old and gray together. 

He will give you gifts! A lot of them are favors done via spells, but a good amount of them are physical presents. (Many of which may have previously been magic items that have since had their magic drained, but hey! It’s the thought that counts, right?!)

He loves savory foods! He can’t wait to show you his extensive wine cellar and kitchen in his tower in Waterdeep, and feed you his especially _ sauce. It’s full of flavor, it’ll knock your socks right off! 

He may not be a huge fan of adrenaline inducing activities: he much prefers the safe mental exercise of a good book. But he will join you on occasion, so long as you promise him it’s mostly safe. (He may or may not ask Shadowheart to cast Guidance on the two of you before you leave, but then again, he’s just covering his bases!)

Thanks to his arcane knowledge, you’ll never be in the dark. He can conjure light to ensure you’re not afraid. And he vows to always be by your side, so long as you’ll have him, protecting you, just as you protect him. 

Karlach is also a great match for you! She’s a very upbeat person, and she loves your loud and creative energy, it makes her feel like you can keep up with her and match her own outgoing personality. 

She loves your style, especially the bright red hair. That is her color after all. And she’s obsessed with all the new looks you combine and create. Everyday she’s basically shouting at the other members of your party, ‘Come look at how hot/cute my partner looks!’. It’s a bit over the top and embarrassing at first, but she means it in the best, most sincere way. If you ask her to stop, she’ll stop. But otherwise, be prepared for compliments, like ALL of the time. 

She loves goofing off with you, pulling pranks and just having a little fun in between missions. She’s a firm believer in taking breaks- it keeps you sane. She’s fairly intelligent too, I mean, she’s not a scholar or anything, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders and so do you. 

She thinks it’s incredible how you can make something totally new out of garbage, or old unwanted scraps. It’s both your resourcefulness and creativity she finds impressive. 

She has no problems with your being messy or loud, even if other people might. If they have an issue with it, she’ll join in, and make it a point to be messier and louder than you. And if anyone still has a problem, she’ll take care of it for you. She’s a big strong woman, and she understands how scary confirmation can be. She does her best to make the world around you a little less frightening. 

Kalrach strikes me as someone who would enjoy doing almost any hobby outside of being forced to fight. I mean, she also really loves a good battle, but she’s down for basically whatever. She’s so ready to try everything- to make up for all the time she missed down in Avernus. She’ll do anything or go anywhere with you. She’s especially excited for any adrenaline inducing activities. As a Barbarian, she is 100% there. No questions asked. Also the idea of skateboarding blows her mind. (Pretty sure that doesn’t exactly translate to DND, but if there was anyway in Faerun willing to ride a board with little wheels up and down steep hills or ramps, she’d be your girl.) 

Even though she’s adventurous, she’s also cool with just chilling- taking some time to enjoy your company. She thinks you’re adorable when you sleep, and can’t help but want to take naps with you, so long as her engine is fixed enough, and you don’t mind being warm. 

She’s fine with you not eating seafood, it’s not that big of a deal to her. You like what you like, right? And she gets that spiders can be pretty creepy- especially the ones in the Underdark. She promises to never make you visit there, and should any of those creatures try and get you topside, don’t worry, she won't let them lay a hand on you. 

Despite being a fierce fighter, she’s got a heart of gold. She hates bullies, and people who abuse others. She knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that, and it feels awful. She’d never want you to feel that way. So gods help anyone in Baldur’s Gate who tries and bullies you for whatever reason. They’ve just got themselves a _ tiefling to answer to. 

Karalch thinks you’re wonderful, and so sweet. You’re precious to her and she promises to protect you. You make her so happy. She’s so glad she’s met you. 

...

I hope you like it!

...

Please Like & Reblog!!!

&

Happy Halloween!!!

[shubaka]

Trope wombo combo! Neighbours/accidental texting! 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

OOOOHMYGOD. Anyway, because I like to torture myself, I went ahead with challenge mode.

Uhhh, I actually could have gone on longer based on my initial plans with this but you know what? I think 1300 is a good place to stop alskdfjawkejalkw

Anyway, here's hoping this isn't complete and utter garbage (sorry, i'm tired and i haven't gone through to edit this lmao)

-----

Gun is waiting in a poor excuse of a safe house, stretched out casually on the nicest chair in the room.  

It had been a hassle tracking down Lee and even more cumbersome getting here without alerting any of Korn’s men. He would have normally sent Vegas in his place, but this was personal, and he wanted to see the life drain out of the rat’s eyes for himself. 

Fifteen minutes and two cigarettes later, Gun slips out of the building with a curse. Lee must have gotten wind that this location was compromised. 

Gun is tired of these games, but he can’t afford to slip up, not with his brother breathing down his neck. It has been a while since he’s had to do this much leg work, but needs must when the devil drives. 

–

When Yok receives the first text, she leaves it on read. 

It’s from a number she doesn’t recognize, and it simply states, “I know it was you.”

A bit weird for spam texts, but whatever. She has places to be and a bar to run. 

It hasn’t been the same without Porsche around, and her newest bartender needs a little more hand holding, but she believes he’ll catch on after a few more shifts. She can’t wait to let down her hair after she’s done her final check in at the bar tonight. She hasn’t been able to let loose since the last time Porsche brought his work friends to Hum Bar for a night of revelry. 

She deserves her own night of revelry with her friends. 

– 

It’s 7 a.m. when Yok finally comes home after a late night of drinking and dancing. As she climbs out of her taxi, she sees her neighbour step out and lean against his gate. 

They have seen each other a few times and have only nodded to each other in passing. They have never had an actual conversation before – something that she is going to have to change now that she has seen his ascot. 

“Excuse me, sir.” Yok struts up to him and tuts, “I’m sorry, but I can’t in good conscience let you go out in public in that.” 

Her neighbour’s gaze follows her index finger to his neckline. 

“What?” He raises an eyebrow at her. His confidence is entirely too self-assured for Yok’s liking, considering he thought it would be a good idea to pair that particular salmon pink ascot with a russet brown suit. 

“I’m saving your life,” she says, and unties his ascot. She can feel the amusement rolling off of him in waves as she rifles through her purse. “I appreciate your willingness to wear pink, but this teal scarf will look a lot better with your suit.” 

When he makes no move to take the proffered scarf, she takes it upon herself to loop it around his neck, tie it, and tuck the ends into his vest. 

Then with an approving nod, she turns around and walks up to her house. 

She’s exhausted and quite possibly still a little tipsy, but it’s nothing a few hours of sleep won’t fix.

–

Yok wakes up in the middle of the afternoon to several more texts from the mysterious number. 

I didn’t see you at your usual haunt last night.

Don’t think you can hide from me.

Your time is up.

Yok is now feeling a little concerned. She tries to recall if anything particularly strange has happened in the last few weeks, but her mind draws a blank. 

Other than the new hire to replace Porsche, nothing has really changed. 

She hasn’t met anyone new. Sure, there are new people coming to Hum Bar all the time, but she usually doesn’t interact with them unless they are regulars or there’s a good reason to. 

Could it be a stalker? 

How did they even get her number?

Yok wishes Porsche was easier to get in touch with. He was always good in a fight. 

But Yok is resourceful and she can take care of herself. She’ll just have to be extra careful over the next few days. 

–

The next time she sees her neighbour, he’s returning home while she’s on her way out to the bar. 

As soon as they make eye contact, he strolls up to her and pulls out her scarf. It’s been three days since they last met. 

Has he been carrying it around this entire time on the off chance they’d meet?

“Thank you for lending me your scarf, Miss…?”

He’s attractive, and she’s only ever seen him around other men – so there’s a chance he might only be interested in other men – but it’s worth a shot, so she gives him one of her more coy smiles. “You can call me Yok.”  

“And you can call me Gun,” His hands linger on hers for a moment as he places the scarf into her hand. 

A shout of “Khun Gun!” interrupts their moment, and a rough looking fellow runs up to them and bows slightly in apology. “I am sorry to interrupt, but Khun Korn has requested to see you as soon as possible.” 

Gun huffs and tries to hide his scowl behind a smile. “If you’ll excuse me.”

That is certainly an interesting dynamic. Yok thinks of Tankhun and his friends who are clearly bodyguards stuffed into casual wear and wonders. 

–

It’s busier than usual tonight, so Yok finds herself at Hum Bar doing the rounds, making sure everyone looks well taken care of, and making herself available to jump in to help if needed. 

At half past eleven she is surprised to see Gun enter with a small group of men. Among them is a younger well-dressed man she’s seen skulking around a few times, waiting to talk to Porsche on the few occasions he’s visited. 

She overhears him call Gun dad. 

Well, shit. But she doesn’t recall seeing a wedding ring when he returned her scarf.

Her phone buzzes. 

She pulls it out and turns pale. 

She had blocked the previous number, but there’s another text from another number. 

I told you, you can’t hide. 

Her phone indicates that the other person is still typing, but she blocks them and collapses onto a bar stool. 

Gun seems to have finally noticed her, and he’s at her side in seemingly no time at all. 

“What happened? Are you unwell?” He places an arm on her shoulder and waves at someone behind him. A glass of water is placed on the bar counter next to her, and she’s given an encouraging nod to speak.

Yok hesitates for a moment before saying, “I’ve been receiving threatening messages. I don’t know who it is.” Her hands tighten around her phone.  “Even if I block them, they just use another number. I don’t know why this is happening.”

She can see Gun’s jaw clench as his eyebrows furrow. “I can take care of it,” he says slowly, “if you give me your phone.” 

She lifts her phone up between them and unlocks it. 

If she was looking at her phone, she would have missed it. In the few seconds it takes Gun to read the messages she sees flashes of recognition, confusion, and anger swirling in his eyes before they turn calculating. 

“Don’t worry, Ms. Yok, they won’t be bothering you anymore. If you’ll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.” 

Yok watches as Gun walks back to his group and leans in to whisper something into one of the men’s ears. There is a menacing gait to Gun’s walk as he exits the bar, and the rest of the men trail after him. At the end of the line, Gun’s son slings an arm around the shoulders of the man Gun had whispered to, and drags him outside on shaky legs.  

[eldritchmochi]

yeah I am pretty young lmao, I'll spare you from another playlist by just naming some artists that gave me inspiration for god knows at some point

first off you mentioned Hozier, which I kinda only mention because he released a new album recently. Arctic Monkeys and Father John Misty are kinda in the same boat as him. More like the same lake.

The Amazing Devil and The Oh Hellos never fail to give me some sort of D&D/character inspiration. Ghost does?? something??? as well with characters, but specific ones. Same with Steam Powered Giraffe.

other than that, Library Magic by The Head And The Heart is very Wizard, along with The Magician by Andy Shauf. and because I just can't go without mentioning it, Queen is my favorite band. :)

that's all! with any luck it'll end up being useful somehow lol

hozier is one of those artists who i dont listen to on purpose like ever i dont thinki could name a single song of his with confidence BUT i know his voice starkly as one i really lusted after pre-t. i saw he just dropped a new album and i HAVE to give it a listen to especially the video of sssomething or other (full album mv??? pLEASE) because it stars domnall gleeson and i am still horny for that man even after all these years (he's the actor for hux for context lmao)

queen is also one of my long time favs, though definitely a band i dont know in and out the way i do with a lot of more modern punk bands lmao. freddie has and always will be Gender (god the video for i want to break free was IT for me in like 8th grade right around when i came out)

ive seen spg live before!! they are *great* experience even if you're not deep into the lore (i had friends who were big lore fans). i have heard precisely One And A Half Ghost Songs and im keeping it that way on purpose because its just sooooooo funny that im not into them because aesthetically they are way up my alley (and one of my sibs, a number of irl buddies, and MANY artists i follow are all nuts for them)

ive some passing familiarity with the artic monkeys, enough that i can pick out a number of their more popular songs on the radio even if i cant name them (i am garbage at song titles tho so)

i'll have to check out the rest, especially good Wizards Songs 👀

in response!! further things to check out:

FUNKY.FM - playlist by alexmoukala who is one of my FAVOURITE video game composers. i know him primarily through twitter where he posts snippets of remixed or reimagined video game music... but FUNKY (this one is particularly relevant to u based of ur playlist shared w me)

ye old spooky club 1995 - playlist by unnerving governess who i am 90% sure is gothic charmschool. i know i got the link thru her but i thiiink she also made it (another playlist that may vibe w u based off your playlist)

creature feature, especially the album "the greatest show unearthed" (ookey spooky rock with a lot of vincent price era horror camp and a lot of really impressive technical skill. i want it to be halloween damnit)

the mind electric by the miracle musical (behold, the essence of the inside of my brain but in tangible form. it is. incredibly ominous. do recommend headphones for max goosebumps (includes a lot of records played backwards type sounds and other distortions))

dance monkey by tones and i (one of my big essek songs since i get a lot of that vibe where he's beholden to his station for *so much* that its a disservice to his growth as a person)

bottom is a rock by mother mother (my m9 as a whole song. the chorus has a line for each of them i stg and if i could reliably draw i would do an old school lyricstuck to it)

my verdict on ur playlist btw is that it is very solid and cohesive a+, but *just* to the left of my tastes, largely because a lot of it skews 70s/80s which just by nature of the beast lacks the bass i like (because it was mixed entirely different compared to modern music, which is better suited for sounding big when played digitally through smaller speakers. ive heard some of these bands on big sound systems and theyre MUCH more in line with my tastes then lmao)

[effieandtim]

annie (waitingforeddyneddy) and her twats (thesimoneashley is a new one who is being publicly bigoted now) being racist, transphobic and homophobic every single day must be a record lmao

one look at their reasons for hating jonathan, hating me for defending jonathan, hating simone fans themselves for calling their behaviour out, hating wocs who call them out for being white pieces of garbage and racist tells everything you need to know about how terrible they are

the fact that after all these months they still dont see their own bigotry and the language they use for other wocs while being whiter than a bird’s excrement is proof enough that they will never change

so please block when you see that ass in jonathan’s tag - at this point it’s gone further than them hating a white man and us stanning him. they don’t stan a woc - they have a white saviour complex and have bastardised the word racism to suit their own needs so that they can feel better about themselves somehow.

them being white and trivialising racism is far more racist than anything they have accused jonathan of doing.

they are racist and homophobic bigots and will always be, whether they accept it or not

[hopelesshawks]

REN!!! Congrats on the (over) 1k followers, you and your writing deserve this so much ❤️ I’m glad to hear that you’re finally getting more time to yourself again, I’ve been really enjoying your Bakugo story on A03, love some good angst. So this is Jane Anon (no longer anon ig lmao) wasn’t sure if I was gonna drop that at the end or around this point and I decided to say that there. I’m here for the song match up event after some serious thought, but I think it’s gotta be Home by Seventeen with Thoma. I’m not even sure what all I wrote last time, my personality type is INFP tho? My besties describe me as a spicy gremlin? Just kinda one of those people who become a lot louder once I get comfortable with people, until then I’m just a little standoffish and mean, but apparently I’m funny enough. I’m sorry I’m so garbage at describing myself 😭 It’s good to message you again though, I’m finally really getting into Inazuma in the story so if you still wanted to play Genshin together sometime I’ll totally drop my user ID sometime! Take it easy ❤️

Omg hi hello!! Should I still call you Jane? Ahh the Bakugo fic has been so fun to write, I’m so glad you’ve liked reading it so far. It’s good to message you again too! It was always so fun seeing you in my inbox. I’m absolutely still down to Genshin! We can swap UIDs in dms and coop together sometime.

I am also garbage at describing myself so no worries dude lmaooo. I’m also an INFP tho! The superior myers briggs type honestly

Thoma is such a good egg omg, love this idea. Home is a great song for him

You’ll never forget what it felt like to wake up on that lakeshore outside Mondstadt with only Paimon for company. You never expected to end up so thoroughly embroiled in the politics or people of this world when you began your journey, but you haven’t regretted a single moment of your travels through Teyvat. Traveling has always suited you and while you miss your brother dearly, you’re grateful for the friendships you’ve made along the way and the help they’ve provided to get you that much closer to the reunion you’re so desperately seeking. That being said…

Falling in love was never part of the plan.

Obviously you recognized how cute Thoma was the moment you met him in Ritou and sure maybe you were more than happy to reciprocate his flirting once the two of you got to know each other better. But you never thought anything would actually come of it.

And then they came for Thoma’s vision.

You’ll never forget the way your heart stopped in your chest when you first saw him kneeling before the Shogun. When his vision flew through the air towards her you weren’t thinking of the strategic or logical decision to make. All you could think of were how despondent the others who’d lost their visions had been and your heart shattered at the mere thought of Thoma suffering the same fate. So your body had moved on instinct to grab it out of the air and return it to its rightful owner and even once the Shogun retaliated you couldn’t find it in you to regret the decision. Thoma was of course worried sick by the time he managed to rush you away to someplace safe and it was through that concern he finally let slip the depths of his feelings for you.

Kissing him definitely solidified that trying to one v one the archon was worth it.

When the dust settled and you were able to set things right in Inazuma, you thought it was all over. As sweet as every kiss had been, as many loving words had been exchanged, it did not change the fact that it was time for you and Thoma to part ways. You could not abandon your brother and he could not abandon the Kamisatos, which meant you needed to leave and he needed to stay. You’d mentally prepared yourself for the heartbreak the entire morning before going to say goodbye.

But now, several weeks and newly discovered cities later, you find yourself on a boat back to Inazuma, on your way to see the man you’re very much still seeing and very much still in love with. Incredible what can be accomplished when you’ve got a fiercely loyal golden retriever for a boyfriend that refuses to give up on you because of something so trivial as a multinational quest in search of your missing sibling.

“Someone’s grinningggg,” Paimon teases, floating around your head and interrupting your thoughts.

“Shut up,” you huff, rolling your eyes before allowing them to return to the slowly approaching dock of Ritou.

“What were ya thinking about? Your boyyyfriendddd?”

Your silence would be answer enough, but your inability to bite back the soft smile thoughts of Thoma always bring you certainly doesn’t help.

“You two are so ridiculous,” Paimon continues with a shake of her head.

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” you finally tease back and you can’t help but laugh at the affronted look Paimon gives you in return.

“Paimon is not a little kid!” she whines with a stamp of her foot that belies her point, but you barely notice her reaction at all.

A familiar face has instead drawn your attention as the boat finally draws up to the dock and Thoma’s bright grin comes clear into view. You’ve no idea how he managed to figure out exactly when you’d arrive but you don’t care in the slightest. All that matters is he’s here and you’ve missed him and you cannot wait to hear his voice again. Letters truly aren’t the same.

The boat has barely managed to dock and lay down the walkway before your rushing off of if, Paimon shouting protests in your wake as she struggles to catch up. Thoma rushes forward to meet you halfway and within a few short moments that still felt far too long, the two of you collide into each other as Thoma wraps his arms tightly around you, pulling you flush against his body until you can scarcely tell where you end and he begins.

“Welcome home Lovely,” he says in a voice low and sweeter than honey for your ears only.

“Glad to be back,” you reply, meaning it wholeheartedly.

He pulls back only enough to seal his lips to yours and as you both melt into the kiss you know that from now until forever your place will always be with him.

[goldustwomun]

bruises (m.m.)

pairing: matt murdock x gf! reader

summary: matt comes home, battered and bruised. you take care of him, like you always do, but he asks for something more, just this once.

warnings: mentions of injury; some angst because... of course; fluff as well because matty boy is whipped with r; loving, soothing, we want matt murdock to be happy!!; some self-deprecating thoughts by matt, but those are remedied!; this is short but sweet <3 (also unedited, lol sorry i’m sleeping x)

wc: 2.1k+

note: my first matt fix and agh, i loved writing it, i love matt!!!! thank you to this sweetheart of an anon that requested this :)) always down to hear anyone and everyone’s thoughts (or thots lmao) about my favourite devil 

He should’ve been back already. The clock was nearing four in the morning, and you could already hear the incessant beeping of the garbage truck making its daily round down your street. 

But this was what he did, what he had to do – at least that’s what you reminded yourself, over and over, whenever your heart dropped too low for your liking.

Matt Murdock had a knack for making you worry, and though you always got that sudden urge to scream, shout, push him into a room and lock the door forever – anything to keep him safe from the outside world that was always out for him, one way or another; you knew you couldn’t keep him from himself. It was his guilty conscience and wounded soul that forced him into the suit every night, fighting whatever monster the streets threw his way, and you could do nothing but kiss him before he left and wait for him to return. 

There was a crash in the living room. You cursed your past self for placing the new picture frame you’d bought – your favourite photo of you and Matt encased inside its ornate borders – right by the window sill. Matt was an expert at orienting his way around a room, especially one as familiar as your apartment, but sometimes (more than you’d like to admit) he came back with a few too many chips in his armour.

You were waiting for the day, silently praying it never came but you prepared yourself anyway, when those endless cracks finally met, causing the entirety of him – of Matt – to collapse into himself. It scared you shitless, how could it not? Watching the man you loved get pulled apart by otherworldly horrors; come home battered, bruised, for a city that never truly appreciated all he sacrificed – it was a kind of physical, visceral ache you could never truly describe. 

“Fucking– fuck!”

You scrambled to shove your feet into your slippers, shivering against the cool air that invaded the apartment from the window you’d left open for him. Matt stood, hands clenched into fists, clad in a stark but somehow faded crimson. You always moaned about how the colour made it hard to easily identify any blood and injuries on him, and Matt had insisted it was for the best because “--you already worry too much, sweetheart.”

“Matty?” you called out gently, driving your feet into the wooden floors loud enough for him to pinpoint your location. 

“Why are you up?” he asked, though you could hear the scolding tone in his voice from miles away. It was when you got closer, until you were right in front of him with only the broken shards of glass separating the two of you, that you noticed the bleeding gash down the right side of his face. 

“Your face– Jesus Christ, Matt.” You used the toe of your slippers to push the dispersed glass to the side, setting a mental reminder to clean the mess up properly once you’d had a chance to look at your injured idiot of a boyfriend. He stayed quiet, knowing he could say nothing to stop you from worrying. 

And he could hear, could feel how your heart was racing, like you’d run a marathon or watched those scary movies that always kept you up at night – but, he thinks, those would be easier than this. Than him. 

So he stayed quiet, knowing better than to argue with you when you got like this – highly alert to every one of his responses, no matter how imperceptible or minute. Sometimes, he wondered if you’d also survived some freak accident and come in contact with hazardous materials, because your ability to sense everything about him often rivalled his own exceptional abilities.

But it wasn’t an accident or extraordinary powers that you had, he’d have to remind himself. It was love. 

You loved him so fully, deeply, generously – the kind of all-consuming love he’d never even considered could be his. Until you.

“Did you eat?” he asked quietly as you led him into the bathroom, pushing the cover down on the toilet and sitting him on it. The impressionistic painting he usually viewed the world through was messier than normal, a few more smudges and dark spots – like someone had dropped a bottle of ink across a canvas – so he could only vaguely listen to your practised movements.

You didn’t respond, so he cleared his throat, whispered your name pleadingly into the suffocating silence. 

“Not now Matt.” He sighed, eyes flickering shut as he slumped back, head resting against the tiles. “I’m going to clean up your wound, then you’re going to get into the shower while I make you something to eat– then we can talk, okay?” Your words were strained but steady, like you were fighting back the anger you so desperately wanted to hurtle his way.

He nodded, unsure if you were even watching him, but grateful for you and your comforting presence and anchoring voice. 

Matt felt your delicate fingers tilt his face to the side, exposing the wound dangerously close to his ear. He felt hopeless, like an ant trying to escape an imminent watery grave. Despite having only injured his right ear, he could feel the tight grasp he had on reality slipping too fast through his fingers. 

He was grappling in the dark for something solid, something to hold onto instead while his senses rested, healed, caught up with the world around him– and before he could truly spiral out of control, you kissed him, delicate and warm, on his forehead. 

“You’ll be fine, Matty, just let me take care of you,” you reassured him, squeezing his shoulder extra hard as you wiped the alcohol-soaked cotton bud across his cheekbones. 

“Okay,” was all he could manage, choking on emotions he couldn’t decipher, not when he was still drenched in blood and floating, or drowning, he wasn’t sure.

It didn’t take long for you to disinfect his wound, clean the blood staining the skin of his cheeks, jaw, down his straining neck. 

You helped him into the shower, knowing that after particularly difficult nights (which you were starting to think this night was), he needed some time to himself, to analyse his feelings, and unscramble the puzzle pieces until the picture was complete. While Matt showered, you returned to the living room, broom in hand as you sweeped the glass into the trash, bending down to pick up the photo that had been in the frame. 

It was from your first few months together, on a seemingly ordinary day when you’d gone to Josie’s to meet Karen and Foggy. Of course, Foggy had something unintentionally hilarious and you laughed so hard, your face had flushed a dull red and you’d knocked over your drink into Matt’s lap.

He hadn’t even noticed, too busy enraptured by the sound of your laughter. He would tell you, later on, when things were getting muddy and you were on the precipice of giving in, letting Matt go even though it was the last thing you’d ever want to do. To your surprise, to everyone’s surprise, really, as Matt was ever the self-sacrificing, tortured saint – but he fought for you, begged you to stay in an entirely feverish, manic manner. 

Matt explained how, that night at Josie’s, he’d promised himself that every night, he would go out into Hell’s Kitchen, and every win, every lose, every brutal beating, every far and few night he’d return unscathed – they were all so he could hear you laugh like that again. 

He wasn’t always the most vocal about his feelings. Early on in your relationship, you never knew when he was hurting, worried, angry, sure, but even the moments of joy, excitement, love– you were never sure how he felt. But he’d learnt to share them, would lie in bed with you and whisper three good things that happened to him that day, and two not so good (always more good than not).

You heard him now, calling your name from the bathroom. Like shining a light on his emotions, Matt was also learning to ask for help. He didn’t have a choice in that matter, at least. When it came to nursing him back to relative health, you’d burrow your way past whatever bravado he was exuding and force him to accept your willing, insisting, hand. 

“All done?” you asked over the pour of water, reaching past him to turn the shower off. He nodded silently, gripping the wet tiles and waiting, patiently, for you to wrap a towel around his waist. You held onto his arm, guiding him to the bedroom. 

“Your clothes are right here,” you handed them to him – black briefs for him to sleep in, “and I’m just going to go make up a plate for you.” 

He smirked at you, and you couldn’t tell if he was masquerading his true feelings or was genuinely back to his cheeky-self. “Clothes? You only handed me briefs?” he pointed out. 

Even with his senses scattered, he knew, simply from past experience, that you were glaring at him. “Ha– Ha– Ever the jokester,” you noted sarcastically, pulling the gauze from your bedside table to wrap up the exposed wound so it wouldn’t get infected. Matt flinched, not expecting for your touch to be so gentle after he’d teased you.

But he wasn’t exactly in a state where that teasing could lead elsewhere, and while you were ordering him to get into bed, it wasn’t for whatever context those words were usually heard in. 

“I’ve got to have my fun as well,” you tacked on at the end as you left the room. Matt smiled at himself, letting the towel drop so he could shimmy his briefs up his thighs. He did as you asked, sliding under the silk covers.

It was when he laid down, melted into the sheets and surrounded by the smell of you – jasmine from your soap, sunshine, parchment – that the pain returned, tenfold. That familiar pricking in his chest, like someone was stabbing a needle into his already struggling heart, over and over again. He’d tried to explain it once, and you couldn’t figure out a logical, medical solution to the peculiar pains of his. 

Matt had to explain that while the pain wasn’t physical, it wasn’t something modern medicine could fix. It was far deeper, darker, dirtier – he was caked in thick layers of inexplicable aches and agonies, and while some might have turned to something harder, easier to hide beneath (and he definitely partook in those indulgences when you were nowhere to be found), he quickly realised that the softness of your arms were enough. 

They were the only medicine he’d ever need – you’d slapped his chest when he’d used that line to avoid going to the emergency room after a particularly jarring bullet wound too close to his lungs. 

He called out your name, fingers ghosting over the empty side of your bed. He could feel the residual heat of your body there, from when you’d been sleeping before he’d crashed back into your shared home. 

You came rushing in, a plate of lightly seasoned, roasted potatoes wobbling in your hands. (strong flavours left him reeling for hours so he avoided them when he could). “What’s wrong? Are you in pain? Should I call the doc–”

“No– no, sweetheart. I just want you to come to bed,” he confessed hesitantly, unsure of himself suddenly as he played with the corner of the sheets. 

You sighed in relief immediately, abandoning the plate of food on top of the dresser – he never ate it anyway, somehow forcing whatever delicacy you’d conjured up into your mouth, instead. “Yeah, Matty, I can do that.” 

Tugging back the blanket, you slipped in next to him, Matt wasting no time in curling into your side, relishing in the heat and security that emanated from you, the kind he could get lost in if he wasn’t careful. It took everything in him to coerce his body to loosen in your hold, ease away the tension that threatened to keep him up. 

“Can I get you anything?” you whispered into his hair, tracing lazy patterns into the skin of his upper arm with one hand, while the other brushed back and forth, at the spot right under his ear that would have him liquefy completely. 

His head was tucked against your chest, intact ear listening close to the muted thump of your heartbeat. He counted every inhale, exhale, breath you took – he couldn’t rest until he knew you were alright, knew he hadn’t pushed you close to that precipice once again. 

“Hold me, please,” was all he said. He felt your heart skip a beat, but on the outside, you only kissed his forehead, touch soothing him into a somewhat undisturbed sleep, the first he’d had all week. 

reminder that the reblog + comment button is right next to the like, so please use it! <3

[arlecchno]

mission accomplished [ scaramouche x reader ]

nineteen | forelsket

prev masterlist next

things didn't turn out so well when scaramouche got a flat tire whilst heading for the hotel, yet maybe, it turned out for the better.

warnings: swearing, just a blurb of scaramouche's lore (if you could even say that it's lore), me and my love for the only one bed trope, reverse comfort at the end i think, a lot of unnecessary scenes but probably still important to the plot

a/n: sorry for the late update... i keep procrastinating on this chapter lmao. this is pretty long since i'm posting once a week now, like around 4.5k words of complete garbage, but whatever, just think of this as a filler chapter i guess. happy reading!

grammatical errors may occur so please let me know if i've made any mistakes!

“you have got to be kidding me.”

“i'm sorry, there's really only one room left that is available, all of the other rooms are fully occupied by the students of snezhnaya university.”

scaramouche scoffed. “we are students of snezhnaya university.”

the hotel receptionist stopped typing on the keyboard and looked at him confusedly. “oh... you guys are um, students?” the woman scratched her head in confusion. “i had a thought that you two were in your late 20's... seems like i was wrong.”

she wasn't wrong. at all.

“are there seriously no rooms left except for that one?” you asked frustratingly, cutting off the previous subject.

the receptionist sighed. “i'm sure of it, though, i'd be more than happy to inform you if there were any changes.” she averted her gaze back to the computer screen.

“...fine. we'll take the room.” scaramouche said shortly after, making you quickly snap your head to him.

“you cannot be serious right now. no way in hell am i gonna share a room with you!” you whisper-shouted, tugging his shirt slightly.

the ravenette rolled his eyes. “it won't be that bad.”

the young woman gave the key card to scaramouche, and he mumbled out a thanks before heading for the elevator, along with his bag. you grumbled out a few curse words, but reluctantly followed suit.

oh it was that bad.

“everyone's fucking with me today.” was all you said at the moment as you and scaramouche stood in the entrance of the hotel room, baffled at what you're witnessing right now.

one. stupid. bed.

things were already going bad when you two were held off from arriving to the hotel early because scaramouche got a flat tire on the way here. you never expected to actually share a bed with the guy you've always hated, multiple times at that, but here you were, once again.

scaramouche groaned, bringing up a hand to rub his face in annoyance. “i can't believe this is happening.”

“you're taking the floor.” you flatly announced, brushing past him to land yourself on the only bed in the room.

the ravenette stopped from his actions to glare at you. “w— why do i have to sleep on the floor?! i drove us here! what did you even contribute to this trip for you to get the bed?!” he argued, stomping to you.

“simple. i exist. i think that's enough contribution, to teyvat even.” you simpy replied, relishing in the comfort of the soft sheets.

“you–!” scaramouche tried arguing further, but no words fell out of his mouth. he only sighed as he walked off and started unpacking his stuff.

you stared at the ceiling. “you know, we can share the bed if you want.”

“and why should i do that?” he asked, stopping from his actions to look over at you.

you fixated your eyes on his indigo ones in return. “well, the bed's pretty big, and we can make a barrier like last time, it kinda worked.” you explained from your lying position on the bed.

scaramouche widened his eyes the moment you mentioned about the pillow barrier. the stupid makeshift barrier that absolutely did not work last week. you only think it worked because you were too busy sleeping like a log to even realize you were tangled up with the ravenette in bed, instead of the makeshift barrier separating you two.

he averted his eyes from you, focusing back on unpacking. “no thank you.”

“guess you're on the floor then.”

“sure, whatever.”

he'd rather sleep on the most uncomfortable place than to even have the same events possibly repeating again.

and he's afraid you might wake up this time.

you groaned for the hundredth time.

“why the hell is he not picking up...” you stared at your phone screen as your friend, once again, left you on voicemail.

childe hasn't been in contact with you for over two weeks now. ever since the trial, you've never heard of childe updating you on any upcoming leads. if anything, childe was always the one who'd share the details to you first before anyone else, yet things left you dumbfounded as he never returns your calls now.

you've asked your other colleagues about it, well, signora to be specific. she only told you that childe's been going through a rough patch lately and that you should leave him be for some time, though he's still always present at the precint, which makes you even more clueless.

i'll try again later, you thought to yourself. he's fine, i'm sure he is.

“you wanna check out the hotel before it gets crowded?” scaramouche asked out of the blue, making you fixate your eyes on him from the bed.

you pondered on it for a moment before answering. “yeah, sure, who knows we might get new leads.”

standing up, you sauntered over with your phone in hand, scaramouche already waiting for you by the opened door.

“do you know what room yun jin and viktor are in?” he asked, holding the door for you.

“not sure, i haven't really asked her about it.” you said, eyeing the number on the door of your hotel room, 515, it read. “viktor's been kind of acting strange lately, so i don't really want to bother him.”

scaramouche hummed, taking the key card with him before closing the door. “what do you mean by that?” he asked, walking with you to the lift lobby.

“by what? viktor?”

“obviously i'm talking about him.”

you and scaramouche halted to a stop in the lobby.

“he's kind of been ignoring me for the past week, have no idea why.” you paused, pushing the down button beside the elevator. “i asked yun jin about it, but she told me it was normal of him to be like that sometimes, which is pretty weird.” you said, focusing your eyes on the number at the top of the elevator that's slowly coming to your floor.

the male beside you raised a brow. “you haven't confronted him about it?”

“of course i have, silly. um, tried at least. he's been avoiding me all the time, doesn't even sit with me in class now.”

the chiming sound of a ding can be heard, and the elevator door slowly opens.

“you don't even see him out of class?”

“see who?”

both you and scaramouche snapped your heads to the familiar voice. viktor and yun jin were in the elevator together, hands interlaced.

calling what you were witnessing right now weird would be an understatement. for the past few days, viktor has done nothing but avoid and ignore yun jin, yet here he was acting normal again, with his hand in hers. the tall man even had the slight audacity to speak up those two words in front of you, the other person he's been avoiding all week.

“oh, it's luna and ivan! where are you guys headed to?” yun jin beamed, walking out the elevator with viktor trailing behind.

you rubbed the nape of your neck, not expecting for them to appear right in front of you. “um, we were just gonna go to the car and get some stuff that we didn't manage to bring along.” you lied. “are you guys on this floor?”

yun jin smiled and nodded. “yup, room 516!”

“516?” scaramouche inquired. that's just right beside yours.

“yeah, it was one of the only rooms left, glad that we even managed to get one considering that we were kind of late.” yun jin said awkwardly, fidgeting her clothes.

you tugged scaramouche's sleeve lightly, making him look at you. the ravenette raised his brow, and you gestured your eyes to the elevator, a signal that you two should get going.

scaramouche nodded at you, looking back at the couple in front of him. “we really need to go, luna left her plush and didn't want it to be left alone in the car for far too long.” he made up an excuse, a dumb one at that, making you glare at him.

“a plushie? that's cute.” viktor said, chuckling along with yun jin.

you faked a smile, gritting your teeth. “well, ivan, we should go, now.” you said furiously, grabbing scaramouche's arm to drag him to the elevator.

“see you two soon!” yun jin grinned, waving at you two until the elevator doors closed.

letting out a scoff, you folded your arms and sent a death glare to scaramouche, in which he paid no mind to. “seriously? a plushie? i'm not a child.”

“it's fun seeing you get all embarrassed, sort of like entertainment for me.” the ravenette said, slightly smirking at the thought.

“it's not funny.”

“it– it kinda is.”

scaramouche was laughing now, much to your dismay. you tried suppressing the urge to not join him on this, but failed miserably when the male beside you snorted, completely falling into a fit of giggles at his actions.

“oh come on! you need to stop putting me in embarrassing situations!” you said while giggling, slapping his arm playfully while doing so.

“or what?” he teased, finally looking at you and leaning closer.

you stared into his indigo eyes in return. “well, i'll...” the words you intended to say died down momentarily as you both look into each others eyes, seemingly like time has stopped.

the distance between you two was long abandoned, face just inches away from each other. looking at scaramouche's flawless face in awe, your breath hitched just for a moment.

you can't remember the last time you were this close to scaramouche. was it when you were sick? was it the time when you both hid in a closet to not get caught? or was it during trial day when you fixed up scaramouche's tie? you really can't tell.

looks like this just adds to the many list of times you've ever been this close with the man you hated the most.

the elevator doors suddenly opens and out of instinct, you both jolt in shock and immediately turned away from each other, flustered by what just happened.

a small group of people, snezhnaya uni students you assumed, walked in the elevator, ignoring the way that you and scaramouche were standing awkwardly at the back. you rubbed the jawline of your face nervously and stared at the mirror beside you.

the elevator had mirrors on all sides except for the doors, so you could basically see what everyone is doing at the moment.

and, if you look a little more closely, you could see the faint crimson that's creeping up onto scaramouche's neck and ears, as much as he tries hiding it with his hands.

“i'm not gonna lie, this venue is ginormous.” you said in awe, looking at the huge place that will hold the grad ball. presumably, you had thought that it'd be a bit smaller, but it seems like you were wrong in so many ways.

the venue was almost fully decorated— with lots of round tables, a big space in the middle (for the classic dance, you assumed), and buffet tables were already set up. some bits of other decorations like lightings, drapes, and a disco ball even, were being decorated by the organizers. though still on the works, the ballroom already looked dazzling.

“don't think we're even allowed to go here yet.” scaramouche commented, eyeing the red tape across the ballroom.

“how are we gonna know every corner of the ballroom then?”

the male beside you did not answer, making you glance at him. he had his signature smirk, and a very knowing look that only you could ever read.

“no, you're joking.”

his smirk only grew bigger at your sentence, and at this point, you might think he was smiling like an idiot instead.

and that's how you two ended up decorating the ballroom, disguised as the many other workers in the area.

“how the hell are you so sure we won't get caught?”

scaramouche looked at you, stopping himself from decorating the round table. he tilted his head to a direction, as if gesturing for you to look over at what he's pointing at. “see that dude?”

averting your gaze to a male a few feet away from you two, you nodded. “yeah, why?” you asked, looking at him warily. the man was sitting on one of the chairs, legs propped up on the table while he scrolled on his phone lazily.

“that's the head organizer.”

“why is he just... lazing around? shouldn't he be the one going back and forth to make everything look as perfect as possible?”

scaramouche hummed. “exactly. seeing how stupid that guy is, he probably couldn't care less if there were people sneaking around as 'workers', much less if there were more additional workers, probably makes him more at ease.”

“do you think we could sneak around and possibly get the files for the plans of the event?”

“what?”

“he looks kind of clumsy to be honest.” you said, and as if to prove your sentence, the man suddenly fell to his butt on the floor, and quickly regained his composure to sit back on the chair embarrassingly. “it's gonna be easy getting those files, i assume.”

scaramouche shrugged, continuing on fixing up the round table to avoid suspicions. “sure, we'll try later.”

and again, that's how you two ended up sneaking in the back of the ballroom, where you assumed the organisation's office is.

“isn't this kind of silly?”

“what is?” scaramouche asked, walking along the halls, careful not to make much noise.

“sneaking around, kind of feels like we're kids trying to avoid getting caught stealing cookies by our parents.”

the ravenette snorted. “that's a very specific description.” he said, scanning his eyes at a closed door of a room, reading the text on it to see if it was the office you two were looking for.

“isn't that basically what being a detective is? sneaking around to get evidence, secretly go on many undercover duties and disappear to months end?”

you looked at him. “well, yeah, but it's pretty funny if you think about it. two grown adults, sneaking around people, going all out just to get some promising leads, it really just reminds me of my childhood days. isn't it the same for you?”

scaramouche was surprisingly silent upon hearing your question, not even taking his eyes off the door he was inspecting just now. you looked at him, puzzled, and nudged his shoulder.

“dude, you okay?”

it took a moment for scaramouche to finally move. “i'm fine.” he mumbled, already heading off to the next location, leaving you behind.

you stared at his figure, confused as to why he's suddenly changed his demeanor and did a whole 180. did you say something that bugged him?

“found it.” scaramouche said, pointing at a closed room ahead of you. he looked at you across the hall, one hand shoved in the pocket of his pants.

you smiled and nodded in acknowledgement, walking over to him.

you've already reminded yourself to ask him about it later on. for now though, you'll have to focus on your plan.

“for a klutzy guy, he sure is pretty organised with the files.” you said, flipping through the files in one of the steel cabinets.

you two have been in the room for about ten minutes now, and much to your displease, you have yet to find the file you were looking for.

scaramouche rummaged through the files on the desk, letting out another curse when the files on there were pretty much useless.

“i don't think we'll find anything here.”

“this is stupid, we should just head back.” scaramouche muttered, heading over to the door. he stopped abruptly when he heard footsteps from outside, quickly turning around to face you. “someone's coming.”

you widened your eyes, and frantically searched for a place to hide. the room wasn't that big, with only a small number of cabinets filled with files, so there were technically zero spots to hide.

out of nowhere, scaramouche took your hand in his and dragged you under an old desk at the corner of the room, secluded from the open space. if someone were to stumble inside the office, they won't be able to notice the two of you hiding under the old desk, lest they went further in the room, in which you silently prayed it won't be the latter.

it's pretty tight space, but it was still able to fit in the two of you, even though you were squished up with scaramouche. you looked at the ravenette, but he avoided your gaze, opting to look out on the person coming inside instead.

the door opened, and a voice popped up. “is the ball really going to go smoothly, boss? i feel like we're still missing a few things for the event.”

“don't worry, everything's perfectly fine. it's not like we haven't done this a hundred of times before, and who cares if we miss out on a few stuff? it's not gonna affect the event.” another voice said, footsteps walking in the room.

the other cleared their throat. “what about that spotlight? i heard there were a few screws loose, and the workers didn't manage to find them.”

the sound of a file being landed harshly on the desk echoed throughout the room. “who the hell cares?! we already don't get paid enough for this shit, i couldn't care less about some stupid screws being loose or a backdrop being slightly off, as long as you get the job done we are out of the responsibility.”

“hurry up and go home, i don't want to be here any longer.”

soon after, the footsteps slowly fade out, and the door closed once more.

you let out a breath of relief the second they left, and looked at scaramouche again. he still had his eyes on the door, not even budging to move from the uncomfortable space.

“scara?”

“hm?”

“they're gone. we can go now.”

scaramouche finally looked at you after what felt like decades. “oh.”

getting out from under the old desk, you stretched out your limbs, the ravenette awkwardly followed you after.

“don't think that file was there before.” he said after a moment of scanning through the room, sauntering over to the desk in the middle of the room. “y/n.”

you glanced at him, bringing down your hands from the stretch you were doing. “what?”

“it's the file we're looking for.”

it was well past 9, you and scaramouche were back in your hotel room sitting on the provided chairs, with your laptop propped up on the small round table showing the pictures you took of the event planning from the file.

“it just looks like any other planning i've seen before.” you said while slurping on the instant noodle cup you made a few minutes ago. given how you and scaramouche were too busy sneaking around the hotel until late evening, you two didn't even manage to get proper dinner by the time you were done.

“there's no use in wasting our time on this if it's useless then.”

you squinted your eyes to look at the planning details better, reading on and on about backdrops, lighting timings, and whatnot. it was all useless, just like what scaramouche had said just now.

letting out a huff, you leaned back on the chair. “let's just wait until tomorrow. we still have time before the grad ball starts.” you glanced at scaramouche. he has been zoning out a lot recently, and it was no doubt that he was doing the exact same thing right now.

“are you tired?” you nudged his shoulder.

scaramouche slowly looked at you, face blank. “huh? why? are you?”

“stop twisting the question around, i'm asking about you.” you pressed, a frown plastered on your face. “you look tired.”

“i'm fine.”

“no you're not.”

now scaramouche was the one frowning instead, glaring at you furiously. “if i say that i'm fine, then i am fine.” he slammed his hands on the table as he stood up, walking away, making you more puzzled than you already were.

sighing, you closed the laptop on the table. guess there's no use in pushing him on the subject, you thought as you continued on finishing your food.

“you sure you don't want to sleep on the bed? there's still plenty of space here.” you asked, looking at him lying on the carpeted floor from the bed you were sitting on. “i feel bad.”

scaramouche had his back to you, so you weren't able to see what expression he was making as of now. “it's fine. hog the bed all you want, i'm not going up there.”

you raised a brow, but didn't question any further. “okay, just tell me if you wanna get up here. i don't mind sharing.”

the ravenette only replied with a hum as you got under the covers, getting ready to finally sleep after a long day of sneaking around.

except that you couldn't sleep at all.

it's around midnight— you think. it had been a few hours since you got into bed, but you haven't even managed to get a wink of sleep. scaramouche was sound asleep now, his soft snores can be heard if you listen close enough.

groaning, you turned to the other side of the bed in hopes of the new sleeping position helping you enter dreamland faster, but to no avail. you groaned in frustration once more.

“you should really stop doing that.” scaramouche said from the floor, voice husky from just waking up.

you propped yourself up with your elbow, and turned to look at scaramouche. “'m sorry, did i wake you?”

scaramouche slowly sat up, raking a hand through his bed hair. “it's fine.” he said, rubbing his eyes. “why're you still awake?”

“couldn't sleep.” you mumbled through the dark room, laying back on the bed as you stared at the ceiling. “been like that for the last couple of weeks.”

the ravenette raised his brow, but it went unnoticed by you. hearing the sound of rustling, you turned your head to the side, just to see that scaramouche had placed his pillow on the bed.

he sat at the edge of the bed, looking at you. “you okay?”

you scoffed. how ironic, you thought. he was the one who's been odd the whole day, yet he was asking you if you were okay, when he should be asking himself that.

“i could ask you the same question.”

at that, scaramouche fell silent. you turned your head back to continue on staring at the ceiling, again, in hopes that it'd bore you out to the point that you're asleep. unfortunately, the archons above really, really hates you.

you heard the sound of rustling sheets once again, and you turned to look at scaramouche, who was now suddenly under the covers, his back to you. “thought you said you didn't want to be up here.”

“you look like you needed company.”

you looked at him confusedly. at the lack of an answer from you, scaramouche huffed and turned to you. it was dark, you could barely make up most of the view in the room, but it was still enough to see the male beside you up close.

“i can sleep just well without you here.”

“sure you can.”

“wh– of course i can!”

scaramouche only shrugged, continuing on staring at you with a fond expression on his face. “what's on your mind?”

“...what d'ya mean?”

rolling his eyes, he brought up a finger to poke at your temple a couple of times, as if to further prove his question. “what's stopping this mind from resting?”

“ugh, stop that.” you swatted his hand away, though not harsh enough like you always do. “was just thinking about you.” you blurted out, making the ravenette widened his eyes.

scaramouche barely believes in the archons, yet he fervently thanks celestial above for the dark room, for you wouldn't get to see how red he's getting from just a single sentence.

eyes wide, you quickly fumbled for an excuse. “n–not in that way! i was just thinking about how you were kind of quiet the whole evening.” you said awkwardly, fidgeting the hem of your shirt. “did i say or do anything?”

“...no, you didn't do anything.”

“then why have you been acting weird today?”

scaramouche looked away from you, sighing. “it's just... when you mentioned about childhood, it just reminded me of mine.” he muttered.

from the years you've known scaramouche, he has never, ever, talked about his family background. you never questioned why, afraid that you were crossing boundaries. now that he's willing to even mention about it, you were shocked to say the least, but stayed quiet nonetheless.

“i didn't respond to your question because i... never experienced any of those stuff.” he paused, glancing at you. “my mother, she, abandoned me when i was little.”

“oh archons, i'm really sorry. i shouldn't have asked that.” you said, scratching your head.

“it's fine. it's been decades now, i rarely care that much anymore.” he let out a breath of a chuckle, somehow amused. “it just hit home when you talked about childhood.”

you stared at him for a long while, and he did the same to you. sighing, you went closer to him and pulled him into an embrace, leaving the ravenette in complete shock.

“you're a strong guy, i'm sorry all those shit happened to you.” you mumbled, wrapping your arms tightly around his middle. scaramouche hovered his hand over your hip for a moment, before reluctantly wrapping an arm around your waist, relishing in the comfort you're willingly giving him.

scaramouche is anything but strong. he had always thought that he was the most weakest among all, yet you make it seem like he was far from fragile, which is ironic, truly. you've always made him feel like a different person, you always never fail to make him feel alive, make him feel like his emotions matter, make him feel important.

it was one of your greatest qualities. you always bring out the best out of someone, and never ask for anything in return. you've made him feel things he never even thought he had, and you've made him feel like he was a perfect human being, despite the many flaws and imperfections of his.

for the last couple of months, your efforts for him only grew bigger. in spite of you two not being able to stand each other, you never stopped making him feel like human. and for the past few weeks, his views of you have changed very differently.

he never thought of himself being in love, just the thought of those four letters make him gag. but with you, he thinks, anything is possible. and after many sleepless nights of being in thought, he has now come to terms at this moment that maybe, just maybe, he has the slightest feelings for you.

it's not something he'd ever tell you of course, and he has never planned on doing so in the future, afraid that he might ruin what you two currently have. he has come a long way with you, from not able to stand being in the same room together, all the way to you being in his arms right now. he does not think it's worth the risk of ruining whatever the hell you two are at the moment.

he sighed after what felt like forever, and hugged you more tightly. “thank you, y/n.”

no response.

he looked down, just to see that you were sound asleep, in his arms. he smiled fondly after a few seconds, brushing your hair just a bit. you looked so peaceful right now, and he slightly missed this view of you.

he wishes he could see you like this every day, every morning, and every single night, but then again, he does not feel like you'd reciprocate his feelings anyways.

he sighed again, bringing you more closer than before.

looks like you do need company to sleep better.

forelsket. from: norwegian. means: that overwhelming gut-rush euphoria exclusive to the beginnings of falling in love. (please correct me if i'm wrong lmao i got this from google)

taglist; @beriiov @hopesandlegacy @cloudsandrenoswife @salamiwrites @thenightsflower @bleedingwhiteroses222 @lisiastak021 @yuuki4646 @lez-zuha @ryhie @sleepy-waffle @yoursockstinks @shizunxie @moonxma @kunikuzushiit @anonwhocried @vqqrii @luminesuprrmacy @calxb-do @sixscara @xooya @mobiussdarling @mafukissu @antri13

(unfortunately i am unable to tag those that are in bold, i'm sorry!)

want to be added to the taglist?

[starsistertarot]

Since I feel like garbage today I decided to write a few headcanons on what KnB characters would do if you were having a bad day.

This post contains the following characters: Kuroko, Kise, Kiyoshi, Imayoshi and Riko (cus my girl deserves some love)

*You can decide what relationship you have with these people in this headcanon post because its going to be platonic gestures.

**You are allowed to see these headcanons as more "romantically charged" if you want! Go wild my lovelies, I won't stop your fantasies lmao

***Im writing for my comfort characters this time around, so if you want a similar post (or something else entirely) with different characters don't be afraid to ask!

Kuroko

He would be more on the quiet side until he's gathered his thoughts on how to approach the situation. It's not like he's uncomfortable, he just doesn't want to accidentally upset you (what a cutie)

He'd probably end up blurting out a blunt cheesy comment on how "It's okay to feel this way" and "Don't forget to rest / remember you have to take care of yourself". (But in a more Kuroko fashion. Dialogue is not my forte)

Honestly he'd be happy to sit on the couch with you in complete silence, watching a movie with you if that made you feel better. OPTIONAL: If you allowed him, he'd hold you in his arms/let you rest your head on his lap while he pets your head (Because cuddles can be platonic)

This dork would probably show up at your door with two vanilla milkshakes (or your preferred milkshake, or preferred drink if you don't like milkshakes), and let you rant about your problems/day for however long you'd need him to listen.

He might feel frustrated because he can't do anything about the situation, but he'd be so happy if you told him that him being there for you is more than enough. (I love him, he's precious-)

Kise

Let's not spare the dramatics, people. This man would act as if you having a bad day was the end of the world. He'd show up with 10 movies, all your favorite snacks and more stuff than you can possibly imagine just because he cares and loves you (and I love him for it)

Laying in bed/the couch either watching your favorite movie(s) or a shitty movie(s), making commentary the entire time while eating the snacks he brought. OPTIONAL: Cuddling! (He's definitely a cuddle-bug)

He would try and distract you by giving you the best day possible since he loves to see you smile.

If something happened that made you want to cry, he would hug you so tight and let you cry on his shoulder.

He would put on a strong face for both of you, even if he might secretly feel awkward. He doesn't like seeing you upset/not feeling your best, so his attempts will always involve distractions. It doesn't mean he doesn't care about your feelings, he just knows Kuroko or someone else is better suited for the "listening part" than him

Bonus: Would MAYBE let Kasamatsu kick him in the face if it would make you feel better LMAO- (Kise is either the perfect bestie or the perfect boyfriend... Or the perfect boyfriend who's your best friend)

Kiyoshi

The second he learned you had a bad day, is the second he gave you the biggest bear hug. If he heard about it from someone else, HE WOULD TRACK YOU DOWN TO GIVE YOU ONE- And he'd hug you for as long as you wanted him to, because he just wants you to know he's there for you.

Would let you rant, cry, sit with you in silence, go to the arcade to distract you, whatever you want, he'd adapt PERFECTLY.

Would probably give you some of his old man wisdom his grandparents told him to cheer you up (and it's honestly the dorkiest sweetest thing ever)

Long walks (If you're dating, he'd hold your hand) to clear your head. Optional: You'd go to the burger joint and get something to eat or grab a milkshake.

It would break his heart to see you like that, but he knows how much you need him. He would go out of his way to do anything to make your day be a little bit easier.

Imayoshi

It can either go two ways with him. Either he tries teasing you but immediately gives up if he doesn't get the response he wants OR, he drops the teasing that day to be an *actual supportive friend/boyfriend* if you're already in tears

Would sit quietly and listen to you talk about your problems/day, and he would use his experience as a captain to calm you/cheer you up afterwards.

Takeaway and bad movies (imagine watching Bratz with him *swoon*) because he'd want to distract you immediately after. Optional: CUDDLING WITH THE PDA MONSTER- beware of wandering hands------ *COUGH THATS ALL IM GONNA SAY* (yes please)

If anyone was giving you a hard time that day, they need some missing person posters cus they will mysteriously disappear- (I'm convinced Imayoshi would be able to get away with murder)

Would be very chill about the situation unlike the others. He understands that every day can't be perfect.

Bonus: (The amount of teasing will increase in the next few days because he's been bottling it up ... rip)

Riko

When she found out you were having a bad day, she already knew what she had to do. She has a mental list on all your favorite things/activities and she sure as hell will be using it.

A true motivational speaker. Whatever the reason you're having a bad day, she always has the perfect speech to energize you with.

Sleepovers! (If you identify as female), You'd do whatever your heart desires, really. Watch a movie, PRANK CALL HYUGA-, anything to make you feel a bit better~ Her main goal is a shit-ton of laughter by the end of the night

For those who got a gun in their face or despises sleepovers: She'd hit up Maji Burger with you, just talking about everything and nothing or whatever you want to talk about.

RIDING ON THE BACK OF HER YELLOW SCOOTER BECAUSE THAT SOUNDS FUN

She would honestly be amazing at cheering you up, since she's so adaptable. Whether you wanted to talk or be distracted (or both), she would always be able to provide you with what you need. She wouldn't feel awkward in the slightest, she accepts that it's normal to feel down sometimes and hopes you would return the favour one day. (She's best friend goals okay, i love her to death)

[morizoras-cave]

Bubble Laugh (Request)

Sebastian Stan x gn!child!co-star!reader, CA:CW cast x gn!child!co-star!reader 

Genre: fluff

Request Description: Hey can I request ca:cw cast x child!actress, where the child plays a hydra experiment on the run with sebs character Bucky but the actress is really quiet and shy because she’s the only child on set but then something funny happens like Anthony making fun of Tom and she bursts out laughing and it’s really loud and then end it however you want? 😊💗

Warnings: slight insecurity?

(A/N): sorry i havent gotten much done!! but now i have a bit of time. been wanting to write some tom hardy for a while? but gonna work on some requests first honestly. also, in my spare time i’ve been working on something that might be a worthy series???? but its not an x reader, its stucky, which is quite different from what i usually write. let me know what you think :D so sorry sbout this gif lmao

“And cut! Great scene, guys! Take a break.” 

All your cast mates began to disperse from the set. There’d just been an exhausting fight scene, and everyone’s bones were calling for a chair. You hadn’t fought all that much, mostly waved around with your hands, imitating some magic. 

You bounded over to the coffee station. You’d gotten particularly fond of grabbing one or two sugar cubes and then playing on your phone, or reading a book. 

You reached up and grabbed the sweet squares of delight, and hopped to the couch in the break room. You’d left your book there. You opened it and look down at it in your lap, as you squeezed a sugar cube past lips. 

“I think I’m gonna go fall asleep,” you heard Tom say sheepishly. He was still in his suit, you noted, but it was loosened and hanging awkwardly, meaning he’d probably dashed to the bathroom. 

Robert patted his shoulder comfortingly. Basically the entire cast piled into the break room, spreading out and starting conversations. Sebastian, the one you were undoubtedly closest to (as you and his character were practically on the run together), lay down on the black couch beside you. He gave you smile and rested his eyes. 

You looked at the cast again. You loved being part of it all. You had been so nervous to join. You were afraid your young age and shyness would prevent them from liking you at all. You were wrong. You’d never met better people than them. 

“What are you thinking about, kid?” Sebastian asked, eyes following yours. You felt your cheeks warm at the thought of being caught staring adoringly. You averted your eyes to your book and flipped a page. 

“Nothing,” you squeaked. Sebastian chuckled and shook his head. 

“Then what are you reading?” 

“Uh,” you flipped it to show him the cover, “The Cat Who Came In Off The Roof.” 

“What’s it about?” 

“Uhm.. A cat,” you mumbled and giggled. Sebastian giggled too. “Fair is fair,” he said. Indeed, fair was fair. 

“Mackie, what have I done to you?” Tom’s voice caught both you and Sebastian’s attention. He sounded whiny, but in reality he had a playful smile on his lips.

“Man, what haven’t you done?” Anthony was pretend-angry. You couldn’t see it on his face like Tom. You always thought that the bit between them was funny. You smiled.

“List one thing I’ve done to you!” 

“You’re a little narcissist, is what you are!”

“But-”

“Zip it, Holland!” 

The cast (who were all listening discretely) broke into laughter at the twos unending bickering. You were struggling to hold your laughter. You were trying to let it out quietly, so no one would look at you, so you’d just be another person laughing, but the more you tried to hold it back, the more you felt the urge to burst into it.

So you did.

About 3 seconds after everyone else stopped laughing, you made probably the loudest sounds the cast had ever heard you make. You wheezed, and broke into uncontainable laughter, doubling over.

Sebastian looked at you strangely. In fact, everyone was looking at you, a little shocked and amused at the same time. Anthony and Tom exchanged glances. 

“Are you- Are they? Is Y/n okay?” Chris asked and he himself was giggling. None of them had ever heard you say more than a couple of words at a time, and it was always so low, it could be a whisper. Not now, though.

You shook your head, feeling Sebastian’s hand on your back. “I’m sorry!” you calmed yourself, only to laugh once more. “That was.. That was really funny.” 

No one answered you for a moment. You felt yourself getting uncomfortable, knowing you were probably too loud and weird. You focused instead on your book, bristling under their gazes.

“I’m sorry, it’s just- I- We’ve never heard you say anything that loud, outside acting,” Sebastian could tell you were uncomfortable. You looked up at him shyly, smiling sheepishly. 

“You should laugh like that normally, it’s a huge confidence booster!” Anthony joked and everyone giggled again. 

“No,” you mumbled, and honestly only Sebastian could hear you, “It’s too loud.” 

Sebastian looked at everyone else and smiled knowingly. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and ruffled your hair, to which you protested with a groan. 

“Y/n, you should be loud whenever the hell you want. In fact, I only want you to laugh like that. I need the good energy,” he said, releasing you finally. 

“Whatever-” you begun, but before you could brush it off, he said:

“I’m serious.” 

He was looking in your eyes, which just made you shy again. 

“Alright,” you whispered, “I will.” 

Sebastian high fived you, and then jumped up from the couch. 

A set worker soon came back and directed everyone back to set. You almost immediately felt more comfortable. They didn’t laugh at you. They liked your laugh. In other words, they liked you being more loud. 

From then on, every time something made you laugh, you never held back your real laugh. You always just let it go, and soon enough you could see, that when you weren’t hiding yourself out of shyness, people actually accepted the real you, and it made it so much easier to feel like you were good enough to not hide away. 

As you grew up, you always found yourself looking back at the Civil War movie, as the time where you gained your confidence. And it was all thanks to them. :)

___________________________

Tag List:

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[damnzawa]

Hi there! I just found your account and I love you writing! I was wondering if you could do a bakugou x reader fantasy au? Where prince bakugou goes to a small village in his kingdom for a pit stop while on a quest but meets the reader who's a poor butcher's daughter that doesn't know who he is and doesn't really care either but really wants to go on a quest and begs him to let her travel with him in exchange for being a chef. Thank you so much!!💞💕💗 ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾┌(★ｏ☆)┘

ANNOYING — B. KATSUKI

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry if this took a long time to be published! I went off tumblr for a while due to personal issues but now I'm back! Hope you like this!

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED (for now)

WARNINGS: Language LMAO but its Bakugo so what do we expect. Also this is not beta read!

WORD COUNT: 1955

Not everyday you have the privilage to meet the prince. The heir to the kingdom's throne. The second most respected man in the whole entire kingdom.

And not everyday you get to mistake him as a thief either.

Not that you care about his title, really. You believe that all men are created equal, regardless of their social standings, heirarchy and whatnot. Thus, you didn't really care about the prince and the royal family that much to ever know about them. Not even their faces, nor names.

So, it wasn't a surprise that it will cause you your possible demise.

You see, the day started nice. You went out to do some deliveries, met some nice people on the road who bought half of the meat your father had cut, and to top it all off the farmer was kind enough to give you extra rootcrops as a sign of gratitude to you and your father. It was a great day all in all. Until, the knights came.

Along with the explosive prince.

Murmurs began to start as you headed back to your father's stall in the market after a long day of delivery work. Even though you didn't mean to eavesdrop — it was kind of hard not to, considering how their volumes were — you caught the words: arrogant, self-centered, short-tempered. And later you found out those words described the prince.

"He must be a nincompoop then. To get such a reputation from the people in town, he must have done some... questionable things." You said to yourself. Too engrosed in your thoughts, you bumped into a red-headed knight. You bowed immediately while apologizing then excused yourself, you didn't really want to interact with knights today. All you wanted to do was cook a hearty meal for your stubborn father, read a book by the fireplace after a bath, and relax.

But all those plans seem to be quickly washed away when you saw an ash blond quietly steal from your father. You were gonna let it slide, thinking that maybe it was for a good cause.

That is until you realized, the man stole a prime cut.

As if a switch was flicked, you quickly ran towards the direction the man headed to. Spotting him from afar, you ran as fast as you can and knocked the man into the ground, shocking the people around you.

"Give it back." You sternly commanded the man. "Give back the meat you stole from my father."

The man scoffed at your 'accusations' and tried to wiggle his way free but your entire weight placed on top of his back made it hard to do so. "Let me fucking go. I have no idea what the actual fuck you are accusing me of."

"Oh shut it. I saw you with my own two eyes and I am very much sure that their vision is not impaired yet." His futile attempts at escaping now stopped as he tilted his head to see the scoundrel who had the audacity to knock him down and embarrass him infront of townspeople.

Of course it had to be a girl.

"Are you one of my admirers to go such lengths as accusing me of stealing from a commoner?" That comment made your eye twitch because first, you are certainly not an admirer of this prick. Two, you don't even know the guy! Three, who would admire this piece of work? And lastly, your father might be a 'commoner' but he's the best 'commoner' you could ever find! There wouldn't be a slab of ribs or a fine piece of steak on your plates if it weren't for him! And the way this asshole said 'commoner' with such distaste too! What a prick! Who the hell does he think he is?

"My prince!" The same red-headed knight you bumped into earlier shouted from afar. Your eyes widened for a second before turning back to the asshole beneath you who now has a smug grin on his face.

"Miss! Are you alright?" The knight asked while helping you get up. "Did the prince cause you any disturbances? Any problems?" It was your turn to plaster on a smug grin on your face. You saw his own falter which you made you more smug than before.

"Why yes actually, the prince caused me a slight inconvenience." The red-head sighed, taking a quick glance at the prince beside him — who couldn't stand due to pain. "The prince stole a priceless little thing from my father's stall earlier and I'd like for him to return it or better yet, pay for it." The prince was about to retort but the red-head beat him to it.

"I deeply apologize for the prince's action, miss. If it would make you happy and satisfied, I will pay for the items he stole. I will also ask for forgiveness on his behalf." Angry noises came from the prince's (beast) mouth as the red-headed knight did exactly what he told making you raise an eyebrow.

"Why are you doing it for him? Can't he do it himself?" It was amazing to see a knight easily convinced to do something a mere 'commoner' like you demanded, but you concluded that this red-headed fellow wasn't an ordinary knight. He seemed like the type that's fed up with the prince's antics, thus his demeanor towards people is filled with empathy and the usual knightly courage. But your words made him halt, and look at you as if you were from some otherworldly land.

You caught the knight mutter about something manly before the prince interrupted. "Hah?! I'm not gonna apologize to someone lower than me! You extra!" The knight sweat-dropped at the prince's words while you looked at him blankly. Wow, the rumors are true, he is an asshole.

"Well, Your Highness, this extra happened to be the one who cared for the rib who used to be a part of the cow that you stole just now. So, apologize and pay up. I don't care if you're the prince or not. Thievery is a crime, and you just committed it." The crowd begin to whisper, making the prince's eye twitch.

"Fine, you annoying extra! Give her whatever the fuck she wants!" And with that the prince stormed off. Leaving you and the red-haired knight behind. The crowd began to disperse, seeing as the scene just concluded and that the man of the hour was gone.

The knight turned to you once again and bowed. "I'm deeply sorry for my prince's actions. As he caused such an inconvenience and refuses to be accountable for his actions, I shall ensure to provide whatever compensation you need or want — within reason of course." Before you can respond, he introduces himself with a grin. "Ah! How silly of me! Chivalric knight, Kirishima Eijirou at your service."

"I appreciate your efforts, Sir Kirishima, but I just need the payment for the stolen goods." You replied with a smile, but soon your smile faltered. You had wanted to be a chef for so long and travel unknown lands to discover cuisine and cooking techniques you've never heard of before. Perhaps... is this the right time to do it?

You bit your lip as you contemplated. Should you grab this opportunity and run with it?

Seeing your hesitancy, Kirishima waited for your answer. "Actually... I have a request... I was wondering if it's possible?"

"I'm all ears, Miss."

...

"What is this extra doing here?!" Prince Bakugo exclaimed as he saw your annoying little face within his traveling party. Kirishima sighed as he explained the situation. You would join his party as a chef until you reach the capital where you will be training to be a chef under the great Lunch Rush. Bakugo was about to object when Kirishima shot him a look.

"Fine. But I'm not eating garbage cooked by a commoner!" You rolled your eyes at his demeanor. Are all royals like this?

As if reading your mind, Kirishima responds. "Don't worry. King Masaru and Queen Mitsuki are quite modest and kind."

"Then what happened to him?" You pointed to Bakugo.

"I heard that, you extra!" Fowl language followed that statement making the traveling party sigh. Oh boy, this is gonna be a painful journey.

After that, you said your goodbyes to your father, who was very emotional about the turn of events. "Be good and be brave, my sweet child. And ask for forgiveness from His Highness." Your brows were scrunched in confusion.

"Why must I do that? He was clearly in the wrong!"

"Ah... that slab of meat was a present from me to him. He once helped me round up the cows when his traveling party went by our house yesterday. The slab of priceless meat was a token of appreciation for his kind gesture. So, do apologize for your actions, ok?" The information you just heard astounded you, making you speechless. Guilt pooled in your stomach as you promised your father that you will apologize to the prince. And with a final promise of coming home as a renowned chef, you parted ways.

The journey started rough. The prince refused to eat anything you made at all. His stubbornness knows no bounds and his overall demeanor towards you was not pleasant, which you understood as the scene you caused was a total misunderstanding on your part. The only upside was the traveling party greatly enjoyed your meals, and some even gave you recipes from different places and suggestions of destinations that you'll surely enjoy to explore! Overall, it went smoothly.

That is, until the prince became sick.

The doctors in your traveling party asked you to concoct different meals suited to His Highness, You had to stop at a village in order to ensure Prince Bakugo's speedy recovery. And one day, you were assigned to deliver his meals to him personally.

"Prince Bakugo?" You knocked on the door, and as expected, not a response came from the prince. You sighed and slowly opened the door, cautiously stepping in so you won't wake Bakugo up or spill the contents of the bowl you held.

"Go away, you extra." He grumbled, but his rough voice was replaced with a weak ome due to his illness.

"Look, I know you won't eat my meals but you need to eat. You can't recover from this if your body doesn't have the nutrients it needs to fight back this illness." You huffed. "And... besides, consider this as my way of making up to you."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"My father told me about it. I'm sorry for mistaking you for a thief. I tried to apologize to you on several occasions but you angrily push me away every time I do. So, I figured this might be the right timing since you know... you aren't your usual aggressive self." You scratched your nape in embarrassment. "Besides, if there's something I learned while traveling with you is that you're a big softie inside. You might act rough and is shard on the edges, you're actually kind-hearted and caring. Uh... anyways. Please make sure to eat your meal, Prince Bakugo."

Before you can exit the room, you heard him say, "Annoying extra." But the usual hostility behind those words wasn't there. You might just be assuming it or imagining it, but those words almost sounded... fond.

With a shake of your head, you left the room.

Later that day, you found the bowl to be empty and outside of his room. Along with it was a note that read, "Don't fucking tell me what to do, you annoying extra."

[i-need-air]

your hybrid!bkg hcs are mad cute 😖💞 i’m in LOVE— what if reader comes home w/ a stray kitten? 🥺 katsuki doesn’t like cats but this one is all small and shivering and reader couldn’t let the poor thing starve on the streets so she takes it in. the kitten gets attached to katsuki very quickly much to his displeasure, he thinks he’s his mom lmao

I'm so glad you like them, all I want is to make people feel uwu and it's happening! 💕💕 This is so cute and I can only imagine him being a big ass momma later on ahskdjsk let's see:

[ Main Hybrid!Bakugou HCs here: Part 1 and Part 2! ]

[ BNHA Masterlist to find all Hybrid!AU works ]

× you had to stay out longer than expected so it was getting late, and the worst part was that it started raining

× very dark clouds, thunder seen in the distance, bone-chilling wind; storm looked as if it was approaching fastly

× so you rushed fast home

× but something stopped you in your tracks a few streets away from home

× a small, weak meow that somehow you heard over all the noise surrounding you

× after investigating, you found this poor little kitten behind a garbage can

× frail, tiny, trembling, balled up trying to maintain body heat

× you had to save the little life, you just had to

× when you walked through the door, throwing everything but your jacket, in which the kitten was secured in, Katsuki heard the commotion

× he got out of the shower as it seemed he also got late from work and gave you a questioning face

× bc you mumbled a small "hi" and rushed to the bathroom

× to which he follows, like wth is going on and definitely catches on as he smells you

× "What the hell is that?" blurts, tactful as always

× you explain to him in a rush as you prepare a warm bath for the kitten, asking him to google anything you could do to help it

× gives you a stink glance

× lol like I'd bother type of glance

× yet still does it as you open your jacket to show him the frail kitten still shivering

× he comes around with his phone, acting done with life while reading out loud what to do, what to feed it

× meanwhile you realize you really don't have any food that would suit the kitten so you ask him if he could gently bath it while you go out to buy some at the corner grocery shop near by

× he just took a shower and you were still wet from the rain so it made sense you'd be the one going

× cue to him complaining like an overgrown child

× "Tsk, you're gonna catch a cold"

× "Just let it dry or whatever"

× "I cleaned the fucking floor yesterday and now it's all wet!"

× all while taking the cat from you and closing the bathroom door in your face 😒

× you change fastly and go out again while rolling your eyes at him

× but

× i shit you not, the moment you arrive home and go check on them, you find him in the living room with the kitten wrapped in a towel in his arms

× he's just looking down at it with a serene expression on his face

× 🦋🦋💕🦋💕🦋💕🦋🦋🦋🦋

× honestly, i genuinely feel he'd be compassionate about it, he knows what it is to have a rough life so he's definitely going to help, and will appreciate you for saving its life

× the first few days he really bitches about it though

× "Ya wanna keep it?"

× "I'm not taking care of that damned cat!"

× "Hey, you, brat, come here, you need to eat" to the cat instantly after telling you he ain't doin it

× exagerated scoffs as the kitten approaches him and cuddles him, demands attention, so on

× "This brat is so needy, tsk"

× still pets it gently while acting disinterested

× the funniest thing is when you both realize the kitty follows him everywhere and throws small fits whenever he leaves

× you record it doing so and send it to him

× he only responds with 🙄

× [ but saves the videos in a secure folder called Brat ]

× "The fuck is it followin' me around?!?"

× cuddle time is now him on top of you and kitty burried in his neck purring

× he has a high body temperature, ideal for snuggles

× thinks that you're not looking and puts a hand on the cat for protection

× seriously his words don't match his actions

× i swear, i feel he'd be like a cat whisperer or something

× bc whenever he orders the kitten to do something kitty does exactly that

× you had to argue with the cat to get off the table, Katsuki comes, orders it and the lil shit meows and gets off

× to which, of course, smug ass Katsuki gives you a smirk like "This is how you do it 💅"

× 💕 little shits 💞

× of course you're keeping the cat

× and he demands it has to have a badass name

× like it's a cute fluffy smol bean and he wants to call it Diablo or some shit

× to which he explains it's cuz the cat is a little demon and the name just fits

× fine, whatever, what's important is that you're keeping the kitty, win-win

× will definitely 100% buy cat toys and accessories

× "So it won't destroy the fuckin house while we're gone"

× proceeds to play with the cat

× throws toy mouse a foot away, watching how it catches it and plays with it

× records it

× "What a dumbass"

× sends you the video instantly

× makes fun of you bc it's obvious who's the favorite

× enjoys when you're pouty about it but kisses your forehead

× he might be the favorite but you're still his favorite

× but when he catches you snuggling together he goes 💕💓💞💖💝✨✨✨✨

× will [ again ] bitch about it but even the cat knows he's jealous; he just wants to cuddle with you both

× will scold the cat if it throws things off shelves or something

× if he gets a "meow" back he's gonna glare at it and say "Don't talk back to me" 💀

× if you have the audacity to laugh at him for it he'll scold you too

× Big Mom Energy

× Katsuki is soft for the cat

× but dear lord, can't stand the hairs on his black t-shirts

× "Fucking amazing, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

× "meow?"

× "Don't act innocent!"

× Chef Bakugou prepares the best food for the cat

× he's not buyin that cheap ass shit, nuh-huh

× vet trips make him more nervous than it should be

× he cannot stay in place, leg bouncing, all the anxiety bag

× "It's a regular check-up, Katsu—"

× "Why do they have to stab it, huh?!"

× "It's a vaccine, it's good for—"

× "Fuck off"

× 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

× "You did well, kid" and a scratch on the head after the tragic vaccination happens

× you know those pictures of big hunky dudes working out or doing manly stuff in the mirror? yano, those pics

× he sends you those but you suddently see kitty on his shoulders; the contrast is hilarious ngl

× demands you take some of those pics since he doesn't wanna disturb the cat

× he's soft, man

× his wallpaper is a picture of you and the kitty snuggling

× and he has hundreds of them

× most taken without permission or with you looking like a comfortable mess and that's his shit

× you start talking about pets, specifically cats with other people?

× his cat is better than anyone's cat

× no room for discussion

× will fight them

× his cat is a warrior, dude; no weak ass domestic cat, nope, his cat survived the streets, his cat is an apex predator, his cat is—

× akdjldkakdks you get it

× just say you love the cat and go lmfao

× then he shows em pictures of hIS cAt and it has a Christmas hat on, looking adorable af or something

× big ass apex predator, huh?

× his cat is also cute now stfu, extra 💅

× 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀

[skiesofthesketchy]

Body Language

Pairing: JJ Maybank x female reader

“I’m going to kiss you now. Don’t freak out.”

Note: This is my first attempt at smut and I don’t think it’s half bad lmao. This is also my first Outer Banks fic, and I can tell you right now there will be MORE in the future :) Please let me know what you think! Enjoy! 

Summary: Your best friend JJ has an unfortunate one night stand, which leads him to asking you what girls like in bed.

Warnings: SMUT, nsfw, 18+

Word count:  4k

Part 1 (you are here) / Part 2

***

You knew something was wrong.

It was just a normal day with the pogues. You had spent the afternoon on John B.’s boat, drinking, smoking, swimming until you all were exhausted from the sun. But you could tell something was wrong with JJ the entire time. 

When you had made a dirty play off of Pope’s words and looked to your best friend for a high five, he was staring off into the horizon. When Kiara’s bikini top came undone and she rushed to fix it while everyone howled in laughter, he wasn’t even paying attention. “What’s up, dude?” you’d ask when you caught him staring at you a handful of times, but he would just shake his head with a dismissive mumble.

You all were back at the Chateau by the time the sun had started to set. You sat on a lawn chair while John B. and Kiara swung in the hammocks, and Pope was sitting on the ground while JJ paced back and forth behind you guys. There was definitely something on his mind. You just wanted to know what could possibly be more important to JJ than spending the day with his best friends. This wasn’t like him at all, and you waited patiently for him to eventually tell you what was going on.

It was only minutes later that John B. told everyone he was leaving to go see Sarah. Pope stood up from the dirt too, saying something about all the chores he had to get done or else his dad was going to kill him. Kiara left with both boys, wanting to catch a ride back home before it got too late. You wondered if your other friends had noticed JJ’s odd behavior, or if it was only noticeable to you. You two did understand each other better than anyone. Once they all left, it was just you and JJ. 

You gathered the empty beer bottles and bags of chips littering the back yard to bring them inside the house, JJ quickly following close behind you. You thought he was going to say something to you, but he kept his mouth shut. 

You shrugged off that thought as you looked around the trashed living room, deciding to clean up a little bit. It may not be your house, but you were there all the time and knew nobody else was going to clean up. As you grabbed a garbage bag to start working, you noticed JJ still standing in the doorway, not sure what to do with himself. You raised your brow at him questioningly, but he just awkwardly scratched the back of his head and sat down on the couch. 

Then he just sat there quietly, watching you as you cleaned, yet another sign that something was wrong. The boy never missed an opportunity to tease you about your “house-wife tendencies,” as he likes to say.  

You dropped the garbage bag you were carrying and made your way to sit next to him on the couch. “Alright, dude,” you sighed. “What’s up?” You were tired of waiting for him to tell you on his own. You only have so much patience with the boy.

“What do you mean?” he countered quickly.

You scoffed. “You’ve been acting weird all day. I know when something’s off with you, J, so just spill it.”

His eyes met yours for a brief moment before he sighed. “I actually wanted to ask you something,” he started, but the silence that fell over the room afterwards made it clear he wasn’t going to continue.

“Okay,” you laughed softly. “Go ahead.”

“I just... I don’t know how to say it.” He was being timid, avoiding your gaze. You furrowed your brows. This wasn’t like the JJ you knew at all. He was never afraid to tell you anything, you guys were so close.

You laid a comforting hand on JJ’s knee, which was bouncing from nerves. “Come on, it’s just me.” 

He took a deep breath, deciding to just get it out in the open. “What do girls like in bed?”

You were dumbfounded. You definitely didn’t expect anything like that to come out of your best friend’s mouth!

Your state of shock had him jumping up to his feet to defend himself. “I know I’m the best in bed, okay. I’m great at sex! I’m a sex god! Every girl leaves my bed satisfied,” he exclaimed, desperately trying to hide his bruised ego and putting on his normal cocky attitude. 

“Obviously not every girl if you’re asking me what girls like.” You couldn’t help but laugh. JJ Maybank: the biggest player in Outer Banks, was asking you for sex advice? This was almost too good to be true.

You bent over, clutching your stomach as you bubbled with laughter. JJ threw a pillow at you, obviously annoyed you were laughing at him. “Ha, ha. Very funny.”

You wanted to revel in this moment, but urged yourself to calm down. You knew JJ was distraught about this, so you needed to shut up and be a friend to him, even though all you wanted to do was tease your normally-arrogant friend. “Alright, tell me what happened.”

He stood with his arms crossed in front of you, sure you were going to keep laughing at him. You grabbed his hand and dragged him down into the spot next to you. “I won’t laugh anymore. Promise. What happened?” 

He inhaled a deep breath, working up the courage to just spit it out. “I brought a touron over last night. She said she wanted to, ya know, but she didn’t seem into it like, at all.” 

You listened patiently as he told you about his unfortunate one-night-stand. It didn’t seem like such a big deal, but you could tell it really affected him. He was used to girls falling at his feet, letting them do whatever he wanted with them. He was used raving reviews, and girls always wanting to see him again after they had slept together. It was why JJ was confident and a tad egotistical in the first place, but Poor JJ really let this get to his head.

He looked defeated after he finished the story, and you just wanted to comfort him. “It’s just one girl, J. You’ll probably never even see her again.”

“But I thought I did everything right. I thought I knew what all girls liked, but I guess not.” You smiled sadly at him, not knowing what to say. “So, that’s why I wanted to ask you. I don’t know. You’re a girl. What did I do wrong?” The nerves were coming back again. 

“It’s hard to say, JJ. Every girl is different. You just have to pick up on the signs.”

“What signs are we talking about?”

You laughed. “You know, like body language. How she reacts to everything.” 

“I’m great at body language,” he scoffed. “But you should... uh... elaborate.” You giggled again. You knew he was a dumb boy, but you didn’t think he was this dumb.

“You can tell what a girl wants by the way she kisses you.” 

“You’re telling me things I already knooowwww.” He threw his head back with a dramatic sigh, which made you shake your head in amusement. If he really wanted to know what girls like, you were going to teach him.

You scooted closer to him on the couch and took his hat off, ruffling his hair. He looked at you confused as you grabbed his shoulders and made him face you. “I’m going to kiss you now. Don’t freak out.” 

You waited for the surprise to wash away from his baby blues before you leaned in and kissed him. His lips were softer than you had imagined. You didn’t waste any time wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him in even closer. With your head turned to the side, you opened your mouth and he followed suit, tongues now mingling together. You were being hungry and forceful on purpose, sitting up more to press your chest into his. His warm hands made their way to your waist as he kept up with your fast pace. Your fingers weaved into his hair, tugging and pulling softly as you directed his movements.

It was hot as hell. The kiss was needy and messy, as if you two were madly in love and couldn’t keep your hands off each other. You were dominating the kiss, and didn’t let him move his hands further up your body, your hands covering his to keep them in place on your hips. 

When you needed air, you pulled away, resuming your previous position on the couch as if nothing had happened. JJ, on the other hand, looked frazzled. His cheeks were tinted red and his expression was one of disbelief. His best friend did just make out with him after all. But it was more than that. The way you kissed him had arousal pumping through his veins, and directly to his dick.

“If a girl kisses you like that, she definitely wants you,” you broke the silence. Well, it was silent besides JJ’s heavy breathing. “She also wants to be the one to call the shots.” 

His eyes met yours and he still couldn’t believe what had happened. You kissed him like that, all to teach him a lesson?  He hadn’t had a make out session this hot in a long time, and you were totally unphased by it. “Make sense?” you asked. All he could do was nod. His mind was spinning and he had a tent forming in his shorts, which you didn’t notice.

“Okay. Let’s try again.” He smirked, already missing the feeling of your lips on his. You leaned in, but let him meet you the rest of the way, and you were kissing again. This time, you kept your hands to yourself, and allowed JJ to pull you in by his hands on your jaw. You resisted the urge to melt into him, and kept up your more timid approach to the kiss. 

It was far less heated than before. This kiss was soft and slow, which confused the boy but he didn’t want to do anything to risk ruining the moment. You pulled away while placing your hand on his chest to separate you two. 

“If she kisses like that,” you started, “then she’s into you. But she wants you to take control. If she’s more shy, you’re gonna have to take it a little slow.” You peered into his eyes and found them gleaming. “You following, Maybank?” 

“Mmhmm.” He sat back, letting his fingers brush over his lips that were just on yours. You really were trying to teach him more about what girls like, and he liked your “hands on” approach. He didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he knew how glad he was that he asked you for help.

Part of you couldn’t believe you had just kissed him either. It was a strange feeling, kissing your best friend. You’d be lying to yourself though, if you said you had never imagined what it would be like to kiss JJ. You couldn’t tell what was going on in his head. “You good?”

“Better than good.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, looking at you with a smirk. “What’s next, Teacher?” 

You laughed before thinking for a moment. “Consent.”

“Pshh. I know about consent. Who do you think I am? I’m upfront with every girl that I intend to bone.” He was offended that you’d even think of him like that.

You rolled your eyes. “I’m sure. But things can change. It doesn’t take much to turn a girl off.”

He looked at you like you were being ridiculous. “For example, the touron last night,” you continued. “You asked me for help, remember?”

JJ nodded reluctantly. He was still sure he knew how to please a girl, and when to back off, but you were only trying to help him. He’d kick himself if he stopped this little learning lesson now and risk never kissing you again. “Alright, alright. What about consent?”

You smiled, happy he was going to hear you out. You wished more guys would be willing to understand how girls think when it comes to intimacy. “It’s good to take breaks and ask what she wants. If a girl is feeling uncomfortable with something, she’s more likely to speak up about it if you take the time to ask her.”

“Care to demonstrate?” he asked with a wink. You shook your head and laughed at his flirtiness. 

“Okay, fine.” This time, you placed your hands on his shoulders and hoisted yourself over him to straddle his lap. His hands found the exposed skin of your thighs as he looked up at you, desire dancing in his eyes. “I’ll kiss you again, but it’s your job to make sure I consent to whatever's next.” Another smirk found its way to the blonde’s lips before he pulled you down to him by the back of your neck.

It was almost as heated as the first kiss. With his lips pressed firmly to yours, he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer. When it quickly turned into a sloppy make out, you let your fingers pull on the blonde strands on the back of his head. You were absolutely enjoying yourself in this position with your best friend, and he felt the same. ‘But this is all for learning purposes,’ you reminded yourself. ‘So that he can be with other girls...’

Pulling away from you was the last thing JJ wanted to do, but he did so anyway, remembering what you had asked him to do. Looking at your messy hair and swollen lips, he wanted to take you right then and there. “Um, do you consent?” he asked in a small voice. This didn’t feel natural at all.

You giggled over him. “Not like that, dude.”

“Then how? It feels so weird to stop everything to ask about it.” He was slightly embarrassed that you were laughing at him, but that was all quickly forgotten as he got lost in your smile. 

“I’ll show you,” you said before leaning in again. You guys were getting very good at kissing each other, and jumped right back into where you left off. With your arms around his neck, you softly grinded into his lap. His breath hitched in his throat, telling you he was surprised by your actions while you were just as surprised to feel his growing bulge press into you. It made you more excited than you cared to admit.

Your hands traveled down his chest and to his sides. Your fingers drifted to the hem of his t-shirt before dipping under the material, your soft hands caressing the skin above his hips. JJ could feel everything you were doing to him with intensity, and he didn’t want it to stop. Your hands moved up his sides a bit further before you pulled away from the kiss only slightly. “Can I take this off?” you whispered.

With glazed eyes, the boy could only nod. You pecked his lips once more before slowly pulling off his shirt. Now, he laid beneath you with his chest fully exposed, and you wanted to drool. Sure, you’ve seen him shirtless countless times before, but this was different. He was sculpted to perfection, right under you and only for your gaze.

He could tell you were checking him out, and he loved every second of it. He wanted to know if you were thinking the same thing he was. He wanted you to want him.

“See? It’s that easy. And it doesn’t have to ruin the moment.”

Again, he nodded. “Let me try.” He didn’t give you a second to respond before he abruptly pulled your face back to his. With all this kissing, you were sure you were going to get light headed from lack of air.

Somehow, it only got better. With your tongues dancing together, you felt his hands smoothly run over your thighs, then up to your hips and back down again. It felt like he needed to touch every inch of your body or else he would lose his mind. Then his warm hands boldly lifted up your shirt a little so that he could feel the soft skin of your waist. 

With fingertips rubbing small circles into your ribcage, he pulled away enough to look into your eyes and asked, “Is this okay?” He was doing just as you had told him. He was learning, you thought. You bit your lip subconsciously, drawing his eyes to the small action. You nodded, and he swiftly pulled your shirt over your head. Now you were just in your blue bikini top, sitting on top of a shirtless JJ. He wanted to revel in the sight of you, more exposed only for him, but he instead brought his hands up to your jaw to pull you in yet again. 

You let the front of your body melt into him, becoming impossibly closer to one another. You loved the taste of him and how his hands left a burning sensation wherever he touched you. Your mind became foggy as your thoughts were replaced by desire.

Without breaking the kiss, JJ quickly flipped over to lay you down on the couch, him crouching over you. He slowly put more of his weight on you as the kiss became more intense, even though it felt like it couldn’t possibly get more intense than it already was.

His mouth finally left yours, only to reconnect with your jaw. He left wet kisses down the side of your neck, turning you on even more as his hand gracefully moved up and down your side. As his loving assault reached your collarbone, he stopped and looked up at you, practically wreathing beneath him. “You good, baby?” he asked.

You nodded feverishly, all common sense going out the window. How you went from platonic best friends to this was something you couldn’t fathom right now. With another smirk, he continued to leave open mouth kisses down your collarbone and chest. Your fingers weaved through his hair tightly, which he took as a sign to keep going.

He let his tongue dart out to lick the swell of your breast over your swimsuit before sucking on the tender spot. His hand daringly grabbed your other boob and squeezed softly. To his surprise, a quiet moan escaped from your lips, only urging him to continue. ‘This is the body language she was talking about,’ he thought, feeling like an absolute king for being able to get this sort of response out of you. 

He pulled your top down, your tits now bouncing freely from the material, and his mouth watered at the sight. Without a moment to lose, his lips came down over your right nipple and started sucking while his hand played with your other boob, teasing your taught nipple with the soft pinch of his fingers. More sounds of pleasure fell from your open mouth, and he watched as your eyes squeezed shut. 

“You like that, baby?” he asked breathlessly and between more kisses on your breasts. You shook your head yes, eyes still closed tight. At this point, every cell in your body wanted him. You didn’t care about anything else, just his mouth and his hands touching you everywhere. 

“I need verbal consent, princess.” He smirked against your skin as his lips traveled down your stomach. He felt high off your reaction to him. He wanted nothing more than to please you until you were screaming his name.

A breathy laugh escaped you and your eyes finally opened to see his pretty face smiling over your belly button. He was teasing you, and while you normally didn’t let him get away with that, you needed him to keep going.

“Yes, JJ. I like this.”

His fingers toyed with the waistband of your shorts, eyes still boring into yours. “Tell me what you want, babe.” He was still teasing you, and you were getting frustrated. He was following your previous instructions though. 

“I want you to make me feel good,” you said, almost losing your composure. Every kiss, every touch, felt like magic and you needed more.

Within seconds, your shorts and bikini bottoms were discarded onto the floor and his thumb was running between your wet folds. You whimpered at the contact, which had him smiling from ear to ear. “Damn, Y/N. Is this all for me?” he asked, playing with your soaked entrance. You were always the first to make sure his ego didn’t get too big, but in this moment, you didn’t care.

He easily slipped two fingers into you, and you moaned out his name. He slowly pumped his fingers in and out, bringing his mouth to your sensitive clit, all while watching you intently to make sure you were enjoying this as much as he was. He sucked on the bud, his hand picking up a steady pace, and it was already enough to unravel you. Your body was trembling and your hold on his hair only tightened, encouraging him to speed up. 

His tongue lapped at your pussy relentlessly while his fingers curled inside you over and over. He could tell you were close, and was determined to make you reach your high. “JJ,” you moaned loudly. “Don’t stop.” The sounds coming out of you were filthy, and JJ felt like he could cum right then and there as he pleasured you. 

He quickly threw your leg over his shoulder, and the new angle had you shaking. He did as you asked, going harder and faster with his assault on your core. He loved this, loved the taste of you. He felt like he could live between your thighs forever. Your moans turned into desperate whimpers as your hips bucked up to meet his face. It was all getting too much for you, but he didn’t slow down even slightly.

Then, you were cumming. Your body jerked awkwardly as you climaxed, and JJ was still fingering you, still sucking on your clit, riding out your high. The noises you made had the boy struggling to keep his own composure, especially when you were moaning his name. He couldn’t believe this was all for him. That he was the one to make you feel this good.

As you calmed down and caught your breath, the boy between your legs finished cleaning you up with his tongue before kissing up your belly, your boobs, then your lips again. He laid his head in the crook of your neck as he wrapped his arms around you, engulfing your body under the weight of his. You didn’t know what to say. Your best friend just ate you out, and it felt amazing.

“Uh, good job,” you croaked, voice a little sore from moaning. You wanted to punch yourself in the face for that line. “I mean, uh, you did everything right.” 

He smiled against your collarbone, finding your flustered state adorable, if not amusing. “Did I pass the test, Teacher?” he asked, peering up at you.

You laughed breathlessly. “With flying colors.” Then it was silent. You never stopped to think what this could mean for your friendship. What happens next? You didn’t want there to be any awkwardness between you two. 

JJ, on the other hand, felt on top of the world. He was excited about this new side of you. He wondered if this intimacy was something you wanted with him in the future. He felt confident after making you orgasm, so he spoke up. “You’re a good teacher,” he complimented, and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek, making you blush. “Got any other lessons for me?”

It was then that you realized JJ’s erection was pressing into your leg. It was so hard that your eyes widened, thinking of how painful it must be for him to still be restrained by his shorts. Even though you just had one of the best orgasms of your life, you felt yourself getting wet again, ready and excited for more. “Maybe one or two,” you hummed shyly. A chuckle left his lips before they were once again on yours. 

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Masterlist 

[kamilah-the-bloodqueen]

The Cafe Pt.I (Rewritten Barista)

As promised, I’m working through finishing my unfinished series - and that includes the Barista AU I had written long ago. I decided it was best to rewrite it considering the first part was originally published 200+ days ago. I’m aiming for 3 parts for this “one-shot AU” but we’ll see where it goes. Please be patient with me - my academic course load is extremely heavy and finding time to write is difficult but I will finish everything I said I would. I’m actually pretty proud of this but if it flops I never wrote it :) 

Pairing: Kamilah x MC (Amy)

Word Count: 4505 words I’m shocked (I usually get to about 1600-2000 words) 

Taglist: I’m not tagging anyone until I know people want to be tagged for this because I’m nervous and I hate being annoying!!!! If you want to be tagged for a specific pairing please let me know - I’ll try to keep track and remember to actually tag because I’m a forgetful dumbass!

Amy groggily rolled over in her bed, the amount of sleep she was getting had become oddly suspicious because she would never be able to get up before 7 on her own. She rubbed her face gently, her sheets warm and smooth against her skin. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand, her eyes widening in shock as she read the time on the screen.  

Monday March 30 5:40 am

“Fucking hell I thought I set an alarm!” Amy groaned as she threw the sheets to the side, huffing as she opened the clock app to see, she in fact, did not set an alarm. She sighed, shaking her head as she rushed to the bathroom. 

“Damn it Amy...you need this job…” 

She texted Zig, a mutual friend of Emily Day who introduced them their freshman year of college at Hartfeld before Amy had transferred to Belviore University in New York. Zig graduated and moved to New York and opened a small cafe, only a few years later. 

Zig, I’m going to be late. I missed my alarm this morning. I swear I’ll stay for closing and I won’t be late tomorrow. 

LMAO, Amy if you didn’t set an alarm just say that, I had a feeling this would happen so I told you we opened an hour before we actually do. We don’t open until 7 on Mondays, just Tuesdays-Fridays. 

I am literally going to murder you 0_0. You should prepare to be launched into outer space for this crime. 

Lol I look forward to it - see you at 7. 

Amy turned on the shower, as she grabbed a towel and her shower products from the cabinet, placing them beside the shower door. She discarded her clothes, put her shower playlist on, hopped into the shower and felt a wave of relief that she didn’t blow her first day. After Amy had performed her world tour, she stepped out of the shower with a shiver, the cool air a contrast to her very hot skin. She wrapped herself in the fuzzy towel, briefly glancing at the time, 6:02. She walked out of the bathroom, dropping the towel onto the floor as she opened her closet while she scanned her options for a “casual” outfit that would suffice. She put on her favorite bra and underwear, something about the red lingerie made her feel confident, before she slipped into a pair of dark blue denim skinny jeans. She paired the pants with a black t-shirt as she smiled at herself in the mirror. 

“Not bad Amy, not bad at all.” 

She walked over to her small vanity, one she had built with her father as a teenager over the summer before she left for college. It was one of her most prized possessions, one of the only things she had to remind her of him before he disappeared without a trace. She closed her eyes, recalling the memory fondly before she began to apply a small amount of makeup, just enough to hide her tiredness from the public. She stood from the desk, pleased with her appearance as she made her way to the small apartment kitchen. The empty beer bottles and ps4 controllers cluttered the kitchen as Amy smiled, having remembered celebrating the job with her suitemate Lily. She threw the bottles away and plugged the remotes in for a charge, Lily would thank her for that later. She opened the freezer, making herself two premade waffles as she checked her social media. It might have partially been the exhaustion but those waffles were the best Amy ever had, she wiped her mouth clean and grabbed her bag from the nearby chair. She shot a brief text to Lily, to let her know she hadn’t been kidnapped.

Morning Lily! I went to the cafe for work, just so you don’t end up thinking I got myself kidnapped. Love you, see you tonight! Try not to drink all of the alcohol. 

Amy followed Zig’s text directions through the streets of the city, the bustle of traffic, the mass of pedestrians and the loud construction noises distracting Amy from her path. Amy had never really been in New York’s financial district before, the other civilians' appearances shifting from “Naked Cowboy of Times Square” to “Businessman” only a few streets apart. She glanced at her phone as it instructed her to take a right.

“Oof-” 

Amy jolted at the scalding hot coffee that was hot on her skin, her head turning to meet a woman’s irritated gaze, taking note of the coffee cup that was in her hands. She was dressed like all the other businessmen and women who passed by - her maroon suit now covered in coffee as she huffed in annoyance. Amy met her deep brown eyes that burned right through her, her whole body freezing up as she watched the woman’s lips move. Amy stood in a daze, only coming back to herself when the woman waved her hand in front of her, her face filled with exasperation. 

“I’m so sorry. It’s my first day and I’m kind of lost-”

“Watch where you’re going, this suit is probably worth more than you.” Her voice was silky and satisfying, and oddly soothing given the fact she had probably just stained a $2,000 suit. Amy rushed to open her wallet, holding out a wet 50$ to the woman. The business woman scoffed as she walked away, leaving Amy in a confused state outside of the cafe. 

“Fuck.” Amy sighed, moving to collect her bag as she walked through the cafe door, Zig raised his eyebrows at her as she made her way behind the counter. 

“Well that’s a look.” He jested, Amy turning her head and giving him a death glare as he tossed an apron to her. “Nobody will notice, you can cover it with this. There’s paper towels in the back.” Amy dropped her bag in the break room, gently wiping the coffee away and putting the surprisingly fashionable apron on. When she walked out from the back her jaw dropped as she spotted the woman from earlier standing on the other side of the counter. Their eyes met and the woman’s gaze quickly changed from annoyed to very annoyed at the sight of Amy. 

“Kamilah, you’re back. Wanted to pick up some date-nut pinwheels?” 

“No, I need another black coffee.” She turned back to Zig with a smile, he gave a small nod as Amy began to brew the coffee for her. She placed the lid carefully onto the fresh cup and handed it out to the woman, their fingers brushing for a moment, a blush creeping onto Amy’s cheeks. 

“Thank you.” Her tone was less aggressive than it had been in their first encounter, Amy finally calm enough to take note of the woman’s features. Her brown silky hair that looked like it belonged in a conditioner commercial, her defined jawline and subtle eyeshadow that accentuated her eyes. She watched the way her lips moved as she talked to Zig, Amy feeling her heart jump at the sound of her laugh - light and golden. Amy watched her leave, every step she took she took with such confidence that Amy found herself wanting to follow her out the door. 

“You could be less obvious, you know?” Zig playfully nudged Amy, nearly knocking her over as she shook her head in denial.

“No! I wasn’t!” Amy sighed as she rubbed her temples, Zig’s infectious laugh filling the empty cafe. Amy playfully punched his shoulder as a group of well dressed men stepped through the threshold, Amy moving behind the register to take their orders. The day passed, Amy learning how oddly specific some people like their coffee, and learning all of Zig’s secrets to the perfect iced coffee. Amy looked at the clock as Zig walked to lock the front door - finally closing time. 

“Some of these orders...like ‘I’ll have the grande iced mocha no foam soy hexagon vortex hypotenuse’” Amy waved her hands around as Zig tried to contain a laugh, wiping down the counter as Amy hung her apron up.

“Amy you’re horrible.” Zig made a good attempt at seriousness, their eyes meeting before they continued to laugh which made closing pass by much faster. Zig grabbed the mass of leftover desserts from their respective containers, hovering them over the garbage before Amy stopped him.

“Oh, did you want these?” 

“No, but I can find a better place for them than the trash.” 

“Where? Your stomach?”

“No, the food bank is on the route back to my apartment. We shouldn’t be wasteful, and besides - who wouldn’t love a raspberry crown?” 

“You’ve got a point. I’ll bag these for you then, if you could sweep the floor and put the chairs on the tables that’d be great.” 

When all the cleaning and closing procedures were done Amy headed for the door with her bag in hand, Zig gently tapping her shoulder and holding out an envelope, a key to the cafe and the bag of desserts.

“Okay so I know what’s in here but what is this? A resignation letter?” Amy pouted her bottom lip as Zig rolled his eyes so far back Amy wasn’t sure if they’d come back.

“It’s your share of the tips from today, and the wrapped pastries. Thanks for that suggestion by the way, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself.” Zig rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the pristine cafe, the windows reflecting the moonlight and the tile shimmering as if it were just installed. “Bloody hell, the place looks good...no great. Thank you Amy. Come on let's get outta here, go home - I’ll see you tomorrow at 6. Actually, let me make sure you set 3 different alarms, give me your phone.” Zig held out his hand after he locked the front door, Amy reluctantly handing her iphone over as he set 3 different alarms, all 5 minutes apart. He looked up at her for a moment, smirking before handing her phone back to her and walking off into the city. Amy rolled her eyes, he probably took a selfie on her camera but when she went to check, there was nothing but memes and occasional group photos -what did Zig smirk at then? Amy was too tired to think of it, she made a swift beeline to the food bank, opening the doors and dropping the brown bag of desserts off before making her trip back to the apartment. 

The door opened with a creak, all of the lights turned off as Amy carefully navigated to her room. She switched her lamp on, letting it provide a dim light that didn’t blind Amy because of its intensity. She tossed her bag onto the bed, as she pulled her shirt over her head in one rapid motion. She desperately stripped, throwing her dirty clothes into the laundry basket as she changed into clean lingerie. She slipped into her favorite pair of pajama shorts and pulling her favorite hoodie over her bra - shirts were overrated anyways. Amy crawled onto her bed, crossing her legs while she put her headphones on, pulling up her favorite late-night playlist and letting the slowed music soothe her. She caught a glance at the envelope Zig had given her, she reached over for it and opened it carefully - baffled at the amount of cash laying inside. She slowly laid each bill out, counting the total twice to make sure she hadn’t miscalculated. Working at a cafe in New York’s financial district was definitely going to help her and Lily catch up on their rent and not get evicted. She smiled, tucking away 25% for herself, taking enough for her share of the rent and putting the rest into her locked safe - she’d been saving for a trip to Hawaii since she graduated. She stifled a yawn, closing the safe and tucking herself back into her warm sheets, taking her headphones off and closing her eyes for the night. 

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The alarm woke Amy up with it’s loud and very obnoxious beeping, Amy wanting nothing more than to throw the phone into the thermosphere. She drowsily stood from her bed, gently tucking the sheets neatly back into place as she turned off the following alarms. She sighed, rubbing her head as she changed into a simple outfit and left out the door to the cafe.

Amy arrived at the cafe, unlocked the front door and turned the lights on, relocking the door behind her because she didn’t need anyone startling her. She moved behind the counter, dropping her bag in the lounge and putting an apron on. She checked the coffee filters, gave the blenders a good washing, set out creamer, sugar and other coffee essentials on the counter and filled supplies back up. Zig suddenly walked through the door, a smile on his face as Amy finished supplying the countertop and putting the pastries out on display, letting Zig prepare himself for opening. 

“You’re early. I’m shocked. College Amy is having a stroke right now.” Amy knocked him in the side, Zig falling back a few steps as he shook his head and put his hands in the air in surrender. “Alright alright no need for violence, come on, let’s open.” Zig turned the “open” sign on and only a minute later did Kamilah appear in the cafe, her suit perfectly fitted, her hair smoothly cascading around her head and down her shoulders and her face relaxed and composed. 

“Good morning Kamilah, what can I get for you?” Zig gestured to the display of desserts and the variety of coffee combinations on the menu above their heads. Kamilah smiling as Zig waved his hands back and forth, Kamilah letting out a soft chuckle. 

“Just a large black coffee and maybe a date-nut pinwheel.” Kamilah spoke to Zig in almost a tender way, as if they were siblings or long-term friends. Amy selected a pinwheel, gently placing it into a small bag and sliding it over the counter towards Kamilah as she began to brew the coffee. 

“How’s Ahmanet Financial?” Zig leaned over the counter, his defined arms nearly breaking through the sleeves of his white shirt. Kamilah tucked the pinwheel bag into a hidden pocket on the inside of her blazer before she turned back to face Zig.

“It’s very successful, our stocks are soaring and we just secured a new business partner.” Kamilah looked proud and for good reason - Ahmanet financial was one of the most powerful corporations out there. Amy topped her coffee off with a lid and handed it to her, their eyes meeting for a moment before Amy turned away, feeling her cheeks turning hot. Kamilah checked her watch, a movado 47 rose gold watch that cost way more than anything Amy had ever come close to owning. “Zig I’d love to chat some other day but I’m afraid I’ll be late if I don’t leave now.”

She quickly made her way out the door, the bell ringing softly as Kamilah strided away. Amy leaned over the counter with a sigh, Zig nudging her softly. 

“You could be less obvious Amy,” his annoying face smirking at Amy as she rolled her eyes, “you used to be so slick back in college.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Amy threw an empty coffee cup at him as a blonde girl walked into the cafe, her eyes glued to her phone as she recited her order at a rate that nobody could understand. Amy sighed, Zig giving her a pained glance as she went to mix the complicated coffee order. Amy fought back a laugh as Zig found a way to run away to the back when the girl asked for his phone number. Once Amy finished mixing her coffee and sent her out the cafe doors Zig poked his head out of the lounge - his eyes scanning for her.

“Is she gone?” Amy snorted as Zig stepped out from the doorway, his hands running through his hair as he let his shoulders relax. “My god I hate teenagers - they turn eighteen and all of a sudden think they can fuck anyone. I’m like 5 years older than her at least!” 

“Relax buddy, let’s just get through the rest of the day. I’ll handle all the teenage brats and you can handle all the nasty men.” Amy gave him a cheeky grin as they teamwork-ed their way through the rest of the day.

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“Finally.” Amy rested the broom on the wall, taking in the pristine cafe as Zig finished wiping down the counters. “What a day.” 

“Thank god it’s over.” 

“Zig?”

“Yeah?”

“Does Kamilah always come by the cafe right when we open?”

Zig perked his head up, his brows raised to the top of his head as Amy felt a blush creep up her cheeks, her hands growing sweaty as Zig remained silent. 

“She always comes as soon as we open, she has to be at work early since she is the CEO. Although she never rests, despite everything I’ve told her.” Zig’s head shot to his phone as it buzzed, a text from Emily appearing on the screen and Zig hastily typed away.

“Everything okay Zig?” Amy had a worried expression on her face as Zig let out a long sigh. 

“There’s a road trip for Kaitlyn’s band that leaves in two days that lasts for a week that our group is going on and I can’t go because I need to run the cafe-”

“I can handle it for a week.” Amy spoke firmly, Zig’s eyes widening before he let out a chuckle.

“What if you burn it down?”

“I won’t but then I guess you just have to trust me. Come on Zig - you need a break and you damn well know it. Get out of here for a week.”

“I hate that you’re right. Fine, but if the cafe isn’t standing when I get back, you’re toast.” They both laughed and finished up closing. 

Amy walked towards the food bank, a brisk breeze prompting her to make it one speedy trip so she could bask in her heated apartment. A shriek came from the alley as Amy turned her gaze to see where the yell had come from, a red pair of eyes looking right at her in the darkness. She felt her heart beating out of her chest as she forced her feet to a run, her heart pounding like a drum and ringing in her ears as she huffed through the front doors of the bank - placing the bag on the counter and racing back to her apartment without turning back. 

“Hey girl how was-” Lily sat on the couch with a coke in her hand and the television remote in the other, her smile fading as she met Amy’s eyes. “Amy, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost…”

“I think I’m just hallucinating from exhaustion,” Amy dropped her bag on the floor and took a seat on the couch beside Lily, “anyways tell me about you. We haven’t really had time since we both started working more.”

“Well you should sleep soon but I think we’ll be able to hold the rent for the next few months - with all the money you’re bringing in now in addition to the money my app has started to bring in - I think we’ll be more than fine.” Lily nudged her shoulder, offering Amy a can of coke with a smile as The Vampire Diaries played on the TV. 

“Vampires are so overrated.” Amy groaned as she watched Lily’s eyes become glued to the screen.

“Some of us have taste you know.”

“No, it’s because they’re not real Lily, and the fact that no vampire would ever be attracted to me.” 

Lily rolled her eyes as Amy sipped on her coke, both of them laughing late into the night and being good friends in what had felt like a long time. 

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Amy unlocked the cafe doors and shuffled inside, locking the door behind her and leaving her bag on the counter. She hit the light switch as the lights slowly came flickering on as she tied the apron around the back of her neck. She quickly started and finished the morning set-up, the routine becoming second nature since Amy had always been a fast learner. She checked her phone, 6:49 am April 1, 2020. 

“April fools day.” Amy smiled as she contemplated setting up a whipped cream prank on Zig, but decided not to against her deepest desire to see his shocked face. While thinking of ways to mess with Zig through the day, her mind came to test a theory - she began preparing two black coffees - before adding her own twists to one of them. Amy finished and admired her handiwork - the cups looked identical and Kamilah wouldn’t notice until she tasted it. 

Kamilah walked in, her eyes scanning the cafe for Zig as she took a cautious step towards Amy who had a cute little grin on her face.

“Good morning Kamilah, here’s your coffee.” Amy handed her a black coffee, the one she had adjusted ever so slightly. She watched as Kamilah brought the cup to her lips, almost taking a sip, before she lowered the cup and leaned her face closer to Amy. 

“What did you do to it? It smells different, and where’s Zig?” Kamilah arched a brow as Amy silently wondered how Kamilah could smell the difference.

“I took a twist with it, I made you your regular too in case you hate it...I just thought you should broaden your horizons…and Zig is coming. He just needs to pack, he’ll be gone after today for a week and I’ll be running the cafe.” Amy smiled softly at the woman who was now leaning dangerously close. 

“I see. And if I hate it?”

“Then I’ll pay for both and I’ll never try to broaden your horizons again…” Amy frowned slightly as Kamilah finally sipped on the drink - her brown eyes widening as she took another, and another.

“It’s...actually pretty good...what did you do to it?” Kamilah took another sip as Amy bounced on her heels, a wide childish grin written across her face. 

“I added a bit of cream and sugar and a bit of caramel! It’s how I like mine!” Amy took her hands behind her back and fiddled with them nervously as Kamilah smiled. Zig walked in just as the clock read 8:05 am and Kamilah left, turning at the door to smile at Amy one last time, lifting the cup up with a smile before entering her car. 

“What’s that smile about Amy?” Zig wagged his fingers at Amy with a classic smirk as he prepared for the shift, Amy resting her head on both of her hands while she leaned over the counter - her legs kicking out behind her. 

“Nothing.” Amy sighed and went back to brewing coffee, her hands aimlessly performing while her mind sat on nothing but the thought of Kamilah - and her damned perfect smile. 

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Amy tossed her shoes off as she made her way through the apartment door, one shoe nearly knocking Lily’s head off as she pulled freshly fried chicken from the air fryer. 

“Lily that smells AMAZING!” Amy squealed and made her way over to her, Lily slapping her hand away as she finished the two plates of waffles off with a chicken breast and syrup. “I swear I’ve got the best best friend…” Lily smiled as they both dug into the food, chatting away about their day until Amy let it slip out.

“And there’s this really hot customer-”

“Oh! Spill!” Lily wiggled in her seat like a child, eagerly waiting for Amy to elaborate as Amy stuffed her face with the rest of her waffles. “I’ll wait for you to finish.” Lily smirked and held Amy in an uncomfortable eye contact until Amy finally caved in. 

“She comes in at opening time every single day, and always orders a black coffee. Although I got her to try something new today which I’m really proud of.” The subtle smile that crept up Amy’s face gave it all away to Lily as she let her ramble on, whilst she gave Amy the smirk she hated. “I’m simping aren’t I?”

“There’s nothing wrong with simping. But you have a chance here because Zig won’t be there so you can actually like...take your shot without him ever having to know,” Lily winked and whispered, “and you could totally fuck her in the back-”

“NOPE!” Amy stood up frantically, Lily holding her sides for support and nearly falling out of her chair as Amy rushed to clear her plate. “I hate you! Ohmygoddddddd.” Amy groaned as Lily fell to the floor, her eyes wet with tears at Amy’s reaction more than anything else.

“I’m going to bed!!” 

“Goodnight! Love you Ames!!!”

“Love you too….annoying ass!” 

Amy snorted as she changed into her sleepwear, her body becoming exhausted as she hit the mattress, falling asleep ridiculously fast. 

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Kamilah came through the door, right on time as Amy had come to expect. Amy gazed up from her phone, those dark brown eyes looking right at her as she handed Kamilah her usual black coffee, Kamilah holding it closely before clearing her throat. 

“Can I have the one from yesterday as well?” Amy smiled at her as she began to mix her favorite coffee - Kamilah leaning over the counter to observe. 

“I didn’t think you’d want it again.” Amy said as she added creamer to the mix, the coffee turning golden as she mixed it. 

“A woman can’t appreciate a little variety in her life?” Kamilah leaned against the counter, her hair smoothly gliding over her maroon blazer as she tossed it back - taking a sip from her cup.

“No I just-” Amy topped the cup off with a bit of caramel before enclosing it with the lid, her hands sweaty as she handed it to Kamilah. 

“You just?”

“Thought you’d always like your coffee like your personality.” 

“Whatever do you mean by that?”

The way Kamilah was looking at Amy, she knew she had to choose her next words carefully. 

“Dark, intimidating, a bit bitter at first sip,” Amy hesitated as Kamilah raised a brow, “an...acquired taste.”

“You’re intimidated by me?” 

“Just a little…”

“Hmm, I suppose your coffee is like you if you want to expand your little analogy.” Kamilah glanced at her watch, her expression shifting from playful to work-oriented. Amy felt her heart drop a little as she recomposed herself - back to her refined and disciplined self. Kamilah made her way to the door, the two cups of coffee in her hands as she paused, turning back and looking at Amy - something different about it.

“It’s...sweet and comforting,” her voice was soft as she spoke, Amy’s cheeks turning very red, “like you.” 

[homoose]

Winning is a Habit

Hi y’all! Okay sooooooooo this is my first time writing fic??????? Like omg please be nice lmao. I don’t have a beta reader, so if you catch any mistakes pls lmk! I saw this challenge and the world is total garbage, so why not write our own realities????? Ok here goes!!!!!!!!!! Written for @veraiconcos fic challenge

Summary: The BAU gets called to investigate two high-profile murders in a college town, only to find that they are part of a much bigger, more complicated picture. No real pairings, although you could make it happen if you want lol ;) This is an idea I’ve seen floating around the fandom for a little while now, and I really wanted to see it fleshed out. Set around season 4 or 5.

Category: some angst, sort of fluff? I wouldn’t say it necessarily qualifies as an AU, but it’s outside of canon.

Warnings/Includes: some brief descriptions of violence/CM type stuff; mentions of rape (no details)

Word count: 6.1k

———

“Stillwater, Oklahoma,” JJ said, navigating the map off screen and pulling up the crime scene photos. “Two college seniors— Tyler Allen and Leon Williams, star football players for Oklahoma State University— both found dead the day before the playoff qualifier.”

“Do we know the cause of death?” Spencer asked, thumbing through the case file.

“The ME report concluded that both boys died of acute alcohol poisoning,” JJ informed them.

Emily looked up from the file. “And the locals don’t think this could just be a case of college kids having a little too much fun?”

“Before a major playoff game? I doubt it.” Derek leaned back in his chair. “Especially considering OSU’s having a record-breaking season. I’d guess the coach had players on a pretty strict lockdown.” He raised his hands and joined them in a steeple over his chest. “Showing up to a game hung-over— particularly one as important as this— would be a major conduct issue.”

“That, and there was a pretty specific message left on both victims,” JJ added, arms crossed and eyebrows lifting into her hairline.

“On them?” Rossi questioned.

JJ motioned with her hand back to the screen. Six sets of eyes moved over the photo; the words “U LOSE” scrawled in ink across the foreheads of the two men.

“Resorting to murder to win a football game?” Emily asked, eyes narrowed.

“And why use the forensic countermeasure of staged alcohol poisoning, only to backtrack and assert it as a murder?” Spencer pondered, pursing his lips.

“Whatever the reason, we’ve got two dead college students and a definite signature. Wheels up in 30,” Hotch told them, closing his case file.

⧭⧭⧭

“No sign of forced entry.” Derek walked through the entry hallway and into the living space. “Doesn’t look like there was any struggle, either.”

Rossi thumbed through the mail on the kitchen counter and peered around the small space. “Everything you’d expect in a boys’ college dorm room: dishes in the sink, generic decor, general mess. Nothing that stands out.”

“Agents, thank you so much for coming.” A tall man in a dark suit stepped across the threshold of the apartment. He stuck out his hand for Rossi to shake. “Steven Barrett, Dean of Students.”

“I’m Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi. This is SSA Derek Morgan.” Derek nodded from his place in the living room.

“I apologize for not meeting you when you arrived. We’re dealing with a grieving campus,” Barrett said, running a hand over his face. “I’m actually on my way to speak to the Board, but I wanted to check in with you before. I’m not sure I can be of much help, but I can try to answer any questions you might have.”

“These boys were seniors, but they still lived on campus. Is that typical?” Rossi asked, gesturing around the apartment.

“Uh, yes, it is for student athletes,” Barrett confirmed with a nod. “OSU teams have demanding, sometimes grueling practice schedules. Being on campus simplifies things, allows students to get to classes and practices, as well as utilize the dining halls.”

“Does this building have security cameras?” Derek raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. All of our buildings do. I’ll let Campus PD know you’ll need access to the footage.” Barrett’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He reached for it and punched the button to answer the call. “Yes. Yes, I—I’m finishing up with the FBI now. I understand. I’m on my way.” He ended the call and pocketed the phone. “I’m sorry to leave you, gentlemen. Our top priority right now is supporting our students and community through this tragedy. Part of that healing process is finding out who did this to Tyler and Leon. So anything else you need, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to let me know.” He turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall.

Derek shook his head. “I’m glad I don’t have to do that job right about now.”

Rossi gave another glance around the nondescript apartment and sighed. “Call Garcia and ask her if she’s found any other cases that could be related. And let’s hope there’s something useful on that security footage.”

⧭⧭⧭

“Based on lividity and rigor mortis, I was able to put the time of death between 8:00 and 10:00pm on Wednesday evening. The blood alcohol content for both boys was over five times the legal limit. I’ve never seen anything like it,” the medical examiner mused.

Emily looked over the bodies, her arms crossed. “Dr. Saraj, about how much would they have to drink for the level to be that high?”

“When drinking, the level of alcohol in our blood reaches a peak before it drops off after the last drink ingested,” Spencer supplied. “In a typical night of drinking, spread over the course of several hours, the average man can have 8-12 drinks without ever reaching lethal levels. But considering each victim weighed around 230 pounds, they’d have had to ingest approximately 180 ounces of beer or 18.75 ounces of liquor to reach a lethal blood alcohol content.”

Dr. Saraj glanced at Spencer before adding, “Look, this is a college town. Kids drink. But... to have had this much alcohol still detectable in their system post-mortem indicates that these boys drank at least the equivalent of a 30 rack, by themselves, in less than an hour.” She flipped up the first page of the report in her hands, eyes scanning the second. “And the toxicology screen also found trace amounts of ketamine.”

Spencer bent over the examining table and adjusted the wrist of one of the boys with a gloved hand. “Doctor, are these ligature marks?”

“Oh, yes,” Dr. Saraj agreed, nodding. “They’re relatively faint, so I almost missed them. But I found similar marks on both boys on the wrists and ankles.”

“So,” Emily said, gesturing with her hands, “the unsub doses them with ketamine to gain control, ties them up, forces them to drink lethal amounts of alcohol, and then— what?” She looked to Spencer. “Waits for them to pass out before removing the restraints and leaving the message?”

Spencer examined the marker scrawls. “Were you able to determine what the message was written with and if it was left pre- or post-mortem?”

“My guess would be it was written with some type of permanent marker, but I can’t say for sure,” Dr. Saraj said. “We’re analyzing the residue now, and I can send the report your way as soon as I have it. As for when it was written, I couldn't tell you.” She shook her head. “The one simple mercy is that these boys would have been out cold for a while before they died.”

⧭⧭⧭

“I’m so sorry. I know how difficult this is. Anything that you can tell us will be helpful in finding the person who did this,” JJ encouraged softly. “Anyone that Tyler might have had an argument with recently or who he mentioned having problems with?”

“No, no. He was—he was just your typical boy,” Mrs. Allen sniffled. “Playing football and hanging out with his friends,” she said, voice hitching. “Oh my god.” She dropped her head into her hands.

“He didn’t have time to have problems,” Mr. Allen asserted. “He spent all his free time on the field. Coach had them out there for two-a-days until classes started. He’s the quarterback. He was leading that team to the first national title since 1945.” He stood to his feet, hands clenched at his sides. “Some lunatic murdered my boy and you’re sitting around talking to us while they’re out there, walking free.”

“Sir, I promise you that we have some of the best agents in the country working on your son’s case,” JJ assured. “But in order to help them do their job, we need to know as much as we can about who Tyler was.”

Across the bullpen, Hotch sat across from Mr. and Mrs. Williams. “Leon was a good boy. Football was his life. He loved being a part of this team. It was the season of a lifetime,” Mr. Williams said.

“We taught him better than to be drinking and carrying on,” Mrs. Williams added.

“Can you think of anything or anyone he might have mentioned recently that was out of the ordinary? Anything that was bothering him or causing him distress?” Hotch questioned.

“He was feeling pressure about the season, but he’s been handling that kind of thing since he was twelve years old.” Mr. Williams shared an almost indiscernible look with his wife. “He got into—into the same kinds of trouble any college kid gets in. Nothing that could have gotten him murdered.”

⧭⧭⧭

“Yeah, baby girl, what d’ya got for me?” Derek held the phone out so that Rossi could listen in as they waited in the OSU security office.

“Well, my handsome knight, I wish I could tell you more but so far, I’m coming up empty with similar cases,” Penelope sighed. “Nothing that matches our alcohol poisoning M.O. or the signature. I just expanded the search to surrounding states, and I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Anything on our two victims?” Rossi asked.

“Now that’s where it gets interesting,” Penelope mused, tapping the fluffy end of her pen into the palm of her hand. “There’s nothing. Zilch, nada.”

Rossi narrowed his eyes. “And that’s interesting because...?”

“Come on, sir,” Penelope scoffed. “Two young, athletic, good-looking college football stars and there’s nothing at all? Nothing scandalous on social media. No run-ins with campus PD. Not even a write up from an RA.”

Derek tilted his head in thought. “Hotch and JJ said their conversations with the parents told a similar story.”

“Okay, but no one is this squeaky clean, particularly not at a Big 12 college. Everyone has some dirt,” Penelope insisted. “I haven’t found it yet, but there’s gotta be something out there. When I have it, you’ll know it!”

“Thanks, Garcia,” Derek drawled.

“Over and out!” Penelope jabbed the button to end the call.

The OSU officer waved them over with his hand. “I’ve got it queued up to 6:24pm. You can see the boys here,” he pointed on the screen at the two victims, “entering the north entrance of the dining hall.”

Derek leaned toward the monitor. “So they leave practice, come through the dining hall for dinner. When do they leave?”

The footage sped up on the screen, then stopped. “Here. 7:01.”

“Rossi, you seeing this?” Derek slid his eyes over.

Rossi nodded. “Is there any way to enhance these frames?”

The officer shrugged his shoulders. “Not on this system. Honestly, the camera quality isn’t great. I’ve been trying to get them to invest in an upgraded OS, but you know—budget woes. Your analyst might be able to do more.”

“It’s not going to matter.” Derek sighed and straightened up. “She’s careful of her angles.”

“I couldn’t find them on any grounds cameras, but they pop back up entering the dorm. Here, at 7:12.”

“All three of them,” Rossi noted. He looked at Derek. “And like you said, she’s discreet.”

“They all go upstairs to the apartment,” the officer continued, “but only the girl leaves. At 8:43.”

⧭⧭⧭

“We have a witness from the cafeteria that confirms that the boys ate with a dark-haired young woman in a red coat,” Hotch said, arms crossed. “But other than those two details, the witness couldn’t recall anything else and said they’d never seen her before.”

“So we’ve got the two victims entering their apartment with an unknown woman. They’re upstairs for an hour and a half before she leaves,” Emily recounted.

Derek stood with his hands on his hips. “And in that time, she manages to dose and gain control of two boys that are more than double her size and funnel a lethal amount of alcohol into them. Now the question is why?”  

As the team converged around the conference room table, a uniformed officer entered into the doorway. “Agent Jareau? There’s a possible witness—says she might have some new information.”

JJ nodded to the team and moved to the doorway. A petite young woman stood in the center of the bullpen, wringing her hands. When her eyes landed on JJ, she let her arms fall to her side. As JJ approached, she motioned with her hand for the girl to sit at the closest desk. “Hi, I’m Jennifer. I heard you wanted to speak to someone about this case. Can I have your name?”

The girl nodded. “Um, I’m Cassie. I saw the announcement you made. About the woman in the red coat. I heard you say that she had brown hair. Is that true?”

JJ cocked her head slightly. “Yeah, the witness and security footage we have shows a woman with dark hair walking with Tyler and Leon. Why do you ask?”

Cassie’s eyes darted around the bullpen, and she drew her arms tightly over her chest. “I just— um—well, I—”

“Would it help if we moved somewhere a little quieter?” JJ suggested. When Cassie nodded and stood, JJ placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and directed her toward an empty interview room. Cassie sat in the chair farthest from the door, and JJ sat opposite her. “Is there something you wanted to tell me about the woman? Or is it something else that’s on your mind?”

Cassie let out a long breath. “When I heard that they were dead, I— I was relieved. That sounds awful, but it’s true.”

JJ tread lightly over her next question. “You felt relieved. Why was that?”

Cassie looked directly at JJ. “I’ve been looking over my shoulder everywhere I go for the last seven months. I won’t have to do that anymore.”

“Can you tell me more about what you mean?”

Cassie took a breath and closed her eyes for a long second, before opening them and continuing. “There was a huge party in the spring. I mean, there were, like, hundreds of people there.” Cassie’s eyes went wide. “I never go to parties like that. But it was the end of the year, and my friend—well, I went with my friend. She got invited.”

“Were Tyler and Leon at this party?” JJ asked.

“Everybody was. I mean, everybody who’s somebody at OSU was there. We saw them right away. The whole team was there, but people treated those two like kings.” Cassie looked down at her hands. “We were drinking... a lot. At some point, Laney and I got separated. I tried calling her phone a bunch of times, but the party was really loud. I—I didn’t want to leave without her, but I was getting really messed up. I had a guy friend from one of my classes walk me home.” She swiped at her eye with the back of her hand. “Laney didn’t get back until the morning. Her clothes were all torn up, her hair had... blood in it, and she—she had a bruise under her eye.” She looked up at JJ, eyes shining with tears. “They raped her. I left her behind, and they raped her,” she whispered.

JJ reached across the table for Cassie’s hand. “Cassie, I’m so sorry. What happened to Laney was not your fault, or hers. Do you understand me?” JJ paused before continuing. Cassie looked down. “Do you know if she reported it?”

Cassie nodded. “I’m the one who went with her to the infirmary. They did a kit and confirmed it. When we went to Campus PD, they did nothing. Said Laney was wasted, and there was no one that could back up her story.”

JJ squeezed her hand. “So there was no official report filed?”

Cassie laughed coldly. “Oh, they wrote a report. I think if we ask them to, they have to. But they wouldn’t name Tyler or Leon in it. Said they didn’t want to ‘give legs to any gossip.’”

JJ’s mouth stretched into a thin line. “Where’s Laney now?”

“I don’t know.” Cassie shook her head. “She didn’t come back to OSU this fall. I haven’t really talked to her since—” She looked at JJ. “I can’t get the image of her out of my head. How she looked when she came through the door that morning. What they did to her… I’m not sorry that they’re dead.” Her eyes were shining with rage. “People knew what happened… and no one did anything. And those two were still the kings of campus.”

⧭⧭⧭

The team absorbed the new information quietly. “So Garcia was right. They did have something to hide.” Derek’s phone buzzed. “Speaking of. Hey mama, you’re on speaker.”

“I hope you’re all sitting down,” Penelope warned. “I expanded the parameters of my original VICAP search to include the surrounding states. No hits on suspicious deaths by alcohol poisoning. However, the U LOSE signature? Seven hits across Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas.”

“So our unsub’s been traveling across the South—” Emily started.

“Oh, I’m not done,” Penelope continued. “Just to double check, I expanded the search area to the continental US. Our unsub has been busy. Over 30 murders with this signature, all across the country, dating back to March 2007. All different M.O.s: gunshot, stabbing, strangulation, you name it. But all with U LOSE scrawled across their forehead in—get this—liquid eyeliner.”

“Anything tying the victims together, Garcia?” Hotch asked.

“All men, mostly white, but all across different ages, occupations, and marital statuses. At first glance, there’s no real connection,” Penelope answered.

“What about on second glance?” Hotch prompted.

“Way ahead of you, sir. I did a little digging.” Penelope shrugged. “Okay, a lot of digging—most of it legal. Every single one of these victims had at least one sexual assault allegation. Some are official police reports, some are HR complaints, some are sealed court records. But in every case, the victim’s cause of death is directly related to the details of the assault records. Women that were held at knifepoint, their attacker was stabbed to death. If they were choked, he was strangled. If they were held at gunpoint, he died of a gunshot wound. Et cetera, et cetera.” Penelope twirled her pen. “The differing M.O.s combined with the fact that the unsub kept crossing state lines kept local PDs and field offices from making the connection.”

“Garcia, can you search OSU PD records for an incident report?” JJ asked.

Garcia tapped rapidly across her keyboard. “Absolutely, sugar, when would it have been filed?”

“It would’ve been this year, sometime at the end of April or beginning of May,” JJ answered. “The victim would be named as Laney Collins.”

After a few moments, Garcia peered through her green cat-eye glasses at the report. “Mmm, I’ve got one incident report, filed on May 7th. And woof, this report is not much to go on. The responding officer wrote a whopping three sentences. According to him, Laney was incapacitated and thus was not a credible witness.” Garcia twirled her pen. “The alleged attackers, who are not named, denied Laney’s account of what happened. Because there were no other witnesses, Officer Thorough deemed that no further action was necessary.” She jabbed her pen in the direction of the screen. “And this, my friends, is why women don’t bother reporting.”

“Good work, Garcia,” said Hotch.

“There’s one more interesting detail from the report,” Garcia continued. “The dean of students signed off on it.”

“So Barrett knew about this the whole time,” Derek fumed.

“And again, people wonder why women don’t report,” Garcia repeated, ending the call.

“So our unsub is seeking justice for women she believes have been failed by the system. We’re looking for a vigilante, carrying out revenge killings,” Rossi concluded.

Derek nodded. “And she’s organized and efficient; she finished with Tyler and Leon in less than two hours.”

“She’s smart and she blends in, doesn’t draw too much attention to herself,” JJ added.

“She’s meticulous and has at least some knowledge of forensic countermeasures, considering there’s no physical evidence tying her to any of the scenes,” Spencer remarked.

“And she knew enough to keep her face off the security footage,” Emily finished.

“Rossi, Emily, and I will stay here and deliver the profile,” Hotch directed. “JJ, I’d like you to speak to the families again, see if they knew about the rape. Reid, Morgan, talk to Barrett and see what else he might be trying to keep quiet.”

⧭⧭⧭

“Makes you wonder just how many people knew what happened,” Derek considered, closing the car door.

“It’s estimated that twenty percent of student victims of sexual assault report it to their university, but less than one percent of assailants receive any type of disciplinary action,” Spencer cited, making his way toward the sidewalk.

Derek shook his head. “And so the victims don’t see the point in reporting it. Your attacker gets to walk around like nothing even happened. Cassie told JJ that she felt like she had a target on her back once they reported Laney’s assault.”

As they walked up the blacktop driveway to the entrance of Barrett’s home, Spencer slowed his steps as he noticed the front door. “Morgan.” He nodded at the door, slightly ajar.

Derek drew his gun and moved ahead of Spencer. He pushed the door slowly open and called out, “Mr. Barrett?” In the foyer were the remnants of a broken vase and a small trail of blood. “Call Hotch, let him know we’ve got trouble here.”

Derek and Spencer worked to quietly clear the rooms, one by one. Derek stopped at the bottom of the stairs and motioned to Spencer. As they started up the stairs, a woman’s voice called out, “Shut up! You had nothing to say before. So now, you’re just going to listen.”

Derek reached the top of the stairs and started down the hallway. He reached the open door where a woman stood, her back to the door. Behind her, Derek could see Barrett, sitting on the floor, blood dripping from a gash on his head. His hands were raised in front of his chest, palms facing out. Derek stopped, his gun trained on the woman, and murmured, “Laney?”

The woman pivoted her body, her short blonde hair whipping around. Derek saw tears in her eyes and a revolver in her hand. “Don’t,” she warned.

“Laney, my name is Derek. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to talk. I need you to put the gun down.”

“No!” Laney screamed. “You don’t know what he’s done.” She shook the gun in Barrett’s direction, and Barrett closed his eyes.

Derek spoke softly. “I do, Laney. I do know. I know what happened to you. I know that he kept Tyler and Leon’s names off the report. I know that he didn’t help you when you needed it most. I know that he let them get away with--”

“Rape. He let them get away with rape. Because he cares more about reputation and football than what happens to women on his campus. They ruined my life.” Laney turned away from Derek and put both hands on the gun. “They ruined my life, and you did nothing. And then they walked around campus like they were invincible, because you taught them they were.”

Derek moved further into the room, into Laney’s eyesight. Spencer moved into the doorway, covering Derek. “Laney, look at me. I’m putting my gun away.” Derek held his hands up and then moved to holster his gun. “Doing this won’t make the pain go away.”

“How many others? How many other women did he do this to?” Laney let out a painful sob. “If I don’t stop him, it never ends.”

“Listen to me.” Derek took a step closer to her. “Killing him won’t change what happened, Laney. It won’t. Believe me. I know how you feel.”

“People love to say that when they’re trying to shut you up. How could you possibly know how I feel?” Laney spit out.

“Someone hurt me, just like they hurt you. And nobody was there to help me. No one was there to listen.” Laney froze, eyes shifting to meet Derek’s. “I wanted to hurt him, Laney. Wanted to make him feel the same pain I felt. I wanted him to suffer.” He moved another step closer. “I know that those men hurt you, and I know that he let them get away with it. And I am so, so sorry. But you’re stronger than anyone knows, Laney. You are the only person who has the power to help others who didn’t get justice. I have a friend who’s spent her whole life helping survivors, and I know she’d love to talk with you.” He took another step. “You are the only person who can stop it from happening to someone else. You can make sure he’s held accountable for what he’s done. But if you pull that trigger, you can never go back,” Derek warned.

Laney looked at Derek, his hand outstretched, wordlessly asking her to give him the gun. She looked at Barrett, crying and silently begging her to show him the mercy she never got. “I wish I’d been the one to kill them,” she whispered.

The gun dropped out of her hand as Derek stepped forward to catch her. He kicked the gun into the doorway, and Spencer recovered it. “I’ve got you,” Derek said, helping Laney out of the room. “Shh, it’s ok, I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

Spencer moved to lift Barrett off the ground and helped him into a chair by the window. Out of the corner of his eye, Spencer caught a flash of red below the window. He stumbled over Barrett, nose almost pressed to the glass as he stared out. The woman froze, eyes locked on Spencer’s. His mouth opened slightly as he stared at her, bewildered. By the time his brain caught up, she had already disappeared from view.

Spencer turned and raced down the stairs, clinging to the railing as he nearly missed a step. He burst out the front door into the driveway, sprinting around the side of the house. He heard Derek call his name, saw the other SUVs pulling up, but he kept running. He skidded to a stop at the edge of the backyard, and then spun in a full circle, eyes frantically scanning the perimeter.

Hotch approached from the side of the house, gun drawn. “Reid! Are you all right?”

Spencer took a last look, scanned from east to west. “Yeah, yeah. I just—I thought I saw—I thought I saw something.” He shook his head. “Barrett’s inside. He’s got a head laceration, but he’ll be fine.”

Hotch lowered his gun and nodded. “And Laney’s not our unsub. So we’re back to the beginning.”

⧭⧭⧭

“Strauss is asking us to head back to Quantico.” Hotch pocketed his phone and looked at the team. “We’ll move the cases to our watch list and flag the signature for hits in VICAP. From what we know about the unsub’s behavior, we know she’s no longer in the area.” He gestured to the evidence board. “Our best course of action is to keep the profile in our periphery for now. We can do that from the BAU. It’s late. Go to the hotel, get some rest. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

“I’m absolutely starving.” Emily slipped into her jacket and headed for the door. “Anybody want to hit up that 24 hour diner?”

Derek and JJ quickly agreed, following Emily from the conference room. JJ turned back, eyeing Spencer. “You coming, Spence?”

“I’m just really tired.” His voice lilted up, almost a question. “Next time, though.”

JJ gave him a look but didn’t press him. “Have a good night, Spence.”

“Yeah, thanks.” He gathered up the case files, not quite ready to put them away.

⧭⧭⧭

Spencer’s eyelids felt heavy as he walked through the lobby of the hotel. He really was tired. He blamed the exhaustion for what he thought he saw through the window at Barrett’s. His fatigued mind was seeing things that weren’t there. He practically floated into the elevator and up to his room. Sliding the room key through the slot, the door beeped open and Spencer stepped inside. He flicked on the light and dropped his bag on the floor, loosening his tie as he walked toward one of the sling back chairs sat by the window. He paused just before he reached the chair, his gaze lingering over something on the desk. A note hastily scrawled on hotel stationary.

623.

Spencer lifted the note with two careful fingers. “623?” He turned it over, looking for the rest of the message, but the paper was blank other than the number. He lowered the note, and his eyes landed on a small plastic card where the paper had rested on the table. Not just a card. A room key.

⧭⧭⧭

Spencer stared at the door of the room. Room 623. He turned his head and slowly looked up and then down the hallway. He took a breath and raised his hand to the door. He knocked in the familiar rhythm: five knocks, pause, two knocks. He pressed his ear close to the door, listening for any movement inside. When he heard nothing, he knocked again; the same pattern, but a little louder. He listened again. Nothing. Spencer felt a bead of sweat creep down the nape of his neck. He thought about turning around, about walking back down the two flights of stairs to his room and getting into bed.

Instead, he pulled the keycard from his pocket. As he lifted the card with one hand, he used his other to raise the strap on his holster. He held his breath as he swiped the card through the slot and heard the beep of the lock. Drawing his gun from the holster, Spencer slowly turned the handle of the door.

The room was mostly dark. Only the yellow glow of one of the bedside lamps illuminated the space. Spencer stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. Again, his mind said to turn around. Yet his feet carried him further into the room. He could see now that the sling backs were facing toward the window. There were two glasses from the mini bar on the table between them.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” a familiar voice mused.

Spencer startled and then swallowed audibly, a cartoon character realizing he’s in serious trouble. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“You can put the gun away,” she continued. “Really. Come sit down, Reid.”

Hearing her say his name sucked all the air out of his lungs. He closed the remaining distance between them, staring dumbly at her perched in the armchair. She gave him a small smile, warm despite the nervous energy in the air. “Hey, Reid.”

“Elle.” Spencer sunk into the chair across from her. “I—I thought I was seeing things. Earlier. At Barrett’s.”

She studied him quietly. “This hair is a good look for you.”

“Thanks,” Spencer blushed, smoothing down the hair at the nape of his neck. He quickly dropped his hand. “It was you then.”

“What was me?” Elle asked innocuously.

“You were at Steven Barrett’s house today. In the yard.” Spencer folded his hands to keep from wringing them. “You were wearing a red coat.”

Elle lifted one of the glasses to her lips, taking a sip of the clear liquor, ice cubes rattling. She swallowed and gestured to the other glass. “Have a drink.”

“I, um, I don’t drink anymore.” Elle raised an eyebrow. “A lot has happened since… the last time I saw you.” Spencer smoothed his hands down the tops of his thighs. “You were there today. Elle, did you—are you…” He wasn’t even sure what question to ask.

Elle ran her fingertip around the rim of her glass. She was quiet for a long time. Spencer fidgeted in his seat, but stayed quiet, waiting. Elle set the glass down.

“Do you remember that night in Dayton? In the hotel room?” Spencer looked at her pointedly. Elle let out a laugh. “Sorry, I forgot who I’m talking to; of course you remember.” Their eyes met. Spencer felt she was looking right through him. “You told me that I’d won. That because Garner was dead, and I was alive, I won.”

“Elle—” Spencer started.

“You asked, Reid. This is my answer.” She screwed the cap off the bottle of gin. Pouring the remainder of the bottle into her glass, she continued, “It took time, but I started to feel safe in my own home again. I could close my eyes without seeing his face. I could take a shower without bringing my gun.” She downed the rest of her glass. “When I killed Lee, I gave that same freedom back to the women he’d raped. They could exist in the world knowing that he would never hurt them, ever again.” She smiled ruefully. “And it felt… good. It felt right. And after years of having watched people be destroyed by monsters… I don’t know. It was just something I had to do. To bring that freedom and that safety back to other women who had been hurt and broken and alone. To destroy their monsters.” Elle looked at him then, eyes shining with unshed tears. “I don’t expect you to understand or approve. But the answer to your question is yes.”

Spencer took a breath and asked, “Why’d you put the key in my room? You could have just… disappeared.”

Elle shook her head. “I chose this. I knew what I was doing and what it would mean. Most of the time, I’m fine, great even. Because being able to give these women justice is the greatest gift. But with this work, you can’t really keep anybody close. No holidays or birthdays. No dates or girls nights.” She shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to see what would happen. What the boy genius would do.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Spencer admitted.

“Well, that’s a first.” Elle smiled, but Spencer could see apprehension in the rigidness of her shoulders, in the slight bouncing of her leg.

“I should probably arrest you,” he considered.

Her leg stopped. “You probably should.”

Spencer looked down at his hands. He ran his fingers up to the crook of his elbow, ghosting over the scars there. His mind raced from memory to memory: Elle on the train car; Tobias Hankle standing over him; Elle in the hospital bed; the needle in his arm; Elle in the hotel in Dayton; the click of an empty chamber.

“Elle, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for telling you that you’d won.” She was motionless, staring at him. He continued, “I didn’t know. I didn’t know what it was like. To be consumed and overcome by a memory.” Now it was Spencer’s eyes that shone with tears. “I didn’t know that the trauma could… fester in your brain like an infection that you can’t get rid of. I don’t know if winning is even possible after something like that.” He rubbed his hand under his eye and cleared his throat. “It was an awful thing to say. And I’m sorry.”

Elle tipped her head back, trying to keep the tears from spilling over. “All’s forgiven.”

Spencer reached out and gently grabbed Elle’s hand. “I’ve been so tired recently. I thought I saw something through the window at Steven Barrett’s house. But when I did a perimeter check, I didn’t find anything.” Elle dropped her head back down and turned to look at him. “We’re headed back to Quantico in the morning. We’ll, um, be keeping tabs on VICAP hits on the signature.” Spencer gave her hand one soft squeeze before standing. He let a small, bittersweet smile move over his face.

He made it to the door before he heard her voice again.

“If I asked you to stay, would you say yes?”

Spencer swiveled back to look at her, the door just barely open. Elle’s arms were crossed over her chest. Her eyes were dark and wide and full of storms. “Just for a little while longer?”

Spencer turned and moved his eyes up the length of the doorway, considering. He heard Elle let out a breath. His own breath stuttered. He closed the door softly. He put his hands in his pockets and turned back to her. “I’ve got a little while.”