#perhaps answering all of the asks on my phone is where i'm struggling to keep up

[brucewaynehater101]

Maybe I should invest in a tablet or laptop or something. It'd make answering asks easier

[vanteguccir]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤLABYRINTH * CHRIS STURNIOLO

SUMMARY　::　where Y/N tries to save their relationship, but Chris's fear of commitment seems to stop them from moving forward.

FEATURING 　Chris Sturniolo x reader　REQUESTED?　yes.

WARNINGS　::　crying, fighting, dark thoughts, insecurities, angst (with a happy ending).

AUTHOR'S NOTE　::　that is my work, I DON'T authorize any form of plagiarism; copy, "inspiration" or translation! | english isn't my first language, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar error.

Y/N looked at her phone, waiting for a message that never arrived. It was another lonely night, sitting in her bed, with her heart heavy with anguish. Her relationship with Chris started out like a fairy tale, but in recent days, everything seemed to be slowly falling apart.

She couldn't understand what was happening. There was a growing distance between them, as if Chris was moving away from her heart, plunging into an abyss of silence. The calls were becoming less and less frequent, the face-to-face moments rare and full of tension, the last one being the worst they had ever had.

　　　　　༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

Y/N walked down the hallway of Chris's house with a hesitant but happy heart. They hadn't seen each other for days, and she had noticed how distant he was in his texts, which made her want to visit him and spend the day together, maybe understand what had happened and help him with whatever he needed.

Entering the room she had frequented too many times to even count, she found Chris sitting on his own bed, his gaze lost somewhere in the distance. She quickly opened an involuntary smile, perhaps lighting up the room - as Chris said she always did - but he barely looked at her, his lips curling in a gesture of disdain.

"Hey baby." Y/N muttered softly, trying to ignore the feeling of rejection that enveloped her almost instantly.

"Hey." The brunette replied coldly, his voice cutting like a sharp blade.

Y/N tried to make conversation, she really did. She asked about his day, about how he was feeling, but Chris's answers were short and harsh. He seemed to avoid her at all costs, as if her mere presence was a nuisance.

The pain inside Y/N grew with every second that passed in that house that until days ago had been her refuge. She felt like a stranger in her own skin, an intruder in her own relationship.

As Chris continued to ignore her, the voice in her mind began to scream, hurling cruel accusations at herself. She found herself questioning her own worth, her own ability to love and be loved.

Tears threatened to overflow her eyes, but she fought to keep them contained. She didn't want to give Chris the satisfaction of watching her break, of watching her succumb to the pain he himself inflicted on her.

When it was finally time to leave, Y/N felt relief mixed with despair. She didn't know if she could stand another second in that place, surrounded by Chris's indifference.

　　　　　༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

Y/N really felt like she was holding on to a fragile rope, about to snap at any moment.

Meanwhile, Chris struggled through a storm of turbulent thoughts. Fear consumed him, dragging him away from the love he had found in Y/N. He found himself trapped in a cycle of self-destruction, fueled by his own insecurities and trauma. It all started when he realized that he loved her, he fell in love... Again.

Each unanswered message was a sharp knife piercing his soul, but he couldn't muster the courage to face his fears. Commitment was a monster that had haunted him since teenage days, a dark shadow that followed him even in his happiest moments.

He found himself questioning everything: his choices, his desires, even the very love he felt for Y/N, he didn't believe he had allowed himself to love her. Would it be fair to drag her into his darkness, condemning her to a life of uncertainty and pain? Or would it be nobler to walk away from her, leaving her free to find someone who could offer her the love she deserved?

The nights became endless for Chris, a constant battle between his head and his heart. He found himself lost in a labyrinth of doubts, struggling to find a way out but only sinking deeper into darkness.

Meanwhile, Y/N desperately tried to understand what was happening. They were just reaching the 3-month mark of their relationship, everything falling apart so suddenly, and so she blamed herself, questioned her own faults, trying to find an explanation for Chris's distance.

Maybe he had finally woken up and saw that she wasn't good enough for him. Maybe he had discovered he wasn't ready for a relationship. Or maybe... Maybe he had found someone else, the ideal and perfect woman.

But the answer was beyond her reach, hidden in the dark recesses of his mind.

And so, the gulf between them continued to grow, separating them more and more. It was a silent tragedy, a love lost in the shadows of doubt and fear. As Y/N struggled to stay afloat, Chris found himself diving deeper and deeper, moving away from the only ray of light in his life.

　　　　　༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

Y/N took a deep breath before knocking on the door of the triplets' house. Nick's invitation to spend the day there seemed like a ray of hope amid the darkness that consumed her soul. She knew that seeing Chris again would be painful after their last encounter, but the simple possibility of being close to him was enough to make her accept it.

Nick greeted her with a warm smile, but Y/N could barely return it. Her heart was beating wildly as she entered the place that transformed into a stage of pain and uncertainty. Every corner of the house seemed to echo with happy memories, but now those memories were like thorns piercing her skin.

She could feel Chris' gaze on her as she reached the living room floor, but when she turned to face him, he looked away at the turned off television, acting as if she were invisible.

Anguish grew inside Y/N every time she and Nick left his room, and inevitably, as if life was playing a trick on Y/N, came face to face with Chris. She found herself struggling to find words to break the oppressive silence that hung over them both. But Chris remained distant, his eyes empty, his expression impassive, monotonously answering Nick's questions.

She felt like a ghost...

Nick noticed the tension in the air at some point and tried to intervene, but Y/N just shook her head, unable to articulate the pain that consumed her. She felt like a helpless spectator to her own tragedy.

The day dragged on slowly, every minute an unbearable torture. Y/N tried to find comfort in the memories of the happy times she had shared with Chris, but now those memories were like sharp knives, cutting deep into her soul.

Nick found himself looking at Y/N all the time with a worried expression. He knew something was wrong, but Y/N dodged the topic every time he asked, as if he was stabbing her in the chest with a dagger, deciding to just force a smile, swallowing the words burning in her throat.

　　　　　༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

Y/N walked down the stairs with hesitant steps, determined to get a glass of water from the kitchen, but afraid of finding her own boyfriend - how ironic - without Nick by her side.

Upon reaching the room, her eyes quickly found the figure she knew more than herself, sitting in one of the chairs, his arms resting on the wooden table and his hands holding his phone tightly.

Y/N allowed herself to watch him for long seconds, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, walking to the fridge, opening it while trying to ignore the feeling that her heart was being crushed in her chest.

"Hey." Her voice came out lower and more broken than she expected, making her wonder if he even heard it.

It's not like he'd answer anything, anyway.

She knew he would ignore her, as he had done all day, but a part of her still longed for a glimpse of the love they once shared.

As she filled her glass with water, the voice in her mind began screaming again, hurling cruel accusations against herself and her relationship.

Obviously, he's going to ignore you. He finally understands that you're just a broken piece to his perfect life.

You are not enough for him. He needs a strong, independent, and self-assured woman, not a scared little girl worn out by life like you.

Wake up, Y/N, he doesn't want you anymore.

You were a mistake.

A terrible mistake.

She found herself sinking into an abyss of self-deprecation, unable to find a way out.

It was then that something inside her broke. A wave of anger and sadness flooded her, filling her with a sudden determination. She dropped the half-full glass on the counter and turned to face Chris, her eyes brimming with pain and indignation.

"Chris." Y/N called, her voice shaking with suppressed emotion, coming out in a more vulnerable tone than she intended. "Can we talk? Please."

Chris blinked, clearly surprised by Y/N's sudden call. His eyes met hers, but he didn't say anything, just waited, as if he feared the words that might fall from his own lips.

He didn't expect her to keep trying.

Y/N felt tears burning in her eyes at the sight of him silent, expressionless, but she fought to hold her ground. She knew she needed to express the emotions that had been stifled within herself. If he didn't want her anymore, that was fine. She understood, but she needed him to formalize the situation.

"I don't know what's going on between us." She continued, clearing her throat, her voice becoming firmer as the words flowed. "But I can't live in this limbo of uncertainty anymore. I deserve better than to be ignored, Chris. We deserve better than this. I want to understand what's going on. What did I do?"

Chris remained staring at her for a few more seconds before lowering his gaze, unable to bear the intensity in Y/N's eyes. He found himself entangled in a web of regret and fear, unable to find the right words to express her feelings.

"I know I've been distant." He finally muttered, his voice thick with pain and his shoulders slumped. "And I'm sorry for that, Y/N. I just... I've been thinking, and I don't know if this is right anymore."

Chris' words cut Y/N like a sharp knife. That was it. He was going to break up with her. It would all come to an end.

She knew it.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Y/N admitted finally. "It was... It was just a mistake... Right?"

Chris allowed his eyes to run over Y/N's weakened posture, his brow furrowed at her words.

"What was a mistake?"

"Us. We were a mistake...for you, at least." The girl sighed deeply after finishing her sentence, as if something large enough crushed her heart and lungs at the same time, hurting her and taking away all her air.

"No! What? No, honey, you were never a mistake. We... we are not a mistake, I promise you that." Chris perked up, jumping up from his seat, ready to walk over to Y/N, but his feet remained stuck against the floor, preventing him from even moving a centimeter.

"Then why, Chris? Why are you treating me like I'm a stranger? You keep pushing me away even though I try to get closer." She questioned him, thick, fat tears welling up in her eyes, running down her cheeks freely. "God, I did everything in my power to understand you, to talk to you and to make you feel welcomed, despite all the things and affirmations I needed from you too, I don't know anymore-" Her voice was already weakening when a loud and rude sob interrupted her own sentence, her right hand quickly rising towards her slightly open mouth, covering it, trying uselessly to stop the unwelcomed crying.

"Dove, please, I'm sorry for making you feel this way, I don't..." He shook his head, letting out an nervous laugh as his right hand flew to his own face, his index finger and thumb pressing the bridge of his nose, trying to stop his own tears from falling. "It was never my intention. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I just..." The boy's tone became extremely low too quickly, Y/N needing to hold her breath to hear him clearly. "I'm just scared."

"Scared? Scared of what? Do I make you feel scared?"

Chris swallowed hard, feeling the weight of Y/N's words like an anchor in his heart. He knew he needed to be honest with her, even if it meant facing his own demons.

"Scared of commitment... of giving myself completely to someone and ending up hurting myself in the process." His voice was a fragile whisper, loaded with vulnerability. "I know it's not fair to you, Y/N. You deserve someone who can give you the world, someone who isn't afraid to love. But I don't know if I'm that someone."

Y/N's tears continued to fall, a mixture of sadness and frustration that she could barely contain. She wanted to scream, to hit Chris, to demand a clear and definitive explanation. But deep down, she understood his fears, his traumas.

"I understand you're scared, Chris." Her voice was soft now, tinged with compassion, her hands drying her tear-soaked eyelashes roughly, sniffling before speaking again. "And I don't judge you for that, I just needed you to be clear with me, that you trust me enough to talk to me when things get tough. I don't care if you have that fear, I would never invalidate your feelings." She shook her head quickly, as if she wanted to make that clear. "I just wanted to talk, to understand. You left me in the dark."

Chris pressed his lips into a thin line, his eyes brimming with emotion as his left hand went to his own hair, ruffling the strands. He knew Y/N was right.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, baby, I-" The boy took a deep breath, blinking quickly, trying futilely to ward off the tears that wouldn't stop welling up in his eyes. "I tried so hard to make you hate me. It would make everything easier, right? You would get tired at some point and give up. Give up on me. But I just ended up hurting you..." Chris shook his head, biting his bottom lip hard, the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth within seconds. "You were breaking up with me, weren't you?" His voice sounded too close to a sob, his lower lip, now hurt, trembling at the thought of no longer having her as his girl, even though that was the plan from the beginning.

"I just thought it was what you wanted. You made it so explicit, Chris. How could I think of any other alternative than that?"

"I'm not too late, am I? To solve this?" His eyes looked like they were close to popping out of his skull when he finally managed to move and was able to walk towards Y/N with quick steps, grabbing her hands pleadingly. "I want to solve this... I'm sorry for what I've put you through these last few days, and I know that just saying sorry won't erase everything that I done, but I'll take care of it. I will take care of you. Please, dove."

"I need to ask you one thing first, Chris. Are you ready to stay in this relationship? I can help you and understand you, but there's no point in trying if you don't genuinely feel ready for this." Y/N explained sincerely, her heart aching with the contact of his skin against her own. She missed his touch so much.

"I do, I want you, only you, all of you, always! Please... please, babe, I-I know that I don't deserve it, but please give me a chance to make this right, to do this properly. Give me the chance to love you the way you deserve." Chris begged, squeezing his girlfriend's fingers between his own, involuntarily pulling her closer. "I want to try again, but properly this time. I want to fight my fears, my demons. And I want to do it with you by my side. Everything seemed so real now. Seeing you trying to break up with me made me realize that I can't see myself without you, I can't."

Y/N kept her eyes fixed on his for long seconds, searching for any trace of doubt, hesitation or lie on his face red and wet with tears, but she could only find a strong mix of hope and love.

She knew the road ahead would be difficult, full of challenges and uncertainty. But for the first time in a long time, she felt a spark of hope light up.

"Okay."

"Yeah? Really?" A low sob escaped Chris's mouth, fat tears rolling down his rosy cheek from the strong emotions in a short space of time, his heart racing strongly against his chest.

"Yeah. I don't want to lose you, so let's do this together." She whispered.

The boy let out a sigh of relief through tears, a small smile taking over his lips in seconds, his hands working to pull hers closer, consequently bringing her body close to his, engulfing her into a tight hug.

"I'm gonna do this right this time."

And she believed him.

© vanteguccir

[tfp-is-my-lifeblood-lol]

Tfp Autobots Encountering the Mind-Control Cell Phones from Rescue Bots

(Because it canonically exists in the Alligned continuity, and I'm abusing that knowledge to torment my favorite little meow meows)

I've been wanting to write these headcanons. Might do Decepticons next.

Context for if you haven't seen the Rescue Bots episode "Spell Bound": A human named Madeline Pynch creates mind-control phones that hypnotize both humans and Cybertronians to dig up Blossom Vale (part of Griffin Rock)

Optimus Prime:

-He's the only one who's immune to the phones' power

-Lucky for him, the Matrix of Leadership can protect him from that kind of influence

-Because of that, he'd be the first to discover something isn't right with the humans, and eventually the other Bots when they'd start acting strange.

-He'd notice they're groundbridging to Griffin Rock with no explanation, and that they keep saying the phrase: "The project is the priority."

-Plus, their voices. Sure, they sound normal on the surface, but Optimus is very perceptive, and would pick up on the slight lack of emotion, and artificial tone when they speak.

-Throughout this mess, Optimus mainly confides in Ratchet

"What is going on?" Ratchet would muse, almost awestruck by the strange behavior of the others.

"I am unsure," Optimus would reply. "But I believe something is deeply amiss, old friend."

-Both of them would be struggling to uncover what this mysterious "project" is, and why the other Bots and humans have suddenly become so obsessed with it.

Arcee:

-She's the first Bot that falls under the spell; Jack's the first human to fall under, and he'd infect her

-Jack's responsible, empathetic personality works against him when he finds a golden cellphone abandoned at school.

"Someone must've lost this." He'd say. "I'd...better return it, right? I mean...I'd hate for someone to be freaking out, wondering where their phone is."

"I think they'll be fine without their phone for a couple of hours," Arcee would quip. "Come on, it's go-time. We've gotta get back to base."

-Then it rings

"I'd...better get that." Jack would say.

Arcee would playfully role her eyes and smile. "Alright. We'll go back after you've done your good deed for the day. But make it quick."

-Upon answering the call, Jack's whole body suddenly goes rigid. "The project is the priority."

"Uhh...Jack...?" Arcee would press, nervous about her partner's abrupt shift in demeanor.

-Arcee would vent to Bulkhead. "Something's seriously wrong with Jack," and beg Ratchet for help. "Ratchet, come on. He's gotta be...I don't know, sick, or something, right? He's not acting...human."

-But soon, Jack would attach a phone to her in vehicle mode, and she'd be sucked in as well.

-Arcee's mind control would be subtle. She's naturally stoic, after all. The others might mistake her drone-like behavior for her usual closed-off personality, even when Optimus asks her to go on a mission, and she flatly replies: "...Can't..." Perhaps she's just having a rough day thinking about her lost partners. But suspicions rise when she and Jack disappear to Griffin Rock.

-Even in trance, Arcee maintains her stealth and agility, making her a formidable opponent.

Bulkhead:

-He'd get infected by his human charge, just like Arcee.

-Miko is SUPER suspicious of Jack's strange, zombie-like behavior, so she tracks him down and calls him out on it. She'd assume it's the work of Decepticons.

"Yeah, ok, Jack. You think you can fool me. Come on, dude! You're acting like Megatron barbecued your brain! You're some kind of mind-controlled zombie! But, don't worry, Jack Rabbit! I'll find a way to fix you up. Otherwise, Bulk's gonna bash you into zombie smithereens!"

-Jack would probably have to battle Miko to get her to listen to the call, but eventually, she'd become hypnotized, too.

-Now THAT'S a HUGE red flag for Bulkhead, and, well, EVERYONE

-MIKO is acting stoic and speaking in a monotone? OUR MIKO?

-Oh, Primus, no.

"Miko," Bulkhead would say, holding Miko's electric guitar. "Don't'cha wanna play your favorite song?"

"No time..." The girl would say blankly, and Bulkhead would drop the guitar in pure shock.

-It won't be long before Bulkhead pulls Miko aside to ask what's going on.

"This will explain everything..." Miko drones, showing Bulk a strange golden cellphone.

"A...cellphone?" Bulkhead questions. "Where'd you get that?"

"Answer it."

-Poor Bulkhead is fooled. He takes the call, and now there's two Autobots down.

-Bulkhead's mind-controlled state would definitely raise a few eyebrows. At first, it'd seem like he's just deeply lost in thought, but when it's time to battle, and he suddenly has no interest in kicking some tailpipe, it's clear something's wrong.

-Luckily, he's still pretty clumsy.

Bumblebee:

-Now, Bumblebee's situation is interesting

-He doesn't get infected by Raf.

-Rather, he gets infected trying to save Raf from becoming infected when a hypnotized Jack and Miko try to assimilate him.

-Poor Raf would be like: "Bumblebee, no! You don't have to do this to save me! I need you!"

-Unfortunately, Jack and Miko break their promise to spare Raf in exchange for Bumblebee joining them, so now all the humans are under, and nearly every Bot.

-Bumblebee's mind-controlled state is similar to when Megatron possessed him, only slightly less dangerous (I mean, come on. That was Megatron. You can't get much more dangerous than that).

-Bumblebee's is also the most obvious (besides Miko, of course). Bumblebee's such a sweetheart, it's easy to tell he isn't himself. Plus, his buzzing sounds different under mind-control. It's lower, and duller.

-Even while hypnotized, Raf is the only human who understand's Bumblebee when he speaks, so the two work together, unlike the others. The phones numb all emotions, so Bulkhead and Miko, as well as Arcee and Jack seem to have forgotten they're partners. Bee and Raf mainly work together because it's practical.

Ratchet:

-Poor Ratchet's going through it😂

-It took a LOT of fighting, but he managed to scan the others with his medical scanner.

-Ratchet is the one who figures out the phones are emitting a hypnosis-inducing frequency. Optimus is grateful for his help.

-However, with everyone else hypnotized, Ratchet gets cornered, and hypnotized himself.

-Poor guy. He tried to help them.

-Mind-controlled Ratchet is pretty scary

-Keep in mind, victims of the Pynch Phones maintain their intelligence

-Ratchet becomes a precise, calculating machine. He's gonna FIND that gold, and, if you try to stop him, he'll get you out of his way however he deems fit.

BONUS: Aftermath/Optimus is goated:

-Optimus manages to save the others by crushing the phones. Who knows? Maybe he and Megatron even had to team up.

-The others are super guilty upon snapping out of it. Bee is like a confused puppy, Bulkhead is furious, and Arcee is horrified (Jack keeps having to assure her he's ok). Ratchet has, like, a hangover because his neural net is too old for this mind-control shit.

-Optimus makes sure everyone knows it wasn't their fault. He's such a kind dude.

-Madeline Pynch should probably run. Messing with the Rescue Bots is one thing, but THIS is Team Prime. Optimus may be a pacifist, but Pynch endangered human lives. That's a biiiiig no-no when it comes to Optimus. He probably won't hurt her, per se, but she's in for a world of karma, because the other Bots aren't so forgiving,

[brainworms-all-night-long]

Hello hi, I'm Brainworms and this be an all inclusive intro to the hellspace that's my brain and this blog!! Do not attempt to find any parallels in my blorbos to my behavior and desires I promise it says nothing about the very core of me as a living being haha

I also have a Bsky and PillowFort in case this place kicks the bucket fr

And if you feeling like you have a lot of money and don't know where to put it, you can Commission me (OPEN) or Buy Me a Coffe!! I am currently saving up for a new phone and headphones

While you're still here, please donate to these fundraisers for Sahar Shehab, Maryam, Wasim, Heba Al-Dahdouh, Mahmoud and Ali as I'm unable to do so myself

Every silly appearing above lives full time in my brain and refuses to pay the mortgage, in fact, is very adamant they will never do so. Henceforth, I yap about them sometimes!! Some more than others *coughNinecough* but they are always present

>Now to the tags I actively use!!

sonic prime / sonic the hedgehog / miles nine prower – The most of thoughts at the actual documented begining of life for this blog, and I like Nine!! A lot!! A character made specifically for me I think....

murder drones / arcane / nimona 2023 / dreamtale (UTMV) – Other stuff besides Sonic that I draw and yap about, although this is still mainly a Sonic blog

me does arts / littol doodl / actually finished doodl – My art tags!! I've been drawing the same character for over two years now help :D Have no idea why I decided to split them into three separate categories but I believe the names are pretty self explanatory

me when I finish writing – I do a drable or two sometimes as well just, don't expect for me to actually finish anything I start writing even though I say I will, that tag name is a lie

the silly text box – answered asks whenever I remember to use the tag lmao

silly brainworms – my yappings, Nine character analyses and headcanons!!

There's no talk tag, if you see my random unrelated thoughts, it was destined and once in a lifetime event

>I also have a few AUs but mostly of the "What if crossover" variety

Prime bros – a more or less non committed collaborative effort of random.headcanons and drables between me and @/000marie198 and anyone else who has thoughts and wants to join in on the fun on the idea of having the Shatterverse foxes (Nine, Sails, Mangey and Tails) living together in green hill and causing mayhem because the way the show left them was bullshit and unsatisfying!!

The same but different is my own personal version of the prime bros universe that is now actually being incredibly slowly written and the first three chapters are on my Ao3!!

Project 09 – a Tails gets adopted by Eggman AU except it's Nine getting "adopted" by the Chaos Council and to no one's surprise, it fucks him and everyone else up in a special way

Over the hills – is a Dreamtale and Sonic crossover brought on by The Nine-tailed travel guide through the multiverse event conceived by @/Donelywell and mashed with my long time held dreamswap au idea of Dream taking Night and running away from the village after taking some drastic measures that is also posted on Ao3!! (more stuff will come to it in time. I hope)

running from a Nightmare – another Dreamtale au, this time about corrupted Nightmare being set loose on the Sonic world by none other than Eggman and the suffering that comes with it (also fighting tooth and tail to get it written)

the n 'n n's (read as m&m's) – unserious crossover where I put Nine Night and Nimona together and have them be silly (perhaps Nuzi will tag along some day too...)

And because I keep having Dreamtale & Sonic thoughts, I do lump them all together under the dreamtale and sonic tomfoolery tag!!

prime arcane – as seen above, I like arcane!! Jinx and Nine are eerily similar in their sibling and identity struggles, I put them together, boom an Au :D other characters are there too but I need to get around actually designing them....

>This will get updated in case I get possessed by something new or remember a tag I forgor

——

Hey you scrolled this far might as well put some more random trivia abt me here :D

>paleontology and zoology nerd, but only as an avid listener to four hour YouTube documentaries, I don't actually know shit- (Miniminuteman, Casual Geo and Lydnsey Nikole hyper carry this special interest shoutout to them)

>Obviously a followup to previous point needed, favorite dinosaur is the Archeopterix and the animal ever is the Blunt Headed Tree Snake (which is also my Sonicsona by the name of Shoelace)

>I have a pet snake, her name is Ebi and is a black head spider python!!

> Graduating a four years study of Mechanical engineering in a weeks time I also have no fucking clue what I'm doing ill be happy if this is finally over

>Favorite color is pink!! (In case you couldn't tell by my art and this whole post lmao) I went through a goddamn hero's journey to learn to love it alright you can pry the seven plain hot pink shirts and hoodies I own from my cold dead hands

>I'm Slovak!! Niečo niečo hokej, Tatry, a zlatý Bažant

>Aro, Ace and Agender (that's where the AAA battery comes in lmao)

>undiagnosed but there's.... something...

> I could recite the story of the ugly duckling backwards as a kid (unrelated to previous two points)

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 2

Episode 5: Captain Man Goes On Vacation

~Junk-N-Stuff~

Ah, geez. It was a stressful time right now for the Man Cave's resident lovebirds for several reasons. 

Firstly, Ray was supposed to be going on a trip for his cousin's wedding and that meant he'd be away for a few days, which, in turn, meant that Henry and Charlotte had to be on hand to help (y/n) through a few days of pining and misery. She knew it was a family event that he couldn't miss and she wouldn't dream of keeping him away from what little family he had left, but that didn't mean she wouldn't miss him. Even the thought of him leaving was enough for her heart to ache and her energy to be sapped. 

Ray felt a similar way about the situation. He knew he had to go to his cousin's wedding. He couldn't fail to show up after he RSVP'd, it would be unbelievably rude and he wanted to stay in his family's good books. But it didn't feel right to go to the event alone, he felt in his heart that he was leaving behind the one person who truly felt like family to him. 

In his mind, he should walk into that reception room with (y/n) on his arm, so he could send his gossiping aunts into whispers. He could perhaps introduce her to his father, even though they hadn't spoken in years. With all his heartache in mind, he was doing everything in his power to stall himself. If he missed the plane, he wouldn't have to leave her, right?

Well, technically no, but his slowness irritated his teen assistants and stressed out his helper. How could he be so nonchalant about his lateness? (y/n) was nervously pacing up and down the Man Cave's floor, thinking about the disaster that would unfold if he couldn't attend the wedding. Her jumpy personality meant that she took pride in being organised and was nearly always on time for things, a trait that she tried to rub off on her friends. 

"Where is he?" (y/n) asked the kids, looking up to the sprocket where Ray was meant to be. He should've left like ten minutes ago.

"Ray, come on, you're gonna miss your plane!" Henry yelled to the man, who was currently struggling down the sprocket corridor with his king-sized mattress in his grasp.

"I'm coming!" He yelled back, shuffling through the sprocket and tripping over the mattress as he tried to move it.

"What is he...?" Charlotte looked at her friends in confusion as (y/n) and Henry groaned. They didn't have time for this.

"Ray, what are you doing with that mattress?" Henry asked his boss, who had lifted the thing over his head so he could walk down the steps. (y/n) was nervously biting her lip and checking the time on her phone; at this rate, she'd have to kick him out of the door.

"Taking it on my trip." Ray answered struggling to stop himself from falling over.

"Oh, sweet cheese, you can't take a mattress on a plane, doofus." (y/n) facepalmed, not believing how stupid he was being. It was like he didn't want to leave.

"Yeah, you're right." He sighed, knowing his girl knew best. He slammed the mattress down on the floor in frustration, making the woman walk over to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, straightening out his jacket and hair. Her soft touch only made his heart hurt more, he couldn't bear the thought of three days without her.

"Maybe I shouldn't go." He said quickly, dashing over to the supercomputer so she wouldn't see his yearning eyes.

"See, I knew it!" Henry exclaimed, having had a sneaking suspicion all along that his boss was terrified of leaving (y/n) alone for a few days. He couldn't be there to protect her, to provide for her. What if some criminal came along and kidnapped her? Or worse, what if some cute guy came along and stole her heart? The notion of him coming back and finding her in love with another made him feel sick. It would be best if he stayed.

"Ray, you can't blow off your cousin's wedding." Charlotte scolded him as (y/n) put her hands on his shoulders, hoping he'd turn around and face her.

"He'll be so disappointed if you're not there." She told him, making him stroppily turn around in the chair.

"I know, but most marriages don't work out. I'll just go to his next wedding." He told them, leaping up from his seat and trying to run away. (y/n) was too quick for him though, and used whatever upper body strength she had to hold him back. 

"Just admit that you're afraid to leave town 'cause you think me, Charlotte, Schwoz and (y/n) can't handle things without you," Henry called him out, making sure he didn't add in the bit about his boss not wanting to leave (y/n). That would open another can of worms.

"Well, what if there's an emergency?" Ray asked the three. He was nervous to leave Swellview, thinking that even though Henry was a skilled fighter and he had three amazing people working in the Man Cave, they wouldn't be able to keep the city safe.

"Henry will blow a bubble and Kid Danger will deal with it." (y/n) pointed to the boy over his head and he and Charlotte nodded in agreement.

"What if he suddenly gets that disease, huh? Nu-nu-numb tongue and you can't blow a bubble?" He looked at his friends who squinted at him with puzzled faces.

"Numb Tongue?" Henry reiterated.

"That's not a thing." Charlotte rolled her eyes as the elevator door opened and Schwoz started to walk over to them.

"You're chatting shit. People don't talk normally one second and then all of a sudden, blerughhh, bleur, bluh, blergh!" (y/n) acted like she couldn't speak properly, not seeing that Schwoz was behind her.

"Uh, oh, does she have Numb Tongue?" The genius asked, making the woman turn around so she could glare at him.

"See?" Ray exclaimed, his presence making Schwoz check his watch.

"Hey, shouldn't you be on your way to the airpoot?" He questioned in his funny accent.

"Yessss!" Henry elongated the word as he and (y/n) grabbed Ray's arms and began to lead him over to the elevator.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, I need my suitcase." He wiggled out of their grasp.

"Bork! Hey, Bork, bring it over here." Ray instructed the large, muscleman, who was carrying an enormous trunk. He dropped it in front of the group, the impact of the extremely heavy box making a loud noise and causing the ground to shake.

"Thanks, buddy." Ray gave Bork a piece of meat as a reward, the guy taking a bite out of the steak as he walked away.

"What the hell have you got in here?" (y/n) asked her best friend in disbelief as she tried to move the trunk with her leg, but it wouldn't budge.

"Just stuff I might need, like, cotton swabs, shampoo...and non-cotton swabs. You know what, let's talk about all the different kinds of swabs." Ray smiled at the teens.

"Stalling!" Henry exclaimed, him, Charlotte and Schwoz gesturing to (y/n) who was too busy looking at the box to notice. 

"It's just--" Ray tried to give them an excuse as his cheeks blushed, knowing he'd been rumbled.

"It's only three days." Charlotte butted in, not needing to hear some lame excuse.

"We can handle it," Henry added as (y/n) looked at her friend.

"Me and Schwoz have all the experience and Henry knows how to fight. And if there's some cataclysmic disaster, I can whip out my emergency super suit and give him a hand." She told him softly, ignoring how teary she felt at the prospect of saying goodbye. She didn't want him to go and find the girl of his dreams in some other city, she'd have no hope of convincing him that she'd been there for him all this time.

"Okay...after one last hula dance with Leilani." He smiled, thinking of anything that could make him stay a little longer. He didn't see the way (y/n) faltered at his words, the Hawaiian girl being exactly the type of girl she was afraid of. Beautiful, elegant, perfectly capable of capturing his heart and making him forget all about her. 

"No!" Henry and Charlotte protested together, already afraid of what (y/n) would turn into after he left. They didn't need him stoking the fire with references to pretty hula girls and whatever else he did to distract himself from his love for her. Ray growled in frustration and flopped face-first onto the mattress he had left on the floor before swiftly getting back on his feet.

"Okay, fine! But you better not let any bad guys get away with crimes while I'm gone!" He told Henry in a childishly stern voice, the ache in his chest making him crabby.

"Stop being a child and grab your huge box-trunk thing!" (y/n) instructed him firmly, jabbing her nail into his chest like a mother scolding her petulant son. Not wanting to leave on a sore note with her, Ray grabbed the trunk's red strap and tried to lift it, but he had filled it with so much junk that he couldn't lift it, even with all of his super-density strength.

"Well, too heavy, better stay here!" He gave up easily, walking rapidly towards the sprocket so he could hide in his bedroom. 

"No, wait. I'll get the anti-grav!" Schwoz thought on his feet, rushing off to grab his invention so Ray could leave on time.

"Anti-grav?" Charlotte queried, she hadn't heard of that gadget before.

"Yeah, it's a device you attach to really heavy things to make them a lot lighter." (y/n) explained, grabbing the large man's hand so she could steady her nerves and stop him from running away. Schwoz dashed back over with a long stick-like device that he attached to the trunk. He pressed a few buttons and activated its gravity-defying effect.

"There!" He backed off with a flourish, letting Henry step forward to test it out.

"Whoa, man! It works!" He smiled at the adults, marvelling at how the box simply floated up in his hand. 

"Hey, what do these do?" He looked at some glowing buttons on the side of the devices and pressed them before anyone could stop him.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Ray, (y/n) and Schwoz cried, but it was too late, he had already started to fly up to the ceiling. It seemed like Ray would never get on that damn plane.

~The next day~

It had been a difficult goodbye for (y/n) and Ray. After getting Henry down from the ceiling, they had given each other a tight hug, not wanting to let go. He had buried his nose in her hair and took in her perfume for the last time for three days. God, he hadn't realised how small she was until he had had her in his arms. He felt like a giant next to her and he couldn't help but want to pin her down and ravish her in a sinfully delicious way. If only he had time to stay and the courage to do so.

Still, she had soldiered on and had been monitoring the supercomputer when an emergency had come in. Putting down her mug of tea, she flicked on the hologram machine so she could call Henry. Whilst waiting for him to pick up, she sent a quick text to Charlotte so she'd get to work ASAP; what was going down was serious and she'd need an extra pair of hands around.

"Hey, (y/n/n), what's up?" Henry's little hologram appeared on the computer as he opened his whiz watch.

"There's a robbery going down at that eyeglass store in Midtown, uh, what's it called...Specs in The City." She told him as she checked what little information she had on the monitor.

"Okay, I know where that is, I'm on my way," Henry replied, popping a gumball into his mouth in preparation.

"You better hurry up. We need to prove to Ray that we're not completely useless when he's not here." The woman urged him as Schwo and Charlotte walked up behind her.

"Hey, Henry, look, it's me Schwoz!" The genius jumped in front of her so he could say hi to the sidekick.

"I got no time for you, Schwoz!" Henry snapped and closed his watch, effectively ending the call. Well, it was up to him now.

~Specs in The City Shop~

Two thugs were threatening the owner of the store, who was fearing for his life.

"Come on, man, hurry it up!" A robber with a leaf blower said, pointing his odd choice of weapon at the owner.

"Look, why do you just s-steal my m-money and get your glasses made wherever you want?" The terrified storekeeper asked, willing to let his money go so he could keep his life.

"No! This place has the best reviews on Yarp! So you're making my glasses!!" The other criminal shouted, pointing a hammer at the owner. The threat was definitely real now. However, the criminals' attention was stolen when Kid Danger cleared his throat and made his presence known.

"I don't think so, jerk," Henry told them, pointing to his eye as he made a pun.

"Kid Danger! Thank god you and Captain Man are here!" The storekeeper praised god that his salvation had come, now these criminals would get a taste of justice.

"Uh, actually Captain Man's at his cousin's wedding in Cleveland," Henry told them, which piqued the criminals' interest.

"Captain Man ain't here?" One of them smirked, thinking that if they didn't have to face Swellview's superhero, then taking on his sidekick would be easy.

"No," Henry said nervously as the criminals returned to threatening the man behind the counter.

"All right, you just keep making my glasses, and those lenses better be progressive!" The hammer-wielding thug yelled, sending his victim into an obedient panic.

"Hey, man, you love your mother?" Henry asked the criminal, confusing him.

"Yeah." He answered honestly.

"Then freeze, mother lover!!" Henry quipped, pulling out his laser control, but the criminal wasn't very scared.

"NO!" He hissed and moved to whack Henry with his hammer, but the kid just shot him with a laser, sending him unconscious. 

"You should've freezed..." Henry smirked at his sleeping body, quickly switching his attention to the other goon when he fired up his leaf blower.

"Hey!" Henry tried to shoot the second criminal too, but he used the leaf blower to blow his weapon out of his hand, the strong wind making Henry stumble back.

"Oh, what?" Henry groaned as he tried to keep the glasses on the displays, not wanting to clean everything up after he was done here. He struggled against the wind and put his hand over the blower's nozzle, forcing it into the man's face as the two began to battle. Using his strength, Henry punched the man on the nose and took the leaf blower off of him and used it to blow him into a wall. Some shelves collapsed on his head, rendering the man unconscious like his partner. 

"Well, sir, looks like I just saved your life," Henry told the delighted owner as he threw away the leaf blower and leaned on the counter. However, it seemed like someone didn't have any faith in him.

Captain Man dropped down from the ceiling, ready to fight since he thought that his sidekick couldn't deal with a simple robbery on his own.

"I'm here," Ray announced, much to the owner's happiness and Henry's shock. The nerve of this guy.

"Captain Man!" The owner cried as Henry looked at his boss in horror.

"Captain Man?" The kid asked in a hurt voice. He had lied about leaving?

"Just a moment..." Ray growled and lifted up the man who had the hammer. He punched him in the face, despite the guy not being a threat anymore, but he wanted to act like he had been instrumental in ending the fight.

"There, you're safe now," Ray told the owner, who excitedly came out from behind the cash register as Henry spluttered in confusion.

"Thank you, Captain Man. Oh, I gotta go tell my wife what you did." The man said, running off to report Captain Man's actions, even though he hadn't done anything useful.

"What are you doing here?" Henry asked Ray.

"Fighting crime!" He replied, kicking out his leg as he smirked.

"No! You're just here because you don't trust me and Charlotte and (y/n) and Schwoz to handle things while you're away." He called him out, feeling extremely irritated.

"You don't have my experience." Ray hissed, keeping his voice down since the storekeeper and his wife were close by.

"I don't have your enormous ego." Henry snapped back.

"That too!" 

"I've been doing this job for over a year and I can handle things for three stupid days without you. (y/n) can help me—you're just scared some other guy will date her while you're not here." The boy pointed out, his anger meaning he couldn't keep a lid on his feelings.

"Oh, really? Like you handled this crime? And I'm not scared of (y/n) dating. She can...date whoever she wants." Ray swallowed as he said the words, the idea of his girl with someone else making him feel tremendously sick. Not that he'd let Henry see that.

"Yes, I completely handled this crime. And you're totally afraid of someone else taking her." They argued back and forth.

"Yeah, I guess, I mean, you handled this, like I can handle (y/n) with a boyfriend who's not me," Ray said moodily, making Henry roll his eyes.

"Dude, you can't be jealous if you won't even try to ask her out." His sidekick berated him, not wanting to let him escape from the fact that he wanted the young woman, but did nothing to make her his girlfriend.

"Okay, fine, I'll go." Ray whinged, walking out of the door until the voice of the storekeeper stopped him.

"Captain Man...this is my wife, Nancy." The man introduced a smiling woman, who was beyond excited to meet the hero.

"Oh, hiiiiiiii." Ray smiled back, hoping this would give him an excuse to stick around.

"Out! Before I call her and let her know you're still in town!" Henry threatened his boss, making him briskly walk out of the store before he could let (y/n) know he had lied to her and had not caught his flight. Seeing her hurt and upset because of him would break his heart.

~Later that evening~

Needing to get (y/n) out of the Man Cave, Henry and Charlotte had taken her to a milkshake bar for a much-deserved break. She felt 'floopy' without her soulmate and kept pouting and plodding around the room. Seeing that she desperately needed a pick-me-up, they bustled her out of Junk-N-Stuff, trying their best to make her laugh and take her mind off her absent hero. It worked; (y/n) had perked up after they told her their best jokes, and being with her friends made her feel a lot better.

The three of them stepped out of the elevator as they entered the Man Cave again, feeling refreshed for work again. Only, Schwoz had taken advantage of their absence and had turned the hideout into a discotech. 

"AHHHHH!" Their laughter was stopped by the loud music and odd characters that were dancing all over the furniture. What had Schwoz done? His cousin was dancing around, his pig was in a paddling pool, people were playing around in the tubes, the place was in pandemonium and (y/n) was pissed off.

"What is going on?!" Charlotte yelled over the music, as she took in the party scene.

"I don't know!" Henry shouted back as (y/n) seethed beside him.

"I know exactly what's going on. Come on!" She growled, walking over to the small man jumping on a mini-trampoline as he laughed with Bork.

"Schwoz, you little fucker!" She hissed, separating the two men and dragging Schwoz away from the trampoline.

"Welcome to the party. Charlotte, what's happening?" The man greeted them happily, thinking they were here to party with him.

"How could you have a party without Ray's permission, or me knowing?" (y/n) asked him angrily, furious that he had done this behind her back.

"Easy! He's not here and you were drinking milkshakes! Hahahaa!" Schwoz chuckled, irritating the woman more.

"You know, we promised Ray we'd be responsible!" Charlotte reminded him as (y/n) rubbed her face in frustration.

"What's gonna happen?" Schwoz scoffed, not worried about any consequences.

"Oh, I don't know, how about a criminal in Mongolia hearing this damn music!" The woman shouted as Bork grabbed Charlotte and lifted her over his shoulder, not liking how everyone was being a party pooper.

"Henry!" She yelled at her friend for help.

"Hey, Bork. Charlotte is not a toy, put her down!" The boy scolded the freakishly tall man, but he was distracted as Winnie, Schwoz's sister poked his shoulder. Bork then started to swing Charlotte back and forth with Larry, Schwoz's cousin, which terrified the young girl.

"Who did that?" Henry asked, spinning around to see the neighing woman.

"This is chaos! Come on, Schwoz, I have to live here!" (y/n) tried to calm everything down, but between Charlotte's squeals and Schowz's laughter, her efforts were useless. She or Henry couldn't even hear the emergency alarm go off. Ah, geez, Ray was going to kill them.

~The next day~

After a whole night of partying, Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) returned to the Man Cave to see what had become of Schwoz. The young woman had crashed in a downtown hotel for the night. There was no chance of her getting any sleep with the blaring music and numerous weirdos dancing around outside of her bedroom. They stepped out of the elevator and holy cow, they were greeted by a mess.

Schwoz was passed out on the floor, much like his guests, who had all partied the night away. There were decorations, streamers, food, trash and confetti littering the floor and the sight of the destroyed room made them all groan in disgust. It was normally so well-organised and tidy in there, thanks to (y/n)'s diligence, but after one night of Schwoz and his friends living it large, it looked like a bomb had hit it.

"Sweet cheese." (y/n) breathed out as she hesitantly stepped into the Man Cave, cringing as she heard bits of confetti and crumbs crunch under her sneakers.

"This place looks disgusting." Charlotte gagged, choosing her steps carefully so she wouldn't step in anything gross.

"Yeah. So does Schwoz." Henry grumbled as the three of them walked over to the genius, who was sleeping on his trampoline, a large rubber ducky tucked under his arm.

"Hey, Schwoz, sleepy times over. Come on, wake up." Henry tried to get him to wake up, even going as far as slapping him about the face with a slice of cold, slimy pizza, but it was useless. He just mumbled something in his native language and snuggled back into his ducky.

"Okay... WAKE UP, YOU ASSHOLE!" (y/n) screamed at the top of her voice, startling the man into consciousness, his pale face looking around in alarm. Even the kids winced at her sharp tone.

"How long did this party go on?" Charlotte asked him as he yawned.

"Uh, we broke up around 6 AM. Oh, look. My sister, Winnie, fell asleep. So peaceful, so beautiful." Schwoz mentioned wistfully, looking at his snoring, horse-like sister, who had fallen asleep standing up, just like an actual horse.

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah." The three replied in unsure voices, not certain that what they were looking at could be classed as peaceful or indeed beautiful.

"Right, Schwoz, I'm going to be very clear about this. You better clean all of this crap up before..." (y/n) tried to be stern, but her words trailed off as Henry nudged her arm and pointed to emergency alarm, which had been flashing all night. Oh, god.

"Oh, shit, shit, shit. The crime light." She cursed as she, Henry and Charlotte dashed over to the supercomputer, worry etched onto their faces. 

"How long has that been flashing?" Charlotte asked Schowz, as (y/n) scrolled through the databank.

"Since 9:37 last night!" She cried, thinking about what catastrophe could have unfolded when no superhero turned up.

"Dang-dangit, Schwoz!" Henry groaned, squishing a balloon into the control panel and making it burst. However, the loud noise made Winnie wake up in alarm and she started to whinny and buck around the room, like a startled horse.

"Ah, you spooked my sister!" Schwoz panicked, trying to calm down his sibling as she trotted across the room in fear. He finally managed to subdue her with a carrot and a pat to the head, confirming that she was probably more horse than person.

"What are you guys doing?" Henry asked the girls, who were working on the computer.

"Since no one answered the emergency call, we're checking to see if someone left a message," Charlotte told him as (y/n) checked their inbox. Pressing play, they listened to the latest voice message.

"You have one new emergency voicemail: Hello, Captain Man? This is Carlos from Sushi Dushi." The message began, the three listening carefully.

"It's Carlos from Sushi Dushi," Henry repeated, despite his observation being completely pointless.

"How'd you figure that one out, Holmes?" (y/n) sassed him sarcastically before resuming the voicemail.

"There's a guy robbing us right now. He's locking us in the fridge so he can steal a huge tuna fish." It continued.

"He's locking them all in the fridge." Henry pointed again, his deduction again being useless.

"Yes, thank you, Henry." (y/n) rolled her eyes with Charlotte.

"Where's the tuna fish?"

"Captain Man, Captain Man, save us!!" The message ended with the criminals intruding on the recording and Carlos begging for help.

"What are you thinking?" Charlotte asked her fellow teen and he stayed quiet and looked thoughtful.

"The robber's voice sounds so familiar." Henry pondered, his thinking making the girls wonder too. 

"I know." Charlotte agreed, suddenly feeling like she had heard that voice before.

"(y/n/n), can you cross-check it against the national voice database?" Henry asked the young, who smiled softly and nodded.

"Sure, easy-peasy, squeeze the lemon." She said, inputting a clip of the message into the databank and waiting a few seconds for the feedback. The computer came back with two matches.

"Ah!"

"Okay!" The kids smiled, glad that their plan had worked out.

"So, the robber's either Jeff or Miley." Henry studied the two pictures carefully, even though the answer was pretty obvious.

"I'm thinking it's Jeff." Charlotte theorised, knowing that it was ludicrous to suspect that Miley Cyrus would rob Sushi Dushi for a fish.

"Ugh, Jeff. He's such a moron." (y/n) groaned, smiling fondly when she remembered how she and Ray scattered him off to jail last Halloween. Ah, good times, apart from when he kept calling her "pretty lady", ew.

"Well, you better find him and arrest him or Ray's gonna fire us all," Charlotte stressed, not wanting to lose her job. She needed the money.

"He wouldn't fire his best friend, 'cause...y'know...he likes (y/n)," Henry argued with her, choosing his words very carefully as Charlotte raised her eyebrows and subtly nodded at (y/n). Luckily though, the true meaning of his words flew right over her head.

"Yeah, I'm not sure that even I'd get away with this." She joked, not realising how she could get away with murder when it came to Ray. One puppy-dog gaze from her and he was putty in her hands.

"Then I guess I'll chew some guy and fight some scum." Henry quipped before blowing his bubble and transforming into Henry Danger. The loud noise of him popping the bubble and snapping into his costume made Winnie kick off again, much to the annoyance of Schwoz.

"Ah, you did it again!" He yelled as his sister brayed and kicked.

"Just go, go go!" (y/n) told Henry, knowing he should go fight crime. They could deal with Schowz's weird sister, hopefully, they just needed some sugar cubes and carrots. Yeah, lots of carrots. 

~Jeff's Apartment~

Henry arrived at the building where Jeff still rented the same apartment that Captain Man and Miss Danger had fought him last time. He really needed to get brainier. Deciding to make a Captain Man-style entrance, Henry kicked a hole through the door, confusing the criminal inside. Not that it took a lot to confuse Jeff.

"Hey, hang on, someone's foot just came through my door." Henry heard Jeff tell one of his potential buyers on the phone. Squatting down, Kid Danger looked through the hole he had made and scanned the room, checking to make sure he had the right apartment. Seeing an irritated Jeff sat across the room, he poked his hand through the gap and unlocked the door from the inside. 

"Looks like you're gonna need a door-hole repairman, Jeff." Henry snarked, trying to be all tough after his clumsy entrance.

"Ah, crud. Hey, it's Kid Danger and Captain Man, can you, uh, come bail me outta jail later?" The dumb man said to whoever was on the phone.

"It's just me, Jeff. Captain Man's outta town." Henry smirked, feeling proud that he was being a cool superhero by himself.

"Okay, so after you come pick up this tuna, do you wanna see a movie or something? I heard that the sequel--" Jeff's complacency was cut off by Henry grabbing his phone, the boy having been offended by Jeff not seeing him as a threat.

"Dude!" Jeff grumbled.

"The only movie you're gonna see is the one in jail...on movie night...if they even have that. Now, stand up or get zapped!" Henry rambled, threateningly pointing his laser control at Jeff, who was very intimidated.

"I'm gonna slap that thing outta your hand." He told Kid Danger.

"I'd like to see you try slap--" Henry was cut off as Jeff did what he had said he would, showing a blatant disrespect towards the kid. He was shit scared of Captain Man, but Kid Danger? He could take him easily.

"Okay, that really hurt my hand," Henry whined, but the phone he had confiscated from Jeff started. to ring.

"Oh, it could be my tuna buyer, give me my phone." The criminal asked.

"Oh, you want the phone? This thing right here?" Henry teased him.

"Yeah. Are you playing Keep Away From Me?" Jeff frowned at the teen superhero.

"Yes, I'm playing Keep Away From You," Henry replied in a mocking tone.

"All right, that does it!" The stupid criminal growled and began to chase Henry around the tuna fish. Henry leapt through the kitchen hatch and Jeff tried to follow him, but he was too slow and fat to get through. He fell off the counter and onto the floor, huffing and groaning from the strain. He continued to chase Kid Danger around the room, his breathing laboured, unlike Henry's. The boy could do this for hours. After running around so much, Jeff bent over a chair as his gasps for air became very wheezy.

"Are you all right?" Henry asked the criminal. Yeah, he didn't like him, but that didn't mean he wanted Jeff to have an asthma attack. Jeff was too wheezy to respond.

"Hit the table twice if you're all right." The teen instructed him, but when Jeff raised his hand to smack the table, the rickety old thing collapsed under his weight. 

"Okay, was that one or two?" Henry asked, unsure if he was okay. At least it would make taking him to the jailhouse easy...

~Junk-N-Stuff~

"But I'm pretty sure Jeff meant to knock twice," Henry told his friends upstairs in the store. Charlotte was listening intently, but Ray was rather preoccupied with the girl on his knee. His arms were around her waist and his nose was tucked behind her ear. It had been an emotional reunion and they had spent the last half an hour in each other's arms. (y/n) snuggled back into his chest, happy to let his warmth settle in her bones and the scent of his cologne engulf her. God, she'd missed him.

"Anyway, thirty minutes later, he was in jail and the huge tuna fish was back at Sushi Dushi," Henry told his boss, who smiled at the kid proudly, as did (y/n). Sure, there had been some mishaps, but what Ray didn't know wouldn't hurt him. 

"You know, I'm proud of you guys." Ray smiled at his friends, squeezing his arms around his girl's waist, making her blush as his biceps tensed around her. He felt so big behind her and she smiled bashfully at how she felt like he was protecting her.

"Aw, thanks, Ray."

"Thanks, man," Henry and Charlotte returned his smile, delighted that he was proud of them.

"And I'm proud of you too, sweet girl. You really came through for me." Ray praised (y/n), pressing a sweet kiss to her temple, making her face really flush. How was she supposed to stay calm when he said stuff like that to her? The teens smirked at their bosses as the young woman squirmed in Ray's lap, her hips rolling against his.

"I bet those employees at Sushi Dushi were thrilled when you finally let them out of that fridge," Ray told them shakily. He was striving to keep his voice steady as the girl in his lap unknowingly ground her ass into him in wickedly passionate waves.

Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) went quiet at his assumption, realising they had forgotten something really, really important. Those poor Sushi Dushi employees must have been in the refrigerator for hours.

"Yeah, yeah." Henry choked out, his face paling.

"It was a magical moment." Charlotte smiled nervously, hoping Ray wouldn't see her clammy skin.

"We did some good work..." (y/n) stammered apprehensively, not knowing that Ray was praying that she wouldn't notice how her movements were affecting him.

"Well, fantastic work guys," Ray told them, lifting (y/n) off his lap so he could make a quick exit with his growing predicament.

"Now, I'm gonna head down to the Man Cave and install a mirror in my shower!" He smiled at the kids, ignoring (y/n)'s puzzled expression.

"Should I even ask?" She grinned at her best friend's antics, swallowing at the thought of him in the shower, wet, naked, oh, geez.

"Have fun!" Charlotte called after her boss. He dashed to the elevator so he could find sanctity in his room, where he could find relief to the fantasy of a girl with (y/c/h) hair and voluptuous curves.

"I gotta go get those people outta that fridge!" Henry panicked, taking out his gum tube and shoving a gumball in his mouth.

"Bring sushi!" Charlotte told him, as he briskly walked to the door.

"If they're alive!" (y/n) added, hoping the kid wouldn't be greeted with the gruesome sight of chilled corpses.

"Will do!" Henry waved them goodbye and ran off into the night. A hero's work was never done.

[kawarikisaki]

He also seems to trust and respect Akako beyond the crush thing and judging by Sun Halo I think he’s mostly gotten over it. Wether he still likes her(that way) or not is up in the air.

Perhaps this one is going to be a hot take, but I'm not actually convinced that he was ever crushing on Akako.

He thought she was pretty for sure. He blushes the first time he takes notice of her, but if blush was all that was needed to make a crush then Kid makes Hakuba's face much redder than Akako does, just saying.

The first time was see them interact is in A Gift from Akako, but the extent of the interaction is really just that; Akako approaches when Kaito and Hakuba are talking, Hakuba blushes a little 'oh we had a girl like that in our class too?' and then Akako pulls Kaito away. When Akako later impersonates Kaito as Kid she does get a big reaction out of him, but honestly there's not really much there.

I don't think it's enough to claim he has a crush on her, especially when any other time they're together going forward they seem to just be friends- weird friends but friends nonetheless. And even if I were to concede that he had a crush on her we can't be sure that was his real feelings and not the effects of her magic. So that doesn't really mean much.

What does mean something is that like I already brought up their next interactions are weird but friendly.

When Midnight Crow rolls around they're at the point where they can banter a little. The interaction we see is brief, and Kaito is also a part of it, but we see both Akako and Hakuba approach Kaito for the same reason but take different paths to get there. Hakuba saying in more flowery words 'I have white in my name so I don't want to see white lose to black', while Akako says 'this black one may be strong, but I want to see the underdog struggle and win.' Both are expressing that in this instance at least they're rooting for Kaito, they don't want him to lose to anyone unless it's one of them, and they don't really hide this from each other- they do however hide it from Aoko, clamming up when she joins the conversation.

And they do something similar again in Sun Halo, with Akako telling Kaito 'hey I read your fortune, it's not good, maybe postpone what you have planed for tonight, but if you do I'm cheering for you' and Hakuba saying 'oh cool, you've gotten a motorcycle license I'll keep that in mind for later but just so you know that's not allowed at school so maybe don't break the law in your civilian persona.' Though notably this time they do it in front of Aoko, though do still take steps to make sure that Aoko doesn't hear a single accusation of Kaito being Kid.

So what does this mean? Akako and Kaito are both aware that the other is an ally.

And we actually see that come into play later in Sun Halo when Akako calls Hakuba and essentially entrusts him with one of her greatest secrets, admitting to having summoned Lucifer to obtain information on where Kid was. And while Hakuba probably doesn't believe that's really her source he does end up trusting her enough to take the clue she got him and is able to follow it to it's conclusion, and when asked how he did it he doesn't tell anyone, but he does inwardly thank Akako for the hint. Just that shows so much respect and trust between these two. It's lovely, magical even, that Akako trusts Hakuba with her secret and Hakuba earns that trust by not outing her but respects her enough to take it as true whether he believes the source or not.

Also the fact that he has her number in his phone and answered even though he was busy. This doesn't seem like something that happens very often, seeing as Hakuba seems a bit surprised by it, but even so it speaks to the idea that these two have interacted outside of what we've seen. So yes, Trust, Respect, Friendship, bonding over their shared rival/friend..... that makes it sound like a Shonen battle manga, but I definitely think it's accurate.

[thegloriousninjaturtle]

First Lines in 2024

Welp, @delivish tagged me to give some sneak peeks in the making and thank goodness they did tag me because boy have I been writing! I know I'm practically silent on here, but I do miss Ao3 and I miss the amazing community in the fandom even more! Makes me wonder why I take a long long time to post (besides life being the apparent answer XD). Here are some snippets of two fics that will be posted soon!

A Series of Choices (CH.5)

Kenny lay on the couch, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he played Tetris on his phone, waiting for Karen to FaceTime him. It was eight in the morning and he had been up since five playing, his thumbs moving on autopilot, tapping the blocks into place. The smell of ash filled the room, smoke curling over his head, and for once, Kenny was glad to be home alone. It was a rare moment where he was able to smoke inside the house and no one was around to pester him about his habits. As Kenny tapped a line piece to the right of his screen, Karen’s face popped up on his phone. He moved his ash-filled cup out of view before answering the call.

“Hey!” Karen beamed.

Kenny couldn’t help but look surprised to see his sister’s hair now a different color. “Hey. White?”

“Sort of. It’s actually a really light pink. My roommates helped me dye it and cut it, too. Do you like it?” She asked, shaking her short hair from side to side.

“Yeah, actually. It’s different,” he commented. “So is that the first thing you did when you got off the plane?”

“More like the second. The first was struggle to unpack with two other people in a tiny space,” Karen said. “Here’s the full tour of the dorm, if you’re interested.”

 She pushed herself out of the way and her laptop was able to capture the entirety of her room right in its place. He was able to catch the lofted beds, desks, and crammed mini fridge all in one glance. Karen wasn’t kidding when she said she was shoved into a closet.

“That’s it?” Kenny asked.

“Yup. The only thing you’re not seeing is my desk, which you don’t really need to see,” she mumbled as she shuffled a few papers out of the way. “But that’s it,” she confirmed and moved back into view.

“Bet you wish you had your old room back.”

Karen gave a half-shrug. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m just glad I got roommates that I actually get along with.”

“Are you saying your old roommates sucked?”

“Yeah, because at least these ones aren't pigs.”

Forgive Me Father for I Have Sinned

In roughly thirteen hours, Butters will be standing in South Park’s Roman Catholic church, waiting to be wed to a woman he didn’t love. His mother has planned everything, from the guest list to the music to the white rose boutonniere on Butters’ suit. His girlfriend – now fiance – of three months has been teasing Butters about her wedding dress, telling him she couldn’t wait for him to see it and even more excited to walk down the aisle without her promise ring. They will say their vows and seal their fate with their first kiss. During the reception, everyone will gorge on gourmet food as they toast speech after speech, congratulating them on their big day. Perhaps Butters’ parents will finally tell him how proud they are of him. Butters and his new wife will have their first dance before cutting the cake his mother lost her mind. No doubt the baker blacklisted them from any future orders. A perfect tale for any wedding, except when his fiance will appear before the church doors, Butters won’t be waiting for her on the other side.

I'm tagging @lozislaw because I know you beautiful bitch have something in the making XD Of course, if you wish to keep it a surprise, we'll all be waiting with bated breath <3

[glitterpeachtree]

You were Dani's little sister. You liked spending time with Dani and Six. However, you didn't like how Dani and Six treated you. They would sometimes treat you as if you were glass. A story in which Dani and Six live together, and you, have Schizoaffective Disorder.

Why am I like this? Part one

......

I was in bed, laying on my side, blanket up to my ear. It was a bad day. A day where there were so many voices, it was hard to concentrate on my own thoughts. Court was keeping an eye on you from the doorframe as Dani was making a phone call right outside the room. She was on the phone with my psychiatrist. All of the sudden I saw a figure in the mirror.

"Court? Court? I'm scared. I'm scared. What's that? He's watching us." I sat up and started breathing heavily. Dani looked at me with concern from the hall. Then Court walked to my bed, and took my wrist and opposite elbow and gently pushed me down.

"Nothing's there. It's safe." He reassured me. I took his hand.

"Don't go." I sobbed.

"I'm not going anywhere. Just try to relax. Close your eyes if you need to." He said calmly.

......

After Dani was finished with the phone call she went over to Court. She quietly told Court that the psychiatrist said to take you to the ER, if the psychotic episode didn't die down. Court looked back at Dani with worry, and then back at me. I had missed this entire conversation due to auditory hallucinations, and muttering to myself about things that weren't actually there.

.....

An hour later I was less agitated. I could think (mostly) clearly again.

"I don't want to take meds anymore." I blurted out. I was sitting on the sofa. Dani was reading a book, and Court was looking at the security feed.

"You mean you don't want to take these meds anymore, right? Dr. Foster probably needs to adjust your dose or-"

"No. I think they're making me worse" I interrupted.

"Can you just give these a chance? Please? A few more weeks? You can't just stop taking them." She persuaded.

"I don't know. Why am I like this? Why is that other people can just function normally, but I can't even spend a day alone because you guys think I'm going to gouge my eyes out or slit my wrists." I said angrily. I had Dani's full attention, and Court stopped looking at the monitors. I darted my eyes between Dani and Court, expecting them to give me an answer that would explain everything. Instead, they stared back at me. Dani finally answered:

"You don't mean that, right? Slitting your wrists? Look, you have an illness. I know you hate it, but everyone struggles with something. We just need to get you on the right meds, okay?"

Later that night I didn't take my meds. I pretended to, but I didn't want them.

.....

The next day, I had a seizure. Apparently suddenly stopping your antipsychotic meds will do that to you.

Dani's POV:

(Y/N) was sitting at the table playing with her eggs. It seemed like she was never hungry anymore. I would have to mention that to Dr. Foster. Courtland spent the mornings eating an apple as he walked around the perimeter of the house, he had a little bit of a routine. A couple minutes later, he walked back in the house and threw his apple core in the trash.

"Is that all you're gonna eat?" I asked (Y/N). She seemed a little off this morning. Perhaps it was because of her little outburst last night. I grabbed the plate from her and turned around to toss her uneaten eggs in the trash. All of the sudden I heard a hard thud. Her head had hit the floor. I dropped the plate, and rushed over to her. Her body was convulsing, and her breathing was coming in short gasps.

"Courtland! Come quick! What do we do?! I yelled.

Court had some medical training due to his "career". He came running down the hall and kneeled down next to (Y/N).

"She's having a seizure." He muttered to himself. He took his jacket off and placed it under (Y/N's) head. And turned her onto her side.

"Call an ambulance. I don't like the way she's breathing." He said pretty calmly. He took her pulse and placed his other hand on the side of her face, to keep her head from coming off of his jacket. As I called an ambulance her convulsions became slower and her breathing was starting to become more even. She still sounded out of breath.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Court asked. She made a short humming noise in response.

"You just had a seizure. Just try to relax." He said. He took his hand and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Has she had one before?" Court asked me.

"What, no." The doorbell rang, it must be the paramedics.

.....

TBC

[itsrogersandco]

Self para - Isabella and Sara's phone call

Grabbing her phone she video called her best friend. As they appeared on the screen Sara laughed, “Over 12 hours without a text or call, it must be going well.” The blonde’s laughter quickly stopped though as they saw Isabella’s face properly come into focus. With a sigh Sara leaned back against their couch, “Talk me through it.”

@h3rtzoom

Isabella bit down her lip as she looked at her friend's now concerned face. "I fucked it all up. I freaked out when Noel was being so sweet and offering to answer any questions I had and now I don't know what to do."

"Izzy, we both know you are being way too dramatic. I'm sure you haven't fucked it up but where is Noel now?"

"I assume in the bedroom but I really don't know," Isabella sighed.

"And where are you?"

"In the library." Isabella lifted her phone to turn it and let Sara see the space. "This house is massive. It's got this huge fancy drive up, goodness knows how many bedrooms but we're staying in one of the guest rooms and Noel's old bedroom is still there like they've just gone to college and there's proper paintings and statues and all sorts. I feel like I'm in some sort of museum."

Sara began to laugh, "And Noel didn't tell you any of this in advance." Isabella shook her head and Sara smiled kindly, "And now you feel lied to because you hate surprises....and you were already on edge about meeting Noel's family." Isabella nodded again, not willing to admit out loud just how well her friend knew her. "You know," Sara continued, "It's a bit like you haven't been honest with Noel about your family and now you are struggling to hide the truth too."

"That's totally different," Isabella objected, her chest tightening at the accusation.

"Is it Izzy?" Sara asked, her brows raised. "In fact you are right, Noel probably didn't actively hide that her family have a big house. They probably didn't even think about it just as you didn't tell them you have a one bedroom apartment when they going to stay at yours for the first time." Isabella's nose crinkled as she tried to follow the logic but Sara was on a roll. "Only one of you is actively keeping secrets and it's not Noel." She paused before continuing more cautiously, "And perhaps the more they share with you the more you want to share with them."

Isabella interupted, "I can't tell them. What if they don't understand and think I'm some gold digger? What if they want to meet my parents or worse, my sister? What if they think I lied to them about Thanksgiving?"

Sara let her ramble for a minute before she interupted, "Stop that right now before you really do send yourself into a spiral. First you pretty much did lie to them at Thanksgiving." She held up her hand to stop Isabella protesting. "Yes I know you didn't say you were going home but you also didn't tell them you weren't. Second, if you are going to have any future with Noel they are going to expect to meet your family at some point. You can't avoid the subject forever. It's already been what, three months?"

"Four months," Isabella corrected.

"Exactly, four months. Do you honestly think Noel hasn't wondered about your family before now? I'm surprised they haven't really asked but I can only assume you have been too busy fucking to have those conversations but don't you think they already wonder why you never mention them?" Sara smiled supportively, "Maybe this is the time to rip off the bandaid and tell them at least some of the truth. At least let them know you are seriously low contact with them. Tell them something to explain why you freak out everytime family is mentioned and then after the holidays, when you are ready you can tell them everything." She looked intently at the camera, "Because we both know that if you do get really serious you will need to legally protect Noel in the same way you have for yourself and from everything you've just said that could get very complicated. It's not something you can just drop on them, 'here sign this contract and lets get your assets into trusts that my family can't touch them'." She could see Isabella's eyes filling up even though she was nodding along, "I'm sorry Izzy but that's the reality." Sara's face changed into a big grin, "However you do know an amazing family lawyer who has your back."

"Yeah, thanks Sara. I appreciate it. I guess I had better go and talk to Noel and I'm still hoping you are on for New York in the summer. I really want you to meet Noel." Wrapping up the call Isabella took some deep breaths before she headed upstairs, praying that she didn't run into anyone on the way since her tear stained cheeks and red eyes would be impossible to hide.

[snwlkr]

Fast & Furious - DomBri - The stranger of the bus

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Fast & Furious (Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Words: 2,362 Relationships: Brian O'Conner/Dominic Toretto Characters: Dominic Toretto, Brian O'Conner, Vince (Fast and the Furious) Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life, Kinda meet-cute, Alternate Universe - Normal Life

Summary:

Dom takes the same bus each morning to get to work. One day, a new guy gets on the bus, and then he shows up again the next morning—and the next. The new guy keeps dozing off and ends up missing his stop. And Dom is a good and helpful guy.

:::

Dom boarded his usual morning bus to work, a routine that had been part of his life for two years. He rode until the bus terminus, giving him the chance to see everyone getting on and off. He wasn’t the only one taking the bus every morning, and over time, he recognized several familiar faces. Not being very talkative, and with people nowadays tending to keep to themselves, Dom let the time pass quietly, reading a book or a magazine, or working on a file for work that often took longer than he was paid to finish.

Every day, new faces came and went. Dom didn’t pay much attention to them, but with more than forty-five minutes on the bus, he had to occupy himself somehow. He enjoyed watching people board and either inventing stories about their lives or picking up on the clues they left behind.

For example, the woman who had just boarded may have forgotten to buy eggs for her son's birthday cake. Dom gathered this from her phone conversation, where she insisted she wasn’t absent-minded, that everything would be ready on time, and that yes, of course, she’d already packed the RC helicopter.

Sure, it might not have been about eggs at all, but the details didn’t matter—it was more about passing the time than prying into her life.

Then there was the blond man sitting across the aisle from Dom. With surfer hair and sun-kissed skin, he looked like a heartbreaker—always either at the beach or out partying all night. He seemed tired, as if he hadn’t slept much. The man dozed off several times, waking each time to the sound of his vibrating phone. He’d answer with an annoyed expression, then close his eyes again, only to repeat the cycle until he finally got off at his stop.

Dom imagined that he must have partied too hard and that his unhappy girlfriend was probably accusing him of being unfaithful. It was the story he had created for him. Of course, he had no real idea—he’d once imagined that one of his bus mates was an undercover cop in a drug ring, while another, dressed in a sharp suit with a clever look, was the inventor of the DVD that was just starting to take off.

The next morning, Dom saw the blond man get back on the bus and sit down not far from him. He dozed off once again.

Maybe Dom had made a mistake—perhaps the young man actually worked nights and was on his way home. Maybe the day before, his girlfriend had asked him to run some errands, and he had just felt too lazy to do them.

This time, the man woke with a start a few minutes before his stop, glancing around and out the window. Relief washed over him as he realized he hadn’t missed it. He blinked hard, wanting to drift back to sleep but struggling to keep his eyes open.

He got off at the same stop as the day before, and Dom watched him walk away along the pavement before the bus started moving again.

On the third day, it was no surprise when he fell asleep again, but this time he didn’t seem to wake up. As the bus approached his stop, Dom hesitated, unsure whether to rouse him. But who would do that? It felt like a major invasion of his personal life.

So he did nothing and let the young man doze off until he finally woke up, swearing as he glanced out the window and pressed the stop button. Dom watched as he pulled out his phone and started making a call.

"I'm going to be late. Yeah, well, I can't work 24/7! I'm not the one who broke my ankle, thank you very much. Call Rome if you want to be angry at someone. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning except for a couple of chocolate bars, so lay off my back. Oh, you mean my ten-minute break? I used it to take a damn shower. Blame me for my priorities.”

The young man sounded annoyed, and Dom realized he had completely misjudged his life story.

When the man got off at the next stop, Dom saw him cross the road to catch the bus going in the opposite direction.

For the next two days, Dom was off work, and he wondered if he would ever see him again. Maybe the guy had just had car trouble, and it would be fixed by next week.

On his way back to work that Monday, as the bus approached the stop where the young man usually got on, Dom couldn’t help but look out the window—and there he was.

Despite his last mistake, the young man fell asleep again. This time, Dom didn’t feel it was right to let him miss his stop once more, so he decided to wake him up.

The man looked both suspicious and grateful, making Dom feel compelled to explain himself—he didn’t want to come off as the local weirdo.

"I take this bus to work every day, and I heard you on Friday when you missed your stop. I’m sorry if—”

"Oh, no, it’s okay, thank you! You just saved my life," the young man replied, flashing a big smile as he accepted Dom's explanation. He got off the bus, and Dom settled back into the rhythm of his day.

The next day, Dom didn’t want to feel awkward, so he kept his eyes glued to his book as they approached the stop where the young man usually boarded. He didn’t even check to see if he was there or where he might be sitting.

As they neared the stop where the man had gotten off the day before, Dom noticed that no one had pressed the button to signal the bus to stop. He looked around and spotted him—sleeping.

Dom pressed the button and made his way toward him again. If it had felt strange the first time, it was even stranger the second time. He considered sitting in the seat behind him and kicking his seat to wake him up without being noticed, but another man was already sitting there.

So, like the day before, he gently tapped the young man on the shoulder. He slowly woke up, blinking as he looked at Dom and then around him. “Again? Damn. Thanks, I owe you one,” he said, a self-deprecating chuckle escaping his lips.

On Wednesday, Dom was about to repeat his strategy of being completely engrossed in his book when he felt movement next to him. The young man had taken the seat across the aisle, looking straight at him. “Can you save me today too?”

Dom was caught off guard by the way he asked but smiled shyly in response. “Of course.”

The man smiled back and quickly fell asleep, trusting Dom completely. Now it was Dom who felt the pressure of making sure he didn’t miss the young man’s stop. But he didn’t, and when he finally woke him up, the man looked at him with sleepy blue eyes. “I slept a lot better knowing I didn’t have to worry. Would you mind doing this again?”

Dom agreed.

That day, he mentioned his new routine with the unknown guy on the bus to his colleague Vince, who laughed and called him a Good Samaritan.

Thursday passed in much the same way. But on Friday, as Dom watched the man get off the bus, a nagging feeling told him something was off. It was only when he sat back down and glanced at the empty seat next to him that he realized the young man had forgotten his backpack—the very bag he had seen on his back every day before.

Dom's first instinct was to warn the driver, but the drivers often changed, it might make it harder for the man to find his bag later. Dom didn’t work on Saturdays, but the guy didn’t seem to have many days off planned, so he’d probably be back tomorrow. Dom figured he could catch the bus in the morning, return the bag, and go straight home—it wouldn’t take much time.

If the stranger wasn’t there, Dom would take the bag straight to the police. At least with them, he was sure it would get back to its owner. So, he decided to take it with him to work.

When Dom arrived, Vince raised an eyebrow. “Have you changed your style? A Jansport school bag? Really?”

Dom settled into the office they shared and placed the stranger’s bag next to his own. “This is the bag from that guy I was telling you about…”

“What, you stole it?! Dom—”

“What? No! He left it when he got off the bus. I’ll give it back to him tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow. As in Saturday. Alright, no big deal,” Vince said, sounding suspicious.

Dom noticed Vince staring at the bag, and he frowned. “Don’t even think about it.”

“What, you’re not curious?”

Dom was, but he knew this was about respecting someone’s privacy.

Vince put on his best innocent face. “If there’s a phone number in there, we could at least let him know we have his bag. It would reassure him to know it hasn’t been lost or stolen.”

Vince saw Dom hesitate and knew he had won. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave you with your morals intact. I’ll do the searching.”

“No, Vince—”

But Vince had already grabbed the bag before Dom could stop him and opened it. “Wha—unbelievable! You won’t believe what’s in here!” he said with delight in his voice. Dom stopped and looked at him, his eyes wide with curiosity.

Then Vince burst out laughing. “I’m just kidding, man. All I see are clothes.”

Not a gold thief, then. The bag wasn’t heavy enough for that, but it could have been filled with cash from a robbery.

“I think he works at the hospital—look, this must be his change of clothes. And there are some documents. Judging by the gibberish and the logo, it’s definitely from the hospital. And keys.”

Keys? Dom swore under his breath. He hadn’t thought of that—he always kept his keys in his pocket, but if the man had his in the bag, he wouldn’t be able to get home tonight.

“See? I was right to open it. Ah, here’s his wallet.”

Vince grabbed it and noticed Dom looking at it with interest. A few seconds passed, with Vince not moving on purpose, and Dom rolled his eyes. “Come on, open it.”

Vince opened it. The address was hard to trust; the paperwork wasn’t always up to date, but once they knew his name, the best idea would be to return it to him at the hospital.

“Considering his stop, he must be working at the hospital on the East,” Dom said. Vince confirmed this with the hospital address on the official documents he found in the bag.

Vince now had the stranger's ID card in his hands. “Oh, so that’s why you wanted to keep his bag. I get it now. Here I thought you were just a good guy, but clearly, you were hiding the fact that this guy is handsome as hell.”

Dom blushed. “He could be a serial killer for all we know. Don’t trust a pretty face.”

“A heart killer, you mean? No doubt about it. Should we go during lunch break?”

Dom nodded but continued to stare at Vince.

Vince grinned. “What, you want to see his ID? Jealous that I know his name and you don’t?”

Dom clicked his tongue and looked away. “Fine, don’t tell me. I don’t care.”

“You could try to guess.”

“Right, because there aren’t a hundred thousand names out there. For all I know, he could have Swedish parents and a name I’ve never even heard of.”

“Nah, it’s just plain, simple English. I can’t even tell you the first letter; otherwise, you’ll guess it in less than five tries. Maybe even the first try.”

“John,” Dom blurted out, falling into the trap as his curiosity got the better of him.

“Nope. Hey, it’s almost his birthday…”

Just then, their boss walked in to collect the file Vince was supposed to have handed in the day before, and Vince quickly put the man’s things back into the bag.

During their lunch break, they headed to the hospital. Vince approached the reception desk. “Hey, sorry to bother you. One of your employees left his bag on the bus this morning. His name is Brian O’Conner.”

Dom mumbled the name, associating it to the face of the man.

“Oh, yeah, thanks for bringing it back! I’ll make sure he gets it. Will that be all?”

Vince felt a bit disappointed—he wanted to see the guy in person, but the place was packed. The man was probably swamped with work.

Dom didn’t see the man again until Monday, and this time, he sat right next to Dom, a sweet smile on his lips. “You brought my bag? Thank you so much! I thought I’d have to sleep in the hospital because I didn’t even have money for a hotel. I swear I would have had nightmares if I had really stayed here 24/7.”

He was so awake and talkative, and Dom loved it. “No problem. Sorry, I didn’t notice before you got off the bus.”

“Are you kidding? It's all on me and my stupid brain. I wish I could thank you properly, but I’m so short on time. As soon as my buddy Rome is back on his feet, I’ll have some free time. Where do you like to eat?”

It took Dom a moment to realize that he was trying to invite him somewhere.

“Huh, sushi? I mean—anywhere you like?”

“Sushi it is! I’ll let you know when I can. Oh wait, silly me, I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Brian. Wait—you knew that already…”

“And I’m Dom.”

Brian shook Dom’s hand with a bright smile. “Nice to meet you, Dom.”

  :::

  THE END

[sweetest-florida-blue-peach]

Southern Roots Series:

Song: Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That

Artist: Dolly Parton

Characters for Scenario: Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

{{And before y'all come at me with your pitchforks and torches, HE IS AGED UP, so stop clutching your pearls and quit looking at me like I scandalized a nun}}

Warnings: None that I can think of other than Bakugou's usual potty mouth. Part of the scenario takes place in a bar, so there are mentions of alcohol and drinking, and cigarettes. Not sure if any of these are relevant for a warning, but I'm adding them just in case. Oh, and breakup angst, because, why not?

Notes: Tried to keep the reader GN. Concept is almost entirely from Reader’s perspective, so lots of usage of the pronoun ‘you’. Bartender calls Reader “sugar, hon, darlin’,” etc. Bartender is ‘she/her’. {Bartender is my self-insert, and no, this post was not intended to be all about her, but she is integral to the underlying story}. Uses they/them pronouns when discussing Reader. If I slipped up anywhere, politely tell me, and I’ll go back and edit.

Word Count: Bruh, I ain't got the mental capacity to count right now 🤣😭

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

For @trashpotatoess.

Sloane, my love, my darlin', my dearest, my wonderful friend--I am so, so, SO sorry for the lateness of this, and doubly sorry if it’s absolute garbage, but I sincerely hope you enjoy your requested scenario. 💙

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? In your cowboy boots and your painted-on jeans, all decked out like a cowgirl's dream. Why'd you come in here looking like that?

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The bass of whatever song is croaking through the speakers is doing nothing to help the ache that’s been building up in your head for the last few days. Between that and the seemingly never-ending hangover, your brain was constantly pounding against your skull. 

It’s been three months. Three months of tears, anger, denial, depression, alcohol, and mornings where you struggled to get out of bed. Three months of staring at the cracked screen of your phone, hoping for a notification from him. You had thrown it at your bedroom wall in a fit of rage after he had texted you for the last time asking for his things back. One half of you wished that you’d never deleted your social media, but you did it because you were prone to stalking his account, and you were glad you did. You were downright terrified of what you might find on there. Or who you might find on there. The other half wished that he’d text again, perhaps even be so courteous as to call. Just so you could answer and tell him to go to hell before hanging up. 

Three months of this back-and-forth war with yourself was about to drive you absolutely insane, as was the thought of spending another aimless night holed up in your apartment. So you did the logical thing. You came to the only decent bar Yuuie had to offer and were drinking your sorrows away--for the eighth time this month.

As you down your second drink of the night, you stare down at the brim of your empty glass, mulling over how you found yourself here. A pair of crimson eyes, ash-blonde hair, and a devil-may-care smile flash through your mind. Sighing, you lean your elbows on the bar, bringing your fingertips up to your temples to massage them, trying to rid yourself of some of the discomfort.

The worst part about the breakup wasn’t actually the breakup itself. Sure, there was the screaming and the arguing before he eventually hopped in his truck and left you in a cloud of dust, but that wasn’t the worst part. No, the worst part was the fact that everyone knew about it almost as soon as it happened. And it’s all anyone had been gossiping about. For weeks. So even if you wanted to try and forget and move on, you couldn’t. The price and curse of living in a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and you have no kind of privacy whatsoever. You couldn’t even nurse your heartache behind closed doors because someone was always dropping by your place to “check up on you”. 

It also didn’t help that your ex was practically famous. A traveling bull rider and Yuuie rodeo champion for the last six consecutive years, he’d made quite a name for himself.

His rodeo stage name was ridiculous. 

The Great Explosion Murder God and his equally explosive steed, Dynamight. 

That was the title the papers had graced him with after his amazing win on the bull riding portion of the rodeo. No one expected him to last eight seconds on Yuuie’s most notorious bull, Samson. Samson was the bull that put more cowboys out of commission than any farm accident ever could. But your ex craved challenges just as much as he craved the sweet taste of nicotine in his favorite cigarettes. So he rode Samson. And hung on for twenty-three seconds before being flung off. He’d been the town hero ever since. 

Around rodeo season, everywhere you looked, pictures of TGEMG could be seen on every visible window, telephone poll, and building wall imaginable. But you never saw him as the golden boy of Yuuie. You saw him for who he was. A troublemaker with an explosive temper, as hotheaded and stubborn as Samson the bull. To Yuuie, he was The Great Explosion Murder God. 

But to you? He was simply Katsuki Bakugou.

Just the thought of his name caused a sour taste to build up in your mouth. Running your fingers through your already messy hair, you seriously contemplate banging your head onto the polished bar.

“Can I get you another, sugar?” A sweet voice draws you out of your thoughts. You glance up and see the bartender swiping down the counter with a wet cloth. Her dark hair is pulled back into a messy bun, with a few loose strands hanging out here and there. Light, subtle strokes of mascara cling to her lashes, accentuating the color of her eyes, two different hues of brown; the left eye a much lighter shade than the right. 

A black Jameson Irish Whiskey racerback clings to her curves, accentuating her hourglass figure. A delicate silver chain hangs around her neck, an unknown pendant playing hide-and-seek in the plunging neckline of her tank. 

She cuts her mismatched eyes to your glass. “Do you want another, or are you calling it a night?” 

Without a word, you shove it toward her. She raises a questioning brow at your actions, lips quirking up slightly, but to your surprise and thankfulness, she doesn’t say anything else. She just grabs the bottle of your favorite liquor and refills your glass for the third time. As she works, you take a moment to study her. 

She was new in town. Landed a job as a bartender. Quiet, kept to herself. A walking enigma as no one really knew anything about her. Hell, you weren’t even sure what her name was. All anyone knew was that she moved to Yuuie shortly after you and Katsuki had called it quits. But from her accent and manners, you would’ve thought she was a local. She fit in well enough, seeming to belong with the rest of you, as if she’d been here the entire time. 

Setting the glass back in front of you, she gives you a small smile. “Here you go, darlin’.”

You blink once. Twice. You then seem to realize that you still need to pay for your drink. Snapping out of your daze, you reach into your pocket to pull out your wallet. Your fingertips barely brush the stash of bills you have tucked away when the bartender shakes her head. 

“On the house, hon.”

You stare incredulously at her. She shrugs, grabbing up empty beer bottles. “You look like you need it.” 

You wince as the coolness of the glass seeps into your palms. “That obvious, huh?” 

She snorts, wiping down the counter again before throwing the towel over her shoulder. “I’m a bartender; it’s my business to be observant. Kinda part of the job description.” Brushing back the stray hairs dangling in her face, she sticks out a hand. “I’m Blue.”

This time, it’s your turn to raise a brow. “Blue? Like the color?”

An expression settles on her face as if she’s in another place, another time, but she doesn’t give you a chance to dwell on it or even ask what she’s thinking about. The look disappears almost as quickly as it came, replaced by a wistful smile. “Exactly like the color.”

“That’s not your real name is it?” You ask. Again, you lived in a small town. And small towns came with a variety of names. Some were vintage, a little older but still respectable: Beau, Imogen, Pearl, and Edmund. Others were very Southern: Cash, Oakley, Easton, Wes, and anything that ended in ‘Lynn’. And then there were the off-the-wall ones like Cooter, Gator, Coon, Younique, Texas, Amarillo, and a few others that were just plain ridiculous. All in all, Blue wasn’t too bad a name to be saddled with.

She shakes her head, a small chuckle rumbling through her. “No. It’s....a nickname. Well, one of them. Two different nicknames gifted from two very different people. Blue and Peach.”

“Peach?” The dubiousness of your tone causes her to throw her head back and laugh. 

“A long story from a lifetime ago. I got so used to them when I was younger that I sometimes wouldn’t respond to my actual name. Feel free to call me either. I’ll respond to both, but if I’m being honest, Blue is my preferred choice.” 

Stretching out your arm, you take her hand in yours, giving it a firm shake. “Well, nice to meet you then, Blue.”

Her eyes sparkle, wrapping her fingers around yours. “Likewise.”

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Even though the clock on your phone reads only a quarter past ten, the tavern was nearly jam-packed with patrons.

Several people crowd the bar. Few were playing pool or making bets on a game of darts. Others had paired off and were line-dancing on the dance floor to whatever playlist Present Mic had geared up for the evening.

Laughter bubbles in your chest as you take another shot. You were tipsy, borderline drunk, your giggles growing louder and louder, everything becoming funnier by the second. You were finally beginning to unwind and relax a little.

Okay, you had relaxed A LOT.

Blue made you hand over your keys after your fourth shot of vodka. When you tried protesting, she silenced you with a glare that nearly rivaled your mother’s.

“I’ll give you a lift when my shift ends. Until then, these,” she jangled your keys in front of your face before dropping them into a glass jar that she stashed behind the counter, “are staying with me.” 

You begrudgingly but gratefully accepted, especially as you were aware of the way Sheriff Enji Todoroki had been cracking down on drunk driving lately. You didn’t want to take any chances of getting thrown in the slammer and giving the town yet another reason to talk about you. The breakup was enough fuel to keep the fires going for a good long while.

To keep yourself from reliving the event and becoming a blubbering mess, you impulsively decided to ask Blue to tell you about herself.

She gave you a look that you couldn't quite perceive before sucking in her bottom lip and whistling to her partner.

"Neijire! I'm taking ten."

Your eyes travel in the direction of Blue's attention, landing on the bouncing figure of the other bartender. She wore nearly an identical outfit to Blue’s, but her shirt was more strategically ripped to bare more skin and bore the Jack Daniels logo instead of Jameson. She was happily putting a hefty bill into the Tip Jar, but Blue's words turned her mouth down into a pout.

"You're just now taking a break? Blue!" Neijire scolds, throwing a rag at the back of Blue's head. "You need to take your breaks as they come. Being on your feet for hours gets real exhausting real fast. I don't need you burnt out during your shifts."

Blue gives her a sarcastic salute while Neijire just rolls her eyes. She reaches across the counter, grabbing a pen, scribbling something down on a notepad. Ripping the paper cleanly off, she shoves it into Blue's hand, her golden eyes glittering in the low lights of the bar.

"Go ahead and give this to FatGum. He'll whip up something for you in the back. Take all your missed breaks and get yourself some dinner too. I don't want you back behind this counter until you've eaten something, you hear?"

“Neijire-chan! Can I get another over here, sweetheart?” One of the patrons calls, holding their glass up.

Neijire winks at you both, tucking back a curly lock of lavender-purple hair. “Welcome! What can I get y’all started with?” 

Blue limbos under the ‘employees only’ trapdoor and plops herself beside you on a cushy barstool, grinning. "What do you wanna know?"

"Anything,” you answer, slamming your shot glass down after swigging the contents. “Do you like living in Yuuie? What's your name? What's your sign? When's your birthday? Do you have any tattoos? Have you ever done anything illegal?" The questions were pouring out of you like water from a leaking spicket.

Blue laughs as she hands off her meal ticket to one of the passing waiters, setting it on top of his empty serving tray. "Thanks, Mirio!” 

The blonde bows at the waist, a thousand gigawatt smile flashing. “A pleasure, Miss Blue.” 

She waves him off, shaking her head at him and his antics before turning back to you. “This sounds more like an interrogation than a getting-to-know-you icebreaker."

"Well, it's not only me that's curious. The whole town has been abuzz about you since you got here. You're like a mystery novel with no ending."

Blue's face scrunches up in disbelief. "I'm an open book! Hit me."

“Do you have any pets?”

Her entire face lights up when you ask her that.

"Do you wanna see my cat?"

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And that’s how you found yourself about an hour later, learning everything there was to know about the elusive new bartender.

She whipped out her phone, showing you pictures of a tiny white kitten with a splotched black tail and scattered salt and pepper patches on her face and back. For reasons unbeknownst to you, she named it Queso Mozzarella but lovingly calls her 'Mozzy' for short. Your heart squeezed at the absolute adorableness.

After Blue put her phone away, she began to tell you about herself, bit by bit. Almost like putting together a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle. 

One of the first things she told you was her favorite flavor. Any and everything peach.

"I actually got the nickname 'Peach' when I was in elementary school because I always brought a fresh peach for lunch, even when they weren't in season."

She despises oranges, mainly because she's allergic to them.

"I swell up like a Goodyear Blimp. It ain't very comely."

She likes chocolate milk, mozzarella sticks, forget-me-not flowers, 80's movie soundtrack music, and her favorite color is blue (real surprise there).

"Told you, I'm an open book."

But the thing that shocked you the most was when you discovered that your previous assumption about her had been right. She did grow up in Yuuie.

"Born and raised."

"Then why did you move away?"

Blue fiddles with the basket of fries that came with her mountain of a burger. She’d polished off most of her food, playing with the remaining bits she couldn’t quite eat. Mirio dropped it off earlier, as well as a giant glass of sweet tea. He had playfully ruffled her hair despite Blue's protests before disappearing back into the sea of dancing bodies. 

 "My dad was in the military. He ended up getting promoted to a higher rank and stationed in another country the winter I became a junior. He packed us up and moved us overseas before I could finish the year out." A heavy sigh escapes her lips. She picks up a French fry, dipping it into a small bowl of ranch dressing. That was yet another thing you learned about her: she hated eating ketchup with her fries.

It drops back onto the checkered parchment paper in the plastic basket. 

"I didn't even get to say goodbye."

You slightly sober up at the sadness in her tone. However, before you or she could say anything else, a frazzled-looking Neijire rushes to y'all's end of the bar. "Blue, it's the Pre-Midnight Rush. I need some help back here."

Blue nods. “On my way, darlin’.” She wipes her hands on her jeans, standing.  

“Back to work, then.” She pushes the basket towards you. "Here. You should eat something to soak up all that alcohol you've been drinking."

You take it, deciding to heed her advice. She rounds the bar, walking to the sink to wash her hands before clocking back in.

“Hey, y’all,” she greets the fresh flood of customers alongside Nejire. “Pick your poisons.”

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"So why did you come back?" You shout at her over the pumping bass. Present Mic turned the tunes over to his DJ in training, Kyoka Jirou around midnight. The later it got, the louder the music became. And Jirou seemed to prefer it that way.

Blue vigorously shakes a silver canister before pouring a pink margarita into a salted glass. She throws a cherry in the middle of it, topping it off with a sliced lime before handing it off to the person who ordered it.

"My gramma is sick," she answers, shoveling ice into a few glasses. "I'm the only person willing to come take care of her."

Blue didn't seem too keen on delving into details, and you were smart enough to take the silent hint and not ask. You’re nursing your eleventh, maybe twelfth drink? as she steers the conversation away to lighter subjects.

She regales you with a story of how the town flirt and electrician, Denki Kaminari, shocked himself on an electric pole after he tried hitting on her as she was walking home with her groceries the other day. 

“He kept giving me a thumbs up from the back of the ambulance and muttering ‘yay’. I feel so bad but I couldn’t help but laugh at him,” Blue chuckles as she polishes another pint glass before putting it on the shelf. “Bless his heart.”

“Sounds like a typical day for him.” You slur, a hiccup escaping your lips. “He gets electrocuted so much that everyone in Yuuie calls him Sparky.” You chug back the rest of your bourbon, belching loudly. “Except for Jirou. She calls him ‘Jammingyay’.” 

Blue gently pries the glass from your hand. “Jammingyay? Well, that’s certainly creative. I always used to call him Pikachu.” She places it in the sink, eliciting a drunken whine from you. “Sorry, sugar. I’m officially cutting you off. You’re three sheets to the wind.”

“Am not,” you insist, but your vision blurs and you aren’t sure which Blue you’re looking at. The one on the left or the one on the right. Both of them frown at you. 

“Yeeeeaaah, definitely time to call it quits. You’re as full as a tick on a bloodhound.” 

You burst into a deep belly laugh at her euphemism. Your laughter ends, as does the song that had been playing. Some rough feedback from the speakers grabs everyone’s attention, as well as the tap-tap-tapping of someone’s finger against a microphone.  

“Alrighty, y’all. It’s that time of the night. Karaoke hour,” Jirou announces, stirring up the crowd as they erupt into a fit of cheerful hollers. “You know the rules. Take a number, pick a song, and sing your little drunk hearts out.” Jirou places a couple of spare mics on her counter as a slew of girls immediately rush her DJ station. 

You scoff. “Who would wanna do something as dumb as karaoke?”

Blue flips a bottle behind her back, catching it before filling up a row of shot glasses. She takes out a lighter from her pocket, flicking it before setting the row on fire. They burn for a couple of seconds before she whips out two coffee mugs, setting them over the shots one at a time. After the flames die down, she passes them out to awaiting patrons. 

“I dabble in it from time to time. It’s a good way to get your emotions out or feelings across.” 

“You’re joking, right?”

She shrugs. “To each their own. We all cope in different ways.”

You feel the corner of your mouth twitch. 

“Blue! I need a pitcher of sangria and three whiskey sours!” Neijire shouts the orders as she places more bills into the Tip Jar and rings up tabs. 

Blue sighs, glancing up at you from under her lashes. “Never a moment of peace around here, I’ll tell ya that.” 

As she makes her way to Neijire, you replay her words over and over in your head.

‘We all cope in different ways.’ 

The first song gears up on the karaoke machine, lyrics displayed on an ancient projector screen. Familiar chords of a song you loved singing on long road trips start to filter out of the speakers, and the soft, subtle backup vocals of Dolly Parton croon in your ears.

You had no idea who was currently butchering one of the best songs (in your opinion) that Dolly Parton ever created, but you couldn’t help but want to sing along.

“Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? In your cowboy boots and your painted-on jeans, all decked out like a cowgirl's dream. Why'd you come in here looking like that? Here comes my baby, draggin' my heart behind. He's drivin' me crazy! Who says love is blind? He's got a wanderin' eye and a travelin' mind, big ideas and a little behind. Out with a different woman every night, but I remember when he was mine.” 

And how had you been coping? Not moving from your couch in several days, refusing to change out of your ratty pajamas. Hygiene had been a foreign concept during the first week or so after you and Katsuki had called it quits. You didn’t shower. You didn’t bother putting on a new outfit. You hardly opened your blinds, reveling in your misery in the dark. Netflix should have sent you a medal for watching nearly every romcom known to man on their streaming platform, all while sobbing into your ice cream cartons. You deactivated every platform of social media from your phone because you didn’t want to see how happy he was without you and didn’t want to give yourself any opportunities to fall into a deeper spiral of stalking his accounts. You chose to send your liver into an early grave and your bank account into the red with how often you frequented the bars and dives around town, doing your best to forget him.

How he smelled: like burnt sugar and salty caramel. How he tasted. How it felt when he held you in his arms. Like you were the only person he wanted to touch. To kiss. To love.

“Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? In your high heel boots and painted-on jeans, all decked out like a cowgirl's dream. Waltzing right in here lookin' like that. Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? When you could stop traffic in a gunny sack. Why you're almost givin' me a heart attack! When you waltz right in here lookin' like that I just can't stand it. To see him on the town, he's out slow dancing with every girl around. I'm a softhearted woman; he's a hardheaded man, and he's gonna make me feel just as bad as he can. He's got himself a mean streak a half a mile wide Now he's dancing on this heart of mine.” 

You feel as if the song is directed at you. Like an evil version of Cupid crawled from the depths of hell just to play with your already broken heart strings. That, or the person singing just had it out for you. Either way, each word hit you like a slap to the face.

“Ooh, Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? In your high heel boots painted-on jeans, all decked out like a cowgirl's dream.Why'd you come in here lookin' like that?”

Tears stung your lower eyelids as the song ended and the crowd exploded in whooping applause. 

Maybe whoever just got off the stage was in the same boat as you. Still in the tender stages of a splintered heart, trying to figure out how to put the pieces together. Perhaps that was their way of doing their best to move on and start fresh.

‘We all cope in different ways.’

How had you been coping?

Not well. Not well at all. 

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“Darlin’? Darlin’, you still with me?” A gentle shake to your shoulders startles you, causing you to jump a little. Blue retracts her hand. She meekly tips her head. “Sorry to wake you, sweet pea, but I’m nearin’ the end of my shift.”

You yawn, rubbing some of the sleep out of your eyes. “What time is it?”

“Nearly two. You fell asleep about thirty minutes ago.”

You grimace, rolling your neck from side to side. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. If we had a decent taxi service or some type of Lyft or Uber, I would’ve gotten you one a while ago. Let me just get a few of these stragglers and then I’ll take ya on home, okay?” 

You yawn again. “Thanks, Blue.” 

She smiles, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Ain’t nothin’ but a thing.”

“No,” you blurt out. She stops in her tracks and stares at you. “It’s not.”

“It’s just a ride home. I ain’t really doin' much, sweet pea.”

“It is a big thing.” You insist. “It’s a really big thing. Thank you.”

She shakes her head. “No, really, darlin’, it’s--”

“You’re the only person that hasn’t treated me like I’m made of glass.”

There’s a heavy, pregnant pause.

“Well, why on earth would I do that?”

“Because he broke up with me.” Damn you for drinking so much. You always were a bit of a talker when you got more than two sips of alcohol in you. You lost count of how much you consumed this evening, and now you were no better than the town’s gossip columnist who went under the alias of Mount Lady. Here you were, bearing your heart and soul to someone you didn’t even know, but you couldn’t stop yourself. 

Blue tilts her head to the side, her eyes searching yours. “Who broke up with you, sweet pea?”

A bitter laugh nearly chokes you as it collides with the sob rising in the back of your throat. The same tears you tried keeping at bay earlier decide to form a prison break and escape the confines of your eyelids, slipping down your cheeks. 

“The Great Explosion Murder God of Yuuie, Katsuki Bakugou.”

You weren’t sure if it was the strobe lights coming from the dancefloor or the way your tears caused impairment of your already compromised vision, but you could have sworn in that moment that Blue blanched. 

“Ka...Katsuki....Bakugou?”

“Yeah,” you swipe at your eyes with the heel of your hand, sucking snot back in before it could drip from your runny nostrils. 

“I’m...I’m so sorry, darlin’.” 

She says it with so much sincerity that you know she means it. Truly means it. Not like the other people in town who said it to you so flippantly. No. Blue was different. And maybe that’s why you felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable with her, sans all the alcohol running through your system. Because Blue had something a lot of folks in Yuuie didn’t. A sense of realness.

And that was something you needed right now. A real friend.

“I hate to leave you like this, darlin’, but I gotta finish these orders. Will you be okay for a few minutes by yourself?” Blue apologizes, handing you some napkins. You take one and angrily blow your nose. 

“I’ll be fine.”

Blue’s upper teeth knaw at her bottom lip as she looks at you, skepticism written all over her face. 

“I promise I’m fine.”

“Okay....I shouldn’t be longer than fifteen minutes. We’ll leave right after that.” She reaches up on the shelf to pull down some beer steins, ready to run them under the taps. Once they were filled to the brim, foam spilling down the sides, Blue slides the beer down to Neijire for her to pass on to the people who ordered them.

“Blue?”

“Yes, darlin’?”

“Thank you.”

A small burst of air leaves her nose as her face relaxes enough to gift you with a gentle smile. She opens her mouth to reply to you, but the sound of the double Western-style saloon doors draws her from the conversation.

“Welcome!” Blue shouts over her shoulder. “We’re fixin’ to get ready for last call soon. What can I--” 

Shattering glass can be heard in the quiet pause between music selections. 

“Blue!” Neijire hurries over to her coworker, mindful not to step on the broken pieces. “Are you okay?”

You glance up to see Blue’s wide eyes staring at something behind you. You assume her concerned gaze is directed at whoever just came in. Her skin pales, and you see her visibly gulping. “Oh, sugar honey iced tea...”

Neijire follows her line of sight. Her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. 

“Uh oh.”

Her eyes dart from you, to behind you, to you, to behind you again. She snatches the towel out of Blue’s hands, firmly shaking her as if trying to snap her out of her daze. 

“Blue, you’re shift is over. Go home.” Neijire says in a tone you’ve never heard come from her before. “Tamaki and Mirio can help me with the mess, but you should go. You need to go.” 

You stare at the two of them in bewilderment. Why were they looking at you like that? 

The stomping of boots encroaches on your space, coming closer with each step. 

“Cat got your tongue, dumbass? What the hell are you starin’ at me for?”

All the blood in your body turns to ice at the sound of a gruff, grating voice. One you were all too familiar with. One you hoped you’d never have to hear again. Not since the day he left you in a cloud of dust, never to look back.

Blue is in front of you in a millisecond, seemingly teleporting from one end of the bar to the other. “Hon, I’m clockin’ out now. Grab your stuff and we can go.” Blue reaches under the counter to grab your keys. But you don’t move. You can’t. You’re glued to your seat, your hands shaking. 

“Leavin’? I just got here! Neijire, what the hell kinda service is this?” The voice draws closer until it’s directly behind you. A hand slams down on the surface of the counter, right next to you, causing you to nearly jump out of your skin. “I swear this town ain’t got nothing fuckin’ going for it anymore.” 

You try swallowing, but the lump in your throat won’t allow anything past it. You squeeze your eyes shut.

Don’t look up. Don’t look up. Don’t. Look. Up.

“Service can be refused if the occasion calls for it and the occasion is callin’ for it. My shift is over and I’m headin’ on to the house. You need somethin’ you ask Neijire and you ask her politely.” Blue huffs, irritation and disdain coating every word. 

“Who the hell do you think you are? My mother? I already got one old hag harpin’ on me day and night. I don’t need another.”

“I ain’t old and don’t you dare talk about your mama that way, Katsuki Bakugou. I will call her and tell her you’re causin’ trouble again. Don’t think I won’t.”

“Still the same ole’ tattletale, aren’t you, Blue? Even after all these years, you ain’t changed a bit.” He pauses, but you can hear the salacious grin in his tone. “Well, parts of you have.” 

A resounding slap echoes in the air and you hear several gasps. Your eyes fly open to see Blue almost climbed over the bar, her arm raised high, palm a burning red. In your peripheral, your ex is hunched over, fingers pressed to the side of his face.

“You don’t know a damn thing about me, Explosion Boy. You never did. Don’t pretend like you do now.” You hear betrayal, hurt, and a slight tremble in her words. You stare at her.

Did they know each other?

But just as you opened your mouth to ask the silent question, the familiar sound of your keys clinking together snags your attention away from the scene unraveling beside you. 

“Come on, sugar. I’ll drop you off.” Blue tells you, lifting up the trapdoor of the bar before closing it behind her. 

A hand shoots out, clamping down on her upper arm. Her eyes shoot daggers at the person it’s attached to. 

“Off in such a hurry, Blue? Always willin’ to start a fight, but ain’t ever willin’ to finish it. I was right. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Get your hands off me before I have Tetsu knock you on your arrogant, conceited, spoiled little Southern ass.”

“Hah? That extra? Please. He wouldn’t last two seconds.” He tugs on her arm, trying to draw her closer, but his elbow knocks you in the back of the head. You weren’t expecting the impact, so it’s no surprise to you when you fall clean off your barstool. 

You crash to the ground in a graceless, drunken fashion. You hear Blue call your name, several people shouting, (all of their insults and anger directed at your ex), and three or more pairs of hands reaching down to help you to your feet. However, one set is faster than the others. Warm calloused fingers encircle your wrist, yanking you up off the floor. 

“Don’t toss them around like a ragdoll. Lord above, Bakugou. Sometimes I wonder if you’ve got anything up in that spiky head of yours. Then again, if your brain was leather, you probably wouldn’t have enough to saddle a Junebug.”

“Shut the hell up, you fuckin’ extra.”

“Don’t you swear at me.”

“I’ll do whatever I so fuckin’ please.”

Blue pinches the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. “You could make a bishop mad enough to kick in stained glass windows with that outhouse of a mouth.”

You want to laugh. Really you do. The entire situation is like something you’d read from a tacky fanfiction, or would be a terrible scenario for one of your cheesy romcoms. You’re on the floor while your ex and new friend are above you, bickering back and forth like an old married couple. 

It’s like a trashy Southern soap opera. With a Dolly Parton soundtrack to boot.  

However, your entire world comes to a standstill when a pair of furious ruby eyes stare into yours. 

Katsuki Bakugou.

His forehead is crinkled into those grumpy lines you slowly grew to love, once upon a time. Bits of his hay-colored hair poke out from beneath a black cowboy hat. He’s wearing a dark button-up shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, displaying his muscular arms. A clean pair of Levi’s cling to his legs and ass, perfectly sculpting the body worthy of a mythological god. 

So maybe there was some semblance of sense to his rodeo stage name. The god part at least. Because honestly, looking that fine should be considered a sin. You suck in your bottom lip, a not-so-subtle attempt to make sure that you’re not drooling.

Damn, boy. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” He all but yells at you, giving you a hard shake. 

The lyrics from the song from earlier dance around in your mind as your eyes drift down to his custom-designed cowboy boots. Black with bright orange X’s running across the front of them and olive green grenade emblems stitched to the sides near the top.

Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? In your cowboy boots and your painted-on jeans, all decked out like a cowgirl's dream. Why'd you come in here looking like that?

“Did you hear me, or are you deaf now? I said, what the hell are you doing here?”

Your mouth works faster than your brain. 

“Getting over you.”

His eyes widen, and for once in his damn life, he seems at a loss for words. 

“W-what?”

“Getting over you. The only way I know how. Because we all cope differently, don’t we, Blue?”

She stares at you with such sadness that it makes you feel guilty for even asking her. 

“I cope by drinking myself into oblivion, and you cope by inviting whoever the fuck you want into our bed. Oops. I mean, your bed.” The words are out before you can even process them, and you can’t take them back, even if you wanted to. Because, again, the more you drink, the more you talk. 

And you drank quite a bit. 

You really, really wish that you had gone through with the plan you first concocted when you first arrived. Because a concussed head was sooooo much better than what you just did. You recall what Blue said the moment that she saw Bakugou enter the bar.

Sugar Honey Iced Tea.

Shit indeed, Blue. Shit indeed.

Bakugou still stares at you, mouth hanging open. You reach over, placing your fingers under his chin, tenderly applying enough pressure that his lips slam together, shutting his mouth. Again, a feat you once thought to be impossible, but hey, you were just full of surprises tonight.  

“Trying to catch flies, ‘Suki? It’s easier if you use honey.” You purr, hand falling to his chest. His heart flutters underneath your fingers. 

“You drunk or somethin’?” He asks, clearing his throat as pink stains his cheeks. 

Giggling, you lean forward, your lips mere inches from his. 

“And if I am? What are you gonna do about it?”

His eyes narrow, glaring down at you. 

“Alright, I’m breaking this up,” Blue announces, tugging on the sleeve of your shirt. 

“Katsuki already did that for you,” you giggle, leaning back to look up at him. “Ain’t that right, ‘Suki? Dropped me like a sack of hot potatoes the moment I was no longer of any value to you.”

Bakugou says nothing, lips pressed into a firm, narrow line. 

“Time to go home, sweet pea,” Blue urges you, all but shoving you out the door.

You throw up a casual wave, flipping Bakugou off in the same breath.

“This was fun, ‘Suki, Let’s never do it again.”

And with that, Blue guides you through the double doors, allowing them to swing behind you. Your lungs greedily suck down the cool night air, goosebumps raising on your skin. Your body leans on Blue as she walks you to her truck. 

“Almost there, darlin’,” she assures you with each step. Finally, you’re brought to a halt in front of a navy blue Chevy Silverado. But before Blue can even reach over to open the door, you crumple into a sobbing heap. Your knees slam into the broken asphalt, but you barely register the pain. 

The agony consuming your heart is enough. And after the scene you caused inside, you only gave the town more ammunition to use against you. 

You hated this place. Hated this town. Hated the people in it. Hated him. But most of all, you hated yourself. Hated yourself for still caring about him. For still holding some kind of hope that things would work out and you’d be happy again. 

With him. Just the two of you. Like you always wished it would be. 

A pair of warm arms wrap around you, and you allow yourself to be held as you finally have the breakdown that’s been building up for the last three months.

“It hurts, Blue,” you blubber into her shoulder. “It hurts...so much.”

“I know, sweet pea. I know. And I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.” She whispers, smoothing down your hair. “He was an ass anyway. Always has been.”

“But he was my ass. And I loved him. I loved him. I loved him.” You repeat, clawing at your chest, desperately trying to reach into the hollow activity of your ribcage and rip your heart out in a pitiful attempt to find some relief, hoping that if you were able to do it, it would make the pain go away.

Blue doesn’t have an answer. No magic cure or spell to help you through this.

But she’s there with you. 

And that was more than you could have ever asked for.

"Why'd he have to show up like that? All decked out in his fancy boots and favorite button up and that hat. That fuckin' hat, Blue." You ask, salty tears dripping down your chin. "Just when I think 'to hell with him, I deserve more and better,' he waltzes on in like a damn movie star and steals my breath away all over again. Despite everything he's ever done, I love him. And I think part of me always will."

You look up at Blue through your haze of tears.

"Why'd he have to come in there lookin' like that?"

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Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? In your cowboy boots and your painted-on jeans, all decked out like a cowgirl's dream. Why'd you come in here looking like that?

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

IT'S DONE. I HAVE FINISHED. I HAVE COMPLETED THE TASK BEFORE ME. ALL HAIL THE EXHAUSTED BLUE PEACH.

Seriously, I am so thankful that I was finally able to finish this request.

It's currently 2 in the morning my time and this entire scenario is probably flaming garbage that resides in a sewage plant because I wrote most of this half asleep. And before you tell me, yes, I am aware that it looks like the spirit of an 1800s author took hold of me and had a field day using commas for ridiculously long sentences. I KNOW. 

But I had a lot of fun writing this, and if you don't like it, don't read it. It wasn't for you anyway. 😘

I write for my own pleasure and enjoyment, not for the validation of others.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

This is the first scenario of the Southern Roots Series. I will do my best to update as often as I can but life gets busy so don't expect too much out of me.

I really hope y'all enjoyed and I can't wait to write more.

Later, Taters! 💙💙

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[hyunsuks-beanie]

Running Away With You

*Image Credits to rightful owners*

Bang Chan x reader; non idol AU; established relationship; fluff; midly suggestive at places

Word Count: 4.25k

A/N: A huge thank you to @youn9racha, for this super cute request. I am as much a sucker for road trips as I am for Chan, so I really enjoyed writing this!! I hope you like it as much as I did.

"Do you ever just want to pack your bags and run away in the night, without telling anyone?," you ask your boyfriend, Chan, as you both lay in bed one night. "That's an interesting question," he says, playing with your hair, "Though first I'd like to know what made you think of that." "Pfft. It's nothing too complex, Christopher. It's just a random thought that popped into my head," you say, while rolling your eyes at his inquisitive nature.

"Y/N, I know you, and I can sense that you've got something bothering that pretty head of yours, and making you want to run away. So tell me, what is it?," Chan speaks in a soothing tone, making you snuggle into his chest even more, while letting out a sigh. "It's just, work has been so crazy these past few days, and the pressures of the real world are getting to me. You remember when we were back in college? Whenever things got too hard, we used to go on road trips to clear our heads. Even a couple days away from the harsh real life were enough to rejuvenate us. I guess I just miss those times, now that real life responsibilities are wearing us down."

Once you're done with your little rant, Chan pulls your head up a little, making you look at him. He softly says, "Aww baby, I'm so sorry I didn't realize you've been struggling these past few days. I guess I've been too busy with my own work tonoticee. I know we're no longer in college, but I promise to you, that whenever the going gets tough, I'll do everything in my ability to help your through." "I know Channie, I know. I have you, and it's more than enough."

You give in to sleep after a while, and so, you fail to notice that Chan takes a little longer to fall asleep that night. He keeps thinking back on what you said earlier, carrying out an internal debate with himself. "Y/N is right. Work and responsibilities have taken a toll on us, and a road trip may be just what we need. But can we really afford to just 'run away?' There are too many projects, too many commitments. And we owe it to our colleagues to tell them that we will be away for a few days," he thinks to himself, before slowly drifting off to dreamland.

The next morning brings with itself a fresh hustle, but your face doesn't betray any sign of the frustrations you let come to the surface last night. But Chan knows better, and, seeing his reflection while getting ready for work, he realizes that his own expression mirrors yours. A thin veil to hide the fact that it's getting too much. At his office that day, he can't seem to focus on his work, since his mind keeps drifting back to your words. By the time the evening rolls around, he has made up his mind. He's going to run away with you, for a week anyway.

But a road trip needs some planning, and Chan wants this vacation to be the perfect little surprise for you. So, on his way home, he stops by at the convenience store to buy some essentials. Instant noodles, a few bottles of beer, disposable utensils, rental DVDs, he collects quite a few things, being reminded of your college days with each item he adds to his cart. In a moment of impulse, he even purchases a tent fit for two, and once he's done shopping, he hides everything in the boot of his car. You don't need to know of his plan, yet.

The following day, he leaves his office early, calling in a week's leave of absence due to some made-up reason. Instead of going home, he first drops by at your office. Not to meet you, but to get a similar application for leave approved on your behalf.

He finally heads back home to pack and ready a couple of things for your trip. "Y/N wanted to run away in the middle of the night, and that is what we'll do," he smiles to himself. When you come home, he remains tight-lipped about his little surprise for you, even though his excitement is trying to get the best of him.

Once the clock strikes twelve, he brings you out to his car, without telling you the reason. "Just please, come on! Don't you trust me?," he says, pouting. On his way out of the house, he picks up your phone from the couch, along the house keys. You don't notice this, however, as you're busy pestering him with questions. "Chan, why are we going out so late at night? What's going on? Tell me!" "You wanted to run away, right? Well, how about running away...... to the convenience store?," he smiles cheekily, making you giggle. "Gosh you're such a cheesy idiot," you say, getting into the car, still blissfully unaware of his intentions.

"Yeah, but I'm your cheesy idiot," he laughs, pressing his foot on the accelerator.

It doesn't take you long to realize that instead of driving over to the 24/7 close to your house, Chan has pulled onto the highway. You turn to look at him, only to see him smiling brightly, his eyes trained ahead. "Chan, what are you doing?," you ask, though feel like you already know the answer. "Running away with you," he says, taking your hand in his his, and bringing it up to his lips.

"What? But that was just a random rant! And what about work? We can't just disappear like that," you exclaim, to which, he only replies by giving you a knowing look. "Let me guess, you already informed our offices?" "Yes, and no," he quips. When you look at him quizzically, he elaborates, "I submitted applications for leave, making up some random excuse. So we have a whole week to ourselves." "But, what about essentials and supplies? We don't have anything to eat," you try to reason. He counters, "Babe, I've been planning this for two days, and I already stocked up on all our favourite snacks, drinks, and movies. I even got us a tent for days we want to sleep out in the open. I've got it all set, so don't you worry. The only thing I need you to do is to promise me that for the next seven days, you won't check your phone. I've already downloaded tons of songs and created at least 20 different playlists. You won't be getting any work-related messages, since I've taken care of that as well, and for directions, we'll take the traditional way, and ask around."

"Directions? Where exactly are we going anyway?," is your next question. To your surprise, he simply shrugs, before telling you that he doesn't have any specific place in mind. "Let's just wander away, going wherever the road takes us," he says, rather poetically, to which, you can't help but laugh. You then let out a soft sigh, making him look at you. "Sounds like a plan to me. Chan and Y/N, running away together, with no destination in mind," you smile, before reaching over and kissing his cheek.

"Let's play some music, shall we?," you ask, before hitting shuffle on the first playlist that pops up on your phone. You both settle in a comfortable silence, and soon enough, you begin to get drowsy. Chan notices this, and tells you to rest your eyes for a bit. "Promise to wake me up in like, two hours, so that I can take over the wheel," you yawn. "Okay fine bub, now sleep." Chan continues driving, occasionally stealing glances at your sleeping form. "How did I get so lucky?," he wonders, just like he does every day.

Morning finds you to be the one behind the wheel, as Chan naps contently in the passenger seat. The brightness of the sun finally wakes him up, and he realizes that you've left the highway, and are now driving through what appears to be the countryside. "I wonder where we're headed," he says while yawning. "Well, a signboard I saw earlier told me that we are somewhere in Jeonju," you reply. Instead of words, Chan's reply comes as a grumbling from his stomach. "Hungry," you quip, making him nod his head vigorously. You hit the breaks, before preparing some instant ramen for breakfast.

You eventually continue on your trip, and after a few hours, you find yourself in the midst of traditional Korean buildings, which seem to be from the Joseon dynasty. "Is this perhaps a tourist location?," wonders Chan loudly, making you reply, "Only one way to find out." You both get out of the car and do some asking around. You find out that the place where you houses the residences of the noblemen of old, and has now been converted into a shooting-cum-tourist spot. "Tourists can get traditional hanboks from that store, to complete the experience," an old woman tells you.

You turn to look at Chan, your eyes shining. Twenty minutes later, you exit the store, dresses from head to toe in a light blue hanbok. Chan's eyes nearly pop out when he sees you, and when he tells you the same, you can't help but blush.

You continue to hang around the place little while longer, and have dinner at a small eatery nearby.

"I feel like I'm 20 again. Thank you Channie," you say, holding his hand across the table. "Anything for you love," he winks.

Evening eventually comes around, and you guys hit the road once again. Around dinner time, you notice that you are crossing by a wood and supplies shop, and an idea strikes your mind. "Let's buy some wood and grill our meat!," you say excitedly, making Chan coo at how adorable you are. "Great idea babe. Let me park."

You quickly exit the car and visit the shop to buy some wood, then get started on your mini bonfire. It proves to be more difficult than you had thought, given how inexperienced the both of you are. In the end, you manage to get the fire going enough for the meat to be grilled, and turn around to ask Chan to bring in the eatables, when you see his face. It's completely covered in soot from his failed attempts at lighting the flame, making you double over in laughter. "You look so funny," you say while gasping for air. "Wouldn't be so funny if I got this soot on your face now, will it?," he retorts, coming after you. You try to run, but it's obviously in vain, as Chan grabs hold of you in under a minute. You both laugh harder than you have in months, and when you finally calm down, you give your boyfriend a tight hug. He hugs you back, and whispers, "I love you." "I love you too, Channie," you say, "Now go and get the meat, I'm hungry." "Way to ruin the moment, Y/N," he grumbles as you push him away.

After dinner, you walk up to the shop owner to thank him, and ask his permission to camp nearby. "It rained a few days ago, so the ground is still wet, and will be uncomfortable. But you can rent a room here for the night if you'd like," he offers. "That'll be great sir, thank you for the help." Chan says, coming up behind you. The shop owner gives you the keys to a room, and before leaving, says something that leaves you both red at the ears. "No funny business here, please. I know you both are young, and controlling yourself is hard. But I'd rather you didn't 'play around' unnecessarily on my bed."

You get changed and climb into the bed, snuggling up to each other. "First day down, babe," you smile with your eyes closed. When Chan doesn't reply, you open them, only to find your man staring at you with love in his eyes. "This is pure healing for me, thank you for suggesting this trip, love," he says. You talk about anything and everything for a while, and then suddenly, you feel Chan's soft lips pressing against yours. He gives you a sweet kiss, and pulling away, says, "About what the old man said earlier.....," while smirking. You shove his chest, saying, "We shouldn't," making him pout. "Although, making out doesn't count as 'funny business,' does it?" And that's enough to make him press his lips back to yours, moving so as to hover over you.

You wrap your arms around his back, pulling you closer to him. He licks your lower lip, making you part your lips and allowing his tongue to enter. After a while, you break away, only to grab his T-shirt and take it off his body, before wrapping your hands around his bare back. Needless to say, the two of you didn't get much time to sleep that night.

You get started on your way again the next day, and around mid-day, you see a milestone telling you that you are entering Iksan. The small town seems a lifetime away from your hectic lives in Seoul, and you spend the day going from shop to shop, buying small trinkets and stuff that are reminiscent of the country life. The residents welcome you with open arms, and more than once, you find an old couple telling you how cute you look together.

"He's a keeper, that one. Don't let him go," a lady says to you, pointing at Chan, who can be seen playing with some kids. "I won't," you smile.

That night, you stay over at a family's house, who were nice enough to allow you to sleep on their futon. You have dinner with them, during which the kid's ask Chan, "Are you two married?," making him choke on his food. "I'm sorry for that, they are learning about families and marriage in school these days," says their mother. "It's all right," you smile, "But no, we aren't married." "But do you plan on getting married soon?," the kids persist.

You and Chan look at each other and smile, before saying in unison, "Yes. One day."

The next morning you take the wheel from Chan, and the both of you drive of in silence, as High School Musical plays on your dashboard screen. After a while, you say, "What is it, Channie? You've been staring at me," "It's just that, you seem way too quiet. You've been like that since last night, after dinner," he replies, "What's the matter? Are you okay?" "I'm fine, just been thinking." "About?" "About us," you begin, elaborating when you see him looking at you expectantly. "When those kids asked us if we were married, it got me thinking.....I love being with you, I love waking up next to you. We live together any way, and share all the burdens that come with it too. So I guess...getting married to you wouldn't be so bad after all," you say softly.

"Is this your way of proposing to me?," giggles your boyfriend. "What? No! I mean, I did say it would be nice to get married, but I don't have a ring right now. And I meant it when I said 'one day,' but it's not today," you hurriedly say. Chan bursts out laughing at this, "I know love, I'm not ready yet either. But yes, if I have to get married, I'd rather marry you than anyone else."

Around noon, you decide to set up camp in a forest clearing. It takes you a few hours to get the tent up and ready, as you keep getting delayed because you can't stop fooling around. Amid Chan getting himself wrapped with the tent instead of unwrapping it, and you assembling the rods the wrong way up, you spend some not-so-productive, but enjoyable quality time in each other's presence, something you didn't know you had been craving for.

Evening rolls by, and you have a light dinner with ramen, some roasted chicken, and beer, following which, you lay down on a picnic mat, with your head on Chan's arm. "The stars look so beautiful, don't they Channie?," you softly ask. "Not as beautiful as you," he says cheesily, making you hide your face into his side. "But yeah, you're right. I really wanted to go stargazing with you, but we never got the time," he sighs. "I'm so happy we came on this trip, love." You open your mouth to speak, but just then, you notice a star shooting across the sky. "Channie! Channie get up, it's a shooting star!," you squeal, before closing your eyes and praying. Once you open them, you notice Chan looking at you with a gaze full of love. "Didn't you wish for something?," you ask. "I did," he smiles. "But what about you? What did you wish for?"

"Come closer Mr. Bang, I'm not about to announce my wish to the whole world," you whisper slyly. He leans in closer to you, only to have you say, "You don't tell others what you wished for," before pressing a sweet kiss to his lips. He smiles into the kiss, before breaking away and hugging you tight.

The next day turns out to be the last before you have to turn back homeward, and so, Chan suggests you make the best of it. "From what I know about the country's geography, we should be close to a beach somewhere here," he says, making you look at him with your eyes shining. "Too bad we're not going to get help from the GPS, but I'm really enjoying the phone detox," you smirk. "Who needs GPS when we've got people? Look there, we're gonna enter a city soon, so let's ask our way around," he replies. An hour and a half later, you come across a milestone that tells you the beach is a mile away. Once there, you look for a deserted spread of sand, keen on not getting stuck in an unnecessary crowd. "We face enough of that in the city, I just want to be alone with you," you whisper, taking his hand in his.

When you finally succeed in finding such a place, Chan giggles, "Good thing I packed our swimming gear as well, right?" "You did well sweetie," you say, booping his nose softly. After getting changed, you spend the next few hours playing in the water. Suddenly, Chan pulls you flush into his chest, and whispers in your ear, "You look so hot wearing that, and with water dripping down your body, I'm really finding it hard to stay away." "Then don't," you say, biting your lip. One thing leads to another, and you're thankful for the changing shack nearby.

By the time the sun starts to set, Chan has pulled you out of the water, and is making you dance with him on the sand, after bringing your phones and portable speaker from the car. Waltzing to the music, you shyly say, "I love you Channie," making him blush and reply with an "I love you too, my cute baby."

After dinner you climb atop the roof of your car, talking about your younger days. "You remember when we got into a huge fight once, back in college? And I was about to break up with you, only to have you whisk me away on a road trip, just like you did this time," you say, laying your head on his shoulder. "It did get you to stick around with me though," he replies, laying his chin on your head. "And you remember how we first met? You spilled your latte all over my T-shirt, and then took me to the infirmary to check for any burns," he reminds you, making you throw your head back in laughter. "You kept whining for a year over how you missed out on being the 'campus heartthrob' because of that incident, when in reality, you still were the most popular freshman," you jab a finger at his chest, smiling.

"Okay, I've got a secret. I wasn't actually sad about the campus heartthrob thing, since I already knew everyone was head over heels for me," he grins, making you punch his arm. "Hey! Let me finish first. I knew everyone loved me, but I only had eyes for you. And whining was just a tactic to get you to feel sorry for me and go on a date with me." You fake gasp at this, exclaiming, "Treachery! And here I thought you were genuinely sulky about that. do you have any idea how guilty I felt that whole year?!" When he simply states at you, unamused, you add through a pout, "I'm planning on revoking your cuddle privileges."

All of a sudden, you realize that Chan is moving over to lay on top of you, trapping you between him and the roof. "You know you can't resist me, babe. So don't even try," he says. "You are right about that," you say, pulling him for a kiss.

You both end up remaining awake till dawn the next day, and decide to start on your journey home around mid-way, after having napped inside the car for a few hours. You get started on your way just after noon, with Chan behind the wheel, and you eating (and feeding him) from a packet of gummy bears in the passenger seat. You re-enter the city you had seen earlier the previous day, and decide to spend some time roaming around. It's a fairly big city, but still much quieter and more peaceful than Seoul. You pass on visiting the mall, reasoning that you do so too frequently back home.

Soon enough though, you come across a store that displays a signboard saying, "Free wine tasting session for couples." You both look at each other, and with a smirk, Chan says what is on your mind. "Can't pass up on sophisticated wine for free now, can we?" You giggle and say, "Nope, absolutely not." And so, in you go. The session proves to be equal parts fun and educational. From the Chardonnay to the Pinot Noir, you go through with the tasting of at least 20 different types of wines. While you actually stick to the literal meaning of the word "tasting," drinking no more than a sip per drink, Chan goes all out, and not too long after, he's totally drunk. "Hey there beautiful, mind telling me your name?," he tries to act smooth with you, making you facepalm as you say, "I still get surprised about how low your alcohol tolerance is for your size," you shake your head.

Once you leave the tasting, half dragging, half carrying a wasted Chan who continuously tries to flirt with you, you decide to take the wheel and hit the road to the outskirts of the city, and cover the remainder of the trip once you're fully sober. When you cross over the city's borders and re-enter the road in the wilderness, you hit the brakes. You let Chan sleep, knowing that waking him up will only give him a hangover. Getting out of the car, you get yourself something to eat from the boot, and once you're full, you snuggle up to him, throwing a blanket over the both of you.

You wake up around nine at night, and as you had predicted, you see Chan holding his head in agony. You nurse him for while, before putting him back to sleep, then continue down the road. You keep sneaking glances at his sleeping form, smiling to yourself when you notice how peaceful he seems, something he hasn't looked like in ages. "We really needed this. Thank you for always knowing what I need, and for always taking care of me. I love you," you thank him silently.

When he finally wakes the next morning, he sees you huddled up in the driver's seat, and he can feel his heart swell with love for you. He gets out of the car, then picks you up and softly places you on the backseat so that you can rest well. Looking at your expression, he can easily see how content and truly happy you are. You are his reason to keep going, and if this little getaway idea of his could help you find your reason to keep going (unbeknownst to him, he himself is your reason to endure too), his heart is at ease. Sure, your week off is going to end soon, but he's positive that you will have rejuvenated yourself and would have gathered enough beautiful memories to last you a while.

Sure, going back to Seoul would mean going back to the hustle and bustle of your lives, but hey, he knows that that you by his side, he'd be ready to run away from home again any day, because his home is with you. But even more than that, he knows that with you by his side, life will be just a tad bit easier. Because you will always be there to remind him of who he was back in college. You will keep the young, carefree boy who loved you to bits, alive in him. And he'll do the same for you. And with that thought, he drives off into the distance, back to where you started from, with a smile on his face.

Because at the end of the day, you both have each other, and that's all that matters.

[velvett-tearss]

Checkmate — Eren Jaeger

summary: A vicious cycle where you and Eren fight over who gets to light the match while dousing each other in gasoline.

warnings: toxic relationship, manipulation, domestic altercation, slut-shaming, gaslighting, cheating, heavy cursing, suggestive themes, mentions of alcohol and marijuana use, fem!reader (she/her)

genre: modern au, angst (?)

word count: 3.4k

a/n: my venus scorpio hates to love Eren lmao pls don’t think this is a healthy relationship, (lmk if i forgot any other warnings pls), this was on repeat while i wrote, hope you enjoy it <3 (again, pls lmk if I missed anything!) and stay safe!

You knew it was wrong. Everything about you and him was wrong. Nothing could justify it anymore, you knew that much. You didn't think you could lose yourself in the game, but you had.

And, all of it was Eren's fault.

He didn't worry about feelings, responsibilities, or duty. He didn't care if he came back later than he said he would you, if he left you waiting in that pretty dress you had picked out just for him.

And, you loathed that about him. You loathed that Eren Jaeger was free. Totally and utterly free of everything and anything. Nothing would hold him back. He wouldn't allow it to come to pass.

He had his freedom, but you had something else.

You questioned things when you weren't satisfied with the answer you had been given. You did things just to see what would happen after. You pushed people just to see how long it would take from them to fall over the edge.

You had often been told you were simply too much to deal with. That you pushed people's buttons until they no longer wanted to be around you. That you stole parts of their sanity until they had no choice other than to run away.

But, you never saw it like that. You didn't mean to be a parasite who ate away at people's peace and patience. You simply liked testing your boundaries.

So, you preferred the word curious.

Maybe Eren had been walking around the earth without shackles his entire life, but you knew everyone was a prisoner to something, even someone like him.

Naturally, you wanted to see what it would take for Eren to break. He was so shameless, so completely free of any care in the world. Eren obeyed his own rules and his alone. He was such an inconsistent asshole half the time, but you couldn't help yourself.

You wouldn't forgive yourself if you had looked away from that charming smile and those pretty teal eyes.

Despite the facade of him being a simple-minded person, you found out what was truly hiding underneath the mask.

Eren was intemperate with a sharp tongue and a loud mouth. He did things his way, and there would be no other option. There was such a mix of emotions boiling inside him, it was like it was asking to be disrupted.

How could you not indulge yourself?

You knew it would be gratifying to see how he would react when backed into a corner. Would he cry like the others? Would he fall to his knees and beg for your forgiveness? Or, would he shut down?

How long would it take for him to leave you?

Eren was already known to be hot-headed, and you wondered what it was like to burn. You figured it wouldn't take long to find out how far you could push him. He was the crybaby type, so you didn't think he would be hard to crack.

But, he wasn't like the others.

See, Eren Jaeger wasn't a person who would easily crack. He wasn't the guy who gave up under pressure. In fact, he was the complete opposite. He was a fighter, and he would stop at nothing till victory was his.

It was only too bad for him that you were the same. Your thirst would only be quenched when you saw him break. You needed it more than you had ever needed anything.

You pushed, and he pushed harder. You shouted, and he shouted louder. You bitched and moaned and complained and did awful things to him, and Eren did them right back.

It was an endless cycle between the two of you.

You would do something to tick him off. Maybe it was telling him how Jean looked so sexy in black or how Armin's intelligence was out of this world you didn't know how he wasn't dating anyone.

Perhaps you were a parasite who ate away at your own liberty to do what you wished. You stretched yourself to push him into a corner, and it always worked.

Whatever it was, Eren would explode on you. You knew it pushed his buttons, it fucked with his mind, and that's why you did it. Because maybe it would be the day he finally gave in to the pain you inflicted on him and leave you for good.

Sometimes it would be him doing something that rubbed you the wrong way. Perhaps you wore something too short, so he called you a whore before fucking you like one. Or, he didn't answer your texts all night because he was with God-knows-who.

You shouted at him, called him all sorts of different names, and even trashed his apartment if you felt like it. Eren would fight with you, blame you for pushing him far enough as to dip a toe in the unforgiving pool of infidelity, and the two of you wouldn't speak for a week or so.

"I can't even walk around my own damn apartment without you being so annoying!" Eren shouted with so much force you held back a flinch. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, green eyes wondering about the room.

You didn't know if he was shit-faced, high, or a mix of both. You didn't care anymore. It seemed like you had been arguing for hours, but who really knew? All perception of time was lost on you when you were around Eren.

All this started because he asked you to stay the night at his apartment. He usually preferred to go out and have some fun around town, but this was his way of making it up to you for leaving you stranded at the restaurant on your last date.

Well, it was a way for the both of you to make up with each other. Before Eren decided to steal your phone and drive away without you, the waiter serving you had left his number for you. It was only the consequence of your actions earlier that night.

You spent most of the evening flirting with him every chance you got. Batting your eyelashes at him, leaning against the table the slightest so he could get a peak of the dainty little necklace that sat pretty on your cleavage.

He wasn't even that attractive, really — you and Eren both knew that — but he still let his emotions get the best of him. If there was one thing you could trust to be consistent it was his red-hot anger.

"Don't leave when I'm talking to you!" Eren ordered, green eyes blazing hard at the back of your head. He watched you walked around the house, following you to continue your argument. "What? You're gonna go and cry like a little bitch now?"

"Why can't you leave me alone, Eren?!" you screamed, grabbing your sweater and shoving it into your bag. You turned around only to find him inches from your face. "I'm not staying here if you're gonna be a dick!"

He let out a dry chuckle as you continued gathering your things. "What a perfect fucking excuse to go fuck that jerk in your class, right?" Eren hissed, reaching to grab your arm. "Gosh, can't you ever just keep your legs closed for a night?!"

"Keep my legs closed?!" you shot back, shoving him away from you. "You're the one who's been out doing who-knows-what, Eren! You're the one who comes home with lipstick stains from whichever whore you fucked!"

"You shouldn't talk about your friends like that."

You snapped your neck to him.

His face was stony with his jaw clenched, and his hands balled up in fists. None of those things frightened you, though; it was those eyes of him. Those pretty green eyes that had once stared at you so sweetly, so lovingly long ago.

Now, all you could see were glaciers in his irises.

You swallowed down the thick lump in your throat. "You are such a fucking dick." you declared, averting your gaze from his cold one. You advanced to the door, but he caught your arm in his grip again.

"Let go of me." you ordered, attempting to pry his hand off your arm, but he wouldn't budge. "Fuck, Eren. Are you fucking stupid and deaf? I said—"

Your voice got caught in your throat when he shoved you against the wall of his bedroom. He had you caged in, one hand pinning you to the wall and the other right beside you.

It seemed like Eren learned from the last time he tried to keep you from escaping. His last efforts of getting you to stay put were always futile, and you somehow still managed to break away every time.

He always tried to grab you a second time, but you left his cheek with a bright red outline of your palm, smacking him good and hard before leaving his apartment in a fray.

None of your past escapes mattered right now, so you continued squirming around in effort to release yourself from his iron clutch. "Wow, I guess you're not as stupid as you look." you scoffed, your other hand clawing at his.

"Don't be such a bitch." Eren ordered, but you continued your attempts to leave that were only feeble against his strength.

"Why don't you go with your other girlfriends, hmm?" You scoffed, reaching for his wrist and struggling to release your arm. "Tch, Eren, you're fucking hurting me. Stop—"

He brought you towards him, pulling you into his arms. You let out a grunt of disapproval as you tried to shimmy out of his crushing hug. "Oh, my gosh, let me go! I don't want you!" you protested, pushing your hand against his hard chest to create space between you, but he thrusted you back into his chest.

"Don't be such a bitch." Eren murmured into your ear. He had one hand wrapped around your upper back, keeping you close to him, while the other held your wrist tightly to stop you from pushing him away.

His shirt still smelled like the cologne you gifted him for his last birthday. Eren was extra kind to you that day, holding your hand and giving you kisses on the cheek.

The fresh scent was familiar on your nose. You breathed it in, allowing yourself to give in to his touch. "I'm not a bitch." you told him, closing your eyes. You hoped it would help you travel back in time to that beautiful spring day.

He only grunted in response, leaning his head against the top of yours. You felt the slight brush of air down your neck when he let out a sigh. The hand that held your wrist released it, finding purchase on your waist.

A few moments of silence passed between the two of you. Eren's fingers found solace in the ends of your hair. You hadn't realized how much his words affected you until you felt your hair twirl around his fingers.

Did he really think you were a bitch? Is that why as much as you loved his cologne, you could still smell the unfamiliar scent of someone else on him?

If he cared about you, why would he leave you alone in his messy apartment all night? Why would he even bother inviting you? Why did he make an effort to speak to you so lovely that your heart fluttered?

"I just wanted to have a nice time with my girl, and you're making that so difficult. Why?" Eren questioned softly, a strand of your hair between his fingers. "Why do you go out of your way to do shit that irritates me?"

Tears prickled your eyes. "I could ask you the same thing." you replied, holding back the urge to sniffle. How could you not cry when he hurt you? You loved him with so much of yourself, and everything he did seemed like it was just to cause you harm.

"You're so mean to me, Eren. You never treat me like you should."

"I know." he said, the movement of his mouth against your head. "I don't mean to treat you like that, baby. I'm sorry. I really am." You didn't believe him, though. You didn't even want to look into his eyes because you feared you would be right.

You let out a sigh, wiping the tear that escaped the corner of your eye on his shirt. "You're bad for me, Eren." you stated, turning your head to rest against his shoulder. "You're a bad guy and a bad boyfriend. You cheat on me and call my names, and you make me cry."

Eren hummed, rubbing your back in circles. "I'll be better. I'll try harder this time." he offered, his tone almost sounding pleading on your ears. "I promise I'll do better for you."

You didn't believe it. Eren couldn't do better. He was sick with an incurable disease. He no longer felt safe in his own body. He couldn't trust his thoughts to lead him to the correct answer. It all started when he met you, and your infection spread throughout his entire system.

You had infiltrated his way of thinking and acting, his way of feeling and speaking. Eren Jaeger would never be the same person he was before he met you.

He couldn't hide his disdain when he was around his friends, not with all the remarks you made of them. Did you really think Jean was better looking than him? Was it his hair?

Maybe he should start spending more time in the library. Would that make him him look smarter in your eyes? Would you come to him for help with your homework or would you still go to Armin?

And, it was in your silence that his questions of doubt were answered. "You don't believe me." Eren stated as if he were reading the very thoughts from your mind.

A bolt of lightning shot through your spine at his tone. This was the side of your boyfriend you hadn't quite figured out yet. He could loving and playful and crack jokes all day, and mean and standoffish where he wouldn’t even look at you, but he could also be fucking sadist.

His fist curled into the roots of your hair, yanking your head back to meet his gaze. There was a sharp ache pounding on the back of your head, but you forgot all about it when you saw the slight curl of his lip.

"No one else would put up with you. You know that, don't you?" Eren asked you, green eyes appearing darker than they ever had. "You know no one would ever give you the time of day like I do."

"I know." you managed to tell him, leaning into where he gripped your hair to ease the pain you felt.

"Do you?" he questioned, raising a brow.

You tried your best to keep the hammering of your heart against your chest from showing on your face. Eren may have been a sadist, but he wasn't the only one.

"Yes, Eren." you stated, deciding to take a risk and place a gentle hand on his shoulder. You felt him tense under your touch. "You misunderstand me. I only what what's best for you and me. That's all I ever wanted."

He furrowed a brow at your words.

Sure, you would admit that Eren had power over you. He was stronger than you, taller than you, quicker than you. He was the one who had your back against a wall, and it was your hair in his fist.

But, you had something he didn't. You honed the skill he wouldn't be able to polish for years to come. He may have been overly aggressive and carried the ability to make an environment where he would always be the person with the most power, but you had experience.

And, that was something he couldn’t create.

"I've done so much for you, Eren. Why would I go through all this struggle if I didn't want to be with you?" you explained, forcing a pout on your lips. "Is that how you feel about me?"

His grip on your head began to loosen. "No," Eren forced out, eyebrows so scrunched forward they lost their sharpness. "That's not what I want. I was—"

"If you know that, then why would you stand me up?" you demanded, gazing you at him. "If you know all I want is for you to be happy, why would you start a fight with me? You know I would never hurt you like that, baby."

"I didn't mean to start a fight." Eren admitted, swallowing. "I just don't want you to leave me. I don't want to be alone. I don't know what—"

"I know. You don't have to explain it to me, baby. I know exactly what you're thinking." you told him, reaching for his hand to hold in yours. "It's okay, Eren. I know you wouldn't ever want to hurt me, right?"

He nodded, teal eyes watching as you brought his hand to your pillowy lips. You placed a feathery kiss against his knuckles. It had been so soft, so sweet that he wanted to cry.

He had just had car sex with one of the girls who lived in your dormitory's building, and you were kind enough to give him another chance. He did something that hurt you, and you still only wanted what was best for him.

"I love you." Eren sputtered out. His eyes were wide at you, and his voice sounded like he was begging you for something you refused to give him.

You let out a sweet sigh, eyes snapping to his. "You love me?" you repeated, taking a moment to savor the way the words felt on your tongue. Your brows furrowed at the words. "Do you really?"

He nodded quickly, maneuvering his hand to hold yours. He peppered kisses along your fingers, your knuckles. "I do. I really fucking do. I love you." Eren assured, kissing the inside of your hand before grabbing the side of your face.

You raised a brow as he planted soft, needy kisses along your cheeks. "How much do you love me, Eren?" you inquired, bringing your hand to massage his scalp.

Eren swallowed, looking up at you. He was quiet. You blinked back at him, waiting for his answer. You had been so surprised to find he had nothing to offer you in that moment.

You quirked a brow at his silence. "How much, Eren? How much do you love me?" you repeated, voice advancing from a curious tone to a demanding one.

He shook his head, bringing your lips to meet his gently. He tasted like . . . was it honey? Or was it just how sweet the lies he told sounded on your ears?

You weren't able to tell what his mouth tasted like, but you knew you had earned another spit sister? Had he kissed her the way he kissed you? Did he feed her the same lies he did you? Could she taste him? Was she able to put a finger on what the candied flavor on his lips was?

Eren pulled back from you slightly. You couldn’t tell if it was his turquoise eyes that were glassy or if it was yours. "Too much." he told you, lips brushing against yours. "I love you too much." He collided his face with yours, tongue slipping into your open mouth.

His kisses travelled lower — along your jaw, down your nec. He sucked hard when he found your pulse-point, only stopping once a soft moan escaped your swollen lips.

There really wasn't a way you would ever leave him, even if you tried to. Despite all the fights, all the times you professed your hate for him, all the times you tried tried to break it off, Eren stayed with you.

But, it was the same for him. Even if you hurt him, flirt with his friends right in front of him, cuss him out and manipulate him the way you had already done a profuse amount of times in the past, Eren would always love you. How could he not?

Maybe it was because both of you were equally fucked in the head, or because you both loved the concept of pain whether you be playing the role of the inflicted or inflicter, but in some twisted way, you never wanted to leave him.

Somewhere in the messed up relationship that you two had, you realized you loved him. God, you fucking loved him, even if he treated you like a pet.

And, he was your favorite toy. Yours to use and to lie and to fuck. Whether Eren Jaeger was so free he couldn't help but trample over you, or you were too much, too curious that you pushed him to the very brink and a little more, one thing wouldn't change.

You knew it was wrong. Everything about you and him was wrong. Nothing could justify it, you figured that much. You didn't think you could lose yourself in the game, but you did.

And, all of it was Eren's fault.

note: welp they were toxic huh

[jerzwriter]

Sunday Six 9-11-2022

So, writing has been a bit of a struggle lately. Sometimes ADHD is great for the creative process; sometimes, it's not. Lately, it's not. Confession: I feel like I've been disappointing my readers because I've gotten stuck on some series. Really, it sounds stupid, but the guilt eats at me sometimes. So I've been pushing myself to work on chapters, even when I'm just not feeling it. Then, they don't seem good, so I scrap them and start over. It's been a vicious cycle. I have too many series open right now (see ADHD comment above), and I have to recenter. They're all going to be finished, but for now, I think I have to write where my heart and my head are and not be so worried about "...but you need to get the next chapter of xxx out." So, in that vein, I'm going to give you very short peeks at some projects inspiring me right now. They're in the works; they'll be out soon. I ask you to please be patient with me as I work on the rest. You guys are great! ** Thank you **

Sneak peeks below:

Graduation Day | Ethan Ramsey, Tobias Carrick

The walls were beginning to close in. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

"Tobias!" her knuckles wrapped against the door, louder by the second. "Open this damn door. You know I'm not leaving until you do!"

A puff of air shot from his nose as his head shook, tossing the tie he had long since given up on tying across the room. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Promises | Tobias Carrick, Ethan Ramsey, Bryce Lahella, Peter MacTavish (OC)

This wasn't his main watering hole, but he was familiar nevertheless. He must have walked in here dozens of times in recent years, always with his casual, nonchalant swagger. But today was different.

His eyes met name's, sitting at the end of the bar, and his signature smile spread on his face. It became a bit forced when he realized it wasn't returned. This is why he normally didn't do these things, but this time, it was worth it. Of that he was sure of it.

Untitled | Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Kaycee MacClennan)

The other side of the phone went silent.

"Kaycee, are you there?"

She was there, at least in body. Standing in their kitchen with her head flung back, she fixated on the receding lights in the ceiling. Perhaps they would help keep her from losing her mind. Her arms hanging low at her side, Ethan's voice emanating from her phone. She knew he wouldn't hang up, so, wearily, she lifted it back to her ear.

"I'm here," she answered, "where else would I be?"

That's all folks.

I know I owe you a lot - and I promise I'll get to it. Thanks for being patient with me! 😘

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Additional tags in reblog

[zhongliologist]

Surprises | Sub! Zhongli

Pairing: Zhongli x GN!Reader

Genre: SMUT SMUT SMUT!!!

Words: 1.4k

A/N: A short one for now (bc im lazy and i just wrote this on my phone skskks) but I just needed to get this out of my system bc all week all i thought about was naked apron zhongli and politics,,, not a good combination

Warning: THIS IS AN 18+ FIC, SO MINORS OUT THERE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

*

It was by the end of a long adventure when you decided to return home to Liyue—home to your ex-Archon husband who had been patiently waiting for you. 

The situation has always been like this, and perhaps someday it will change but you decided to cross that bridge when you get there. 

As for now, what's important was the fact that you were back at home, lugging around your heavy backpack as you open the door, yet only to be greeted by something you hadn't expected, not in a million years. 

"Z-Zhongli…? What—"

With eyes wide, your luggage fell to the floor along with your jaw. There in front of the kitchen counter was your beloved husband, still handsome and elegant though his attire has proven otherwise. Only covered by a flimsy plain-looking apron, you could see his whole package without much impediment.

"Oh, it seems you have returned, my love," he replied as if he wasn't naked except for an apron. 

You closed your eyes as you held on to the dining table for support. 

"Right, yes, yes I'm back," you replied, sighing. "But more importantly, could you please explain to me why you're wearing that?" 

Zhongli only raised his brows at you. 

"Oh this? Is it not to your liking, my love? Childe has informed me that this could improve our relationship."

Upon hearing the Snezhnayan troublemaker's name, you sighed again, this time much louder. 

"You really should stop taking advice from him, Zhongli." 

A long hum followed, his hands now on his chin as if thinking deeply—or as deeply as you could in a naked apron. 

"Then I suppose it is not to your liking then," he plainly replied and you groaned. 

It's not like you didn't like it—you really like the view of his buttcheeks for one—but this is just….it's just….

You pursed your lips. You're running out of reasons why this isn't good.

"That's not the point," you told him, walking towards his direction and placing a hand on his chest. "I...just—"

Looking up, you were met with amber orbs, gazing down on you and waiting patiently for you to continue. Yet there was no hope for your reply, you were utterly mesmerized by him at that moment—realizing that you had missed him so much and now he was right there in front of you. 

"YN?" Zhongli called your attention, concerned why you had stalled in the midst of your sentence. 

Biting your lip, you tried to hold off lustful thoughts before you could turn them into actions. But there was no escape. As he wrapped his solid arms around your waist and gently kissed your forehead, you knew you can't stop yourself from ravishing him. It has been too long afterall. 

Gazing into his eyes, you slowly inched yourself closer to him—face flushed as you bumped noses which made the both of you smile at each other. 

"You know what, I won't question the apron anymore." 

With those words, you captured his lips in a soft, gentle kiss as you poured all your love for Zhongli. You missed this, you missed his warmth and the gentle strength of his embrace. He must've felt the same way too, as you felt him grow stiffer underneath the apron. 

Gradually, the nips and bites became deeper, tongues exploring each other again after such a long time. It was quite obvious this wouldn't end with a simple make out session, and while you would rather have a shower first, you were far too horny to care. 

"Zhongli…" you whispered above his lips, exchanging pecks. "I want to take you here…" 

The man could only flush at your suggestion yet he nodded nonetheless. It has been a while since you were inside of him and the mere thought of it made his shaft twitch in anticipation. 

With one last long drawn kiss, you hurriedly went to the bedroom and got all the things you needed, including some lubricant. When you returned, your husband was already turned towards the counter, his ass bare and ready for what's to come. 

You grinned, spreading his asscheeks so you can take a good look of his hole. 

"Have you been playing with yourself while I was away?" You asked, lathering your hands good with lube as well as his hole. 

"I…mmn….y-yes…" Zhongli replied, bent against the counter with his ass on the air. It was such an erotic position, especially while you were teasing him, and it only fueled his arousal. 

You hummed, fingers grazing around the rim. "Tell me what you'd do." 

"Nghh….I would...t-touch myself…! A-aaahn! Y-YN…!" he struggled to reply, his words punctuated by moans while you inserted one digit.

"Oh? Touch yourself where, my love?" You continued, pumping in and out of him, preparing him for something much bigger. 

Zhongli was beginning to feel delirious. Your fingers thrusting inside his hole was already too much, but when you began teasing his hardened nipples, he couldn't help but loose all coherent thought. 

"Eughh….! Nnmm…! Y-YN….n-not so fast...I—!" 

"Not until you answer my question," you replied calmly though that was simply an act. You were just as aroused as him,watching as he arched his back, or when he makes such a debauched face everytime you hit a really good spot. 

"I-I…! Nnghh….rub...my cock...mmn!!" He groaned as you follow his words, hands pumping his now engorged length. 

"Like this?" 

With half-lidded eyes, he moaned in ecstasy as you stimulated both his cock and his hole. He had truly missed this sensation of almost passing out in pleasure. 

"Y-yes...yes!! F-fuck…love...nnghh!!" He whispered as if in a state of trance. "M-my...my hole...too…"

At this point, his words only served to arouse you more—wanting more than ever to fill him up. There was just something erotic with a submissive Zhongli that you jist can't help getting turned on with. 

"You...like it...in here, don't you?" You pushed three digits in roughly, making Zhongli arch his back against the counter as his dick leaked pre-cum. 

"O-oohhh….! Hhnghhh….! Y-YN…! P-please...please….I—" 

Grinning, you suddenly slapped his ass, making him tighten up around your fingers. You knew he was ready for you, and you couldn't take it anymore. He was just to sexy, too arousing, too erotic. You wanted to fuck him so badly right now. 

Without warning, you removed your fingers and began lathering your shaft with his juices alongside with a generous serving of lube. Pressing the tip against his now gaping hole, you were asking him permission one final time. 

"Please….Y-YN…! F-fill me up….!" 

With those words, you thrusted inside of him in an instant; knocking his breath away. Zhongli could feel you so deep inside him, making him so full and stretched. It felt so good he couldn't keep his eyes open. 

"Z-Zhongli…! Mmnhn….! I'll move now…." 

Thrusting sharply inside, he made a loud moan as you continued to pump in and out of him. You were rough but it felt so good and you were sure your husband was in the same boat as well, hearing him mutter your name repeatedly as if under a spell. 

"Y-YN….YN…! S-so big…nnghh….! F-feelsh...so….good...mmmnh…!!" 

"How...about this then…?"

You smirked and began playing with his nipple and his rather lonely cock. It will only be a matter of time before he cums as you felt his cock twitch everytime you hit his prostate. 

"F-fuck….nnmmn!!! Y-YN…! Nnghh!! I'm...I—" 

Pulling his ponytail, you bent over and kissed him on the lips; knowing full well that he was close to cumming. You were teetering at the edge as well, losing rhythm as you kept on thrusting inside his tight hole. 

"H-hey….mmn...let's cum together…" you whispered as you buried your face against his neck, as you buried yourself deep in him as well. 

"Y-YN….!! O-oohh….! I'm….! Aaaaghhh….aaaahhbn….! I-I….c-cumming….!"

In a few sharp thrusts, Zhongli released himself on the wooden counter as your hand continued to pump him—merciless until you followed him right after. 

Taking a few breathes, you slipped out of him as you supported his weight; worried he might fall to the floor. Gazing at each other, the both of you shared one simple kiss before continuing to embrace each other. 

"I...missed you…" you whispered to his ear, basking in the afterglow. 

"Me too….my love…" 

For a while, the two of you stayed like this until you broke the silence. 

"You know, why don't we skip breakfast and continue in the bedroom," you suggested as your husband grinned at you. "I'll let you top this time."

"Very well," he replied, and made a mental note to thank Childe with another pair of gilded chopsticks. 

[miiserableee]

DREAM FOR ME ! series ; ( SCARAMOUCHE x f. reader !! )

mentioned reader to have lived in los angeles . reader is mentioned to like western food more and is afraid of elevators . reader is mentioned to have particular traumas , please proceed with caution . nbsb , 19 years old reader . lots of cussing .

FIFTH ENTRY ! one is twisted and traumatized , the other realized .

"OW , SHiT ."

you hiss . holding a hand on the side of the elevator , the other gripping on the sleeves of your companion's hakama . man , this so called transportation elevator realm version just shook the hell of itself as it fell down almost having you and scaramouche holding unto the handrails for dear life ( maybe just you ) . not long after you start blinking thrice and more , the black of everything have lightened up to the yellowish lights illuminated from the pretty bulbs shaped like flowers on each side , it twinkled . and just as it lit everything up , the door had already slid itself open .

"This elevator of yours is rather nauseating ." he almost spat as he drags you out when you took too long staggering about . "Yehhhh , that made my head hurt ." you agreed . elevators were never your thing , you'd always be caught holding at your older brother's sleeve back then when you were a kid , and even until now as you're nineteen . you're just glad said brother never laughed at you for it and would often times just ask you if you were feeling okay , though there were times where he'd up and lightly tease you about fearing such normal thing .

he had already started walking along the tavern , looking around and examining everything , from the pretty of the lighting and the antique looking feel of ever furniture . "Do you have a thing for old things ?" he mouths enough for you to hear as you struggle to keep eyes open , your heart still rampaging in you with a thumping akin of that you hear during loud concerts . ringing in you before you slap your cheeks hard enough with both palms and it disperses . he shots you a look of have you gone insane ? but with the cleared off vision , you have already caught glimpse of the feast at one of the tables .

it was always like that . whenever you felt like eating something for a whole day yet not being able to get it because the classes were too long or you were already incredibly full , whenever you get a thought of having that as you floated through the river's stream . they all appear in the tavern , alcohol , any drinks , meals , any dessert . they show up . whatever you think of , they always show up here . maybe the reason , things like phones , gadgets , elevators never showed up is because you never thought like you needed or wanted  them , at least , in this realm . phones and gadgets weren't that useful or worthy of your attention among the pretty of this place , the elevators weren't needed when you liked walking around , nothing here were unloved by you in any way . how amusing .

perhaps , other than this concept , there were a lot more that you have been mindlessly looking past at . "I don't particularly like em . Maybe because I really missed our house back in California , around the time I started being able to be here . It was a reaaaaally old-looking place , they said it was an ancestral house ! Creepy shit ," you lowly reply , voice caught between bundles of memories ; both pleasing and not until he asks you to answer next , "Did you like it there ?"

"I loved it there ." your e/c eyes almost shone like how stars would , he quickly removed his gaze . he wasn't one to pry and it felt wrong and taxing to do as much but now , he doesn't have much of a choice . he takes a breath in , puzzling up your words to ask next , "You lived in California , Los Angeles ?" though in a way , he was curious too .

"Yehp , we moved to Japan before I entered High School . That's why I'm kinda used to western foods more which my brother seem to spoil me with , or so some of our relatives say ." he nods , as you pull back a seat for him which he didn't even bat an eye on and just sat down on right away . you sat on the seat across him and there you gazed at the disarray of unhealthy greasy foods . "And I assume these are more likely to be called Western Foods ?"

you smile , pulling out a slice off of the decently warm pizza pie , cheese-pull ; weak but you didn't have time to mourn over that as you have it shown to him , "I don't know , probably . Here ya go ." he looks at it , seemingly disgusted and you get that , but did you care ? nope . "Hm ?" you innocently tilt your head to the side , almost as if you had no idea of how his disgusted indigos digged their message on your e/c . in the end he still took it in hand , with you immediately grabbing a slice of your own to show him how to eat it , pausing for a moment to ask do you have any allergies ? which he confusingly confirmed he doesn't have . you bit on the triangular end and when you start to chew is when he did the same . "How old are you ?" he questions , out of the bare blue .

"19 ."

"Huh ?"

he looks at you judging , seemingly , and you get why . but you'd rather not spoil your mood as you eat delicious foods , not like his pretty face wouldn't be able to rinse you off of any unpleasant raw emotions in a snap . "Don't you have something to ask me ?"

he's quick to catch on , but you'd like to believe you were a few steps ahead . already aware that he'd notice , just how he'd swiftly realize why you really wanted to bring him eat with you . you chew on the chicken , while he's scarcely anywhere being done with his pizza . "I was wondering if you've gotten anything you'd think I'd like to know ? About this place , realm , I mean ."

he stared at you as you took three sips of your drink . "The voice mentioned that you are rather pitiful ." you twist at your eyes and give him a look equivalent to what you'd make upfront something worth heavy demise , "I know that already , man . Anything else ?"

he glares at you , "You didn't let me finish ." your chewing came to a halt and you watch him sigh , he sure do like sighing . must be standing as his means to stay calm and not just strangle you to death each time you cross every one of his faulty lines . mouthing a small sorry , his patience amazes you to no end . you know why he's putting up with you but it still impale you how well he's doing so . if anything , if he was fully the 6th of the fatui harbingers , the balladeer , the gnosis-thirsting beauty he is in game and not just half of whatever that is and half of what innocent puppet he was , then he would've had you in ropes and tortured to his liking , right about now .

"You are a subject of what the voice mentioned or called , specifically as god's pity . The reason mainly being as what pathetic subjection you've gotten , whatever god that is , he pities you ." it was supposed to be a.surprising revelation . for you though , what he mentioned was far from being any sort of new . somehow , it pieced up to you as the most reasonable explanation why all this were happening .

though the question was , were you that pitiful ? enough of what he quote as pathetic subjection ? enough to be given a world in your dream , designed and invested for your every want . from different foods , places and even a fucking fictional character . you could probably mend this place by your every desire if you so even step on the boundaries of ever heeding them . ". . . Is that all ?"

"You want to hear more ?"

"Yehp , like , why the voice is only talkin' to ya this much yet barely told me anything when I've been here for years ."

he shrugs , struggling to chew a slightly bigger bite than the rest . he eats slow . "I wouldn't know ." that would be impossible , but with how the voice is a part of you ; who is as reckless as you are careful , it could be possible , that whatever that voice is hiding , it still hasn't given even a whisper of a start or even an ambiguous sentence to him .

"Do you like it ?" you knock at the thin ice rink of you two's atmosphere . he looks up at you with stuffed cheeks , as you take a piece of crisp . "It feels , unhealthy ." he looks greatly disturbed and forced as he spoke of that one sentence . his stuffed cheeks looking like they'd burst and that , the sight , is so cute . "It is very—oily , after all ."

you laugh at him as he glared at your pathetic stating of the obvious . adding to your point was the grease of his hands , glad was he that he could wash them off as you two wash your hands and cleaned up . a lot of food weren't finished , and that was alright . at least that's what you thought . scaramouche also paid it no mind and didn't even spare it's mess another glance as he followed you outside .

you stiffed as you stood . you've eaten a lot . as said before , you can feel a lot of things here , things you feel in real life too . being full , hungry , satisfied , happy . though all are just felt moderately . it's a place of recharge . it's the under of a huge umbrella in a heavy rainy day . it's the best spot near the heater , where it isn't too hot that you'd scald , hugging away your shivers during winter .

"Aren't we going to take the elevator ?" he lets the idea swim along your ocean of thoughts , like a pirate on board on his ship as he offers his treasures for deals . you shake your head , stretching your right arm and making a bone bubble pop with your bent left and sighed , relieved . "Let's walk ! I don't think I'd feel all that good if I were to take the elevator all , full , y'know . Unless you wanna clean up some nasty puke then—"

"Yeah , let's walk ."

your laugh coarse along his eardrums , it sounded annoying . but it was more annoying when your face torts up all solemn and meek . so he lets it go . walking along you to wherever you both seem to have your feet take you to .

"It's quiet ." you say , stepping the same moderate pace as him , your mind at blank and the key forgotten to be turned again . the road of shimmering stones were pretty to stare at , but with a companion around , it felt like such a shame to just spend hours staring on ground . "Too  quiet ." you repeat . hands behind you , clasped and steady .

he doesn't speak . simply ignoring you in the best way possible . "Ask something , Mascara-kun ." he doesn't speak . continuing ignoring you in the most frustrating ( for you ) and natural ( for him ) manner . "Anything . I'll answer anything !! C'mon ."

he seem to perk up at the repetitive mentioning of one particular word . though the perking up was simply him halting in the ongoing pursuit of walking that your face met great impact against the hard of his back . holding at your nose aching , instead of turning to look at what you were suffering from , which was , in a sense , his doing—he pulls you to his stand on the road . "Anything ?" he questions , you look up a bit and nod , leaning your head back , he also half-whispered wtf you were doing and you answer that you just felt like dripping scarlet thru your nostrils and you were trying to keep it in .

after a few iron intoxicated sniffing , you were back on track and answering , in a voice a bit groggy , "A-ny-thing ." the look of satisfaction on the pale of his face was gone within passed seconds like falling snow on blazing hearths .

"Tell me about your , brother ."

you snap eyes at him right away , "What ?"

"Tell me about your brother ."

you didn't expect him to repeat the same shit and you'd gladly throw ; repeating it won't help me understand it , scaramouche—but you don't want to feel like you're backing down on your own says even if , in fact you wish to use that statement to evade . "Uh , he a good brother ? Cooks for me ? Does things normal brothers don't really do ? He's always there for me ? And I love him ???"

the unnecessary hand gestures wasn't what got you feeling awkward . it was the flash of annoyance . "Why is he the one doing all those for you ?"

this wasn't the first time you answered the same exact shit to someone , and it's a given that it was also not the first time someone asked you what exactly is your brother to you and why he was like that . you get it . the sweet and gentleness that he doesn't just show rarely but almost each way he can is indeed not normal if seen at views of others . when you answer the same shit you've put up with scaramouche , they would often just nod it off and say , good for you or wish my siblings were in any way like that .

they'd end the discussion thinking that , your brother is just built off of that good of a nature . blues and greens , yellows and whites , never the blacks and grays or the dark and dulls . scaramouche looks at you with his indigo eyes , almost telling you through your e/c sights , tell me the reason , tell me why , exactly .

you could only force out a nervous chortle .

"Just . . . because ."

saying the usual ; because he just wants to ; seemed oddly inappropriate in this moment . you wished your stifling smile was in any way helping in convincing him . but your answer only dug into his curiosity .

"How about your parents , tell me about them ."

"Is this related for our diminishing of my desires that somewhat has a correlation to you ?" he nods , you purse your lips at the thought . letting your feet continue their race , stomping down the stone trails . "My dad is rich . My mom is semi-rich ." you could hear him follow , his footwear created enough sounds for you to be aware .

"They were sweet lovers . Highschool lovers ."

"Were ?"

you psh and clicked fingers at him , "Were ." you verve back to your path , staring at the pretty of your realm , wondering just how blessed you were . "They married , after graduating college . With degrees and yknow , all that smart things ."

"My older brother isn't much older than me . He wasn't all that open-minded already when he was born . My parents were early-30s . They had my older brother , and said older brother , said that they used  to really love each other ."

"They don't , anymore ?"

you hum , as if thinking , lip bit and eyes up , before you continue saying , "Yeah . When they had me , things started going south . Shit arose . My mother started openly meeting new men . My father was infuriated . They fought about finances , as if the only worry they had wasn't how to spend it all . They broke it off , in the end ."

he says nothing this time , so you went on . "My brother would always haul me up in his arms when they fought . When they struggled to understand each other , under the scent of foreign colognes and blinding reflections of expensive jewelry . I didn't know anything . I always watched them , thinking , that was love . It wasn't , it was envy , and anger , all released through constant fighting and arguments . My brother would aaaalways get me his trusty expensive headphones with calming sounds of the rain or the ocean , hand me a book to read . And I'll try , reading . No matter how boring . My brother would be sniffing beside me . Wiping his childish snots and tears with the sleeves of his shirt as he hug me tight ."

you take a breath out fuck that was a long ass line .

"That went on , in our big house in Los Angeles . Until , they finally did decide to get a divorce . I was separated , from my father and brother . My mother took me in and moved me here to Japan . I didn't know if that was because she didn't want to leave the household empty handed , and hurt her pride more than any less intended . I didn't know . All I did know was ,"

scaramouche pulls you away as you almost hit a headboard that was supposedly there . you mutter a sorry and he just nods with a continue .

"That my mother never took care of me . I'm tots so glad I was in highschool when I moved , so glad they forced me to learn both japanese and more other languages . She brought in guys , from different bars , clubs , you name it . It was so out of a trauma-dump novel , like the one under my father's office's cupboard . Those men were just 5 or less years older than me . They would look at me disgustingly . I often spent nights with doors locked 7 different locks . The knob would be twisting and turning , and ragged cussings would be heard under shaggy breaths , boy I bet their mouths were stinky ."

he was still quiet . you've never told anyone your life story before . now that you hear it aloud , it was quite too out of a trauma-dump novel just as you say . though , what's more disturbing is out of all life genre you could've been forced to live , it just couldn't be of romance or atleast comedy-genre , just had to be real-ass trauma-dump , melo-drama .

"I took care of myself for almost all of my highschool . I was thrown cash at my face , not really , it was slammed against the wooden table . I cleaned the house , I did everything . My mother was just , never around . Without me knowing , father and my older brother have already moved to our main-house here in Japan . Since this is my mother's home country . Still , it was under father's name , which explained why I had to live in some messed up complex almost my whole highschool life , my mom just wouldn't let me go ."

"Then , my brother did some magical persuasion to both my parents about letting me live somewhere nearer the university for my own convenience . They ended up agreeing . My bro then moved me into what place I'm staying in now . And I'm just tryna survive studying college ."

the cold of the wind felt warm as you hear the loud ringing of the church's huge bell . "My brother always told me to not hate any of them two parents we had that basically fucked both of us up ."

you sigh . "But it's hard ."

"I'm trying though ."

you were afraid of what he'll say . but it didn't seem like he cared , not one bit . as you look up at him , and he remained true to being the heartless puppet he is . "Born in a broken family , made to be dragged by a mother whom have already forgotten her duty . Almost sexually assaulted , times of chances unspecified but concluded as many . Even the falls of cash you had wasn't enough greens to patch up the cracks of your cracked to no end family . You are worthy of this thing called , God's Pity after all ."

you smile , "I don't think so ." his evaluation of your situation wasn't all that gentle or caring as one may want as a form of comfort but you zipped lips and just crook ends to smile . you figured you didn't really want something like pity .

your brother often mentioned that , as he ruffles away his pretty hair for you to see the disgust shining in his e/c eyes . he'd say that it annoys him when people give those pitiful stares or pats when he accidentally tells his whole story life when he steps out of sober land . 

you didn't get that at first , isn't it quite a good feeling , that someone is trying hard to have you feeling that they understand  whatever shit you went through ?  you would just nod at him as you really didn't get his reasoning .

but now you do .

"Do you pity me ?" he seem to have dragged a laugh from whatever cold his throat was inkling . "I don't ."

"I see ."

it was hateful how he just threw you story under the bus and acted like he's heard it , but doesn't really put it to mind . but you also found yourself thanking him for such reaction . it's better than pitiful stares and pats , shallow claims of must've been hard , been there done that , you'll be fine / alright / okay  .

"The bridge , is up here ." he points at said connector of this side to the next , for you to be able to get to the sakura-site , but you just hum , "I'll take the stone-path ." which was basically patches of glossy , slippery stones , all lined up across the width of the river . a dangerous way to cross . you didn't care though .

he keeps quiet as he walks through the stoned bridge and was firstly there on the other side . watches you from the other end of your stone patch . he asks another question , "Do you have , hm , a  lover ?" he almost shouts , you hear him , you answer , "I've been single my whole life !" hopping from the very first stone to the next , the slipping-accident proves to have a chance of happening again .

you take another hop . then another , then another . until you're just three more into his side . "Do you excell in school ?"

"I—shit !!"

you slip .

the cold of the flowing water in the river got you still . stilling along the works of it . it was wet underneath , freezing and your shivers were late . submerged into the waters that leveled above your waist , you were glad you shot your head up right away . if the water was somehow even more un-deep then you may have cracked your skull on it's glimmering flooring . you set foot with gasps and painful sniffing , a bit teary-eyed as some water seeped right through your nostrils . you weren't in any way expecting of his lively  laughter . eyes up to see how pretty he snorts first and foremost before he latches an arm atop his abdomen , the other hand just covering his mouth as if he was in any way   in the first place , trying to mask away his form of ridicule .

it was such a straight out of a manga / anime / novel  thing to do so you didn't really have the time to feel embarrassed .

"Pfft—how , how idiotic HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ."

the doubled weight of your hair and the sticky cold feeling was starting to piss you off . his pretty , uncontrollable laughing too is getting in your nerves . as much as this way of exertion prove to be such a genuine advance , you just don't feel right with him being the only one laughing . so with languid steps he didn't notice , the ripples you've made in the river , as you approached him .

him standing , still laughing , there at the dewy grass fields , you grabbed at his ankle with little to no emotion . a rigid cut off his handsome chuckle made evident with a rapid eh — he gasps . pulling  himself from how you just pulled him down the body of water with the littlest grin . you started laughing yourself . "Now we both look idiotic ."

he would have snapped if not for the way you drop yourself on his arms and dragged him down the river's shallow depths again . it's not like he needed to breathe but you did . so he was the one that pulled you up . by pulling himself up . your arms just latched unto him , a cough leaving out of your mouth .

"What the fuck do you think you were doing—?"

you look him in the eyes , pulling back , relieved that the wet state of you both and the setting you were at have all masked your tears flowing , passed the bay . he looked infuriated , and a part of you knew that was because you were hugging him again .  the other part was hoping he was worried that you may have drowned . you sigh , arms still looped along his neck as his remained at your waist . maybe he's gotten used to you being touchy .

you were really just hoping that he'd feel warm . trying to have a solid proof at least to further delude yourself to thinking that what dream-place this may be is actually reality . maybe it was wise for you to have dragged him down the river and immediately hug him tight . feeling like he's cold  yet close felt so nice .

you stop yourself from throwing his question under the bus like he did with your story earlier and just opted with a sigh , looking aside . "Didn't want to be the only one completely wet . And don't ya think your questions' too personal ???"

he removes his hold on you so naturally , you did the same .

"I don't have a choice ." you snort , splashing him with water . "Sure sure , ask me more ." he glares , wiping his pretty face , before splashing back .

"Just tell me more about yourself ."

prev part : CHAP # 4 ! : next part : CHAP # 6 !

chaps index : SCARA-LiNE / WORKS NAVi !

sorri if i haven't been uploading scarashots—i cant seem to have any sort of solid idea of what to do for one , they're all prompts and seem so empty ; sadsad . this series is going to be done with 9 chapters . again , most of the ones following this acc are all up on the scarashots so im rlly sorry—i'll upload one when i get those ideas again AHAHAHAHA hope that again is soon-soon <33 . i also noticed that get to the point got 100 notes , i am , so so thankful , sheme , imma cri . tysm !! there are also sum compliments on em reblogs on treat me right and aaaaaaaaaaaa , tytyty <33 .