#perks of being relatively new to ao3?

[grollow]

3, 24, 25~?

HI ILY GOOD MORNING /throws self at you

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

White & Gray. For a lot of reasons. It's my first longfic ever (which is huge, I'm not usually good at pacing longer works); I also feel like I've done a pretty good job of showing healing over the progression of time. And that fic has forced me to get good at writing fighting sequences, which have traditionally been my weakness. I feel like I have drastically improved there.

Being able to write such a comprehensive story about a character who barely ever talks also feels monumental for me. It's the first thing I've ever written that I can reread and not go "Wow this is a dumpster fire." I reread W&G and find where my foreshadowing is so huge. Like, I feel like when this fic ends, if people who know the ending reread the beginning they're going to be like "Oh. *Oh*." And it's so exciting to me jdkjgds I can talk about this fic a lot it makes me very happy

24. Did you write any gifts this year?

2! slow spinning redemption is basically because I wanted to give @dropout-ninja a happy ending. They also got the second one that isn't officially tagged as a gift, but it's It's Hard To Measure Without Fingers. <3

25. Did you receive any gifts this year?

Writing-wise, I have actually never received any gifts. I've gotten a bunch of art though! <3

[plutotheplum]

XO

akaashi keiji x fem!reader

summary: being the manager of the msby black jackals is stressful, but when a handsome stranger shows up, you think you might’ve stumbled upon a hidden perk.

cw: nsfw (18+) - mdni!!, post-time skip, kissing, oral sex, blowjobs, p in v, smut, fluff

wc: 5.3k

a/n: watched the movie last night and i cried (if you saw this post before, no you didn't) <3

also on ao3!

Six months in, and you think you might be ready to quit your job.

Sure, securing a job as the MSBY Black Jackal’s manager was one of your proudest achievements, but no one had told you that you’d be dealing with men like this. You understood that you were in the presence of some of the finest sporting talent in Japan, but these men were wildly immature.

It’s why you’re here now, glaring at the man who had made fun of his teammate.

“What were you thinking?” you hiss, pointing your pen at the offending man.

Atsumu groans, his head tipping back against the wall of the locker room. “I was only having a little fun.”

“A little fun,” you reply, nodding along, “right, and that’s why Bokuto is off sulking in who knows where!”

“C’mon!” Atsumu protests, leaning forward, staring at you desperately, “I made a comment on the color of his shoes! How was I supposed to know that was gonna set him off?”

You can feel a headache begin to set in and you sigh, pointing towards the door of the locker room.

“Just go warm up, okay? I’ll try and find Bokuto.”

Atsumu nods, and has the grace to look at least a little apologetic as he pats your shoulder and leaves.

You follow him soon after, out of the locker room. Bokuto’s sulking most likely meant he wasn’t going to perform as well. You knew about his bouts of being discouraged, had seen it during the occasional game when something would set him off. People are milling about, and you quicken your pace, turning a corner to finally find Bokuto sitting on a bench.

“Bokuto!” you call out, the relief in your voice clear.

The outside hitter looks up at you, a pout on his face. 

“You ready for the game?” you ask, putting on a wide smile to try and make him feel better.

“Do you think they’re ugly?” 

“W- what?”

“My shoes,” he says, pointing at them, “do you think they’re ugly?”

You have half the mind to tell him that they’re just shoes and that he should grow up, but the look of utter despair on his face has you holding back. A quick glance down at his shoes and from what you can gather, they look relatively… normal. You were definitely going to kill Atsumu later.

“They look fine,” you say, pausing when you see his frown deepen. Your fingers tighten around the clipboard clutched against your chest and you put on a cheery smile, voice pitching up. “I meant they look totally great! And they really suit you!”

Bokuto makes no attempt to move, simply stares down at his shoes and traces one of the stripes absentmindedly. You’re at your wits end, growing antsy as you check your watch and realize there’s only 10 minutes before the game starts.

“I could get you some new-“

“You doing okay?”

A voice breaks in through from behind you and your head turns, brows furrowing when you see an unfamiliar man. The lanyard around his neck has a card attached to it, bold letters spelling out VIP . 

“Akaashi!” Bokuto sits up, his eyes lighting up for a moment, “do you like my shoes?”

You stare at the pair of men, bewildered. The man, Akaashi, pats Bokuto’s shoulder and lowers his voice to whisper some words to the pro-volleyball player. In what you think might be the quickest change of mood from Bokuto yet, the volleyball player stands up and gives a hearty laugh, his chest puffing out. 

You’re even more stunned when he pats your back happily and jogs off in the direction of the court.

“How did you do that?” you blurt out, eyes flitting towards the man who was now standing beside you.

“I used to play with Bokuto in highschool,” Akaashi replies, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “Fukurodani. I was the team’s setter so I had to get used to Bokuto's little slumps.”

Huh. That did make more sense. You narrow your eyes, examining the man a little more. He’s handsome, sure, his glasses sitting on the slope of his nose as he shifts on the spot. Akaashi stares back down at you expectantly.

“Uh- well, thank you,” you say, holding your hand out and giving him a sheepish smile. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get him onto the court at all today.”

“Don’t mention it,” he says, his hand shaking yours. 

You introduce yourselves and he follows you onto the stands, both of you overlooking the two teams as they line up on the court. Nervousness makes you restless, your teeth biting into your lower lip as you watch the players get into position. You really wanted the Jackals to win.

“Relax,” Akaashi murmurs, his head lowering to speak directly into your ear to help you hear better over the roar of the crowd.

Your eyes meet his and he stares back at you intently, his hand squeezing at your shoulder gently. You think some sort of magic might be laced into his words with the way your body loosens slightly, your tense shoulders dropping.

“Thank you,” you mumble, giving him a faint smile.

Akaashi smiles back and squeezes your shoulder one more time before his hand drops away. You nearly protest against it, wanting to feel the heat of his body near yours again, but you can’t because you’ve only just met the man and you aren’t that desperate.

The game goes perfectly well, thankfully, and you’re up on the tips of your toes cheering for the Jackals as they shake hands with the other team. Your previous nervousness has all  melted away, leaving only a feeling of pure giddiness. Akaashi claps with you, his reaction much more toned down compared to yours.

“You can come down with me,” you say breathlessly, flicking through a few pages on your clipboard to find the schedule for the post game press conference.

Akaashi nods, his eyes drifting over you for a moment. “Yeah, I’ll come. I need to congratulate Bokuto anyways.”

You beam up at him and against better judgment, hand him a copy of the schedule before giving him a wave and disappearing off to meet the team. Akaashi watches as you flutter away, skirt swaying, the piece of paper clutched tightly in his hand. 

- 

“No talk of shoes, okay?” you warn Atsumu as you had him a bottle of cold water. “We can’t have Bokuto breaking down on national television.”

“You worry too much,” Atsumu complains, pressing the bottle of water against his flushed cheek.

“My job is on the line!” you argue, giving the man a glare.

Atsumu only gives you a pout and you thank Meian when he comes to get his teammate, grateful for the captain’s unwavering leadership.

You slip into the conference room before long, making sure to give the Jackals an encouraging smile and a thumbs up before you sidle up to the wall, watching as the various reporters ready their questions.

A few bottles of water sit on a table beside you and you reach for one, twisting at the cap. The stupid plastic burns across your skin harshly, making a glare settle on your face as you narrow your eyes at the bottle of water. You try again but to no avail, the cap latching on stubbornly tight. A soft curse gets muttered under your breath before someone’s hand reaches out, grabbing the bottle of water from you.

You blink in surprise when you realize it’s Akaashi, his hand twisting at the cap effortlessly and breaking the seal. 

“Thank you,” you whisper.

“That’s the third time today,” he whispers back, his eyes glimmering with mirth, “should I keep sticking around for more of your thanks?”

A smile pulls at your lips and you glance up at him to find him smiling back. 

“Don’t be an asshole,” you mutter, elbowing him in the side lightly.

Akaashi hums in response, his warm hand grasping at your elbow to hold you in place. You freeze for a moment, surprise flitting across your face but then you lean into him slightly, avoiding his eyes as you press into his side. If he notices, he doesn’t say anything, just stands there with you, his eyes trained on the little notes you scribble on paper as the players speak.

To your relief, Atsumu manages to steer clear from the topic of shoes, answering the reporters’ questions thoroughly with a bit of humor thrown in, to lighten the atmosphere of the press conference. You find that you can’t really be all that mad at the man, he knew how to get the job done when it came to it.

The press conference comes to a close half an hour later and Akaashi trails after you as you usher the men back into the main foyer.

“Good job everyone,” you announce before flicking through a few pages of your clipboard. “The Chairman has been impressed with your performance this season, so he’s personally sent a congratulatory cake.” You stare pointedly at Atsumu and Bokuto. “Please make sure to not make a mess.”

The men are gone in a rush before you can say anything else and you smile fondly, shaking your head.

“You gonna let me get in on this cake thing?” Akaashi asks, raising his brows.

“You’re welcome to join,” you reply, shooting him a smile as you try to not sound too eager. “You do have VIP status, after all.”

Akaashi smiles back and you think it might be a miracle that your legs haven’t given out under the soft gaze he sends you. 

Thankfully, Atsumu and Bokuto don’t make a mess although you do spot them bribing Hinata to bring them a few more slices, the orange-haired man utterly oblivious to the fact.

“Hey,” Akaashi murmurs, stepping in beside you as you finish off your piece of cake. “You’ve got a little something.” He motions to the corner of your mouth.

“Oh!” you flush with embarrassment, wiping at the corner of your mouth with a napkin. “Gone?”

“Just a little more,” he says, watching as you try and fail to get rid of the chocolate icing that’s smudged over your lips and the corner of your mouth. “Just- here, let me.”

You freeze when he reaches out for you, his thumb swiping over your lip and skin gently, cleaning you up.

“Napkin?” you ask weakly, offering it to him so he can clean his thumb.

“No need.”

Akaashi keeps his eyes on you as he licks the pad of his thumb, your hazy eyes following the motion of his tongue, a rush of heat pooling in your lower stomach.

“Do you-” you begin, clearing your throat when you hear how airy your voice has become, “do you do this often?”

A smile pulls at his lips and he leans in a little closer, his breath fanning across your skin as his mouth opens to murmur something into your ear.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

You jolt, half-lidded eyes snapping open when you find Bokuto slinging his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders. Irritation flashes through Akaashi’s eyes but it seems to fade when Bokuto begins to speak animatedly, detailing the past events Akaashi had missed.

Part of you would’ve liked to speak to Akaashi more, but you can’t find it in yourself to fault Bokuto, deciding to busy yourself with getting another slice of cake. A heavy arm slings itself around your shoulders and you roll your eyes when you realize it’s Atsumu, the wide grin on his face making you feel uneasy.

“Saw you getting real chummy with Bokuto’s friend,” he whispers conspiratorially, trying to swipe at your cake slice. 

“I was being friendly,” you retort, glaring up at Atsumu.

“You look like you wanna fuck him.”

“Your observations are not appreciated,” you grit out, trying to squirm away from under him when he steers you into a corner.

“Good news is, I think he wants to fuck you too,” Atsumu says smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“ Why are you doing this?” you groan, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“Because you, my lovely manager, deserve happiness!” he says cheerily.

Your eyes narrow, taking in the smile on Atsumu’s face, suspicion flaring. “What did you do?”

“What?” Atsumu’s smile falters. “Nothing. Why do you always assume I did something?”

“Because you usually do something, Atsumu,” you reply exasperatedly, trying to peek out from behind him to catch another glimpse of Akaashi.

Atsumu rolls his eyes, moving to the side so as to block your view of Akaashi.

“Let’s hear it then,” you say, peering up at him. 

He beams at you, his head lowering so he can whisper into your ear. “Just make sure you take charge. Guys like that sort of thing. Yank him by the shirt or something and kiss him. My advice is foolproof .”

Was the advice really foolproof if the fool himself was giving it to you?

You shoot Atsumu a skeptical look, waving him off before he puts any more ridiculous ideas into your mind. 

As the night passes, the amount of players reduces, deciding to make their way back home. Atsumu shoots you a wink in passing and you glare back at him, fighting the urge to swat him.

“Heading home?” 

You blink up to find Akaashi standing beside you, his brows raised.

“Yeah,” you say, a wistful smile coming across your face, “it’s been a long day.”

“I could drive you home?” Akaashi offers, falling into step beside you as you both exit the volleyball stadium.

You had been planning to just catch an uber or something, but when Akaashi stares down at you like that , his gaze soft and lips looking sickeningly inviting, you nod immediately.

A few stolen glances later coupled with you biting back an inappropriate remark at the way his lithe fingers wrap around the steering wheel, you find yourself standing opposite Akaashi in the open doorway of your apartment.

“I guess I’ll see you around?” you say, peering up at Akaashi.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Akaashi murmurs, his hands shoving into his pockets.

Akaashi shows no signs of leaving however. Silence passes over you as you both just stand there, staring at each other. Your gaze dips down to his shirt, trying to stop Atsumu’s obnoxious voice from blaring through your normally rational decision making.

Yank him by the shirt or something and kiss him.

Eyes flitting up again, you decide to take your chances. Your hand curls into Akaashi’s shirt, yanking him towards you, lips crashing onto his. Several seconds pass and Akaashi stands there limply, his lips unmoving and non-reciprocating. 

“I’m so sorry,” you blurt out, feeling utterly mortified as you let go of him. “Atsumu said you wanted to fu- I mean- he said guys liked that sort of thing!”

At the same time, Akaashi begins to speak. “Bokuto said you weren’t interested.”

“ What? ” you sputter, eyes widening. Frustration sets your nerves alight and you fish out your phone, dialing Bokuto’s number, ready to give him an earful. 

“Hey,” Akaashi says, plucking your phone from your hand and setting it down onto a nearby dresser, “think you could do that after I kiss you?”

Your flurry of movements pauses, breath hitching when he steps inside your apartment, the door shutting behind him softly. He smiles down at you, arm wrapping around your waist to pull you closer.

“Oh,” you breathe out, eyes fluttering as he spins you around, pushing you up against the door gently, “y-yeah, I can do that.”

“Yeah?” he whispers, the tip of his nose brushing yours. One of his hands slips up higher, smoothing over the length of your neck to cup your cheek.

You let out an incoherent noise, managing out a jerky nod. Akaashi laughs, tilting your head to the side as he places a soft kiss on your cheek. Your eyes flutter shut, heart racing uncontrollably in your chest as he drags his lips across your skin, planting another kiss to the corner of your mouth.

His glasses dig into your skin but you can hardly find it in yourself to care, pulling him closer desperately when he slots his lips over yours. Akaashi kisses you heatedly and you whine, arms wrapping around his neck to return his kisses eagerly. His tongue gently parts your lips, hands slipping back down to squeeze at your waist and move you flush against him.

A few stumbles later and you’re pushing his chest, watching as he falls back onto the couch. Akaashi grins, his thighs spreading invitingly as he gets comfortable.

“Come sit on my lap, baby.”

You don’t have to be told twice. You scramble up onto his lap, straddling his hips, lips finding his again. Akaashi groans when you run your fingers through his hair, hips rolling across his lap as he spreads his fingers over your skirt, groping at your ass.

“So- so you do wanna fuck me?” you ask breathily, unable to resist yourself from leaning forward and stealing another kiss.

“I thought I made myself obvious,” Akaashi replies, his hands slipping under your skirt to feel the warm, bare skin of your thighs.

A soft hum leaves you, fingers tracing across his cheek before reaching out to take his glasses off, setting them down. You smile down at him hazily and Akaashi smiles back, maneuvering your body so that you’re laying down, head nestled in the cushions.

You bite your lip when he kisses down your neck, sighing softly when he undoes the buttons of your shirt, pulling it apart. Akaashi’s eyes darken when he sees the swell of your breasts in your bra, his hands reaching out to grope at them greedily. You fumble around, unclasping your bra, tossing it behind you.

“So pretty, baby,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to your lips before kissing down your body.

You gasp when his tongue swirls around your nipple, squirming underneath him as his hot mouth envelops it, sucking and licking, even nipping gently making your body twitch. Back arching, you moan, fingers tugging at his soft hair. Akaashi lets out a hum, mouth opening wide to suck your breast into his mouth, groaning when he feels your hips buck underneath him.

“ Fuck ,” Akaashi hisses, his fingers rubbing at your clothed cunt, panties utterly drenched, “you’re dripping. How long have you been like this?”

You flush, looking away. Akaashi clicks his tongue, grabbing your chin to turn your gaze back onto him.

“Tell me,” he coaxes, rucking your skirt up before he tugs your panties up, watching the hard press of the fabric outline your puffy folds.

“Maybe- maybe since you opened that water bottle for me,” you mumble, blinking up at him innocently. 

Akaashi’s grip falters, his brows shooting up in surprise. Your cheeks are hot, eyes dropping to find his cock straining against his trousers, the bulge making you lick your lips.

“That long?” he whispers, leaning in.

“Mhm,” you nod, arms looping around his neck to pull him into a sloppy kiss, tongue and all.

“If I knew it was that easy, I would’ve done it the moment I saw you,” Akaashi smiles, his nose nudging against yours as he continues to rub your pussy through your panties.

“Shut up!” you laugh, pushing at his chest.

He laughs with you, smacking a quick kiss to your cheek before slinking down, pulling your thighs apart. A contented sigh leaves you when he licks up over your ruined panties, mewling softly when he pulls them to the side to get a glimpse of your slick pussy.

“Such a pretty pussy. All of you is so pretty,” he murmurs, pulling your panties off. 

You don’t miss the way he tucks them into his pocket.

Akaashi’s mouth encloses around your clit, sucking with fervor. You let out a strangled moan, fingers fisting his hair roughly, thighs twitching. 

“A- Akaashi,” you whine, hips rolling up to meet his mouth needily, “ hah- oh fuck!- ”

His nose nudges into your clit when he stops suckling on your clit, licking up a wide strip along the length of cunt, a low moan slipping out of him as he watches your cunt clench and flutter around nothing.

“Taste so fucking good,” he rasps, arms curling around your thighs, thumbing apart your folds to press his tongue in deeper, licking over the velvety flesh of your cunt.

You moan again, breath catching in your throat when his thumb finds your clit, rubbing tight circles into the sensitive bud before his tongue presses into your aching pussy, thrusting in and out of you. He makes an obscene sound and you tug at his hair roughly, pushing his face deeper into your cunt, squealing when he shakes his head, tongue swiping all over you.

“Don’t stop,” you whisper, beginning to chant drunkenly, “don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

Akaashi grunts into your pussy, spreading apart your folds against to spit on your cunt, his tongue swirling around your swollen clit before sucking it into his mouth. He suckles on it hard ; the sensation making your toes curl and eyes squeeze shut tightly. 

“Gonna cum?” he asks, a hoarse laugh leaving him when you push his head back down.

You nod rapidly, hands squeezing at your breasts, pinching and tugging at your own nipples. Akaashi slips his fingers up past your chin and your mouth opens obediently, hips rolling up as you suck on his fingers. 

A whimper escapes you when his teeth graze your clit, his tongue laving over it again as he sucks desperately, driving you further and further to the edge.

“Cum on my tongue, baby,” Akaashi whispers, “wanna watch you cum all pretty and needy.”

You don’t need any more encouragement, back arching as your body draws taut. You cum with a cry of his name, squeaking when he licks over your oversensitive pussy, thighs clamping around his head while your fingers tangle in his soft, black hair. 

Akaashi pulls away with one final suckle to your clit, peppering kisses up your body before slotting his lips over yours again. You whine softly, cupping his cheek to return his kisses feverishly, feeling the press of his clothed cock against your inner thigh.

“Take your clothes off,” you say softly, pecking his lips sweetly.

You squirm out of your skirt and top when he gets off of you, watching with hazy eyes as he pulls his shirt up over your head. The flex of his biceps has you letting out a low whine, fingers slipping between your thighs, unable to help yourself, rubbing your clit unabashedly.

Akaashi doesn’t miss the movement, shooting you a lazy grin, his hand smoothing over his trousers, squeezing at his bulge.

“Enjoying the view?” he murmurs, unbuttoning his trousers, “hm, baby?”

“‘m enjoying it a lot,” you reply airily, entranced by the motion of his hand as he grasps himself through his boxers.

Your breath catches in your throat when he pushes his boxers down, tongue feeling heavy as you watch the bob of his cock, heavy and thick. The hardened length twitches when he wraps his hand around himself, pumping his cock, pre-cum beading at the tip.

“T-taste?” you mewl, slipping off the couch and crawling towards him, “wanna taste, ‘kaashi.”

“Needy baby,” he whispers, running his fingers through your hair, brushing it out of your face.

Your eyes flutter shut when he bends, meeting his lips in a short kiss. Akaashi presses the head of his cock against your lips soon after, a moan slipping out of him when he sees the way his pre-cum spreads across your lips.

You lick your lips, mewling at the taste of his pre-cum, mouth opening wider, tongue lolling out.

“Want it,” you whisper, fingers digging into thighs, “please?”

“‘m gonna give it to you,” Akaashi rasps, grasping the base of his cock to smack the head of it against your tongue a few times. “Go ahead, pretty.”

You hum happily, mouth wrapping around his cock, hand curling around the base of it. Akaashi groans, his head tipping back as you squirm on your knees, fingers finding your slippery clit again.

“Just like that,” he whispers when you begin to bob your head, tongue swirling around the head of his cock, suckling gently.

Akaashi’s thighs twitch, the hand tangled in your hair tightening when you shuffle closer, mouth stretching open to take more of him into your mouth. 

You suck and lick, practically dripping onto the carpet beneath you as you hear the grunts and groans that leave Akaashi. He sounds pretty, the little airy gasps and stutters of his breath giving you the encouragement to try and take him deeper, your nose pressing into the black tufts of coarse hair at the base of his cock, before you pull off with watery eyes.

“I might have a hard time letting go of you after this,” Akaashi says, watching as you blink up at him with starry eyes, stroking his hand over your hair as you mouth lazily across the length of his cock. 

“So don’t,” you whisper, laving your tongue across the head of his cock, tasting his pre-cum.

You land a soft kiss to the tip, tilting your head to kiss at his heavy balls. Akaashi stops you before you can suck them into your mouth, dipping his head down to kiss you instead.

“‘m gonna cum if you do that,” he whispers against your lips.

“That’s sort of the point,” you smile, hand stroking along his length.

He snorts, wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you up onto your feet. His throbbing cock presses against your stomach as you wind your arms around his neck, pulling him down for another kiss. Akaashi gropes at the fat of your ass appreciatively, both of you standing together as you makeout languidly. 

You pull away for air soon after, hands roaming across his firm chest, eyes growing hazier with the way the muscles of his abdomen flex under your touch. A glob of pre-cum beads at the tip of Akaashi’s cock and you grasp his hand, rocking up to kiss his cheek before pulling him after you.

“Wanna ride my cock?” he whispers, teeth nipping at your earlobe gently when you lead him into your bedroom.

“Y- yeah,” you reply airily, crawling up onto his lap when he sits down, his back against the headboard of your bed.

You rock your hips, grinding your cunt against his hot length, mewling softly when the tip of it nudges against your clit a few times. Akaashi catches your chin, pulling you forward for another filthy kiss, his hands smoothing up and down the length of your back.

“Sink down on it, baby.”

A soft whimper escapes you at his low voice, hands gripping his shoulders as you rise up onto your knees. Akaashi wraps his hand around the base of his cock, holding it for you. His head tips back, a guttural groan leaving him when you sink down on his cock, your nails digging into his skin.

“ Oh- ” you whine, “‘kaashi- hah- ”

“Keiji,” he replies, fingers dimpling the fat of your hips, trying to gain some semblance of control with the way your cunt’s clenching around his cock, “call me Keiji, baby.”

You let out a dazed sigh, rolling your hips and whining again, your own head tipping back.

“K- Keiji, you feel so good.”

Akaashi moans appreciatively in response to your words, landing a spank to your ass to urge you to move. You hiccup, cupping his cheeks, mouth dropping open in a silent moan as you roll your hips one more time and begin to rise and fall on his cock.

He keeps his eyes on you, letting out soft pants as you mewl and whimper out his name, hips swaying back to meet his thrusts when he begins to move his hips too.

“Good girl,” Akaashi whispers, head dipping to suck your breast into his mouth, “gripping me so tight, baby.”

“Keiji,” you mewl, dragging out his name in a needy call.

“‘m right here, pretty,” Akaashi murmurs, arms wrapping around your waist more firmly. 

You squeal when he lifts you up and begins to drop you down onto his cock himself, his face pressing into your chest, leaving desperate, heated open-mouthed kisses against your sweaty skin as he makes you take his cock.

“Oh fuck-,” you begin to gasp out, eyes squeezing shut, “ oh fuck! ”

“Take it,” Akaashi hisses, hands drifting down to grip the fat of your ass tighter, “fucking take my cock, baby.”

A surprised squeak leaves you when he lays you down, his cock pushing into you almost immediately after. Your legs wrap around his hips, hand reaching for his as he fucks his cock into you, the sound of his skin slapping against yours echoing lewdly throughout the room.

You scrabble at the bedsheets, trying to find some purchase as Akaashi drives his cock into you harder and faster.

“Gonna make me cum,” he grunts, face pressing into the crook of your neck, his body dropping to be flush against yours, hips rolling to a slow grind.

“‘m gonna cum too,” you say weakly, eyes fluttering as he mouths at your breast lazily. 

Akaashi peers down at you when he pushes himself up, bullying his cock into your cunt, balls pressed snugly against your ass.

“Can I cum inside?” he asks softly, brushing your hair out of your face.

“You’re a terrible influence,” you sigh, giving him a dazed smile as you pull him down for a kiss, “but yes, you can.”

Akaashi grins, mouth slotting over yours again, thumb rubbing at your clit. He groans when he feels you clench around him, his hips stuttering jerkily when you dig your heels into the backs of thighs, forcing him to push his cock in deeper. 

“Brat,” he hisses, head dropping forward as he lets out a low whine, cock jerking inside of you as he cums.

You squirm, back arching as his thumb rubs harder, thighs twitching as you fall apart on his cock. Akaashi pants against your chest, his eyes squeezed shut as he lets out a few more whines, thick cum filling you up.

He rolls off of you so as to not crush you with his weight, running his hand through his hair. You curl up into his side, leaning forward to kiss his jaw.

“‘m gonna go clean up,” you whisper.

Akaashi nods, patting your hip affectionately, his eyes trained on the sway of your hips as you disappear into the bathroom.

You tug on a fresh shirt and a pair of panties, crawling back into bed to find Akaashi’s pulled his boxers back up over his hips, the manga volume you had been reading last night in his hand.

“It’s good,” you inform him, pressing into his side, head resting on his shoulder as you look over the little panels of drawings.

“I’d hope so,” Akaashi says, his hand rubbing at your side absentmindedly.

“Why?” you ask, brows furrowing.

“I happen to be the editor.”

You stare at him blankly, eyes flitting from his towards the manga. “No way.” You snatch the manga from him, flipping through towards the large page. His name is there in the little lettering, plain as day.

Editing: Akaashi Keiji

He smiles at you, nuzzling into your cheek, pressing several kisses here and there.

“Well,” you say, setting the manga down and wrapping your arms around his neck, “now you have to tell me what’s to come.”

“My lips are sealed,” Akaashi replies, kissing the corner of your mouth.

“Keiji!” you whine, pouting up at him.

“Not happening, baby,” he says, shaking his head before leaning forward to kiss the pout off of your mouth.

You let out an irritated huff, pushing his head away when he tries to kiss you again.

“Look at that,” he muses, “you get all sulky like Bokuto.”

“Please don’t insult me.”

[ashturnedtomist]

Keep it Covert Ch. 7

No, Damien’s Right. It IS weird.

Keep it Covert Masterlist

Previous | Beginning | Next

Summary: In which, Freelancer and Lovely meet, Damien is really frustrated for unrelated reasons.

Based off this post

Read it on Ao3!

Huxley was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement while Damien tiredly sipped on a cup of coffee next to him.

“I don’t understand why you had to wake everyone at 3 am last night to do this.” He mumbles.

Huxley seemed to somehow get brighter. “Because that’s when Lovely called! I had to make sure that everyone knew as soon as possible!”

Damien sighed, seemingly resigned as he took another sip of his coffee.

“…it’s 5 o’clock in the afternoon, how are you still tired?” Damien nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice in his ear.

There stood Freelancer with Gavin just behind. Lasko was rapidly approaching as well.

Damien got his bearings before shaking his head. “You try convincing Huxley to go back to sleep after he gets excited.”

They paused. “Fair enough.”

Lasko finally caught up, seemingly out of breath. “I…sorry…parking…down the street…”

Gavin frowned. “Why didn’t you just park in the parking lot?” Damien narrowed his eyes. “In this part of town? I’d like to keep my tires, thanks.”

Gavin gave him a playful smile. “Don’t be so harsh, Damien.”

Damien’s jaw clenches. “Not in the mood.” Huxley laughs. “C’mon, Dames. We’re here for a good time.”

——

The main room was generally empty, save for a pair of vampires flitting around the room and 2 men in business attire whispering in a corner.

One of the vampires broke away and dashed to Damien and Huxley. “Damien! Hux! How are you?”

Huxley grinned brightly. “Hey, you! How are you?”

They brightened. “I’m good!” They peeked around the earth elemental. “Who’s with you?”

Damien tiredly introduced each individual. “Lasko, Gavin, and the Freelancer.” Lasko gave a timid wave while Freelancer smiled. “Nice to meet you!” Gavin grinned, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Nice to meet you, indeed.”

As if an alarm went off, another vampire was at their side in an instant. Lovely perked up. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I’m Lovely, and this is my boyfriend, Vincent.”

He waved, his sleeve rolling down to reveal his red bracelet. “Nice to meet you all.”

Freelancer’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you both vampires?”

Vincent shifted uneasily. “Yes…” Freelancer gasped. “Ohmigosh, I’ve never met a real one before! I have so many questions.” Vincent looked at Damien questioningly. “Freelancer is humanborn.”

Vincent smiles. “Oh. Lovely was a latent electro elemental before turning.” Freelancer’s eyes got even bigger. “What?! That’s so rare!”

Lovely’s face reciprocated their excitement. “Wait, you’re new to all this too?” The pair eventually broke off from the group, babbling to each other about being relatively new to empowered life.

Vincent sighed before turning to the remaining four. “Why don’t you check out the bar? Most of the staff doesn’t get here until 6, but Lovely wanted you guys to come early.”

Lasko tilted his head in confusion. “What? B-but we don’t even-”

“I asked them to do that.”

All four of their heads whipped around to see one of the men break away from the intense conversation he was holding with the other. He held out a hand. “Morgan. I own this place.”

Damien shook his hand tentatively. “Damien. And this is Lasko, Gavin, and Huxley.” He said, gesturing to each respective person.

The other man approaches. “I’m James. Morgan’s…associate.” He said, his eyes scanning all four of them. He cleared his throat. “I wanted to speak with a few of you.”

——

Freelancer was uncomfortable. They didn’t understand why: a.) this random man was pulling them away from a perfectly good conversation, b.) only Gavin and Lasko were allowed to be in his office with them, or c.) why he even wanted to talk to them in the first place.

They glanced over at Gavin and Lasko.

To the left of them sat Gavin. He sat comfortably in his chair, however, they could see that his usual cool demeanor was slightly fractured.

To the right, Lasko was practically vibrating in his seat. His eyes darted around the room while he periodically wiped his palms on the fabric of his pants.

They sighed. “Lasko, it’s probably fine.”

The air elemental bites his lip. “Wh-why would he want to talk to us? What-what is so dif-dif-different about us that-that they had to separate us from-from Damien and-and-and-and- Huxley?”

“Worrying like that isn’t going to help anyone, Lasko.”

“B-but-”

“Glad to see you all.”

Lasko practically jolted out of his seat at the sound of James’ voice.

James raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“What do you want with us?” Gavin questions lowly.

James sighs and sits down across from the three other magic users.

“I have some questions for you three,” he says, pulling a file out of his desk. He tosses it in front of him and the photographs that spill out make Freelancer’s blood run cold.

“…about the Inversion.”

——

“No, this is weird, Huxley.” Damien says harshly.

The taller man frowns at his boyfriend. “Try not to stress too much, Dames. I don’t think anything will happen. Lovely wouldn’t bring us here to lure us into a trap,” He glances at them out of the corner of his eye. “…right?”

Lovely nods assuredly. “I promise, I didn’t know James was going to ambush them like that.” They place their hand on their chest, ignoring Vincent’s indignant ‘Hey!’ when they say, “I swear on Vincent’s immortal soul. It’ll be fine.”

Huxley turns back to Damien. “See? It’ll be okay.” Damien grumbles something under his breath, still not convinced.

However, his grumbling is interrupted by the front door of the club swinging open.

“God, I need a drink.” Damien flinches at the familiar voice.

His head swivels around to take in the speaker, and yes, there, in all of their glory was, “…Smartass?”

“Damien?”

Tags—

Notes: I am SO sorry it took so long to post y’all, my life is a shitstorm these days.

(I literally have a friend reporting someone in one of my classes for going into intense detail on how he would shoot up the school, I got a boyfriend, and my grandfather almost died 3 times)

[rlbbackup]

To be a Menace || SxF ficlet

Thank you @glacialdawn for this inspiring one. 😘 Love you babe! Also, thanks to @sister-cna-reader for sparking my love for this rare pair 💕

This is really short, so I'm just going to post it here for now. Maybe I'll put it on ao3 later. Maybe not. Who knows?!

Summary: in the wake of Your Spare Blade, Twilight has words with his Handler before being assigned a new mission.

Reporting on his most recent mission hadn't been too much of a hassle, minus the argument discussion about rushed assignments when little information was available. Fortunately, he and Yor had gotten out of the last one relatively unscathed, but there was no telling if that would be the case next time.

And while Handler had shared Twilight's frustration, she couldn't guarantee that rushed, inadequate assignments wouldn't happen in the future. Sudden changes happen and both he and his wife were well equipped to handle them when necessary.

It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but at least she had listened rather than brushing him off. (Had she ever brushed off his concerns? He couldn't recall a time when she hadn't taken what he said into consideration…)

The spy took a file, a new assignment, from his Handler and flipped it open just as a thought struck him. Born Industries stared back up at him from the first page and his eyes scanned over the details, committing it to memory while a thought swirled in the back of his mind.

Back in the early days of Strix, Bond had mysteriously shown up at Born Industries while he had been working to retrieve a possible truth serum. The whole mission could have been a disaster, with the lack of prior reconnaissance and short timetable, but the dog had made the whole ordeal so much easier.

Maybe…

“Could I bring Bond with me?” He inquired almost without thinking.

“No.” Sylvia answered, almost reflexively. There was a beat before, “May I ask why you are requesting he accompany you?”

Twilight didn't look up, keeping his eyes resolutely on the file, turning a page to pry further into the details. There was more to work with on this assignment, but just barely. “He was instrumental in helping me retrieve Gerrulimus, helping me navigate the building unseen.”

Sylvia's foot tapped the air for a moment, as if pondering it. “This infiltration should involve you disguising yourself as one of the specialists there, so having Bond there with you will most certainly draw more than necessary attention to you. It would be a risk.”

He can't help the quirk of his lip as he pointily looks at the dog at her feet. “Is that why Aaron is with you today?”

The shepherd perked at hearing his name, sitting up and looking at his mistress. The older spy lifted an eyebrow but placed a rewarding pat on her dog's head. “Matthew is watching him later. It's more convenient for him to come along rather than run back home and then to City Hall.”

The smile turns rapidly into a smirk. “Oh? So he's Matthew now?”

The stapler thrown in his direction was worth it. Fortunately, his reflexes had never been better, effectively dodging the attack. A short, amused laugh escaped his mouth as he dodged another object, skipping back as pens followed in his wake.

“Family life has made you incorrigible,” Sylvia hissed. “Get out of here! And make sure you complete this mission alone. Bond, Yor and especially Anya better not appear in your notes!”

Now there's an idea. The smile didn't quite leave his face as Twilight nodded, put his hat atop his head and began his retreat. Once arriving at the elevator he called back. “Tell Matthew hello for me and Yor looks forward to seeing him at the next family picnic!”

One last object flew past his ear as the door closed.

[papasbaseball]

Deck the Halls (Rain x Reader)

Summary: It's wintertime at the Ministry. Snow is falling, cookies are being baked, and community service time has arrived. All ghouls must participate in community service, which this time of year means creating decorations to bring holiday cheer to siblings, ghouls, and Papas.

One particular ghoul has had his eye on you for a while. Everyone seems to know except you. Will he be able to keep it under wraps while crafting?

Pairing: Rain x GN!Reader

Rating: T for Language

Warnings: Some self-deprecating talk.

AO3 Link

Dew threw the mess of popsicle sticks and glue at the wall.

"Dewdrop you will go clean that mess up right now!" You tried putting as much bass in your voice as possible. Your fists connected with your hips as you stared down the ghoul, his tail swatting back and forth like a cantankerous cat.

"Stupid fucking shit!" he yelled. "Why the fuck do we have to make decorations for the Ministry? I've got better shit to do like practicing. We're going to Europe soon and I need to be ready."

The trick worked, even if Dew did flip you off on his way over to the gooey mess. The room resumed its relative quiet of ghouls scribbling crayons and markers on poster boards, scissors snipping into coffee filters, and the rustling of Perler beads to be arranged for ironing. The quelling of the outburst seemed to have quashed any sort of rebellion, but you wanted to be sure.

"Just so everyone knows all Ghouls must participate in community service. Being part of the touring division of the Ghost project does not exempt you from this."

"I don't care about the community service bit," Dew snipped. "I just don't like making decorations."

"Hey, Dew!" Aether called out. "I made a decoration just for you!" He hoisted up a poster board with a crude drawing of ghoul genitalia, complete with spiral ribbing and thorny balls.

"Aether, while I appreciate the enthusiasm, let's try to keep our decorations Yule themed," you warned him with a sideways look.

"Can I get some help?" Rain said, tugging on your sleeve. He looked up, lips pressed together, waiting for you to assess his art project.

"Sure, friend! What's up?" You plopped down next to him to see a mess of glitter, glue sticks, and a torn-up asymmetrical coffee filter.

"I want to make the snowflake look like it's sparkling, but the glue stick keeps ripping through the snowflake." His shoulders heaved with a sigh. Pushing the mangled snowflake into the center of the table, he laid his head down in folded arms.

"Hey now, there's no need to get so sad." You rubbed his upper back in reassurance. The ghoul perked up almost immediately. "We can make the snowflake just like you wanted to."

"Really? Can you, um, show me how?" 

There was a soft patting sound coming from behind you. Turning to grab some coffee filters from the art supply cart behind you, you saw Rain's spade happily thumping on the wooden floor.

You gave one of the fresh coffee filters to him, keeping the other for yourself.

"So first you have to fold the filter into eighths," you said, demonstrating for the ghoul. Each time you made a new fold, you made sure to go back, making each crease as sharp as possible.

Rain sat there hands in his lap, even after you got done folding. "Do you think you could maybe fold mine for me?" he asked sheepishly. "My claws kept tearing the paper the first time I tried it."

"Of course, honey!" You gave him another rub between his shoulder blades, the thumping behind you resuming again, this time slightly louder than before. You quickly creased his filter, handing it back to him.

"Thanks," he smiled. He held the folded paper with his open palms, trying to avoid his claws.

"Next, we need to cut some shapes into the sides."

You both reached for the sole pair of scissors in the middle of the table. Hand brushing yours, Rain jerked his back as if he'd touched a branding iron.

"Go ahead and take them. I'll just use my claws."

Kissy noises coming from one of the other tables distracted you as you reached for the scissors. You half stood as you tried to see if you'd have to break up a fight between Dew and Aether. The noises stopped as soon as you stood.

"Weird," you said, sitting back down.

"Yeah," Rain laughed nervously, "totally weird." He went back to slicing ear shapes and triangles into his coffee filter, head bent forward casting a shadow on the craft.

You cut a few shapes into yours, waiting for Rain to finish with his. He cut one last half star, before turning back to you, the smile on his face notable. The ghoul rarely smiled, or so you thought. No one was really sure what Rain was truly like as he spent most of his time silently meditating in the grotto beneath the Ministry.

Smiling back, you were glad that he seemed to be enjoying your arts and crafts hour. You hoped that he would be proud of his work of art when you were both finished. 

"Now unfold the snowflake. It should look something like this," you said, showing off your handiwork to Rain.

Rain followed suit, carefully sliding his claw between the thin layers to separate and unfold them. He flexed his hands, palming flat the delicate paper work. It was beautiful, almost entirely covered in a flurry of hearts, definitely putting to shame his first attempt.

"Rain I love it! It looks gorgeous!" you gushed, reaching behind you to grab two pieces of construction paper, a container of Mod Podge, and some paintbrushes.

"I love you too. I mean! I love yours too!" his tail curled under the bench and the thwacking began anew, this time arrhythmically. More kissy sounds from the next table caused you to quirk a brow in that direction. The sounds stopped again, and you hoped this wasn't some newfound fad you'd be explaining to Sister Imperator later. You turned your attention back to Rain.

"Thank you, Rain. It's nothing much but I tried."

You slid the construction paper under your snowflakes and cracked open the container of Mod Podge. The scent that wafted from it was pungent but necessary to achieve the final step.

"Next we're going to brush on some of this. Since Mod Podge is liquid, it won't tear up the snowflake like the glue stick did. Here, have a brush!" Handing him a paintbrush, you dipped yours into the liquid and started spreading it quickly down the twists and turns of your snowflake.

"You're really good at crafts," Rain said, carefully painting the Mod Podge onto his snowflake. "How did you get so good?"

"Well, I guess the same way you got better at playing bass: with lots of practice."

"Yeah, but every time I try to do art I mess it up"

"The first few times we try anything we're bound to make mistakes. You just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again. Trying something new can be a bit nerve-wracking, but it's always worth it to give it a shot."

"Yeah I guess so," he laughed. With one last stroke, Rain's snowflake was now ready for glitter.

"Next part we can be as messy as we want. Sprinkle the glitter all over the snowflake. Don't worry about trying to get it directly on it: that's what the construction paper is for. Any leftover glitter we can just fold the paper and slide it right back into the container."

"That's really smart!" Rain smiled. He grabbed the container of white glitter from his first attempt and started shaking it onto his new masterpiece.

"Well, you know what they say: 'work smarter, not harder'," you said, dumping a canister of rainbow glitter you found on the table.

You'd almost finished up when Swiss came up behind you both. "Hey, that looks really good Rain! Are you going to give it to them?"

"To who? To me?" you said, looking up, hand to your chest. You couldn't imagine why Swiss thought he'd have to give it to you since all ghouls were responsible for hanging up their own decorations.

"Yeah, Rainy here has a crush on you. It looks like a ghoul courting present."

"Swiss! What the Hell!?" Rain smooshed a hand over his snowflake, trying to cover up the increasingly suspicious art project.

"C'mon Rain! You've been thumping your tail so loudly that everyone in the room can hear it. Don't be ashamed of wanting to get your freak on." 

Rain got up and bolted for the door, snowflake sticking to his hand. He tried shaking it off but to no avail. Throwing open the door, he didn't bother shutting it, instead continuing to run.

You looked up at Swiss.

"Man needed a push," he shrugged.

"As soon as I find Rain, you're apologizing to him," you said, pointing at him to get your point across.

He pushed the finger out of the way with the back of his hand. "Your authority ends at the art room door, sugar, and community service hour is almost up. I suggest you go find him before he drowns in the grotto. I'm sure Imperator would love to hear how you fucked that one up."

"Aether!" you called past Swiss.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"You're in charge until I get back. Make sure there's no funny business, okay?"

"You got it boss!" he said, making a mock salute. "Here that Dewey baby? I'm in charge now."

You left quickly. The less you saw of the consequences of your actions the better.

Running through the halls, you looked left and right for the grotto entrance. The area was unfamiliar, surrounded by ghoul dormitories and the apothecary alcove. You shut your eyes, looking back and forth trying to drudge up the memory of what the sibling of sin had told you at orientation.

"Over here are the ghoul dormitories and apothecary. You are allowed to visit the apothecary for maladies, but the ghoul dormitories are strictly off-limits. If you go down the hallway and to the right, you will find the entrance to the grotto. If you are caught down there you will find yourself a one-way ticket back to whatever sad city you came from. I'm telling you where it is so we don't have any 'accidents'," they had droned, jaded from past repetitions.

You took a deep breath and crossed the invisible forbidden barrier. Your heart beat faster, and your legs moved quicker, looking around for any potential snitches.

The entrance to the grotto was covered in a mosaic depiction of Hell. As you continued winding your way down the spiraling stairs, the red and orange tiles morphed to yellow, and at last to greens and blues of cool lagoons and stormy waves of the sea. The tiles continued into the grotto, forming a kind of peaceful sanctuary that washed tranquility over you like the ebb and flow of the tide.

Rain knelt at the edge of the water, staring at the snowflake stuck to his hand.

"It was supposed to be perfect and now I've fucked it all up," he sighed, voice echoing through the grotto. "Satan, Rain! Why do you have to be such a stupid idiot?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Please don't talk to yourself like that," you said, coming up behind him to rest a hand on his shoulder.

The ghoul jolted, scrambling to get up, but lost his balance, tumbling into the water. He resurfaced quickly, floofy hair now a soggy mess, making his horns look larger. Looking up at you, he quickly snapped his gaze back down, hoisting himself out of the water. The snowflake was now a mushy wad stuck to his hand.

"You're not supposed to be here," he mumbled.

"I know." You held his hand and peeled off clumps of the sparkly wet paper, trying to make sure no sticky residue was left on the skin.

"You could be in a lot of trouble though."

"I know."

"Well?" he huffed. "Don't you care that you could be excommunicated?"

"I care about my friends." Putting a hand to his heart, you could feel the beginnings of a ghoul purr. Pulling the hand away, you went back to picking the mess off his hand.

"Is that how you see me? Just a friend?"

You looked up at him, seeing if he was looking. He immediately fixed his eyes on the mosaic walls behind you.

"You never asked if you wanted to be more than friends." Having successfully picked the snowflake off, you hesitantly shoved the wet clump into your pocket, deciding to throw it away once you got back to the art room.

"I was going to ask you, but now my present is ruined," he said, gesturing to your wet pocket. With two clean hands, he smoothed over and squeegeed the excess water out of his hair. Scrunching it up a bit, some of the waves started to form again in his dark locks, making him look more like Rain and less like a soggy rat.

"You could always have my snowflake." You looked at your feet, hoping he would catch on.

"Yeah, but I didn't make it."

"No. But I made it and if I give it to you then…"

"Oh. Oh!" he said, seeming to catch on. "Let me go get changed. Um… do you want to go for a walk in the rose garden later? I can bring a picnic basket. I'm not sure what humans eat exactly. I've never um… any humans before. Are you allergic to milk?"

"Come on," you laughed, "let's get you some dry clothes. I've got to go back to the art room and clean up whatever mess Aether supervised."

Holding out your hand, Rain carefully took it, mindful of his claws. You walked up the steps hand in hand, Rain's tail swishing to land on your outside hip. When you reached the top, you let go, feet angling towards the art room.

"Well, duty calls," you said. "Should I meet you in the cafeteria around 5?"

"Yes. That sounds like a plan," he said, pointing finger guns at you. "I'll see you then." And with that, he bounded up the stairs to the ghoul dormitories, two at a time.

You hadn’t gotten more than a hundred feet down the corridor when Rain came barreling back down the hallway, boots still squishing from his dip in the grotto.

"I forgot something," he panted.

"What?"

Quickly, cupping your face between his hands, he pressed his lips to your hairline. It was a soft kiss, not lasting more than a couple of seconds, but it was long enough to savor the drafty hallway, the way his soaked vest touched your own clothes, and the way his breath briefly ruffled your hair.

Pulling back, he turned, running back to the dormitories. He called back, “See you at 5!”

Waving back, your stomach flipped. This wasn’t how you expected a day of arts and crafts to end, but you couldn’t be happier about it.

[hannshines]

Hunger Games x FlintWood Au

Hi if you're new, a long time ago I came up with an idea of a FlintWood Au set in the hunger games and I made two posts with images just to give this Au a face, I also started a fic called "Dream Brother" which I posted in Ao3 trying to follow this idea (which got stranded in chapter 8 with a very bad English).

But you know what, screw my fic hahahahahahahahahahaha, no matter how much I've done to get free time, nothing comes out of my head, not because I don't even know how to continue it, no, in my head I put together a three part plot of that fic to save me all that planning time because I'm a little stressed and burned out because my university and my only problem is that I don't know how to develop it.

And after surviving a category 5 hurricane, where my life passed in a span of 3 hours and I went without electricity for more than two weeks after that, I don't want to stay without telling you the thread of this story or even without telling you the ideas I had.

So Welcome to a post explaining all the plot I had for this story.

Starting in my idea about a three parts plot for Dream Brother was to focus in each part on one of the three main characters of the story having clearly still the focus on FlintWood and his development

Part.1: Marcus (his first games and how he met Oliver as well as their development while participating in the games for his sister) - here

Part 2: Daphne (On her attempt to get out as a district escort in the ministry)

Part 3: Adrian (In his development in the last games that i had planned for the story, before the fall of the ministry)

Part 1.

If you come from my fic you know very well what the thing was about, if not, Marcus Flint is 24 years old is from district seven and lives with his mother (who is a winner) and his younger sister in the winner's village, in Marcus's last reaping his sister is chosen to participate in the games, so in an attempt to try to be a good brother he applies the "I offer myself as a tribute" so that his sister does not go because she is only 14 years old, but it does not work out so well since being sections of women and men separated he has no choice but to also participate in the games as a partner of his sister, obviously after this, he travels to the ministry (tribute parade and training sessions) and he begins to meet the other important characters for the part.

Daphne Greengrass: The girl escort of district 6 which particularly is 21 years old and for Marcus is strange that someone so young is escort, has been working in the games for 6 years and has been the youngest to start.

Adrian Pucey: His mentor in the games which Marcus knows relatively well as they are almost "neighbors", he won his games when he was 16 years old and since he started being a mentor has not led anyone to victory.

Oliver Wood: The aforementioned Oliver Wood the boy from district 4 whom Marcus finds particularly attractive and good at fighting but stupidly sentimental and that he has his moral code of not killing anyone in the games.

Percy Weasley: The mentor of district 4, Oliver's best friend since childhood and who always seems to be about to die of stress because no one listens to him, bad at fighting but stupidly smart.

Demelza Robinson: Oliver's district partner and Oliver's childhood friend, good fighter who seems to look down on everyone with hatred and has a thing against Marcus' sister.

Cassius Warrington: The tribute from district 6, who ends up creating a friendship with Marcus and he is afraid of heights.

Sally Ann Perks: The girl from district 2 who should be part of the prefects but hates her district partner and preferred to stay away, good at animal trapping

Lucian Bole and Astoria Greengrass: The two stylists of his district.

Katie Bell: The escort of district 4 that Marcus doesn't consider a ministry girl as with Daphne since there seems to be something different with her.

The prefects: The alliance of the first two districts consisting of Perengrine Derrick (District 1), Millicent Bulstrode (District 1), Miles Bletchey (District 2).

Leanne Moore: Warrington's District partner, whom Marcus considers the most unnoticed of all, Warrington says he doesn't know her very well but Leanne knows Cass very well.

Colin Creevey: The youngest of the District 8 tributes, bad at fighting but seems to know everything about everyone.

Lavander Brown: Colin Creevey's district mate, not a blunt threat.

Theodore Nott: District 1 stylist, friend? Of Daphne, it's his third year working at the games.

Blaise Zabini: District 1 Escort, one of Daphne's best friends who started working for the games long after she did, this is his second year working for the games.

For the interviews the plan that Adrian and Daphne put together for Marcus and Amelia is to follow a game of brothers who would kill for each other being a team, but thanks to the interview of Demelza and Oliver (who were going to invent a romance to look for a minimal chance of both surviving) which goes wrong, Rita Skeeter (the host) end up making a broken phone and making the public believe that who Oliver is really possibly in love with is Marcus and not his partner, this plan changes.

Percy trying to save Oliver's reputation (and without either of his two tributes knowing it) asks Adrian to play along with the idea, Daphne refuses to go along, possibly endangering Amelia, but Adrian sees it as an opportunity to get sponsors and convinces Marcus to play along.

A fight between Marcus and Oliver after the interview because of the way Marcus talked about Oliver, who although he managed to follow the game and get involved in a rumor of a love trio between Demelza, Oliver and him, Oliver is annoyed by the way he referred to him, making him look like a "girl" and Marcus is also angry with him because according to him he is doing him a favor and the other one doesn't thank him.

When the games start they have no choice but to continue with the facade of the lovers, a lot of context about Amelia and Marcus's past, the death of his father, blah blah sentimental stuff.

Development between Marcus and Oliver's relationship that they end up taking being alone a lot of the time.

Sally Anne asks Marcus for an alliance with the only condition that he helps her to kill Miles Bletchey and she would also help in "protecting" her sister if the occasion arises, Warrigton joins them and puts the condition that they do not kill Leanne if she is found and promises that neither she nor Warrigton will do anything to her sister as well as she will help to get rid of Bletchey and the prefects, friendship is friend that cute the ones from Slytherin and AJA.

And here starts to be the thing, the prefects are always 4 or more, never of the never are less, so to Sally Anne not being with them, the rumor was armed that possibly someone else is the four prefect but nobody knows who can be, Marcus really does not trust anyone in the games, the only ones he trusts apart from his sister is Warrington, a little Sally Anne and obviously Oliver.

Because of Oliver, who clearly tells him about Demelza and how they've known each other for years and how he promises him that he can trust her too, Marcus starts to trust Demelza but Amelia doesn't, siblings fight, doesn't matter much because in the end they see that Demelza after being alone with the two of them hasn't done anything and the thing goes on.

Marcus after Cassius is killed starts to doubt that someone is telling his plans, but for him that doesn't make sense either because in reality NOBODY has seen them enough and the only person that Marcus told a little of their plans of where they were going to go or what they were going to do is Oliver, Sally Anne is killed after she killed Millicent in her tried to killed Bletchey (yes she left him whitouts a part of his arm) and the thing started to get more suspicious towards Oliver, because none of the two remaining male prefects went.

When the games advance a little more the news that two tributes from the same district can survive realese, because of some problems and traps Amelia was with Oliver and Marcus just trying to find her in the most desperate way after that news, Amelia panics to be alone with Oliver and although the other tells him not to worry that he will help her to find Marcus and each one will be for his side after that, Demelza arrives and tries to attack Amelia but she manages to escape.

There is a fight between Oliver and Demelza because that was not part of his plan and he was not going to let her kill Marcus' sister, Demelza is angry because if it is not Amelia and Marcus it will be some of them who will end up dead and both of them end up going their separate ways.

Just when Marcus finds Amelia she is killed by Derrick turning Marcus endless feelings and changing his plans.

No, he still has the idea that he won't win, but if people are unfair he will be unfair too and literally now he starts looking to kill any of the tributes he comes across (there were about 8 counting Marcus) and mostly the perfect ones, with the exception of Oliver and Demelza who are the only couple left as tributes and literally the only chance for two of them to survive.

He is doing them the favor just to get even for the prefects killed his sister, a fight between Oliver and Demelza, because Oliver starts to question how they knew where Amelia had gone if the last ones to see her were the two of them and the cannon sounded in less than an hour, and Demelza tells him to stop fooling around and from now on they better stay together, since they are the only pair of tributes left alive.

Marcus in his hunt for the prefects meets Bletchey who ends up being afraid and tells him the whole truth that the fourth prefect all this time had been Demelza who promised them to finish with Marcus in exchange for leaving Oliver alive until the end and if there are no more tributes left than them because clearly it was going to be combat only between them.

Marcus gets angry with Demelza but most of all with Oliver because in all this time he only trusted her because of Oliver and he thinks that Oliver surely knew all that too.

Most of the remaining ones die, Marcus finally meets Demelza at a time when Oliver was not there, difficult fight in which Oliver arrives later and obviously on Demelza's side, because he won't let them kill his friend (And he doesn't understand what's going on) quidditch symbolism between the guardian and a chaser, because Oliver's fight style is not to kill but to protect and protect himself while Marcus is a direct attack.

He leaves Oliver badly wounded and out of the fight and Marcus finally manages to kill Demelza (with a very iconic phrase that he had in his mind because the story is called Dream Brother for a reason) BUT he doesn't kill Oliver, literally Oliver almost almost asks him to kill him, because he doesn't know at what moment they got to that point but Marcus doesn't listen to him and literally tells him a furtive threat that he will live with everything that happened there and leaves.

Marcus is left bad after that fight so when he meets Drerrick who is the last one left, the fight gets a little complicated, he leaves Marcus almost dead but Oliver arrives to save him.

Drerrick dies and here the show begins, it's easy for Marcus to say that simply if Oliver isn't going to kill him he can leave him to bleed out and likewise he's going to die leaving Oliver the winner, but Oliver does neither, a drama because Oliver out of nowhere starts crying and Marcus is confused because he doesn't know what the hell is going on and why the other is crying.

Oliver is the really pretty when you cry

And Oliver says loudly that if Marcus dies he dies too, still going on with the lovers drama (which escalated because everyone in the ministry thought the whole Marcus sister dying is was actually the love triangle and Demelz trying to get Oliver) Marcus tells him what the hell he's doing and to cut the crap, the most forced kiss of life and the only one they give each other in all this time, a slight fight and a struggle between the two because Oliver literally tries to kill himself to manipulate the ministry because not being from the same obvious district the one winner rule came back.

Oliver my less suicidal friend almost bleeds to death because he didn't lie that if there weren't two winners there wouldn't be any and finally they decree them both winners despite being from different districts and obviously before Marcus faints bleeding to death Oliver informs him that he is also going to live with everything he did there.

And end of the story with the first part.

This is just from everything that happened in the games but I was also going to add the lives of the people in the ministry, Adrian and Daphne trying to get sponsors which didn't seem to be difficult because Marcus is a favorite, which is weird to Daphne.

An existential feud between Daphne and in her life because obviously Daphne is not just an escort if not being used for other things, all the bullshit involved in being called a Hallow.

In my story I put that Hallows, are certain winners who do their little jobs with people from the ministry (the favorites), the term is supposed to be used only with the winners but they also started to use it with Daphne as she is Tom Riddle's favorite, which is like an insult to her because she is not from the districts if not a citizen of the ministry, and Daphne actually can almost influence for many things in the games because of her closeness with Riddle.

My less depressive friend Adrian positing after Amelia is killed that this is the precise reason he never wants to return to the ministry every year.

How it really affected both Adrian and most of all Daphne the death of Amelia even though the latter only knew her less than a week, parallels between Daphne/Astoria and Marcus/Amelia.

A rumor starts to spread within the ministry as apparently the Flint surname has been heard since before Marcus arrived, which is the reason why Daphne start to investigaste that part an that.

I really regret not being able to finish that fic, I really wanted to finish it but I don't want to do something ugly either hahahaha, because I'm not the best writer, I had thought about everything else but let's go in parts and relax, anyway hahahahahaha if there are curiosities I'm open to questions, I never refuse.

I even have a saved pinterest pin of costumes, I really liked the image I had of Oliver's costume in they interviews, 10/10 looks in my head, i probably post that later.

[corner-stories]

where the water was

Captain Jean Kirschtein. Mikasa Ackerman. Promotions. Secret Relationships. Showers. Light Smut. 2619 words. (ao3.)

The day of Jean Kirschtein’s swearing-in felt just like any other. He woke up from a restless sleep, rubbed his tired eyes, and got dressed with all the grace of a foal learning to walk. He didn’t even need to put on his formal uniform or anything — in fact, the process of getting promoted in the Survey Corps seemed to involve nothing more than heading to the Commander’s office right after breakfast. 

Calling the event a “ceremony” was certainly being generous, as it felt a lot more like a glorified meeting. Once Jean entered the space, all he really had to do was salute, then repeat Commander Erwin’s words right after he spoke — ones that made him promise to fulfill his duties as a Captain to the best of his abilities. It finished to very little fanfare and Jean was dismissed immediately after. He didn’t even need to sign any paperwork. 

He certainly didn’t feel different as when he left the Commander’s office. When he caught sight of himself in a mirror, he wondered if the image of himself now could fit the idea of a Captain. Nowadays he was taller and a bit more scruffy, the hair on both his face and head having become unkempt over the last few months. The fact was that he could become very occupied with whatever the Legion asked of him, leaving him little time to spend on his appearance. 

With a new set of duties now awaiting him in the future, Jean was bound to grow a beard befitting a mountain man in about a week. 

At least what remained of the 104th found ways to catch up with him later that day. 

At lunch, Connie and Sasha found Jean in the mess hall and congratulated him for the achievement. Sasha even offered to give Jean one of the bread loaves she had snagged as a treat. While he had no idea when he would be allowed to select soldiers for Squad Jean, he was certainly interested in having his old training mates riding in his flank. 

Armin met him later as well, finding Jean in the stables to share a few friendly words. Though admittedly Armin did have to laugh about how getting promoted hours ago had yet to override Jean’s daily chores. Hopefully his new status as Captain would allow him to do anything else but shovel horse shit from the stalls for hours on end. 

The only person Jean didn’t see during the day was Mikasa. Not even at dinner, wherein the 104th-ers would huddle together in the corner of the mess to laugh, relax, or awkwardly eat in silence. As Jean dug into his stew and steamed potatoes, he kept looking for her in the corner of his eye, anticipating the moment when she would enter the room and their gazes would meet. 

But that moment never came. 

Perhaps it was selfish of him to want to see her, to wonder just what her reaction would be now that he had been promoted to Captain. Sure, he couldn’t show his affections exactly the way he (and she) would want to, but he could at least smile and speak to her like the close comrades they were — certainly nothing that could arouse suspicion from their old training mates.  

But alas, she was nowhere to be found. So in Mikasa’s absence, Jean was left to mingle with Connie, Armin, and Sasha for the night. 

While Connie complained that Jean still smelt of horse shit and worse, Sasha was pestering him about the perks reserved for Captains. She was quite disappointed to hear that as nice as the promotion was, Jean still ranked relatively low in terms of seniority due to his swearing-in having happened mere hours ago. When Sasha sighed at the prospect of her friend not having access to the food (and meat) of the higher-ups, Jean swore that he saw Armin rolling his eyes so hard that he could look inside his head. 

…

…

…

Once dinner had ended, Sasha and Connie retired to their respective barracks, Armin ran off to assist Hanji in the lab for a late-night experiment, and Jean decided to do something about the scent clinging to him. Under normal circumstances he would’ve bathed immediately after his stint in the stables, but the grueling nature of his chore had given him no time for that if he wanted to snag some dinner. If anything, he now had the motivation to write report asking what the fuck the horses were being fed nowadays, especially if it left the stables looking like that. 

The sky was dark when Jean walked across the HQ’s courtyard, his boots crunching the gravel beneath the soles. The air was cold, but not enough to bite at his cheeks or cause his breath to turn into little clouds. 

When he looked at the windows on the buildings, he noted that a few were still lit by candlelight.

One in particular was that of the classroom, where soldiers young and old were educated on the riding techniques utilized during every expedition. With Commander Erwin introducing a new version of his fabled Long-Range Scouting Formation, it was understandable that more time was being put into keeping the Legion updated. 

With the classroom only being on the second floor it was quite easy for Jean to see inside. When the person occupying the space walked into his line of sight, Jean was surprised that he recognized them. 

Mikasa looked both calm and tired as she wiped the chalkboard clean. From the way she moved it was obvious that she had spent most of her time inside the classroom, either explaining the new riding formations herself or assisting another. It was unsurprising that she looked utterly worn-down at this time of the night. 

As Jean kept his eyes on her, Mikasa looked out the window just in time to see the newly promoted Captain walking across the gravel. 

Jean’s first instinct was to smile and wave, even if the darkness and moonlight would leave him obscured. To his delight she waved back, returning his grin in the only way she could — i.e moving the corner of her mouth up very slightly as her gaze softened. 

Sure, this wasn’t how Jean expected to see her today — in fact, a part of him was very keen on embracing her the moment they found each other alone and pressing his lips against hers — but he wasn’t in a mood to complain. He would see her eventually, even if it wasn’t right away, and knowing that Jean felt at ease as he walked through the courtyard and left his paramour’s line-of-sight.

However, he would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t notice the wistful look in Mikasa’s eyes just before he was gone. 

…

…

…

At this time of night most of the soldiers were more interested in finding comfort — whether said comfort involved a good night’s rest, a card game, or a visit to the nearest tavern. Ultimately, it meant that the communal showers were pleasantly empty when Jean arrived. 

After stripping off his clothes he entered one of the stalls — though “stalls” was a very generous term to refer to the short walls that separated the space under every showerhead. But Jean said nothing as he turned the tap and let a heavenly stream fall over him. And here he thought every drop of hot water had been used up by the rookies in the morning. 

At some point, Jean would have to thank Commander Erwin for allocating funds to give the soldiers such a luxury. It had been a long time coming and now that it was here it was hard to complain. 

Jean ran a bar of soap over his aching muscles, letting a sudsy lather form over his skin. He made sure to scrub every part of himself, as he had no desire to return to the barracks still smelling like the stables. He really didn’t need to give Connie more motivation to call him “Mr. Horse-Man.” 

Though considering the events of the day, perhaps “Captain Horse-Man” was more fitting. 

As Jean leaned down to wash his thighs, he heard the sound of a door opening in the distance. Before he could even question it, the sound of a familiar voice called into the space. 

“Jean? It’s me.” 

With a smile, he replied, “Over here.” 

A testament to how well he knew her was the fact that he could recognize the way she walked into the room, down to the way her boots would hit the floor. 

Mikasa said nothing and Jean continued to shower. He couldn’t fight the smirk forming on his face, as she was undoubtedly looking disrespectfully at the sight of him wet and bare-assed. It would certainly not be the first time she had done so. 

The sound of the water hitting the tiles mixed with the sound of her slowly removing her own clothes, her jacket landing on the floor as Jean rinsed off. 

A moment passed and then he felt Mikasa pressing her body against his, her arms snaking around his torso to pull him into a hug from behind. She rested her chin on his shoulder, pepping small kisses on his skin.

Jean’s smirk softened into something a lot more kindly. He reached up to place his hand on one of her arms. 

“If you’re trying to sneak up on me then maybe don’t announce your presence.” 

She pressed another kiss to his neck. “Shut up.” 

Jean swore that he could hear her smiling. 

Moments passed as the two remained where they were, enjoying each other’s touch as warm water fell from the showerhead. They didn’t even toy with each other yet, even though the multiple times they had been here before involved hands — and other things — moving where their blood ran hot. 

When they did find it in themselves to break the silence, they spoke as if there was nothing peculiar about their circumstances. 

“Were you in the classroom all day?” asked Jean.

Mikasa let out a grumble as she continued to nuzzle his neck. “Unfortunately.” 

“And that’s a bad thing because…?”

“Because explaining riding formations is boring.” 

Jean nodded. “Fair enough.” He then turned around and stepped back slightly, giving her room to get some water. “Who knows? Maybe I can get someone else to do it — use the whole Captain shtick for something.” 

There was something caustic about the hum Mikasa let out. She was never one to laugh, so over the years Jean had learned that a curt, dry chuckle was usually all she could manage. 

She seemed more relaxed as she stood under the shower, letting water trickle down her muscles and through her hair. Nowadays she had been wearing it longer, something Jean found himself admiring from a distance and up close. 

“Congratulations, by the way,” she soon said. She looked him in the eye and let her hands rest on his shoulders, glancing upwards slightly to meet his gaze. “I’m happy for you.”

She leaned forward just enough to meet his lips, just for a brief second. When she pulled away Jean was blushing, unable to wipe the beaming look on his handsome face. 

“Thanks.” 

Mikasa could tell that he was getting flustered and put on a subdued, but proud smile. She leaned forward again, this time to let her head rest on his chest, where she always liked to be. As to be expected he was warm, and not just because of the water. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t see you earlier,” Mikasa whispered against his skin, then pressed a kiss to his sternum. 

Jean’s voice was gentle when he replied, “That’s not your fault, mon amour. I promise.” He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him. “I’m just happy you’re here.” 

Her face went to his shoulder again, practically burying herself in the crook of his neck. 

“I am, too.” 

Jean closed his eyes and kept her in his embrace, savoring both the sensations of her and the warmth of the water. In between expeditions, daily assignments, and much more, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the two to find time together. Let alone time away from the public eye, as neither of them were entirely comfortable with people knowing their exact predicament. 

Sometimes the best that they could ask for was a single night in the room at the far end of the barracks, a drafty one that no one ever used because the wind made the walls creak. It was never that comfortable, but it allowed Mikasa to sleep in his arms or Jean to wake her up with a kiss to the neck. And for that they were utterly thankful. 

Now that Jean was officially a Captain, he would have much more attention on him. Moving forward, it was going to be just a bit harder finding the time and place to be with her. 

But Jean wasn’t going to think about that, not at the moment. The day had been long and stressful, all he really wanted to focus on now was the sensations of her and the water cascading over them. He could feel Mikasa gently kissing his shoulder again, soon moving to his neck as her arms snaked around his torso, her fingertips grazing the scars on his skin. 

So Jean closed his eyes and let himself enjoy it, knowing full well that he had been looking forward to seeing her all day. He kept one hand on her waist and the other on the small of her back, steadying and caressing her as she ran her lips over him, her teeth almost biting into him. 

Her kisses trailed to his jawline, eventually meeting his lips. He kissed her back, but this time with much more urgency than before. To say that he craved her was an understatement, as he could feel pressure building inside of himself the longer they kissed. 

When he felt Mikasa moaning against him and digging her fingernails into his back, he was beginning to get a good idea of what she wanted. So feeling brave he broke their kiss for a very brief moment, using the few seconds to place his hands on her shoulders and turn her around. 

Now facing the wall, Mikasa let out a gasp before bracing herself against the tile. Jean returned to her right away, pressing his chest flush against her back and kissing the crook of her neck with a kind of fervent devotion that made her toes curl. Feeling bold, he even opened his hand and struck it against her bottom, the satisfying sound of which only drove him more crazy. 

She reached back to graze her hand against him, to stroke and stimulate his length to garner a groan from his throat. 

Jean cursed between kisses, though ultimately keeping his lips at her neck. He kept one hand at her waist while the other moved upwards to palm her breast. His anticipation was increasing, burning like an ardent fire inside of him even as they remained where the water was. The instinct to thrust his hips against hers was becoming more and more unbearable. 

“Do you want this?” he whispered against her ear, the sound of his voice mixing with the sound of the water hitting the floor. 

Mikasa nodded. “Yes…” There was a beat as she craned her head back, just enough for him to see her glassy eyes and the slight grin on her pretty face. “Captain.” 

And to that Jean just had to smile. It hadn’t even been a day but he was already starting to love his new title. 

[annoyed-galaxy]

Fictober 2024 ~ 17

"strangest thing I ever heard"

Fanfiction: Dragon Age Still going on strong with Fictober. It's good practice to get me to just write everyday, something I really need to do more. Can also be found on Ao3

It had been so long. It had been almost two years since the Inquisition was reformed into the Honor Guard of the new Divine and Inquisitor Lavellan made her vow to find Solas and stop him. The poor lass had it in her mind that she’d be able to convince her best friend this world was worth living in. After what happened to her and the fact that she was able to find happiness in the world, Varric didn’t doubt her. 

Varric’s short tenure as viscount had gone relatively okay. But he quickly gave the position up, being called upon the Inquisitor to help her. Varric was glad to be helping again, especially since he, too, wanted to convince Solas to stop destroying the world. 

However, Varric was taking a break and wanted to catch up with some old friends. 

He waited in the bar of an old village somewhere near the Tevinter border, casually sipping at his ale. The last time he contacted his friend was about a month ago and he had brought up possibly meeting up at this specific bar. It was pretty empty, surprising for it being the middle of the night. However, the door opened and two hooded figures stepped in, hand in hand.

Varric noticed and waved them over. 

The two figures made their way to Varric’s secluded corner, tucked out of sight from most of the empty bar. Varric had tipped the barkeep well to keep his nose out of things. He didn’t want this night of reunion to be spoiled by anything. Once the figures sat down in the booth next to each other, they pulled their hoods back. 

The years were kind to them. Both of their hair had grown out, but both still favored their half-ponytail or half-bun styles. Both of their stubbles had remained short, thought the white-haired one’s was growing just a bit. 

“Hawke, Blondie,” Varric greeted with a big smile. 

“Good to see you, Varric,” Seth returned the greeting with a smile. Anders merely bowed his head in respect. There was a shadow in his eyes, but Varric wasn’t surprised. Anders had been through a lot of self-hatred if Seth’s letters were anything to go by. 

“How’ve you lovebirds been?” Varric asked, signaling to the barkeep for some more drinks. 

“Oh you know, enjoying the nights camping out under the stars, exploring the land,” Seth replied. He had a big grin on his face as he leaned back in his seat, arm wrapping around Anders’s shoulder. Despite the darkness in the blonde mage’s eyes, he still smiled. 

“Things going okay since Adamant?” Varric asked, concern showing on his face for a slight moment. It had been a harrowing experience and he was not keen on remembering the events of the Fade, but he wanted to make sure Seth was okay since the mage had almost stayed behind to fight the horrible Nightmare. Varric didn’t know what he would have done with himself if he lost Seth to the Fade. This was his best friend. He couldn’t imagine what he would have had to said to Anders or any of the others. 

Anders looked at Seth with slight concern, but Seth just waved the question off. “Ah, I’m doin’ fine.” Varric could hear the lie underneath Seth’s voice, but didn’t want to press. 

Anders looked at the dwarf with a look that said we’re working on it. 

The drinks came by and Seth and Anders happily took theirs. Varric raised his mug in a toast. “To good friends.” 

Anders and Seth nodded and said “To good friends,” simultaneously with smiles. 

A couple drinks in and more topics of conversation later, Varric smiled with a mischievous grin. “Tell me, have you guys ever heard of a templar and a mage getting together?”

Anders scoffed. “Not the strangest thing I ever heard of, but unlikely.” 

Varric smiled wider. “Well…Do you two remember our fun and totally not awful former Knight-Captain Cullen?”

Anders perked up at that and Seth replied, “He was the commander of the Inquisition wasn’t he?” Varric nodded. “What happened?” 

Varric leaned back in his chair, charming smile dancing on his face. “Well, he married a mage.” 

Anders choked on his drink and looked at Varric incredulously. “What?!”

Varric held up a finger. “But wait, there’s more.” The dwarf took a long drink before continuing. “She’s an abomination.” 

Anders’s eyes lit up with disbelief and he slammed his cup on the able. “HE WHAT?!” Seth burst out into laughter at his love’s reaction.

Varric just nodded with a smile. “She’s just like you Anders. Got a nice little spirit all cozy in her head.” Varric chuckled a bit. “Though, she’s more controlled than you.” 

“Wait wait wait,” Seth said in between his laughs. “It’s not the Inquisitor, is it?” 

“The very same.” 

Anders was still looking with utter disbelief as Seth threw his head back in laughter. “What do you mean Mr. ‘Mages-Are-Not-People’ got married to an ABOMINATION?!” 

Varric was thankful for the empty bar as Anders’s drunken disbelief spread from out of their little corner, only barely covered by Seth’s laughter. “She’s a good person. Like you, Blondie, she isn’t a horrific monster. Just a spirit inside her and such. Some horrible things in her past caused it to end up there.” Varric emptied his mug. 

“Still,” Seth wheezed. “Cullen?” He didn’t stop laughing. 

The Inquisitor and Cullen had eloped shortly after everyone gathered for the meeting about the Inquisition’s fate and before Solas’s true identity was revealed. Varric couldn’t believe it, but everyone was happy for the two and Willow seemed truly at peace for once. He had known her for a while and while he admired and respected the woman, he had been concerned for mental well-being as the fight against Corypheus raged on. Varric was glad she had found friends in the world that weren’t just her spirit. 

Anders looked at his cup, still in utter disbelief while Seth’s laughing finally eased. Varric smiled, happy to see the two of them have some light return to their faces. Varric missed Seth a lot since he ran off with Anders and while Varric still hadn’t forgiven Anders fully, he missed the blonde mage as well. Especially since the mage seemed to make Seth glow brighter. He was glad they had each other. 

He only hoped what came next allowed them to stay together. 

[misswoozi]

Here’s more Luwoo 😁

Instead of being sad that he has to travel often with his father Lucas sees it as an opportunity to meet new friends, that is the ones that his father approves of. He meets Jungwoo by chance at a food stall.

Jungwoo is a bit short on money, so Lucas being taught to put his best foot forward(read as don’t embarrass his father)helps. The two began to talk & this is when Jungwoo learns who Lucas is the son of. Instead of being asked what the perks are for having an important father Jungwoo asks if he ever gets lonely with the traveling. Lucas is caught off guard cause no one has ever actually asked him a personal question like that. Seeing the hesitation in Lucas Jungwoo diverts the conversation & asks if Lucas would like to go penguin sledding with him. Lucas smiles & easily agrees being very eager to try.

That day Lucas makes his first true friend. Jungwoo shows Lucas how to lure the penguins close enough to grab, as well as shares the best jerky that side of the poles have to offer. It’s during this time that Lucas decides he’ll do anything to keep the newfound friendship. His father is furious because Lucas is missin well into the night, but it’s worth it to the child.

Once home Lucas apologizes for leaving without notice & tells his father about his day. Ambassador Wong not liking the behavior forbids Lucas from contacting Jungwoo again. To everyone’s surprise, including Lucas himself, he goes against his father & tells him exactly how he feels. Lucas says that for once he feels like he met someone that was interested in him, not his father, & that he thinks Jungwoo is nice. Seeing that his son for once has his own opinion Ambassador Wong relents & gives permission for Lucas to stay in contact with Jungwoo.

Now for some quick headcanons:

Luwoo exchange letters throughout the years when they’re apart. They always end the letters with the word love before their names

During a visit after the first meeting Lucas expresses how he misses earth when he’s in the poles. Jungwoo secretly takes him to a restricted area with high spiritual energy because that’s where he can find the most ground for Lucas.

Once while the two met up outside of the water tribe there’s a kidnapping attempt on Lucas. Things go sideways & Lucas is about to be taken away. In his desperation to save Lucas Jungwoo learns something new about himself, he can bloodbend.

The two have an odd greeting that neither quite remember how it happened. The two always carry a pouch of mud. Whenever they see the other after a long time the first to splay mud anywhere on the other gets a point. Mud works since it’s a combo of both earth & water, also it’s relatively easy to clean. The two really don’t care when they do this, on site is one site. Banquets? Ambassador Wong certainly had something to say after. Busy streets? It’s best to immediately leave the scene of the crime 🪸

I have been looking at this ask for at least two days TRYING TO THINK OF SOMETHING TO ADD but, OP, this is 100% YOUR AU, like this is brilliant, genius, well-written, perfectly-crafted IT'S PERFECT I JUST HAVE NOTHING TO ADD, I JUST WANT YOU TO WRITE IT AND PUT IT ON AO3 SO I CAN WRITE A DISSERTATION IN THE REVIEWS LMAO

it's just genius and I am very grateful to you for putting these ideas in my head

[sapphire-strikes]

I swear the Mr. Osomatsu fandom and its writers are providing me with more enrichment to my enclosure than I've had in years.

[i-am-a-hog]

There are two scars on Stede’s abdomen. He traces them carefully. One is on his left; he’s quite proud of that one. Getting stabbed correctly, in a heated situation, as it was; half a year ago, that would have been unthinkable. The scar is relatively small, a clean stab - one of the few things that could be said in favour of Izzy Hands.

The other scar is ugly. The Spaniard had really messed him up, plunging the knife into his flesh, twisting and pulling, counting on the damage being lethal and immediate. The scar is jagged and large, spanning across several inches of previously unmarred skin.

The sun shines through the blinds in front of the window, the rays painting gentle patterns on Stede’s skin. He dares not move, so he doesn’t disturb Ed, sleeping peacefully next to him. As uncomfortable as sharing a bed with Mary had been upon Stede’s return, as easy it was now, to share an even smaller bed with Ed.

Grey hair is tangled in curly strands, contrasting the white pillow and Ed’s beard, growing in again after Stede had mentioned that he liked it very much indeed, is a bit scratchy against Stede’s neck. It’s far from uncomfortable though.

A groan, followed by lazy movement tells Stede that Ed is waking up. The fearsome pirate stretches like a cat and Stede watches fascinated, as tan, tattooed skin is pulled taut over rippling muscles on his chest. Well over ten joints crack almost in unison all over Ed’s body, and Stede winces, but then Ed opens his eyes and his gaze is full of affection and his lips curl into a smile as the corners of his eyes crinkle.

Stede is once again hit with the realisation that he really is in love. For the first time in his life, he is in love, and he is being loved, and by someone as magnificent as Ed at that.

Ed’s fingers join Stede’s on his abdomen, tracing his scars lightly.

“Made a pirate of you, didn’t I?” he mumbles through a yawn.

Stede smiles and hums in agreement, eyes shifting to Ed’s midriff. 12 scars as far as he can tell. One of them is his. Something possessive inside his chest is perking up at the thought. He likes that, having something of his on Ed’s body, permanently.

His gaze wanders over the planes of Ed’s body, soft and hard at the same time, elegant and dishevelled, as he shifts even closer, pressing himself up against Stede.

Their lips meet gently. Stede knew, from the very first time Ed kissed him by the shore that day, that he never wanted to do anything else, if he could help it (he couldn’t help it). Kissing Ed feels right in a way little else ever has. It’s new, and it’s something Stede is unbearably grateful for.

A bell is ringing on deck, signalling that Roach has finished breakfast.

They break apart and reach for their respective silk dressing gowns. Their eyes meet as they sit in the morning sun and they both start grinning like madmen.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Stede hopes that Mary is just as happy with her Doug as Stede is right now, but Ed is pulling him closer again, warm hands roaming over his skin, and Stede’s brain gives up all function alarmingly quickly.

Drabble collection on AO3

[thewildwaffle]

Humans are Weird - Helium

It's been a while since I got a new story up. I'd been working on some other projects, then had some pretty unhappy life events happen. I am doing fine, so don't worry. Hopefully, now my muse is back and will stick around a while :)

This story is from a prompt ao3

*** *** ***

When you bring together a wide variety of races from different planets and environments, you tend to have an equally wide variety of needs that need to be met from species to species. Ships were typically staffed by a food and nutrients safety team. Custodial teams were careful about residual chemical and oil cross-contamination between particular races. Sections of hab suites had controlled ventilation systems that could be set to various atmospheric needs. Outside the hab suites, at work stations or in communal areas, some species have to be fitted with atmospheric filters. Over the years, these devices have gotten less uncomfortable, thankfully. They weren’t the best, they were a bit bulky, noisy, and in some cases obstructive to the wearer, but hey, being able to properly breathe on a ship with beings who had different atmospheric needs than you was more important than comfort. When the humans joined the galactic community, the newer filters started becoming noticeably smaller and less obtrusive. Many were concerned that the changes would make them less effective, but leave it to the humans to tinker around and invent the impossible when they really wanted to. The latest models were supposed to be so small and comfortable, you could sleep with them on. Heck for some races, you could barely tell they were wearing an atmospheric filter at all. Not only that, they were up to 40% more effective at filtration and gas delivery for many species. This opened up crew rosters for ships. Species who couldn't reasonably be stationed in the same ship due to the gases they breathe being dangerous to others, or vice versa could now be on the same crew.

That included duibs like Marvi who breathe large amounts of helium. She’d been serving aboard Galactic Coalition ships for more standard solar rotations than many of her fellow crewmates had been alive. It helped that duibs were long-lived, of course, and in her time, she’d seen many new technologies come and go. If you pressed her hard enough, she’d likely say that the atmospheric filters the humans developed were by far her favorite. Being able to safely and comfortably pass through different atmospheric biomes was an important ability when you had a long list of custodial and maintenance duties each rotation. Marvi huffed a deep sigh as she rounded another corner. Lighting beam replacements weren’t heavy, but maneuvering them around corners like this was a bit of a pain. “Need a helping paw Marvi?” Marvi turned to see a dark gray priso steadying the end lighting beam she was carrying. The furry face was relatively expressionless, but a clear look at his flicking whiskers and triangular, alert ears and bright eyes told her that he was holding back laughter. He must have just come up from around the other corner and seen the small duib struggling. “Oh, hello Aurrin. I definitely would appreciate some aid, though I would understand if you are busy right now,” Marvi replied politely. Honestly, the help would be very nice and she hoped the offer was serious. “I’m waiting for Human Karl, I can help until he gets here,” Aurrin rose to his back paws awkwardly and grabbed the ends of the light beams in his dexterous front paws. Priso were normally quadrupedal on flat ground, but the forested terrains of their homeworld meant they were at least somewhat adept at grabbing and climbing. He followed along, holding on to the light beams and kept them away from the walls and corners as the pair walked. “I was actually just installing something by the hab suites over there,” he tilted his head back to gesture behind them, “I’ve got something I wanted to test before I go off duty. After that, I’m looking forward to two whole cycles of rest and whatever I want to do.” The corridor here was darker and Marvi stopped walking. This was where she needed to replace the light beam. “Two whole cycles, huh?” She set down the light beam carefully, Aurrin following suit. She pulled out a tool from her hip pack and started working on opening the control panel. In order to open the panels to install the new light beams, she had to make sure power was redirected for safety. “What are you going to do with your time off? Any fun plans?” “A few plans. They might change depending on how my experiment goes.” Marvi worked quietly, waiting on the priso to expound, but other than chuckling to himself, he didn’t say anything more on the topic. Well, Marvi supposed it was not really her business, so she changed the subject and chatted cordially until the new light beam was installed and she rerouted power back to the panel. The darkened hall was filled with bright, cheerful light and Marvi let out a satisfied sigh. “Well, that’s that. Another task down.” The old light beam would need to be taken back to her shop for a repair and gas exchange, or refill, or whatever it ended up needing to get it up and running again. “Thank you again for your help. I should be able to get these back alright myself, I don’t want to take up too much of your time if you’ve still got your experiment to run.” From around the corner of the corridor, the distinct sound of a hab suite door opening was followed by approaching footsteps. A light on Aurrin’s comm device flashed and the priso’s long tail flicked excitedly back and forth. “No worries, it looks like my experiment is already underway.” Marvi felt the frills all along her body perk in curiosity, but before she could ask anything else, Human Karl rounded the corner. He grinned without showing his teeth, as it would have been a sign of aggression to many species on the ship, and gave a small wave as he approached. “Hey Karl,” Aurrin started. Marvi only partially listened as he started in on a spiel about his upcoming off-duty

plans. Instead, she was more interested in a quiet hissing noise and was trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. It sounded like… well it sounded almost like an atmospheric filter, one beside her own. Hers was in light operation since she was in a sector of the ship that was tuned to a generalized setting, but this noise sounded like a filter at full power output. Did Human Karl hear it? Could he hear it? Surely Aurrin could? She studied them, they didn’t seem to notice. The noise had started when Karl arrived, did that mean…? Her suspicions were confirmed the moment Karl opened his mouth to reply to Aurrin. “I’m actually on my way to…” What. The. Frewan? Human Karl’s voice, which was usually a calming deep tone, was disturbingly high and unnatural. The surprised expression on his face made Marvi’s core freeze. That meant this vocal change wasn’t some weird human thing? What was going on?! “I, woah,” the squeaky voice stuttered, “is this… helium? What is this? What’s going on?” He looked at the comm device strapped to his wrist and pulled up the readout. Sure enough, it was an increase of helium output from his atmospheric filter. The skin on his forehead wrinkled as he looked from the readout to Marvi and Aurrin, his eyes finally locking on the latter who was fiddling with something on his own comm device readout. “You punk! How did you do this? Change it back!” Karl started laughing a bit, Marvi wasn’t sure if it was directed at the ridiculousness of his voice or if it was because the helium was affecting his cognitive functions. She worried it was the latter. Panicking, Marvi approached to see if there was some sort of override. She had to act fast! Humans didn’t breathe helium, he could die! Before she could do anything though, Aurrin spoke up while trying to muffle his laughter. “Okay, okay, hoooo… I’ve deactivated it, you’re good. Keep talking though while your voice turns back to normal, you’re hilarious.” Karl gave him a look that Marvi couldn’t interpret. “What was that? How did you do that?” His voice was already back to normal and it sounded like a mix between annoyed, intrigued and amused. “When you came out of your hab suite, you passed a sensor I set up that overrode your atmospheric filter controls. My latest invention. Imagine this: a ship gets attacked and boarded. Normal defenses prove insufficient and the crew is in grave danger. As the hostiles pass hidden sensors, their atmospheric filters are overridden and they fall asleep, get loopy and confused, or simply pass out before they can get to and harm any crew.” Marvi and Karl blinked in unison while Aurrin’s tail swept side to side proudly. Marvi was the first to find words. “Your… your experiment?” Marvi glanced between Aurrin and Karl worriedly, “Is this what you were experimenting with? You ran it on a crewmate?!” “Well,” Aurrin’s ears pulled back slightly, but his whiskers still kept their amused look, “I say experiment pretty loosely. This was more of a field test. I ran all the actual experiments long ago. I knew exactly what would happen. And I did research on humans and I found out what effects helium has on them and I had to see it for myself. That’s why I was waiting for Karl.” The human in question was still laughing a bit - of course, a human would be able to laugh after nearly being asphyxiated, they’re crazy - before he ran his hand over his head to compose himself. “So this was a prank?” “For science.” “Of course. For science.” Karl’s smile suddenly morphed into a thoughtful frown. “Wait. Is this payback for the soap thing I pulled on you last week?” Aurrin’s face was statuesque and solemn as he stared silently at the human for a moment. “Yes.” “You’re the worst.” “Thank you.” “Want to go do this again in front of Aylin? She and Maruti-kar would think it’s hilarious.” “I had been planning on it. But only if we can get video evidence of it.” “For science?” “Naturally.” Marvi watched, hearts still beating rapidly from her panic, as Aurrin and Karl deactivated and retrieved the sensor to reenact the stunt she had just been a witness

to. Almost reflexively, she started tracing the side of her atmospheric filter. The quiet hum and hiss were calming. Helium to her was life. She’d thought it was toxic to others. And yet Aurrin thought it fine to use it on a human, and Karl was not only unworried about it but found it funny. Was it not dangerous?! And his voice? Why did it do that? She pulled up a search screen on her comm device and searched in the human database. Helium. Breathing. Voices. Apparently, helium took up space in their lungs that normally would be filled by oxygen, so yes, it was dangerous because they could asphyxiate. It also amplified higher-pitched tones of their vocal tract while simultaneously dampening lower tones because of the gas’s low density. That explained the voice change. And for some reason, the funny noise was enough of a reason to play around with deadly materials. Well, if anything, she supposed humans did keep to their MO pretty well. She picked the spent light beams back up and headed back to her shop, careful to not hit the ends on any walls or corners.

[labomi]

carrot cake

summary: you and satoru treat yourselves to some sweets after completing a mission

pairing: gojo satoru x f!reader

words: 976

genre: romance, fluff

warnings: description of food

notes: ahh i feel bad i didn’t post anything last week but i haven’t finished any of my wips yet so here’s a short fic that was already up on my ao3. it’s written with the same universe/reader in mind as my other one-shot which you can read here for context. i promise i’ll have some new content soon!

“Oh, Satoru. Look!” You pointed at the giant carrot cake smothered with cream cheese frosting in the display window. It was nestled among a variety of other delicious-looking desserts that would surely satisfy any sweet tooth. “I think I want a slice of that!”

The two of you had just finished up a mission exorcising a suspected Grade 1 curse that was terrorizing a hospital. Satoru handled it easily without any issues which gave you two plenty of time to spend the rest of the night enjoying the city. There were clear perks in chauffeuring around the strongest jujutsu sorcerer.

After going on numerous assignments together, it had become a tradition for the two of you to celebrate a job well done by heading to a local cafe and indulging in desserts together. Satoru always seemed to look forward to the post-mission activities and you were happy to tag along, especially because he always paid for everything.

Satoru quirked an eyebrow in surprise. “No strawberries today?” He knew how much you adored any desserts that included strawberries. A beautiful strawberry cake glistened in the display case right next to the carrot cake you were eying.

“I’m trying to broaden my taste horizons,” you announced with a huff, trying to ignore how the strawberry cake seemed to be calling your name. “Don’t question me!” Satoru chuckled while you waved over the employee and signaled you were ready to order before you changed your mind.

“I’ll have a slice of the carrot cake please!”

Satoru ended up only ordering a cup of hot tea for himself, claiming he wasn’t feeling particularly hungry.

The cafe was relatively empty. It was a Tuesday night, and there were only a few other people seated inside. They seemed to be local college students judging from the numerous books surrounding them as they furiously typed away on their laptops. You found a small table in the back corner of the cafe far away from all the other patrons. Satoru brought over the tray, and you were unable to stifle your squeal of excitement.

Satoru sat down across from you and immediately ripped open five packets of sugar and dumped them in his tea. He used a small wooden stick to stir the drink and help the sugar dissolve.

“It amazes me how you never get a cavity,” you commented.

“Well that’s because I’m perfect,” Satoru purred. 

You crumbled up a napkin in a ball and threw it at him, but it predictably slowed down to stop in front of his face before he snatched it with his hand.

“Hey! That wasn’t very nice of you!” Satoru whined, but you ignored him and focused on your cake. The slice looked absolutely divine. Grabbing a fork from the tray, you immediately dug in with a big bite and a hum of pure joy.

“It’s so good,” you mumbled with your mouth still full. “We have to come back here again!”

Satoru nodded and sipped on his tea, eyes completely focused on you. During these moments, he was quite thankful he always wore sunglasses. It hid his current line of vision, and he preferred that you didn’t know exactly where he was looking. Every day, Satoru was extremely thankful that managers at Jujutsu High had to wear a black suit and tie. He was particularly grateful to whoever tailored your specific uniform. They deserved a raise.

You always looked prim and proper during a mission but afterward, you had a bad habit of immediately loosening your tie. It was the one part of the outfit you complained about. Satoru got Yaga to tell you it wasn’t necessary to wear a tie if it was uncomfortable, but you insisted on wearing the entire outfit to match the other managers. You were stubborn like that.

Satoru quietly watched as you continued to devour the slice of cake. Your tie was already loosened and sloppily hanging around your neck. He thought you looked even hotter like this.

“Hey! Are you listening to me?” You waved your hand in front of Satoru, trying to grab his attention.

He grinned behind his cup of tea. “Nope!”

You sighed. “Of course you weren’t. I was saying that if we have time off next week we should go watch a movie! We haven’t gone to the theaters in a while, and I know how much you like going.”

“Yea, that sounds good,” Satoru replied, resting his head on his hand with a soft smile. 

You looked at him strangely. Satoru was acting weird. He was quiet tonight. And he was never quiet. The man would normally be talking your ear off about something completely random like the power structures of early Rome or the separation of the church and state.

Why is he acting like this?

You grabbed another piece of cake on your fork when you finally realized what was wrong.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized to Satoru, feeling a little ashamed. “I’m being rude. I forgot to ask if you wanted a bite.” 

“Yeah, I’ll try some,” Satoru smirked. Before you could offer your fork to him, he reached out his hand and swiped a thumb across the upper corner of your lips. He removed a glob of frosting from your face that you had failed to notice. You sat there frozen as Satoru brought the thumb to his mouth and licked it clean.  

“You’re right. It’s good.”

You could feel the heat starting to creep into your cheeks.

“Satoru,” you warned quietly, nervously looking around the cafe to make sure no one else saw the gesture. He loved when you got flustered like this. Especially in public.

“What?” the sorcerer asked innocently. “You had a little something on your lips. What kind of friend would I be to let you walk around like that in public?”

You threw another napkin at him.

[dp-marvel94]

Face to Face- chapter 39

Summary: When Danny went through the ghost catcher, he expected to be cured of the ghostliness that had haunted him since the accident, not to wake up on the lab floor with his parents saying he’d been overshadowed but everything’s back to normal now. But why does Danny Fenton cry himself to sleep to then dream of flying? Why does Phantom, the ghost who was supposedly possessing Danny remember a life that wasn’t his? Most of all, why do both the human and the ghost feel that something vital is missing, in their very soul? Or: Trying to cure himself of his powers one month after the accident, Danny accidentally splits himself but neither his ghost nor his human half know that that is what they did

First -> Last -> Next

Word Count: 4,215

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note: Hey my lovely readers! I'm here with a Face to Face update and very excited! With this chapter, we finally breach 200K with plenty more planned. :)

And a note about the band talk... so I pretty much gave the trio my music taste, with my love of relatively small time hard rock and metal bands. The conversation is meant to reflect one I would have with my sister and other concert friends; gotta write from what you know, right? And I also figured you guys would appreciate me giving the Dannys an opportunity to make a pun :P

The rest of Tuesday progressed without any notable incident. Fenton came home from school. Homework. Dinner with the family. Jazz and both Dannys watched some TV with their parents before the human teens went up to bed.

Fenton made faces at himself in the mirror while he brushed his teeth. Yes, he would say it had been a pretty good day, a normal day. Or… what passed for normal for the time being. Phantom had told him about the ectoweenies and the human Danny told his counterpart about talking to Sam and Tucker about everything. 

The ghost frowned from where he was leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom. “And Sam and Tucker? They’re both doing good?”

The human spit out the foam in his mouth. “Yeah. Sam’s parents are still driving her nuts. And Tucker keeps raving about this new PDA he ordered. But things are good. They were really excited to hear about what happened with Sidney.”

“They were.” Phantom perked up slightly. “That’s good.” His eyes flickered down, saying nothing else.

There was a pause, as Fenton finished rinsing out his mouth. No words were really needed; the human could feel his ghost’s heavy core. They hadn’t talked or thought about it much but after only seeing Sam and Tucker in person briefly the past week, Phantom really missed them.

“Our grounding’s up tomorrow.” Human Danny offered gently.

That made his other self’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really?!”

A nod. “Yep.”

“It’s… already been a week.” The ghost frowned. “How’s it only been a week?” He muttered.

Fenton shrugged, sharing the sentiment. A week. It had been a week since they’d had that talk in the park and gotten grounded for being out past curfew. So much had happened; it felt like it had been much longer, like months. And yet… it also felt like barely any time had passed at all.

Human Danny didn’t comment on this. Instead, he said. “We can ask if Sam and Tucker can come over tomorrow. I know you want to see them.”

Phantom nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll make sure to ask Mom and Dad in the morning and I’ll text our friends.” He floated backward to let his human out of the bathroom so he could go to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another sleep. Another breakfast and whirlwind to get ready for school. And Fenton was again getting his books. 

“Hey, guys. You wanna come over this afternoon?” The human boy smiled. “My grounding’s finally over.”

Both of his friends’ eyes lit up, instantly agreeing. Then Tucker said. “I should probably text my mom first though.”

The technogeek did just that, pulling out his PDA. Sam was doing the same on her phone. Both received permission. And not five minutes later, both of his friends’ devices buzzed at the same time. 

Sam read the text. “Your parents said it was okay, too. Ghost you asked them.”

“Awesome!” Fenton pumped his fist, feeling excited. Now he had to just get through his classes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paradoxically, school seemed to drag and fly by at the same time. Many hours later, the human Danny arrived at his front door, Sam and Tucker following him. He turned the key, unlocking it, and pulled the door open. It swung inward and…

Fenton blinked. There in the kitchen, level with the top dish shelf, floated Phantom. The ghost had a set of bowls in one hand as he pulled open the door. The human shook his head, clearing his startled mind. Then he smiled.

Ghost Danny’s head turned. “Sam! Tucker!” He visibly brightened, eyes glowing more intensely. He placed the bowls down and in a blur, flew across the living room. The ghost threw one arm around each of his friends. “I’m so happy you could come over!”

“Yeah….dude.” Tucker said awkwardly. His eyes flitted to the human Danny, the ghost Danny, and then to Sam.

Sam raised an eyebrow at the technogeek and elbowed him. “Me too.” She added, an excited smile spreading across her face. 

Phantom pulled back, still beaming. His eyes flickered to his human self and he held up a fist. “Fenton!”

Human Danny fist bumped him. “Phantom!”

Just then, Mom’s voice called up the basement stairs. “Danny?! Is that your friends?”

“Yes!” Both Dannys called with exactly the same inflection. 

The sound of footsteps started rising from the basement. Ghost Danny darted back to the dishwasher. “I gotta finish this before homework.” He muttered. Then louder. “And get us some snacks!”

Fenton dropped his bag and walked forward to help with the chore. Two pairs of hands were faster than one, weren’t they? Sam and Tucker also dropped their bags, coming into the kitchen. Both grabbed sodas out of the fridge and started going through the pantry, at home in their friend’s house. At the same time, human Danny started putting away the silverware.

The door to the basement opened. Fenton turned to greet his mom. And…. for just a moment, his stomach flopped with nerves as her eyes flitted the ghost floating beside him. He half-expected a startled reaction but… She didn’t bat an eye as she smiled and her gaze smoothly moved from Phantom to him.

“Hi sweetie.” Mom said warmly. “How was school?” She walked to his side and briefly put one arm around his back in a hug.

“It was good.” Fenton accepted the gesture. “Mr. Lancer gave us our essays back.” His eyes flickered to his ghost half. “We got an A minus.”

“You did?!” The woman asked, excitedly. “Great job. I’m so proud of you.” She looked up at Phantom as well. “Of both of you.”

The ghost beamed. “Thanks Mom.”

“Thanks.” Fenton smiled, similarly warmed by the praise. 

Phantom continued. “Sam and Tucker are here!” He pointed at the two friends who both waved, greeting the woman. “We’re gonna get some snacks and work on homework.”

“Alright kids. Don’t overdo it on the snacks.” She pointed. “I’ve got dinner in the crock pot so we’ll eat before it's too late.”

Tucker perked up. “What are ya cooking, Mrs. F?” 

“Just a pot roast.” The adult said, walking over to the counter to check on the meal.

The technogeek seemed to have stars in his eyes from the answer but Sam elbowed him. “Weren't you just saying your mom wanted you home for meatloaf tonight?”

The beret-wearing boy rubbed the spot. “Oh. Right.” He gave a sheepish smile. “How about just a bit to go? For later?”

Fenton and Phantom chuckled, even as Sam rolled her eyes. All of them knew he wasn’t being entirely serious.

“Perhaps.” Mom had a similar knowing twinkle in her eye. She glanced back at the door. “I’ll see you in a bit. Your dad and I need to finish up in the lab. Have a good time, kids.”

The woman waved, going down the stairs. The teenagers did as well, before returning to their conversation. With the dishes finished, Fenton grabbed his own snack. The four sat at the table for a bit, chatting about school, the upcoming dance, and music.

“Have you listened to Relent’s new album yet?” Sam asked.

“Yes! It’s fire!” Phantom smiled, gesturing excitedly. “It’s so good.”

The goth’s eyes lit up. “I know, right?! I love Snakes or… oh, Enemy freaking slaps! I mean the title track, Heavy is really good too. What’s your favorite song?” She asked ghost Danny excitedly.

“Oh that’s really hard. All the songs are good but maybe….” The boy tapped his chin, thinking. “I know, Ghost.” He beamed. “Ghost is my favorite song.”

Fenton burst out laughing at the answer. At the same time, Sam rolled her eyes good naturedly. “Of course it is.” She leaned forward, pointing at Fenton. “Seriously, what’s your favorite?”

The human Danny held up his hands. “Hey, he was being serious. Ghost is a banger.”

Sam groaned. “Come on. That pun...and it’s the single. The single can’t be your favorite song on the album.”

“Why not?” Tucker shrugged. “First. They put out three singles, four if you count LOW. And second, If it’s a good song, it’s a good song. That’s probably why it’s a single, ‘cause it’s the best.”

The goth raised a brow. “We all know that’s not how it works. They pick the song that’s likely to get the most streams, or radio play.” She crossed her arms. “Doesn’t mean it's the best. I mean look at Darkness Dies! It’s Disciple's most popular song and it didn’t make the album the first time around! Either the bands don’t know what is good anymore or it being the single doesn’t automatically make it a good song. That being said, Disciple and Relent aren’t good examples because they don’t really put out bad songs.”

Fenton shrugged, not replying. There was no point in arguing that point. Beside him, Tucker was typing on his PDA. “Oh, Sam. Did you see this?” He held the device up to show her a picture.

Sam’s eyes widened. Her chair teetered, almost falling as she practically leapt out of it. “Relent’s touring with GFM! And The Protest!”

“Look at the dates.” The technogeek motioned.

The goth leaned forward at the same time both Dannys moved to see. Phantom was the first to react. “They’re playing here! And the… first.”

“That’s in two weeks!” Sam bounced on her feet. “I’m gonna get to see GFM!”

Fenton starred, a little stunned. He was sure he’d never seen his goth friend this excited before. Then the corners of his lips turned up as he slowly smiled. His eyes flickered to Phantom. “Dude… we’ve got to get back to normal before then.”

“Uh yeah.” Phantom nodded enthusiastically. “Dude, I’m not missing that.”

The group talked for a while, gushing about the upcoming concert and what songs they hoped to hear. Eventually, a reprimand from Jazz when she came in convinced the younger teens to work on homework with much grumbling and pouting from all.

An hour later, Fenton flopped dramatically onto the carpet. “That’s it. We’re done.” Still sitting to his right, he saw his counterpart roll his eyes. 

Above his head, from somewhere in the kitchen came an exaggerated sigh from Jazz. “It can't be that bad.”

The human’s eyes flickered to the side as Phantom stuck his tongue out at their sister, shaking his head mischievously. Fenton raised a brow. He sat up just in time to see the older teen roll her eyes before returning to her own homework. “Little brothers.” She mumbled.

Human Danny stuck out his tongue this time, though it wasn’t particularly satisfying since Jazz didn’t see it this time. Oh well, there’d be time to mess with his sister later. He turned his attention back to his friends. Sam was putting away her textbook while Tucker was checking his PDA.

“Ah man. I have to leave in fifteen.” The technogeek lamented.

Fenton frowned. “Oh. What do you guys want to do then?”

Beside him, Phantom’s eyes lit up with a sudden idea. “I need to show you something!” Excitedly, the ghost smoothly floated off the floor and into a standing position. 

Tucker raised a brow. “Dude, what is it?”

Phantom covered his lips with one finger and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. He floated to one of the walls and placed both feet on the ground. He turned around to look at the other teens. “Just watch.”

Despite the confused looks, Sam and Tucker didn’t say anything, just watching curiously. Fenton’s own brow was furrowed; what exactly was this about? Then his ghost spread his finger and placed his hands on the wall, one above the other. He shuffled his feet forward until his toes were right on the wall. One more look back to make sure he was being watched, a smirk and… Phantom moved the lower hand higher and stepped onto the wall.

Behind him, jaws dropped. Fenton’s eyes widened. Was he…. No way. The corners of his lips started turning up. Hand over hand, his ghostly counterpart moved up the wall. Fenton felt like laughing. NO Way.

“Dude!” Tucker had his hands up. “Are you wall crawling?!”

Phantom hazarded a glance back. “Yep.” He grinned. “Like Spiderman.”

His human self blinked and an excited chuckle burst from his lips. “Like Spiderman.”

“That’s awesome!” The technogeek exclaimed. “How? How are you doing that?” At the same time, Jazz gasped, finally taking note of the commotion. “What the heck are you doing? You’re going to get footprints on the wall!” And Sam… “Why didn’t you tell us earlier? This is so cool!”

“Guys.” Phantom shook his head, good naturedly. “Let me concentrate.”

Every questioning mouth snapped closed, though the excited looks remained glued to Sam and Tucker’s faces. Fenton’s own mouth was still open as his ghost self clammered to the top of the wall. Jazz stood from her seat at the kitchen table, quickly coming to stand with the other teens. The ghost carefully shifted so he was crawling along the ceiling. Phantom looked down, still grinning. He stopped above the still gaping humans and maneuvered to sit crossed legged on the ceiling. 

“There.” The ghost flopped down, spreading his arms. “Now I will take questions.”

Sam spoke first, elbowing Fenton even as she was looking at Phantom. “Fenton. Why didn’t you tell us about this?” The question was without bite, just teasing and disbelieving.

Human Danny looked between his two friends and sister. “Guys.” He laughed. “I literally didn’t know about this ‘til just now.” But as soon as he said the words, a mental door opened and there was the memory of practicing and experimenting with the power this afternoon.

On the ceiling, Phantom shrugged. “What can I say? Sometimes I surprise myself.” He gave Fenton a meaningful look and the human shook his head, still smiling.

“But seriously… how?” Sam motioned to the ghost who was hanging from the ceiling like an oversized bat.

“I’m floating.” The ghost said plainly. “Or… it’s like gravity’s only a thing if I want it to be so I think I’m kinda changing how gravity affects just me so…” He pointed toward the teens. “That’s up. And…” He motioned to the ceiling. “That’s down.”

“That’s incredible, Danny.” Jazz breathed, amazed.

“Yeah.” Sam agreed. “Amazing.”

“Dude.” Tucker’s hand went to his forehead, expression awed. He blinked and then… “Danny! You can use your powers on other people!”

Phantom raised a brow, surprised by the change of topic. “Uh… yeah?”

“I mean… at school, you could turn all of us intangible and invisible to get out of the basement. And….I was like...floating with you.”

“So?” Fenton questioned, half shrugging.

“So!” Tucker’s hands raised. “I wanna sit on the ceiling too, man!”

Phantom blinked. “What? How would...how would we even do that?”

Sam’s eyes widened. “Like Tucker said, sharing your power. So you totally could do it, if you’re touching whoever it is. So…” She grinned. “Hanging out on the ceiling?”

The ghost didn’t reply, still looking at both his friends. Then his eyes went to Fenton and there was a silent conversation. Both were unsure. Was this a good idea?

Then, Jazz crossed her arms. “What. No. No way. This is a bad idea and you should get down from there before you hurt yourself.”

A bad idea, Jazz said? Well… Phantom grinned at her, mischievously. “Nah, it's a great idea.”

“Danny!” Their sister’s jaw dropped. “No.”

Fenton elbowed her. “It’ll be fine. We can do this.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” The older teen muttered.

“We’ll be careful.” Human Danny rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. So….” Phantom stood, feet on the ceiling and head down. “How do we do this?”

“Me first! Me first!” Tucker jumped excitedly. “Danny, stand up.” The ghost did so and the technogeek jumped again, reaching towards him. The outstretched hands missed by more than a foot, due to the high ceiling. The beret-wearing boy frowned in reaction. “Too high. Maybe…if I stand on the couch and-” 

“Wait, Tuck.” Phantom interrupted as his friend stepped towards the couch. “Maybe…” He bit his lip and Fenton could feel the uncertainty, his own stomach flopping. The green eyes met blue. “I should try it with Fenton first.”

Human Danny didn’t visibly react; he wasn’t surprised in the least. The same couldn’t be said for his friends. Disappointed flashed across Tucker’s face and Sam asked. “Why?”

Ghost Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I’m pretty sure the power sharing is easier with other me. We should try that first.”

“Oh, so you can get yourself hurt instead of one of us. Like I said” Jazz replied sarcastically, looking dissatisfied. “I still don’t like this. It’s not a good idea.”

Fenton narrowed his eyes. “I’m not gonna get hurt. I trust my own powers. He won’t drop me. And frankly….” He crossed his arms. “I’d rather get dropped than one of you guys.”

Their sister opened her mouth to argue but Phantom cut her off before she could. “Jazz. It’s fine. I wouldn’t drop him. I do have some self preservation. It’s not even that far.” The ghost crossed his arms, mirroring Fenton’s position.

There was a pause as Jazz’s eyes flickered between the two versions of her brother. Then she sighed. “Fine. Go ahead.”

Phantom actually looked a little smug. Then he looked to his friends. “Sam? Tuck?”

“Yeah. Go ahead.” Tucker agreed, apparently satisfied by the explanation. Sam gave a nod as well.

“Alright.” Fenton rubbed his hands together. He hopped up on the couch and raised both hands. The human stood on his toes and the ghost stretched slightly. Gloved and ungloved hands met and were grasped in each other. Human Danny let out a small gasp as a tingly feeling traveled from his hands down to his feet. Then that familiar weightlessness overtook him. Fenton relaxed, letting his feet float off the furniture. “So that worked.” His eyes flickered up to the ceiling. “How do I move though?”

“Just think about it.” Phantom supplied.

“Helpful.” Sam quipped.

“No really. You just think about it. It’s like breathing or walking. Just think and… it happens.”

Fenton frowned. That still wasn’t all that helpful.  He looked at the ceiling beside Phantom again before looking directly up and meeting his ghost half’s green eyes. His counterpart smiled encouragingly. The human smiled back. Alright, he could do this. He wanted to be standing on the ceiling, beside Phantom. So he’d need to… kinda swing up there. Or down. The ceiling was the floor. It was supposed to be down so-

Human Danny’s eyes widened. He gasped as his legs effortlessly floated out from directly under him and up until he was almost sitting in the air with his legs splayed in front of him. Fenton moved without thought, waist and arms bending at the world flipped upside down. Before he could register, he was standing on white-popcorned ceiling, across from his ghost and with their hands still clasped. 

“Woah.” Fenton blinked. “That worked.” He was standing on the ceiling and… he wasn’t dizzy at all. It felt just like standing on the floor, even if he was still weightless. He grinned. “It worked!”

“Awesome!” Phantom also grinned. “You did it!” The ghost let go, intent to wave his hands in his excitement. 

Human Danny’s mouth formed an O. Gravity reengaged, the world turned back around, and he was falling. He shrieked, hands instinctively moving to protect his head. Oh shit, he was gonna-

Fenton jerked to a stop, the tingly cold feeling washing through him. What? He blinked, eyes darting back and forth panickedly. He was still floating? How? What? Why? His heart pounded and he looked up, at whatever cold thing was wrapped around his ankle. Oh. It was Phantom. The ghost had caught him, a hand wrapped around his leg and an arm stretched a little too long to be natural.

Ghost Danny smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

His panic gone, Fenton scowled. He glanced down at his friends and sister. Their faces showed a combination of fear, relief, and confusion.

Jazz put up her hands. “You said you weren’t going to drop him.”

Human Danny sighed. “At least I caught myself.” He looked back up at Phantom. “Thanks for the save but… try to remember we have to be touching for it to work.”

Phantom blushed green. “Yeah… Let’s do that.” He then looked at his arm. “Woah. Didn’t know I could do that.” The arm holding the human’s ankle stretched just a little bit longer and thinner before it snapped back to its normal length.

Fenton started willing himself into a more upright position, relative to Phantom. He reached out with his right hand, taking the ghost’s left hand again as soon as their fingertips touched. “Is it like how you can make your legs into that ghostly tail thing?”

Phantom shrugged. “Probably.”

The gloves right and ungloved left hands met and again, Fenton was floating towards the ceiling. Just as his feet set down, the door to the lab opened. Both heads turned.

“What was that screaming?” Mom asked, concerned. She stopped at the threshold between the kitchen and the living room. Surprise flashed across her face and her gaze flickered from the teenagers on the ground to what they were looking up at. Her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

Fenton blushed. “Uh… you know. Just practicing.”

The adult blinked. “Okay. But...why was someone screaming?”

“Phantom dropped him.” Jazz cut in.

Both Dannys’ jaws dropped, scandalized. “Jazz!”

“Hey! I caught myself.” Phantom argued.

“Yeah, we’re both fine.” Fenton backed him up.

Mom took a breath, putting a hand on her head. “Just… be more careful next time, Danny. Maybe pick somewhere less... high next time. Maybe over a soft mattress or pillows or something.”

Both boys looked at each other, a little surprised. “Oh, okay. We will.” “Yeah, we will.”

No one said anything for a pause. Both Dannys blushed. Then Dad came up from that lab. He stared. “Wow. Neat trick, Danno.”

That broke some of the tension. “Thanks Dad.” Fenton called.

“Yeah! It’s really cool.” Tucker added encouragingly. 

Mom lowered her hand. “Sweetie, you should finish up with your friends. Dinner will be ready soon and they need to leave, right?”

Sam glanced at the clock. “Yeah. Simmons should be here to pick me up in a few minutes.”

“Aw man.” Tucker looked disappointed.

Fenton and Phantom felt the same sadness. Hanging out with friends was over for now. They looked at each other and without needing any words, smoothly turned in the air. Human Danny didn’t know which one of them was willing the movement but in perfect sync, they lowered from the ceiling, flipped right side up, and landed back on the carpet. Only then did the hands unclasp.

“Sorry, Tuck. Next time?” Phantom offered. 

“You know it.” The technogeek gave ghost Danny a fist bump, followed by the human Danny.

“Yeah.” For just a moment, Fenton’s eyes flickered to Mom, nervously. Could she infer what they were talking about? She raised a brow and his stomach dropped, expecting a reprimand; there was no way Mom would be okay with him fooling around with his powers with his friends.

But the woman surprised him. “Just be careful if you’re going to play around with your powers with your friends, Danny.” Her expression turned more serious as she turned to address Sam and Tucker. “I know superpowers are exciting but I’m trusting all of you to be responsible and not reckless. Maybe bring your bike helmet and your elbow and knee pads? I don’t want to have to take anyone to the hospital.”

Tucker’s expression was, suddenly, extremely serious. “Yeah, Mrs. F.  We’ll be careful.”

“Of course, Mrs. Fenton. You can trust us.” The corner of Sam’s lips turned up. “We’ll keep Danny in line.”

Fenton’s mouth fell open in offense. “Really? You too, Sam?” Despite his words, the human boy wasn’t really serious.

The goth shrugged. At the same time, Tucker half-smiled. “Someone’s got to stop you from dropping yourself.”

Phantom put a hand to his head. “It was an accident! And I caught him.”

“You did a great job, little brother.” Jazz patted him on the shoulder, teasingly. 

“Yeah! That must have been impressive. Great reflexes, son.” Dad added, joining the group.

Mom shook her head, still smiling despite the topic. And slowly… both Danny’s smiled too even with the teasing. It felt good, like they were just hanging out, like this was a normal school day. Or rather… not like the accident hadn’t happened and nothing had changed but… this was becoming the new normal, ghost powers and all.

[skittlebits]

Safe

Pairing - Natasha Romanoff x Carol Danvers

Words - 1,500

Summary - Natasha gets her first head cold while traveling in space. Carol takes care of her.

Tags - Fluff, Post-Endgame (slight canon-divergence because Nat isn’t dead), mentions of Vormir, mild illness, administering medication, bed sharing

Read on AO3

“I managed to live thirty-nine years on Earth without catching so much as a cold, but I travel to another galaxy one time and I’m down for the count? What the hell, Danvers?”

Natasha sat slumped at the table, her arm propping up her aching head. Several thin swaths of cloth lay crumpled on the table in front of her, sodden with her efforts to stem the flow of mucus from her reddened nose.

Carol stood at the first aid cabinet rummaging through a box of supplies. “You’re talking to a person who has alien blood flowing through her veins. I kind of forgot people even got viruses.”

Natasha tried glaring at Carol but it made her head hurt even more and she winced. “Lucky bitch,” she grumbled.

“Well, I’d take you to Hala and get you hooked up with some alien blood of your own but unfortunately the entire Kree race wants me dead, so,” Carol shrugged. She pulled a canvas bag out of the box and brought it to the table.

“Why can’t I have some of yours then?” Natasha asked, only partly joking. She’d almost be willing to drink a pint of blood right about now if she thought it would ease the pounding pressure in her head. She watched as Carol sat next to her at the table, inspecting the contents of the bag. “I mean, you did go through the trouble to save me on Vormir and all.”

Carol looked up from the bag and shot Natasha a look. “I swear, if you’re about to make fun of me for-“

Natasha straightened up and put a hand up in front of her in a placating gesture, realizing belatedly how flippant that had sounded. “No, I swear, I’m not. I’m sorry, that was rude.” She sighed and winced when the simple act made her eyes water. “I can’t think straight with this sinus pressure and I’m being a bitch and you don’t deserve that.”

Carol looked at her for a moment before returning her attention to the bag.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Natasha swallowed thickly. She still wasn’t used to navigating this relatively new territory.

“I know how lucky I am, Carol. There will never be a day go by where I’m not profoundly grateful for what you did on Vormir…even if you did almost scare me to death, which, granted, I guess I deserved. So, I’m sorry. I promise the next time I ask you to give me alien healing powers I’ll be a lot more tactful and much less whiny and pitiful.”

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Carol smile but was quickly taken over with a series of wet sneezes. She felt one of her ears pop and she felt like she was underwater.

She was going to run out of cloth to blow her nose on at this rate.

Carol finally pulled two small containers out of the medical bag - one containing a liquid and one with pills.

“Okay, I think these are your best opinions for relief until we stop somewhere that has whatever passes for cold and flu medication out in this quadrant of the galaxy we’re in.” She shook the bottle with the pills. “These are anti-inflammatory meds, and this,” she held up the vial of clear liquid, “is a painkiller of some sort.” She looked at the label for a moment and hummed. “Yeah, you definitely won’t feel the pressure in your head on this stuff. We might want to just do a half dose of this one.”

Natasha closed her eyes and sighed. She hated taking any sort of medication. Normally she could put mind over matter but her face felt like it was about to explode and it hurt just to focus her eyes. And maybe it was okay to indulge. She wasn’t in a battle somewhere, she was safe on Carol’s spacecraft.

“Okay, I’ll take both,” she finally decided. Carol handed her the bottle of pills so she could grab a syringe from the bag.

“Want me to give you this one or do you want to do it yourself?” Carol asked, holding up the syringe and vial for Natasha’s inspection.

Natasha fumbled with the pill bottle as she struggled to get the lid off. Her muscles ached with the simple effort. “I think I’m going to need you to do it, Nurse Carol,” she admitted quietly. She swallowed two of the pills and chased them down with the tea she had been nursing.

Carol grinned and got to work on setting up the syringe. “Is Nurse Carol also going to be carrying you to bed so you can rest?” she teased, tugging the shoulder of Natasha’s shirt down to expose her upper arm. Natasha raised her shoulder to help expose enough skin for Carol to get to the muscle. She winced at the injection.

“Is Nurse Carol going to tell another living soul if she does?”

Carol capped the syringe and put the medicines back into the bag. “Of course not, I’m not stupid.”

Natasha smiled even though it made her face hurt. “Then yes please.”

Carol put the bag back into the first aid cabinet and pulled out a small stack of triangle bandages. She placed them on the table near the pile of crumpled, sodden cloth. “We’re on these now for your nose. All the smaller ones have been used up. I’ll cut them into quarters while you rest. When we stop for medicine I’ll look into better options to keep on board,” she said, smiling sheepishly. “I know it’s been almost three months but I still…it’s still so new, having someone with me in a space I’ve spent so long alone in.”

Natasha turned on her stool so she was facing Carol and gave her a tender look. “Hey, this is still new to me as well, so I understand,” she assured her.

Natasha’s eyes welled up suddenly and Carol stepped forward in concern but Natasha looked away and put up a hand to stop Carol from coming any nearer. A moment passed before Natasha was overcome with another sneezing fit and Carol relaxed.

“Sorry, I felt it coming on and didn’t want to sneeze in your face,” Natasha said, sniffling as she wiped her eyes. She reached back toward the table to grab a couple of the drier cloths from the table before lifting her arms to make a grabby hand gesture at Carol. “Please take me to bed before the drugs kick in and I get any more pathetic than I already am,” she begged, tiredly.

Carol laughed and easily scooped Natasha up into her arms. “You’re not pathetic, you’re adorable,” she said, walking past the bathroom and the spare bunk room to the main personal quarters on the ship. She carefully deposited Natasha on the sleeping platform and moved toward the end of the platform to begin unlacing her boots while Natasha arranged the pillows in a pile to help ease the pressure in her head.. Once her boots were off Carol arranged the blankets around Natasha until she was tucked in comfortably.

“M’not adorable,” Natasha grumbled, her eyelids drooping as she watched Carol smiling softly at her.

“You totally are.”

Natasha groaned weakly, “You’re enjoying this too much.”

Carol grinned. “Want me to hold you?”

Natasha nodded her head against the pillows. “Yes please.”

Carol climbed onto the platform beside Natasha and opened her arms. Natasha turned toward her immediately and buried her face in Carol’s chest, her hand resting above her heart. Carol shoved the pillows behind her to keep them both propped up a bit before wrapping her arms around Natasha.

“Better?”

“Mm, I love how you’re always so warm.”

Carol gently ran her fingers through red tresses, soothing. “I’m glad you think I’m hot,” she teased.

“That too,” Natasha murmured, snuggling further into Carol, “M’glad I fell in love with you. Lots of perks.”

Carol fought off a dopey grin and held Natasha a little tighter. “I’m glad you fell in love with me too, otherwise throwing myself off that cliff to get the soul stone wouldn’t have worked and then it just would have been super awkward after.”

Natasha sniffled as she smiled into the soft fabric of Carol’s shirt. “I almost broke my hand slapping you afterward, you idiot. I can’t believe that actually worked though. I guess it was kind of romantic.”

Carol craned her head down to look at Natasha, indignant. “Kind of? Only kind of romantic?”

Natasha hummed dreamily. The painkiller had started to kick in. “You scared the hell out of me, and Clint and that creepy red guy were there.” Carol scoffed. “But you know what I think is really romantic?” Natasha asked softly.

“What’s that, love” Carol asked, running her fingers through Natasha’s hair once more.

“You make m’feel safe… I n’er had tha..before you.”

Carol smiled and kissed the top of Natasha’s head.

“I love you, Tash. Sweet dreams.”

[2manyfandoms2count]

I love you (not) - Chapter 16

Over three months later, finally an update of this fic! It's been a rough ride, but I'm writing again so that's cool. Sorry for the wait, I hope this chapter is worth it!

First | Previous | AO3

---

Chapter 16: In which rain and Jacques bring our favourite protagonists together

Hidden in the shadows of the Place des Vosges arcades, Chat Noir watched the guards evacuate the garden for the night, lock its gates and walk away, whistling gently as they did so. His ears perked up at the sound of the iron curtain being pulled down over the Tom & Sabine bakery windows, and he checked his baton. 8:36pm, right on schedule.

He waited for the shop lights to be turned off and allowed some additional time for whoever was on closing duty to reach the Dupain-Cheng flat, before stealthily coming out in the open, checking the area was clear of any passerbys. Satisfied by the emptiness of the street, he marched to his usual spot and perched up on his baton, as he’d done every night of the previous week.

He’d perfected his position over that time, finding the right angle to get a good view of all the potential entryways for purple butterflies, while remaining relatively out of sight from Marinette’s room, to give her privacy. He hadn’t been able to shake the memory of her sad smile the evening they’d broken up, even failing to appreciate Ladybug’s tentative flirtiness during the following patrol, and his classmate’s lingering hollow mood made him fear for her safety. Whereas he had Plagg to talk and process his feelings with, and another plan to date her, Marinette didn’t have anybody; she was alone in her heartbreak, and he knew a certain purple-clad man would be more than thrilled to fill in the confidant job.

He didn’t really appreciate the irony of the situation, which Plagg had of course made a point to underline.

Although there had been no threat yet, his self-assigned surveillance job hadn’t been entirely fruitless. It gave him a quiet and distraction-free environment to read the next book in their French class curriculum, which was far from captivating. It didn’t make the story any better, but at least it was dedicated reading time.

He looked up to check everything was alright as he was about to turn a new page. Someone moved in Marinette’s bedroom, casting a momentary shadow, but nothing to report otherwise.

He was about halfway down the next page when a big water drop splattered just above his thumb, making him frown. Even though clouds had been looming over the city for the better part of the day, he'd checked the forecast, going forwards with his patrol as rain wasn’t scheduled until much later in the evening. But there was no way this was the result of an overzealous gardener watering their plants, he realised as he took in the open sky above his head.

Another drop landed on his nose, making him blink, which he interpreted as the universe’s way of saying “No shit, Sherlock”.

He swore under his breath as the rain picked up. The weather turning sour could quickly become the last drop (pun intended) that made Marinette’s metaphorical vase overflow.

He couldn’t leave now. But he couldn’t really stay put either; even if he didn’t mind the rain as much as his namesakes, he didn’t particularly fancy staying out if he could help it. Plus, if he suddenly came down with a bad cold when he’d supposedly stayed home all week, people might get a little suspicious.

He scanned his surroundings for shelter, rapidly reaching the conclusion that the tarp over Marinette’s deck chair was probably his best bet to stay relatively dry. He considered his options to get there undetected, and decided to lean forwards on his baton, slowly making it fall towards the balcony. He grabbed the railing before he could crash into it, and stealthily landed on the other side, arms spread out. He paused for a couple of seconds, listening intently for any stirring below.

Satisfied that his movements must have gone unnoticed, he tiptoed to his final destination, then carefully lowered himself in the deckchair, wincing at any small creak of the wood under his weight. He peeked down at Marinette’s skylight; her bed was empty, which meant he could move freely without drawing her attention. He whipped out his book again and carried on with his reading. Drops occasionally fell on his knees from the overhang, but it was nothing compared to the severe downpour a few centimetres away.

Not even a couple of pages in, Chat felt his nose itch inexplicably. He rubbed it a bit as he read, then pinched it, and finally scrunched it to get rid of the sensation. Seeing that nothing worked, he looked around him to determine the cause of his discomfort.

He soon found the culprit: a lone pigeon, perched on the nearby chimney stump. The mere sight of the beast triggered his sneezing reflex, which he managed to conceal at the last minute. Chat glared at the bird and waved at it, hoping to shoo it away. Instead, it looked at him curiously and hopped even closer to him.

Chat cowered away, anticipating the worst, but nothing happened. The thought that maybe their frequent exposure to Mr Pigeon had paid off and alleviated his feather allergy crossed his mind and he sat taller in his chair, a gloating grin slowly invading his face.

Then the pigeon took off and flew straight at him.

Chat Noir couldn't keep the sneeze in this time. The sound echoed in the night, louder than the cumulative pitter patter of the rain. The volatile culprit was scared out of its shelter, while Chat Noir remained frozen in his seat, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest that he feared it could be heard from miles away.

He heard stomping from below and swiftly pushed himself up from the chair, preparing to make a swift exit, but the skylight was brutally opened before he could make it off the balcony.

“Chat Noir, this is getting ridiculous,” Marinette’s stern voice came from behind him.

He swivelled around, a sheepish grin on his face, feeling the pouring rain already plastering his hair to his forehead. “Heyyy Marinette, fancy running into-”

“Listen here you silly cat:” she cut him off, saving him from himself. “I know you’ve been keeping an eye out for me. I tolerated it when the weather was alright, but you really shouldn’t be out there when it’s raining cats and dogs.”

“And who’s to say I’m not exactly one of those cats you’re speaking of?” He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled as confidently as he could.

Her response came in the form of a thoroughly unimpressed stare.

“Anyway, I won’t bother you any longer, see-”

“No, wait!” Marinette pushed herself up and grabbed his tail as he was about to leave, almost making him lose his balance and fall on his behind. “What I meant is, it’s getting ridiculous that you’ll hang around here, but won’t come and say “hi” anymore.” She looked up at him, the rain drizzling down her face. “I’m about to watch a movie - I have blankets, croissants, and hot chocolate. Will you please join me, instead of getting drenched?”

Chat Noir looked into her pleading eyes, and tried very hard not to think of the last time they’d stood together in the rain, and what had happened after that. This was just a friend inviting another friend in to spend some time together. And to eat delicious, home-made pastries, his stomach reminded him audibly.

“Really?” He smiled sheepishly.

“Yes. It’s the least I can do to repay you for, well…” she trailed off.

“You don’t owe me anything, Marinette.” He took a few steps forward. “But I’ll gladly watch a movie with you.”

“Good.” She let out a sigh of relief, let go of his tail and hopped back into her room.

Chat Noir climbed down after her, mindful not to step on her bedding with his wet boots.

“Thank you for looking out for me, by the way. I’m sorry I made you worry, but I promise that I’m alright.” Marinette handed him a towel to dry off, and then a - his - blanket with a smile, before sitting down on the floor, next to her chaise longue. She’d placed some cushions against it and turned her computer screen towards the cozy area, the mouse and keyboard strategically placed in front of her. “And anyway, it’s no good catching a cold over it.” She reached behind her and pulled a quilt down, setting it over her knees.

“Actually, it’s not what you think,” Chat Noir replied, wrapping himself in his blanket and plopping down to her left. Marinette pulled a tray with two mugs of hot chocolate, still steaming, and a plate of croissants from under the sofa. She really wouldn’t have taken “no” for an answer, he thought as she handed him a cup. “I just wasn’t the only one seeking shelter apparently, and my neighbour wasn’t very considerate of my allergies.”

“How rude of them, when you were clearly in the right place for a rainshower,” Marinette giggled.

“Let me remind you that you clearly planned for me to come in.” Chat Noir lifted his cup up and stuck his tongue out at her, before taking a sip. The sweet taste warmed him right up, even though he hadn’t been feeling particularly cold.

“You don’t know that, maybe it was for someone else.” She glanced at a hat box to her left. Chat Noir followed her gaze and frowned, wondering what she meant. Clearly someone couldn’t be hiding around there; it wasn’t big enough for a human. Maybe a pet? Like a hamster? But since when did Marinette have a hamster? And since when did hamsters like hot chocolate?...

“Anyway,” Marinette cleared her throat loudly and reached for her computer mouse, interrupting his whirring brain just as it was about to suggest that Plagg would have fit perfectly in the hat box. “I was going to watch the Aristocats. Do you have another suggestion?”

“Nope, it’s purr-fect! I haven’t seen it in a while.” Chat Noir smiled.

“Alright, let’s go!” She pressed the play button and handed him a croissant, and they were swept into 1910’s Paris by an upbeat accordion melody.

---

Marinette’s laughs and witty comments about the movie’s unfolding turned into stifled, then full-blown yawns about half-way through (all adorable, in Chat Noir’s unbiased opinion), and soon enough, her head dropped onto his shoulder. Chat Noir couldn’t help but lean his own on top of hers, although he didn’t dare move any more than to lower the volume and to pull her quilt up to her shoulders.

Stealing glances at her sleeping form, he remembered a conversation they’d had what seemed like an eternity before, and realised he’d never checked up on her nightmares. He wondered if they were back, if they’d ever left in the first place - it seemed odd that she’d be so tired at barely 10pm, but her not sleeping well would definitely explain it.

He wrapped his right arm around her in a half-hug, figuring it could only help her feel more comfortable and safe, and hoping it would keep bad dreams at bay.

He wasn’t sure he could do much more in his position of ex-boyfriend-whom-she-couldn’t-date-because-of-a-stupid-butterfly-man-but-he-hoped-she-had-some-feelings-for-anyway. He hoped he’d make progress to get closer to her as Adrien soon, so she’d have someone to talk to.

The movie ended and seeing that she was now lightly snoring, Chat decided he could probably pull off carrying her to bed and making a discreet exit. He shifted carefully, keeping an arm under her head and gently sliding the other under her knees, before getting up. He looked at the last croissant on the plate longingly, but knew that trying to grab it would probably wake his friend up.

Marinette sighed and snuggled against his chest, a lazy smile pulling at her lips as he walked up the stairs to her bed. He felt his heart rate quicken in his chest, and almost tossed her away when it turned into a low, yet loud in the room’s silence, purr. He caught himself before he did, though, delicately setting her down on her mattress and pulling her duvet up to cover her. Marinette opened her eyes sleepily as he did, blinking slowly, taking in her environment. She pushed herself up clumsily when she realised where she was.

“Oh Chaton, you should’ve woken me up earlier,” she yawned.

“Well, it’s done now, isn’t it? Although I didn’t mean to, sorry” he whispered with a sheepish smile.

“I could have come up by myself, though.” She started to rub her eyes, but Chat’s hand prevented her from getting all the sleep out of them.

“Don’t worry, it was on my way up.”

“I’m such a bad hostess.” She shook her head.

“I had a great night, actually. Thanks for having me, even though you needed to sleep.” Chat Noir prepared himself to leave.

“Hey Chat Noir?” she called out before he could climb out. He turned around expectantly. “I missed you, you know that?”

“Me, too.” He smiled affectionately.

“Then don’t be a stranger, okay? Friends are meant to hang out together.”

“I promise.” He bent down and lightly kissed her forehead. “Good night, Marinette. Sweet dreams.”

“You too, Chaton.”

She managed to peck him on the nose before he got back up, sending butterflies fluttering in his stomach, and making him overlook how naturally she’d used a nickname only one other person used for him, for the second time in less than five minutes.

He couldn’t suppress his wide grin as he made his way back home, knowing that she wanted him in her life, even if it was just as a friend.