#saying it out loud makes me realize that i’m not overexaggerating how things are

[voltrons]

.

[reds-skull]

Not Alive, Nor Dead

[PREV PART] [AO3]

Okay I realized a scene I love comes up in the fic on this chapter, so I was like "well, I'm not doing anything right now, why not write it?"

So I wrote it. Enjoy.

(This one has description of some gore and aftermath of torture, very short segments, not worse than was already in the fic)

Ghost woke up slowly, the slick residue of his nightmares fading away as he lifted his head and groaned. Soap had already woken up, and by the chipper way he moved around the room, a while ago.

The Sergeant is getting better at telling when he’s being stared at, and he turns around to raise an eyebrow at Ghost.

“Sleepin’ beauty is finally awake!” he says with a smile.

Ghost drags a hand under his mask, sighing, “time’s it?”

“500 sharp, sir” Soap provides happily.

The fuck’s kinda person is this cheerful at this hour? Ghost exhales loudly and finally gets out of bed. The Sergeant opens his mouth, to probably comment on his old man habits, but Ghost shoots him a stare that would’ve killed a lesser man.

Soap just gives him a shit eating grin in return, “not a morning person?”

Ghost walks towards the bathroom, “I’m a normal person, you’re the fuckin’ anomaly.”

The Scot barks a loud laugh that makes him feel a little less groggy.

At mess, the taskforce finds a table of their own, and the Sergeants busy themselves with an argument about one daft thing or another. 

Price caught his attention and started speaking to him in his mind, “your nightmares are bloody loud sometimes, y’know that?”

Ghost bites on his toast, “don’t fuckin’ listen then.”

The Captain laughs a little before his features turn serious, “you wanna tell me how much of what the Reaper said in your dream actually happened?”

That’s what he dreamt about that last night? Fucking hell. Can’t keep secrets from Price.

“Won’t have to if you just told me, Simon.”

Ghost puts down his meal to stare intently at the Captain, “what did you see? In my dream.”

Price’s moustache twitched in thought, and he replied, “it said something about Soap bringing your demise?”

“It said ‘bringer of demise’, didn’t fuckin’ specify whose.” Ghost spat back.

“What else?”

Before he could stop him, he felt Price pull the memory to the forefront of his mind to watch for himself what unfolded on the plane that day.

“It told you to stay away from Soap if you wanna live?!”

Ghost banged his fist on the table, startling the Sergeants out of their idiotic bickering. He paid no mind to them, focus fully on Price, “I’m not going to stop working with the Sergeant just because my Reaper decided to be a little shit.” he snarls in the Captain’s head.

Price huffs, “I’m not going to let you die Ghost.”

“Did it say I’m going to die?!”

“Simon…”

Gaz cuts their exchange, “what’s going on? Are you two talking in your brains?”

Soap crosses his arms, “well, yer welcome to use your outside voice.”

Ghost gets up, “no need, we’re done.”

Before he can get out of range, Price tells him “keep yourself safe on this mission, Simon. We’ll figure it out later.”

He supposes that’s manageable. 

Ghost and Soap bid their farewells to Gaz and Price, as they go on their own part of the mission, and walk back to the armory to get ready for theirs.

The two of them get dressed up, Ghost armed to the teeth with various throwing knives. He’s not going to use Limbo, not with Soap being right next to him.

And he won’t need to - Ghost is perfectly capable as a fighter with no abilities. There’s a reason the rumors about him as so varied.

Near inhuman in every aspect.

Soap is done before him (less knives, amateur), and now sits to watch Ghost finish up.

A low whistle makes him twist around, “haven’t seen this get-up since the last time we worked together, lookin’ good LT”.

…huh?

“Keep it tactical, Sergeant.” Ghost voices almost mechanically.

“Aye sir, yessir.” Soap gives him an overexaggerated salute.

He rolls his eyes and ignores the warm feeling spreading through his body for the billionth time.

The cartel member’s house appears in the distance after a few minutes of making their way through the wilder parts of Las Almas. Ghost and Soap take out the guards at the front gate and make their way in.

The house is a two storey, drab building, with no real defining features. It’s surrounded by a tall fence, and a smaller shed is stuck by the far left corner of the large yard. 

The suspected location of the kidnapped people is by the far end of the house. They’re tasked with making it inside without alerting any alarms, lest they start killing the people trapped inside.

With the front door clear, the two soldiers open the door and instantly check corners, covering each other’s blind spots.

“Clear.”, Ghost announces.

“Clear.” Soap lowers his silenced pistol a bit, “seems awfully empty, LT. Sure we got the right house?”

“Affirm, stay sharp Sergeant.” Ghost starts forwards, Soap not far behind him.

He feels unnerved. The Sergeant is right, the house is quiet, as though it’s been deserted weeks ago. But a quick look at the amount of dust settled on the floors tells him it couldn’t be more than a few days.

They continue forward, clearing rooms methodically. Ghost has a sense of satisfaction from the act, an enjoyment in working together with Soap besides him for the first time.

They complete each other’s blind spots like puzzle pieces.

Soap declares the first floor clear, barring one last room at the very end of the hallway. Up until then they found several evidences that there were narcos residing here in the past, including a hefty amount of white powder, but they’re not here on a drug bust.

“On me Sergeant”, Ghost orders Soap before pushing the door open.

The scene inside is gruesome. Ghost is intimately familiar with narco torturing techniques, so the bloodied items strewn across the room were an unfriendly sight.

4 bodies lay in the room, and Ghost walks over to check for cartel tattoos on them. One of the bodies has dog tags, and he frowns while pulling it out of the dead man’s shirt.

They read “Thomas Anderson”. Why is that name familiar-

“Sergeant Thomas Anderson, 28. Revenant powers… ‘Breathing underwater?’”

Soap examines the torturing devices with wary eyes, muttering “steamin’ Jesus…” under his breath.

Ghost spots a large tub, filled with reddish water.

Anderson’s body is dry, besides the blood oozing out of his cold body.

The three other men in the room however… Their body is coated with an even amount of thinned blood, from their head down to their chests. They died from drowning.

What is the meaning of this…?

Ghost takes Anderson’s dog tags and stands up, “4 confirmed deaths, no survivors”, he radios in. 

“Copy, exfil inbound in 30, get yourself there.”

They both exit the room, “copy, out here.”

Ghost turns to stand in front of the Sergeant, “one of them was a revenant”, he dangles the tags in front of Soap’s eyes. The date of Reaping is listed right under date of birth, like in their own tags.

Soap frowns, a certain anger washing over him, “what do you think they’re playin’ at?”

“We can chew on that back at base, for now let get to exfil-”

Ghost barely finishes his sentence when he sees Soap’s eyes widen, locked on something behind his shoulder. Half a second later, he’s being spun around, and the piercing sound of bullets fills the air.

Ghost’s heart hammers, and he finally focuses on the view in front of him. Soap’s wide, blue eyes.

And several blotches of red peppered across his torso, spreading quicker than Ghost can process.

“...Soap?” his mind can’t, refuses to make sense of the sight in front of him. Soap isn’t… he can’t be…

The Sergeant’s breaths are erratic, chest rising and falling in big swells. The shock in his eyes transforms, burns away.

Until all that’s left, is rage.

“I’m so sick of this…” Soap murmurs. Shouts in Spanish echo behind them, but Ghost have eyes and ears only for his Sergeant.

Soap lets go of his shoulders, and Ghost scrambles to take him in his arms.

But Soap turns around and walks away, legs shaking and hands burning brighter and brighter by the second. 

One brave narco shoots at his shoulder, making the Scot stagger for a moment.

Ghost lifts an arm, to drag Soap back to him, to cover him from anyone who ever harmed him, to do something, anything.

But Soap unleashes a terrifying snarl and launches forward, grabbing at the narcos.

The explosions blind Ghost, screams and horrible sounds of metal creaking to the breaking point and bones snapping deafening him.

Soap whirls in the middle of this firestorm, exploding guns, heads, walls, anything in his path.

Ghost’s eyes water from the amount of dust and smoke that fills the air.

His Sergeant is radiant.

“Soap…” Ghost tries to stop the unstoppable. He just wants Soap to rest.

“Johnny…..” 

Soap finally stills, carnage creating a halo around him, and all Ghost sees is the red on his clothes, the wheezing of his breath.  

Ghost takes a step forward, and Soap collapses on his knees.

He rushes to grab him by the shoulders before he can fall further, “you’re fine Johnny, you’re going to be fine.” he sputters, pushing his Sergeant up to look at the wounds.

So many wounds.

He knows no one can survive this. Not even revenants. 

“LT…” Soap whispers, voice weak and wobbly.

“You’re going to be alright, you…” air leaves his lungs without a sound. He can’t breathe. How can he?

How can he breathe when Soap lifts a trembling hand, the gentle warmth of flames licking at Ghost’s nape, and looks at him like that?

“LT… I’m not gonna-”

They both jump at the sound of car tires getting closer. The narcos called for backup…

Ghost can’t breathe. He watches Soap shivers in front of him.

He doesn’t have a choice. 

Ghost takes Soap in his arms, hand on his nape mirroring his Sergeant, and presses his head to his own shoulder.

“Close your eyes, Johnny. It will all be over soon.”

He can hear Soap gasp, can feel his chest stuttering.

Ghost closes his eyes the moment footsteps enter the house.

Limbo courses out of him, darkness and emptiness and void filling the house, the residents of it screaming, snarling to take a bite at the intruders.

He holds Soap tight, pressing himself as close as he can. The protective wisps of light barely cover them both, but he will not let Soap be taken by Limbo.

Not Soap. Not Johnny.

In the next blink, Limbo is gone. The victims of the void quiet, as if they also mourn along Ghost.

Johnny pushes lightly at his chest, and Ghost separates them to look him in the eyes.

He seemed to try to form a sentence before a series of coughs wrecked his body, so Ghost laid him down on the blood-covered floor.

“G-Ghost”, he utters through clenched teeth, “d’ye… d’ye know how guns work?”

Ghost’s heart crushes at the sound of his Sergeants voice. He’s… not making sense anymore. Blood delirium isn’t unheard of… especially… especially with how much he-

“Yes”, Ghost softly whispers, more gentle than he ever learned to be.

“T-tell me”, Soap winces when more pain makes its way through his system.

Ghost wants to wither away with him. “The bullet goes into the chamber… and the primer is ignited to cause a small exp-”

His world stops completely.

“T-Teh cause a small ex-explosion.” Soap finishes slowly.

Johnny is…

“I’m not gonna d-die, LT”

Ghost’s eyes slide away from Soap’s, to the rest of his body. He slowly lifts his Sergeant’s shirt, to reveal multiple bullet holes where the tac vest didn’t cover him.

Bullet holes that are already closing.

Ghost wanted to scream out of joy, wail in premature unwarranted grief, shout at Soap for not telling him earlier.

But the radio informs them exfil is 10 minutes out, and they need to get a move on if they want to arrive in time.

Ghost slides his hands under Soap’s body, blood soaking his gloves in a way that takes him back 8 months ago. Back when it was different.

Soap grasps him like he’ll fall if he doesn’t.

Different, yet also the same.

The walk to exfil is quiet, save for Soap’s harsh breathing. Healing or not, he still feels pain.

The driver of their exfil car looks horrified at their shared state, but neither give an explanation and take a sit at the back of the car. It’s only after a few moments of nothing that Ghost mutters, “drive” to the Vaquero.

He feels numb, his arms and legs limp, gaze forward, but nothing truly passes through his brain.

Soap shifts beside him, letting out grunts of pain every once in a while. Making it obvious, despite what his heart tells him, that he’s very much alive.

The blood seeping under his fingernails feels freezing.

The Vaquero was at a loss of what to do with them once the car reaches the base. Ghost shuts the door loudly, and with it the connection to his heart.

Lieutenant first, human last.

“Where is medical?” He asks the man.

Ghost carries Soap all the way to the nurse’s hands, where he was stopped and told he had to clean up if he wanted to stay any longer. He wanted to scream infection doesn’t matter when the wounds will close in the matter of minutes, but the look on the nurse told him she wasn’t impressed.

He left medical to drag himself to the showers, energy left behind him with every step. 

Showers are usually a short ordeal for him, as efficient as they come. But Johnny’s blood going down the drain made him linger.

30 or so minutes later he comes out, and for the first time in what feels like hours there's  something in his brain, besides numbness.

It’s Price. Him and Gaz returned.

The voice in his mind sounds concerned, imploring him to explain why everything looks so dull there.

Ghost ignores it and goes to find his teammates.

“Ghost” Price greets, Gaz perks up from his previous position, head held in his hands. “Where’s the Sergeant?”

Ghost nods back at the hallway, “medical.” is all he provides.

Garrick startles, “Was he injured? What happened?”

“Flanked.” Ghost says, voice matching the emptiness in his head, “got shot.”

“Shot?! Fuck, where-”

“He’s immune.” Ghost cuts him off.

Gaz becomes confused, “immune?”

“To bullets. Primer ignition counts as explosion.” 

The Sergeant sits back down, body slackening, “thank fuck…”

Price catches ghost’s eye contact, “but you didn’t know that.”

Ghost just… shrugs.

“Fucking hell…” the Captain looks away, “it was one of the redacted details in his file…”

Gaz frowns, “why would they redact that?”

“Reapers know.”

The next couple of hours zoom past Ghost. His teammates try to coax him out of his unfeeling self, but Ghost isn’t truly in base.

His mind is stuck in a cartel house, in the Las Almas wilderness. On bloody and soot covered floor, with a dying man in his arms.

On eyes, shining with burning rage.

Pain! Pain! Pain! All I'm making Ghost feel is pain!

[flowerypeaches]

Mothership

“What is that?”

Hero stopped their approach, a positively bored expression on their face. “What are you doing?”

Their nemesis, who was currently pointing behind Hero with an incredibly overexaggerated look of surprise, rolled their eyes, “Uh, giving you your cue?”

“My cue?”

Villain sighed loudly, dropping the egregious pose. “You're supposed to turn your head, in a suitably dramatic fashion of course, search for what I was pointing at, only for it to be revealed a ruse, granting me the opportunity to strike you unawares so I may gain the upper hand in our skirmish.”

“Mhm, and why would I fall for something so stupid?”

“Because you are stupid?”

“...”

“Ow, okay, okay!” Villain held a hand to their nose, grimacing as it came back bloody from Hero’s rather crude punch. “See, this is what I was trying to avoid. No story, no drama, no excitement. What if I let you get a few good hits in afterwards?”

Hero replied by kicking Villain’s feet out from under them, knocking them onto the cold and cracked pavement. “Looks like I’m already getting a few good hits in.” They leaned over Villain, arms crossed. “Now, are we going to actually fight, or are you going to keep trying to direct your own personal soap opera?”

Hero waited for Villain’s patented snarky response, specifically about how soap operas are a valid form of art and Hero would be wise not to disrespect it, yadda yadda, but none came. In fact, Villain wasn’t even looking at them.

“Uh, Villain? You still with me?” 

Villain’s voice was barely above a whisper, “What is that?”

“Seriously? It hasn’t even been a minute and you’re really using the sa-”

“I’m not screwing with you, Hero, there’s something in the sky!”

Hero had to admit, Villain’s acting had gotten much better in the last thirty seconds, but no matter how real it looked, they weren’t going to fall for it. Villain might be messing around now, but Hero couldn’t forget that they were a criminal, and a dangerous one at that.

They reached down, pulling Villain, who was still staring into the sky, up by their collar. “Look, I get that you never got the lead role in the school play or whatever, and want to make the world burn because of it, but could you, just this once, take our fight seriously?”

“I think it's getting closer.”

Hero ignored them, “I’m tired of the other heroes telling me I have it easy because my nemesis would rather focus on projecting their monologue to all of the hostages than actually rob the bank they broke into to begin with.” Sure, Hero was thankful Villain’s obsession with the dramatic kept them from causing too much destruction, but they had their own reputation to uphold, and constant stalemates with the theatre school reject did not help! “Let me tell you what. If you go down to the station without a fuss, then maybe I can get you into one of the nicer cell blocks. You know, the ones with the view of the hills. Does that sound good? Villain? Are you even lis-”

Blinding light filled Hero’s eyes and ears, cutting off every train of thought and any plan of action they might have had before then. They looked up, and despite the harsh light making their eyes water, they could make out the vague shape of a disc floating directly above them.

Oh.

Oh no.

“Told you.”

Hero looked back down to their nemesis, who looked much too smug for the situation at hand, and sneered, “Maybe if you didn’t insist on playing drama club, I might have actually taken you seriously.”

Villain had the courtesy to drop their grin, squinting up at the…  “Is it getting brighter?”

It was, and that meant it was too late for Hero to prevent what was about to happen. Familiar cold heat ran through their veins as their limbs locked in place.

A safety precaution.

Definitely not to prevent anyone caught in the beam from escaping.

“Hero? I-I can’t move.” Villain said.

Villain.

They shouldn’t be here.

Hero’s eyes widened, realizing just how screwed they were. They tried to relax their hands, to let go of Villain, to shove them out of the beam, anything, but only managed to twitch their muscles, as if they were encased in a steel mold.

Villain seemed to be doing the same thing, though the trembling may have just been the fear. Any other time, Hero would have loved to see Villain’s mask slip. To force them to acknowledge that, yes, Hero was a real threat to their criminal livelihood. Instead, Villain acted as if Hero was a fellow actor, asking for Hero’s thoughts on new scenes they came up with, or excitedly talking about whatever had happened in their soap that day, a neon flashing sign that indicated they were in desperate need of friends. Did… did that mean Villain thought they were friends?

Not the time.

Hero gave up on their efforts, and let the looming dread wash over them. This wasn’t acceptance, no, they were just giving themself a moment to rest before they faced what was up in the ship. Oh, they weren’t ready.

Two enemies, encircled and entrapped in an ever growing light, locked eyes. 

“We’re so f-”

And as quick as it had appeared, the burning light and mysterious ship attached to it, along with Hero and Villain, vanished into the night.

.·°·.·°·.·°·.

Light surrounded Villain. The ambient noise of the city was replaced by a low, droning hum. Any sense of direction was lost as gravity no longer affected them. They were weightless, and, even in this world of superpowers, nothing made sense. Where did the city go? Why couldn’t they move? How were they floating? The light was all-consuming, and Villain would have thought themself lost in it if not for the deathgrip Hero still had around their collar. 

Slowly, the light faded, and Villain felt their own weight return to them. Their legs wobbled, and in an instant, whatever force that held them in place disappeared. They would have fallen if not for Hero, who still held them in their grasp.

“What just happened?” Villain said, though not really expecting an explanation.

Looking around, they could see they were now in a circular, silver chamber. Dials and switches and lights and symbols dotted the walls, communicating something or other, and the floor was, what was that, carpet? Villain shuddered. Honestly, it looked a lot like a cheap sci-fi set for a tv show that should have been cancelled three seasons ago than a futuristic aircraft capable of teleporting human beings.

“Oh, no, no, no.” Villain jumped at Hero’s voice, and stumbled as their anchor let them go to run over to a wall.

Not a wall. A window.

Villain blinked.

A window that showed… Earth? No, that couldn’t be right. If they were looking at the earth, that could only mean...

“Shit, we’re already in orbit.” Hero said.

Villain blinked.

They were in space. Space. That was impossible, right? They couldn’t actually be in space. But here they were, staring at the little blue marble with their very own eyes. Was the room spinning? Or was it the spaceship?

Villain ran their hands through their hair.

They were in a spaceship. A spaceship. That was impossible, right? They couldn’t actually be in a spaceship. But here they were, having been abducted by the UFO just seconds ago. By what? Aliens?

Aliens.

Villain forced their gaze away to keep themself from spiraling, instead focusing on Hero, who has since moved on from the window to the numerous switches and lights, tapping the wall and looking at the symbols that popped up. Villain didn’t understand what Hero was trying to do, it wasn’t like they could understand what any of it meant.

Three deep breaths, and Villain made the best plan ever made in 24 seconds. They stepped up next to their nemesis.

“Hero?”

Hero’s hand was covering their mouth, muttering something to themself, and clearly not paying attention. Nevertheless, Villain continued, “Now, as much as I hate to say it, I think we may have to work together to get back on Earth.” Truth be told, in any other circumstance, Villain would have been ecstatic to work with their nemesis. Whether to defeat a worse villain or take down some other hero that had become corrupt, they would have welcomed the opportunity wholeheartedly. 

Why? Well, Villain would argue that it was more interesting, that their relationship, and subsequent fights, would have more dramatic tension. Definitely not because of any other tension that may arise from spending time together.

Villain puffed out their chest, “Lucky for you, I have decided to put aside our differences, and your lack of charisma, to take the initiative and save us both from peril. Yes, this does go against my better judgement, and yes, it may possibly be my most difficult role to date, but if it means I get to go back home in time to watch my soaps, then it’ll be worth it.”

Hero finally turned towards them, “Do you ever shut up?”

“Only for dramatic effect.” Villain said with an award-winning smile, earning an eye roll and a huff of annoyance. “So… what do you think we should do?”

“I thought you said you’d take the initiative?”

“Yes, the initiative in proposing we work together.”

“...”

Villain held up their hands, “Hey, hey, before you go punching willy nilly, why don’t you tell me what you were doing over here? Get anything useful from the flashing green triangle you were poking at?” They would have teased more, but Hero’s lack of response made them move on. “What are you thinking?”

Hero’s eyes flickered to the wall and back to Villain. “You need to leave.”

Villain blinked.

“Well, obviously we need to escape. We were abducted!”

Hero shook their head, “No, you need to leave. I’ll stay, and deal with-”

“What? And how are you going to figure out how anything works, huh? Even if you do, why wouldn’t you just come back with me?”

“It’s not that simple, I can’t re-”

A low, loud beep interrupted the enemies, and Villain turned their head in time for a wall opposite the window to open up and let someone through. Someone distinctly… humanlike. 

The person, an older woman by the looks of it, smiled brightly and opened their arms. “ .·°¯°·.·° .·°° ?”

That was distinctly not humanlike. It was like hearing someone speak through water, and an undercurrent of static scratched the inside of Villain’s ears. 

The woman—were they even a person?—walked closer, and Hero quickly stepped in front of Villain, shielding them.

She paid no mind, however, and spoke again, “ .·°¯°·.·° .·°° ,” looking expectantly at Hero, who, after a moment of hesitation, stepped forward. Her smile widened, and Villain was hit with a sense of deja vu. She pulled Hero close, and, were they hugging? Why was Hero letting her? What was happening? 

The woman whispered something to Hero, but it wasn’t like Villain could understand even if they tried. Hero turned back to Villain, giving them an apologetic smile before, “ ° .·°° ° .¯ .”

Villain’s jaw dropped.

Hero was replying to the woman. Which meant they understood her. Which meant they knew whatever language was being spoken. Which meant… which meant… Why were they abducted in the first place?

The danger presented itself fully to Villain.

They had been taken off the face of the earth by their mortal enemy, or someone who was well acquainted with them, at the very least, and had no possibility of escape. Villain considered themself clever, but trying to figure out how alien—alien!—technology worked was beyond them. They had to rely wholly on Hero, who, although Villain was loath to admit it, hated their guts. Hero could be plotting in front of Villain right now and they would be none the wiser.

Hero wouldn’t do that. Villain tried to reassure themself, because Hero wouldn’t send them off with some unknown alien being. They’d want to arrest Villain proper, right? Arrest and put them in some high security cell they’d break out of a month later. It was their thing. Villain didn’t want their thing to end.

Huh.

Villain shook their head, they’d have to examine and repress that particular line of thought later, because the woman was suddenly standing in front of them, startling Villain out of their thoughts. She reached out, clutching Villain's jaw with cold fingers, turning them this way and that. As if they were being studied. Was Villain wrong? Was Hero really getting rid of them?

“ ¯ .·°°·°¯ .” She said. Villain’s ears itched worse now that the woman was closer.

Maybe Hero thought they were doing Villain a favour, sending them off on an adventure, letting them create their own melodramatic space opera. Or maybe this was punishment for all the dated Space Trek references. Both were a possibility.

Familiar hands pulled Villain away from the woman and into Hero’s chest. They were not blushing.

“ .·° .¯°·°° !” Hero’s voice was raised, clearly upset at whatever the woman had said.

She, however, was unaffected by Hero’s outburst, gesturing between the two enemies with raised eyebrows, “ °·.°·.°¯°·. .” 

Hero shook their head, and Villain felt Hero’s grip tighten ever so slightly, “ °·.°¯ .·°°·.°°¯ .”

A strange noise came from the woman, sounding almost like… bubbles? It was clearer than the other times she spoke, and it was the way she moved that made Villain realize it was a laugh. She was laughing at Villain. Or Hero. Both?

Hero’s hands were shaking, and Villain couldn’t tell if it was with anger or fear. 

“ ·° .·° .” Hero was curt with her, and Villain recognized the tone from when they threatened to blow up City Hall. The tone that preceded their fights.

The woman seemed to recognize the tone as well, as she backed off a little, holding her hands up in a placating way. She gave Villain a small wave before nodding at Hero, “ ·.°.°¯°°¯° .· .·° .” and left, the wall closing up behind her.

The pair stood in silence.

Hero let go of Villain, letting them step away. Except, they didn’t. In fact, they did nothing of the sort. Villain spun on their heels and stepped forward, “What on ear–ugh, what just happened?”

“There, um, might be a slight problem.”

“Slight problem? You call this”—Villain gestured wildly around them, narrowly avoiding hitting Hero in the face—”a slight problem?”

Hero leaned away from Villain, avoiding their eyes.

“Care to explain? Anything? At all?”

“Where do I start?”

Villain’s theatrics, for once, wasn’t uncalled for. “Oh, I don’t know, how about the fact that we were abducted? That we are in space? Or, or!” Villain backed off, giving themself room to pace around the circular room and project their panic to an audience of one, “That there is an alien speaking to you, Hero, in an alien language, because no human could actually sound like that, acting like she knows you, and you, you reply to her? As if you know her too?”

“Yeah, that would be my… mother.”

“Your mother.”

Hero nodded.

“Your mother who lives in a spaceship. Who speaks an alien language.”

“Who is an alien.”

“Who is an alien.” It took a good second for the words to sink in. “Your mother is an alien?! Like, an alien from an alien planet?”

Hero nodded again.

Villain felt their brain short-circuit. “Does that mean…”

“That I’m an alien from an alien planet? Yes.”

Villain felt lightheaded. This was okay. This was manageable. This world-shattering, insane truth of the universe was perfectly manageable, and they were not going to spiral, not for one second. Deep breaths. One… two… three… Villain stopped pacing, facing Hero with the calmest expression the latter had ever seen on the former. “Okay, so now that you’ve had your nice little family reunion, we can go back, right?”

Hero’s face was a cross between a smile and a wince.

Villain’s expression twitched, but held firm, “And why not?”

“Well, my mother-”

“The alien.”

Hero tried not to get annoyed, but damn, did Villain make it hard. “Yes, my mother the alien. She, erm,” They groaned, covering their face with their hands, “She may have made a fundamental mistake about the nature of our relationship.”

“And what mistake would that be?” Villain grit their teeth.

“She may, perhaps, think that, we’re… dating.”

“Louder, Hero. Speak so everyone in the audience can hear you.”

“She thinks we’re dating!”

Villain blinked, completing the rule of thirds and simultaneously breaking their composure. So much for not spiraling. “Dating?” Their voice squeaked.

“Dating,” Hero nodded, “And-”

“There’s more?!” Villain turned away, back to pacing and practically pulling their hair out from the absurdity.

“And, the reason we can’t leave yet is because she invited us to dinner.”

Oh. Oh, no. Oh, no no no.

“What’s wrong? I thought you loved drama.” Hero said, failing to lighten the mood. “Aren’t family confrontations and misunderstandings the bread and butter of soap operas?”

“My love of drama left me when we left the atmosphere.” Villain glared at Hero with enough ferocity to start a fire.

Villain walked up to the walls, flicking the switches and turning the dials, to see if, miraculously, they could make the ship go back to the city. The lights blinked mockingly in response.

“Uh, Villain?”

“There doesn’t happen to be an escape pod on this ship, does there?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“We’re really going to have to do this, aren’t we?” Villain said, turning to face their nemesis.

“Unfortunately yes.”

Two enemies, both flushed head to toe from frustration and embarrassment, locked eyes.

And Villain, lover of monologues and soliloquies, came up with the most profound, most thought-provoking line they could think of.

“We’re so fucked.”

Hero was inclined to agree.

[ratmonky]

Love Loser

Word Count: 7.7K

Warnings: Obsession, Manipulation, Gaslighting, Chikan, Breeding, dub-con

AO3 Link

“Be careful and don’t forget that a professional sorcerer is going to pick you up from the station,” Gojo hugged both Megumi and you. “Don’t talk to strangers and don’t waste your allowance on junk food.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Megumi pushed him away. “We’re going to ride on the train for only two hours, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“It feels like just yesterday when I met you two…” Gojo smiled, ignoring Megumi, and gave a dreamy sigh, still hugging you. “Now, you’re leaving me~”

“We’re gonna come back,” Megumi mumbled. “You know that.”

“He likes to be dramatic.” You finally broke the hug. “Do you want me to say anything to Yuuji?”

“Tell him to come back!” Gojo pouted his lips, wrapping his arms around himself. “It’s because of him that all of my students are leaving.”

“Wasn’t it you who sent him away to train with that sorcerer?” Megumi didn’t need an answer.

Gojo paused and his arms went limp, falling to his sides. “Yeah…”

“Did they leave?”

A familiar voice made you turn around. There she was, you had thought she wasn’t going to make it. With the biggest smile on your lips, you threw yourself in Nobara’s arms.

“Ahh, listen, listen, (name)! You have to bring souvenirs!” She was practically yelling in your ear and embracing you tightly. “I’m gonna miss you so bad.”

“We’re going away only for a week...” Megumi rolled his eyes.

Gojo leaned to whisper to Megumi’s ear. “They like to be dramatic.”

A loud whistle tore the chatter of the crowd in the train station.

It was time.

While Megumi took your bag from the ground and threw it over his shoulder to give you a little longer time to embrace Nobara, the two of you were giggling over something he couldn’t hear.

Another whistle came, only then you managed to let go of your friend to follow Megumi to get on the train. You stood in front of the closing doors to wave at your teacher and friend.

They waved back, Nobara blew you a kiss and it made you giggle.

Megumi lazily waved at the two through the door’s glass window as the loud whistle once again was heard. The train started rolling forward.

You couldn’t tear your eyes away from the two until Megumi pulled you toward a seat.

“This is exciting,” you smiled. “I wonder what kind of place Yuuji is staying at.”

“Yeah.”

“Yes to what?” you chuckled. “Is it exciting or-”

“It’s exciting,” Megumi said firmly. “I’m also curious about what the place is like.”

~~~

“Sometimes I wonder if that guy has a brain,” Megumi huffed and put his hand on his hip in annoyance. “I’ve never seen this professional sorcerer before so how did he think we were going to recognize him somehow?”

You agreed with a small chuckle but it turned into a gasp. Your eyes landed on a familiar spiky pink hair. A smile tugged at your lips as you dropped your bags to run forward.

“(name)-?” Megumi stood there in shock as you ran towards the man who was waiting with open arms.

“Yuuji!” You jumped into his arms and as soon as Yuuji caught you, he spun around laughing.

“I missed you!”

Yuuji let you down and held your hand instead as you walked over to Megumi.

He was frowning while Yuuji grabbed all of your bags to carry them himself.

“The sorcerer training me is out of town today. He’ll be back in two days. He told me to come and get you two to his house,” Yuuji simply explained. “How ya been doing?”

“Fine,” you said.

“Terrible,” Megumi groaned.

“Good,” Yuuji snickered.

~~~

A professional sorcerer’s house was more cramped than you thought it would be. Megumi and Yuuji had to share a futon together and sleep in the same room as you.

“You lived like this for a month already?” Megumi grimaced at the messy room.

Yuuji proudly smiled. “What? You can’t handle not sleeping in your own giant private room?”

“Don’t fight on our first day together!” You yelled from the kitchen.

Yuuji entered the room and leaned on the counter, watching you quietly.

You didn’t look up at him since you were cooking but he was oddly quiet. Finally, you asked what he wanted.

“I missed you.”

~~~

The village Yuuji was staying at was located very close to the mountains.

You were checking the map, “Our trail is starting here.” You pointed at the map on the ground, circling the small green spot with a red marker. “That’s our exact position,” you muttered. “We’ll go up to the mountain until this part.” You marked another spot on the map which was very far away from the current position, then slowly tapped the marker on the destination.

You gave a contented sigh, the cool air of the summer breeze was creeping on all of you as you folded the map and looked up, “Any questions?”

“No.” Yuuji jumped on his spot, “Let’s get going.”

You were the only one without a large backpack but you were carrying the necessity bag and the firewood was given into your care. It was all pretty heavy but it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle.

Yuuji was leading the way, while Megumi was at the end making sure that nobody fell behind, which only meant you, since only you weren’t able to keep up with the others’ pace. You were right on one thing, hiking was very difficult and tiring. You were already drenched in sweat and it had been only half an hour. You took a deep breath while trying to walk up the trail, avoiding all the rocks and weird-looking plants.

Yuuji found a nice opening to take a break and eat lunch. The moment he put his backpack down he could see the two of you cheer with exhaustion, he laughed. “We’re going to eat lunch, we’re not there yet.”

Huffing, you sat on a big rock while Yuuji was taking out the lunch from the basket. Megumi handed water bottles to each of you. You took one and drank the whole bottle in one go, wiping your sweat to the ends of your shirt while lifting it, omitting the way Megumi was blushing.

~~~

“We made it!” you cheered.

The large clearing you arrived at was covered by tall trees and there were large rocks laid in a circle in the middle of the clearing. Yuuji claimed that it was from when he came here with his friends from the village before. It was simply a really popular camping spot but Megumi wasn't sure if he only eaned to bring you all here because there was a fire pit ready or for another reason. The plan was to have a nice hike and a picnic before returning back, you weren't going to camp here. 

“You should check the view from that cliff.” Yuuji pointed towards the north with a smile. “It’s gorgeous, I’ve never seen anything like its view, it’s enough to make anyone tear up!”

“Where?” you asked, handing him a bottle of water.

“It’s like ten minutes that way.” He pointed north again. “I’m pointing at it, can’t you see?”

“Well, I thought you were going to give us the exact directions if it was located somewhere tricky and-” Megumi was walking inside the forest slowly without saying anything, “Wait, Fushiguro!” you yelled at him for not waiting and dropped your bags next to Yuuji.

He stopped walking, you caught up to him and you walked deeper into the forest together.

It was dead quiet. If it wasn’t for the shaking of the trees and the sounds of the cicadas, you would feel uncomfortable. Megumi liked the silence, it was peaceful.

Only a couple of minutes of walking later, you realized, the view from the cliff was breathtaking.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.” You couldn’t hide the excitement in your voice. The sunlight made everything look like a painting, the colors of the trees and grass were an impossible bright orange.

Megumi nodded in agreement. “It was worth the walk.”

“Right? I thought he was overexaggerating but it’s actually prettier!” you gave a light chuckle. “I’m glad we got to see it together.”

“Yeah.” His gaze hesitantly dropped to your hand. A million thoughts went through his mind and he wanted to reach for you, taking your hand in his and holding it tightly. He wondered what you would do, you would just laugh and let him hold your hand as if it was no big deal.

To you it didn’t mean anything to be with him at this moment, enjoying the view and standing beside him. But to Megumi, it was heavenly yet not enough. He wanted to enjoy more time together or even spend years together. He knew once both of you graduated, you would go different ways but he desperately needed to stay with you.

He knew his life wouldn’t be the same without you in it.

“Fushiguro,” you said, voice quiet and soft. “I think I have someone I like.”

His body jolted, gaze lifting up to your face. You were blushing faintly.

“Who?” His voice was faint, not very like him. Clearing his throat, he asked again. “Who?”

You put your hands on your cheeks and closed your eyes with a grin. “Ahh, it’s so embarrassing.”

From the way you were blushing, he knew who it was.

I like you too.

He wanted to say it out loud. Megumi started blushing as well when he opened his mouth. “I-”

“It’s Yuuji!”

Why?

Megumi’s eyes widened, the view he had thought to be gorgeous was turning into a glimpse of hell and your lovely expression on your face nearly made him retch.

Why?

“That’s why Nobara wanted me to come here with you, she keeps telling me to say something but I’m just soooo embarrassed! I mean, I wanna be with him before that happens.”

Why him?

Your words didn’t reach him anymore, even if they did, he couldn’t register what they meant. Each word was something he couldn’t comprehend when put together, it felt like he was going insane.

Why him but not me?

As long as he treasured this time you had together, to him it would be enough. He didn’t have to be with you forever. He was fine just being friends.

Right?

“I’m gonna confess to him, Nobara thinks he likes me and-”

“Don’t.” Megumi turned to face you completely, his head was dizzy.

“Why not?” You were smiling, oh how cute. Knowing why you were smiling like this made his throat clench. “Don’t you think he likes me?”

“No,” he firmly responded. Your smile faltered, lips pressing together in worry. He had to do it. He had to do something. He was desperate to do something. “He likes Kugisaki.”

I love you more than he ever could.

“Oh,” you said, gaze dropping to the ground. “I… I never noticed.”

“I know it because he told me. You shouldn’t get in between him and her.” His tone was colder than ice. He realized how badly his hands were shaking and quickly put them in his pockets to hide them from your view.

“I see,” you whispered. Perhaps, your best friend liked him too. It would be cruel to prevent them from getting together. Yes. Although it hurt, you were fine. Fine.

Your vision blurred with tears.

Ah.

Hastily, you wiped your tears and turned to look at the view one more time. Although your tears didn’t stop, Megumi didn’t want to say anything since he was fighting with his own demons but he couldn’t stand watching you cry.

“(name)?” You didn’t respond, so he took a step closer to you. “Hey,” he tried calling for you again and this time you flinched. You wiped your tears away with your forearms before turning to face him.

“I’m fine.” You beamed up at him despite how red your eyes were.

His eyes fixated on the ground in front of him. He was troubled, unable to look you in the face. “It’s not the end of the world.” His voice was calm.

“It still hurts.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Fushiguro.”

Yuuji was placing big smooth rocks around the fireplace that was already lit when the two of you returned. He smiled at you, “Took you two long enough.”

“Yeah, it was prettier than I thought.” You took a blanket out from one of the bags and spread it on the ground.

“You’re okay?” Yuuji asked, raising a brow. “Your eyes are red.”

Nodding, you brushed it off with a lie, “The view made me tear up.”

He laughed and patted on your back. “Told you!”

~~~

“Todo was very interested in (name) today, huh?” Yuuji said as they were walking to their dorm.

Megumi hummed. 

“I mean, she’s kinda cute, I’m not sure.” He laughed and then stopped in front of his friend, blocking the way. “Actually, scratch that, she’s very cute.”

A disgusted expression settled on Megumi’s face but he shook it off instantly. 

“What do you think of her?”

“She’s my friend.” Megumi sounded… conflicted.

“What’s with the pause?” Yuuji chuckled.

Megumi was trying to walk around him to get to his room so he could avoid this pointless conversation altogether but Yuuji was barely giving him any space to move around the hallway.

“I think I like her,” Yuuji stepped in front of him once again as he had just managed to walk past him, “(name) is pretty and I like her.”

“Do you like her only because she’s pretty?” Megumi’s anger was starting to turn towards his friend even though he wasn’t the reason for his anger. “What do you like about her exactly?”

For a while, Yuuji couldn’t speak. His brows furrowed in anger because he didn’t know what to say. 

“I think we both know the truth now.” Megumi looked down at Yuuji, sending him a warning glare.

The color drained from Yuuji’s face but he tried not to show his shock on his face. 

They glared at each other for a moment before Megumi let out a sigh. “But, you know what Itadori?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I believe she deserves someone better than you.” He walked past his friend and into his room, leaving Yuuji behind, alone with his thoughts.

As soon as he closed the door, he collapsed on the floor with his hands covering his ears. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

Why? Why? WHY?

~~~

Neither of you confessed to each other in the passing years.

Megumi made sure of it.

~~~

“Ahh, I’m jealous! You two already kissed?” Yuuji kept whining, hitting his head on the table. “What was it like? Did she squirm a lot? What did she taste like?”

Inumaki flushed red and shook his head, refusing to give him an answer.

“I never thought Inumaki would be the first one between all of us to get a girlfriend,” Panda commented, taking a bite from one of the small rice cakes before he mumbled under his breath. "Especially her."

“You talk as if you were gonna get one,” Yuuji responded.

“That hurt!” Panda held his chest, pretending to be in pain.

“To be honest, I always thought Fushiguro would be first.”

It became silent when Yuuji said that. Everyone was staring at him now.

“What?”

“You’re single, right?” Panda asked.

Megumi rolled his eyes. “Why are you asking?”

“You guys are next to graduate, Fushiguro! Find yourself a girl before sorcerer work starts building up!” Panda let out a noise closer to a groan and turned to Yuuji. “What about you?”

“Unfortunately, I’m single!”

“No, not that! Do you have anyone you like?” For some reason, they were yelling at each other now.

But that wasn’t the yelling that made Megumi almost drop his glass, it was the question.

No.

Don’t answer.

They will encourage you.

Unaware of all the things running through Megumi’s head, Yuuji’s cheeks blushed. “I... do.”

Panda grinned, “Who is it?”

Shut up.

Don’t say it.

Megumi watched Yuuji’s lips move in terror as he said a name he was familiar with. “Jennifer Lawrence.”

Letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, the tension on Megumi’s shoulders eased while everyone else was laughing.

He had to make a move before it was too late.

~~~

When they started running out of necessities in the dorms, it was usually two of the seniors who went to restock them. Since you were all seniors now, it had become your duty which none of you looked forward to.

“We’ll just play rock paper scissors,” Nobara said. “It’ll be fair.”

Yuuji frowned, “I haven’t won a single time playing this.”

“Well, that means Fushiguro will have his Saturday free, unlike you, Yuuji.” You cracked your fingers. “I won’t lose, I need to catch up with my show today.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Megumi sighed.

“I always go with rock,” Nobara said with a grin. You were smarter than to fall for her trick, you knew she was going for a scissor, you were going to pick rock!

All four of you stood together and shouted rock paper scissors in unison. Except for Megumi.

The result was as expected.

While Nobara and Yuuji had gone with paper, both you and Megumi had gone for rock.

Nobara yelled in excitement and turned to Yuuji, the two high-fived and cheered as you stared at your hand.

“I can’t believe it worked!” Yuuji laughed.

“Fushiguro is a lot dumber than I thought! He actually fell for it!”

“I didn’t fall for anything. I always pick rock first.” Megumi noticed how distraught you looked over losing and slapped your fist that was still hovering in the air, “Come on, let’s go before it’s too late. We can come back early if we hurry.”

You nodded reluctantly and then pointed at Nobara threateningly. “Don’t watch the show without me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she brushed it off with a wave of her hand.

Megumi realized the two of you were going to keep on bickering, decidedly, he put a hand on your shoulder to lead you out of the common room of the dorm.

After getting ready, you met up outside the campus. While you wanted to take the bus because it would be less crowded, Megumi insisted on taking the subway train which would be a lot faster despite being extremely crowded on the weekends.

In the end, you relented without knowing his true intentions.

The train was packed, even more than normal. Only then you remembered about Takada-chan’s concert downtown. Ugh, this was truly the worst. There wasn’t any place to hold onto and you were squished against Megumi’s body to the point of his phone in his pants poking your thigh.

The sudden turn of the train made you lose your balance and you held onto your friend. “Sorry,” you mumbled.

“It’s fine,” he said, not looking at you. “Hold onto me and stay close, otherwise you might disturb someone.”

Since he was tall enough to hold onto one of the bars above your head, he was able to hold his balance but somehow his body still managed to move against yours.

“Okay,” you murmured, gripping to his jacket and moving closer to him. “How long left?” You didn’t have the courage to complain about his phone poking you against your thigh but if you moved a little to your left, you could avoid it.

“Five minutes or less.” His voice broke into a sigh when you moved against what you thought was his phone. He was glad you moved away, now, you wouldn’t be able to notice the damp spot.

Getting off the train, Megumi quickly excused himself to go to the restroom. Taking the opportunity, you took out your phone to check out the list you had to buy one more time.

You were buying the necessities for yourself and Nobara while Megumi was going to buy the things the boys needed. It was a rule that helped both parties, boys didn’t know the difference between adult diapers and menstrual pads at the same time girls didn’t understand why boys couldn’t use fragranced hand lotions.

In the bathroom stall, Megumi wiped the inside of his pants and underwear as much as he could but the stickiness was there to stay. He put a paper towel perfectly lined up between his skin and the sticky fabric to spare himself from the discomfort. He had made a good choice to wear black pants today.

“Come on,” you whined as soon as he left the restroom and grabbed his arm. “We have to hurry to the mall.”

“Mall? I thought we were going to the store around the corner.”

“Nobara wants us to buy her skincare.” You showed him the text you had gotten from her and started pulling him towards the exit. “It’ll be fun anyway.”

Megumi let you drag him wherever you wanted, only focusing on how warm your touch was.

The loud chatter of the crowd, bright colors, children laughing, warm weather, and the smell of the delicious food.

“This sure takes me back.” You smiled brightly. “Malls are exciting. It’s like being a kid again.”

Although it was still a little early there were already quite a number of people in the mall.

“It’s too crowded,” Megumi pointed out.

“It’s because of Takada-chan’s concert downtown,” you said, with a quirky tone as you exited the drugstore. “I bet Todo’s there.” There was a pause before you beamed up at him. “Let’s go watch it together, they’re probably still selling tickets!”

He averted his gaze to hide his blushing face from you. “Didn’t you wanna go back to watch your show?”

You hummed. “Well, if we split up and bought everything we needed and met up back here… If we still had time, we could watch the end of her show!”

Megumi wasn’t a fan of that said idol but he was a fan of the two of you being pressed against in a small room as you jumped excitedly, perhaps you would even dance, moving your hips, and then he could get better friction than on the train and maybe-

“Hey!” You were snapping a finger in front of his face repeatedly, “What do you say?”

“O-okay?”

“Perfect!” You checked the time on your phone and looked around. “I already bought Nobara’s skincare so I don’t have much left to buy. I’ll meet you here.”

He didn’t even get to say something before you walked away. Thankfully, his list wasn’t as complicated as yours, it took him less than twenty minutes to buy everything and even had time to try out some of the samples being given out.

While he was looking down from the third floor, he could see you run from store to store, gathering all of the not-so-necessary stuff. His lips curled up to a smile and his phone buzzed.

It was a text from Yuuji, telling him to buy a new charger for his phone that he was going to pay for later.

Megumi lied and told him that there weren’t any phone chargers in the store.

Yuuji’s reply made his brows furrow.

[New Message]

Itadori: (name) called me n said u were in the mall dont lieeeeee to meeee  ):<  btw the concert is canceled cuz of heavy rain so i cant come sorry ); anywayy u should hurry home and buy an umbrella!!

So, you didn’t actually want to go and see the concert together with Megumi. Other than that… you called Yuuji… Why? You never called Megumi, you didn’t even text him.

His hands started shaking as the thought of you still being in love with Yuuji dawned on him.

He had been doing everything and anything to keep you guys away from each other. Purposely losing to be with you, making sure Yuuji was busy on the weekends so you could only spend time with Nobara.

What if you started going out with him?

What if you were already going out with him?

Megumi returned to the meeting point, you were already waiting for him. He tried to listen to your complaints about how Nobara was constantly adding new stuff to the list and how it took longer for you to buy everything or how heavy your backpack was but his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. It was hard for him to hold a conversation when he was unable to comprehend why you were acting the way you were.

In front of the place Takada-chan was supposed to do her show, it was crowded but something was off.

“Why are people leaving already?”

With your remark, he noticed the majority of people walking back the path that was leading to the exit.

After a sigh, he spoke. “It’s canceled. Apparently, there’s a risk of heavy rain.”

“The weather reports never mentioned that,” you pouted and paused momentarily. “Wait… you knew about it?”

“There,” Megumi let out a deep breath, pointing at a sign saying that the place was closed due to the weather.

“Oh.” You looked away from him, mumbling an apology.

“We should hurry up to the station, it looks like it’s going to rain soon.” Megumi turned to you. “Come on.”

The two of you started walking back to the station but as crowded as the station was there was no way you could hop on any of the trains leaving right now. So, you took the bus with the disadvantage of having to walk to the campus once you got off.

“It’s gonna rain,” you whined, stopping to walk.

“Don’t fall back,” Megumi said, offering you a hand. “We’ll walk through the park, it’s a shortcut.”

You took his hand and continued walking in stifling silence until a peal of thunder was heard, loud and long.

Your grip on his hand tightened.

The downpour came after the loud noise almost instantly, it was heavy and rapid.

Megumi cursed and you both started running towards a tree. You still had a long way to go but the large tree would be a perfect shelter from the heavy rain thanks to its size.

By the time you arrived under the tree, both of your clothes were soaked by the rain.

“It’s cold,” you whined and wrapped your arms around yourself. “A sudden downpour is just too much!”

“They say the weather during spring changes rapidly.” Megumi took his jacket off. “This is a problem. I hadn’t brought any rain gear.”

“Nobody did!” you laughed, “The weather report never mentioned once about it raining today!”

He didn’t say anything and turned around on his heels. “Now, what?” He was talking to himself. “We should call someone to get us.” Megumi turned around to look at you. He paused, you were soaking wet. Your clothes were sticking to your skin and your hair was messy.

What’s with that appearance?

“I’m going to call Kugisaki and tell her where we are. She can come here with umbrellas so we can leave.” Megumi turned back around and patted on his jacket’s pockets to find his phone. Once he found it, he called her.

Kugisaki said she would be there as soon as she could but Megumi knew it would take a minimum of half an hour for her to even step out of the campus. That’s why he chose to call her.

“What did she say?” you asked when he hung up.

“She’ll be here but it might take a while.”

You sneezed, rubbing your nose gently. “We’re both going to catch a cold by the time she comes to get us. You should’ve called Yuuji.”

“You can’t even stop talking about him when you’re with me." His eyes widened after he said it, he had apparently said it unbidden.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He tried to move around you but stopped when you quickly laid a hand against his chest.

He couldn’t help shuddering at the contact. He had been trying to hold back all day but now that he had you here, alone with him. All he wanted to do was to press you against the tree, get in between your legs and-

“Are you alright, Megumi?” You looked concerned, completely unaware of his thoughts.

“I’m,” he started, trying to make his tone rational, serious. Stoic, like normal, as always. “I’m f-fine.”

He failed.

You frowned. “Are you sure?” Your hand pressed a little harder on his chest. “Your heart is beating really fast.”

Megumi pinched his eyes shut, taking a slow breath through his mouth. He was focusing on his own control. “Being stuck together like this… I can’t help being conscious of it.” His face was red as he admitted this. “I can’t really keep myself from focusing on you.”

“T-that’s kinda weird to say to a friend.” You took your trembling hand away from his chest, unable to say anything else.

He took a deep breath in and out before speaking. “I don’t see you as a friend.” His voice was devoid of any emotion. He was silent for a while, thinking. His eyes were serious, gazing down at you with desperation. “You’re beautiful,” he finally said. “I’ve liked you since we first met.”

“I… I like someone else, you know that… Fushiguro.”

He will die sooner or later.

He wanted to say it but resisted the urge.

“He doesn’t like you,” he said, his voice threatening to break. “Am I not good enough?”

You froze, seeing Megumi this vulnerable in front of you was too much. He wasn’t like this, he didn’t let his guard down in front of anyone. Yet-

“I just… I know we aren’t meant to be but I like him. It’s hard to give up on the one you like.”

“What about me?” he asked, “What about my feelings?”

At that moment, you got a glimpse of how much Megumi was hurting. Hurting and hurting. You had been acting selfishly, you had even told him your feelings about Yuuji all those years ago. If it weren’t for his warning, you would’ve been in his place right now. Being rejected by the person you liked.

Yuuji would have been gentler, he would have used all the words he knew that wouldn’t hurt you as he told you how he liked Nobara.

You weren’t all that considerate. This was all your fault.

“I-I will try to give up on him and give you an answer.”

“You need to be honest with yourself. How much more time do you need until you realize that he’ll never love you like me?”

His willpower and composure vanished. Everything that was holding him back, whether it be his thoughts or the consequences that might come after he acted without thinking was pushed back to the furthest back on his mind.

All he could think about was you.

“W-wait.”

“I can’t wait any longer.”

You watched him get closer to your face but didn’t move away from shock. Immediately, you closed your eyes shut. Although you couldn’t see him kissing you, the pressure of his lips was more than enough to let you know. Your pulse went berserk as his rough lips pressed against yours, eager and hard. He was firm, a little too forceful.

He placed his hands on your waist, feeling you up while his tongue pressed into your mouth, frenziedly trying to savor your taste.

A sound closer to a moan escaped you when he bit down on your bottom lip before leaning down and kissing your neck, forcing another lewd sound to leave your soft lips. He took a second to press a light kiss against your neck and pressed his hips against you experimentally. Slowly, just testing the waters, he grinded himself against you more firmly and let out a ragged sigh. Though he had already been hard, you felt him growing harder by the second.

“(name),” he whispered, full of passion. “Say my name.”

“Fushiguro-”

“Megumi,” he corrected. His skin was burning up and it felt like he was under direct sunlight, which given the weather, might have been far off. “Say my name.”

“Megumi.”

He pressed his forehead against yours. You were his and nobody else could touch you. He had to make sure of it.

“I like you,” Megumi uttered, he let out a soft sigh, letting his hand reach up to touch your face. He wanted to feel your skin, how soft it was but he stopped himself mid-way when he realized you had been crying.

Ah, so this was a failure.

He should have waited.

However before he could get any more anxious over anything, you got on your tiptoes and then your lips pressed against his.

You tasted sweet, your lips were soft and welcoming, urging him to do whatever he wanted to you, giving him your answer regarding his feelings.

His lips moved slowly against yours and his hands settled, hesitantly on your hips again.

A soft, wanton noise escaped you.

Megumi tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear with his shaking hand as your lips danced in harmony and he tugged you closer. He couldn’t stop himself from pulling you closer and closer. You pressed your chest flush onto him, wrapping your arms around his neck.

He could smell your sweet scent, that scent he had been dying to know what it smelled like in person rather than your dirty laundry. He grinded into you frantically, making you moan into his mouth and allow him to snake his tongue further down your throat.

Your hips bucked against him, you were lost in lust to care about being in public. His eyes widened as another moan forced its way out of your throat. You tugged at his hair, pulling him closer to yourself desperately.

His face was flushed completely red as you kept letting out cute, sweet noises for him. He had to give himself a minute longer, cherishing the moment before withdrawing himself, unable to stop the grin that crawled up his face while a long strand of drool dripped from his lips and another small strand of drool connecting your lips together broke apart.

A soft gasp emerged from your lips as you looked at him dreamily. You were both blushing furiously, lips completely swollen and wet from the kiss and you couldn’t stop smiling at each other.

“You’re finally mine.” He pressed his forehead against yours, his hand on your cheek rubbed circles on the skin with his thumb. You stayed quiet, letting your arms around him stay there as both of you cherished the small moment of silence together.

“Ahem.”

Both of your smiles disappeared and the two of you let go of each other as if you were burned.

There stood Yuuji, holding his umbrella and another spare umbrella. “Kugisaki told me to bring you an umbrella,” His cheeks were flushed bright red because of embarrassment. “I didn’t want to interfere with you two.”

“Itadori!” Megumi took a step forward, his tone was frustrated. “This!-” He stopped, what was this? What was he going to say? Yuuji had most certainly seen you kiss or maybe more. Megumi had no idea of how long his friend stood there and watched you for.

“Even you should be able to fool around with a girl, Fushiguro!” Yuuji forced a laugh and glanced at you. “Are you two, well… going out?”

You glanced at Megumi, he was already looking at you.

His words from earlier came back to your mind. You had to move on, this was for the best.

“Kinda,” you answered.

“Oh, that explains a lot.” Yuuji’s stare found Megumi but then he quickly looked away.

There was a moment of silence.

“Could we just go home now?” you asked, realizing nobody was going to move unless you said something.

“That’s why I am here,” Yuuji beckoned the two of you to follow him.

You followed him to the campus. The two of you shared an umbrella together in silence and once you arrived at the entrance, Megumi hesitantly grabbed your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours.

“I’ll make you happy.”

It was a promise.

~~~

Passing days were normal, nothing out of ordinary.

You started dating Megumi and forgot about Yuuji.

“Short hair would look better on you,” Yuuji said, overhearing your conversation with Nobara.

“Nooo, her hair is fine as it is!” Nobara argued, walking over to the couch to hit Yuuji’s head. “You just like girls with short hair.”

While the two argued about it, Megumi slowly lifted his gaze up from the book he was reading to watch you blush.

~~~

“Don’t do that,” you whispered, trying to hold back your moan. “Nobara will hear.”

“It makes you feel good.” Megumi pushed his fingers inside your slick heat, lips pressing on your clit, “She knows we’re dating.”

“I-it’s embarrassing,” you stuttered.

“Is it embarrassing to date me?” He pulled back his lips but continued scissoring his fingers in and out of you.

“Noo,” you stretched the word out, biting back a moan. “Y-you know what I mean.”

“Hmm?” He lolled his tongue out and licked between your folds slow enough to make you squirm.

Your hands went to grab his hair out of instinct, trying to pull him back from your pussy. “M-Megumi, please… It’s embarrassing if she hears me do that sorta noise...”

Your words didn’t match your tone. He ignored your empty pleads and lapped at your cunt, his hands pressing on your inner thighs to keep them in place.

Instantly, you arched your back. Megumi’s tongue was hot against your sensitive pussy. It was nothing like when you touched yourself, it made your toes curl in pleasure no matter what he did.

His lips curled up into a smile when a moan escaped you, it was loud enough for Nobara in the next room to hear. He knew she wouldn’t stay quiet about it, running her mouth and telling Yuuji about how loud you were last night.

He sucked on your clit, drawing small circles over the delicate nub with his tongue and using the entire strength of his arm to fuck you with his digits. Your legs shook as your thighs pressed on between each side of his head, you were pulling his hair and moaning but Megumi didn’t stop until the pleasure building in your gut spread and took over all of your senses.

When your high came, it was euphoric, left you panting and exhausted.

Megumi threw himself next to you on your bed, one hand wrapped around his cock, “Turn to your side,” he whispered. Complying, you sluggishly turned to your side, your back against his chest.

Using his hand, he lifted your leg and guided his cock between your thighs. He let your leg fall back to instead use the same hand to cup your naked breast. “Press your thighs together.”

You followed his instructions with a hum. As soon as he felt the supple flesh of your thighs around his cock, he started moving his hips. Although he would have wanted to be inside you right now, he had time. He wanted to take all of your firsts one by one like collecting stamps and make sure to treasure each single first.

His lips pressed against your neck, he groaned softly as he came between your thighs. Turning around, you kissed him sloppily before burying your face on his neck.

It took him a while to catch his breath, he carded his fingers through your hair. “I like it like this.” He pressed a kiss against your hair.

~~~

The next day, Megumi was in the common room with Yuuji when you came back from hanging out with Nobara downtown.

He heard you mumbling and your girlfriend angrily scolding you through the halls.

“It’s definitely lipstick,” Yuuji said.

“Last time was lipstick, it’s probably because they bought the same dress or something.” Megumi shook his head with a faint smile on his lips, he was looking forward to listening to you complain about your day as you cuddled on his bed as usual.

“Wanna bet over it?” Yuuji smirked. “The loser has to clean the toilets.”

“It’s gonna be you.”

“I took my eyes off of you for one second!” Nobara was laughing but her tone was still upset as she entered the common room. “I can’t believe you!”

The boys were waiting for the reveal if it was a lipstick or a clothing item you two were fighting over but as soon as you walked in, they realized it was none of them.

“I think it looks good,” you mumbled, hesitantly moving your hand up to feel your haircut. “It was time for a change.”

The smile Megumi had on his face dropped, his eyes were on Yuuji who was smiling. “I think it looks gorgeous,” he complimented. It was a fairly innocent compliment but Megumi thought of it as something else.

“Thanks,” you said, cheeks blushing slightly. You walked over to your boyfriend, twirling around excitedly, “What do you think?”

“It’s shorter.” Megumi couldn’t find the words to describe how jealous he was but he made sure to not show it on his face. “Cute.”

“Aww, thank you!” You leaned and took his hand, pulling him up to his feet. “Now, help me carry the stuff I bought back to my room.”

You dragged him to the entrance hall, omitting the way he was frowning. He grabbed your shopping bags and followed you into your room without saying anything.

“I bought you something as well, it’s an early graduation gift!” You crouched next to the bags as soon as he put them down to look for his present. “I heard you’re going to have an internship in Kyoto and I also applied there so we can go there together.”

“Why did you cut your hair?”

Your shoulders tensed. “What?”

“Are you still in love with him?” Megumi’s tone was upset, he couldn’t hide it. “Is that it?”

Standing up, you turned to face him. “It’s just hair… I wanted to cut it so I did.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying, Megumi. I don’t like him anymore. You’re making a big-”

He pushed you towards your bed, your body slammed against the soft sheets and a surprised yelp left your lips but Megumi’s lips stifled the sound. He was being too rough, his lips were moving as if to devour you whole but it didn’t stop you from wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him back.

His hand went to pull down his sweatpants. Ahh, sweatpants, the great invention of mankind, saving him from the hassle of unbuckling a belt and undoing the zipper to free his aching cock.

“Wait,” you said into the kiss but he shut you up with his lips, his free hand going under your skirt to pull your panties to the side. Using the same hand, he grabbed the back of your knee to make room for himself between your legs.

Megumi broke the kiss slowly so he could gaze down at you. “You’re mine.”

Wanting to assure him, you nodded rapidly.

“Mine.”

“Yours.”

“You’re in love with me.” He positioned himself between your thighs and rubbed the tip of his cock across your slit.

You made a small noise to confirm.

Megumi pushed himself inside you. The feeling of your walls stretching and a sudden pain made a yelp left your lips. He pulled his hips back to confirm if he was your first or not, a sickening smile spread across his face when he saw the proof. Thrusting back inside, he made sure to push himself deep inside your cunt until you could feel the heat and shape of his cock.

As he was trying to find a pace, he hit a spot that made you squirm. With a smug smile, he angled his hips just right to find your sweet spot once again to turn your mind into mush.

With each thrust of his hips stroking your sweet spot, you felt... overwhelmed, that was the only word that could describe how you felt.

Eventually, his steady pace slackened and he planted his hands on each side of your head to start humping you like a desperate dog in heat.

Your toes curled and the pain from your hymen being torn became a faint memory. All you could feel was Megumi’s desperation.

The desperation he felt and his inexperience combining was too much. He put all of that frenzy into his hips. Your bed frame started banging on the wall from the force he put behind each thrust.

Mind going completely numb, your eyes rolled up from pleasure, hips moving to meet Megumi’s brutal thrusts. He growled when your gummy walls clenched around his cock, he stopped moving for a moment as his hands hastily went to the back of your knees to push them towards your chest. Mounting you completely, he started fucking you almost frantically.

In this position his cock went deeper and stroked the gummy flesh of your walls enticingly.

The tip of his cock pressed against your cervix, causing your body to start spasming, legs shaking and mouth drooling. “M-M-Megumi-”

Megumi was too busy chasing after his own release and he continued fucking you through your orgasm. He put his entire weight behind his thrusts, growling each time his balls slapped against your ass.

He leaned forward and buried his face in your neck, his lips parted and his teeth sank on the sensitive skin. Squirming, you moaned as you wrapped your arms around his neck to keep him there.

Your pussy clenched around him one last time, squeezing his cock to milk it dry. He managed to steal a few more thrusts before his cock twitched inside your belly. His thick seed filled your womb until it overflowed.

Continuing to fuck his seed deep inside you, Megumi barely managed to pull himself back. He stopped biting your neck, withdrawing himself to stare at how deep he had bitten you. The pain of being bitten wasn’t there or at least it wasn’t there for this moment, you couldn’t feel anything but his cum slowly seeping out from your hole. The warmth in your tummy was leaving your body and spilling onto your sheets instead.

“You’re so cute when you’re jealous,” you giggled, an eerie smile on your lips. “So easy to provoke.”

Thus Megumi became aware of something. You weren’t dumb, you were always calculating whenever you spoke to him, always watching and always doing things that would spur him on.

You didn’t actually belong to him.

He belonged to you.

[m3kuroshirt]

House of Assassins

GrimmIchi Weekend Challenge #4

Words Count: 1738

Challenged by @backwardshirt

Warnings: None

Genre/trope: Found Family

Required words: neighbour, killer

Ichigo lives with his found family of assassins, and they're getting some new neighbours.

This will be part of a series :D

“Ichigo!” The voice came to him through the murky shadows of sleep. Ichigo shifted, heavy eyelids fluttering. “Ichigo! WAKE UP!” The scream jolted him fully awake and Ichigo barely had time to dodge whatever was flying toward him. He threw himself to the side and thudded to the floor. A shadow flew over him and his bed and hit the wall with a thunk! A groan came from the other side of the bed. Ichigo rubbed the side he landed on and raised himself up, peering over the bed. There he saw…a Renji, splayed out on the floor, red hair broken loose from its usual ponytail.

“What the hell, Renji? You could have knocked,” Ichigo grumbled. His friend grunted and heaved himself up from the floor, turning to face him.

“I did.” He rubbed his head with a frown. “And then Rukia said the food she made is getting cold. So I decided to use desperate measures.”

Ichigo gave him a deadpan stare. “Knocking didn’t work, so naturally your next step was launching yourself at me?” Renji blinked up at him.

“…yes?”

Ichigo glared at him. Renji shrugged. Ichigo sighed and pushed off from the bed. He turned around and walked to his closet to grab something to wear. As he pulled on his shirt, he glanced over his shoulder. “You gonna give me privacy or…?”

Renji, who had moved himself up to the bed and was laying on it and reading a manga he grabbed off the night table, gave him a cursory glance before returning to his book. “Nope. Your bed is comfy.”

“We have the same kind of mattress. Literally. Bought the same day. What the hell have you done to yours to make it less comfy?!” Ichigo struggled into his tight jeans as he spoke. Renji shrugged.

“Why do you wear such tight pants?” The tone of his voice suggested the question was meant rhetorically and Ichigo glared at him again. Renji smirked.

“Renji! Ichigo! The food is going cold! If you two don’t get down here right now, you’ll miss out!” The words were innocent enough, but the voice that delivered them was laced with barely contained annoyance. The two straightened and exchanged wide eyed glances before rushing to the door and down the stairs.

They were greeted by a stern-faced Rukia, a smiling Orihime munching on pancakes, and a silent Chad putting dishes in the dishwasher. Exchanging greetings with everyone, the two sat down with plates stacked with pancakes and dug in.

“Our new neighbours move in today,” Orihime stated cheerily as she finished the last of her food. She stretched her arms over her head. “So, we have to be on our best behaviour, you know. Kisuke said so.” Ichigo gave a non-committal grunt as he chewed on his food. As if Kisuke knows anything about ‘best behaviour’, he thought.

As if on cue, the door to the basement burst open and Kisuke Urahara struggled up the stairs, carrying a massive box. What was in the box? Ichigo wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He tried to eat faster, but he knew leaving any unfinished food wasn’t an option the way Rukia was watching. With a huff, Kisuke heaved the box and dropped it on the only clear section of the table. “How are my little killer children?” he asked with a grin. Orihime smiled widely.

“Good morning, Kisuke!” she chimed. Chad nodded a greeting before disappearing back upstairs. Ichigo stared at the blond man.

“I thought we were being subtle today?” he questioned. Kisuke waved him off with a smug grin.

“Eh?” Kisuke pretended to peer around with overexaggerated motions. “Why? Are there any new neighbours in here?” Ichigo shot him an annoyed glance but Renji snorted and almost choked on his food, catching the other boy’s attention.

“Renji. If you die laughing at Kisuke making fun of me, I will not be doing CPR to bring you back,” he stated. Renji coughed again, before managing to speak.

“F…Fair,” he gasped out before downing a glass of water. Ichigo turned back to Kisuke.

“Got any jobs today?”

Kisuke shook his head. “Nope. New supplies to test out, though,” he answered brightly as he patted the heavy box. Ichigo stared at the box for a moment, then shared a glance with Rukia, Orihime, and Renji.

“I have cooking lessons with Rukia later!” Orihime declared immediately.

“Going to meet up with Byakuya! We’ll be busy all day,” Renji added.

“I’m practicing hand to hand with Yoruichi today!” Ichigo threw his excuse out hastily. He sent a silent apology to Chad and Uryuu, and from the looks of everyone else’s faces, they were doing the same. Then, as if on a cue, all of them rapidly cleaned up and vacated the kitchen.

When he was finally out of the house, and free of Kisuke, only then did Ichigo allow himself to relax. A gentle autumn breeze tugged his hair and sent a shiver down his spine, so Ichigo turned up the collar of his jacket and shoved his hands in his pocket. He could see the moving truck pulled up to the house next to theirs, and although he was curious, he tried to keep his distance. Unfortunately, Kisuke was too good of friends with Yoruichi for Ichigo to be able to actually lie about practicing with her, so he had accidentally talked himself into a corner and had no choice but to walk past the truck on his way to her place.

That is, until it happened.

As he walked past the truck, a shadow fell over him and a high-pitched voice shouted, “Look out!” Ichigo spun around rapidly and caught the falling object. Which happened to be a man. A man holding a heavy box. Ichigo landed on his ass with an ‘oof!’, a large warm body in his lap, back pressed up against his chest and ear near his mouth.

“Fuck,” was the first thing Ichigo heard, and the voice was low and rough and delicious…No. Bad Ichigo, he thought to himself. At least make sure he’s not hurt, you idiot.

“You ok?” he asked. The man stiffened. Then he scrambled off of Ichigo and turned around, box shoved onto the ground. Ichigo stared up at him, and his breath caught in his throat. The man was tall, with broad shoulders, messy blue hair and piercing blue eyes. A white t-shirt stretched a little too tightly across his chest, and sweat beaded on his forehead, likely from the effort of moving boxes. Ichigo realized he was staring, and the man was staring back at him.

“Grimmy! Are you ok?!” a woman with green hair poked her head out of the truck the man had fallen from. The man glanced at her, and Ichigo realized that must be who she was referring to. The woman’s eyes fell on Ichigo and widened, before she turned back to the blue-haired man. “You shouldn’t get so distracted! Other people will get hurt!” The man’s cheeks reddened.

“’m fine,” he muttered. Then he looked at Ichigo and offered him a hand. “Y’alright?” he asked, clearly embarrassed. Ichigo blinked and took the hand, fighting back a blush.

“Uh, yeah. I’m…I’m good,” he replied. As the man helped him to stand, Ichigo had to virtually beat away the thoughts in his mind. Don’t focus on the biceps…don’t focus on the biceps…he chanted internally. Once he was upright, he swayed a little, the blood rushing anywhere but to his brain. “Sh-shit,” he mumbled as he stumbled a little. Immediately, a strong arm was wrapped around him.

“You sure about that?” a low voice asked. Ichigo closed his eyes. Get it together, Kurosaki, he chastised himself, you’re an assassin. You can’t be going weak in the knees for one hot guy. You see Renji every day. An image of Renji snoring, on his bed, hair tangled and drool pooling on the pillow next to him, rose in his mind and Ichigo found himself able to gain his composure. Ok, maybe Renji isn’t that hot…

“U-uh, yeah,” Ichigo mumbled. He opened his eyes and stepped away from the stranger. He turned around with a reassuring smile to the man and the woman. “Sorry about that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Not the way you were planning on meeting your new neighbour, I’m sure. Uh, I’m Ichigo. Live next door,” Ichigo introduced himself. The green-haired girl smiled.

“I’m Nelliel! You can call me Nel! It’s nice to meet you, Ichigo! I’m glad Grimmy didn’t crush you into dust!” she answered with an enthusiastic wave.

‘Grimmy’ shot Nel a glare. He turned back to Ichigo. “’M Grimmjow. Not whatever weird nickname she” Grimmjow jerked a thumb toward Nel, “decides to give me for the day.” Grimmjow? More like Grimm-WOW. Ichigo internally cringed at his own lame pun and thanked the universe he didn’t say that out loud. He opened his mouth to make an excuse to leave when a voice behind him called out.

“IIICHIGOOOO~,” Kisuke’s voice rang out from the front door of his home. Ichigo tensed. “I see you’re not at Yoruichi’s and she said –”

Eyes wide, Ichigo spun around, desperate not to be roped into another experiment with deadly weapons and poisonous concoctions. “I’m helping the neighbours move in, Kisuke!” he hollered. He heard a quiet ‘huh?’ behind him and shot a pleading look over his shoulder at Grimmjow and Nel. Grimmjow frowned, confused, but Nel seemed to catch on. She smiled brightly and waved to Kisuke.

“Your son is really kind to offer his help!” she called. Ichigo dared a glance at Kisuke to see if the lie worked and caught sight of Kisuke’s knowing look. Unfortunately, the windows of the house gave a clear view of their neighbour’s front yard…so it looked like Ichigo would be under surveillance. Damn. I won’t be able to get away. He turned and held his arms out for a box, but it wasn’t Nel who handed him one. Instead, Grimmjow grabbed the large, heavy box he dropped earlier and rested half of it in Ichigo’s arms.

“It’s too heavy to carry alone,” was the only justification Ichigo got. He blinked, cheeks turning pink as he realized this would mean he’d have to work with Grimmjow…carrying things…watching the other man carry things…and see more of those lovely biceps…yeah, ok, maybe Ichigo was more on board with this than he thought.

[physicalturian]

[G] A promise of hope - Gojo Satoru X GN!Reader

Request from @waywarduniversityshepherdturtle “Hi can i request for a jealous Gojo Satoru where out white haired guys is *kinda* intimidated with his s/o's good looking ex? Can start with an angst and end with a fluff ❤“

[No pronouns used for the reader, no physical description; Everyone +18] [No spoilers from the anime or the manga]

Words: 2817 Warning: Angst, fluff, mention of death (thought he died)

It all happened because of one small thing, one joke. But it was the joke too many. I was trying to have a proper, serious discussion and he had to take it light-heartedly. He had to fool around, I loved him deeply but now was not the time. I was worried for him. Yes, he was strong, one of the strongest if not the strongest, but I could not help but get antsy, waiting for him to come back to the apartment we shared. We had promised each other to always come back, it was a stupid agreement to come to considering our line of work, but it helped us, or at least it helped me get some sort of reassurance.

 Except he did not come home last night, I was left waiting alone in the apartment, anguish eating me up as I sat in the couch. From there I had a good view of the door, and I could see him if he entered, bloody, beaten or just tired. Most of the time, it was just tired, and I was glad for that, and on rare occasion there were a few scratches covering his clothes and skin. We would treat them, then go to bed.

 But tonight, was not like that, I waited and waited. The clock ticking nearby reminding me of the silence that was wrapped around me, the lack of presence in my home. The lack of partner being loud and obnoxious. I just waited. Time was running by, but not quickly enough, it was painfully slow and my heartbeat was going as fast as the awful thoughts in my mind. Maybe the curse was too strong? Maybe he was working with someone and they turned on him? Maybe he was… maybe he was dead.

Those thoughts plagued my mind and never left as stress coursed through my body. I was tempted to call him, but I knew it would be too risky to call during a mission. My hands clasped on my knees did not stay there long, I kept moving, shifting on the spot, hands dry and cold. My stomach churning. I could not get any ounce of sleep that night, I simply waited, and waited some more. He never came home.

 At some point during that restless night, I fell asleep. When I heard a sudden noise in the house, I was startled awake and was ready to use my power when I saw the grinning face of my partner who stood by the fridge. The door of the latter was open as he looked at me over his shoulder. Slowly, I let my arms fall to my side and felt all the tension leave my body before shuffling towards him. I did not know what to say, maybe I was overexaggerating, maybe… but I dreaded his death, and here he was, fresh as a daisy. “Heya, I didn’t want to wake you up, you seemed sound-“ “No. Don’t.” I interrupted him as I gripped his hand and made him let go of the fridge door.

 I then closed it and stood by him; I do not know what I was feeling. Enraged? Relieved? Seething… Exhausted, sad… “What? Are you okay-“ “I’m not! I’m not okay, I thought- I thought you had fucking died Satoru!” He chuckled in response. He waved a hand in front of me, dismissively, while smiling. “I can’t die that easily, come on, who do you think I am? Ye of little faith-“ “You did not come home…” I breathed out. I was surprised by how weak my voice sounded as I looked at the floor, I wanted to sleep. But I was very awake, so many emotions were mixing up inside me. “Itadori let me stay at his place, I was too tired.” He explained, adding that I was overreacting.

 “Am I? Am I really? … Maybe I am… but, you know you- we-“ I gulped and shook my head. “That promise of coming home, I’m holding onto that every night, because you promised you’ll come home…” He laughed, he placed a hand on my head and laughed. “Come on, it’s just a silly little thing-“ “It’s not though, I care about that a lot, so when you did not come back, I panicked.” I explained a bit heartbroken. I thought we both needed that promise, I thought it helped us both but maybe it was only to indulge me.

 Cradling my face in his hands, he looked at me without ever taking off his glasses, “You got a little worried for me? How cute, look at you all-“ I slapped his hands and turned away, feeling some sort of humiliation from how he was treating me. “Satoru? Fuck you, I’m asking you to be serious for two fucking minutes and you’re being an asshole. I thought you were dead; can you get that through your thick skull? Can you at least try to understand what I’m feeling or is it too much to ask?” I had no control over the anger, the frustration, seeping through my words. I was tired.

 Taking a deep breath, I exhaled in a calming manner, hoping it’d help. Once I calmed at least a little bit, I placed a hand on his cheek. “Forget it, you’re home, right? That’s what matters, right? So how about you get some rest, and I’ll go see a friend.” I tried to force a gentle smile on my face, but deep down I felt a need to let it all out. He reached out for me, but I shook my head, taking his hand a few seconds before letting go. He said he could get changed and he could come along, but I refused, telling him I just wanted to spend some time with my friend.

 After getting dressed, I left the apartment in a rush and called my old friend that also happened to be my ex-boyfriend. He picked up quite fast and greeted me energetically, I tried to match his eagerness but he noticed how off it sounded and asked me what was going on. “I… I need some advice, someone to talk to- It’s okay if you’re busy though- you know what, forget it-“ “No, no, I’m just jogging in the park, let’s meet up there? How long will you take?” He asked softly, I heard the microphone rub against his shirt as he ran and it was slightly unpleasant but I couldn’t say anything, at least he picked up.

 “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be there. The usual spot?” I asked, he agreed and said we’d see each other soon, before hanging up. I arrived right on time at our usual spot, being a picnic table under a big tree by the pond in the park in which we met a few years back. I don’t regret our relationship, but we only dated because we thought that’s what was going on between us, love, except we were better off as friends.

 Once I arrived, I could see him sitting on the table, not the bench around it, as he chugged his large bottle of water. He was very sweaty and no amount of slight breeze could freshen up his looks, and yet he was still pretty handsome like that. I suppose I had taste. Even though I did not feel anything for him anymore, I could observe a painting and see he had charms, that did not change. “Hi gorgeous beast.” He said as he tried to pull me into a hug, but I pulled back telling him he stank. He chuckled and patted the spot next to him, “It’s the smell of hard work, you wouldn’t know.” I would usually laugh, but right now I was not in the best mood, and he noticed.

 He did not waste time and asked me right away what was going on, I was taken aback but told him, vaguely what was going on. I did not say my boyfriend was a sorcerer, nor did I tell him about curses but I mentioned we were in a dangerous line of work both of us and everything else he needed to know. “… And he always jokes around, most of the time I love it but today, I was just… I genuinely thought he had died, and he did not realize that and kept treating it light-heartedly.” I sighed.

 My friend hummed pensively before speaking, “I think he’s masking his own worry with jokes, and tried to make you feel better by doing it to you too? Like, you know, like, maybe if he made it seem like he was perfectly fine, you’ll feel better? I don’t know the man, but I don’t think he meant wrong- he’s just lacking some social cues clearly.” He explained with a light tone as he drank some more. “You’re right… I just, I just wished he had sent me a text, or at least hugged me when he got home, perhaps apologize… but that one is stupid because he did not do anything wrong, I don’t know what I want…”

 Huffing a laugh, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and brought me in a side hug. “Tell him that, I’ll give you a hug, if you want you can cry too, I’m already very moist anyway so, tears aren’t going to change much.” I hit his chest playfully when he said that and draped one arm over his back as I thought. “Yeah… you’re right… I miss him, I really want hold him right now, to feel him, know he’s alright, you know?-“ “Alright there, that’s a bit too much here, touch him if you will but please don’t tell me about it.” He said jokingly as he let go of me before standing up. “But now, for real, tell him that. I’m sure he’ll understand, he plays stupid but he ain’t dumb.” “Right, right… yeah. Thank you so much for indulging in my little twists and sob stories.”

 “Hey, anytime. I’m always there for you, alright? Come on, take care, see you around!” He said as we bumped our fists, before jogging off.

 After that, I went back home. When I walked up the stairs, I could hear heavy footsteps inside the apartment and slowly opened the door, careful not the make noise. What greeted me was no burglar, but it actually was my boyfriend who seemed to be pacing in the living room. I knew I could not catch him off guard, so when I dropped my keys in the bowl by the entrance, he turned towards me and rushed to my side. “Are you going to leave me? He’s hot, sure- but I can do better, I swear I didn’t mean-“ “Wait wait wait, what are you on about?” I cut him off in his ramble in a confused expression.

 “The man you were with-“ “You followed me? Satoru… Privacy, just privacy, I’m asking for a tiny bit of that…” He shook his head and gripped my biceps hard, “You were with another guy! Is it because of something I did? Do you want me to be more muscular? He’s hot, yeah, but is he as strong as me-“ I cut him off once more but gripping his jaw, not too tightly, but enough to purse his lips. “You’re jumping to conclusions. Do you think so low of me? To cheat on you?” “No- no cheating, like not yet but I would understand because he’s kind of looking like a Greek god-“ I sighed and let go of him, asking him to stop talking for one second.

 And surprisingly, he did. I took that opportunity to measure my words, before speaking carefully. “Don’t stalk me, and don’t assume shit about me, that’s the first thing.” I waited for him to nod, then continued, “He’s my ex-“ “You’re going back with your ex?! For one joke- come on, that’s-“ “I’m not cheating on you, what the fuck? Why do you think so low of me? What do I look like to you? Wait, you know what?” I hit his chest, not too hard but enough to let some anger out, then once more, and again, and again until I couldn’t feel the need to do it anymore. “That one fucking joke, I hated it! You’re strong asshole, sure, sure, ok. But anything could happen out there! And you did not come back, okay?” I let out a shaky breath, making Satoru a bit confused as he took off his glasses and looked at me, lost.

 “You might not care about that promise, but it helps me a lot… and until last night, you kept it… and in my head, the only image I could think of, was your motionless body, somewhere….” I let go of his shirt and moved away from him to sit on the floor, my back sliding against the wall. “And you laughed it off… It felt humiliating, and then, you think I’m cheating on you? No, I asked my ex, my best friend, what I should do, because I was hurt… and he just gave me good advice… As a friend.” I reiterated that part, to make sure my boyfriend understood who the man I hung out with, was.

 For once, the famous Gojo Satoru was speechless and he slowly knelt down by my side. His expression had no cockiness, no pride, no joy, just pain, understanding and sorry. “I did that… I didn’t mean to, I just feel like, I have to… I wanted to make you smile, I didn’t know how, so I thought you’d laugh a bit then kiss me, I didn’t realize you were that worried… I fucked up…” He was not a man known for his great words, he also had a hard time apologizing but I could feel he was feeling bad about it, but so was I and while he was sorry, my chest still ached. “I’m sorry babe… I really hold onto that promise too, I just… I don’t know why I said that, I want to come home to you as much as I want you to come home to me safely.” He whispered as he took hold of my hand.

 Sighing I looked at our intertwined hands and tightened my grasp on his hand, his slender fingers brushing the back of my hand. “You’re strong, I know that but I can’t help it Sato… And I really want to know you’re safe-“ “How can I make you understand that I’m fine? I’m peachy, I swear, want to see my hot body-“ When he started to lift his shirt, I interrupted him, “Hug me. Just hug me, please.” My words struck confusion in him. He stared at me as he let go of the hem of his shirt, then slowly let go of my hand before bringing me close to his chest and laying down on the floor with me, not letting me go.

 It was a tight hug, not bone-crushing but perfectly tight. Warm, reassuring, loving…. I heard him whisper gentle words to my ears and brush his hands over my back as I enjoyed the moment. The ache in my chest was slowly dissipating, letting the heartwarming feeling of comfort take most of the space in it. But there was still one thing left to discuss.

 Clearing my throat, I heard my boyfriend hum curiously. “Did you really think I’d cheat on you just because he was hot?” I asked, dumbfounded. The white-haired man chuckled nervously and looked to the side, “I mean, to be fair, he’s like super hot, so you’d be in the right-“ I hit his chest, “Never! I would never cheat on you, plus you’re so much hotter, if that’s what you were worried about.” It was one of the rare times I could see a blush on his cheeks as he looked down at me, the angle making his chin look funny. But the blush quickly disappeared, “I know I am, I’m Gojo Satoru- I could probably beat him at his jog, I have a lot of stamina- and you know about that, I know how much you like what I do with my hand when you-“ “Hey, hey, it’s a cute moment, don’t ruin it. Yes, you’re cute, you’d beat him of course, hugs now.”

 He laughed and held me tight as his head hit the ground with a thud. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, I love you too much to go through that again…” I mumbled shyly against his chest. He placed a hand on the back of my head in response and kissed it gently, “I’ll try, I promise.”

 Those promises were not worth much in our line of work, but they kept me hoping and hope is what makes us live, hopefully it’ll be a long life.

[pl-panda]

The vines that bind us - Chapter 2

Chapter 1 || Next

-----

Until a trip to Gotham came knocking on the front doors

“I can’t believe Lie-la of all people managed to somehow get us the trip to Gotham!” Mari moaned with a mixed expression on her face.

Adrien, who was walking next to them, showed absolute disgust. “Technically, It was my father and I that did the heavy lifting. She really wanted to go to the Wayne Gala and…”

“What Lie-la wants, Lie-la gets.” The three finished in unison before laughing a bit. 

“Don’t worry Mari-bear. I can promise you that this no good liar won’t get to ruin your return home.” Chloe pulled her best friend closer. Best friend. Much better than a servant. Who would’ve thought? “And we can even try to find your mom on free Saturday.”

“Yeah…” The girl with black-blue hair didn’t seem particularly cheerful at that. 

“Now I refuse to have you making sad faces throughout the whole flight. You cheer up right this moment and that’s an order!” The blonde commanded. 

“Yes, Maman-bear.” Mari giggled.

The three of them finally arrived at the rest of the class, who were already gathered around madame Bustier. Of course, Lila was bragging about a million different things, but the three paid her no mind. Adrien did his best to hide behind the girls, cherishing the last moments of freedom. Finally, Mari and Chloe had to step forward for their tickets. The blonde got hers without any problem, but for Mari there turned out to be none.

“I’m so so sorry Marinette!” Lila said with fake regret. “I must have accidentally miscounted the number of students… It must’ve been when I was helping those poor orphans. You know, at…”

“Sure…” Mari didn’t even try to act as if she believed her for a moment. When Lila scowled, realizing that it didn’t affect the girl, she smiled. “I guess Chlo, Adrien and I will have to go with the contingency plan number 1.” 

“What?!” The sausage-hair shouted.

“Of course my Daddy would not send us to travel like peasants. We have tickets for the first class.” Chloe supplied, looking smugly. “We did plan to maybe sit with the rest of the class. What a shame…”

“Yeah, My dad also didn’t want me to travel anything less, but I convinced him to let me stay with my friends. Guess he will get what he wanted in the end.” For his part, Adrien at least tried to look apologetic. He didn’t try hard at all, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

“But… But…” Lila tried to come up with something, likely a lie, to counter it. She didn’t have time as the trio handed their teacher the filled forms from their parents/guardians/Nathalie and proceeded to the plane. The tickets were personal, so she couldn’t do anything. The Italian girl came up with a lie to tell to the class, but it would do no good until they landed. 

--------

“Did you see her face?” Plagg was rolling in the air while holding a giant roll of camembert. 

“You were amazing my queen.” Pollen complimented. 

“I still can’t believe your dad just… bought out the whole first class!” Marinette sighed. 

“Phi! Daddy always gives me only the best. You should know it by now, Mari-bear.”

“Okay. Mari. You are the Gotham expert here. Any advice?” Adrien asked a bit more seriously. 

“Gotham survival guide is probably unlike any other city.” She started. “The first rule is, believe it or not, run away if a person laughs too much or smiles too widely. The downside of living in the same city as the Joker is that most people don’t laugh in public. Secondly, never show that you are lost. Wherever you are, it’s exactly where you wanted to be. Finally, the third is to never flaunt your wealth.” She looked critically at Chloe before taking away her purse and lipstick in a golden case. “This,” She then pulled a mobile phone in a ridiculously sparkly case and popped it out of the cover, “this,” finally, she detached the golden chain on which the purse was supposed to be suspended and replaced it with a pre-prepared white one with copper clips, “and this must all go away.” 

“Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! Now it will totally clash with my comb!” Chloe complained.

“Oh no! How will you ever survive that?” Mari deadpanned. All three of them had another burst of laughter. After they calmed, Adrien started.

“Do you think it’s wrong that I want to bet which rule will Lila break first?”

“Ten macaroons she will say out-loud about money.” Mari threw. 

“I raise, four tea parties she will start by asking for direction.” Chloe had a grin on her face

“Are you sure?” Adrien asked. When the blonde nodded, he shrugged. “Movie night and double popcorn bowl refill that she will do both in one conversation.”

“Hi, could you be so kind to point me to my exclusive hotel? You know, I’m staying at the penthouse of this luxurious new one.” Mari gave a quite good parody of Lilia. 

“So to sum up, the pool is now ten Macaroons, Four Tea parties, and movie night with triple popcorn?” Chloe asked. When they nodded, she quickly noted it on her phone. 

“Now, who wants a movie? I think they have the newest Thomas Astruck one.” Adrien pulled a disc from the container next to his seat.

“Good for me!/Go!” The girls said. Chloe, who was in the middle loaded it and the other two leaned onto her to watch together. The three were happy. Faintly in the background, there was knocking on the doors to their part, but nobody paid attention to very angry Liela and some classmates. For some reason, the doors were stuck and the blinder rolled down. Later if someone asked, Pollen would deny everything. 

------------

When the plane landed, the class was practically kicked out. The team walked calmly down the stairs, all of them having smug expressions. Lila wanted to comment, but a glare from Mme. Bustier shut her up quickly. Mari and co. would later try to guess, what got the crew so pissed at their classmates.

Once everyone was accounted for, the class made its way to the customs to retrieve their luggage. There was a small problem with Mari’s travel bag as it was apparently misplaced to the flight to Timbuktu, but luckily her true suitcase, which had her things inside, arrived safely. She giggled at the thought of custom office in Timbuktu receiving a bag full of Adrien’s old socks that smelled camembert. 

Overall, the airport went mostly unproblematic. At least until they found themselves cleared and gathered in one place while Mme Bustier left to check on their bus. One of the men, wearing a dark blue suit started to laugh almost maniacally. Everybody immediately cleared away from him, out of sheer self-preservation. Lila must’ve decided that a show of kindness was a good way to regain class’ good grace. She was confidently approaching the man before suddenly Mari grabbed her and pulled her away. The designer might’ve despised the liar, but Joker… you don’t mess with Joker. 

Of course, Lila used the chance. She faked falling on the ground and started crying crocodile tears. “Marinette?! How can you be so heartless? I wanted *sniff* to check on the man and you trip me?” Lila sniffled, eyes watering with crocodile tears.

“I might have saved your life genius!” Mari snapped. Joker was a really touchy subject with her. “Does the world Killer Clown mean something?”

“Don’t invent things, you bully!” Alya shouted. That seemed to break the dam and at once the class started to say awful things to Mari. A year ago, it would hurt her. Half a year ago, she would be sad. Now? Now she pitied them. Chloe didn’t, and she was ready to jump to protect her best friend. 

“Ridiculous! Do you like… share a single brain cell? What if that man was…” she didn’t get to finish because Mme. Bustier returned. The commotion immediately calmed. By now the man stopped laughing and returned to talking with his friends.

“The bus is waiting. Come on children. Follow me.”

----------------

Arriving at the hotel, the class was split into different rooms. Of course, Lila tried to lie her way into some privilege, but Mari was too dead inside to care. The Jet Lag was killing her. At least she got some sleep on the plane. From the rumors she heard from the class, they didn’t because of Lila’s drama with the staff. 

“Now I want you all to be ready here at eight a.m. sharp. A Wayne Enterprises representative will come here to explain the details of internships.” Mme. Bustier instructed them. This, for some reason, caused outrage in students.

“What do you mean internships?!”

“Wayne Enterprises?”

“Shouldn’t we be preparing to go to Gotham Academy or something?”

The terrible trio in the back had trouble holding back laugher. Adrien warned the girls about what his father planned, so they could all prepare. Gabriel Agreste, devious as he is, decided to punish Lila and teach Adrien something about running a company at the same time and using his connections to put the class up for an internship at WE. He did send the liar all the details, but she must have skimmed over the corporate jargon because the class was fed overexaggerated stories about what they would and wouldn’t do during two months trip. 

Most parents were more than happy to send their children away from Paris for two months, especially since the Internship was free and the employment rate after it was quite high. WE kept quite a lot of the interns, if only out of habit. But perhaps it was mostly because the class has become a go-to place for the Akuma. Only Mr. Pidgeon and perhaps Gigantitan were akumatized more often. Mari actually picked up to cleansing their class weekly through a ritual she learned, otherwise there would be enough residual dark energy to power a demon portal. Not something one would want in the middle of a classroom.

“I was told you’ve all read the brochure provided and Lila summarised it for you.”

“I did!” The sausage hair defended. “Marinette must have told them some imaginary story about the trip!”

Immediately, several other people started to nod and confirm this. Chloe actually started to walk toward the liar almost red, but Mari grabbed the back of her blazer and held her in place. All the while she had a completely deadpan expression like it was normal for her (it was).

Mme. Bustier sighed. “Well, In that case, I will…”

“Excuse me, but shouldn’t we be going to sleep today already? We don’t want to be late tomorrow.” Adrien asked with an innocent expression, but there was some satisfaction hidden there too.

“Well… um… I…”

“We will be going then.” Chloe grabbed the key and led Mari to their room. Calline didn’t even question it. She wanted a pay raise after this. 

-----------

The next morning, Mari was woken by a frantic Chloe

“Mari-bear! It’s already late! You don’t want to be late for your first day of Internship girl! It would be utterly Ridiculous!” 

At first, the girl mumbled something, but once she finally processed everything she leaped out of her bed and started getting ready in record time. She was brushing her teeth, packing her purse, and tossing clothes at her best friend all at once. Once she had everything, she turned to see Chloe on the ground tied with a gray blazer. Mari just burst out laughing.

“How…”

“Ridiculous!” Chloe shook her head. “I demand you untie me this instant! We don’t have time for this!”

Once they dressed and did their hair, both girls were ready. Chloe now had a black button-down shirt, deep red blazer, and a matching pencil skirt. Mari also made her wear smart black stilettos (instead of her usual that were slightly more extravagant). The look was completed by a tablet in leather flip-over cover. Mari had a similar outfit, except her shirt was white and the suit was in dark blue. She opted for flat shoes to spare the embarrassment that was Marigold on heels.

“Ready to rock Gotham City?”

“Like you have to ask.” Mari smiled. There was something about the city of crime that made her feel safe and open up more. Maybe being on home turf gave her the much-needed confidence boost. 

When Chloe tried to open the doors, she found them stuck. She was about to go on a rant about poor quality when Mari casually grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. There was a faint creaking sound as the mechanism gave.

“Um…”

“It must’ve been old,” Chloe said with a devious grin. “Nothing happened. Don’t you worry! I will deal with it.”

---------------

When the doors to the elevator opened and two girls strode into the lobby, their class was already pushing toward the exit. Adrien looked very much uncomfortable with Lila hanging off his arm, literally sinking her claws into him. He mouthed them a muted ‘later’. Alya stared at the girls with loathing. 

“Ah, you are here.” Mme. Bustier spoke. “Lila said…”

“Whatever.” Chloe dismissed their teacher. “Aren’t we in rush?” The blonde practically seethed the last word. 

“Yes, good to see that someone is responsible.” The teacher gave Mari a pointed look. Apparently, she still didn’t get over the fact that she resigned from the class rep position. 

“But…”

“Drop it. She is not worth it.” Chloe whispered. “Daddy will take care of that once we are done.”

Mari just nodded. She knew Chloe was preparing a lawsuit against the school, but their hands were tied until they graduated or Damocles could try and undermine it. Both girls knew that no adult would help them with the lawsuit beyond Chloe’s father signing whatever dotted line she asked him to. That man was more whipped than a fresh can of whipped cream. 

The ride to the WE was short and uneventful. Girls took up to gossiping in English, effectively limiting any eavesdropping. Mari spent most of the time tearing down the outfits of all the villains. She started with Riddler, more as a joke than actual rant, but then she somehow got onto this new guy Anarky. From there, she just kept on, smoothly sailing from one to the next. Even her mom got some shots. Mari still couldn’t stand how skimpy it was. Her rant carried over when they exited the bus and entered the WE. Security led them to a conference room, where they were told to take seats. 

Mari guessed that it wouldn’t be Lila if she didn’t immediately start sputtering lies about how well she knew the building already because of her Damiboo giving her private tours (All while clutching Adrien like a leech). She didn’t have enough ducks left to give to try to expose Lila about several facts. Such as that Damian Wayne definitely wasn’t living with Bruce when he was five. Any Gothamite could tell her that. Bored, she returned to her rant. 

She was nearing the end of the list and was very much engaged in complimenting Harley Queen for her recent change in wardrobe. She still considered it a disaster, but at least it was somehow human. 

“Ekhm…” A voice broke her out of the rant. “Good morning. My name is Richard Grayson. You are the french class chosen for the internship program, correct?” When people nodded, he continued. Idly, Mari noted that Alya and Lila stiffened and suddenly stopped talking at all. “We reviewed the individual profiles and appointed each of you a mentor that will help you settle into your roles. As I read the names, please come forward so I can update your badges. Do carry them on your person all the time or we will have to take you to our human cloning facility.”

People stared at him. 

“Okaaay… That’s that about jokes…” He sighed. “The rules will be explained by individual departments. Now, who’s up for a tour?” 

People started to cheer at that and Dick smiled. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad?

-----------------

It was that bad. Even worse. He knew from the background check that the class was both insanely talented… and borderline criminal. It was like someone de-aged the Rogues and put them in one class. The report called them Akuma class, which (if google is to be believed) meant demons. He questioned how they got accepted into the internship. 

They only toured two floors when Dick wanted to tear half of them to shreds. He noted immediately that they were bullying the girl with black (slightly blue? Maybe it was dyed?) hair. What surprised him was that the teacher didn’t react. If he was to be honest, the girl and her friend slightly irritated him too. They kept talking and seemed to ignore him. It was not because they kept tearing down each and every bats’ fashion choices. Definitely not that. When they brought up Discowing he had enough. 

“Ekhm. Excuse me, girls,” he stared at them. Both immediately stopped talking and looked at him. “Could you pay attention? I wouldn’t want any of you to waste your internship lost on our maze-testing floor.”

“There is no maze-testing floor in this building.” The blonde pointed out.

“And besides, we memorized all you’ve said.”

“Care to recall?” He heard several people groan at his pun.

“The first floor is most representative, where guests are welcome and low-level meetings happen. There is a separate kitchen for employers there that is always fresh on fruits. Don’t use the coffee machine there as it was only patched up and there is a high chance it will set itself on fire again. The…”

“Fine. You’re good. Still, I don’t appreciate the chatter.”

“They are always trouble!” A girl in bright pink colors shouted. 

“Yeah! Why do you have to ruin this trip for Lila!?”

“You’re just jealous of her boyfriend!”

More voices like this came from the crowd of kids. Dick started to feel bad that he singled the girls out. It definitely gave the class a reason to gang up on them. And the teacher still did nothing! He sighed. What did HR think when they accepted them. He would have to look into it later.

--------------

Mari decided that she didn’t like Dick. Everyone in their class kept talking, but for some reason, he singled them out. For the rest of the trip, she made sure to pay as much attention as she could. There was this silent determination on her face. Chloe wisely also kept silent. 

After the trip class was led back to the conference room where another employer handed out the identificators and folders containing their assignments. 

“Keep the IDs on you at all times. As opposed to the ones you received, this won’t expire and are synched with your jobs, so you will have access to anything you might need. They are also mandatory to receive lunch in our canteen. When you get acquainted with your tasks, you can go to the level specified at the end of sheet one. Your mentor will meet you there.” With that, he left. Dick really needed to do some in-depth research on this class. Something kept icking his detective sense.

“Well, I’m going to the law department. Apparently whoever made the assignments knew my well.” Chloe bragged to her friend after opening the folder. 

Timidly, Mari also opened her folder. She skimmed over what was inside and groaned. “Apparently, I’m interning as personal assistant to one Tim Drake.”

“They actually assigned you to the sleep-deprived coffee addict?” Chloe asked in disbelief.

“You know him?” She asked in surprise

“He and his brother ruined my daddy’s parties two years ago. They got into an argument that ended up with them wrestling over a cake. It took me weeks to get the cake out of my hair! Weeks!” The blonde summarized.

“oh…” Mari tried to hold back the giggles.

“Don’t laugh! It’s a serious matter! Do you have any idea how much work it takes to have such a perfect hair?!”

“Of course… cakehead.” The girl couldn’t stop herself.

“Ugh, you… you… plant leg.” Chloe said.

“Really?” Mari raised an eyebrow. “That’s the best you can come with?”

“Well, I usually have better things to do than thinking about good insults.” Still, Chloe hugged her best friend. “Be careful. I wouldn’t put it past The Liar to try and sabotage you somehow.”

“I’ll be careful. Wish me luck.”

-----

The elevator took Mari all the way to the highest floor. When the doors opened, she stepped int a large room with one desk. As soon as the doors closed, the woman who was standing there rushed toward her. The girl tensed for a moment but she reminded herself that there is no real threat.

“Oh finally! I was asking them to hire someone else for months!” She had a messed bun of red hair on her head and looked like she didn’t sleep in a week.

“But… I’m just an intern madame!” Mari tried to explain.

“An intern?” The woman paused her packing and stared at the girl with wide eyes.

“Um… Madame Sarah Jackson?” 

“Yes. An intern…” She said in a disappointed voice to herself. “Ah! That’s no problem at all!” She started to tap on her Waynetech Tablet and after a moment she smiled. “There! You’re hired!”

“Wha…?!” Mari shouted, but was interrupted when Sarah pushed the tablet into her hand, followed by a large box full of documents and a small mug with a coffee bean pointing a gun at the reader and words ‘Your Coffee or your life!’.

“They are your problem now! Everything you need is in the box. I left detail about ongoing stuff and whatever you might need. Don’t call. I’m outta here!” She shouted before grabbing her personal belonging and leaping into the elevator.

“But…! But…!?” Mari shouted after the closing doors. She could hear a cheerful shout as the elevator left the level. 

--------------------------------------

Next

[ssaseaprince]

Will flinches away from Hannibal during an argument (angst & hurt/comfort)

(I LOVED the other request you wrote!!)

Sorry this took so long to get out, it ended up quite a bit longer then I originally intended but I hope you like it ! Also thank you so much <3

The first couple months after the fall had been rough, physically, having to go into hiding while their bodies were on mend. Hannibal's wounds, gruesome as they were, healed relatively quickly and without much fuss. Will on the other hand, had almost died. He had taken a stab to the shoulder, which shouldn’t have been the problem that it was, except that it got infected. He was stuck on the brink of death for quite a long time, and then spent the month after he was stabilized in and out of consciousness, high on painkillers. Hannibal had always been good at working and functioning under pressure, which was good because if he hadn’t been they probably would have died. The first time Will had come to full consciousness, however, Hannibal was a wreck. He’d cried then. Not a soft trickle of a few tears, but gut-wrenching sobs full of shaking shoulders and an ocean full of tears. Will cherished that memory, as he did with every memory of Hannibal crying. They made him human, seem more touchable. The first time he had cried in front of Will, they had been standing on the cliff right before they fell, and the next time was when Will had first woken up. He cried when Will spoke for the first time too, so long after the fall. The first time they made love, Will’s neck was wet with his tears. When Will said “I love you” the first time.

Will never took Hannibal as someone who cried very often, and he never had been. That was until the fall, until Will. The fall had been a rebirth for both of them, it didn’t only symbolize Will’s becoming. And then Will had gotten sick and Hannibal had almost lost him, and Hannibal was again reminded how precious life really is, and how easy it would be to lose him. They both made it through, but all the walls and forts between them had crumbled, and they were left exposed to each other. There wasn’t any reasoning or any point in trying to put them back up, because by then their souls were permanently intertwined. Will could read him no matter what anyways, so things like silence and shouting were equally expressive. Hannibal still didn’t cry a lot by any means, but he did cry (genuinely, cry) now on occasion, whereas he hadn’t really ever before.

They didn’t fight much. Of course they got on each other's nerves at times and had tendencies to snap at one another when they were irritated, but actual full blow fighting and arguing was extremely rare.

Today wasn’t like that though.

It was about two years after the fall, and they had finally settled down in Lakonia, an administrative region of Greece that’s in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. They’d eventually been officially declared dead, and the last year and a half had been good. Both were more than content to let the past mostly stay where it was and move forward, and their days blended together in a mix of hunting and domesticity. They’ve been happy, but they out of anyone should know how easily the calm can be shattered.

It started like it had before. Sleepwalking, gradual hallucinations, losing small bits of time. Will knew what it was, but he avoided telling Hannibal about it. He supposes he was scared, scared to lose the peaceful (peaceful in their own way) domesticity they had settled into. Scared of how it would affect their relationship. Hannibal had changed a lot since the fall and since his time in prison, and Will knew logically he didn’t need to worry. But the nightmares were full of flashbacks to ticking lights and needles, and he grew more and more distant, and Hannibal’s concerned eyes followed him everywhere.

It shouldn’t have taken him as long as it had to realize it, so when he finally did Hannibal was disgusted with himself. Will had been deliberately hiding it from him, but still, he felt he should’ve noticed sooner. Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis was known to be recurrent. It was extremely important that Will got treatment as soon as possible, especially since he had gone so long without it last time. The only option Hannibal had was to confront him.

That all led up to now. Their first real fight since the fall.

“Your health is of the utmost importance Will, you cannot be keeping things like this from me.” Frustration leaking into his tone, Hannibal leaned against the kitchen counter. Will was sitting across from him on a barstool, nursing a glass of whiskey. Will was annoyed, he knew he shouldn't be annoyed but he was. He knew Hannibal was just concerned, but it felt overwhelming, and he couldn’t help but wonder how genuine the concern was. The past couple of weeks he found himself falling back into old thinking patterns, reminiscing about the past. He knew the Hannibal in front of him was completely different then the Hannibal he had first met, but he couldn’t help but to compare his abundance of concern now to the great lack of care he had before.

He grimaced, “Well I don’t need you freaking out. I can take care of myself, always have.”

“For the most part, yes, you can. But you aren’t doing a good show it right now, Encephalitis is life threatening if left untreated, you are aware of that. You cannot just ignore it.” Hannibal’s usual calm façade was slowly slipping. “With everything you've been through, you’re honestly willing to die by a treatable disease? You’re not stupid, Will.”

Taking another drink of his whiskey, he rolled his eyes. The alcohol was making his thoughts fuzzy, but goddamnit was he too sober for this.

“I wasn’t going to let it go on forever Hannibal, you’re right, I’m not that fucking stupid. You’re just overreacting and being dramatic, like always.” He raised his glass to take another drink only to have it roughly pulled from his grasp.

Looking up, he glared at the man across from him. “What the fuck Hannibal?”

Hannibal's calm was practically nonexistent at this point, and he slammed the glass down on the other side of the counter before looking back at Will. “Are you so insistent on being self destructive? You’re acting like a child Will, refusing help.”

Will let out a loud, overexaggerated sigh. His voice was rough when he spoke, the tone of it slowly rising. “Well what am I supposed to do? It’s not like I can just walk into a hospital and ask them to help me treat a rare disease that I’m known for having had before. Maybe I’ve just been trying to figure out what to do, I’m not completely incompetent you know.”

Hannibal’s clenched fists rested on the counter. “You could ask for help! We could get the right supplies and treat you, without needing to go to the hospital. You know that, you are just being unnecessarily difficult.”

Will stood, the stool pushed behind him as he glared at Hannibal. “Yeah well maybe I don’t want your help, you don’t exactly have the best track record of making good medical decisions for me.”

Hannibal’s next words came out in a raised voice, not exactly a yell, but they seemed to take up all the air from the room. “I am not going to stay here and watch you kill yourself. I’d thought better of you Will, but if that’s how you chose to act I am not going to stay here for it.”

And Will flinched.

The small, unconscious action sent Hannibal reeling, as he looked back over what he had just said. He didn’t think of himself as an impulsive person, he didn’t think he was the kind of person who said things they didn’t mean out of anger, but Will seemed to bring that out in him. He and Will were so far beyond lies and manipulation, they were rarely things that were worried about within their current relationship. But watching Will so blatantly refuse to take care of himself, putting himself in danger by refusing help, was unbearable. So he threw out the first thing he thought of to get Will’s attention, for him to realize just how serious he was. He’d never leave him, they’d consummated their marriage in the depths of the ocean, and an infinite amount of times over since then.

It took him a minute to grasp what he had even said as he stared at Will across the kitchen. It was such a preposterous thing to think, let alone say that it took him a moment to understand the words had actually come out of his mouth. Will had frozen up, and Hannibal could almost see the walls being thrown up and forts being built, and it sent a pang of icy dread through his heart.

“I’m not refusing treatment, I just needed time to get used to the idea of you helping me, since you’re the reason I almost died last time. And here I was feeling bad because I was thinking you’re not like that anymore.” Will wasn’t glaring at him anymore, but his body language was rigid and the words he spoke were flat. “If you’re going to leave, just leave Hannibal, you don't need to find excuses to. You can cut the act.”

“Will.. “ The words seemed stuck in his throat as he said them. “I didn’t mean that.”

‘No, just go. If you think so low of me then just leave. Don’t want you feeling obligated to take care of me, since ya know, I obviously can’t take care of myself.” And with that, Will turned to leave, grabbing his keys and starting to put on his coat. He wasn’t full on drunk, but tipsy enough that he swayed slightly when he walked.

“Will, you don’t have to go.” Hannibal grabbed his arm gently, turning him to look at him. “You’re too intoxicated to drive right now.”

Will shook his head and roughly pulled his arm away. He needed to be alone and it irritated him that Hannibal was telling him what to do, but he had to accept his logic. And driving after he'd been drinking wouldn't fare well in the argument that he could take care of himself. “Fine, then you can get the fuck out.”

“Will…” Hannibal’s voice was soft, “I didn’t mean it.”

“I don’t care, just get out. At the very least just give me some space.”

Hannibal didn’t want Will to feel more pushed, but he had to add, “alright, but don’t drink anymore. It will worsen your condition. Please, Will.”

Will sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah, whatever. Just go.”

Hannibal nodded and stepped away, he got his own coat and pulled the front door open. Hesitating, he turned back and looked at Will, who was staring at the floor. “Please be safe.” Will just waved his arm indicating that he should go, and with that, Hannibal stepped out onto the porch and then closed the door.

Will was exhausted, his head was throbbing and his eyes stung. With Hannibal gone, the tears finally began to steadily fall from his eyes. After a while of standing there, staring at the front door, he ended up stripping down to his boxers and laying down in their bed. Penelope, their little King Charles Spaniel puppy, watched him from the doorway. A few minutes later, she was picked up and snuggled in Will’s arms on the bed. Hannibal hadn’t wanted a dog, but he accepted that living with Will meant they were bound to get one. He tried to be apathetic towards her when Will first brought her home, a scrawny little stay, but the affection in his eyes was unmistakable. The little dog followed him everywhere now, and they ended up bonding very quickly. Will had even joked that Hannibal liked Penelope more than him. As he held her and pressed his face against her fur, Will thought back on those memories fondly.

His mind palace was nowhere near as vast or intricate as Hannibal’s, but he still had memories there that he clung to. Closing his eyes, Will went back to the ones he cherished the most.

The tears that had clung to Hannibal’s lashes, barely visible in the dark of the night after they killed the dragon.

The sobs that came from Hannibal’s lips when Will had first woken up.

The few drops that fell from his eyes when Will had spoken to him for the first time in his recovery.

The little gasps of breath that had accompanied the multitude of fallen tears that came the first time they made love (calling it anything else wouldn’t encompass it enough).

When Will had said “I love you” to him the first time and silent rivers had run down his cheeks as he’d smiled so vibrantly it was hard to look at.

He knew Hannibal hadn’t meant it, that he was just frustrated and fed up and worried. They wouldn’t survive separation, and Hannibal needed Will just as much as Will needed Hannibal, they needed each other to live. He knew Hannibal loved him, his love was as real and tangible as those tears he’d cried.

Will loved their lives, and he didn’t want anything to cause a rift in that. He trusted Hannibal and he knew he would take care of him and help him to the best of his abilities. But to see his concern in comparison to the first time he got sick, was jarring, and Will almost didn’t know how to handle it. Hannibal had turned himself in and spent three years in jail for Will, and he was sure if he decided he wanted to go to the hospital to get treated, even if it risked exposing them, Hannibal would take him in a heartbeat. It shouldn’t be, but the depth of Hannibal’s affection for him was still surprising at times.

Will acknowledged that being worried about Hannibal’s reactions to him being sick was justified, and that there would probably always be times where the trust between them wavered because of the past, but he knew Hannibal wouldn’t ever leave.

He’d call Hannibal in the morning he decided, give them both time to calm down. And with that last thought, he tried to sleep for the night.

When the sun came up, Will was thankful. He’d spent the night tossing and turning, fighting off nightmares when he did manage to sleep. More than once he found himself reaching out to the other side of the bed for Hannibal, only to find that he wasn't there. Getting up, Will put on a simple plain shirt and pair of sweatpants and went to make coffee. Their coffee maker had been outrageously expensive, but Hannibal had insisted on it, and it ended up being worth it. Now, looking at the stupidly expensive coffee maker brought Will a strong feeling of longing. Hannibal had only been gone a night and Will felt like he was already falling apart. Calling Penelope to come with him, Will picked up his phone and decided to sit on the porch to call Hannibal, deciding that the fresh air would do him some good. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he just needed him back.

Will wasn’t someone who was very jumpy at all, but when he opened the front door and turned to see Hannibal sitting with his back against the house, Will startled so badly he almost dropped his phone.

Hannibal turned at the sound of the door opening and looked up at Will with puffy eyes and red cheeks dried with tears. Internally, Will sighed. He looked like he’d been there all night. Wordlessly, Will reached down and pulled Hannibal to his feet and then brought them both inside. He helped Hannibal get off his coat and then stripped them both down to their boxers, before pulling them in their room and into bed. They curled up around each other, Will’s face pressed against Hannibal's chest and Hannibal's arms around him, running his fingers through Will’s hair. They laid in silence together for a while, just counting each other's breaths and heartbeats.

Eventually, Hannibal broke the silence, his voice raspy and quiet. “I’m sorry.”

Will took a breath before answering.

“I’m sorry too.”

Pressing his face into Will’s curls, Hannibal's breathing hitched. “I wouldn’t ever leave you, not again.”

“I know Hannibal,” Will responded. He pulled back a little so they were looking at each other. Hannibal’s eyes were wet with tears as he looked back at him.

Leaning forward, Will kissed away the few droplets of water that had escaped.

“I was going to tell you, I just needed to work up to it.’

Hannibal was silent for a moment before he replied. “I understand your hesitation. If you wish to go to the hospital and be treated there, we can go. There would be a risk, but we can make it work if that is what you want.”

Will shook his head. “I want you to treat me. I just needed to get out of my head.” He smiled at the terrible pun, watching to see if Hannibal would react.

He didn’t, continuing to stare at Will mutely.

Will sighed, again. “Help me, Hannibal. Please?”

Hannibal nodded at that, pressing his forehead against Will’s, wet cheeks brushing against dry ones.

“Of course beloved. Anything you want.”

Will filed away the memory into his memory palace, and placed it with all of the other times Hannibal had cried for him. Beautiful reminders of his humanity.

“I love you, Hannibal.”

“I love you too Will, always.”

[lottiejames]

Reunion

After months of internal work (and Viperion's good word), Ladybug has granted Chloe Bourgeois the bee miraculous, much to Viperion's surprise. Sequel to Call on Me

Or read it here: on AO3 (Call on Me)

Chloe stared at the simple box in front of her, seemingly innocent against the expensive fabric of her duvet. She didn’t know which was racing faster: her thoughts or her pulse. She didn’t actually think she’d be here again, no matter what her wildest fantasies contained, no matter how much it was talked about within herself, between her and him, between them, between any combination of the other holders. Yet, Ladybug had come and gone with a promise, and perhaps a warning, that she’d be back. The weight of it all sat heavily on her shoulders. Steeling herself, she reached for the box and opened it.

A golden glow swirled, then suspended in the air, was one of the beings she had hurt the most, “How may I serve you, my queen?”

The tears she hadn’t realized she’d been holding back sprung from her eyes, trailing down her face. Blue eyes followed their paths with concern, “Don’t cry, my queen,”

“Oh, Pollen,” Chloe whined, arms wrapping themselves around her legs, “I'm so sorry for everything I put you through,”

The yellow kwami floated up to her, wiping away a tear, “Oh, Chloe, I’ve been around a long, long time. I’ve seen many things, I’ve done many things. While it doesn’t justify any of it, I understand. I’ve seen the fear, the insecurities overcome my own holders and holders of the other miraculous,”

“It doesn’t make it...I shouldn’t have...I’m so sorry. I know words won’t ever be enough,”

Pollen smiled at Chloe, “Then show me with your actions, with changed behavior,”

“You’ll really give me another chance? Will you really forgive me?”

“I will. Ladybug and I have spoken at length about you, as well as the other kwamis giving me updates from their perspectives. I’ve long since forgiven you, Chloe,”

More tears spilled with a chuckle, “You are truly miraculous, Pollen,”

An overexaggerated sigh escaped the kwami, “Puns? Have you really been hanging around that cat so much in my absence?”

“Oh, Pollen, I don’t even know who that is,” She wiped away her tears, “I still only know the ones from...that day,”

Pollen nodded wisely, “Ah, yes. How are things going with Sass’s holder?”

Chloe’s cheeks suddenly burned as she picked at the loose thread on her duvet cover, “I’m not sure I know what you mean,”

“You’ll tell me, sooner rather than later,” Pollen shrugged, “I thought I overheard Ladybug saying she’d be back to pick you up for patrol?”

Chloe nodded, cheeks still stained, “Yes, she should be back soon,”

“And we are surprising him, yes?” Pollen pretended to be looking at her nonexistent fingernails, much like Chloe used to do around her.

“Yes,”

“Just say the magic words then, my queen,”

Despite the lingering guilt, the bundle of nerves, the schoolgirlish glee, Chloe smiled brightly, “Pollen, buzz on.”

***

“The end of your sector will be just over there,” Carapace pointed into the distance, after consulting the map in his hands.

“Where that wig shop is?” Viperion clarified, eyes squinting trying to see it from their rooftop view.

“Right there, yes. I was trying to have it by the gelato shop you like so much, but Ladybug didn’t like that idea,”

“I let Chat convince me to take one break during some random patrol and now it haunts me all the time,” he waved around dramatically.

“To be fair, it’s probably more him than you. His sector is getting changed too,”

Viperion turned around, “Why all the sector changes? We just changed them a few months ago,”

Carapace shuffled his feet, “Reasons,”

“Reasons?”

“Yep,”

Viperion folded his arms and continued to stare, “Care to elaborate?”

“Nope,” the map of the Parisian streets was quickly put aside.

Before he could question Carapace any further, separate blurs of orange and black flew past them.

“And that is how the fox outsmarts and outruns the cat,” Rena Rouge announced, her face beaming with a triumphant smile.

“Cheater! There was cheating!” Multiple raised eyebrows fixed on Chat Noir’s face, “There’s no way you knew about the alleyway shortcut, unless...Carapace, you dared betray me?”

Carapace looked away from him as Rena Rouge hugged his arm, “It was well worth the betrayal. Sorry, Kitty,”

As Chat Noir continued his theatrics, Viperion heard muffled voices coming from the stairwell door. His furrowed brows were lost on his companions.

A loud groan of aged metal revealed Ladybug, a knowing smile on her face. It was when she stepped aside, that Viperion felt the breath get knocked out of him.

With the setting Parisian sun as her backdrop, blonde hair gently swaying in the warm breeze, stood a figure draped in yellow and black, gold and night.

“Chloe?”

“Tsk, tsk. You know just as well as everyone else, it’s Queen Bee,” her voice tinkled through the air.

The world blurred at the edges, the voices surrounding him were muffled as if underwater. The only sight he could focus on was the renewed Miraculous holder and she stared right back.

She drew closer to him and before his thoughts caught up with his limbs, he was holding her close. He could smell a faint floral scent, reminiscent of her perfume. Her arms wrapped around him, breathing a sigh of relief at the welcoming.

He pulled away after a moment, eyes taking in her features, missing the light freckles hidden underneath her mask. Amusement looked back at him.

“But how?”

Queen Bee shrugged a shoulder, “Something about patience, dependability, redemption. It seems to have helped to have someone on the inside speaking to my many, many virtues,”

Viperion was vaguely aware of a tension on his cheeks, a product of his grin no doubt.

Coughing rather forcefully, Carapace drew their attention, “Now you know the reason for patrol changes,”

“And I expect,” Ladybug’s blue eyes shifted back and forth between the pair, “that there will be no tomfoolery or ridiculous antics,”

“Of course, you don’t have to worry about any of that,” Queen Bee said with conviction, her posture much like that of a soldier receiving orders from a superior.

“I, also, expect that there will be no secret rendezvous for make out sessions or hero date nights,”

Though her mask hid her freckles, it did nothing to conceal the growing blush on her cheeks. Viperion let out a strangled cough as Chat Noir laughed in the background.

“Understood?” Queen Bee and Viperion nodded quickly, avoiding eye contact with each other, “Good. We need to take in these budding romances in stages after all. Well, Viperion knows the drill. You're free to go home once your sector is done, barring anything happening,"

With that said, Ladybug turned towards Chat Noir, spoke a few words, and soon he was chasing after her. As if on cue, Rena Rouge and Carapace nodded to them and ran off into the night together.

Soon, only the noises from the streets below sounded around them.

“I had no-”

“I must say-”

Both of them chuckled, finally looking at each other.

“You first,” Viperion whispered, eyes skipping across her features.

Queen Bee took a breath, “Thank you. I know that I’ve been trying for a while now, but I really don’t think any of this could have happened without you, your input, your kindness,”

He scratched the back of his head, “I only shared the truth when asked. You’ve done a lot of growing, Chlo, even I can see it,”

“Queen Bee,”

Viperion’s face darkened again, “Ah, yes, of course. It’ll take me a minute to get used to that,”

She reached out and touched his arm, looking up at him to make eye contact, “Thank you, really. I don’t know how to repay you,”

“I’m sure one of us will think of something,” he replied, his thoughts jumping to all the various ways that could happen.

Her features shone with a warm radiance as she stepped closer to him. She raised herself onto tip-toe, closing much of the distance between them. Queen Bee, who soon would be known for her impeccable aim, missed her target on her second first-day as a hero. Viperion, as if on auto-pilot, as if one of her facial features were a magnet, followed her. She leaned in, so did he. She leaned right, so did he. A simple kiss on the cheek was met with lips instead.

It was fleeting, a brief second, but blue eyes flew open when she pulled away. They’d never had a seemingly telepathic connection, not like Ladybug and Chat Noir. In that moment, though, their eyes searched one another and with the most discreet of nods, their lips met properly, purposefully. Viperion’s arms wrapped around her waist as Queen Bee pulled him closer to her. It felt warm, it felt dizzying, it tasted surprisingly sweet - her lip gloss, no doubt. And neither of them knew how long it might have lasted, this culmination of months and months of secret glances, lingering touches, but it was cut short, nevertheless.

A catcall and a forced cough broke them apart, the heat of Paris no longer being the only thing that surrounded them.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at them, her face conveying all the words she wasn’t saying as Chat Noir made all sorts of jokes and puns in the background.

After the duo left, it was a minute or two before either superhero made any sound.

“So,”

“So?”

“Patrol?” Viperion’s voice cracked ever so slightly.

Queen Bee smirked, regaining control much more quickly than he, “Patrol. Come on Rumplesnakeskin, lead the way, it’s the only time you’ll get to,”

He looked at her, “Really? Rumple-SNAKE-skin?” She shrugged, “Anything but Rumple-SNAKE-skin, please,”

The air carried her laughter.

[kidmetsu-no-yaiba]

What They Do When You’re Having A ‘Split’ And Become Angry  

This includes: Tsukishima, Kuroo, Bokuto, Kita, Suga, Ennoshita, Ushijima

This is just how I perceive them as what they would do for a best friend/romantic partner that experiences BPD anger in a similar way as I do. Also I'm off my stabilizers haha..ha.

Also none of these are meant to be mean about the characters I literally chose my faves for this.

Uh TW for bpd I guess?

Gender Neutral reader bay bee

Tsukishima (Not the trigger):

Doesn’t even recognize it at first, thinks its just a normal bad day from work

After, like, 30 minutes of you just sitting there and glaring at your phone without talking or even changing your expression he starts to get a clue.

Goes about his normal chores that upset you, but he plays your “Calming” playlist out loud on his phone just loud enough for you to hear

If he’s exhausted every chore and you still haven’t talked, he purposefully looks for funny or interesting news articles about stuff you like and reads the headlines out to you to get you to look at him or talk

Once you start at least looking at him, hopefully talking too, begins trying to coax out what triggered you

Ignores if you make any outright mean or just passive aggressive comments towards him instead of answering but will get aggressive in return

If he manages to get What Happened out of you he immediately calls you an idiot. Regardless of what it is. Is a mean comforter.

“Getting mad over your best friend talking on the phone too long while you’re hanging out isn’t an excuse to be mean”

“You’re stupid if you think it’s your fault that your friends aren’t paying attention to you, not everything is about you.”

It hurts but, it works even if sometimes it feels like he’s going a Bit Too Far

Will watch comforting videos or shows with you if it calms you down but that's about it. Very big on “You’re an adult and I’m not your psychiatrist, figure it out yourself.”

Kuroo (Is the trigger):

Instantly recognizes the Shut Down while teasing you, when you stop responding, your face is blank except for your down turned eyes.

‘Oh I’ve Fucked Up™’ is his immediate thought

“Y/N you know I didn’t mean that right? We were just playing, I’m sorry!” “Don’t you have a proposal to finish.”

Immediate shoulder drop. Is also upset now but decides to wait a little bit before trying to calm you.

After 30min or so of you hiding under your blanket he decides it’s time to try and pull you out of your head.

Cooks your most aromatic favorite food so the smell wafts into your room

Blasts your comfort playlist on a speaker and loudly sings along to it

When you still don’t come out when the food is done, sits outside the door saying “oh FUCK this shit is BUSSIN’” comically loud, overexaggerates your favorite things about it outloud.

When you eventually give in, just to get some food, he corners you with his body

“What about what I said upset you?” As a genuine question, not a mean one

After you explain, he lets you eat and offers a sincere apology when you finish

Offers to draw a bath with your favorite scent if it’ll help you. It does.

Bokuto (Is the trigger):

You came home and Bokuto had the tv up high while watching tiktoks and listening to music. After a moment the tea kettle went off. Before turning it off he realized you had walked in and bounded over to you. There were Too Many Noises.

He tried to talk over the noise but realized your eyes were boring into his and you had The Look

Also a ‘Oh I’ve Fucked Up™’

Rushes to take the kettle off the heat and turn off his phone before checking on you only to see you’ve already gone in and shut the bedroom door. You didn’t even take your shoes off..

Big pouty, sulky fool. Mopes around for a bit after turning off all the noise in the house.

Eventually looks for other things that upset you and finds that the house is, kind of a mess actually. Decides to clean as quietly as possible.

Does all of your least favorite chores first incase you re-emerge from the bedroom too soon

When everything seems to be done he opens your door and finds you tucked into bed and scrolling on your phone, very quiet music playing from it.

It was only 5pm but he took off his street clothes and climbed into bed as well. 

Absolutely gets up behind you and grabs you around your waist and snuggles in without saying anything even though he wants to

When you finally feel comfortable you look over your shoulder to see Bokutos already fallen asleep. Idiot. 

You order takeout for when he wakes up because, even though he tried his hardest to be quiet, you could hear him washing the dishes and didn’t want to ruin the work he did for you

Kita (Not the trigger):

Very straightforward the second he realizes you are Not Good

"Y/N if you tell me what's wrong it'll end quicker" 

When you don't even look at him he still continues talking "We both know you hate when you're like this. It'll make you feel better if you just talk to me even if you don't want to."

Is fairly stern when talking to you at the beginning. Not mean but just very much like 'this is going to get done whether or not you cooperate.'

If you don't cooperate then he begins to ignore you until you snap and eventually scream and air out everything that's wrong and what triggered you. 

Goes through everything you said with you and gives you an objective perspective although it basically boils down to "I know you can't help it but your ego is hurting you. Not Everything Is About You."

Once your conversation on that is over he asks if you want him to watch tiktok or listen to music or something with you

 Suga (Is the trigger):

He hadn’t meant to ignore you all day. He’d woken up before you and been so busy at work all day he didn’t get a chance to text. It was the club he advised’s meeting day and it was dragging on longer than usual, he hadn’t texted anyone all day to be fair

When he finally comes home he’s confused as to why you’re tucked in on the couch

“Hey Y/N you tired? Sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk today there was a lot of bureaucratic shit going on and then the club president decided we were all going to stay until the end of the activity. Kids am I right?” He laughs and smiles towards you but you continue to ignore him

After some physical encouragement, poking and whatnot, it dawned on him that you are Probably Going Through It

Jesus Christ

Immediately decides he is not having it and moves your legs off the couch so he can sit next you

“Y/N I looovvveeee youuuuu~~~” He says as he pulls you to him by the shoulders “I love you I love you I love youuu” 

Just babbles honestly, goes on and on about how he didn’t mean to ignore you and how he was honestly busy but he’s here now

And like yeah, he is here now so eventually you level out and let yourself be coddled for a bit longer

Makes pinky promises that he promises to text you when he’s busy or going to be running late

Also runs you a nice bath just in case

Ennoshita (Not the trigger):

Knows what's going on because he’s been watching you stare at the tv for about 20 minutes but, the tv is off. 

Is objective with his words like Kita but with more emotional appeal

“Y/N I know you’re in the middle of something but when you’re ready, I’ll be ready to listen to you,”

If, after a while, you don’t make any effort to talk to him he tries to point you in a better direction than staring at walls and moping around

“You don’t have to talk to me but I found a tiktok I think you’d enjoy” or “You know you haven’t tried that new nail polish you bought a bit ago” 

Is okay with just letting you figure it out on your own so you can apply the stuff you’ve worked on with your psychiatrist but will feel a little guilty if he doesn’t say anything at all

Will do anything that you need to get done but aren’t because of your episode like dishes or tidying your room

Ushijima (Not the trigger):

First of all, calls your episodes “tantrums”

Literally has no clue when you’re in an episode unless you tell him, he is not very bright

If you do tell him that you’re having issues he defaults to trying to use physical affection against whatever it is that you’re feeling

May or may not make you angrier by doing that

Although he wasn’t the original trigger, him being so dense might override it tbh

Like you love him but oh my god oh my god oh my god how have you survived this long 

Eventually decides “I do not know how to deal with this” and just leaves. He goes to the store and gets the shopping done for the next 2 weeks and gets some cool looking snacks. 

Thinks ‘well I’m already out, I might as well get the car washed’ after, turns into ‘Oh Y/N needed to get their new prescription too..’ ‘I think I remember a discussion about their package getting stuck at the post office..’

Literally accidentally does every single errand that needed to be done for the next month because he didn’t want to go home and upset you more

When he finally comes back home with 50lbs worth of shit from errands you’re like ????? because how did he know that you were stressed about all the house stuff that needed to be done????? 

It’s not an instant mood changer but you definitely go from seemingly uncontrollable rage to ‘Okay I was being a bit much’ but as you watch him prep veggies before storing them away the way you usually do it, you level out

He is unaware you’ve levelled out so he tries to remember the coping skills you said you talked about with your psychiatrist and you are deeply confused when he asks you to open your palm and places an ice cube in it

When you realize what’s going on you laugh and tell him you’re okay and apologize for how you were being earlier and explain what triggered you

He gives you the cool looking snacks

[helliontherapscallion]

omg pls share the story abt the lecture from that girl’s dad (only if u feel like it) but seriously ppl it’s not that hard to put a mask on to help the spread of a virus. just wear it, it keeps u safe. and for the ppl who don’t care then just wait til it affects u, bcs covid isn’t a game. I just wish ppl were more serious abt it

Ok so sit down and buckle up kiddos and grab some snacks bc this is a helluva ride

Little background info: I have been a section leader for both my junior and senior years now. When the new freshmen came in my first year of being section leader I was hyped as hell. And then this new freshman whips out a lighter and lights it WHILE WE’RE INSIDE THE SCHOOL MIGHT I ADD with a straight face looking off into the distance before we ask her to put it away. She also always has a pocket knife on her that we found on the ground during band camp. I’ll call her POS. 

I tried to like POS I really did, but then she turned out to be a bigoted racist asshole (she also drinks deer blood straight from the corpse and simps over jeffery dahmer so even more red flags). It was extremely hard for me to treat her like I did with the other people in my section, but I managed to treat her the same as the other people and avoided her for the most part (thank god she wasn’t in my subsection I would’ve actually gone insane)

Flash forward to this year. Covid was hitting full force and we had to quarantine for the first two months of our season setting us back by a lot. She was wishywashy about rejoining but as the most senior leader of my section my band director was on my ass about getting a straight answer from her and fast. So I kinda had to force her to give me an answer (which she told me she was doing it quickly which leads me to think she already knew she was doing it) so she already was going into the season hating my guts

When we finally had an in person rehearsal for the first time, she wasn’t wearing a mask so when I asked her where it was she looked at me like I was the dumbass and said in a matter-of-fact tone “it’s in my pocket” and pointed to the confederate flag bandana hanging out of her pocket. Those four words told me that this season was going to be a fuckin long one with her. I just deadpanned (she couldn’t see it tho bc mask, sunglasses, and floppy hat blocking my entire face) and said “I’d rather it be on your face. (band director and marching instructor’s names) will have my ass if they see you not wearing one.” She rolls her eyes and puts it on (at least it was over her nose)

A few months go by with me telling her constantly to put on a mask bc I am responsible for my section and I’d be damned if one of them got sick bc of one idiot being stupid that I could prevent. She is getting madder and madder with each passing rehearsal. 

Band camp rolls around and it changed from 5 13 hour days to 15 3 hour ones and I am already done with her bs. We get our dots and I mentally groan bc she’s next to me for the vast majority of the show. She is between me (an asthmatic) and my close friend (vvv immunocompromised and also hates her, I’ll call her S) so now I’m more worried about covid going around the section. It was in this time that I find out that at least 5 other people out of 20 also have pre existing conditions that make them susceptible. So now I make it even more my mission to make her wear a mask. 

It was in the middle of band camp when she is yet again not wearing a mask (we were just marching without instruments) and I turn to her and as kindly as possible (it was the second time that day) asked her to put on her mask. She once again rolls her eyes and says “ya know, (band director) walked past me 3 times and hasn’t said shit, so I think I’m gonna listen to him and not you.” S and another friend of mine looks over in shock cuz she just talked back to me. They were about to say something but I wove them off. POS wants to fuck with me? Fine. I’ll just go full force with this. She wants petty?? I’ll give her petty, I’ve been holding off all season. 

So I’m marching there for the next twenty minutes quietly seething and counting more aggressively. She’s getting annoyed, but I pull the section leader card and tell her that she needs to be counting as loud as I am bc her feet was lowkey off time. After we break off for a gush and go (very short water break), I go straight to my band director and use my limited water break to tell him what she told me. He apologizes and says that he thought she was just taking a breather. He tells her to put on a mask and she does so and glares at me the rest of the rehearsal. 

She blocks me on all social media and I obviously clown on her in private with the other section leader (he’s more of a pacifist and never really told her to wear a mask which kinda pissed me off but I understood) until she makes a passing comment to my other friend about using the knife she kept in her boot. Now he tells me cuz he’s a good friend and I’m shitting myself at that point bc holy shit I might get shanked. 

I think about telling the band director but I realize that there’s no proof of her saying this and she could easily get out of this so it’s kinda pointless to tell anyone. Plus if she did shank me, she’d get into so much trouble and I’d be laughing at her from my grave/hospital bed. 

Many rehearsals go by and she still refuses to wear a mask so after one rehearsal S and I went to the band director and reminded him about our conditions and told him about how we were worried for our safety (I also told him abotu the other vulunerable ppl in the section) and he says he’s gonna do something. Next rehearsal he gives POS a warning and she begrudgingly wears a mask for the rest of the rehearsal. The next rehearsal rolls by and she isn’t wearing a mask (again) and he sends her home. Major victory for S and I.

The next sectional tho was something I wasn’t expecting. I get there like 10 minutes before it starts like I usually do in a good mood. I get out of my car and go to grab my stuff when a massive white truck with a busted muffler pulls up into the parking space next to me with a cloud of black smoke. The window rolls down and reveals POS’s dad and POS herself in the passanger seat. 

Of course I’m thinking that this is the day I die and start mentally preparing to yell for help to my other section members 100 feet away on the field already.

Mans starts to lecture me saying things like “it’s unhealthy to wear a mask outside bc it’s like a pitri dish under there. 6th grade science!” (I am not joking or overexaggerating with this, he actually said that). I really wanted to say “well, 7th grade science says otherwise, but you wouldn’t know that bc I’m sure you didn’t pass 6th grade, but go off ig” but I didn’t bc I didn’t want to get shanked or disappear randomly. I just tell him that I am only doing what my band director told me to do and that there are tons of people (myself included) that can really get hurt from just being in contact with covid. He says that’s bullshit and tries to tell me that I’m an idiot before I cut him off by telling him once again that I am just trying to protect my section and that the sectional was going to start soon so I didn’t have the time for this. I walk away leaving him trying to keep talking to me and soon enough POS gets out of the car and follows me to the field giving me a smug smile on her unmasked face before she puts it on when she sees the other section leader stroll up. 

Lemme paint the picture for you: this guy (a 6′something burly guy in his 50′s that I know has like two felonies under his belt) pulls up next to me (a 5′2 17 year old ball of anxiety that drives a small yellow car) and starts to borderline yell at me. Traumatizing. I was shaking for the rest of the sectional and I spent the rest of the season looking over my shoulder looking for the glint of a knife swingin at me

Now I’m pretty sure she’s suspended bc she was caught with a knife on school property and she wore a confederate t-shirt to school, but I would be lying if I said I don’t still look over my shoulder or speed up when I drive past her house lmao

[byeoltoyuki]

Adore you ⇾ JHS

↳Pairing : You x Hoseok

Genre : Drabble / Fluff / Extra fluff?

Words: +1,5k

Summary : This time he’s going to listen.

✾

Losing your temper in the middle of a meeting was not something that happened often. In fact, showing your emotions in public, and especially negative emotions such as anger, didn’t happen that often. You did show from time to time that you were upset but that was all. Pretty much. Fortunately for people around you. Nobody wanted to see you angry; most of the time it would get ugly and would leave the other party hurt and you with regrets.

Today, however, you couldn’t hold it. Not when the reason for your anger was your own boyfriend.

"Y/N, listen." Hoseok tried to grab your arm and stop you from getting away from him but only for you to yank your arm from his grip as if he had burnt you. The rejection stung more than he was willing to admit but he swallowed his bitterness and faced you. “Y/N…”

"You can’t talk to me like that!" You snapped and pointed an accusing finger at him. "And don’t even try to touch me!" No matter how angry with Hoseok you were, you knew that one touch from him would make your resolution crumble. 

Building a company with your best friend when you were freshly out of college seemed, back then at least, like a good idea. You knew each other well, knew each other skills. You completed each other perfectly; Hoseok was a social butterfly while you weren’t.  You were good with elaborating strategies, Hoseok was good with finance. But above anything else you trusted each other. It helped and your business turned out to be complete success. 

The problem came much later when unexpected (not to your families or friends apparently) feelings got in the way. You tried, both of you, not to let these feelings in the way, tried not to act upon them but you couldn’t ignore them. So you started dating and it made things much more complicated. 

Especially when jealousy was involved. 

"Don’t touch me, Hoseok." 

Hoseok winced at your words. "Y/N-"

"No. For once, you’re going to listen." That was your anger speaking, because you overexaggerated, Hoseok did listen to you but maybe not enough when you fought. "You," You hit his chest with your finger, "are extremely," and hit him again, "unreasonable, insufferable."

You stared, not so angrily anymore, at Hoseok. A sigh left your lips as you closed your eyes for a second to regain composure. "I know exactly what this is all about."

"Do you now?" He growled, eyes averting from your face.

"Yes. You need to keep your jealousy in check!" You threw your arms in the air, frustrated because he thought you weren’t clever enough to notice that people, no, men in your work environment kept flirting with you to get favors from you and you being you, you were too nice (and because you didn’t really see the point) to tell them to fuck off. "Do you really think I don’t know what those idiots have on mind? Because I do and I chose not to give a damn."

"They think they can seduce you!" Hoseok tried, quite lamely even in his own opinion, to defend his case. There was honestly nothing that could justify his outburst. He dug his fingers into his palms before sighing in defeat. “I’m sorry.”

You knew he was.

****

Something felt off. You were cold and bothered and it woke you up. Your natural reaction to the cold would be to get closer to your favorite source of warmth, except the said warmth was missing which was odd considering it was still the middle of the night. It forced you to open your eyes and while your eyes tried to get used to the darkness of the room, you patted the spot where Hoseok was supposed to be.

Tired, you rubbed your eyes and muffled a yawn as you got out of bed, stumbling in the process. It wasn’t hard, despite your still sleepy state, to guess where Hoseok went, not after the fight you two had. You grabbed the green plaid from a chair and wrapped it around your shivering body. Why the hell was it so cold in this flat?

Just like you expected him to be, you found Hoseok in his office with a glass of whiskey in his hand and staring at nothing in particular, looking absolutely exhausted with his hair disheveled and dark circles beneath his pretty eyes. You felt a pang of guilt creeping inside you as you stared at him, not daring to step inside the room. Fighting with Hoseok was probably the thing you hated the most in the world; it didn’t happen that often since you had known each other for a very long time, but whenever it happened it was always painful for both of you.

Your grip around your plaid tightened just as your heart clenched, pained. "Come to bed, Hobi."

Despite him staring right before him, Hoseok had not seen you by the door. Not till you spoke at least which startled him and almost made him spill his drink on him.

"Soon." Was the only thing he said.

But you knew better. Soon would turn into another glass of whiskey then another and another which would result in him not sleeping at all and you couldn’t let it happen. 

“You should come now, it’s late.” You said, voice soft, making sure he would understand that you were worried for him and not angry anymore. 

But Hoseok didn’t say a word; he let you approach him, eyes following your every move. It was only when you stood before him, he wrapped his arms tightly around your waist and pulled you closer, his head pressed against you just right under your breasts. 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered

“It’s ok.” Your fingers ran through his locks, stroking his head lovingly. “I’m not angry anymore.” 

Hoseok glanced at you, looking almost like a lost child which only made you feel bad for not fixing the problem sooner. 

“But-“ 

You cut him before he could apologize once more by pressing a finger against his lips. “If you’re going to say sorry one more time, I’m going to hit you.” You promised him but that of course was a lie and Hoseok knew it as well, hence the atmosphere changed between you two. You, sadly (or not), noticed it too late.

Hoseok licked your finger playfully and you, surprised, shrieked and tried to get away from him. Without much success since he had his arms safely wrapped around you.

“I love you.” 

It wasn’t the first time Hoseok told you those three little words but every single time it brought a huge smile on your face and swore you fell for this man over again. You were lucky to have Hoseok in your life; he was the best of the best friend, the best crush you could have ever dreamt about, the best partner and definitely the best lover you could have chosen.

There were no words that could describe just how much you loved him, but you could definitely try to show him. 

The plaid fell on the floor which was the first thing Hoseok noticed. Then, his eyes stopped at your bare legs, realizing that you were only wearing a black t-shirt that happened to belong to him. That made him gulp hard. Would it be considered bad timing if he admitted out loud that he wanted you very, very badly?

Amused at his attempt at looking at you and not your exposed legs, you cleared your throat to avert his attention to your face instead. That didn’t work quiet well – Hoseok’s hands found your legs, feather-like touches that sent shiver down your spine, that made your heart flutter and beat a little faster. 

“Should I ask ‘what are you doing’?” You bit on your lips as the moment you asked him the question, his hands stopped at the curve of your ass, stroking it in circles before giving it a strong squeeze. “Shit.” 

“Sorry, you were saying?”  He answered, smug. 

You feigned annoyance in return, crossing your arms over your chest, you tried to look as annoyed as possible. Not like it could work when your own face didn’t want to cooperate with you. Hoseok only laughed at your attempt; he grabbed your arm and pulled you right onto his laps.

Hoseok pulled you strongly against him, his head rested in the crook of your neck as he whispered, “Hi there.” He nuzzled into your neck which made you giggle. 

“You’re a terrible boyfriend.” You complained without meaning it.

“So I was told.” That didn’t even bother him, instead of pouting, he started nibbling at your skin. “But I’m your favorite, right?”

You rolled your eyes. Did he really need to ask that? You grabbed his face, squishing his cheeks in process which gave him a childish look (and such a contrast with what he was doing barely five seconds ago). “Of course you’re my favorite.”

That being said, you silenced him with a kiss.

[blackbutterfliescal]

He Wanted Love, I Taste Of Blood

A Muke One Shot

Pairing: Michael Clifford x Luke Hemmings

Word count: 2.3K

Rating: E for Everyone

Content: college AU, major character death, light discussion of sexual situations (no actual smut), gore mention but nothing explicit/drawn out

A/N: I’m so excited to share my first ever collab event fic!! This kinda became it’s own monster and is pretty different from anything I’ve tried before. My prompt was “The legend said it only goes after virgins…so sucks for you I guess.” The title is from the song Love Like Winter by AFI, which has nothing to do with this fic but it’s a jam 😅 Big thank you to @spicycal ​ and @devilatmydoor ​ for encouraging me to stick to my guns while writing this. It’s a little shorter than I’d like but 🤷‍♀️

✨ Masterlist ✨

Event Masterlist 🦇

Let me know if you want to be added to or removed from my taglist 🌺

AO3 Link

Feedback is always appreciated! 😊

—��—

The scratch of dead leaves skittering across the pavement in the twilight breeze is the only thing occupying Luke’s mind, causing his skin to crawl the same way that nails on a chalkboard do. With every scuff of his shoes along the hard ground, he traps another smattering of decaying foliage under his sole, leaving deep hues of carnage on the sidewalk in his wake.

A warm presence quickly spreading across the inside of his palm causes his head to stop its constant nervous swivel, snapping towards the sensation. Luke lets out a breath of laughter when realization dawns on him - it’s just Michael. “Are you even listening to me at all, Luke?” Michael’s tone holds a gentle tease as he slots his fingers between Luke’s and prods his side with an elbow. Luke timidly returns a smile but his eyes are still wild. He can’t stop thinking that Michael is much too calm as they look ahead to see the lights down the street flicker on; the resulting buzz loud enough to drown out leaves crunching under their feet.

The two of them had spent the better part of the chilly Saturday afternoon at the park down the street, holding warm cider in their sweater paw-clad hands and trading off bites of the various pumpkin treats they’d picked up from the bakery across the street. When Luke had transferred to the local college a little more than a month ago, he hadn’t known anyone. He’d intentionally chosen a school far from home, wanting a new start after spending his first year at a community college near home. Starting over without knowing anyone was stressful and he was thankful that Michael had so quickly introduced himself. Luke always felt terribly awkward trying to make new friends, especially since so many people met their friends through events like freshman orientation, which Luke missed out on. He’d met Michael through his roommate and he’d immediately taken Luke under his wing, appreciating that Luke could match his banter and weird sense of humor. They’d hung out a couple of times in the dorm commons where Luke lived, playing video games until the wee hours of the morning. But today, as the sun casts the vibrantly colored trees in deeper shades of yellow and orange, Michael is thankful it’s just the two of them. It means that there’s no worry of prying roommates and he feels free to pull Luke into him, planting a soft kiss on his lips under the sprawling oak tree. It’s warm and sweet - the lingering cider and confections still clinging to their lips. Luke’s expression leaves Michael panicked that he’s gotten everything mixed up yet again but it didn’t take Luke long to fall into Michael once more. And then again. And again. Until he feels like he’ll crash and burn without the taste of Michael on his lips.

Neither of them are sure how long they’ve spent hiding from the world under that oak tree before Michael volunteers to walk Luke home, but Luke is sure they’ve stayed too long to make it across campus to his dorm before dark. It’s getting more and more difficult to see Michael’s soft features when they pass through the dim spaces between worn out street lamps. As they take the turn to Luke’s block, Michael can feel Luke’s pace pick up - clearly wanting to be in the safety of his building. They pass a newspaper box and the print pressed against the plexiglass window catches Michael’s attention. “THREE ATTACKS IN THREE WEEKS” reads the bold letters atop the page. A slightly smaller line below calls out the newly-implemented dusk curfew due to little police progress in the investigations. Michael keeps quiet about the papers, not wanting to add to Luke’s frenzy, but the way Luke averts his eyes tells him that Luke is already well aware.

Michael had heard the wildest rumors - that there was some sort of inhuman monster to blame for the deaths or that it was occult related. And sure, he knew every New England town had its share of weird cryptid stories and weirdos, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe it was anything other than a particularly bold black bear. He’s lived nearby his whole life and has never seen anything like the hysteria that was gripping the sleepy little town now. It makes sense to him that a newbie like Luke would be overly terrified though, especially as the days grew shorter with the approach of the harsh grey winter.

As they approach the loop in front of Luke’s dorm, Luke is practically dragging Michael behind him in a sprint. Any trace of daylight is completely gone from the sky and each passing second seems to increase Luke’s panic. They come to a sudden halt in front of the large glass doors that lead to the commons and Luke drops Michael’s hand, beginning to fumble for his keycard between ragged, panting breaths. Michael is doing all he can to not giggle at Luke’s frantic nature. Michael couldn’t be less worried about the dark; he knows there’s not a black bear in the world brazen enough to come up to them right now. Assuming it was a black bear causing all the trouble... It seems like an eternity that Michael watches Luke’s hands struggle to make the machine on the door read his card.

“Why does this stupid thing never work! I live here!!” The shadow suddenly casting over Luke’s clumsy hands is enveloped quickly by Michael’s frigid fingers. Michael’s hands feel firm around Luke’s and Luke lets him pull the flimsy plastic from him. Michael does his best to calm Luke as he runs the card through the machine slot a couple of times until the latch clicks open to grant them access. “See? We’re okay. Nothing to worry about.” Michael’s tone is gentle as Luke releases the air that’s been burning in his lungs. The nip in the air isn’t doing Luke any favors when it comes to catching his breath or the flushed tint on his face. And the kiss Michael places on the rosiest part of his cheek definitely isn’t helping either.

The offending keycard lands in Luke’s palm as Michael flashes a comforting smile. “Well, now that I’ve been a gentleman - walked you home and kissed you goodnight - I should get home too. Curfew and whatnot...” Michael sheepishly tucks his hands in his pockets, trying to keep them from freezing stiff, and turns away from Luke.

Without a second thought, Luke reaches out to wrap his spindly fingers around Michael’s wrist and doesn’t bother to hide worry on his face. “Maybe you should stay. Just to be safe, I mean. I don’t want you to walk across campus alone with god knows what out there.” Luke tosses a quick glance beyond the well-lit drop off loop, eyes wide. “Come on! I’m pretty sure that my roommate’s gone for the weekend, so there’s even an extra bed. And I’m sure I can find something of mine for you to sleep in.” The surprised look on Michael’s face brings back the panic in Luke’s chest as he spits out a quick “Only if you want!!” trying to play it off.

The smile that lifts Michael’s cheeks is amused while he assures Luke that he’s walked home in the dark plenty of times and lived to tell the tales. “Besides… even if it is a monster, the legend says it only goes after virgins…” The teasing on Michael’s face vanishes completely, watching Luke hug his arms around his own stomach and chew on his bottom lip. The concern on his face makes Michael reconsider - though he feels like there’s something else hiding behind Luke’s pleading gaze. Was Luke worried about still being a virgin? Or maybe he was worried because now he knew Michael wasn’t?

“Ohhh. Oh!! That’s why you’re so scared.” Michael turns back toward Luke and lets his hands rest on Luke’s too-broad shoulders, trying to use the most calming tone he could manage. “Listen, it’s just an urban legend. Some stupid frat guys probably made up to get their girlfriends to sleep with them!” Luke wasn’t expecting this turn of conversation after only three dates and he’s fallen quiet, hyperaware of the fact that the automatic lock on the door had clicked in place again and they still hadn’t made it inside yet. His steely blues meet Michael’s soft green eyes and the wind howls around them.

“Is that why you want me to stay over so soon, Luke? I mean…. I like you. I really do! But I don’t know about taking your virginity just because of some crazy rumor…” Luke lets out a small laugh and stares down at his feet. He unravels his arms from around his middle and holds out his hand for Michael. “No, you goon. I just really don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re the only friend I’ve got here!” Michael scoffs, feigning offense at Luke’s use of the word “friend”.

“Sucks to be you, I guess. You’re never gonna lose your virginity if you keep making out with guys and then calling them your friends,” Michael teases as he bumps Luke’s shoulder with his own. Luke rolls his eyes in response, earning him a fit of laughter as he scans his keycard again, managing entry on the first try, and pulls Michael through the main doors and down his hallway.

Once inside the warm air of Luke’s room, Michael sinks down onto Luke’s bed with an overexaggerated sigh, immediately making himself at home and watching as Luke roots through his dresser to find sweatpants for the pair of them. He eventually finds suitable options and makes his way across the room, offering Michael his pick of the outfits he’s gathered up. As Luke stretches out his hands to show Michael his choices, Michael grabs them both with a playful grin and tosses them onto the bed beside him. Luke begins to protest at his disregard but Michael reaches for Luke’s now-empty hands, ever so slowly pulling him forward until his knees knock against the bed. He holds Luke’s gaze as his hands move toward his hips, gently tugging him onto the bed so his long legs can fold over themselves on either side of Michael’s hips. Luke lets his lips part in anticipation as he settles onto Michael’s lap.

Michael’s hands have warmed from their previous state and Luke thinks they might burn right through him where they snake around his waist. Luke’s thawed fingertips land softly on each side of Michael’s full cheeks as he smiles up at him. The space between them is alive with electricity as they move closer before Luke finally leans down to close the gap. This kiss was different than the ones underneath the oak tree this afternoon, full of something Luke had never let himself experience before. It was soft and slow and filled with the kind of tenderness that only appears in timid new relationships.

Not wanting to rush into anything Luke might regret, Michael breaks the kiss and begins to speak while tracing feather-light touches up and down Luke’s back.

“‘S cute that you worried about me, you know? You’re sweet.” Luke smiles before pressing his puffy lips to Michael’s again briefly, leaving them behind to trail down the side of his neck, causing his reply to come out muffled.

“Not as sweet as you’ll be.” Michael hums inquisitively, assuming he misheard.

“I said, not as sweet as you. I can still taste…” Luke leans into Michael’s lips again. “Pumpkin...apples…and….” Michael smiles under the kiss this time. “Cinnamon!” Luke lingers over Michael’s mouth for a few beats, a hungry look in his eyes. “I’m glad you decided to stay tonight. Much better with you here.” Michael pulls Luke’s body flush against his, the mischief on his face matching Luke’s.

“You know, I still don’t think we should do it just so you won’t be a virgin anymore, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have fun…” Michael bites the corner of his lip and pulls Luke down to him with much more purpose this time. A flurry of hands begin to tug at fabric and rush over heated skin. Luke nips down Michael’s neck again and he’s sure to leave bruises but that doesn’t seem to bother him.

“We don’t only go after virgins, just so you know,” he offers to Michael between shallow breaths. Unsure he heard correctly, Michael sits back to take in Luke’s face. “What? What does that mean? Who’s ‘we’?”

“Just that you shouldn’t believe everything that you hear,” Luke states very matter-of-fact with a glint of something indiscernable in his eyes. “Luke… I don’t - What? You’re scaring me. What are you talking about?” Michael’s sure that Luke’s messing with him, probably as payback for the virgin jokes earlier.

“Well. Virgins are sweeter - like getting to eat dessert for dinner. But the rumors are wrong. We don’t only go after virgins. That’s not really practical, is it?” As he speaks, Luke looks directly into Michael’s eyes and runs his thumb across Michael’s glossy lip before trailing over the marks already appearing on his neck.

The little bit of color that was flushed over Michael’s cheeks previously is gone and the horror that’s taken over his sweet face almost makes Luke second guess what comes next. Almost. And someday he’ll learn not to play with his food but he admits that it makes things so much more fun. Michael thickly swallows and squeezes his eyes shut. Maybe if he doesn’t open them, it won’t be real. Maybe he’ll wake up from a nap in the park under that old oak tree.

When his curiosity gets the better of him, he unscrews his eyelids to see Luke, still on his lap, with eyes that glow a deep amber. The sinister smile that stretches across Luke’s face reveals multiple rows of pointed teeth, which he uses to make quick work of Michael’s throat, desperate pleas and screams still trapped inside.

———

taglist: @easierlftv​​ @haikucal​​ @mashlums​​​ @youngblood199456​​ @calumbroutledge​​ @alltimesos​​ @another-lonely-heart​​ @castaway-cashton​​ @itsjen223​​ @bloodyoathcal​​ @vapor5sos​​ @myloverboyash​​ @justhereforcalum​​ @karajaynetoday​​ @spicycal​​ @devilatmydoor​​

[capesandshapes]

The Last Resort: Chapter 2 (Adrinette)

Summary: After an akuma attack goes wrong, Adrien finally learns Ladybug's secret identity and finds himself falling even deeper in love with his friend. He thinks he's finally gotten lucky when she declares to him that she's currently in the business of falling love with anyone but her previous crush... until that crush turns out to be him. Now Adrien has to somehow convince the girl of his dreams to fall back in love with him, while keeping his own identity a secret from her. Well, if there was one thing his father taught him, it was how to multitask. Chapter Summary: The Cat's Out of the Trunk, Good Morning Beautiful. Marinette explains why she refuses to date Chat, Adrien begins a new morning routine, and it turns out old emotions may die harder than habits.

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Alya closed the distance between her and Marinette quickly, her arms wrapping around her smaller friend and her face burying in the girl’s hair while Adrien could only watch. The two girls stayed like that for a moment, Marinette’s eyes closing in what seemed to be thankfulness as her hand slowly patted Alya’s back. But it was only a moment, Then Alya pulled back to face her friend, her face shaped into a wicked grin.

Alya pressed her lips to her friend’s forehead with an overexaggerated mwah, a loud pop resounding as she quickly pulled back. “Well, you know what, I love you,” she declared, “and someday Adrien’s going to wake up and realize that he does too... if he hasn’t already.”

Marinette snorted, rolling back from Alya with a bemused smile, “you’re the worst.”

“I’m the best,” Alya proclaimed. “The best listener, the best blogger, and your best friend.” Leaning her weight on the side of Marinette’s chair, Alya asked, “speaking of being your best friend, and seeing as how I don’t see anything that could possibly keep you busy… Maybe we could have a sleepover tonight? Possibly run through all my theories, some Adrien related and others not?”

And while Adrien would have loved to hear those theories and possibly see his lady’s reaction, the thought of remaining in a dark trunk didn’t exactly sit well with him, nor did the fact that he could only hold up his transformation for so long. A loud groan escaped his mouth without permission, gaining Alya’s attention and suddenly startling Marinette.

“What was that--” Alya began to ask.

“Floor!” Marinette immediately yelled, suddenly hoping up from her desk chair and walking in front of the trunk. She gestured to the floor with her back turned to Adrien, and he could only imagine the look on her face. “You know, the floors in these old houses! What are you going to do? I mean its Paris, its 2020, everyone’s having a housing crisis--Can’t fix all the floors! Even if you wanted to fix them and make them less noisy and less inconvenient. Those floors!” She quickly sat on the trunk, crossing her legs and no doubt posing herself in an innocent manner. “But um… Sleepover. You here, with me, alone. Tonight.” Her nerves were evident in her voice, “Can’t do it, really busy...Making a raincoat for a friend.”

Alya let out a laugh, “Which friend?”

“Wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”

More laughter, Adrien heard the floor actually creak as Alya neared closer. “Alright,” she said, “you have fun with that. I’ll keep my eyes out for it on your Instagram.”

“Of course,” Marinette gave a strained reply as the trap door in her room creaked.

A moment passed in which she no doubt listened to Alya’s footsteps going down the staircase, much like Adrien was doing. He could hear her stand up from the trunk as the footsteps faded further away, a heavy inhale audible from outside. Suddenly, the lid of the chest opened entirely, Marinette’s face coming into view.

“Don’t. Say. A. Word.” Marinette immediately spat.

Adrien’s eyebrows raised, his legs hooking over the side of the trunk as he used it for leverage to pop out of the confining space. After taking in her dead serious expression, he couldn’t help but grin, “I don’t know what you’re referring to…”

She shot him an unimpressed glare.

“I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” he laughed, “or trunk, more like it.”

“And I’m going in it,” Marinette deadpanned, placing a foot in the trunk before stating rather over dramatically, “close the trunk and bury me in it.” After a moment of thought, she said, “and don’t forget to take the earrings off first.”

“No can do, m’lady,” he replied, his hand wrapping around her wrist as he pulled her closer, his grin stretching ear to ear like some sort of Cheshire Cat rip off. “You like him,” he stated, more for his pleasure than to inform her. “You like Adrien Agreste.” It felt electric and absolutely invigorating to say while looking at her, his Ladybug, and watching the pink bloom over her cheeks.

“I don’t!” She replied, “Not anymore!” But when the color left her face, she decided to correct the statement, “I mean I do, as a friend. I like Adrien as a friend now, only a friend. I don’t love h--”

He couldn’t let her say it. He cut her off before she could finish the statement, saying in an almost teasing tone, “Then prove it. You don’t even have to know who I am, just date me instead.” He rested his chin between his thumb and pointer finger with a devilish look, his other hand pulling her closer as he almost dared her to actually look at him, “I think I’m a little more handsome than the Agreste boy, wouldn’t you agree?”

Marinette jerked back her hand from his, her eyebrows knitting close to each other as she replied a simple, “No.”

He deflated slightly.

“You just don’t get it because you love doing this so much, but I…”

“You...?” Adrien’s face fell.

Marinette looked away from him. “I want a lot more than this, you know?” She cringed at her wording before clarifying, “I mean you and I could never date like normal people. We could never have picnics, watch movies at each other’s houses, go out to dinner, go to school dances, or spend a single peaceful night together.” Seeing how his face contorted in thought, she carried on, “I mean patrolling and beating up bad guys together is one thing, but there’s so much more to love. Could you even imagine Chat Noir walking me to school? That’s not something that can happen, kitty.”

“But if you let me tell you who I am--”

“Then I’ll love you just because you’re Chat Noir,” her hand drifted to his cheek, her thumb creating circles on his skin. “No one else would have a chance to know me like you do, and I might miss out on something great.” Her eyes were sincere as she stated, “If I fall in love, I want it to be as a civilian, just a normal girl. If you take off that mask right now, then I won’t get that.”

He sighed, his head leaning into her touch as he slowly closed his eyes, seemingly admitted defeat, “fine.”

*****************************************

“So tell me again why you’re forcing me to wake up a whole hour early,” Plagg yawned, but it did not diminish the audible nature of his irritation, “When you already show up at school well before everyone else.”

Adrien sighed, placing his head against the glass of his car door window as he also fought the urge to return to sleeping. “We’ve gone over this, Plagg. I talked to Nathalie, and she said that this was the only way she could imagine making room in my schedule for this. If this is what Marinette really wants, then…”

“Then you should walk her home instead,” Plagg whined, “so it’s not too suspicious. Heck, you could even give her a ride, maybe she’d like that.”

“Plagg.”

“You know that girl’s late all the time anyway!” Plagg reminded Adrien, “and your father said that if you show up even a minute late to one of your classes, then it’s another day of no school for you. You’re seriously putting things at risk here.”

“And?”

“And?!” Plagg’s voice grew louder but trailed off quickly. In a mere moment, the cat’s demeanor changed, his ears perking and his tail drooping as his nose pointed up in the air.

Adrien’s did as well, enticing smells filling the street as the Dupain-Cheng bakery came into view. Mrs. Cheng stood outside, propping the door open as she flipped the sign, clapping to herself with a pleased look on her face as the streets of Paris began to fill with the smell of freshly baked bread. Passerby quickly began to file off the street and into line as the scent grew, each hoping to grab some of Paris’s greatest baking before it ran out.

“Cream cheese danish-- No, a cheesy croissant-- No, a cheesy quiche…” Plagg began to demand, “or all of the above.” With a lick of his lips, the Kwami declared, “maybe you trying to date bakery girl won’t be such a bad thing…”

“I’ll say…” Adrien agreed, his mouth partially falling open at how enticing the smell of a just-opened bakery was. No wonder Ladybug always smelt so good; her parents had managed to create an aromatic paradise with mixtures of flour and yeast every morning.

The car rolled to a stop in front of the bakery, the Gorilla quickly hopping out of the driver’s seat to open Adrien’s door before he could manage to do it himself.  The Gorilla nodded his head to the bakery as he opened Adrien’s door, hinting that at least one banana cream eclair would be required for the boy to carry out his plan. Adrien nodded in response as he got out of the car, giving his bodyguard a quick thumbs up and grinning as the man returned the action. Adrien was fortunate that his father paid him well, especially if he had to provide treats for his bodyguard and Plagg every day he insisted on walking with Marinette.

Pulling the strap of his messenger bag a little bit tighter and straightening his back, Adrien inhaled hard before getting in line. Keeping his head down and his hand angled on his forehead so that it blocked the majority of his face, he waited peacefully in the quick-moving line, mentally practicing what he would say to see Marinette at such an early hour a million times.

He was on a million and one when he got close enough for Tom Dupain to notice him, only three people between him and the counter.

“Adrien!” The baker’s voice greeted from behind the counter. Heads turned with his greeting, but the man paid them no mind as he quickly exited the kitchen to place a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “What are you doing waiting in line? You know you’re one of Marinette’s friends now; you hardly have to go through the bakery doors. You can use the back entrance like Alya.” Shrugging his shoulders and seeming to not realize even part of the reason Adrien was there, Tom added, “you can drop whatever you have for her on the kitchen counter; she’ll probably be up in a few hours.”

“Um, actually,” Adrien blinked, overwhelmed by the man. “I was hoping to get some of your pastries, you are the best baker in town. And then, you know…” Tom’s akumatization as Weredad flashed before his eyes, causing Adrien to mumble his words too lightly for the man to hear.

“Excuse me, son. I couldn’t hear that last part!” Tom smiled.

“I said…” The words were lost once more in the bustle of the bakery.

“Just a little bit louder, Adrien!”

“I was hoping to walk Marinette to school!” Adrien yelled.

Tom inhaled and Adrien flinched, unsure of how the man would react after the absolute trainwreck that was brunch with Chat Noir.

“Sabine, did you hear that?!” Tom called across the bakery, his arm snaking around Adrien’s shoulder and holding the boy closer to him like one would a son. “Adrien is walking our daughter, Marinette, to school!” His expression was practically blissful as he called to his wife, “pack up one of everything!” He swiveled back to Adrien, his face filled with so much genuine glee that Adrien almost thought that he should be the one selling happiness on billboards instead of the blond. “Now you go up there and, no matter what she says or how grumpy she may seem, wake Marinette up. I’m sure she’ll be delighted to see you once she comes to.”

**********************

The light blue light of early morning streamed in through Marinette’s windows when Adrien entered her room, providing just enough light for him to get up her staircase without hassle and sit at the edge of her bed. Still, even with the dip of his body sitting on her mattress the girl did not move, her eyes still shut tight to the morning.

Marinette released a small sigh as her body flipped his way, her feet seeking the warmth of his legs as she nestled in sweetly to her bed. Her long eyelashes fluttered only once as her knees raised back into the fetal position, murmuring words softly to herself. It would be easy to watch her, but it wasn’t exactly his place, and Adrien currently had a deadline to fulfill.

“Marinette~,” he cooed, setting a hand down on her waist to shake her gently. “Wake uuuuuup.”

“Mbleg,” Marinette responded.

“Marinetteeeee,” he tried again.

“Nuh-bluh,” she said, half-asleep.

He held back the chuckle that tickled the back of his throat, his voice teasing as he continued, “Marinette, it’s Adrien Agreste.”

“Nuh.”

“I’m here to walk you to school.”

“Un-mn.”

He rolled his eyes with a grin, allowing his side to fall against the bed as he faced her, his body filling in all the spaces where hers curved. With his face just inches from hers, he leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers momentarily before enacting his evil plan.

Puckering his lips, he grabbed her shoulders and, taking advantage of the short distance but never fully touching her, blew a gust of air up her nose.

Marinette’s eyes flew open and she sprang back, screaming, “AH!” And then, noticing Adrien, she screamed again, “AAAAH!” Her hand slapped down on his shoulder as her screaming stopped, once, twice, and again; her eyes scrutinizing him as if she was worried he’d bite her or something.

Adrien flinched at the contact, but couldn’t help but laugh, “Marinette!”

“Adrien!” She finally acknowledged, her jaw immediately falling open. “It’s you! You’re in my bed! Now! With me!” Her eyes widened, “Oh my god, I just hit you.”

“Your parents sent me to wake you up,” he explained.

“They sent you to wake me up?” Marinette repeated, her eyes drifting down from him to her pillow. Her mouth stretched wide as she tried to paint a distracting smile, immediately grabbing the pillow near Adrien that she’d previously been resting on and flipping it over, as if he hadn’t just seen her drooling seconds before. “I mean, that’s just-- wow, what an occasion, you waking me up and all.”

Adrien nodded, “Yeah, I was just in the neighborhood picking up pastries, can’t beat one of your father’s croissants, and then I thought, maybe I should walk with Marinette to school today?” He twinkled at her, adding innocently, “if you want to, that is.”

It was adorable when she was awestruck. “Walk? With you?” Adrien nodded and there it was, a deep blush that Marinette had likely been holding back. “Let me just get dressed, and then we’ll…” She nodded to herself as if affirming this was real before springing to her feet. Taking in Adrien with even wider eyes, she looked between him and her bed, only seeming to inhale and never exhale. “You stay here. I’ll get dressed but, you stay here,” she stated, and it hit him that she was obviously afraid that he’d disappear into thin air.

“I’ll stay here, right here, on your bed, and I’ll wait for you. Okay?” He chuckled.

“Okay,” she finally exhaled, casting him a nervous look as she approached her stairs. He beamed at her in return and she immediately looked down, her face a ruby red as she disappeared down the stairs.

"...Don’t like Adrien anymore,” he muttered as she disappeared, rolling onto his back to grin even wider at the ceiling. “Right,” he laughed.

[alexanderlightweight]

Home is You

This is for @alexmanesairstream! Thank you for the prompts, I sort of muddled them both together and then it got a little away from me!  Hope you enjoy it!

Michael was fraught with tension and he scowled at his beer bottle, knowing from the mental buzz that sparked like static electrify across his brain that Isobel was fast losing her patience.

“Look, Michael if it’s making you this worked up just go see him.”

“He clearly doesn’t want to see me.  Do you think it’s payback?”  Michael asked and ran his hands through his hair, trying not to think of all the worst case scenarios and failing.

“What I think clearly doesn’t matter,” Isobel said.  “Seeing as I keep on telling you to just go over to his place and talk to him in person.”

“We’ve been talking.  Talking is all we’ve been doing for a couple months now.  This was supposed to be the first step.  Sort of like a date.”  It felt odd to admit, but it was something that had been building for months.  A relationship built on trust and respect and not just desire.  It was supposed to be the beginning of a relationship that Michael had been craving for over a decade.  It was just like life to give him a taste of what he could have, then rip it away.

If this was Alex once again walking away from him, Michael was going to break and it was going to be explosive.  

“Sort of like a date?”  Isobel asked with little sympathy and then she scoffed, “if it’s only sort of a date then what does it even matter?”

If Michael had just a little less control, then the glass in the room would have shattered.  As it was, her wine glass gave a delicate little hum of warning and Isobel winced before setting the glass down.  “Sorry.  Look, Michael you have to figure this out.  Don’t let this be another misunderstanding or accident.  I realize you’re scared,” he shot her a glare that didn’t even phase her.  “But you both being scared is part of what made this take so long to get here.  Granted you both had different reasons for dragging your feet, but at some point you both need to stop making the same mistakes.”  

“If you’re wrong,” Michael warned, unable to finish voicing what he feared the most.

Isobel rolled her eyes and gave him a tiny mental push, “go Michael.  You don’t want to know what I’m planning if you two don’t manage to work this out by Monday.”  

Michael conceded defeat gracefully -with a grumble and the overexaggerated drag of his boots against Isobel’s floor.

-

Michael hadn’t been to Alex’s cabin very often.  The times he had been there, Valenti or someone else had also been present.  It was both exhilarating and neausiating to be approaching what he knew was Alex’s home and sanctuary by himself.  He wanted this to work.  More than anything, he wanted their relationship to be feasible and healthy and something that wouldn’t shatter as easily as bone.  Max may have been able to heal physical wounds and Isobel could root out mental and emotional ones, but not one out of their motley family could heal him if tonight went wrong.

Of course, it went wrong.

The first thing Michael noticed was that the cabin was lit and smoke was coming from the chimney.  It had been cooling down at night, but Alex would never have a fire going if he’d actually planned on meeting Michael for dinner like he’d promised.  Turning to corner to park and seeing Valenti’s car only made caused his mood to darken and agitation to churn in his stomach.  

From an intellectual point of view, Michael understood that what Alex and Valenti were working on was important, he also knew that a part -though not all- of Alex’s dedication to what was a rather thankless task, was because of him.  From an emotional standpoint, Michael wasn’t so understanding.  Especially if Alex’s reason for standing him up was because he was working with Valenti.  That shit wasn’t acceptable.  

It was with wild energy coursing through him that he unlocked Alex’s door with his powers, barely noticing that the door made a solid thunk as it opened.  The inside of the cabin was surprisingly dark, the only light besides the fireplace was a flickering lamp in the kitchen.

What did surprise him was a loud curse and then the sound of something being knocked over and then a quieter curse.  Valenti stumbled out from Alex’s bedroom looking like he hadn’t slept in days and his shirt soaked, an empty glass in one hand.

“Geurin?”  Valenti asked with what was clearly genuine surprise, “shit sorry.  I must have fallen asleep.  What are you doing here?”

“Trying to figure out where my errant date was,” Michael drawled, “just what kind of shit did you two find this time?”

Valenti blinked twice and then held up a hand, “give me a second before the interrogation, Guerin.  Actually, let me ask a couple questions first.  What time is it?”

“Past ten,” Michael said and watched as Valenti made his way with ease to the kitchen, grabbing a pot of what was clearly cold coffee and filling the glass in his hand.  The doctor didn’t even hesitate to down it before he rinsed it out and filled it with water that he slipped much more slowly.  

“Right, so I’ve been here... shit.  I got here yesterday, to go over something with Alex.  You said you had a date tonight?”  

“He didn’t mention it?”

“He’s ah...” Valenti sighed, “look I need you to trust me as a doctor okay?”  Michael crossed his arms in front of his chest and shifted his weight.  “Right.  Don’t even know why I thought that might work.  I got here yesterday and Alex was a little under the weather.  I convinced him to rest a little bit and he felt bad enough to agree, only when he woke up again his fever was pretty bad.  He’s not holding down medicine or fluids and his fever is high enough that he’s not making any sense.  He mentioned sending you a message and I gave him his phone, but it’s possible he forgot to send it.”  Valenti paused and took another sip of water, “or even type it out.  Like I said, he’s pretty out of it.”

“He’s sick?  Do we need to get him to a hospital?”  Michael asked, immediately alert despite the fact that he hated hospitals.  He hadn’t been around a human he cared about long enough to be there when they were sick.  He would have been, if it were for Alex, but they’d never had that opportunity.  

“I’d really rather not move him.  I gave him an IV earlier to get some fluids in him and he’s been doing better since then.  Honestly, he just needs rest and someone to look after him and help him out.”  Valenti said and he fixed Michael with a very serious look, “I have to get back to my apartment to rest at some point though.  If he’s not doing better I’ll probably have to take him with me and then to the hospital anyway, I can’t leave him here alone like this.”

“I can stay with him.”  The words were out of his mouth before Michael’s brain had finished registering Valenti’s words but he meant them.

“Guerin,” there was a pause, “you and Max and Isobel don’t get sick.  Alex is, he’s going to need a lot of looking after and a lot of help.”  

Valenti gave him and look that Michael didn’t even try to discern, he just shook his head stubbornly, “I can take care of him.”  

-

The list of things to track about Alex’s condition was long but not overly complicated.  The most important thing was to monitor his temperature and keep track of his fluid intake.  Valenti had been very clear that if anything got worse that Michael was to call him immediately, for once Michael didn’t argue.

Alex’s body was flush with heat, his face too pallid and hair soaked with sweat.  His eyes were glazed over with fever and when he met Michael’s gaze there was little recognition for a few minutes.  Then he seemed to collect himself enough to offer a small smile before he buried himself back into his pillow.

-

Taking care of Alex seemed to mostly be entertaining himself while Alex slept.  Michael hadn’t been sure what to do with himself at first; heating broth that Alex couldn’t quite hold down and texting both Valenti and Isobel updates on how Alex was doing.  She’d offered to come over but he’d been firm in telling her that wasn’t necessary.  Now he found himself pressed against Alex’s side, using his tablet for research and waking Alex up when he felt the other man needed it.  They hadn’t talked much, Alex being either too exhausted or too sick to have a serious conversation.

It took a week for Alex to get back on some semblance of a meal plan.  His body rejected most solid foods and Michael knew it was driving him crazy.  It should have been driving them both crazy but Michael, Michael found a strange sense of peace in looking after Alex.  In the fact that Alex was letting him instead of fighting to do everything himself.  

Michael had only left the cabin twice and that was to grab some of his things and make sure the bunker was sealed tight.

Taking care of Alex while he was sick was one of the most intimate things Michael had ever experienced.  Alex was stubborn and proud but even he knew when to lean on someone else and the fact that he hadn’t insisted Michael leave, hadn’t asked for someone else to see him like this.  It made something in Michael hum and settle happily in his chest, his entropy evening out as though Alex’s breathing and heartbeat were a song that soothed his mind.

It was like they were in their own little world.  Valenti had been called to a nearby hospital for an emergency and since Michael wasn’t sure exactly how Alex felt about anyone else at the moment, he didn’t bother letting anyone besides Isobel knowing what was going on.  

-

“So all it took for you to get along with Kyle was me getting sick?”  Alex teased him, cheeks finally showing some color that wasn’t from a fever and Michael rolled his eyes while using his powers to tuck the blanket around Alex.  

“I can tolerate Valenti when he’s useful, if I have to.”  Michael admitted sourly, “this isn’t going to become a common thing, Alex.  I wasn’t going to risk you dying or something and he’s the expert on human illnesses.”

“So what you’re saying,” Alex drawled with a glint of mischief in his eyes that made Michael wary, “is that Kyle has a better understanding of my anatomy than you?”  

“Alex,” Michael said warningly and was greeted with a smirk, “sometimes I wonder if you want me to break his face.”

“Sorry.”  He didn’t sound sorry at all, “but you kind of set yourself up for that one.”  When all Michael did was glower at him, Alex chuckled and reached out a hand to him.  “Thank you for trying to work with him.”

-

Taking care of Alex when he was incoherent and mumbling unintelligible things and barely able to hold a cup without spilling on himself was the easy part.  Taking care of a bed-ridden but coherent Alec was a trial in patience and a test in cunning.

“Guerin, no.”  

“What happened to Michael?”

“Michael is reserved for when you’re not holding a very sharp razor.”  Alex replied and gave the blade a very wary look.  “I’m fine waiting to shave.”

“You’ve been complaining about how being sweaty and not being able to shave is making you feel gross.  I can help with that.”  Michael sat down next to Alex and put the razor back on the tray of grooming supplies he’d gathered.

“I haven’t seen you clean shaven since we were kids.”  Alex raised a brow and looked at him challengingly, “you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“You’ll find I’ve only perfected my technique over the years.”  Michael said and grinned smugly before letting his mouth soften into a much gentler smile.  He raised his hand slowly and cupped Alex’s jaw, “I can tell it’s bothering you sweetheart, if you can, trust me with this.  Okay?”  He made sure his voice and his grip were tender, no demands.  If Alex decided he didn’t want this, Michael would respect that.  Alex watched him, brown eyes dark and gorgeous, brow furrowed in a way that made Michael want to soothe away all of his exhaustion.  

“Alright,” Alex said, pressing his cheek into Michael’s palm.  “I’d appreciate it then.  And Michael,” Alex paused, “I do trust you.  

Michael’s breath caught in his chest and he bit back the biting humor that defensively came to mind.  Even after all this time spent with Alex, there was a lingering fear that nipped at his heels and hid in the shadows of his brain.  

“Let’s put it to the test then, Private.”

-

Alex held himself still.  The moment, the act of Michael shaving him felt fragile.  It was his skin that a blade was pressed against, but he felt as though he were a sniper with Michael in his sights.  

Michael’s hands were calloused and warm, gentle but firm on his face, moving Alex where he needed to go.  The blade a steady and soft pressure.  Each slide of it against his face came with a strange pressure before it disappeared.  Soon enough he realized that Michael was using his powers to delicately maneuver the razor so that Alex was completely safe from even the tiniest and most accidental of cuts.  That devoted attention -on top of Michael’s dedication while he was sick- nearly broke Alex’s already cracked heart.

“I’m sorry.  I don’t think I’ve said that yet.”  He finally murmured, trying not to startle Michael.

“Alex, not right now.”  Michael said and gave him a stern look, “let me finish this.  I’m almost done.”  

Alex waited until he’d lifted the razor away to wipe it clean and then reached up, tangled his fingers with the hand Michael still had on his jaw.  Tilting his head he pressed a kiss to the now unscarred skin of Michael’s left hand, “you just keep on taking care of me.  I didn’t get to tell you how much I was looking forward to dinner.  To a real date, with you.”  

Michael gave a slow shuddering breath and clenched his eyes shut for a long moment, fingers tightening on Alex’s.  “Alex, why do you... you.  Fuck, you have the absolute worst timing for everything don’t you?”  Michael opened his eyes and Alex swallowed, already having forgotten what he meant to say in reply.  Michael’s eyes were fierce and burning and Alex felt consumed by the intensity.  

“Every time I try to wait for the right time, I hurt us both.  I don’t want to, I can’t keep doing that.  Eventually, I’ll be too late again.  Waiting for you was , Michael.  I don’t want to push you away again, just because I can’t figure out when or how to tell you what I feel or what I want.”  Alex kept his gaze locked on Michael’s.  “So, because I think I need to make it clear.  I wanted that date with you.  I knew what I was going to wear.  I wanted that night to end with a decision.”  

“And what decision would that be?”  Michael asked, voice hoarse but gaze no less relentless.  

“That no matter what, I’ll be there for you.  You’re my family, Michael.”  Michael’s gaze dimmed a little and Alex quickly continued, “but that’s not all I want you to be.  I wanted to tell you at dinner that I wanted more. That I want a relationship with you.  That I still love you.  I’ve never stopped loving you.”

Michael didn’t let him add anything else, just half lunged forward and Alex was dimly aware of the tray hitting the wall.  Pushed out of the way by Michael’s powers and then he was lost.  Pulled away from reality until his world began and ended with the press of Michael’s lips on his own.  Fingers sliding through his hair and tangling with the messy strands and hushed words of “I want that.  I want you,” pressed between gasps of air against his lips.  

He didn’t know how much time had passed before they parted.  Michael pressing one last kiss against his lips before pressing tiny, softer kisses against his cheeks and neck.

It took a long moment for Alex to come down from that euphoria, he was dizzy from the exertion of their kiss and he could do little more than rest a hand on Michael’s head.  By the time Michael stopped lavishing him with affection, Alex was waning and his eyes fluttering in a desperate attempt to stay awake.  

“If that’s all it took to wear you out, then we’re going to need to work on your stamina darling.”  Michael’s teasing was gentle and Alex gave a tired scoff in response.  Whatever energy he’d gained that day was gone and he just wanted to fall asleep with Michael’s comforting heat and weight against him.  “Alex, Alex stay awake just a little longer.”  Alex struggled to open his eyes and was rewarded with a soft, “there we go.  I meant it when I said you have the worst timing, let me just finish this and you can sleep.”  

Michael’s voice, his hands, the words he was speaking and even the scrape of metal from the razor all seemed twined together in something deeply comforting.  

-

Michael stretched out, tearing off his shirt as he headed to the Airstreams shower.  It had been a long but successful day and he was pleased with the amount of work he’d gotten done.  It had been a few months since Alex had missed their date and somehow, during the two weeks that he’d taken off, everyone had decided to have problems that had to be fixed.  While he couldn’t complain about the steady work, it did bite into his time spent both with Alex and in his bunker.  Of the two, Alex was his priority, but he did miss time spent discovering and learning more about who he was and where he was from.  The piece of his ship that Jim Valenti had left Alex, stayed in the bunker under the cabin, a place that Alex and he had been converting to both a lab and a more functional safehouse.  

Done with his shower, Michael went to grab new clothes and then cursed.  He’d been doing laundry at the cabin and apparently, he’d been forgetting to bring it back with him.  Deciding that if anyone pulled him over they could just deal with it, he put on his dusty and grease smeared jeans and forewent a shirt.  It wasn’t until he went to grab the rest of his dirty laundry that he really looked around the Airstream and he paused, taking in something that should have been obvious.

The Airstream was practically empty.

Oh it still held pieces of him.  It was still very clearly somewhere he had lived, but the longer he looked around the more he realized he didn’t live there anymore.  Somehow, in the days, weeks and now months of being with Alex, he’d only slept at the Airstream when he was too tired to drive home.  Or on the rare occasions when they were in town and he convinced Alex that it was faster to just stop at the Airstream instead of driving to the cabin.  

Michael drove on the side of too fast as he headed back to the cabin.  Alex was in the backyard, his laughter ringing through the air like a siren call when he arrived and Michael followed it.  The beagle pup they’d rescued was darting around, valiantly attempting to chase a soccer ball that outsized her.  Alex turned and smiled at him, looking healthier and happier than ever and Michael understood now what Alex had meant about feeling seventeen again.  Except they weren’t, they were better now.  Stronger, able to take care of each other and he knew that neither of them would ever look away again.  

“Too hot to put a shirt on, Cowboy?”  Alex asked as he met him for a kiss.

“More like I forgot that all my clothes were here,” Michael said evenly and he could feel Alex tensing under his hands, “I’ll have to remember to take some spares over tomorrow.”  

“Just some spares?”  Alex asked, voice tinged with hopefulness that let Michael know they were both on the same page.

“My home’s here,” Michael said and he put his left hand on Alex’s chest, right over his heart.  Alex was the music he needed to survive this planet, to survive the universe.  Whether that was here, in a little cabin in Roswell or on a ship set to explore the universe.  So long as he had Alex, his mind was quiet and life was worth it.  

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Your wish is my command-Klance Month Week 3

So I was supposed to upload a fic yesterday for the end of week 2 but because my first fic couldn’t be reblogged (I didn’t realize that Shallura, even when they broke up before the story started, was considered controversial, but those are the rules so that was my fault) I decided to not force myself to write a story that wasn’t working. It just required a lot of back story that maybe if it had been in the first one, wouldn’t of been so hard to write. Anyway, this story is inspired by my klance BB from like 2018, which still isn’t technically finished so there are a few spoilers, but the main things: Lance had cancer and had a year left to live. The reason he could see his Shinigami Hunk and Pidge is reveled in this but how they find out will be told in the final chapter that will hopefully be released before the end of the year. Hunk gave Lance a bit of blood to help turn him into a healthy, slightly older Altean, posing under the name Isamu, Prince of Altea. Keith is also a singer, who went under the name Red (orginal) but later switches labels, also to be revealed in the story. Hunk and Pidge are given a chance to become humans again after Lance is saved by a surgery that removes the chance and doesn’t damage his vocal cords. Again, all to be revealed in the last chapter. It’s called Forgotten Prince’s Song by sasuhina_gal on AO3 if you want to check it out. Anyway, this is from after all that, enjoy! Also, if anyone cares, Keith’s song is TAEMIN’s ECLIPSE from his last Japanese CD release. I’ve got a TAEMIN  problem. Meteor Shower/Promise

Keith watched his reflection as he went through his choreography. He was so focused on watching his moves, he didn’t see the door to the dance studio open, but he did hear the person calling his name.

“Keith! Keith, Keith, Keith!”

he turned in time to catch a hyperactive 21 year old jumping on him. Bright blue eyes and dyed white hair, similar to the kind he’d fallen for, but it wasn’t the looks that made Keith fall for Lance. It was that bright smile and his sunny personality. Even when Lance had to hide behind the mask of popular singer, Lance was still himself and that’s what Keith had fallen for.

Their story was an odd one, odd even for someone who was half Galra and happened to become a member of the universe biggest security group, while also being a J-pop star. Lance had grown up with sarcoma, a tumour that sat right on his vocal cords. Years before they met, a person Lance cared for a lot had died in a plane crash, but instead of moving on, he attached himself to Lance. That caused Lance to see the Shinigami that suddenly appeared in front of him one day. He asked them to help him achieve his one dream before they took his soul, to become a singer. That started his whole adventure of becoming Isamu, Prince of Altea; Altea Records’ most popular singer. Keith first meet Lance as Isamu, back when Lance had the Shinigami making him into an older Altean. he’d met Lance without the mask later and even though Keith spent most of his time around Isamu, other than his name and age, Lance never lied to Keith – other than the whole Shinigami thing, but he found that stuff out later. Of course those same Shinigami had become Lance’s closest friends and wouldn’t allow Lance to pass on, not when they wanted him to live for so much more. A surgery that could remove the cancer and save his vocal cords was found, Keith found out the truth and realised that even as the real Lance, his feelings were the same and in a turn of event, the Shinigami were given another chance at life.

Now 2 years later, healthy and able to sing without having to hide behind a persona, he and Lance were still together. Keith was sure that after all the things they’d been through together, their relationship was strong. He was yet to be proven wrong, and would not like to be.

“Yes Lance? How can I help you?” Keith asked, running a hand through Lance’s hair. It was wind swept, no doubt from his running. He could see the brown roots starting to show. While he first meet Lance while he had white hair, he liked Lance’s natural colour better.

“There’s gonna be a meteor shower this weekend!” Lance shouted.

“Indoor voices Lance.”

Now that he had the ability to be as loud as he wanted without coughing up a storm or feeling pain, Lance was constantly as loud as possible.

“Sorry, but meteor shower! We have to go. I rarely got the chance to go outside because of how sick I was all the time. And we won’t have to bother my grandmother since I moved back into my apartment.”

It killed Keith to destroy the utter excitement Lance had. “Um, Lance. We do have a performance this weekend at Music Core?”

Lance’s face dropped as he remembered. “Oh. I forgot. I don’t know how. I’m doing my new single then.”

“And it goes pretty late depending on the order.”

Lance sunk down more. “Right. Aww, I really wanted to go see this. It would have been perfect. I mean, we haven’t done a space wide tour yet and we talked about performing under the stars. Just sitting there watching all those shooting stars go by, it would have been so perfect.”

Keith pulled Lance closer, knocking his forehead against Lance’s gently, being sneakily happy just how much taller he was than Lance. It still gave him great glee, especially since Lance always got annoyed by it.

“I’m sorry. I know with our schedules, dates haven’t exactly been easy. But at least our schedules line up.”

“I guess.” Lance said still pouting.

“Hey, I bet you can’t do my choreo.”

That got Lance’s attention. “I so can. And I can do it better.”

“Really? Prove it.”

Keith let himself be playfully shoved away, letting Lance have full range of the floor as he restarted the music, grabbing his phone. He joined Lance in doing the choreo, ignoring how Lance overexaggerated some of the moves where Keith would be singing. Instead his focus was on his phone, texting Lance’s manager and practical sister Allura. he’d gladly admit it, he didn’t like seeing Lance sad and he’d do whatever possible to keep a smile on his face.

                                                       ____

“My god I can’t believe we ever worried you wouldn’t like him as Lance. doesn’t matter if he’s Isamu or Lance, you fold like wet paper for him.” Pidge teased as the stylist fixed Keith’s clothes.

Ok so maybe he bugged Allura to see if she could convince the people in charge of the order to put Lance and Keith first, even though they had to technically stay to the end. And maybe he also bugged Thace to borrow the car for them to come in so he could take Lance to see the meteor shower. If they could finish in time. Things might be live but there were only so many things they could actually control.

Keith looked over at the former Shinigami. “Don’t you have a brother to go bother?”

“And not bother you? But it’s so fun?”

“Where’s Hunk when you need him?” Keith asked himself, wondering where the much older singer was. Probably shadowing Allura. He was learning to become a manager, though he’d love to see which person would be able to understand their odd family.

“Keith, 2 minutes.” a stage hand called.

Keith glanced over at the TV that showed the stage. Lance and his female backup dancers were reaching the climax of Lance’s song. Just had to get through a song.

“I take it you’d like me to inform Lance to change back into his regular clothes when he gets back into his dressing room.”

Pidge might love teasing Keith and Lance about their relationship, but she had put in a lot of work into trying to get them together.

“If you could.”

with a nod from the stylist, Keith headed out the door and got his mic put on before he passed Lance and Allura.

“Meet me in my room after.” Keith called as he took the stage.

“And now taking the stage. His popularity has yet to waver even after switching labels. Though with a boyfriend like Lance, who could blame him for switching. Please welcome Keith, with his song ECLIPSE.

                                                      ____

“Keith, where are we going? We go back out on stage after the show is over to say goodbye to everyone.” Lance asked, letting his boyfriend pull him out the backdoor. After he performed on stage, Pidge shoved the clothes he came in at him and told him to change. Then she slapped a hat on him and gave him a face mask and shoved him in Keith’s dressing room.

“Stay here till lover boy comes to get you.” she ordered before going to find Matt.

Lance had learned that Pidge’s plans usually didn’t end up like she’d planned but he decided to humour her. She was telling him to wait for Keith, what was the worse that could happen?

Of course, now they were heading for the car they came in, dressed in non-descriptive clothes in hopes to not be noticed by the paparazzi or fans outside the broadcasting station. What had Pidge gotten him into?

“Whoa, there’s question I’m still asking today.” Lance muttered, climbing into the car.

“You’ll see, don’t worry.”

“Still can’t help but be worried.” Lance said, pulling his hat down as the pulled out of their spot and towards the exit. Doing this 3 years and he still couldn’t get used to the amount of fans and such who stood outside the broadcasting station just to get a glimpse of their favourite star. Even if he had been a healthy kid, Lance still couldn’t imagine doing this for hours.

Luck was on their side and they weren’t too noticed when they left. He wouldn’t be surprised though if they still got found out though.

“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?” Lance asked, as they started heading on the main roads, away from the city.

“You’ll see. Of course, I just hope we can get their quick. we’re cutting it a bit close.”

Lance for the life of him couldn’t figure out where Keith was taking him. They reached the famed park owned by the Altean Embassy, a place Lance knew well. Covered in juniberry flowers, Lance took pictures here for his Eternal Snow CD cover. But why would Keith bring him here?

Keith opened the sun roof and leaned their chairs back.

“Keith...” Lance started.

“Shh. Look up.”

Lance did and stared at the sky. Nothing was happening and Lance opened his mouth to ask something when he saw it. The streak across the sky and the ones that followed. He felt his eyes widen as he watched the shooting stars dart across the sky.

“Like it?” Keith asked, sounding teasing.

Lance shoved at Keith, who moved away and grabbed Lance’s hand to stop him from hitting him more. Lance laced their fingers together and pulled Keith’s hand closer.

“Yeah you asshole, I like it. Honestly though, I’m glad that we got to do this. The closest thing was sitting in the sun room with Akira to look at the stars.”

“He never took you watch one of these?” Keith asked.

Lance shook his head. “Both him and Rachel were too worried about me getting sick. I always wanted to make a wish on a shooting star.”

“What would you wish for?”

Lance shook his head, squeezing Keith’s hand. “Before it would have been to sing or to find Akira. But I don’t need to make a wish any more. I can sing, I’m healthy, I have all my friends and family. I know Akira cared for me. And I have you, the one thing I needed in the end. What else could I need? Well, other than the ability to write a new song. I swear Kolivan keeps poking me cause I wrote a hit single in 3 days. One time thing, I swear.”

Keith laughed, squeezing Lance’s hand in response. “Only thing I’ll wish for is for us to be happy.”

“Wish come true. With you, I already am.”