#seriously he weighs less than a butterfly

[offended-dot-png]

When are we gonna admit that Cameron’s backstory is actually very depressing

[lirarey]

Julie has been a fan of songs released long before she was born since childhood. Their sound almost always seemed much more interesting than the work of modern performers. A little trip to the eighties was a great opportunity to explore the heyday of rock music. It was difficult to count how many new music appeared then. With a tremor in her chest, the girl walked along vaguely familiar streets, periodically experiencing a strong deja vu effect. The constant comparison of the past and the future made her head spin, so she had to temporarily abandon this activity. There was already a lot to see: lots of signage, old cars, funny hairstyles... Perhaps she stood out no less among this crowd. For some reason, it didn’t occur to her to change the style at least for a while.

In the midst of this bustling city, a young man sitting alone on a bench looked especially strange. He ran his left hand through his curly hair, ruffling it even more, and with his right hand he crossed out something in a notebook lying on his lap and exhaled noisily. Julie was familiar with this state: sometimes the lines in the song couldn't connect in any way. She didn't know much about the "butterfly effect", but she watched "Back to the Future" and roughly understood the concept of getting into the past. One careless word or movement of hers could radically change the present. But this young man looked confused... What if her help would be useful?

"Are you composing a song?" Julie approached him, nervously fiddling with the bracelet on her left hand.

He raised his head mechanically. The brown eyes radiated a familiar warmth. The warmth that the girl felt every time she looked at one not quite alive person. The memory of it made her heart skip a beat. Of all the possible people, Julie ran into Daniel. Still alive, full of strength, energy and faith in his work. The last thought that treacherously slipped through her head was how wonderful he looked with his naturally tanned skin color. It's strange that he didn't brag about the number of fans.

The eye contact lasted a little longer than it should have, and the young man looked down at the notebook again. Julie managed to notice the crossed-out lines, the matching of different notes to the same moment, and smiled against her will. They really turned out to be very similar. But why are they separated by this stupid gap of thirty years?..

"Apparently, it says "loser musician" on my face," he chuckled, crossing out another line.

She knew that feeling. Her passion for music brought great pleasure and allowed her to escape from school everyday life. It was difficult to say whether this would become a future profession or just a hobby. And now there was a human sitting in front of her who gave her courage in the truest sense of the word. In the same way, doubting his own abilities.

"Don't say that," the girl said. "I'm sure the time of your fame will come yet."

"When? After my death?"

"Why so categorically?" Julie flinched at the literality of his words. "Everyone has friends and family... Is there really no one supporting you?"

"You speak with such confidence, as if you came from the future, where our CDs sell millions of copies."

She bit her lip, weighing whether to tell the truth. Will he believe it? Would he think she was crazy?

"And if so?" It sounded like a challenge. "If I really saw your fans with my own eyes?"

"And in what year?"

"Two thousand and eleven..." The thought of how many years would actually pass made her exhale nervously.

"Do you seriously believe that by the age of forty we won't want to give up everything?"

Their keyboardist dropped them. However, it was hardly a matter of age. Making music when very young bandmates died in front of your eyes is definitely not the best idea.

"You won't be forty. And thirty, and twenty. It will never happen again." The voice trembled treacherously. "I don't know if it can be considered a good substitute that you can play... after your own..."

"Are you crying?.." The young man stood up, staring at her in amazement.

Julie abruptly wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned away, unable to look at him alive.

"We'll get to know each other, won't we?" His hand touched her shoulder. "And will you help us put the band back together?"

"Yes, I will be on vocals, although you won't really like it at first," the girl answered slowly, inwardly freezing from the feeling of warmth on her shoulder. "But over time, we will find a common language and more..."

"Am I in love?" Julie turned around, blinking rapidly. "Don't be surprised. When I first saw you, I felt like we were somehow connected. Your words only clarified some points."

She couldn't answer anymore. She found the strength only for a strong hug with quiet sobs. Daniel didn't lose his head, gently touching her back.

"I'm sorry, it's just me... I've thought so many times about how things would have turned out if... these feelings had a right to exist..." Julie muttered, clutching at his shirt. "And now you are... You're still alive... and this..."

"I should have guessed that our group wouldn't last long. Wrong time and wrong place," Daniel chuckled. "But, perhaps, it's worth dying at least for the sake of getting to know you.

"What?.. No!" She pulled away, startled. "If I could have saved you, it would have been much better!"

"But some things can't be changed while others can." A faint grin flashed across his face.

***

Julie didn't remember coming back from the past. But for obvious reasons, she didn't want to tell anyone about this trip either. It was good that it was a day off, and it was possible to walk alone early in the morning.

"Julie?" Daniel's voice came from behind her, as if asking why she had woken up so early.

"Hi," Julie said awkwardly, not looking at him. "The weather is good today."

"In the eighties, too," Daniel said casually, stepping closer.

"Do you remember?.."

"Of course, I remember my mistake. I may be a ghost, but that doesn't mean I have to act like a complete idiot by pushing you away." The ghost touched the back of his hand to her cheek. "Can I at least once not lie about my feelings?"

And he kissed her. Gently, almost without touching. As if he still believed he couldn't do it. And it was all really wrong. Daniel shouldn't exist. She shouldn't have met him. But is it possible to love someone so much who has been dead for a long time?

Julie didn't know the answer to that question. But she knew she couldn't love anyone else that much.

[thefanficmonster]

Power Couple

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Swearing 

Genre: Fluff, Humor

Summary: Sean, Felix, Dave, and Joel welcome Corpse’s girlfriend to a game of Party Animals. It��s her first time playing and she has to deal with a lot more than just the controls and objectives - her boyfriend being a cute, cuddly sweetheart with ulterior motives to his clinginess.

Requested by @susceptible-but-siriusexual. Thank you so much for your request! Hope I captured what you wanted and how you wanted. Feel free to send any other requests you may have XOXO

It’s been one hell of a day. Had to correct twice as many documents as I was originally supposed to at work; found my car with a flat tire in the parking lot as I was about to go home; argued with my boss over the phone while stuck in a traffic jam. It’s been a rough twelve hours, but it has led me here and that’s what I’d rather think about.

By ‘here’ I mean I’m sitting on the couch in Corpse’s recording room, my computer in my lap, my screen displaying the screen to the game Party Animals. The suggestion was Corpse’s. He immediately picked up on my below par mood and wasted no time finding a solution to bright up the remainder of the day, shadowing the shitty portion of it. I am not what you would call a gamer. Sure I’ve played Among Us with Corpse and his friends a few times. Even that I struggle to do because I’m internally fangirling over all the people in the lobby. Yeah, dating a youtuber doesn’t mean you automatically stop gushing over the many content creators on the platform you’ve been watching for quite some time now. Corpse knows how nervous I get so he’s always near me when we play with Sean, Felix and the other. All he has to do is give me that encouraging smile and wink of his and I’m good to go. Side note: massive props to him for going easy on me in Among Us, getting teasingly called ‘simp’ by his friends in the process.

“You’ll love it.“ He promised me over and over again as the game was downloading on my computer.

“I don’t doubt that, Corpse. But I am going in completely blind and I seriously don’t wanna embarrass myself.“ I mumble a quick ‘nor you‘ under my breath, hoping he doesn’t catch it because I’m in for a pep talk if he does. 

To my dismay, he does, “Listen here, you couldn’t embarrass me even if you actively tried to do something outrageous. Most likely scenario, I’d join you in the act.” He ducks in front of the couch so we’re at eye level, his hand coming up to cup my cheek in the sweetest, most comforting gesture ever. “We’ll show em who’s the boss at stealing candy.”

I can’t help but laugh, feeling unable to express just how much this man means to me. Words can’t do the feeling justice.

“Y/N!“

“Y/N!!“

“Corpse Wife has arrived!“

Hearing all the greetings lights a flame in my chest, the warmth spreading all the way to my neck and cheeks. “Hi guys! Missed playing with you!”

“We missed you too!“ Dave, the only one of the gaming gang I’ve actually met in person, replies to me, his words along with all the others’ wrapping around me like a comfort blanket. Despite them knowing I’m a fan of theirs, they’ve always made me feel welcomed, comfortable, nothing less than them.

“You know anything about this game?“ Felix asks me.

I shake my head, almost forgetting he can’t see me, “Corpse told me it’s funny and cute. It sounds like the perfect game for me.” 

“Oh no, this is a game of survival. Survival of the fittest!“ Sean shouts excitedly, a bang following his shout I can only assume was him hitting his desk.

“I’d like to think I’m pretty fit.“ I shrug my shoulders, laughing along with the guys.

“This is the only way to find out if you actually are.“ Joel’s voice comes through my headphones in the form of a tease.

Sean mumbles quietly to himself as he’s deciding how to separate us in two teams. “Guys, a little help here. We all suck at this game, it doesn’t really matter who’s in which team.”

“Actually...“ Felix trails off, “Corpse and Y/N are the ultimate power couple in Among Us. Chances are they will be in this as well. So, the only logical move would be to...“

“I’m taking Y/N, you take Corpse.“ Sean declares. “Joel, Dave, who do you guys wanna be with?“

And the game starts. Sean, Joel and I are the Meowfia while Corpse, Felix and Dave are yet to choose a team name. We throw around snarky, cocky comments at each other, taunting the opposite team as we struggle to take the candy to our respective sides of the map.

“Don’t you dare pull that lever, Dave!“ I launch at Dave, knocking his cute avatar away from the lever, buying Joel and Sean some time to steal back the gummy bear Corpse and Felix took from us.

“Y/N! Joel is out! Help me!“ Sean is freaking out now. I ditch Dave’s unconscious body and run to Sean’s aid. 

As I’m helping him push it towards out area a member from the opposite team latches onto my avatar, weighing me down and hindering me from doing anything.

“Hug!“ Corpse laughs as he has literally turned into a koala, holding onto my avatar.

“Corpse, you know you are actually supposed to hinder Y/N, not hug her. It’s cute though, don’t get me wrong.“ Felix laughs as him and Sean continue to struggle over the gummy bear.

“Nah, his tactic’s great. I can’t do shit.“ I desperately try and shake him off, “Babe, this is unfair. I can’t even be mad at you!“ I whine, staring to panic now that Dave is back to life and Joel is nowhere to be seen.

The round is won by Felix, Dave and Corpse who, if I might add, didn’t let go of me for the rest of the game.

We switch maps, now every man for himself. We’re on the submarine, recreating the Hunger Games with cute fuzzy animals. The thought passes through my mind, causing me to giggle.

“Y/N, you sound exactly like I’d imagine your avatar to sound. You’re so cute.“ Sean’s avatar circles mine a few times as he laughs.

He’s not wrong, my pale blue puppy is indeed cute. Apparently immortal as well.

“How is Y/N still alive?! Holy shit, her and Corpse really are a power couple.“ Dave shrieks when he sees me pick up the freeze gun. “NOOO!“ He shouts, devastated by the fact I shot him, sending him straight to his death.

“Chill, Dave. It’s all cool. Nothing personal.“ I struggle to hide my laughter, “No hard feelings, right?“

“Of course not, love.“ I can tell he grits the sentence through clenched teeth.

“Aw Dave, you are such an ice guy.“ I giggle, now shooting Joel with the gun.

“Someone take that gun from her!“ Sean cries as him and Felix race up the submarine.

Suddenly, the avatar of my boyfriend again wraps itself around mine. I hadn’t seen him in a while, considering Sean knocked him into the ocean earlier in the round. 

“How are you still alive?!“ I try to spin my puppy to get him to let go but he holds on tightly. “Babe, I swear, you are cute and I love you, but this is ridiculous. How and why are you alive?”

“That’s his superpower! He never fucking dies.“ Felix laughs, letting out a yelp when he briefly slips while climbing.

“Immortals!!! Immortals!!!“ Sean breaks out into a song, a song I really like, breaking the restraints I had on my laughter.

“Drop the gun or we’re dying together.“ He says almost seriously. Even though I can only see the back of his head I know he’s grinning.

“A Titanic/Romeo and Juliet mashup? Why not? I can live with dying a double historical death.“ Even though I appear accepting of his offer, I’m still trying to set myself free.

In the end, Sean claims his first win of the game and the rest of us are dead at the bottom of the ocean. Corpse and I did indeed die a Romeo and Juliet/Titanic death, getting everyone in their feels. We make a deal to get together and play again as soon as possible and we all go our separate ways, exiting the Discord call.

*Later that night* 

After a dinner consisting of takeout and two thirds of a shitty romantic comedies, Corpse shifts from next to me, starting to get up from the couch. I am surprised to feel jolted out of a half sleep as the room is now completely silent, the TV being turned off.

“Hey where’re you going?“ I ask groggily, rubbing my sleepy eyes.

“I have some editing to do. Don’t worry, I won’t stay up too late.“ He kisses my forehead before grabbing his phone from the coffee table.

Just as he’s about to walk away, I wrap my arms around his legs. He laughs, catching onto what I’m insinuating. His chuckle brings a smile to my face and butterflies in my belly. No matter how long we date for or how much time we spend together, some things never change. 

“Payback, huh?“ He asks, the smile audible in the question. I keep my eyes shut but nod, my arms still around his legs. “Alright, you koala. You’re coming with me.”

In his recording room, he settles in his chair placing me in his lap in a way that my legs dangling off to the side, my side leaning against his chest, my face hidden in the crook of his neck. We’re both comfortable, content and relaxed.

I don’t know when exactly it happens, but all my mind has registered is a quiet ‘I love you’ and the soft touch of Corpse’s lips on my temple. I manage to reply with an ‘I love you too’ before my sleepiness consumes me, my body completely relaxing against his, the warmth of his body, his scent, the sound of his breathing making me feel safe and loved: the two feelings I want him to feel with the same intensity when I’m in his arms.

Something tells me he does.

@simonsbluee  @save-the-sky  @hacker-ghost  @itsminniekat  @bi-andready-tocry  @imtiredaffff  @jazzkaurtheglorious  @hereforbeebo  @fandomgirl17 @chrysanthykios  @annshit @i-cant-choose-a-username-help

[jjuzoir]

Boyfriend! Itadori Yuji

request: no...! Hahaha :’)

word count: 1231

a/n: Look... i know i have requests okay hhh It’s just... i’ve been suffering from Yuji Brainrot recently 😿 anyway! drinking game ! how many times do i call or compare yuji to a puppy! i’m pushing an agenda onto you all

- Let’s get this out of the way, once Itadori falls - he falls hard. He’s not the type to get involved with anyone seriously, mostly because he just doesn’t really think he has the time (even though he totally has), the reality is; he isn’t really interested in a relationship. He’s happy with his life and getting the occasional crush on someone or a new celebrity crush after watching a movie.

- So when he finds himself crushing on you for a long period of time, you’ve basically got yourself your own puppy.

- It takes him some time to realize he’s interested romantically in you and he’s actually thinking about getting into a relationship, but once he does he doesn’t really see the point in taking much longer.

- He’ll be kind of awkward asking you out, but it’s cute! He’s energetic about it and he stutters a bit at first but when he finally gets it out he’s kind of excited - until he realizes there’s a chance you might say no. So please say yes and fast because he’s thinking about how Kugisaki and Fushiguro are gonna snicker at him and pity him for getting rejected after being totally sure of himself a few hours ago.

- And when you do say yes? He’s beaming, he’s shining – the sun was found jobless.

- He’s a sucker for you wearing his clothes. He finds it so cute to see you wearing something that’s his, he says it ends up smelling like you and it makes him all soft and warm when you give back a shirt or hoodie you’d been using and it smells like you.

- Nobara calls him disgusting because he genuinely doesn’t want to wash his clothes because they smell like you.

- His favorite dates are the ones where you stay at home and play video games or watch movies. He loves just being there with you and cuddling you close, it’s such a contrast from always being on a mission with his friends and Gojo. He can pretend everything is normal again when he’s with you.

- He also loves arcade dates! If Yuji can show off he will. His favorite is dancing with you in Dance Dance Revolution, he’ll hug you from behind and sway around and giggle while you’re both screaming because neither of you can get the steps right because you’re laughing too much.

- Itadori is such a big cuddle bug, he loves waking up early on Saturday and having you hugging him in your sleep. He’s like a magnet because wherever you are he’ll be there trying to throw himself on top of you to cuddle. He’s always got an arm around you or trying to wiggle himself into your arms, it’s really cute – he likes being in your arms, it’s just so fun to be hugged by you

- Whenever you sleep over, he likes having you rest your head on his chest or resting his head on yours. If he’s feeling overwhelmed, Itadori might just ask you to hold him – which means he wants to hug your waist and listen to your heartbeat while you play with his hair until you both fall asleep.

- He loves picking you up in his arms, no matter how tall you are or how much you weigh he’s absolutely carrying you in his arms while giving you surprise kisses on the forehead or cheek.

- He has you saved as something like “The Love Of My Life 💕✨” and wants you to have him saved as “The Light Of My Life 👑💕”, if you ask him to change it he’ll sulk a bit and whine about how it’s cute and romantic and it shows he cares a lot – you ask if he isn’t embarrassed and he nods; “But it shows I care :(“

- Let him keep it like that you monster.

-Has a candid of you doing something super boring like… algebra 2 as his lock-screen, it’s probably not even a good picture. Like, it’s probably kind of shaky since he had to take it fast before you question him, the sun blocks the background and you look like you haven’t seen the light of day in years. But you’re smiling, and he remembers very well why; it was the day he told you he loved you for the first time. And he doesn’t care if it’s a bad photo or if it’s cheesy, he likes it a lot and he looks at it whenever he’s feeling down.

- Anyway! Puppy boyfriend! Literally! Yuji is the type of boyfriend that can’t stand being away from you for too long, so whenever he sees you again he’s jumping into your arms and squeezing the life out of you.

- “[Name],” he whined as he nuzzled into your cheek, Nobara was cracking up as she filmed while Megumi tried not to look too disgusted, “I missed you!”

- “‘Ji, I went out for takeout?”

- “Took too long.”

- “I was gone for less than twenty minutes?”

- “Too long.” He looked up at you from his position in your chest and it took everything in you not to coo and pet him.

- “I’ll… I’ll try to be faster.” You mumble embarrassed.

- Yuki is also a good cook, since he was with his grandfather and that man looks like he can’t even boil an egg — it’s safe to assume Yuji taught himself how to cook.

- The granny’s probably felt bad and gave him a bunch of recipes and spices and tips for his food. What I’m saying is Itadori makes perfect comfort food. He’s also good at cleaning when he wants to be, he took care of his grandpa’s place and got a bunch of advice from the neighbors.

- He’s a teenage boy though so he’s lazy like most of the time and just takes out the trash and makes sure the place isn’t reeking, but if he really wanted to he could – all you have to say is; “Yuji, my place is getting kinda messy, don’t you think?” super casually and he’s on his way to put music and dance while dusting gl ur shelves.

- Itadori is a good dancer too! Look at him, he’s peak dancer material. On lazy days, he loves grabbing your waist suddenly and moving around, little twirls here and there while he tells you about what he’s been up to. There’s no music, only the sound of your feet tapping the ground in a lazy rhythm neither of you cares for. You can spend up to hours there just moving carelessly.

- Smells like warm laundry, I’m talking; you just took your clothes from the dryer and you're folding them and you press a shirt to your chest and catch a whiff of the softener.

- Let’s you style his hair with butterfly clips and hair ties, will go on missions with them on. Sukuna hates it because no one takes him seriously with two little ponytails sticking from his head like antennas but after a while he just grew so tired of ripping them from his head after every takeover he just began dealing with it.

- Will eat anything you make him, you could make the most abhorrent piece of cooking ever seen, I’m talking you could’ve made Gordon Ramsay cry from sheer desperation, and Yuji will eat with a little smile on his face because: “Look my s/o cooked it for me, aren’t they so talented? :D”

- Puppy boyfriend Yuji, everyone.

[ask-feederjin]

Hi!!~~ <3 So... How much has Jungkook's physical condition changed?

Do you think he tires easily with physical tasks? I can only imagine him puffing all the time ><

Jin had just put the final revisions on a work project when a notification popped up on his computer.

“Hi!!~~ <3 So... How much has Jungkook's physical condition changed?

Do you think he tires easily with physical tasks? I can only imagine him puffing all the time ><”

Oh if only, Jin sighs softly. He wishes he could say that their youngest does, but that would be a lie. Either way, Anon needs an answer!

-

Oh, he wishes! Poor Jungkook has a ridiculously fast metabolism, much to his dismay. It was great for him when he was a gym rat, effortlessly maintaining his washboard abs. But now it is his ultimate curse.

We’ve been doing research on how to lower or, in Jungkook’s words, “completely ruin” his metabolism.

So far, we’ve chosen to have him switch to a completely sedentary activity level, bulk up on carbs, flip into “starvation mode” between stuffings and replacing that banana milk he likes to drink with soda. We also heard that lack of sleep can contribute to a drop in metabolism, but I vetoed that one. Jungkook may be willing to suffer sleep deprivation to get fatter, but that’s not something I’m willing to support.

On the topic of him getting tired… Hmm… I think it would only really happen if he was going out of his way to be active? Like, him just walking around or lifting basic things doesn’t phase him yet, but exercise on the other hand… Give me one second!

-

“Jungkook!” Jin called out.

“Yeah?” He heard back. It sounded like Jungkook had just woken up from a post breakfast nap.

“Could you come here please, baby?” Jin was now curious. How has his physicality changed in the past two months? Would he get out of breath easily? Or has his years of exercise and healthy eating still blocked that?

“Do I have to?” He whined. Jin felt butterflies in his stomach at just how lazy his boyfriend has gotten.

“Yes!” Jin laughed.

After what sounded like some shuffling and grunting, Jungkook sleepily wandered into Jin’s office.

“You never make me come to you…” The youngest complained halfheartedly, scratching his tummy.

“Forgive me just this once, your highness.” Jin snarked back. “I just wanted to… do a little test.”

Jungkook perked up the the word ‘test’. Jin knew he would never pass up an opportunity to prove himself.

“What do I need to do?” The younger man asked excitedly, watching as Jin pushed his rolling desk chair to the corner of the room.

“Well… first I’m going to need you to stand riiiight here. There, perfect!” Jin maneuvered the taller boy to stand right in front of his computer screen. “Wait just a second, babe.”

The screen suddenly changed from spreadsheets to a camera screen. Jin pressed record…

-

The video starts off in a well kept room. Orderly bookshelves line the background, tiny potted vines trailing down the fronts.

Pulling away from the screen, you catch a blurry glimpse of knobby knuckles and trimmed nails. Front and center stands a rather tall young man. He has short, shiny black hair and warm brown eyes. Said eyes are currently large with confusion.

The young man is wearing a rather ill-fitting set of pajamas. The bottoms fit well enough, but the top’s buttons are slightly strained. A soft looking paunch hangs out from the too small shirt, wobbling as the young man shifts uncertainly. He rests both hands on the mass, rubbing slowly.

“Okay, -ahem-.” You hear a man’s voice says off camera say. “Hello, everyone! This is the first video I’ll be uploading to the blog, yay! It was originally going to be the third month weigh in, but it seems I just couldn’t wait.”

The young man on screen chuckles a bit, relaxing at the lighthearted conversation.

The voice resumes speaking, “Either way! We’re here now! This is Jungkook, some of you might recognize his face from the profile section of the blog, but if you haven’t then here he is! Say hi, Kookie.”

Jungkook blushes, waving at the camera. “Hi guys… I’m uh, I’m Jungkook.”

…

“Oh! And I’m Jin!” The disembodied voice frantically shouts. Jungkook bursts into giggles. “I’m Jin! The owner of the blog! I’m also apparently an idiot.” Jin ducks his head into the camera, giving you an unattractive, sideways close up of his eyes and nose.

“Veryprofessional, Jin.” Jungkook grins teasingly.

Jin’s too-close head turns, presumably to glare at the focus of the video. “Yes, I am a professional thank you very much. Now take your shirt off, fatty.”

Jin walks to the side of the room again, giving you a nearly full view of Jungkook’s body. The young man blushes again, levity gone, and starts to unbutton his sleep shirt.

With each button undone, the fabric gratefully springs to the side. Soon the boy’s tan tummy lays bare, angry looking stretchmarks decorating the lower part of it.

Jungkook tosses his shirt off camera, breathing slowly and evenly. “Wh-what now?”

“Jiggle it.”

Jungkook’s breath hitched, eyes closing slightly. He brings both large hands to his jello like gut and proceeds to bounce it up and down. For a minute of two, he shakes it briefly, only to let go and wait for the jiggly mass to settle. He stares at the camera, as if he’s watching himself in the feedback footage.

One hand slides up to cup his soft chest, while the other slaps gently at his belly entranced by the bounce.

“Now, turn to your side.” Jin’s voice startles Jungkook out of his self exploration. Jin himself walks towards the now sideways Jungkook, pressing up against his back. Jin reaches his arms around Jungkook to lift the younger man’s pot belly. He squeezes, pinches and lets it drop to watch it wobble.

“Tsk tsk tsk…” He pokes a long finger into the pliant flesh. “Someone’s let himself go it seems…”

“Ah~! I- I have!” Jungkook moans. “I’m soooo lazy, and- and greedy.”

“Lazy is right you little piggy.” Jin pulls away from playing with the taller boy’s belly button, walking back off screen. “Why don’t we give our viewer’s a little show? See how out of shape you’ve really gotten?”

Jungkook can only nod, face a bright red.

“Gimme fifty jumping jacks.”

“Fifty?! Jin! That’s too many!” Jungkook gapes at the man off screen.

“You used to do sets of eighty not even a year ago, I’m sure your fat ass can manage one set of fifty.”

“I’ll try I guess…” Jungkook doesn’t look optimistic. He gets in position anyway and starts counting out loud.

“One, two, three, four, five, six…”

The up and down movement vigorously shakes his little jelly belly, truly revealing just how much fat had accumulated there.

“Fifteen, sixteen, seh-seventeen, eight -hah hah- eighteen…” The poor boy’s face was tomato red and shiny with sudden sweat. His arms keep perfect time, but his legs move less far apart with each jump.

“Nine-hah-teen, twenty!” Jungkook is huffing now, tiny breasts quaking each time he lands. He is so out of breath now that he only mutters what vaguely sounds like numbers with each jumping jack.

“Twenty one, twenty two, twenty three…” Jin picks up where the out of breath young man left off. “Come on tubby, you were doing this in your sleep six months ago! What happened?”

Jungkook is gasping now, arms waving less with each jump, feet not even moving apart. A drop of sweat hangs precariously off of a perky nipple, only to fall onto his gut not even a second later.

“Are you seriously this out of shape?” Jin sounds genuinely surprised now, instead of teasing. Jungkook plops onto the floor panting. His previously neat hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, neck and chest pink from effort. “Kookie, you only did 31 jumping jacks.”

“I- gasp- I can’t…” The chubby boy leans back against the bookshelf. “I’m too fat…”

“Oh no. I’ll be the one to tell you when you’re too fat. Right now?” Jin squats down and smacks Jungkook’s sweaty belly, eliciting a moan from the boy. “You’re barely overweight.”

“I’ll get bigger! I promise!” The younger man pleads, having seemingly forgotten about the fact that he’s being recorded.

“Bigger? Eating like you are now? I don’t think so. You’re going to have to pick up the pace if you want to be the fattest boy in the house. Even Hobi will get bigger than you at this rate.” Jin gave Jungkook’s red, sweaty paunch one last wobbling pat before standing back up again. Jungkook stays on the ground, not even bothering to hide the bulge in his pajama pants.

“Okay guys!” The older man addresses the camera, winking. “It looks like Jungkook can still do thirty one jumping jacks before he gives up. You could say his stamina isn’t what it used to be! I’m gonna get this little piggy back to bed now. I think the poor thing’ll need another nap after so much exercise. Thank you for watching!”

Jin leans forward

The screen goes black.

-

I went ahead and attached a video instead of just writing down the answer ^-^;

I hope you don’t mind using headphones, haha! It got a little steamy there for a second… I should really get a video editing program so I can cut out those bits of me turning the camera on and off. Maybe even use my phone next time or something.

Oh well, lessons for later.

I hope that answers your question, Anon!

[volleychumps]

I frfr forgot if I requested earlier but Getting matching tattoos with Kenma maybe reader getting a controller and Kenma getting a mic. Cuz both are famous ig like he’s a famous YouTuber and she’s a singer but there relationship is private but they are seen in public as friends so like ppl peep both tattoos and start speculating. And they accidentally get exposed when she comes on his stream not knowing he’s live

I love this concept?? So much?? And it’s my first Kenma single work???

The Secret (Kenma Kozume x Reader)

The one in which you’re a famous singer dating the pro-gamer on the down low and accidentally expose it to the public

Warning(s): like a TINGE of nsfw themes like super light 

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

“All done?” 

“It’s rare to see that you are.” 

You smile at the sight of your boyfriend leaning against the doorway of your in-home studio, humming contentedly as you slip your headphones off. As you turn off the recorder and fiddle with the buttons, Kenma approaches you tiredly, running a hand through his hair let loose out of it’s small bun. The red hoodie he was wearing was loose around his frame, the bags under his eyes signalling that the stream he had just finished up had been a long one as he unscrews the lid to a water bottle. 

“I heard you from the other room. Real pretty voice.” 

“Sure you weren’t scared your viewers would hear?” You tease, accepting the water as Kenma scoffs, rolling his eyes before you feel him approach you from the back. 

“Can we not just bask in this rare moment of freedom we both have? Please?” 

“You love gaming.” You protest, feeling Kenma push your hair to one side of your head to expose your neck.

“And you love singing, but it doesn’t make it any less tiring after hours on end.” 

You turn off your ring light as Kenma’s arms droop lazily around your waist, the gamer digging his face into your neck tiredly while breathing against your skin. Your fingers find one of his hands resting around your middle, stroking the ink on the skin of the side of his thumb with butterflies in your stomach at the sight of the simplistic microphone inked on his skin. 

“I still can’t believe we went through with it.” You whisper, feeling his lips curl a little against your skin. 

“How’s yours healing up?” Kenma murmurs into your neck, lifting his head slightly to catch your own hand and examine the tattoo of the controller on yours. You wince a little bit when he rubs his thumb over it distractedly, the skin still risen a little bit from how fresh it is. 

“Stinging. Yours?” 

“The pain is worth it.” 

“Shut up.” You laugh, turning to face him as Kenma clicks his tongue, murmuring something about how that wasn’t what he meant before you place a kiss on his temple sweetly. 

“Dinner? We can order in.” 

“Right. Like we can actually go out.” Kenma rolls his eyes as you nudge him slightly, feeling a twinge in your chest. The idea to keep it a secret had been your initial thought, but Kenma still agreed that the two of you needed to play your cards right for the sake of your careers. 

“You know it would be a hassle if our viewers knew. And since when do you ever want to go out?” 

“Have you not been on your phone? They’re already kind of on to us after someone digitally enhanced our recent photos to see our tattoos.” Kenma ignores your little jab at his indoor tendencies as he arches a brow. 

“What?” You blink, a surge of panic rushing through your chest as you go to grab your phone. “Already-?” 

“Hey.” Kenma tightens his hold on you, and you still as the setter places a quick kiss on the top of your head while attempting to ease your worries. “Let’s not freak out. Not now, at least. Just...hang with me?” 

You relax, Kenma’s rare words of affection making the panic replace with warmth as you turn in his hold, arms wrapping around his middle tightly as his clasp at the small of your back. The scent of him fills your nose as you mumble into his chest, a wave of tired washing over you as Kenma hides a small, relaxed smile into your hair. 

“Alright, love. Sushi okay?” 

“Order me ramen.”

“Right! My viewers sent me in some apple pie, I almost forgot- Kenma, wait for me!” 

“You should have said so sooner.” 

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

The TV was still blaring on some random episode of a netflix series when you wake up, Kenma’s hoodie hanging around your groggy figure as you wake up warm yet alone, tiredly sitting up to switch off the TV. You blink once, and then twice again before smiling to yourself. 

Kenma had applied petroleum jelly to your tattoo for you, an open bottle of water already unscrewed and waiting on the clean living room table. 

The plates from dinner had already been taken and now laid on the drying rack along with the apple pie neatly put away in it’s box next to it. You had to hand it to him, Kenma made it hard for you to be annoyed about waking up alone. Wiping your eyes with the loose sleeve of your boyfriend’s hoodie, you check the time only for your eyes to widen a little bit. 

It was now nine in the morning, meaning that you had slept through the night without even realizing it. You sigh, going through your phone while still waking up before frowning at the influx of notifications and messages blowing up your device, the dms in particular being the most annoying. 

Are you dating Kenma Kozume?!

Back off, hoe. He belongs to his fans. 

Omg omg is my ship sailing??????

From: Asshole 

Are you two lovebirds trying to get found out?

You narrow your eyes, shooting a text back. 

-Kuroo, it’s too early for your bull. 

Listen lovely, it’s never too early. And matching tattoos? He wouldn’t get any with me:((

-Wonder why.

I’VE BEEN SHOT-

You snort before stretching tiredly, putting your phone down and wandering into your spacious bathroom to wash your face and brush your teeth, a giddy feeling in your stomach at the fact that Kenma was supposed to finish up his live in less than twenty minutes. However, you stall, gaping at the mirror in disbelief. 

A groan slips your lips as you raise a hand to your neck, eyeing the dark bruises littered up to your jaw as you hang your head and sigh. You couldn’t believe you had forgotten that Kenma had gotten a little carried away last night, your heated makeout session on the couch turning into a little something more, hence the hoodie you now adorned. 

You blush as you begin to remember, shaking your head of such thoughts before tying your hair up. Oh well, nothing some concealer and color corrector wouldn’t fix- maybe a scarf or two. You begin to make breakfast after clambering into the kitchen, a nutritious breakfast of soup and fish with rice being carefully plated onto a tray almost half an hour later. 

Hey, is Kenma done with his stream? 

You sip some soup, tasting it as you type away on your phone. 

-Should be, Kuroo- why? 

Oh, his fans were blowing up his comments asking about you and I’ve never seen the poor boy so flustered. Hug him, will you? 

-Bringing him breakfast now. 

I’m so glad he met you:’) 

-Buzz off:’)

You ignore the snarky response from Kuroo before lifting the tray, not even bothering to knock or say you were coming in as you push the door open to Kenma’s gaming room after ascending the stairs, figuring that the stream was supposed to end ten minutes ago- 

And oh boy did you wish you had knocked. 

You almost drop the tray, stilling at the sight of Kenma’s stream still ongoing, the cat-like boy pushing back from his monitor in shock as he whips his head to look at you from his gaming chair- 

You, his hoodie draped hanging off your figure with no pants underneath, simply exposing your bare legs and your hair tied back messily, a tray of breakfast in your hand that signalled you had spent the night together-

and not to mention the hickies ever so evident on your neck. 

“Y/N-” 

You squeak, stepping out of the door and slamming it shut behind you just as Kenma’s comments explode across the monitor. You were in for it now. 

The tray gets slowly lowered in front of the door before you make a mad dash to your shared bedroom, ignoring the now increased influx of notifications on your phone from Kenma’s hoodie pocket before throwing it across the room and face-planting onto your bed. 

How could you have been so careless?

Heat tinges your eyes as you muffle a scream into the sheets. 

What’s gonna happen now?

You flinch at the sound of someone else entering the room, refusing to look up from your spot as a familiar figure sits next to your teary one carefully. A feeling of guilt and wishing you could turn back time weighs on your chest as Kenma strokes a hand through your hair. 

“Don’t panic.” 

“Don’t panic?!” You sit up, Kenma eyeing you evenly as he watches frustrated tears brim your eyes. “I just walked into your live!” 

“I know, I was there.” 

“Kenma!” You whine, and surprise etches onto your features when Kenma stifles a laugh into his palm, looking off to the side before taking your hand in one of his carefully. The other one wipes moisture from your eyes as Kenma stops teasing you, looking at you seriously through golden irises. 

“We’d have to let them know eventually, you do know that- right? Or did you want to keep us a secret forever?”

“I know, but...” You sniff, Kenma using his finger to tilt your chin up slightly to tilt his head. 

“But?” 

“I don’t want to...ruin your career.” You finish quietly, and you gasp when you suddenly find yourself on your back, Kenma now looking at you with a hard edge to his eyes as he stares down at you from his position on top. 

“Well, isn’t this familiar-” your cracked voice tries to joke. 

“Shut up.” Kenma rolls his eyes before leaning down so his nose is almost touching yours. 

“Would I have gotten this ink permanently drawn onto my damn skin if I thought you’d ever ruin anything for me?” 

At your loss of words, Kenma sighs before taking one of your relaxed hands- the one with the controller on it- and bringing the side of your thumb to his lips so he can mumble against it. 

“And this? This tattoo of yours means that you’re mine. Didn’t we get these tattoos because we knew we’d reveal it anyway?” 

“Kenma, you’re speaking too much calm down-” 

“Y/N.” 

You stop with your antics as Kenma’s voice softens, eyeing you seriously. “Don’t you...want to be together?” 

“God, what kind of question is that?” You frown, lifting your hands to cup his face as you look up at his pretty features. “You know I do.” 

“Then I’m happy you walked into my stream.” Kenma turns his head into your touch to kiss your palm. “Because now all those damn pretty boys in your dms know you’re taken.”

“Kenma, they saw hickies.” 

“So?” 

“I can’t with you.” You roll your eyes before releasing a breathy laugh, glancing at the phone screen from the floor across the room as it turns off and on, lighting your screen up with notifciations. “I’m taking it the press is eating this up?” 

“Like a damn buffet.” Kenma sighs, lazily beginning to trace patters into your exposed thighs. “You know what I can eat up though?” 

“The breakfast you stepped over on your way to pursue me?” You blink innocently, laughing when Kenma shoots you a tired stare. 

“Sure. Let’s eat breakfast.” 

“Kenma-” You begin to whine, only for your boyfriend to kiss your lips in a chaste manner, lips lifting ever so slightly when you blink doe-eyed up at him in response. The phones become ignored as Kenma throws his behind him, the press now forgotten as two phones now blow up beside one another.

His thumb strokes yours as the ink on both of your skin traces over one another, the slight sting of the tattoos unnoticeable as Kenma’s hands slide further up his hoodie. 

“Use that pretty voice of yours and tell me what you want then, princess.” 

“I’m starting to think you did this on purpose.” You murmur against his lips as Kenma scoffs in the midst of trailing kisses down your neck. 

“There’s a reason my stream didn’t end when I told you it would, love.” 

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

General Work taglist: @takemetovalhalla @savemesteeb @dreebbles @kasandrafaye @yams046

[captainxsassafras]

Showered in Love

E voila! My first piece of filth (hopefully of many, regardless of how long it takes my dumb ass to write it!)! I have no excuses, no reason other than I just want to take care of one (1) beautiful, dumb birdbrain. In whatever way possible. But we all came here to be horny, so horny it is! 🤣🤣🤣

But seriously, I hope you enjoy this entirely self-indulgent smut! I tried to keep the reader pretty neutral physicaly and focus more on the feeling, but please let me know if you notice anything there I might have missed or that I could improve on! Ask or dm, just please be respectful and polite! I'm new so I'm sure I have ways I could improve and I'm open to editing/updating to make it more inclusive! 💗

Warnings: explicit, handjob, shower sex, very subby Keigo, nipple play, body worship (?), real tender smut, comfort sex

And here you go! Tagging some people who might be interested!

@queensynderella @heyitswhiplash @lovekeigo @keilemlucent @keiqos

It had been a hard day.

Not for you. Your day had been ordinary in every sense. Nothing alarming or even really exciting had interrupted the normal scheme of your work schedule. You had arrived home a bit tired, but in an innocuously pleasant mood and put an easy to make casserole in the oven before working on the various little chores that helped keep the apartment clean.

You had been in the middle of moving the laundry from the washer to the dryer when he’d come in.

He had used the window.

That wasn’t ominous by itself. He used the window more often than not. The large window with the spacious balcony had been a must have when the two of you had bought the place and was a much more frequent feature of take off than the intended front door to the place. You probably would have been more concerned if he’d actually used that door.

Ok, that wasn’t true. You were just making morbid mental jokes to ease your own tension.

You weren’t scared.

You were worried.

You were sad.

You were hurting.

Because… he was.

An anxious little ball was twisting knots in your stomach. Crinkles marked the edges of your eyes as you turned off the oven and stood at the counter, contemplating his arrival.

He didn’t call out to you when he came in.

That should have been the first clue.

Keigo always called out to you when he arrived home unless he knew you were already asleep. It amazed you that he was constantly excited to see you when he got home. The light in his eyes traveled across his entire voice and even lightened his voice, taking his normal boyish sarcasm and lifting it to almost child-like wonder. The happy way he greeted you made your heart dance like a butterfly every single time.

But he didn’t this time.

He’d surprised you. You’d nearly jumped out of your skin when he first walked by. Silent as a ghost, you’d only noticed the movement out of the very corner of your eye and adrenaline had shot through your veins. You whipped around into a low stance, ready to fight God and the universe if they were attacking you in your own home. But God was nowhere to be found.

Keigo had stood, frozen to the spot, looking at you with blank eyes and an uncomprehending expression. It felt like the world had stopped. Not in a figurative, emotional sense. He had just been so still that you weren’t sure the world hadn’t stopped with him. You stood, unmoving and waiting for Keigo to move. Say hello. Give you a hug. Anything.

He didn’t.

And you knew something was wrong.

“Kei,” you’d breathed, moving to rush over to him and engulf him in your arms.

“Dove.”

You stopped.

The strangled, heavy sound of his voice sent a shiver down your back even now. God, it grated on your heart. Simultaneously beaten by an unspeakable harshness and weighed down by all the abyssal truths you knew he carried like Atlas.

Without another word he’d passed by, red wings trailing on the floor behind him in evidence of his exhaustion. That was… different.

The click of the bathroom door closing had broke your heart to pieces.

The sound of the shower starting was normally soothing, but today it was just another layer to the tension that had swept into the apartment on crimson wings.

And now he had been in there for twenty minutes.

Keigo was not a long shower person. Didn’t like wasting water. Which was a convenient excuse to shower together, but also how he really felt about it. He was just too impatient and showering wasn’t one of those things he liked to devote his sparse time to.

But he was still in there.

With pursed lips, you took the casserole from the oven and found a spot in the fridge. Another night. The dryer was started and before you could let the hurt surrounding Keigo scare you off, you went to him.

The bathroom door opened noiselessly to your touch. A waft of steam wet your face and you could feel the intense heat of the room within seconds. A purring, mechanic whirr from the fan masked the sound of the door closing, but you were sure Keigo knew you were in there. His feathers wouldn’t have missed the vibrations of the door, even dampened by the buffer of the water.

You were quiet as you undressed. Eyeing his clothes piled randomly across the floor, you went to the cabinet in the corner and brought out something you’d been saving for a treat. Tender eyes flicked to Keigo.

A spike of worry knotted your chest.

He hadn’t moved since you’d entered the bathroom.

He was just standing, water colliding with his bare skin and streaming down his frame to join the small pool at his feet. You wished you could fully appreciate the sight of his naked body. You wished you felt better about being able to see drop after drop caress every plane and curve of his skin. He was so gorgeous.

But your heart wasn’t in the heated looks you wanted to send.

You entered the shower slowly, taking care not to slip on slick tiles. The extra treat was deposited on the shelf full of soap, shampoo, and other hygiene products.

He was so warm as you slipped your arms around his torso and molded your body into the curve of his back. Your hands clasped, pulling him close. And for a moment you just stood, as close physically as you possibly could be. It didn’t feel like enough. His mind was far away still, lost in the echoes of some terrible, terrible secret he could never tell you. Soft cadences of breathe left you drowning in the feeling of him, letting your mind drift away from the thoughts of those secrets and bringing your own worries back to the very real man held so closely before you.

Keigo often complained about his lack of height and how he wished he had more back muscle, but you loved the lean, corded muscles. They were perfect to you. You also loved the fact that you could lay your head perfectly into the curve at the back of his neck and murmur into his ear.

“Hey there, feathers.”

He pooled into your touch and the tension drained away with those wandering rivulets of water. It wasn’t completely gone but the edge was softened. It was a butter knife now, useful but it wasn’t going to cut you for getting too close.

“Dooove.”

This time, when his voice came out strangled it was less… heartbreaking.

“Yes, love?”

No answer. Maybe he needed a bit of help.

“Do you need something.”

A single, slow nod.

You breathed into the feel of him. “Do you need me to take care of you?”

Oh god. The tiniest, strangled whimper kissed your ears as Keigo nodded again, leaning back into your frame. The shower-wet feathers of his wings pressed themselves into your body. You could feel them against every warm, vulnerable inch of flesh. A quick shift left your wandering fingers trailing downward across his abdomen dangerously. Feathers ruffling against your body had you biting your lip and holding back a moan. Those fingers found the wet, curled hairs that framed his groin and the moan ripped free, settling on the weight of anticipation. The feathers on his wings positively shivered while you traced the tight swoops of those golden curls. You knew them well, but still loved twirling your hands through them. A bit more wiry than the hair on his head, they were still surprisingly soft and springy. Keigo assured you he loved your own curls, but the downy feel of his never ceased to make you the slightest bit jealous.

Wet flashes of red spun out the corners of your eyes as his wings shuddered and shifted against the onslaught of your hands teasing through Keigo’s hair. He cried out as your left hand reached up to card through the wet hair on his head. You matched the twirling of each hand, one at his brow and one at his groin and groaned loudly into the crook of his neck. His feathers were dancing against your skin.

Fortunately, you weren’t the only one making noise.

Pain mixed with pleasure as you kneaded your bottom lip. You reveled in the sweet, sweet noises that left Keigo’s throat with each tender swirl of your hand. They were soft, high, and so very needy. So very perfect.

“Keigo.” You placed gentle kisses into the space behind his ear. “I’m here to help, to take care of you. But I need to know what you need.” More kisses. “Do you want me to wrap you up in a blanket and feed you your favorite food? Or do you need to fuck this out?”

A moan escaped that was dangerously close to a whine.

“Ohhh, I love it when you cry for me, babe. But I need your words right now.”

“Fucking.” His words were full of heat and light with breathlessness.

“Ok, love. What kind? Fuck me senseless?” You paused, waiting for a reaction. Nothing notable. Your tongue found your lips as you considered your next words and the actions they might lead to. “Do I need to take care of my good boy?”

He went still. The sound that echoed across the empty bathroom tiles was the stuff of fantasy. You felt yourself clench and knew at that moment exactly what he needed.

“Mm, ok.” You moved away and delighted in the way Keigo’s entire body followed, trying to sink back into your hold. “I’ve got you. Let me take care of you, love.”

And he stayed where he was, so still you couldn’t believe it save for the heaving of his chest and nearly imperceptible trembling of his wings. You placed a kiss to the edge of his feathers and reached blindly behind you to grab the treat from before.

He sighed into the contact.

It wasn’t anything quite that special. Just a body wash that you knew Keigo particularly liked. The smell always had him burying his head in whatever piece of skin was available, to fold himself in the scent. It had been backordered for several months and you’d gotten your hands on it as a surprise for your lover. You’d planned to bring it out on some sort of special, happy day, but today it seemed like the perfect little surprise to pamper him with.

Covering your hands with the gel, you encompassed him again and started with washing his shoulders. Gentle hands smoothed over hot skin and worked at the tight muscles.

A gasp ran through his body when the smell reached him.

“Dove, you’re spoiling me.”

Hands slid to his back, carefully avoiding the sodden wings. Those got a special treatment and didn’t take well to body wash. Not friends with the mundane, human hygiene products.

“And?” You nearly sang. His tight ass was next and you knelt behind him to take your time carefully washing down each leg. Every curve and crevice was gently attended to. He whined as you swept your hands within touch of each area he wanted you to stroke most. Naturally, you pulled away as soon as it seemed like you might actually touch him there. Deep melodious laughter filled the spaces between his high, endless keening. You could tell the moment he felt your breath smoothing over the supple curve of his ass. The resounding whines cut off abruptly and the intense, broad heaves of his chest quickened and almost fluttered.

You hovered.

He stopped breathing entirely.

You began to stand and as you did, you placed a sweet, yet scorching kiss to the soft plane of each beautiful, taut, trembling ass cheek.

That earned you a whiny, desperate laugh. The chuckle choked off as soon as you melded into his body again, hands sliding around to cup his pecs.

You breathed into his ear and with each gentle word, your hands swept across his chest in ever tightening circles, slowly closing in on the sweet little jewels at the center. “If I’m taking care of you, it’s my job to spoil you. Don’t you think?” Tender fingers found his nipples, already pert and ready, and rolled the little buds in soapy circles.

His moans strangled and stuttered. Grasping hands reached back, clawing at something, anything, to hold to. He needed an anchor. He needed grounding in the midst of every bit of mind-numbing pleasure roiling and writhing through his weary nerves. He found your hips and clung like a man drowning, gasping for air and up to his head in a river of luxuriant ecstasy. He never wanted to surface again. He would drown in this flood of euphoria if you’d let him.

You slowed with his nipples when you felt his hips begin to make messy, haphazard, not-quite thrusts into thin air.

You knew without a doubt that your beautiful bird could and would cum right here without a single bit of direct stimulation to his cock. He was so worked up, you could see clearly in your mind the moment he’d burst, spreading hot cum all over from just the endless, maddening rolling of his nipples. It made you clench and squeeze like mad just to think of it.

But that wasn’t quite what you wanted. And you could tell it wasn’t quite what Keigo needed. Ok, you thought it wasn’t the right thing for him, but you felt like you had a pretty good grip on what this wonderful man needed at the moment. And he had put his trust in you. He had given over to you the gift of taking care of him. He had surrendered the responsibility of deciding himself what he needed and given that to you. You would never betray that trust by doing something you didn’t think was to his direct and utmost benefit. Or to his highest pleasure.

Your boy trusted you and you were going to take care of him thoroughly.

Previous conversations and past experience had revealed that, while the nipple orgasms were overwhelming and utterly consumed him with rolling, trembling waves pleasure, they weren’t as wholly sating as direct stimulation. They left him boneless and weak, but not finished.

You wanted him absolutely wrung out.

Those half thrusts quickened and you left his nipples alone.

He was too overwhelmed to even complain.

“Good boy.” Wandering hands ventured south. “My sweet, wonderful good boy.”

His head lolled back and wings twitched weakly at the feeling of your fingers in his curls again. However, you didn’t linger in those cute little whirls of hair for long. You had a prize to find.

And find it you did.

He was so hard you couldn’t help but bite your lip in excitement. Deep, reaching breaths wracked his torso as your hands moved down his cock at a torturous pace. As it was, several seconds passes before you found your way to the very tip. God, he was leaking. Mapping out the contours of his gorgeous, aching cock, you felt around the head and spent the time to rub at the slit as slowly as possible. Back and forth, over and over, relishing the tiny, twitchy thrusts that accompanied the motion.

A long, shaky, drawn-out whine from Keigo filled your head and you nearly lost it as the feeling of a fresh spurt of precum met your thumb.

“Oh, oh. My precious, precious boy. You like that so much, don’t you?”

“Yee-eeees!” Without warning, his hips canted forward just the slightest creating friction across the tip.

Oh, that was enough. He was ready to burst and deserved the reward of a full-force orgasm. What a magnificent, wonderful man. And he was all yours to equally ruin and cherish with each maddening stroke.

Without warning, you began the move your hands up and down the length of his cock.

Keigo’s reaction was instant. The long, never-ending whines raised in pitch and shortened, creating a rhythm in time with your stroking. His breathing became chaotic, devolving into a staccato mess of sharp, desperate gasps and bone-deep, shuddering exhales that reached into your core and drove you wild. And through it all, his wings pitched in erratic, arrhythmic twitches he couldn’t even begin to control. Starting at the top, where you nibbled and teased the sensitive skin connecting back to wing, they ruffled and writhed in waves all the way down to the feathers at the very tips.

It was a wonder to watch, but your attention was soon drawn back to his face. You could only see the edges standing behind him, but you knew your bird and you knew what he looked like when he was lost like this. His faces were rapturous. Brow scrunched, eyebrows tilted up. If his eyes were open, they’d be lifted skyward like he was praying to some unknown god of divine ecstasy. If they were closed, the corners would be crinkled. Every now and then, they’d crinkle even more, squeezing tight as he was undone by his own body. His head was angled back, leaning against your shoulder. He was too encompassed by the feel of your hands on his cock to keep his head up. But that was ok. More than ok. He didn’t need to keep himself up. That’s what you were here for.

His mouth was hanging open. That you could see. Soft, lush lips slack and loosing the melodic aria of fucked out whines to cascade around you like a filthy sonnet.

Those adorable, overwhelmed whines reverberated through Keigo and into your frame, consuming your mind with the sensuous joy of utterly ruining the gorgeous man leaning against you. The one struggling not to fuck himself into your hands. He was so good.

“C’mon, big boy, move for me.”

And he did, like the perfect man he was.

God, you loved to see him fuck himself senseless into your hands. You loved seeing him drive himself to that ultimate high while you got to coo praise into his ear and feel the way he throbbed and thrust with each tender, adoring word.

One of your hands left his dick and returned to torture his nipple.

God, you almost came right there.

Everything synced.

The stroking of your hand across the length of his aching cock, the squeezing of his sensitive, budded nipple, the endless, rasping circle of reaching breaths. The instant your hand found that pretty little bud, the thrusting of his hips shifted into a circular, full torso roll. They undulated in an involuntary, uninhibited dance of fucked out delirium. And the uncontrolled twitching of his wings changed to match, exactly, the rhythm of his hips. They beat in overwhelmed circles perfectly in sync with the smooth, svelte, seeking roll of Keigo’s hips into the tight grip of your hand.

And then he was lost.

He shattered. He was consumed.

A thousand pieces of brilliant, fiery, piercing pleasure shot through him and wrapped around his very center. A glorious flood overtook his senses and it was all he could do to stay upright with each roiling wave stronger than the last. Hot, white cum shot out and coated the shower wall and floor, rope after rope arcing with the crest of each radiant spike of pleasure.

As for you?

You came almost in unison, the orgasm a pleasant surprise. When Keigo came, his wings went utterly wild; shivering, shaking, twisting, ruffling, writhing. The sudden friction of unexpected stimulation combined with the height of desire you achieved from driving Keigo to Nirvana pushed you over that knife’s edge into a slow, deep, yet surprisingly powerful orgasm.

And there the two of you were, both glued to each other, hips undulating in a carnal dance of mind-numbing orgasm until finally, finally the two of you slowly began the careful descent from bliss. You buried your face in his neck and focused on the sensual feeling of two bodies moving against each other, labored breaths adding extra friction in the aftermath. Warm, milky cum gushed over your hand. Keigo’s cock was still oozing and his hips still jerking in tiny, uncoordinated rolls.

Humming into his skin, you relaxed into the cool down. That was so fucking sexy.

You let go of his softening dick before he could accidentally overstim himself. Not tonight.

However, you couldn’t help but keep your hand on his nipple, twisting and peeking down to see how his hips jolted weakly with each tweak of the perky bud.

You clenched as you caught sight of his softened cock spurting little bursts of seed with each tweak.

After a minute or so, you let up. It was time to let him come down.

But you didn’t let go of him. Instead you wrapped your hands tight around him, reveling in the feel of his breath slowing. A final, deep, shuddering exhale had him leaning back against you, completely boneless in your tender arms.

“Dove.” Keigo’s head turned and he leaned his forehead against yours. “Thank you,” he breathed against your skin.

“Mmm, don’t mention it.” Tired arms squeezed a little tighter in their embrace. “You all good? Or do you need to be fucked up a little bit more?”

His chuckle danced through both of your bodies. “I’m good, lovebird. You got me real good.” He wiggled around to face you. It was his turn to circle you in his arms, pull you close, bask in the way you molded to his body, melting into his hold. He kissed your hair and the two of your stayed that way for a while, spent and sated and utterly content together.

Keigo broke your silence, low voice weaving through the sound of the shower and caressing your ears.

“You know what I am good for though?” He paused, but didn’t wait for a real response. Which was good, because you hadn’t planned on anything beyond a wordless grunt. “You, me, some delivery, no clothes, and the fluffiest blankets we own.”

You hummed into his neck.

“Lights down low, we eat some food, then we snuggle together as close as two people can without fucking.”

A peal of laughter caught the tired edges of your voice. “Ah, you almost made that sweet.”

He spluttered. “That was super sweet!”

“Almost.”

“Entirely.”

“Mmm.” You dipped your head without warning and took his sensitive nipple into your mouth, pulling at it lightly with your teeth.

Keigo’s entire body spasmed, still sensitive in the wake of his earlier orgasm. His dick twitched against your torso as he groaned deep down inside his throat.

“Careful, babybird, or I’ll ruin you again.”

He whined at the pet name and crushed your body even closer.

Looks like he wasn’t as fucked out as he thought.

Your lips twitched in a small smile as you grabbed his ass, pulling him almost unbearably tight against you, and continued teasing his nipple with your teeth. Grinding slowly on his hardening cock, you drowned yourself in the sublime sound of his resounding moans.

[happyreid187]

Love Grows Spencer Reid x Fem reader

A/N: This is my first blurb (first any sort of imagine) ever! Based on the song Love Grows (where my Rosemary goes) by Edison Lighthouse because Spence really gives off 1972 love song energy.

Warnings: basically just fluff. Alcohol mention. Extremely mild smutty vibes if you look really, really close - nothing explicit.

Word count: 835 (baby)

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As much as you adore songs from before either of you were born, sometimes you wanted to listen to music from this decade. Today wasn’t your day. At your apartment, you had some control, but at Spencer’s, he was in charge of the record player. He would let you throw a record on occasionally, but the degree of pouting in his own space was far greater than in yours. To be fair, the vintage, vaguely scholarly vibe of his apartment lent itself well to older music.

Spencer was usually extremely passionate about his inability to dance, emphatically declining any opportunities for movement. When out at the bar with the team, he wouldn’t so much as stand while you all were dancing with each other - even when he had to watch the other teammates get a little too close to you for his comfort. He had to remind himself that you weren’t his to hold - you were just his best friend. But today, after a glass of wine, comfortable in his own space and in your presence, he danced towards you as the opening notes of a song filled the living room.

“Get up,” he demanded with a half smile, which promptly spread to light his face as he watched surprise take over yours. He extended his arms out to you, squeezing at the air. You strongly considered making fun of him, but then he might stop, so you went along wordlessly. Standing up, he immediately pulled you in close to him. It wasn’t a slow dance, more of a happy wiggle, but it was still surprisingly intimate coming from him. He rarely even hugged you.

“She ain’t got no money her clothes are kinda funny her hair is kinda wild and free...” he quietly sang, half talking, before you promptly interrupted.

“Hey! Is this song dedicated to me?” You eyed him with surprise, but not offense. If he did think of you in association with this song, it didn’t make you feel messy. It made you feel seen. Seen and unconditionally appreciated. Where previous men in your life had placed you on a pedestal, idealizing you as some sort of dream girl and then damning you for being an actual human with thoughts and flaws, Spencer had always made sure you knew he likes you exactly as you are.

He visibly blushed, looking slightly terrified. “No, well yeah - but I - not that part. That part’s mean.” “It’s accurate.” you laughed. He shook his head no, and before he could answer with his own words he pulled you in closer, presumably so that he could sing to you without having to see the look of surprise and total delight on your face.

“I'm a lucky fella

And I've just got to tell her

That I love her endlessly...”

 you looked up at him, your own cheeks matching his.

Ah yes, platonic adoration? There was no way that Dr. Spencer Reid was seriously serenading you right now. He looked into your eyes for less than half a second before shyly pushing your head back to his shoulder with his chin so that your gaze wouldn’t remind him that he was softly singing to you in his living room, swaying his awkwardly tall body with surprising skill. As he did so, he pulled your whole body closer, his hips nearing yours and his hands lowering ever so slightly closer to your lower back. You were shocked at how quickly your body reacted to your best friend, immediately overwhelmed with butterflies. This proximity brought you an absolutely impossible, excessive amount of joy.

“Because Love grows where my (y/n) goes

And nobody knows like me.” 

This time you didn’t pull away to look at him, afraid you would get all tearful and sappy if you did. Though you had been close friends for years, he always avoided saying I love you. At least explicitly. It was always -

You’re my favorite person

You make me so happy

This reminded me of you

Text me when you get home

I just wanted to see you 

anything but the words he wanted to say, because he was sure you meant them in different ways.

You pulled him closer, and he moved one hand from your mid back to the back of your neck and edge of your jaw, pulling your face up to meet his eyes. He stopped singing and just smiled at you, thumb tracing your jaw lightly. Your lungs fully forgot that oxygen existed, frozen in place, deflated. His face was calm but his eyes were busy, glancing from your lips to your eyes while also providing a view to his calculations - is this a good idea?

You wrapped your arms around his neck to indicate that it was, weighing your options - to silently beg him to kiss you, or to lean in and take over. Before you could think any more, he leaned in to kiss you, somehow desperate and gentle at the same time. You immediately kissed him back, a little less gently. You had never been quite as patient as he is.

He pulled away faster than you would have liked, moving to kiss all over your face, a kiss to interrupt each word. 

“I. wanted. to. do. that. for. so. long.”

“How long?”

“Um...” he half squeaked, half giggled “approximately... always?”

[moonlit-han]

plus one ↠ lee minho

genre: friends to lovers, almost-fake dating au (femme reader) word count: 6.2k warnings: swearing, suggestive (gets steamy at the end), alcohol consumption request: yes (anon) a/n: so this turned out about twice as long as i expected it to . . . there’s a lot to do before you can actually go to a wedding. oh and this includes a guest appearance from park seonghwa of ateez. i promise i think he’s lovely in reality!

✧ masterlist & tag list info in bio ✧

↠↞

You were just sitting down to enjoy a nice cup of tea, which you’d been looking forward to all day, when your phone buzzed. Without even looking at the screen, you already knew who it would be—there was only one person in your life with such uniformly strange timing.

min😼: hey y/n….could you do me a favor? y/n: ……what do you want, minho…. min😼: so my  v e r y  rich cousin’s wedding is coming up and i need a plus one. it’s fancy, so they want everyone to partnered up and shit min😼: and there will be food. it’ll be good bc these are the rich cousins y/n: oooooh okay, sure! i’m always down for sort of crashing a wedding. when is it? min😼: it’s next weekend min😼: shit please tell me you have a fancy dress y/n: lee minho, are you seriously telling me i have to go buy a fancy dress?? min😼: maybe;;;; y/n: you’re coming with me and paying for half min😼: sure, fine with me y/n: wait seriously? you’re actually gonna do that? min😼: yeah, why not? y/n: nvm~ y/n: so should we go dress shopping tomorrow evening? min😼: sounds good to me! want me to pick you up after i get off work? y/n: 👉🏼👈🏼 please? min😼: you’re damn lucky you’re cute. y/n: see you then!

You closed your phone, still trying to process the fact that you were going to a wedding with Minho. He was a good friend—you’d met a few years ago and had a bit of a love-hate relationship. But ultimately, you agreed that being friends would be much better than not. In the time since, you’d become those kinds of friends who casually held hands, cuddled whenever possible, and shared clothes more than Minho actually realized. (You’d gotten quite good at stealing his t-shirts and sweatpants).

Your friends were convinced the two of you should date but you both just waved them off. Even his family thought you were dating—Minho hadn’t exactly told them they were wrong, though, unbeknownst to you. And now here you were about to go to a wedding with him. When you woke up that morning, you definitely hadn’t been expecting that. But now, you were actually looking forward to what would certainly be a memorable occasion.

Minho picked you up around 5:15 pm and you headed to the mall, circling the parking lot for a few minutes until you found a spot. When you exited the car, the wind blew your hair into your eyes; you heard your traitor of a friend snort as he saw what had happened. Getting your hair back under control, you walked toward the mall entrance. Once inside, you started in the direction of the large department store. But before you could Minho pulled you along with him instead.

At your confused look, he said, “If we’re getting you a dress for a black-tie wedding, then we’re getting you a good quality one.” You opened your mouth to object, thinking of how much it would cost. “No, don’t argue, Y/N.”

Deciding it would be best not to go against Minho when he clearly had a plan, you just closed your mouth and went with it. Minho let go of the fabric of your tank top after several strides, but made sure that you stayed with him—the mall was more crowded than you’d expected. So, after almost losing twice, Minho decided to just go for it and hold your hand. He pulled you close to his side, his hand familiar and reassuring in yours. 

You made your way to what you suspected was the most expensive formalwear boutique in the entire mall, feeling self-conscious in your jeans and tank top. The shop attendant, a cheery elderly woman, came hurrying up to you and Minho, fluttering around you rather like a butterfly. 

“Hello, I’m Violet! How may I help you all? What’s the special event?” she chirped, giving the two of you what she must have thought was a sly smile.

Crap, you thought, we must look like a couple. Again. You tried to extricate your hand from Minho’s, but he just shifted to lace his fingers with yours and held on tight.

“We’re attending a black-tie wedding,” Minho said, straight to the point as always. “I already have my tuxedo, but Y/N, here, needs a dress. Do you have anything in burgundy?”

You looked at Minho, not expecting him to take the lead in buying a dress, much less choose a color. 

“Of course!” said Violet. “Y/N, was it? If you’ll follow me so we can get your measurements and such? Your gentleman friend can wait on the sofa over there.” She pointed to a sleek looking seating area clearly meant for those who accompanied the boutique’s many clients.

“I’d prefer to come back with her and see the dresses,” Minho said, surprising you yet again. The attendant’s smile grew wider as, still holding your hand, Minho walked with you through the maze of evening gowns to the fitting rooms.

“Oh, well, all right,” the elderly woman agreed grudgingly. “But I must insist you stay out of the dressing room. That would simply be one step too far, young man!”

Minho laughed lightly and assured her, “I’ll stay well away, madam. No worries.”

“You had better.” Violet turned to you, holding out a tape measure and a little pad of paper with a miniature pen attached to it. “Have you measured yourself before? Good. Just write it all down and we’ll see what size you need.”

You glanced back at Minho before entering the dressing room—he was leaning against the wall opposite from the Violet, as far from your dressing room as he could get. After a few minutes of wrestling with the tape measure, you emerged and handed over the pad of paper.

“Okay, my dear,” Violet said, “come with me and we’ll see about some styles. What colors, besides burgundy, would you like to try on?”

You thought for a moment, following carefully through the racks upon racks of dresses and suits.  “Emerald, black, and teal,” you said before you thought better of saying you’d wear black to a wedding. 

Nodding, Violet stopped in front of a long display of gowns that ranged from a deep red that was almost black to the brightest red you’d ever seen. “I’ll just go see what I can find for you, dear,” she said before moving off.

Your eyes darted from dress to dress to dress, the shades and fabrics nearly overwhelming you—you’d never seen so many formal gowns in one place before. Occasionally, you took down a dress to look at it more closely, and soon your arms were weighed down with ten dresses. As you made your way back to the fitting rooms, Violet reappeared carrying five dresses of her own, all in the colors you’d mentioned.

“Now, you just go in there and get these on as best as you can, and I’ll help you with any zippers or ties that you can’t get to.” Violet smiled kindly as she ushered you into the fitting room.

You undressed and slipped the first gown on, trying not to step on the hem, but it was difficult not to. The dressmakers seemed to have assumed that everyone was unusually tall. After straightening the neckline a little and smoothing your hair, you stepped out of the fitting room. 

“So, how do you like it?” you asked Minho, who was still lounging against the wall.

“Eh,” he shrugged, “I’m not crazy about the color, but your hips look great.”

“You—” you began, but stopped because you were in public. Now he commenting on your hips! That was a new one. So, you went back to try on another dress. Each of the next five dresses you paraded in front of your friend somehow didn’t live up to whatever expectations he had for your gown.

You sighed and pouted a little after the sixth dress. “Min, what’s wrong with this one? I like it, plus it’s comfortable! And I’m the one wearing it, anyway.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know this side of the family. They expect everything and everyone to be and look perfect.”

“Well, shit,” you grumbled.

“Here,” Minho offered, “I’ll go see if I can find you a dress. Just sit tight for a minute.” Before you could say anything to the contrary, he’d turned and headed into the maze of gowns.

“Your Minho is sweet, offering to find you a dress,” Violet said as she helped you unzip the dress.

“I guess,” you said grudgingly. “I’m not sure he actually knows what to look for, though.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Violet grinned at you in the mirror.

While you waited, you looked back through the dresses you’d already tried on, thinking you’d choose one in case Minho couldn’t find the perfect dress himself. The deep teal dress kept drawing your eye, but you weren’t sure if it was too formal. 

“Y/N?” Minho called from outside the fitting room. “Open up so I can give you this dress.”

You took the dress, just barely peaking out from behind the door, and hung it on one of the hooks specifically for the gowns. It was, as you’d suspected, a deep burgundy and not too puffy in the skirt. You weren’t sure about the beading around the bodice, though. But, you’d try it on for Minho—even if just to prove him wrong if it looked horrible.

After struggling with the corseting in the back, you decided to ask for Violet’s help. Ever obliging, she slipped into the changing room and helped lace you into the gown. Somehow, it fit perfectly and you didn’t even have to hold your breath or anything.

When he saw you in the gown, Minho wolf-whistled. “Damn, Y/N,” he said appreciatively. “You look . . . hot. Yeah.” He paused. “Now aren’t you glad I picked a dress for you? I even made sure it wasn’t too expensive.”

“Yeah, thank you, Min,” you said, smiling at him. “I really look hot?” Suddenly, you were very conscious of the dress’s low neckline.

“No, you look really hot. It’s the best one so far. Is it comfortable?”

“I— Okay, I guess I’ll get this one, then,” you said, surprised at how easy a decision it was. “It’s actually super comfortable.”

“Perfect,” Minho said. “Everyone will be entranced by how gorgeous you are.”

Trying to ignore that last comment, you said, “And, um, Violet? Could you help me again?” You were a bit embarrassed to be buying a piece of clothing you couldn’t get into by yourself. Your roommate would just have to help.

As you changed back into your street clothes, Violet and Minho went up to the register. You thought over how much you’d be paying for the dress, and were quite glad that Minho had agreed to pay for half. 

“So,” you said as you reached the register, “how much do I owe?”

Violet gave you a little wink. “You don’t owe anything, dear. It’s all taken care of. There was even a discount on this dress!”

You turned on Minho. “You didn’t….”

“Don’t worry about it, Y/N. Okay?” Minho almost sounded defensive, but maybe he was just tired.

“But I—”

“I said don’t worry about, babe,” Minho interrupted. “See? Now I don’t have to get you a birthday present this year.” Minho sent you a sly grin and a wink. You just rolled your eyes.

“You’ll have to excuse me for saying so,” Violet tittered, breaking the slight tension in the air, “but you two make such a lovely couple. It seems to me you’ll be planning your own wedding soon!”

You blushed. You knew you blushed. How could you not have?

“Thank you, ma’am,” Minho said smoothly. “That’s still quite far in the future, though.” He gave Violet one of his winning smiles that never ceased to make parents, teachers, disagreeable elderly ladies, and, of course, you feel like the most important and lovely person in the world.

“Oh! Well, whenever the happy day is, I wish you both well. Enjoy!” Violet handed you the long dress bag and waved as you left the store.

“Lee Minho, what exactly was that all about?” you demanded once you were well away from the boutique.

“What was what all about?” Minho replied, feigning innocence as he ambled along, hands in his pockets.

“You know what.” You tried not to sound petulant. “Why did you pretend we’re getting married or something?”

“It makes ladies like her happy to think of the younger generation settling down. Besides, she seemed like she needed something exciting in her life. Now, she’ll just spend the rest of the day imagining our wedding, even though she’ll never see us again. See? She gets a daydream and we got the clearly made-up “Cute Couple Discount.” Minho slung an arm around your shoulders, jostling you slightly. “Come on, buttercup,” he chuckled, “am I really that hideous for you to hate even pretending?”

Still nonplussed, you shook your head and shoved Minho with your hip—that didn’t stop him from keeping his arm around your shoulders, though. You didn’t reply, since the truth was too embarrassing to even admit.

↠↞

You cursed yourself for a fool as you tried to put on the dress for the wedding. Today just had to be the day your roommate wasn’t around. First, you’d tried lacing it up with the dress back-to-front and slipping it around yourself to just tighten the laces. When that didn’t work, you tried lacing it up loosely and then pulling tight. It still wouldn’t cooperate. Well, there was only one thing for it now. 

y/n: ….min you’re on your way, right? min😼: yeah of course y/n: i need help with my dress😩🙃😩 min😼: ok. i’ll be there in 5 mins y/n: thanks!!! you’re the best!!!!😭💕💕💕 min😼: i know

You hurriedly wrestled your hair into a bun, thankful that you could get away with such a simple style. With your makeup already done, you waited by the door, your shoes and a small clutch in one hand and the other holding up the bodice of your dress. This was going to be . . . interesting.

Minho knocked the door and you called, “It’s open!” just as he discovered that very thing. The door opened and—

Lee Minho in a tuxedo was a sight to behold. You wolf-whistled, smirking at your best friend. In response, Minho just raised his eyebrows and inclined his head toward you, as if to say, “You don’t look bad yourself.” You noticed twin flags of pink on his cheeks, too.

“Okay,” Minho said, taking a deep breath as he saw you waiting there in the entryway, “turn around. It’s just simple lacing, right?”

“It should be simple,” you grumbled, “but not for me!”

“I’ve got it, buttercup.” You smiled at that—Minho had recently taken to calling you that nickname far more often than before. “Hold the dress up until I’ve got most of the laces done up, okay?”

Without hesitation, Minho deftly began to draw the laces through the eyes of the corset, occasionally grumbling when one didn’t cooperate. Shortly, you were laced into your dress and Minho was tightening everything to your comfort level. His breath tickling the hairs on the back of your neck was horribly distracting.

“Is this good?” he asked. “I don’t want to squish your lungs.”

“I’m fine! It’s actually perfect” You turned to face Minho, and he had to step back quickly so as not to be hit in the nose with the crown of your head.

“All right, then let’s get going. I don’t want to be late—they’d never forgive me.” Minho then tried to shunt you out your own door, but you threatened him with one of your heels.

While the wedding wasn’t too far outside the city, it would still take you and Minho an hour to get there. You hoped it wouldn’t be too hot, since there was nothing worse than body odor on formalwear. Lifting the hem of your dress, you all but clambered into Minho’s car and buckled your seatbelt. A moment later, you were heading toward the highway, your windows down and Minho easily guiding the car between the light traffic. He even let you choose which music you’d listen to—a rare honor. One or two people glanced over at you at stoplights, but you ignored them. What was wrong with dressing up a little . . . or a lot?

“I just want to tell you a few things before we get there,” Minho said when you were ten minutes away from the venue. You nodded. “Like I said, these are the rich cousins. Everyone will be dressed in black tie attire and acting like they know how to behave. They don’t. I don’t particularly want to get boisterously drunk, but most everyone else will. I can’t promise there won’t be debauchery, especially since it’s an outdoor wedding—lots of shadows to slip off to.” He paused, thinking of what else to warn you about. “Oh, and then there’s Great-Aunt Mia. She’s a handful, to say the least, and likes to comment on everyone’s life decisions. Even if she doesn’t know you, she’ll still find some way to be condescending.”

You gave Minho an incredulous look. “And why exactly did you want to go to this wedding if it’s going to be such a shit show?”

“Hey, it won’t be that bad,” Minho countered. “But yeah, I think that’s all I wanted to say.”

“I’ll just stick with you, since I won’t know anyone there,” you said brightly.

As he turned down the long drive lined with an old yew hedge that led to the mansion on whose grounds the wedding would occur, Minho flashed a radiant smile at you.

It was going to be good night.

↠↞

The wedding ceremony itself was beautiful, and you were almost moved to tears along with everyone else, despite not knowing the newlyweds. And no matter how much you tried, you couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Minho was sitting next to you, his thigh warm against yours and impossible to ignore. When everyone stood to congratulate the happy couple, Minho put his hand on your shoulder, gently rubbing the back of your neck. While cuddling and causal touches were normal between the two of you, something had definitely changed in the past week and you weren’t sure what to make of it.

There was a bit of time between the actual ceremony and the reception, so you and Minho decided to go back to his car and nap. It felt a little odd napping in a formal gown, but you didn’t much care. Sleep was always important in your world. You and Minho laid the seats back as far as they’d go and rolled all the windows down to tempt in a breeze. Just as you were falling asleep, you felt Minho’s hand slip into yours. As if on reflex, you laced your fingers in his. 

When you woke to Minho’s obnoxious alarm song, you were still holding hands.

“Ready to party?” Minho wiggled his eyebrows at you, sitting up. “We get to see my relatives make fools of themselves!”

“Oh, you know I am. That’s my favorite pastime,” you said, clapping your hands like an excited child.

“I knew there was a reason I kept you around,” Minho said, and you reached out to swat him.

Once you stood outside the car, you decided to redo your bun—you didn’t particularly want to look like you’d just been asleep—but, Minho gently stopped you.

“It looks better loose,” he said, reaching out to carefully place your hair so it sweetly framed your face. It was such a tender gesture that it made your heart ache. So, you left your hair down and, still hand-in-hand with Minho, made your way toward the large tent under which the celebration was just getting under way. 

For dinner, you and Minho were seated with some of his younger cousins and their friends. You felt utterly out of your depth, since you didn’t spend much time with fifteen year-olds. They peppered the two of you with questions about adulthood. Thankfully, Minho had been right: there was more than enough food and it was delicious. The wine to go with dinner was excellent, too. You had to stop yourself from going back for thirds of one dish. And when the cake came out, you could barely contain your glee over how good it was. Minho even managed to put a dab of icing on your nose, and laughed himself silly at your look of betrayal.

As tradition dictated, the newlyweds had the first dance. It was sweet and a bit somber. You held back as Minho went to dance as soon as everyone else was invited to dance. The younger cousins flocked to the dance floor like geese. Minho danced exuberantly, joyously, and you couldn’t help smiling at him whenever he faced you. Without his suit coat, he could move freely as any leaf on the wind, and all too quickly, he was lost to you as more and more people flooded the dance floor.

“Hey,” a voice behind you said. You hadn’t noticed anyone approach as you watched a couple in front of you dance their hearts out. Looking up, your eyes met those of an incredibly handsome young man you’d seen in the bridal party. His tuxedo looked so normal that it practically screamed that it cost more than you’d care to imagine.

You gave him a mildly confused look. “Hello?”

“Oh, come on, that’s no way to talk to a kind gentleman simply saying ‘Hello,’” the man said.

“I don’t know you,” you said uncertainly. 

“True. Park Seonghwa at your service.” He left space at the end of the sentence, expecting you to provide your name. You didn’t. But that didn’t stop him. “So,” he continued, pulling out a chair next to you and straddling it, “what’s a beautiful woman like you doing sitting over here when you could be dancing?”

“I just didn’t feel like dancing yet,” you said, keeping your voice even, and took a sip of your wine. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Seonghwa looked affronted. “Do you see this suit? There’s no way I can dance in this!”

You laughed—you couldn’t help it, not when this preening popinjay was being so ridiculous. And, of course, he took your laughter as a sign that he was doing something right and proceeded to shift his chair closer to yours. A waft of his cloying cologne hit you like a freight train and you coughed lightly, leaning away.

“If I’m supposed to dance in this gown, then you can definitely dance in that suit,” you said mockingly.

“Ah! Care to dance with me, then, beautiful?” Seonghwa stood and held out his hand, expecting you to take it. He had the air about him that he was used to getting what he wanted. “Or we could go somewhere private and I can show you my . . . moves.”

“No, I don’t. I’m not going to dance or do anything else with someone I just met, especially one so cocky as you.” You turned away from Seonghwa to resume watching the guests dancing. A moment later, your view was eclipsed by the thing very person you were trying to avoid.

“Could you move?” you asked peevishly. “Whatever you want, I’m not interested.”

“Why don’t you want to dance with me, hmm?” Seonghwa demanded. “Aren’t I handsome enough?”

“Is that all you can talk about? How handsome you are?” you snapped. “I said I’m not interested, and that should be enough.” Your thoughts raced—usually only one thing worked on guys like this. “Besides, I have a boyfriend.”

Seonghwa made to grab your hand to pull you out of your seat, but stopped as a hand clasped his shoulder. “Ah. Seonghwa. I shouldn’t be surprised. Kindly fuck off, won’t you?” Minho said as brightly as the glint of sunlight off a lake on a summer’s day. His hair was slightly disheveled from dancing, but that didn’t stop him from looking like a prince to you. In fact, it only helped.

“Minnie!” Seonghwa cried, turning to face Minho. “It’s good to see you! It’s been too long.”

“Hmm, I’d say not long enough,” Minho muttered, but Seonghwa wasn’t paying attention.

“I was just about to dance with— You know, I never did catch this lovely creature’s name.”

“And I’m still not going to give it to you,” you insisted, angry that you’d been called a “lovely creature.”

“Seonghwa, really. Go bother someone else.” Minho’s voice was still calm, but it had an edge to it. “I’m tired of your shit.” 

“Oh, I see how it is,” Seonghwa said, looking between you and Minho. Then, sensing that he couldn’t charm his way out of this situation, he stalked off in the direction of the bar.

Letting out a sigh, Minho came to stand by you and gently rubbed your back. The cut of your gown was such that his hand only met bare skin, and you felt a shiver pass over you. A few minutes passed as you both simply watched the gyrating crowd.

“Is he always like that?” you asked suddenly.

Minho looked down at you, brows furrowed slightly. “Hmm?”

“Is Seonghwa always such a dick? I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so insufferable and narcissistic,” you run a hand through you hair, the picture of annoyance.

“Yeah,” Minho says sadly. “He’s never really understood that the life he’s used to isn’t everyone else’s reality. And it doesn’t help that he knows he’s disgustingly handsome.”

You giggled. “That’s the perfect way to put it.”

A slow, mellow love song began to play and the young cousins back to the table, too embarrassed to remain on the dance floor. Minho leaned down to your ear and said, “Why don’t you come dance, now. I think the young ones are about to start annoying us again. I promise I won’t leave you on the side this time.” 

Smiling, you stood, and Minho’s hand went to your waist as he drew you out onto the dance floor. The skirt of your gown swirled around you most satisfyingly. Dancing with Minho had always been easy, since all you had to do was follow his lead and hope you didn’t trip over your own feet. Tonight was no different. With one hand at your waist and the other between your shoulder blades, Minho held you close to him as you carefully swayed and sometimes twirled together. Your arms had automatically gone to loop around the back of his neck, which made you think of all the times you’d done that with silly guys in high school. Minho laughed, surprised but pleased.

You were aware of Minho’s fingers gently weaving in and out of the ends of your hair, almost as if he didn’t want you to know. You brushed your thumb against the soft hair at the nape of his neck, and he sucked in a breath. Something had changed between you and Minho in the past two weeks, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. There was just something about being at a wedding that made you feel especially romantic.

“Lee Minho!” came a slightly hoarse and distinctly peevish voice.

“Oh no,” Minho groaned and rested his forehead on your head, clearly hoping you could hold him up that way.

“Is that your great-aunt Mia,” you whispered, glancing over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the elderly woman hurriedly making her way toward you. Her wispy white hair formed a cloud around her head, much like a dandelion gone to seed. When dancers didn’t move from her quickly enough, she rapped them on the ankles with her gnarled cane. 

“Mhmm,” Minho grimaced.

“Should she be on the dance floor?” you asked, concerned. 

“Probably not.”

“Lee Minho, what do you think you’re doing?” Great-Aunt Mia said, knocking her cane into Minho’s calves so he nearly fell into you.

“Hello, Aunt Mia,” Minho said, turning to face the disagreeable woman; he kept his hand on your waist, though. 

“Don’t you take that tone with me, young man!”

“Sorry, Aunt Mia. I wish I could have visited you, I really do, but school’s just been so busy. I hope you’ve been well.” You could tell by the set of his shoulders that Minho was trying not to be sarcastic toward his elder relative, and decided to snake your arm around his waist. For moral support.

“Minho, you didn’t tell me you have a girlfriend. You will introduce us.” Great-Aunt Mia didn’t ask to be introduced; no, she commanded.

“Oh, right,” Minho said, and Great Aunt Mia glared, as if Minho’s lapse in cordiality was a high crime. “Great Aunt Mia, may I present my girlfriend, Y/N L/N.”

If you’d just taken a sip of your now abandoned wine, you would have spluttered. You couldn’t believe what you’d just heard. Girlfriend? You’d certainly entertained the idea in your wildest, most private daydreams, but never thought of it seriously. Minho always negated any suggestion of you being a couple, so, surely, he was joking this time, too. He had to be. After all, you’d been mistaken for a couple more times than you could count.

“Well, girl?” Great-Aunt Mia’s voice cut through your thoughts like a hot knife through butter. All around you, the other guests continued dancing.

“I’m so sorry,” you said, nearly tripping over your words as you raced to get them out. Great-Aunt Mia was scary. “It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am.” You weren’t sure if you should courtesy or hold out your hand to shake hers or what—this interacting-with-rich-people thing mildly unnerved you.

“Oh, call me Aunt Mia—everyone does!” Great-Aunt Mia chortled, then, she peered at you. “So, you’ve won the heart of our darling Minho, have you? Well, what do you do?”

“I—” you began, then had to swallow. “I’m still in college, ma’am, but I have a part-time job at a bookstore.” There was no way you were going to call this harpy of a woman “Aunt Mia.”

“Well, that’s good,” she said, making it clear that she did not think it good in the least. “I’m sure you’ll be a fine wife for Minho. Don’t embarrass us, please.”

Her pronouncement hung in the air as you and Minho simply stared. Then, Great-Aunt Mia sharply turned her head to the side, like a fox that had just sensed a vole nearby, and hobbled away into the crowd of dancers. Even after you could no longer see her, you knew where she went by the yelps of pain from those unfortunate enough to get in her way.

“So, where were we?” Minho said, pulling you around to face him again. As he did so, his hands came to rest on your hips, much lower than before. You could feel the heat of his skin through the thin fabric of your dress.

Before you could say anything, Minho stiffened as he looked up and past you. “I need you to make out with me,” he said quickly, bringing his lips to your ear. “Please, I’m begging, Y/N. I’ll explain later.”

“Wha—” was all you got out before Minho’s lips were on yours. Without thinking, you fit your lips more perfectly to his and kissed back. He tasted of sweet icing, white wine, and the salt of sweat from dancing. You clung to him, holding on for dear life as reality seemed to shimmer like a veil in front of you. And, Minho clearly thought now was not the time for half-measures, since he’d roughly pulled your hips to his—you could tell his pants were feeling far too tight at the moment. You gasped against his lips as he slid his tongue into your mouth. Minho cupped the back of your head, still holding your hip like a lifeline in a storm. 

“Hey, if you’re not gonna dance, get off the dance floor!”

“Get a room!”

“Ooooh, hot!”

You broke the kiss, blushing at the comments from people around you and at how enthusiastically you’d kissed him back. You were both panting slightly. 

“Min,” you breathed. “What was that— Why— We just—”

Minho interrupted you with another peck on the lips, then pulled you with him off the dance floor. “Let’s get out of here.”

You followed Minho out from under the tent, away from the people and lights and wine that flowed like Dionysus himself presided over the bar. The memory of the softness of Minho’s lips on yours buzzed through your veins, making you feel warm honey. When you reached an old maple, you stopped, still holding hands.

“Minho, why did we just make out?” you said, looking up into his face. “Not that I minded!” you added quickly.

“Seonghwa was coming toward us and he, well—” Minho looked uncomfortable. “He has a history of trying take away the people I’m dating. I wasn’t about to let him get you.”

“But, we’re not dating . . .” you said, hearing how uncertain you sounded and mentally kicking yourself.

“He didn’t have to know that,” Minho said, his voice firm. “I still didn’t want him worming his way between us.” He reached up and lightly ran his fingertips along the line of your cheekbone. You couldn’t help yourself—you leaned into his touch.

The winking of fireflies in the trees on the far side of the lawn made it look like Minho was surrounded by stars. The next words you spoke took all your courage, and then some, to say. “What if we did date, Min?” 

Minho didn’t bother with a lengthy speech detailing the reasons he wanted you. He didn’t fall to his knees and clutch at your skirts, professing his love in verse. He didn’t walk away. Instead, Minho cupped your face in his hands and brought his mouth to yours again.

“Yes, yes,” he said in between kissing your cheeks, your lips, your eyelids, everywhere he could. “Oh Y/N, love, please.” The last word came out a little strangled.

You ran your fingers through Minho’s hair, holding him to you as you all but devoured each other. The fabric of your dress against your skin suddenly felt too tight, and all you wanted to do was yank it off yourself. Instead, you settled for untying Minho’s bowtie and starting on his buttons. At the same time, he began working at the lacing of your gown.

“We,” Minho gasped, “should go back to the car. We can’t just— Not under a tree.”

You giggled at how close you’d come to tearing each other’s clothes off in the middle of a public lawn. While it was still early in the evening, it wasn’t that dark yet. “Come on, then,” you grinned. “We can time how long it takes you to undo the lacing of this fucking dress.”

It turned out that Minho was more adept at unlacing things than you’d expected, and you were soon out of your dress. Minho’s shirt was gone, too. So, clothed in far less than what you’d arrived at the wedding in, you straddled Minho’s lap in the backseat of his car. His lips on your skin felt like the fire that the fireflies in the surrounding trees seemed to hold. But his kisses were still the best, making you feel as though you partook of the sweetest ambrosia.

Your hands were still in his hair as his roamed your back and down to grip your thighs. Minho pulled you closer to him and nuzzled your neck, sucking on the sensitive skin there. Every time you ground your hips into his, Minho let out a moan so pretty that you thought you could listen to it every day. You were sure that you’d blaze up in a pillar of flame at any moment, you felt so full of frenetic energy. 

The heat between the two of you grew steadily until it was all you could do not to cry out. Minho’s body covered you, warm and lithe, and soon he murmured your name over and over and over again. Fireflies danced behind your eyes.

“I love you, Y/N,” Minho whispered, holding you to his chest as you curled up on the seat together—your dress made a surprisingly good blanket. “I love you so much.”

“Min, please tell me you mean that,” you said, not daring to believe that you weren’t just dreaming, even after everything that you’d just done. 

“I do mean it, buttercup,” Minho said, kissing your temple. “And I’ll mean it every day of my life. I promise.”

[laurensprentiss]

Jouska [Hotch x Reader]

Chapter 5:

Warnings: Mentions of guns, lil’ bitta tension, lotta angst. Mentions of Haley. 

Word Count: 2,262

------

“I don’t know what’s worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.” - Daniel Keyes

------

“Aaron would you just listen to me?!” The frustration seeps out of her pores, her hands running through her blonde hair. 

They’ve been going around in circles for months now, ever since he took on your case, the irregular hours and time away taking its toll. It seems like a never ending cycle, she argues, he goes to work anyway, brings her back some flowers or gifts, they make up. Rinse and repeat. And she’s at the end of her tether. 

He holds his hands up in defeat, setting his phone against the kitchen counter. “Haley! What would you have me do? I have a job, this is my career.” He says, almost condescendingly.

She slams the cupboard as her voice goes up a few octaves. “What is that supposed to mean? Don’t do that. Don’t you dare try to make me out to be the bad guy! Don’t you dare, Aaron.” Her eyes narrow and she’s seething, her face red and tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “You asked me to move in with you because you wanted to be with me. You wanted a future with me.” 

“-I do.”

“Don’t interrupt me.” She hisses. “We moved from Seattle to DC so you could chase your dreams. I left my parents, my family, my friends to be with you. Because I believed you when you said you wanted a future with me.” Her tears spill over as she wipes at them frantically. 

“Haley.” 

“No. Aaron. I can’t. I understand you want to follow your dreams, I know this is your job, that this is who you are. But you need to seriously reconsider what’s important to you, because I can’t keep doing this.” Her voice cracks.

The sentence hits him like a freight train as he swallows the lump in his throat. “Keep doing what?” He asks hesitantly. He’s not sure if he even wants to know the answer. She’s all he knows. 

“Going to bed alone.” She whispers. “I can’t keep living like this, I can’t keep being the only person all in for this relationship.” 

His heart sinks. He crosses the small kitchen to hold her hands in his, a split second taking him back to when he held yours in the car that day. He shakes the thought from his head and seeks out her eyes. He doesn’t really know what to say, can’t quite find the words. 

“I’m sorry.” He says defeatedly. He cups his hand around her cheeks and wipes the tears from her eyes as she leans into his touch, bringing her forehead to his. 

It hurts him to know that she feels like this, but it devastates him even more to know that he can’t promise her he’ll do better. He wants to. More than almost anything, to give her what she wants, but his commitment to his job is almost hardwired into him, his need to uphold his oath. And the strange pull he feels towards you makes him feel like there’s too many parts of him being pulled this way and that, being spread too thin. 

He feels torn. 

She leans into his touch, both of them sharing a quiet moment after their blow up, their eyes closed, a glimmer of hope emerging in her chest. 

But then his phone rings. He can almost see the disappointment rise in Haley’s shoulders as his eyes tear open at the sound, but Haley squeezes her eyes shut even more, knowing the answer. She already knows the outcome. 

She knows who wins in this situation. 

“Just go.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. 

Panic rises in Hotch’s chest, the magnetic pull of his phone and his job tearing him away from his childhood sweetheart. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. Can we talk tonight?” He pleads.

She doesn’t respond, just keeps her eyes shut as he places a chaste kiss against her lips. 

“I’m sorry.” And with that he leaves. 

———-

“Oh, so big bad Hotch’s gonna teach me how to shoot, huh?” You huff out a laugh as you hand him your bag to load into the trunk. 

“Yep.” 

You squint at him, puzzled by his sudden change in demeanour, a knot forming in your stomach. You step into the SUV, securing your seatbelt, your anxiety taking over, suddenly. 

You’ve noticed he’s been tense the past couple of days, but today especially. His eyebrows are pulled into a frown, he seems distant and unfocused and his jaw is set into a hard line, which ordinarily would get you into trouble with yourself, but today, it’s a sign for concern. 

He checks his phone for the fifth time in almost as many minutes, rubbing a hand over his beard, inhaling sharply. His jaw ticks as he rolls open the window before putting the car into drive. 

The car ride is literally and figuratively chilly, the spring air permeating the awkward atmosphere. Hotch doesn’t attempt to make any conversation with you, doesn’t even look at you, his nostrils flared and his mind elsewhere. 

You feel awkward, uncomfortable and there’s a creeping sensation up your neck, a sharp contrast to a couple days ago when he had held your hand in his, reassured you that he’d do whatever he could to catch this guy. Now, the butterflies are an unwelcome sensation. 

You continue on your wordless journey, pulling up to the shooting range. You take a beat and wait for Hotch as he unbuckles his belt and steps out of the car without even so much as acknowledging you. You swallow thickly, feeling an almost misplaced guilt towards his actions. 

Was it you? Did you do something wrong?

———

“Okay, you’re gonna start with this one here.” Hotch explains, holding the Glock 42 flat in his palm, weighing it in his hands. “You’re gonna start with the smallest, get used to the trigger and the weight before we can move up.” His voice is monotone, unwavering. No hint of levity. You move up to the shelf, taking the gun from his hands. 

Damn. What is with this guy today?

You clear your head.

Okay. Check the magazine, load, safety. 

Done.

Stance, aim, push, pull and squeeze. 

The smoke from the round wafts into your nose as you open your eyes to check the paper target in front of you, completely untouched. 

Shit. 

Hotch pinches his nose, the vein in his temple throbbing. “No, c’mon! How many times-“ 

He winces and stops abruptly. Stops before he says something he doesn’t mean, before he does something he knows he’ll regret. This isn’t him. And it isn’t your fault. He knows this, but he can’t help but feel that the misplaced frustration he has towards you is because of his guilty conscience, it’s compensation for the way he feels so torn. Still he pushes it down further. 

He clears his throat. “I’m sorry. I-. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-“ 

You just follow his movements, watch him collect himself. He takes a breath and huffs out a dry laugh. “Alright. C’mere.” 

You shoot him a puzzled look, the swift change in his mood taking you aback. Part of you wants to rip him a new one for treating you like this, but it wouldn’t do any good. Strange attraction aside, he was fast becoming your friend, one of the only people you could rely on, and knowing he wasn’t in the right headspace but not having the answer for him was frustrating. 

He chuckles. “Come on. Come here.” He beckons you toward him. You plant yourself in front of him, as he moves in close, his body solid behind you. He grips your wrists from behind as your hands wrap around the glock, taking stance, his breath on your neck. 

His voice is low in your ear. “Remember to follow through, okay?” You don't dare turn your head, he’s so close. You glance at him out of the corner of your eye to find him watching you, his eyes flirting to your lips for a brief second and you feel that familiar heat creep up your neck. 

He moves back only slightly, giving him enough room to grip your hips, positioning your right foot back, angling your body at a slight diagonal. His hands are solid on your body, moving you with ease. You try your best to concentrate on the target in front of you and to hold the glock level, but Hotch’s presence so close is less than ideal when you need to focus. 

He positions your arms once again, touch feather light this time, brushing your shoulders as he does. He nods for you to try again. 

You keep your eyes on the target this time, trained on the marker body in front of you after you shoot and you can’t quite believe you hit it. You squeal with excitement and turn to face Hotch who looks proud but drops down quickly, seeing the Glock still in your hands. 

“Yeah, lesson number 2. Never-“ He nods at you to punctuate his point, taking the gun from you. “-Never. Point a gun at someone without aiming.” 

———

It’s dark when Hotch pulls up outside your building, the mood decidedly lighter than before but the unspoken heaviness still lingers in the air, carries all the way up to your apartment. You key the door open, switching on a lamp on your way in, Hotch making quick work of a window sweep.

“Two MPD officers are posted right outside, and there are two unmarked cars outside, too. Just in case.”  

You nod as you walk into your kitchen, a sudden surge of bravery taking over. “Hey, Hotch?” 

He doesn’t look up from his phone when he answers. “Yeah?” 

“Hotch.”

He looks up this time, sheepish expression on his face when he realises you’re staring at his phone, too, cursing himself for not minding his manners. 

“Sorry. What is it?” 

“Are you okay?” You ask, earnestly. 

He pretends to be oblivious, as you walk out of your kitchen and plant yourself on your couch, water in hand. He sits on the ottoman you use as a footrest opposite your couch, but says nothing. Just watches you, but you wait for him. 

He runs his hands through his hair. It’s endearing, you think. 

“That obvious?” He says with a dry chuckle. 

You wait for him to go on. 

“I know I’ve been ‘off’ the last couple of days. I’m sorry. It’s just- I don’t know. Stuff in my personal life, I guess - I let it affect my job. Won’t happen again.” 

“That’s not what I mean. Screw the job. I mean are you actually okay?” You feel a strange pull in your chest, the vulnerability is written on his face. But you don’t want to push him. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“It’s- just this job, y’know. My girlfriend-“

“-Haley.” You’re thinking out loud but he looks surprised as to how you could know her name. “I think I heard you talking to her a couple times.” You shake it off. 

“Yeah. Well. She’s struggling to cope with all of this, I guess. The job. It’s not like it’s a regular 9-5, and I don’t suppose it’s much fun going to sleep in an empty house most nights.” 

I go to bed alone. 

She goes to bed alone. 

He curses himself for his lack of tact. “I mean I know where she’s coming from, I wish I could be around more but it’s hard trying to get the right balance y’know? And I don’t know, I have the feeling she might not want to stick around much longer - and I wouldn’t blame her.” 

He whispers the last part, like he doesn’t trust his voice to betray him. He’s surprised he’s even opened up to you this much, this quickly and he realises his mouth has already betrayed him before his brain had even had a chance to catch up. He feels lighter though, maybe even optimistic. 

But you feel your heart sinking. The naive little girl in you had thought maybe Hotch could have felt attracted to you, maybe even had some feelings for you. The realisation that he has a foundation, a home, a long-term relationship - even if it was on the rocks - makes your chest heavy. Makes it hard to breathe.

You don’t want to give him advice. Don’t even want to really think about him and Haley at all. But the sadness in his eyes and the worry in his voice speaks louder than the little voice in your head. 

“You love her?”

He takes a beat, but nods.

“Then you know what you have to do, Hotch. Give her what she wants. Give her what she needs to stay.” You feel a misplaced, profound kind of sadness deep within you, and you can’t tell whether it’s because you feel utterly alone and like nobody would ever want to fight for you - or whether it’s because you know that person wouldn’t be the man sitting in front of you. 

Still, you inhale deeply and stand. “Well, listen - I don’t wanna keep you.” You walk him to your door. “I hope it all works out.” You tell him as you watch him leave. And you only half mean it. 

———

“Haley?” Hotch shouts through the door. He shrugs off his blazer and loosens his tie as he turns on the lights in their dark home, blinking as his eyes adjust. There’s no answer. 

“Haley?” 

Nothing.

He searches the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, a sinking feeling taking over. Still, he calls out her name, to no avail. He turns on the light in their bedroom, the wardrobes open and hangers laying on a neat pile in the corner. He sighs defeatedly. 

His eyes fall to a piece of folded yellow paper on the centre of their perfectly made bed. He picks it up and lets his body fall onto the mattress, unfolding the note.

Haley’s elegant, slanted writing reads: 

‘I’m sorry too. - HB’ 

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Tags: Let me know if you would like to be tagged!

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[dancingthesambaa]

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 9

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him.

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 9: Decisions and Hesitations

“You really want to do this, you really want to try and race me?” Mei asks as she sees MK roll up in the restaurant scooter.

“I’m in it to win it!” He cockily said, “and besides I always wanted to try out one of these races, my new powers are gonna seriously help me!”

“So are we!” They see an orange and blue demon with their own car as they posed ontop of it.

“Yin!”

“And Gin!”

“You don’t even know the track!” The pro racer yelled out as she leaned in closer to him.

“I got Monkey King powers! I think I will be fine!”

“It doesn’t work like that!”

Needless to say, both demons were ignored, but the next demon wasn’t as he revved up his engine.

“Quiet peasants! I’m trying to get in the zone!” Red Son called out as he kept his eye on the track in front of him.

“Oh hey Red! I didn’t know you were participating!” MK smiled and gave a wave.

“Well the prize is a worthwhile venture to be acquired,” he huffed out.

“Well I hope you boys will like the taste of my fumes when I leave you both in the dust!” She grinned savagely.

“Please, you will be the one tasting my dust!” The Monkie kid shot back.

“You want to bet on it!”

“Oh yeah! The usual?”

“You know it, you want to join in hot head?” She asked the prince.

“As if I would want to participate in your frivolous competition,” he rolled his eyes.

“Awww, it sounds like you scared,” she began to mock him.

“What!” A burst of flame emerged.

“Chicken! Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!” MK flapped his arms as he did that.

“Red Son is no coward! What is the bet!” He hissed out as steam emitted from his mouth.

“Loser has to treat the other to an all you can eat ice cream!” MK quickly shouted.

“Deal!”

“And it looks like things are heating up down in the tracks!” Yin stated as he and his brothers entered the commenter podium.

“And on a totally unrelated note, we're the new commentators,” Jin added as he grabbed the mic.

“I really shouldn’t be surprised something like this would happen,” MK sighed as he quickly put his seatbelt on.

“And to spice things up we’ve gone ahead and altered the race track!”

“WHAT!” Not only the trio, but every racer shouted out as they saw the now new and updated version of the track on the screen.

“Here’s your start and here’s your finish, get there anyway you like!” Yin said as she pointed to multiple areas.

“Fuck me!” One of the racers screamed out as he slammed his head against the wheel.

“Well there goes all of my plans!” Another angrily said in a red car as she honked her horn violently.

“I’m gonna kill them,” a calm voice said as they gripped the wheel.

“This is fine,” someone’s eye twitches violently, “this is perfectly fine.”

“On your marks!”

“Hold on!” Mei cried out as she tried to figure out if that really just happened.

“Get set!”

“Wait what!?” Red Son blanched as he looked at the commentator sector, more specifically the twin demons, as if he wanted to climb up there and rip both their mouths off.

“Go!” They echoed together as only MK began to drive off as he had no previous experience with racing, so he wasn’t weighed down on the dangers, uncertainties, and screwups that can occur with not having the road memorized.

“See you at the finish line!”

“Oh hell no!” Mei revved her engine and began to chase after him.

“Get back here!” Red Son did the same as he quickly followed and soon enough everyone joined in as well.

“I still can’t believe that they weren’t real,” MK grumbled as he licked his ice cream.

“I still can’t believe the both of you thought it was real,” Mei smirked as she pointed her spoon at them.

“In hindsight, I should have never thought that the peaches of immortality would ever be a prize in a mortal sport,” Red Son grumbled as he bit into his cone. “Every demon, creature, and mortal alike would be flocking at the chance of immortality if it was real.”

“Well jokes on the both of you, cause now I can savor my free delicious goodness,” she held up her cup.

“You don’t have to rub it in,” the boy groaned.

“Yeah, I do. I mean, who was saying that they only needed the great Monkey King powers to win?” She put her finger to her chin, “Oh right! It was you!”

“I said I was sorry.”

“Well since you got me my wonderful prize, your apology has been accepted. Just try not to be dumb next time.”

“All I can do is try!”

“If it wasn’t for you, I would have won!” The flame demon half glared at MK.

“To be fair, how was I supposed to know that I crashed into you when I fell out of the sky!” He threw his hands up. “I was just trying to get ahead!”

“Well now my vehicle is in ruins because of you!”

“You're not the only one, Pigsy is gonna kill me once I get back,” he smacked his head on the table.

“Don’t you have Monkey King powers?” She pointed out.

“Huh?” MK tilted his head as the demon's eyes widened in realization as he smacked his face.

“You could have fixed it!” He roared out.

“Oh right!” He had totally forgotten that he could do that, “I am soo doing that after we eat.”

Red Son grabbed him by his collar and brought him close until they were nose to nose, “I have spent countless months making and fine tuning my car to my tastes and you, noodle boy, have ruined that in less than a second. You will fix my car now.”

“Oor I can do that,” he quickly grabbed his staff and went outside as the two follow.

“Don’t worry,” Mei patted the demon's shoulder, “I know exactly your pain. Love him, but he almost lost a hand after he managed to bust my engine.”

“I said I was sorry!” He called out as both vehicles reverted back to their original state with a few missing pieces here and there.

“Tell that to my motor!”

Red Son inspected his car and nodded his head, “still some parts missing, but an adequate patch up job nonetheless. I will bring it back to its former glory when I bring it back home.”

“Your welcome,” the Monkie kid smiled.

“You're the one who broke it in the first place!”

“Point,” he then walked a little way closer, “soo I guess this means you're gonna head home now.” He said a bit sadly, he liked hanging out with Red, he is one of the few, besides Mei, who can match his level of energy. So it was always a bummer whenever he had to head back to his crummy family, he had heard how parents talked to him and needless to say, he did not like it.

The demon side eyed his friend's words and huffed, “I can do whatever I want, you have no authority over me.” He marched back inside with his head held high.

Both MK and Mei's eyes slightly widened at this, but they both shared grins as they quickly followed him back inside the shop.

“So question, is water wet?” She couldn’t help herself.

“By the-of course it is wet!” He looked so lost at the random question.

“Nope it’s not,” MK stood firm in his belief, he knew what Mei was doing, but he was not about to let this go.

“Of course it is noodle boy! If water makes other materials wet then by default the water is wet!”

“Key word ‘other materials’ the water itself is not wet.”

“That makes no sense, of course it is!”

“It makes perfect sense!”

“Do you have a brain or is it hiding under all that stupidity?!”

“I will not back down from this, water is not wet!”

“In what world!”

Mei happily sat back and enjoyed the chaos she just unfolded.

“Nice job MK,” Monkey King complimented his protege when he saw him master the reverse strike. “You are getting quite the hang of this.”

“Thanks!” He smiled as he swung his staff back to his side.

“You're learning faster than I have ever anticipated, are you learning from another teacher behind my back?” He narrowed his eyes teasingly though it still held a hint of seriousness as he was curious about how he knew some of those moves.

“No!” He immediately said, but he backtracked moments later, “well yeah, but not like that! It’s just that my Dad has been teaching me some fighting moves for the past couple of years.”

“Lighten up,” he jokingly ruffled his head, “I’m just teasing you. Though I seriously have to meet your old man sooner or later, he seems like a pretty cool dude if he’s teaching you all this.”

“Of-,” he cut himself off as he realized what he was about to do. His dear ol Dad, the medicine monkey who has a grumpy temper, the biggest worrier he has ever met, was Macaque, the same monkey who tried to kill the Monkey King and the rest of the gang, albeit under a huge misunderstanding.

He cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to meet his Dad again.

While he doesn’t think that Monkey King will go off the rails and try to exterminate him on sight, he rather not take the chance either way. But, as much as he hates to admit it, there will always be the possibility that the two will meet sooner or later.

“Maybe later,” he nervously said as he scratched the back of his neck. “But how about teaching me something else, likkke a certain 72 transformation technique.” He really wanted to learn this out of all the moves.

The monkey sage merely quirked his eyebrow at his student's blatant tell, but he let it slide…for now. “Oh ho ho, now why should I teach you that?”

“But why not?”

“But why?” He shot back.

“But, but, but it would be so cool!” It really would be so cool, transforming into all those different kinds of animals, but he does have to admit that he does have a certain animal that he is leaning towards.

“It is definitely a cool move,” he agreed as he balanced on his tail, “but you don’t have to learn that at the moment.”

“Oh come on, when will I be ready,” he huffed out.

“When I say you are,” he poked the middle of his forehead then playfully snagged his violet bandana off his head and began to run away.

“Hey! Give that back!” He began to chase the monkey as they traverse up the mountain.

“Here’s your next lesson,” he tied the bandana to his left arm as he was standing on top of a large boulder. “We will be focusing on your stamina next, you seem to have a lot, but I want to test out how long you can go for.”

“Oh I can go on for a long time!” He cockily stated as he had already climbed up halfway to him, “so you better give me back my bandana when I catch you!”

“Good luck with that,” he shot back with the same arrogance as he hopped over to a tree that was quite a distance away. He silently watched his protege leaped from the rock to the tree closest to it, then he saw him stumble a bit with the different texture as he climbed on, but this is when he became a bit confused as he saw him sit down on one of the tree branches and proceeded to take his shoes and socks off. “What are you doing?” He muttered out.

Then he saw MK begin to climb once more and, he noted, that he actually began to have an easier time with climbing and swinging from tree to tree. “Well, I’ll be.”

It was only when MK got closer did he ask, “so it seems that I have underestimated your climbing skills, is this what your Dad also taught you?”

“Kinda,” he brightly said as he kept on climbing, “I was raised in the Plum Blossom Forest, I might as well have been born in there! I think that I have climbed every tree imaginable that was in that forest.”

“The Plum Blossom Forest,” the Monkey King mused. He knew of it, it had popped up a couple of centuries back, but he really never had a chance to check it out before. “Sounds interesting, I didn’t know humans were living there,” he subtly asked.

“There isn’t,” MK automatically said, not understanding the sage question.

“Oh? Is that so? So you visit often,” he curiously asked as he moved to a different treetop.

“Stop moving! But, no I live there, I thought I already told you that,” MK huffed as he moved over to the next tree.

“No, you said nothing of sorts,” he mocked back, “but if there is no human there, then how about you and your Dad?”

“Well I am the only human, my Dad’s not,” he momentarily stopped mid climb as he just realized what he admitted, but continued to climb. “He’s a demon.”

“A demon, that is something you don’t hear every day,” he teased. He has nothing against interspecies relationships, but he does have to admit that there aren't many couples like that out there. Prejudice is a right bitch at times no matter how much the eras may go past. “Your parents must really have a strong relationship with each other.”

As MK was about to say something an idea began to form in his head as he calmly switched tracks and said, “Nah, it’s just my Dad. He adopted me after he found me in the rain out in the alley after I got lost.” While he doesn’t want the two to meet again, he can admit to himself that there will always be a possibility that it will happen, so why not let the Monkey King see his Macaque in a better light.

His eyes widened as he heard this, but other than that, his entire form stayed the same, “Well that was nice of him,” was all he said.

MK only felt a bit bad about trying to manipulate the great Monkey King, but he kinda doesn’t want his Dad to be turned into utter paste if they ever meet again. So he will use every trick in the book he learns from both him and Mei and makes sure that when this all blows up in his face then at least he will have some resemblance of a bomb shelter to shield them from the blast.

So like he said, he only felt a bit bad.

“Yep! He’s been raising me ever since then!” He cheerily added as he eyed a certain monkey keeping his poor bandana hostage.

Wukong opted to stay quiet at this as he let the rest of the implications fall over him on his student situation. Though he did move back to the mountain once he got too close once again.

“Oh come on!”

“Seriously, why does this Forest even have faeries?!” Red Son yelled out as he finally found his way to the treehouse.

“Hello to you too,” MK grinned as he saw him and Mei walk towards him. “I didn’t know you two were coming together.”

“We weren’t,” Mei grumbled in irritation, “but some faeries decided that this is the time that they wanted to be devious, so I was stuck there for three hours!”

“I was in there for two before I saw biker girl,” the demon added as he stomped over to the tree. “If we didn’t spot each other, I was about to set fire to everything around me just so I can finally come here.”

“Agreed,” she growled out. This wasn’t her first time dealing with those half pint brats and she knows it won’t be her last. “Even Baba was laughing at us.”

“If I didn’t respect her so much I would be furious with her,” Red grumbled. He had met the divine creature on multiple occasions as he has always felt like an ant in her eyes whenever they meet. It was both infuriating and fascinating at the same time.

“At least they didn’t try to make deals with you,” MK tried to look on the bright side, only to get twin glares.

“I know better than to even play nice with a murderous being that is not even the size of my pinky! Mei doesn’t fuck with that kind of trickery, I like my soul thank you very much.”

“The faeries of this forest don’t do deals,” both humans looked at him in confusion, “I know, weird, but apparently Macaque told me some time ago when I first mentioned them that he and the Queen of the colony made a deal that they can stay in his forest as long as they don’t attempt to harm anyone that wanders in.” Now when he first heard this he was more than a little skeptical. Faeries, especially Woodland Faeries, are known for tricking their prey into a deal that usually ends with them losing their soul. Just because they look cute and innocent, doesn’t mean that they aren’t cold, manipulative little bastards stuffed with wiggly cruelty. He should know, he and his family have met with several of their kinds in his travels and even his parents refuse to have anything to do with those cretins.

“But they can still do shit like this,” she pointed out.

“Unfortunately yes,” he grumbled and he couldn’t help but add, “and I would have been able to maneuver my way through this if you didn’t insist on going your own way.”

“Me?” She marched up to him and pointed a finger at his chest, “You were the one getting all high and mighty and strutting around the forest like your hot shit! I was just following you fancy pants.”

“Ridiculous! You were the one saying ‘Don’t worry I know this forest like the back of my hand’ but apparently, you don’t know it as much as you hoped,” he slapped her hand away.

“Guys,” MK tried to butt in, but it was no use as their argument grew louder.

“Oh ho ho! Look who's talking Mr. ‘This is hardly a hassle for someone like me!’ But I guess someone like you ain’t worth the title you own!”

“Mei no,” the boy looked towards her.

“Not. Worth. My. Title?!” His head flickered in fury as steam began to come out.

“Red please,” MK practically was begging at this point.

He almost seemed to listen…almost as he calmly retorted “That says a lot a little coming from you little miss princess.”

“Goddamnit,” he sighed as he quickly stepped back as Mei tackled Red Son as she screamed.

“I am no fucking Princess! I am a goddamn Queen!”

The two began to brawl wildly across the area and the more Mei punched Red in the face and Red kneed her in the stomach, more and more bruises began to form.

“Honestly I’m shocked that this didn’t happen sooner,” he admitted as he sat back and watched their fight.

Then when both Dragon successor and Bull prince managed to throw each other away from one another, one brought out a glowing viridian sword in hand and the other lit up his fist in all its blaze of glory.

“Shit!” MK shouted as he began to sprint towards them with staff in hand.

Mei rushed towards Red Son with frustration in her eyes and he charged her with irritation on his own and just before their attacks hit one another a certain staff blocked their way and the trio attack let out a devastating roar.

BOOOM!

They all were pushed back by a tidal wave of heat and air but managed to stay on their feet.

“Okay I wasn't expecting that!” MK was the first one to say as he got his bearings. “A little boom, yes, but not whatever that was.”

“I hate to admit it, but I agree with you noodle boy,” Red Son said as he lowered his arms and looked down at their crater.

“You’re telling me,” Mei looked impressed by their miniature destruction as she looked around the area, “we managed to cause quite a bit of-FUCK!”

“What?!” Both boys whipped towards Mei, who looked oddly terrified as she pointed towards the tree line. They followed her finger and what they saw made them match her own face as standing at what used to be a beautiful grove of Plum Blossoms, was now a charred pile of ash.

“Nononono!” MK rushed over as he tried to examine the charred ground. “I thought I blocked it!”

“Well I think you redirect it!” Mei said in a panic as well, she knew very well just how much the trees meant to Macaque and now they had all done and fucked them up.

“How?!”

“Magic does strange things,” was all Red Son could mutter as he looked down at his destruction. He has never known why these trees were so important, after all this whole forest has an abundance of these, but during his multiple visits here he has gotten small snippets from both Macaque unruly friends and the creatures that dwell here of how important these trees mean to the Six Eared monkey. So, he tries his best to neither harm nor burn down a tree when he visits, despite not knowing why. Now he has thrown that all in the trash as he sees he has ruined something of importance to him.

“Now is not the time?!” MK panicked screamed as he tried to pick up the ash, but it just fell through his fingers. “This is so bad.”

“Are you guys okay?!” They all stiffen and quickly turn to see both Macaque and Ahmed leap towards them with worry on their faces. The monkey continued, “I heard screaming and an explosion.”

They all rushed in front as they tried, and failed, to cover their mess.

“We’re perfectly fine,” Mei grinned wide, “nothing is wrong.”

“She is correct,” Red Son nervously smiled, “everything is quite fine.”

“Yep,” MK didn’t look his Dad in the eyes, “we didn’t do anything bad.”

Both biker and demon elbowed him.

Ahmed and Macaque both looked at each other questioningly.

“Okay, what are you guys hiding?” He crossed his arms and looked to them, more specifically his son.

MK couldn’t help but look up and saw his Dad questioning look and he caved in faster than a house on fire as he wailed. “I’M SO SORRY!”

Mei and Red Son flinched as well as their shoulders dropped down in shame.

“Hey hey,” the monkey kneeled in front of his son as the lion gave a comforting pat on the other two shoulders. “Whatever happened, I’m sure it’s not too bad.”

“No, we fucked up real bad,” she whimpered out with her head lowered. “I am really sorry.”

“No words of apologies can amount to my failure,” the demon lowered his head as well.

“Seriously what happened?” He tried to ask but got only silence and tears in reply.

Ahmed did a quick scan around and he snorted as he saw what was behind them, “I think they're referring to the charred pile of ash behind them.”

The kids all stiffen as they watched Macaque see their destruction and it was only a moment of tense silence that had passed as they all awaited the inevitable yelling, but it wasn’t the one they were anticipating as he started to chuckle.

“Pffffftt, I’m gonna take a guess and say this was you guy’s creation,” he couldn’t help but smirk.

“Yessss?” She drew out the ‘s’ in confusion, “me and Red got in an argument and, well-”

“We fought and then MK stepped in to stop us, but it made it worse and then that happened,” he waved over their mess. “You don’t look mad?”

“Cause I’m not.”

“Really?!” They all shouted as MK continued, “but you told us just how much these trees meant to you and how you grew them yourself and you're telling us that it’s okay?!”

“Yep,” he popped the ‘p’ as he said that.

“But, but why!?”

“Look kiddos, I know both you and gale watched Ahmed and I fight some time ago right,” he said.

“Yeah?” Both humans agreed.

“So you know that we may have gotten more than a little wild with our fight and some things got utterly wrecked.”

“What’s the point of this?”

“I think what he’s trying to say is that during our fight, we destroyed an abundance of Plum trees,” Ahmed stepped in.

“…you know you did, didn’t you,” Mei mused out.

“Oh,” MK blinked as he did remember the clearing getting trashed to the point where it was almost unrecognizable to its previous state. “I suddenly feel like an idiot.”

“You're not the only one.”

“What fight?” Red curiously asked as Mei gave him a quick rundown.

“It’s the thought that counts starlight,” he smirked as he ruffled his son's hair.

“Sure, but I still feel bad,” he mumbled as he kicked a rock.

“Hmm well how bout this,” he grabbed the trio's attention, “to pay me back, all three of you are gonna plant a plant in that spot.”

“Like another Plum Tree or-” the monkey demon cut her off.

“Any plant you want, heck you can even plant daffodils. Those suckers can grow practically anywhere, but you guys will be the ones to take care of your plant. Deal.”

“Deal,” they all nodded.

“Alright but before we do that,” he brings out some bags and gloves, “how bout we clean up your mess.”

“Okay!/Let's do this!/This area will look even better than before!” MK, Mei, and Red Son all shouted as they grabbed the materials and began to clean up.

“I just noticed,” MK said as he put on his gloves with a mischievous grin, as he looked towards Red, “you said my name!”

He blushed as he remembered, but turned away, “no I didn’t.”

Mei matched her brother's grin, “you totally did!”

“It was the slip of the tongue!”

“Awww, you're finally warming up to us!”

“Shut your lying mouth!”

Both monkey and lion shared an amused look as they watched two humans and a demon, one side playfully argue and the other in complete denial, go at it.

It was not until a few weeks later did the once charred spot began to reform back in its former glory, but instead of Plum blossom saplings in its place there was a patch of Protea seeds grown by a Dragon girl, some Lotus buds planted by a Bull prince, and a section of Magnolia saplings nurtured by a Monkey successor.

“One day, you have to tell me how you make these noodles,” Macaque said as he quietly slurped down the rest of the food.

“Trade secret simian,” Pigsy chuckled as he wiped down his counter. “But I might let my lips loose a little if you tell me how you make your Dim Sum dumplings.”

“That can be arranged,” he grinned as he put down his empty bowl, “so, how have you and Tang been doing?”

The pig demon groaned as he stopped himself from slamming his head on the counter, “did Mei put you up to this?”

“Yep,” he unashamedly said.

“Of course she did,” he grumbled, “well tell her that there is nothing there.”

“But you want something to be there,” he pointed his dark green sparkly nail at him. Breezy got him, Comet, and Spitfire to do some nail time and he can say it didn’t turn out so bad. He knows MK was proudly showing off his violet nails against Mei’s bright green ones, even Red was admiring his own sparkly black ones. He even had his long mane of fur braided by them and it goes to show that you can learn new things about someone, he didn’t know little spitfire could braid hair. Apparently, the little prince said he learned it after Daiyu had dragged him off one day to meet some of her siblings, let it be known that he has a weakness towards wide eyed baby birds.

“No I don’t,” he huffed.

He raised an eyebrow.

Pigsy threw up his hands in defeat, “okay fine! Yes! I do like Tang in more than a friend way, happy now.”

“Ecstatic,” he deadpanned as he took a sip of his drink, “so why haven’t you said anything to him? And don’t give me that BS of not wanting to lose your friendship with him.”

“But it is!” He gripped the counter tight for a moment before exhaling, “look, I’ve been through so many crushes and puppy love throughout my life, hell take Spider Queen for one.”

“I think that was more of a lapse of judgment,” he patted the stool next to him.

“Whatever you call it, but for Tang I…I don’t think I ever fell for someone this hard before,” he sighed as he sat down next to the monkey. “I know it’s not a crush, I’ve known him too long and I know him for too long to be something as simple as a crush.”

“So what is it then?”

“I don’t know,” he moaned out as he covered his face with his hands.

“You do,” Pigsy peeked out from between his fingers as he looked at the monkey. “But you just don’t want to say it out loud.”

“Say what?”

“That you love him,” he bluntly stated.

“I do not-”

“So you don’t love the way he smiles?”

“Wha-no I do, but that doesn’t mean-” Pigsy admitted and tried to deny, but was cut off again.

“You don’t like how he looks into your eyes?”

“…his eyes are pretty, but that still-”

“What about how he talks on and on about all that history?”

“Oh fuck off about that!” He lets off a low growl to him, “the man is passionate about what he loves, and goddamnit it’s amazing watching him go on and on about it because he reveres even the smallest of rumors as a treasure no matter how weird they may be! So you can’t sit here and tell me that someone like him doesn’t ignite a spark within your soul as you look deep within him and can’t help but marvel at just how beautiful he is!”

Macaque raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

Pigsy's whole body stilled as he realized what he said, then he firmly said, “but that doesn’t mean that I love him?”

“Why not?”

“Why not? For fuck sake I have never taken Tang out on a date nor do I even know if he even sees me as anything more than an annoying friend,” he slumped down on the counter.

“You don’t have to be dating to be in love,” Pigsy lifted his head to look at Macaque, but the monkey was steadfastly looking forward. “Love cannot be defined in such a small category, there are so many ways that someone can love another without dating. Sometimes it’s when you laughing along with one of their stupid jokes and you realize that there is something there. Sometimes it is loud and boisterous and even when the other is annoying, you can’t help but still want to stay by their side no matter what. Sometimes it’s the quiet times where you are with them and then it clicks that you want something more, that there is something more. It’s that moment, when you're curled up next to them with the sun high in the sky, you know that you love them.”

There was a silence in the air as both demons knew what was implied, but neither had the guts to say anything.

“Macaque,” the pig demon put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Love is not so biased to one category,” the monkey demon continued as if nothing happened, “it cannot be contained in just one. So, I’ll ask again, do you love Tang?”

“…I didn’t even realize when I fell hard until I was listening to him talk about some underwater temple and I just couldn’t stop staring at just how beautiful he was at that moment. He was hella annoyed when he found out I wasn’t even paying to him, but that was then I realized I truly did love him,” Pigsy softly chuckled as he put his hand down.

“You did?” His head shot up at the familiar voice and he turned around to the front of the door to see Sandy, MK, and Mei all surrounding the voice, which made his heart drop as he saw Tang.

“How much did you hear?!”

“Ever since the little crush bit,” Mei smiled widely.

“Mei!”

“We heard it all,” MK joined in.

“MK!”

“It was really sweet Pigsy,” Sandy cooed.

“Sandy!” The pig demon didn’t know who to yell at first and instead turned to the monkey, “Macaque! You knew?!”

“Well I did say I was helping Mei with her plan,” he shrugged with a smirk.

Before Pigsy could lay it on him, he felt a warm hand touch his shoulder and his attention was brought back to a wide eyed historian.

“So is it true?” He asked with something the pig demon didn’t recognize, “did you really mean that?”

It was at that moment when he really wanted to just say it was all one big misunderstanding and maybe, he would be able to salvage the tender relationship he still had with Tang, but when he looked into his eyes he knew that he couldn’t lie to him, not now. “Yeah, I do. I love you and I know this is out of the blue, but I…oh.” He cut himself off as two arms encircled his neck and hugged him as tight as he could. “Uhhhh?”

“We could have been doing this so much sooner,” he heard a small chuckle coming from Tang.

“Done what?” His brain hadn’t had time to properly comprehend what was happening at the moment.

Tang then leaned back to put his own forehead on his head, “I realized I love you a few years back when I saw you cooking dinner back at your apartment, you just looked so content at that moment, just smiling as you sang so badly to that song-”

“Never was a good singer,” he couldn’t help but say as his heart beat faster in his ears.

“ThatI just couldn’t help myself from falling in love with you,” his eyes twinkled.

“You don’t say…” he whispered as he drew the human in closer, “it seems we’re a pair of idiots.”

“You're not wrong there,” Tang agreed as he gave a small kiss on the demon's forehead.

His face blushed a fierce red as he mustered up his own courage and kissed the back of the historian hand that was entwined with his.

Tang's smile also grew brighter as he hauled Pigsy up closer to him and placed a kiss right dab on his lips. It wasn’t until elated cheers that the two released each other from the other lips, though they still didn’t let go of the other as throughout the exchange their arms wrapped around the other.

“Woohoo!” MK cheered as he leaped in the air.

“Freenoddleshipping for the win!” Mei pumped her fist in the air.

“It’s about time,” Macaque smirked as his tail swished behind him.

“I am so happy for you guys!” Sandy wailed as he picked both his friends up in a giant hug.

“Sandy! You're kinda crushing us over here!”

“And there goes my bones.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m just so happy for you guys!!”

“Sandy!”

“Operation Lovebird is a success!” The twenty year old grinned as she lobbed her arm around MK's shoulder. “I told you it would work, we just needed the right guy or the right monkey.”

“None of you knows subtly unless it hits you on the head,” the monkey demon said.

“You're not wrong!”

“Speaking of love,” the ponytailed boy walked up to his Dad, “it seemed that something was going on in that speech of yours?”

“Yeahh,” Mei slid up to him, “it seemed like you were talking about someone? Who is it?”

“It’s no one,” he slightly shook his head as he had a nostalgic look on his face, “just an old flame.”

The two shared a surprised, but curious look.

“Now how bout the three of us say our congratulations to the lovebirds for finally getting their head out of their asses before Sandy cuts off their circulation,” he grinned as he ruffled their heads.

“Yeah!/ I am so gonna hold this over both of their heads for a long time,” both monkey and dragon successor grinned as they followed their Dad. Though that little conversation did not leave their mind in the slightest as it was only shifted to the side for now. If the monkey simply thought that they were gonna let it go like that then he has another thing coming.

‘We’re gonna look into this?’ MK’s eyes said as it sideglanced Mei.

‘Duh, like hell we’re gonna let it go.’ Mei agreed with a slight narrow of her eyes.

They had to develop some kind of method to sneak past Macaque and his six ears, else they would have never been able to catch him by surprise.

He did not like this. This technically doesn’t go against the deal they made with Macaque, but he does not like this in the slightest.

‘Why does he have this? Why couldn’t any other mortal or demon have the skeleton key?’ Red Son silently thought as he snuck into MK’s room. ‘Why does it have to be ones I’m acquainted with?’

His eyes widened as he saw, lying precariously on the nightstand, was the skeleton key. ‘Why did it have to go to MK of all people?! Wait? Why the hell did you leave such a dangerous object out in the open?!’ He wanted to scream the last part out, but he held it in instead as he looked towards the key.

He then reached out to grab it, only to stop and retreat a few steps back then he worked up the courage to go back and grab it only for his hand to stop once more and he let out a frustrated groan as he pulled his hair.

‘Damn it! It’s right there and all I need to do is grab it and get out! But I made a deal with Macaque, but this technically doesn’t go against the deal as I’m not physically attacking him, but this still feels wrong!’ He angrily huffed out as he paced the room in agitation as he tried to work himself back up, but then he deflated as he walked to the window.

‘But I can’t do that to him, to them. I can’t,’ he opened the window with his head lowered as he was about to jump out, but then he froze as a prominent thought drilled out.

‘Mother and Father will be disappointed with me.’

He lowered his foot that was about to go out the window.

‘Mother and Father will be disappointed with me.’

He let go of the hand that was on the window.

‘Mother and Father will be disappointed with me.’

With that he rushed over to the key, quickly snatched it up, and placed it in his pocket as if it burned as he leaped out of the window and leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

‘I’m sorry MK, but I can’t have Father and Mother disappointed with me.’ Was his final thought as he moved further and further away from his friend's apartment.

[fanartfunart]

Fly Away: Episode 7, Theatrix

Ao3 - First - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

(Féline Sombre & Paon Lilas designs)

Summery: An AU where Adrien never went to in-person school, not getting the cat miraculous, and found the peacock miraculous. - The school holds an audition for a play and Chloé is determined to sabotage Lila's audition. It goes about as expected in terms of akuma-creation.

-

The black box theater was small. Assorted students unfolded the bleachers of the theater seats. Chloé watched Marinette and her gaggle of friends in the theater crew chatter while they set up the theater room. She hummed as she stood on the edge of the stage.

“Quaint,” Chloé rolled her eyes, “This better not be where we’re actually holding the play, or I’ll have to talk to the manager of this whole mess. Sabrina, did you remember my costume?” She asked, looking at her nails.

“Oh… no… It’s only a school audition. Do you need it?” they said. She held the script and a makeup bag against her chest.

“I need it to get into the role! The mind of the character! You know that!” Chloé huffed, turning to look at them with crossed arms.

“Oh-oh sorry! I’ll go get it!” 

“Go! Go! Hurry, we only have half an hour before I’ll be on stage!”

Sabrina squeaked and scrambled out of the room. They narrowly avoided crashing into Lila. “Sorry!”

Lila smiled, “Don’t worry about it,” she waved as Sabrina raced out of the room. She walked up to Chloé. “Fancy meeting you here. Auditioning for the role of an extra?”

Chloé huffed, “Of course not, I will only take a starring role, of course.”

“Oh really? I mean, keep your hopes up high, right? I’m sure the teacher would want the most experienced actor, unfortunately for you.”

“Ha! I’m sure he’ll know talent when he sees it. Besides, I know about professional acting from my best friend, Adrien~ I’ve even helped him in some of his photo shoots.”

“Of course, of course…” Lila rolled her eyes then tilted her head, “Oh, speaking of Adrien, what are you going to do about that book Marinette stole?”

“Yeah yeah, you told me about that weeks ago. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Fun fact, I don’t care about what you say!” Chloé smiled sharply, “You’re just jealous that we’re friends with Adrien and you’re just another one of his little fans. Alya told me Marinette lost it and was intending to give it back. They even went back to look for it. Alya isn’t my favorite journalist but she knows how to get the truth.”

Lila hummed, “Of course. It’s not like Alya couldn’t be lying to protect her best friend,” she sighed, “I’m just looking out for him.”

Chloé frowned and folded her arms, “Right, because you’re sooooo sweet.”

“Aw, I’m glad you think so,” Lila smiled. Chloé glared at her.

“I have your costume!” Sabrina cheered, holding the outfit against her chest. “Er…” They glanced between Chloé and Lila. She grabbed Chloé’s arm, pulling her away, “Let’s go get you ready!”

Chloé maintained a glare as she was dragged away. They walked into a back room, and Chloé huffed. She took the outfit from Sabrina. “I’m going to destroy her chances at getting any role in this play.”

Sabrina grimaced, “Chloé… you can’t solve everything like this-”

“I can too!” Chloé scoffed, “Eliminating her will even give me an upper hand in the audition. If Lila wants to be the center of attention she’ll be the center of attention,” Chloé walked out from behind the dressing screen and spun in the dress, “Come Sabrina, I have a plan.”

They frowned, “I’m not going to help you.”

“Huh? Why not?"

"It's going to hurt her feelings. There's plenty of spots in the play, you can get the lead even with Lila in the running. You need to be the better person."

"...I’ll let you borrow my new scarf?”

Sabrina shook her head, “Sorry Chloé, but I can’t help you.”

Chloé blinked. She huffed, “Fine, I don’t need your help.” She turned on her heel with a flick of her hair.

They watched Chloé storm off and glanced at the floor. Something sharp threatened their heart. She shoved it down, racing to follow her best friend.

Something moved behind the curtains when Lila got onto the stage. ...And no trace of Chloé. Sabrina frowned. She wasn't seriously going to sabotage Lila still... was she? They slipped away from their seat and up to the backstage.

Chloé glared at Sabrina from her hiding spot. As if to spite her, she maintained eye contact as she slid a banana peel under the curtain onto the stage. Sabrina frowned and glanced towards Lila. Gasping, they lunged forward and grabbed the banana peel before Lila could step back into it. 

She giggled awkwardly as Lila turned, looking at her. She glared, clearly assuming she was the one planting the tripping hazard. Sabrina inched backwards, back behind the curtain. Chloé frowned. She glanced at the lights and raced for them as quietly as possible. Sabrina gasped and raced after her. 

Getting into the light booth, Chloé glanced at the buttons to see which one would help her ruin Lila's audition. The booth door slammed open.

"Chloé, don't," Sabrina whispered urgently.

"I'm not listening to you ex-best-friend. Just don't get in my way and I'll think about taking you back as my best friend."

Sabrina gasped, taking a step back. The sharp thing came back, digging into her heart. "Chloé, please."

"Hm? Who said that?" Chloé taunted. She pressed a button to turn off the lights. The crowd in the theater murmured to each other.

Sabrina surged forward and flipped the light back on. Instead of returning to normal, the lights grew intensely bright. The theater teacher was glaring at her, and Chloé was already making her way down the steps casually. As if she had nothing to do with it.

"The lights are prohibited to students right now! Get down here!" The instructor called. Sabrina squeaked, scrambling out of the booth.

Blinded by the sudden light, Lila stumbled, hair flopping into her face as she caught herself. Her shoe slipped off and was flung into the rafters, stuck. A ruckus of giggles echoed from the students watching the performance. 

Lila stood up, flushing in mortification.

The teacher wasn't even watching her. Too busy telling Sabrina why she wasn't allowed in the light booth. She glared at the redhead, then to the giggling students. Well. She wouldn't give them the time of day. Let alone the satisfaction of seeing her embarrassment. She marched out the door. Fists clenched and face burning. 

Lila fumed all the way to the courtyard. A purple butterfly fluttered down from the sky. Lila turned, face to face with the purple butterfly. She stared at it. She'd never been akumatized before, but she'd seen plenty. The chance to gain power was far too enchanting. She raised the crumpled script in her hand, and it disappeared into the paper. 

“Theatrix, I am Hawkmoth.”

Paon Lilas kicked his legs against the edge of a roof, humming to himself. Yet again, his father was gone all day. Marinette, Chloé and Sabrina were at school for their play and Kagami was busy at a dinner party with her mother, so he couldn't hang out with any of them to fill the empty space in his heart. There was no trace of the book to occupy his time chasing. So instead he was on a roof, taking in the feeling of being someone not Adrien. A pair transformed into someone a little more whole than either half alone. 

He glanced in the direction of the school with a wistful sigh. He tilted his head. A red curtain covering the building. Fluttering over the building. Whatever was that? He stood, eyes wide. Leaping to the building, he circled the curtain. He reached out to touch it, and a small red blur flew out of the curtain. He stumbled backwards. 

The kwami looked up at him, gasping. “Paon Lilas.”

“Sugercube, did you find the exi- oof!” A black kwami bumped into the red one, shaking his head and frowning, “Well if it isn’t Big Bird.”

“Wait… You’re not Ladybug and Féline Sombre’s-”

“We are. I’m Tiki and this is Plagg,” the red kwami introduced, gesturing. She zipped up towards Paon Lilas’s face. Her eyes narrowed at him for a moment. Seeming to weigh her options, the kwami very seriously pointed back inside. “Our holders are trapped inside. You must stop the akuma yourself so that Ladybug can cleanse it.”

“Ladybug and Féline? How?” 

“They fell for some cheap theatrics and illusions,” Plagg sighed, waving a paw, “Look kid, we couldn’t get to them without being caught. So I guess it’s up to you, Feather Fluff… Oh well! Got any Camembert by chance?”

“We will attempt to assist however, right Plagg?” Tiki huffed, paws on her hips.

"Yeah yeah, but some cheese before we go would be nice," Plagg said with a sigh.

“I don’t have any cheese…” Paon Lilas shook his head and geared up to run inside, “Alright, let’s go then-”

“You can’t dive in head first!” Tiki exclaimed, pushing back on his chest. 

“Why not?” Paon Lilas and Plagg asked at the same time. Paon tilted his head at the black kwami, confused. One minute he’s trying to get out of coming with, the next he’s anxious to get going?

Tiki sighed, “You need a plan. The entire school is shrouded in an illusionary world. We need to be cautious.”

Paon Lilas huffed, “Okay, uh, I’ll figure it out when I get in there.” Paon ran into the curtain, Plagg close behind. Tiki sighed as she followed them. 

The lights were blinding, as if a spotlight was pointed at him. He looked around past the light, as he was far too used to doing. The room was a grand stage, with a graded wooden floor and endless rows of empty seats beyond the stage.

He could feel himself automatically changing how he walked. Less of a heroic stride and more of a model’s purposefully casual sashe. The one that he’d practiced so often it became second nature. Far too Adrien Agreste while he was Paon Lilas. An intense feeling surrounded the realization, shaking him to his core. Yet, even with his powers to help, he couldn’t quite place what that feeling was. His heart squeezed, like a spasm in his chest. Like he’d been dunked in ice-cold waters. 

He grit his teeth in determination and focused on the emotions around him. He couldn't sense the emotions of the kwami to his surprise. Maybe that was to hide their holders from anyone with this power. He glanced around. Hints of people's emotions were everywhere. But he didn't see anyone. "Weird," he muttered. "Ok I can… tell people are here but, I don't see anyone..." He doubled over with a hacking cough.

“Woah kid, are you okay?” Plagg said, zipping in front of his face.

He nodded, "Fine. Just… I've been ill, don't worry about it."

Tiki hovered over his shoulder, "Try to pinpoint the Akuma if you can."

Eerily cheerful music twinkled around them, coming from nowhere in particular. 

"Well hello," a familiar voice sang, "Well, where were you now?" Sabrina was suddenly across from him, spotlighted. They wore a historical suit, accented in purple and blue flourishes, and a masquerade mask that looked like it had been paper crafted. They walked towards him with a light bounce, as if she was about to break into dance. “We’ve been waiting for you~ Welcome to the show!” She spun, grabbing his arms. They continued with a cheerful sounding song, dragging him along into a dance;

“We’ll have singing and dancing for you, /Oh yes, ever the hero, /Come with us, birdy, fly the coop! /You don’t need to worry, no”

Tiki hovered over his shoulder, “Don’t listen to them! The singing is what created the illusion!”

“Here in this land of dreams come true! /You’ll be happy here, you know. /We hope you can join us too, /Welcome to the show!”

Paon Lilas tugged away from their grip, shifting into a fighting stance, glaring as they continued to twirl around him. “But... Sabrina’s not the akuma, is she?”

“No, of course not!” Plagg called out, looking at the teen with more concern than Paon expected.

Sabrina bowed with a welcoming gesture and was joined by several other students in masquerade style outfits, in a grand finale of their opening song.

“You’ll be happy, yes /Unless you try to escape /Our leader demands success! /We wouldn’t want to cause a mess, /You see, this is no rescue, /It’s just the beginning though, /We’ve been waiting for you, /Welcome to the show! /We’re pleased to introduce our noblesse, /We’re sure she will impress, /The grand stage’s greatest actress, /Please welcome Theatrix!”

A light burst onto the stage in front of him. Paon Lilas shielded himself and the kwamis with his fan from the brightness. He slowly lowered the fan as a hypnotic voice vocalized to the growing music.

“Well, well, well,” Theatrix sung. She had bright red hair, pinned back loosely with a white rose clip. She wore a white suit with long floor-length coat tails, which rolled up like a scroll. Her suit collar had a large black bow. She wore a white masquerade mask accented with lines of writing. She practically shimmered in the light as she smiled at him. “Welcome to my show.”

The lights immediately went out. Paon Lilas strained to make out where everyone was in the sudden dark. He knew how to walk on a dark stage well enough. Familiarizing himself with the incline (there was surprisingly none), he kept a cautious distance from the edge.

The light faded in again and Theatrix was next to him. She propped an arm on his shoulder. Everyone else was busying themselves with various tasks, around what now appeared to be a dinner hall. She was mostly calm, but anger and embarrassment boiled under the surface. She must’ve been the second calmest akuma he’d met…. After his own father.

“So,” she said, uncomfortably close, “Here to nicely hand over your miraculous? Where’s your friends?”

Paon Lilas threw her off, shifting into a fighting stance, “...They’re not… they’re not my friends. I’m by myself.” 

“Oh?” Theatrix tilted her head, “So you’re all alone~” she sung, “All by your lonesome.” Music trickled back in, gentle and quiet… dark.

“Oh don’t start-” Paon huffed. He raced forward with a swing. She jumped out of the way, and beckoned Sabrina and Chloé forward as the pair began to harmonize with her.

“So you’ve come to save the day, /Without a friend to aid you~ /Your heart calls out to me, /Lonely darling, come with me,”

“I’m not lonely,” he interrupted with a glare. 

Plagg zipped around from one hiding place to the next, looking up at Sabrina. Trying to figure out how to release them from the akuma’s hold. 

“You’ve been wishing, /Wishing for a friend, oooh, /Darling let me guide you-”

Paon Lilas shook his head, “Get out of my head!” His voice came out sing-song, matching Theatrix’s haunting voice. She smiled. He looked around frantically. He needed to find a way to ignore her song properly. He spotted a boy with headphones loosely hanging around his neck.

“I can heal the hurt, /Just come and stay with me, /Forever~”

He ran up to the boy and snatched his headphones. Nino turned on him, grabbing his wrist.

“Stay,” he sang in tune with Theatrix.

“Don’t fool yourself, /We can be your friends /Forever~”

Paon Lilas twisted himself with a grunt, escaping Nino’s grip, “Not like this, not ever,” he sang, and pulled the headphones over his ears. It muffled the music, and the scene faded, revealing the school courtyard. Theatrix glared at him and pointed. "Get him."

The idle students turned towards him. Paon's eyes widened as he was tackled. He yelped and struggled to keep them off.

"I've got to find out how to release everyone from her hold! Any ideas would be great," Paon harshly whispered, trying to spot the kwamis in the fray. 

Tiki zipped up to him "Everyone's lure song was different. If you can figure out why, maybe you can release them!"

Paon Lilas huffed, barely blocking a tackle from Marinette, stumbling backwards. "Okay, okay."

"You can dive deeper into people's emotions and get some surface reasoning!" Plagg said, "Just focus."

"I can?" Paon Lilas kicked his attacker's legs from under them, coughing.

"You can. Your powers work similarly to Hawkmoth. You can do this, I believe in you!" Tiki cheered.

He leaped up to the second floor of the building now that he could actually see it. With a frown he paused and focused on the dulled emotions of the first person he saw, Sabrina. 

The emotions felt slippery, as if he was trying to catch water with his bare hands. Fear, abandonment, concern, duty. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the why. 

Behind his eyelids, he saw it. Sabrina reached out to the retreating figure of Chloé, expression outright heartbroken. He opened his eyes. "Her," he pointed the redhead out to the kwamis, "Sabrina. Did either of you guys hear her song?"

Plagg waved a paw lazily, "Some boring ditty about being used and being left behind."

Paon Lilas frowned, "I have an idea… It's dangerous. But if I can confirm it I should be able to make a sentimonster to free everyone."

"Careful," Tiki whispered.

He leaped down and grabbed Sabrina, who shrieked. With gymnastic grace, they twirled in his hold and kneed him in the gut. He sputtered on a cough, but kept her grip on them. He was quickly surrounded, and he struggled to fight them all off while keeping Sabrina in his hold. 

"I'm trying to help you!" Paon shouted, frustration mounting. 

The headphones were ripped off his head. Theatrix dangled them from her finger, humming. 

"What do you want, /What do you really want, dear /What is in your heart, /This is your brand new start!"

Paon let Sabrina slip out of his hands. He covered his ears, brows furrowed.

"Just tell ussss. /What do- /You want~ oh ooh-oh! /Just give me your heart's song /I'll give you your heart's wants, /All I need is a heart song, /Open your soul, dear. /Give it to meeee, /What do- /You want~" 

Tears streaked down his face. The song just bubbled up in his chest before he could stop it. Theatrix echoed him, smiling and drawing closer, like a circling shark.

"I want a lifeee /Impossible to reach. /I want people /Who I'll never see /Nothing will give me, /What I need. /Nothing could be, /What I truly want. /Deep down, I know /My heart still bleeeedss- /For someone, /I'll never see!-" He choked as a hazy silhouette of his mother blurred in his vision. "Again…"

He twisted his eyes shut and shook his head, he spoke, "She's gone, an illusion won't bring her back..."

"What do you want, /It will be easy for me," Theatrix continued, gently touching his cheek, "soft as a dream, /Real as can beeeee~ /But only if you, /Give your miraculous to me."

The two kwamis made sounds of alarm.

Paon Lilas looked down at the brooch and clamped a hand around it, "No."

"...No?"

"You won't take him away from me too. I can’t get her back, but I can still hold onto this!" 

He threw off the few remaining people holding him in place and grabbed Sabrina. She tried to throw him off again, but expecting it, he hoisted them into a fireman carry. He leaped up out of immediate reach, yelping as Theatrix followed close behind. He deposited Sabrina on the roof and held her arms.

"Listen to me. You're worth so much, Sabrina, just break free. You're smart and kind and generous. Please, be generous to yourself and break free. Chloé won't leave you, you're her best friend. Trust me."

"...How do you know? How do you know I won't be alone?"

"You're never alone. You… you have family. You can even make new friends! I'll even be there if you need me, I promise."

"Paon...Lilas?" They said, cautious, tilting their head, "...When did you get here?"

He chuckled uneasily, "Not too long. Are you with me? No more illusionary world?"

"Illusions…" Sabrina gasped, "Oh no an Akuma?!"

"It’ll be okay! I...have it handled. Mostly. But… I need a little help. Can you release the rest of the people Theatrix captured?"

"Of course!" Sabrina exclaimed. She gasped and pushed him out of the way, "Lilas watch out!"

He coughed as he tumbled down the slope of the roof. Theatrix was fuming. He couldn't see where Sabrina went.

He latched onto her clear determination, her drive to help, and quickly plucked a feather from the fan, "Fly Away little Amok, and give them a helping hand!”

"You're done for Birdy! You're ruining everything! It was nearly perfect!" Theatrix shrieked.

"Purrfection is impossible to strive for, didn't you know that?" Paon Lilas called back. Theatrix growled and flung herself at him.

The feather landed in Sabrina's glasses. A floating mirror appeared in front of her and an image of herself smiled back at her, waving. She stared at it, shocked. 

"I need you to show Mirror Me to everyone you see and convince them to leave their illusion like I did with you! It should show you what they're seeing and the song they were lured with." Paon Lilas said over their telepathic connection.

Sabrina snuck back down and harshly whispered "Plagg?!"

The kwami zipped over to her with a teary giggle, "Oh, don't do that again."

They smiled softly, cuddling the kwami against their cheek, "I won't. Come on, Plagg, Claws Out!"

Féline Sombre looked up towards Paon Lilas struggling to keep Theatrix at bay. She frowned, focusing on the students and friends trapped in their illusionary worlds.

“Oh, to no longer live in a world so secret, /Close to friends, close to family, /Nothing to take it all away in a minute. /Oh, to be open and free /Who would care I’m a klutz, /When the world is happy. /Safe and carefree,” Marinette sang as she flitted around the bakery with the hazy “casual” form of Féline Sombre. “Oh! To no longer live in a world so secret, /No more lies, no more cries, /Nothing to take my friends too quick.” She giggled as Tiki and Plagg zipped past, openly, stealing away with a bag of cookies.

“Oh, to be open and free, /Who would care I’m not strong enough, /When the world is happy. /Safe and carefree.”

“Listen to me!” Féline Sombre’s voice called out, “I know it would be nice for us to be safe, but we’re not until we defeat Hawkmoth. This isn’t real.”

Marinette tilted her head, then looked around at the cheerful world, “But it looks so…”

“Paon Lilas needs our help… Er, I need your help.”

Marinette blinked and her hazy “casual” Féline Sombre, solidified into the masked version. She sighed at the loss. “One day...” she whispered. They held out a hand and she took it.

Féline Sombre smiled at her, as Marinette looked around the courtyard. Several other students were moving around, trying to talk to their friends. “Try to release as many of your friends as possible, Paon Lilas made a sentimonster that can help you know what their illusions are.”

Marinette nodded numbly.

Paon Lilas fell through the roof with a panicked yell, and thudded onto the ground. Theatrix landed on him, knee pushing against his chest. He sputtered painful coughs, struggling weakly. Féline Sombre gasped and raced forward. Theatrix rushed to meet her, kicking their legs from under them. Tiki zipped over to Paon Lilas and placed her paws over his chest, on the peacock miraculous, a frown flickering on her small face. She glanced up to spot Marinette and gasped.

Marinette ran in the opposite direction, trying to find a good spot to hide. She ducked into the bathroom, opening her purse “Tiki! Sp-” she sputtered to a stop. Her heart leaped into her throat. The kwami wasn’t there. “Tiki?!” She looked around, “No, no, no, Tiki?” 

Tiki phased through the door, “I saw you get released from the akuma’s control but you ran so fast!” 

Marinette laughed in mild hysteria and relief, “Ohmygoodness, you’re here, oh thank goodness.”

“I’m always here for you. But right now, we need to help them Marinette!” 

Marinette nodded in determination, “Tiki, spots on!”

Paon Lilas hadn’t moved. Féline Sombre was fighting Theatrix and the remaining students under her control. Paon Lilas still hadn’t moved. He laid on the floor, curled in clear pain. 

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug called, figuring she didn’t have a second to lose. The charm produced a gauze. “Oh no-” She glanced towards Paon Lilas, who struggled to stand up, his miraculous beeping incessantly. 

She ran towards him. “Let me help-”

His eyes were wide with panic. Bracing an arm against his chest, he ran. She saw the flash of light from the detransformation just as he opened the door to a classroom. Pushing the desire to follow him out, she refocused on Theatrix and Féline Sombre. 

“Ladybug! I’m pretty sure the akuma is in the mask! It’s the one consistent thing in her and her minions,” Féline Sombre called, “But I can’t reach it because she keeps moving!”

Ladybug nodded, and glancing at the gauze and Theatrix, she leapt into action. “Kitty, cataclysm now!” 

“You got it, Bug! Cataclysm!”

She twirled her yoyo to capture Theatrix’s arms, and created a loop with the gauze to stop her from thrashing her head. She strained to keep her secured as the remaining students still under her control tried to grab Ladybug’s arms and pull Theatrix free.

Féline worked faster than the controlled people, luckily. The paper mask turned to ash in the cataclysm, and the purple butterfly fluttered out. The illusion fell. 

Ladybug took a moment to sigh in relief before capturing and purifying the pesky butterfly. She raised a hand for Féline Sombre to high-five.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” she called, throwing the gauze into the air.

Lila looked up at the pair with a remorseful look. “Oh- oh what happened? Why am I here?”

Féline Sombre leaned down and offered a hand to help Lila up. “You were akumatized…”

Ladybug looked around, noticing the sentimonster had disappeared. A spike of urgency pricked in Ladybug’s mind. “I need to get Paon Lilas!” Ladybug exclaimed, racing to the classroom the boy had detransformed in.

Adrien kept his back to his door, taking harsh, crackling breaths. “I need to get out of here,” He muttered towards Dusuu. The kwami looked at him, eyes wide and tearful.

Between gasping sobs, he said, “Adrien, the miracle cure didn’t even help, you need to start being more careful...” 

He nodded, “I will-” he coughed, and the door moved against his back.

Ladybug knocked urgently, “Paon! Let me in.” 

He stood up, bracing the door closed. He exchanged a worried look to Dusuu, “Dusuu, spread my feathers!” He raced forward to the window and Ladybug managed to open the door just as he started climbing through the window. They both stopped, staring at each other. 

Ladybug raised her hands like he was a skittish animal, “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” He wheezed out, he swallowed, leaning out the window and looking down.

“Wait- please, just tell me who you are! Just… let me explain.”

He closed his eyes, listening to her footsteps slowly come closer. She was worried. But that didn’t mean she was worried for him. She was frustrated too. She was definitely frustrated about him. 

Her footsteps were getting too close. He snapped his eyes open and jerked back. She took a step backward. He coughed, and shook his head, “Sorry.” He leaped out the window and left her standing alone. He didn’t look back.

Tiki paced through the air as much as a floating creature could pace.

"Usually I'm the one freaking out, what's wrong?" Marinette asked as she finished her Paon Lilas doll.

"The peacock miraculous... it's broken," Tiki said, frowning, "I... don't know how."

"It didn't look broken? ...Does it being broken hurt you guys?"

"Yes, and our holders," Tiki said, eyes wide. Terrified. "We need to find them and we need to fix the miraculous."

"...How do we do that?"

"The spellbook."

[faulty-writes]

Headcanons for Pro heroes Tenya, Izuku, and Mirio meet their soulmate... but she's a villain! A villain who's REALLY bad at BEING bad. The other heroes and police don't even take her seriously anymore, usually choosing to just outright ignore her since she's so harmless in her efforts to be bad, treating her more like 'the village idiot' than an actual threat, even though she actually has a super powerful quirk that has the potential to be incredibly dangerous.

[ Yeeeeeees. Something with my boy, Tenya. I love him to pieces! ] 

Tenya Iida

The first time he met you it was in the middle of you trying to rob a jewelry store, but it appeared as though you were merely exchanging various jewelry pieces as opposed to actually stealing. But even so, Tenya felt something in his heart that day and though he had heard of you, he also heard of the way others treated you and while you were classified as a villain. He didn’t fully believe that. 

It was quite unheroic of him, but he often saught you out. “Halt villain!” he called as he stood there dressed in his Ingenium costume, and once more he felt his heart pull toward you. “Ingenium!?” you snapped and growled as you tightened your fists. “Back off hero or I will assassinate this child!” you threatened as you grabbed the dummy doll you had or rather it was a custom made silicone copy of a child. Your latest plan involved something with kidnapping children, but Ingenium merely laughed at your efforts. Though not out of pity, he genuinely thought you were adorable. 

He knew the police would often ignore your efforts, which in a way didn’t sit right with him. Even if you didn’t fit the role of a villain, you still deserved some positive recognition, and while he knew of his feelings toward you. Knew that you were his so-called soulmate, he’d often put on an act whenever you two fought. Pretending to be injured by your advances until the day you showed him what your quirk could really do and it nearly took his life. However, when he recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital. The first thing he did was track you down, you were busy writing down your ideas for your next evil plot when you heard him and snarled.

 “Ingenium! I demand you leave at once before I kill you!” you snapped and he chuckled. “I believe if you wished for my death, you would have done so already. My love,” he said and though his words made you blush, you shook your head. “I am not your love! Stop saying that hero! You disgust me!” you hissed. Though in all truth you knew he was correct, you had felt the pull as well and while you had the desire to hug him. Stay close to him, protect him even if you were so bad at protecting yourself. You knew you couldn’t. “Your quirk is rather impressive. Please tell me more,” he said and you felt your heart sink. 

“W-Why would I tell you! Ingenium you will get in trouble if you are found associating with a villain!” you hissed, unsure of why you cared so much. He took a seat on the ground and shrugged, “Perhaps it is rather stupid of me, but you are my soulmate and I believe such a thing takes priority and I would truly like to know more about you.” he said and your heart skipped a beat at the sight of his smile. “You’re going to regret this ...” you whispered and he shrugged in response. “Perhaps, perhaps not. May I get your real name?” you jumped in surprise, he wanted to know that? Your blush deepened, “Y/n.” you said and watched as Ingenium held his hand out. “Tenya Iida and if may so be bold as to make the following statement. Your future husband.”

 Izuku Midoriya 

When he first met you, his face lit up like a firecracker and somehow deep inside him he knew that his search for love was over. Of course, as the number one hero. He hadn’t given much thought to love, thinking that it was going to be impossible to find his soulmate. Sure he had pondered about it, but he never actually thought it would happen. Yet, there you were. Trying to drown someone in a stream that you quickly found out was too low to do such a thing. He thought it was a little silly and you had a small quarrel before he watched you disappear. 

He knew he should take villain threats seriously, but he also found it a little frustrating that the authorities didn’t take you seriously. One day, he had arrived on the scene of you trying to hook up a television and satellite so you could broadcast your latest evil plan. The boys in blue were laughing and you were standing there, arms crossed with a red face. Deku had asked you if everything was alright and you hissed, “Back off hero or I’ll show you the meaning of pain!” But Deku just laughed and pulled you into a hug, which you didn’t expect. “You’re so cute,” he said and you growled in frustration. 

You didn’t expect a hero of all people to be after you, but Deku seemed persistent in tracking you down. In fact, it always seemed like he knew where you were at all times. Given, you felt that connection with him, but you refused to believe a pitful hero was your soulmate. Yet, Deku continued to remind you of that and had even saved you when you were plotting your next evil scheme on top of a building. It involved a rocket and some type of extreme itching power. But during your villain speech, you stepped too far and fell off the edge of the building. That was the first time anyone had saved you and though, you didn’t want to admit. You were blushing as Deku held you in his arms. 

You had tried to branch out to other villains, believing that by making some connections your reputation would be boosted, and perhaps you’d even be considered feared. But even the villains rejected you, claiming that you were nothing more than a mockery. When the authorities later arrived on the scene, there was blood splatter and dead bodies everywhere. Obviously a powerful quirk at work, you were hiding behind a pillar when Deku arrived as well. You watched as his head turned and his stare fixated on you. For a moment you felt afraid of that stare. Weeks had passed since that incident and Deku managed to corner you after another scheme had gone wrong. 

“Why do you keep following me, hero!?” you growled, “That was you that caused all that destruction. You have a powerful quirk, huh?” he questioned before stepping closer, and you shot your hands out, a pink glow surrounding them. “Don’t make me hurt you.” the threat came out of your mouth in a hiss, but Deku seemed unphased and grabbed your hands. Pulling them against his chest, the fabric of his hero suit began to burn. “Do it then,” he challenged before leaning over, pressing his hand to the side of your face. “Even if you hurt me, even if you aren’t a true villain. You are still my soulmate and that will never change,” he said before pulling you close, and for a moment, you felt the unfamiliar sensation of a tear roll down your cheek. 

Mirio Togata

Lemillion was the number 2 hero on the charts, feared and admired by heroes and villains everywhere. However, most would think a hero would keep the fact that a villain was their soulmate under wraps. Not Lemillion. During an interview, he had talked about how he ran into you, laughs sounded from the crowd as you were known as nothing more than a joke. But Lemillion only smiled and stood up, “Hey now! That happens to my soulmate you’re laughing at! Sure they may not be threatening, but they have creativity and a sense of never giving up! That’s admirable.” of course, he received backlash from his statement. But he carried on as positive as ever. 

Frankly, as a villain you didn’t care about heroes. But Lemillion was something else and because of him, your reputation went further down the drain. No villain or hero would take you seriously. Despite your plans being well, less than perfect. Jewelry store robbery? It went wrong. Theft? You ended up stealing the plastic replica of the real thing, but each and every time something went wrong. Lemillion was there and you were beginning to hate his flowing red cape and smile. Despite the fact that smile made your heart race. 

Whenever you saw him, he’d always greet you with a “Hey there, sunshine! Did your plan go wrong again? Well, that’s okay! Just keep trying.” you’d always throw a punch at him but he’d only grab it and pull you in for a hug. You’d blush as you struggled to get out of his grip and the authorities would always laugh at the display of the hero hugging the wannabe villain. There was even a newspaper article about it, “Lemillion Hugs for Lonely Villain.” God, you wanted to burn all those newspapers and you would have if you didn’t run out of lighter fluid. 

One day it seemed like you were out of ideas, you were standing on the rooftop of a building. Different scenarios running through your head only to have Lemillion interrupt them. You growled, “Will you leave me alone!?” you snapped before using your quirk and watched as a large explosion sounded near Lemillion. However, he was clever and before you knew it, he had his arms around you. “Let me go!” you growled as you began to kick and Lemillion laughed, “How can I let my soulmate go?” he replied and though you blushed, verbal threats continued to pour out of your mouth. It was beginning to weigh you down, not being an actual threat. Not playing the part of a villain well enough. 

Yet, somehow you blamed it on the fact that a hero was your soulmate. Of course, you felt a connection with Lemillion. Yet you knew it wouldn’t work out regardless of how he continued to chase you. “Don’t you get it!?” you snapped one day, “I’m a villain! You’re a hero! I’m pathetic and you ...you just ...you get all this praise and you actually do your job and-” a scream caught in your throat when Lemillion pulled you close, pressing his lips against yours. You felt butterflies erupt in your stomach before he pulled away with a smile. “You do a wonderful job, but maybe being a villain isn’t your thing? Maybe that’s why you’re my soulmate because we were meant to work side by side!” you could hardly believe his words. 

[dearest-bucky]

Drunk in love (One Shot)

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: When you’re unable to confess your feelings for someone, do it drunk!

Words: 2.6K

Warnings: mentions of sex, like two sentences I think, drunk reader, kissing, fluff

A/N: All the fics I’ve written so far include sleeping, so if that doesn’t say something about my personality idk what does hahahh

Originally posted: March 9, 2020

Feedback is truly appreciated! xx

Bucky was no longer the young man from the 40’s, this much he knew. Decades of horror in the hands of HYDRA made sure of that. The flirty and carefree persona was replaced by a much darker version of himself. Where he used to be funny and loud, he was now broody and quiet. So of course, when it came to love too, he wasn’t used to having feelings of fluttering butterflies in his stomach or goosebumps on his skin anymore. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have them at all. Also his physical needs, and man, did he have a lot!

That was another problem for him. After having returned from Wakanda and settling in the Avengers compound he tried as per Steve’s requests and pleas to socialize and get out more and try to gain his life again in this new age. Most of the things were strange to him, he couldn’t understand a lot of things about the new times he was thrown into to live, but one thing was clear as a blue summer sky: no woman would want to be with him intimately. He was a monster, undeserving of any feeling of care or love and his metal arm was the number one proof for it.

So when Sam suggested just “hiring” someone to have sex with him, Bucky nearly choked on the sip of water he just took.

“No way in hell I’m doing that.” He rejected categorically Sam’s idea. “I’d rather go through Hydra’s torture all over again than pay someone to sleep with me. That’s just…” Not finding the right word to describe what he thought about Sam’s idea, he let out a long sigh and took another sip of water.

“Well, I tried my best.” Sam shrugged and left the living room, leaving Bucky behind only with his bottle of water and his thoughts.

It was ridiculous, really. He wouldn’t do something like that never in a million years. It was stupid of Sam to even mention it. But the more he thought about it, the more the idea sparkled an interest in him.

He couldn’t say he was doing fine on his own. He was horny all the time and now the porn and his hand weren’t doing it anymore for him. No matter how much he tried to deny it, or say that he was doing fine by himself, he really needed the feeling of intimacy that only came with another person, having them in his arms, bodies tangled and limbs messy from all the sexual activities he’d been craving, lately more than ever.

He was sitting alone on the small couch, kind of lost in his own head, when he heard three different feminine voices enter the room he was in. Their voices were not necessarily loud, but still cheery. He snapped his head in their direction, only to be met with the curious eye of Natasha Romanoff, followed behind by Wanda and Y/n.

Now if there was someone so perfect Bucky would totally lose his mind and his cool, was Y/n. He was totally enamored with her and she had no idea at all about any of it. She actually never even spent one minute more than socially necessary to talk to him. Of course, when all the team got together they would hang out, but she never really showed the slightest interest in him, so Bucky just kept his mouth shut and adored her from afar.

The three women greeted him and went about their business, moving to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of vodka from the cabinet and back to their conversation. They were sitting around the kitchen counter, nursing each a glass in their hands and talking about whatever, Bucky wasn’t paying any mind to their words. He was busy himself thinking about what to do with his situation. Eventually he got up and left the room without a word, after all, no one asked him where he was going.

When Natasha saw his tall figure get up from the place he had occupied earlier and leave the room altogether, she smirked and turned her full attention to y/n, her eyes  piercing like daggers through her skull.

“So, will you ever do anything about your silly crush on Barnes?” She asked in a taunting manner and y/n nearly choked on her drink, her eyes wide with horror.

“Shhh.. Will you shh.. omg!!”

“Relax, he left.” Natasha replied and winked at her. “So?”

Wanda was uncharacteristically quiet, considering she always had something to say when it came to Bucky and y/n’s silly crush on him. This time she let Natasha do the work for her too.

“I don’t know what do you want me to say Nat. There’s nothing to do about anything.” If anything, y/n was disappointed too with everything going on between her and Bucky, or better the lack thereof.

She had been harboring a huge crush on the guy ever since Steve brought him to the compound, but she never dared to say or do anything about it, for several reasons. First she didn’t want to come off as too strong, not wanting to scare the poor man. He had been through enough, she didn’t want to make him feel awkward or anything. Then after all the time hiding her feelings and pretending there was nothing, she just became too good at it and she never found the courage to do anything to change it, already comfortable with the situation that was going on.

Everything was fine and quiet and comfortable between them, and most importantly neither weird nor awkward, so she didn’t want to mess anything up.

However, it was getting more difficult everyday to keep a nonchalant composure around him when all she wanted to do is wrap herself around him and lose themselves in each other.

Nat sighed and gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Let’s drink.” She announced and they bottomed up their glasses, getting a refill immediately.

It was a quiet off evening so what better plan than to get drunk? And it was working so far. They had been drinking all kinds of alcoholic beverages for more than four hours, and only near midnight when they started to lose the balance on their seats and started slurring out the words they were saying, did they decide to call it a night and head to their own rooms.

Y/n was walking slowly to her bedroom, not sure she was in the right direction, but she decided to trust her shaky drunk feet and let them lead her.

She was just turning around the corner of the hall to get to her room when she collided with a strong mass of muscle and was nearly falling on her ass from the impact if it wasn’t for Bucky’s strong hands gripping her upper arms tightly and keeping her steady on her feet.

Bucky couldn’t shut his eyes, neither his mind. Sam’s words ringing in his head, and a certain part of his body very much awake too. He didn’t want to think of it, so he got up from his bed and headed to the kitchen, maybe if he grabbed something to eat he’d go to sleep easily.

He was surprised to see y/n was awake, even less up and still walking around the compound at this hour, considering how late it was, but he couldn’t help the flutter his heart did when they bumped into each other.

He was very aware of how close she was and he couldn’t help himself but want to touch her and kiss her and make her his. He was desperate. He was craving her like the oxygen he needed to breathe.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked shyly and she just stared at him, her eyes wide in surprise, as if seeing him right now was the last thing she ever thought could happen.

She nodded her head slowly and closed her eyes for a second, only to open them again and keep staring at him.

“I’m more than okay. I’m fine. I’m so fine. You know, just so very fine.” She kept talking, repeating the word fine.

“A very fine woman.” She concluded. “Don’t you think?” She asked him in all seriousness and Bucky just gaped at her, suddenly at a loss for words.

He didn’t know what to say and he was starting to feel self-conscious, but that didn’t last long because she erupted in giggles like a schoolgirl. Bucky didn’t know what was so funny, but he thought the sounds leaving her lips were the cutest he had ever heard.

She kept giggling and placed a hand on his cheek, getting too close to his body, too dangerously close, but only then she smelled the alcohol in her breath and he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Y/n, are you drunk?”

Her eyes widened in fake shock and she leaned in closer, puffing out a breath in his face and then getting in a fit of giggles again. “How did you know?”

He sighed and tried to create some distance between them. “You should go to sleep.” He said in a small but determined voice.

Y/n only scoffed in annoyance but didn’t say anything, she let go of him and started walking to the previous direction she was headed. Bucky eyed her for a moment before letting out a short sigh and following her.

“Your room is the other way.” He commented dryly.

She turned around and gasped in surprise, as if she didn’t know he was there.

“Oh, Bucky!” She exclaimed happily and threw her arms around his neck, kind of hanging all of her weight on him.

“I can’t find my room.” Her voice was just a whisper this time as she eyed him.

“C'mon I’ll take you to your room.”

Bucky was trying to help her to her feet but she wasn’t having any of it, weighing down more on him, arms having gripped tightly around him.

“Why don’t you take me to your room?” She eyed him curiously, waiting for his answer.

Never in a million years he would have expected her to say something like that. Now that those words actually left her lips he had to make sure he hadn’t been dreaming. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat and helped her up, standing straight and supporting her own weight.

“You don’t mean that y/n.” It was all he managed to spit out as an answer.

Her brows furrowed and she pouted, actually pouted her lips. Bucky thought she hadn’t looked more adorable than in that moment. He wanted to kiss her pout off her pretty face, he wanted so badly, but he couldn’t.

She was just drunk and not in the right mind, that’s why she was saying what she was saying.

She sighed, looking upset at his reaction, but didn’t let go of him anyway, her arms still snaking around his neck, locked behind his head securely. She moved her face slowly toward his, and without breaking eye contact, she decided to open all of her cards to him.

“Oh, but I do.”

They were just four little words and was she not drunk she would never say them out loud, but she had been drinking a lot tonight so she decided to gather all of her alcohol courage and go with it.

They were just four little words but they turned Bucky’s world upside down, and he didn’t hesitate for even one more second before he crashed his lips to hers, kissing her hungrily, all tongue and teeth. The best thing about it was that y/n was all too eager to reciprocate.

His hands got locked on her hair, tipping her head a little up to gain more access and to deepen the kiss. He was so lost in the moment, in her lips, in her taste; he didn’t want this to be over.

But soon her hands were roaming his body and they were tugging at his shirt, trying to take it off, and only then Bucky came to his senses, cutting off the kiss. They were both panting heavily and Bucky reached to stop her still moving hands.

“Wait, wait…” He breathed out. “We can’t. Y/n..”

She was having none of it, trying to kiss down his neck, her hands trying to free themselves from his hold, to continue their path on his body, but Bucky was stronger than her. It took all of his will to get away from her and create some distance between them, but he had to do it.

“We can’t do this.” Y/n whined and she opened her eyes slowly to meet his.

“Why not?” She asked. “I want you.”

Her words were shocking to him. She wanted him? He wanted her. He had wanted her for so long and all this time she wanted him too. He couldn’t resist those eyes and those hands and those lips but he couldn’t do anything with her while she was drunk. He didn’t want to take advantage of her.

He was trying so hard to find the right words to say, to not upset her, but he was failing miserably. She quickly let go of him and looked at him all sad, like a kicked up puppy.

“You don’t want me?”

He didn’t answer. He wanted to, but no words were leaving his mouth.

“Oh my God!” She sighed. “That’s it right, you don’t want me.”

She separated herself from him and looked down, defeated. “I’m sorry, I just made a fool of myself.” She whispered and turned the other way to get to her room this time.

She had just walked three or four steps before Bucky called her name, his hand catching her wrist and turning her again to face him. She was just looking at him expectantly, not saying a word.

It was difficult to put all that he was feeling into words, so he just did what he thought would be the first way to let her know. He closed the distance with her again and kissed her, this time slow, sweetly, almost peacefully.

When the broke it off a long sigh of relief escaped y/n’s lips and Bucky smiled at that.

“Let’s get you to bed.” He said softly and she nodded her head, eyes still closed. He scooped her in his arms and made his way to her room.

The walk there was short and y/n couldn’t help but whine lowly when Bucky placed her on her bed and tucked her in.

“Bucky will you sleep with me?” She asked when he turned around to leave her room.

He sighed, tired, not knowing how he was able to resist her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea y/n. You’re drunk and I don’t want you to do anything you might regret tomorrow.”

Her eyes sparkled for a second, apparently an idea popped in her head and she smiled sweetly at him.

“I know, I know. You’re too much of a gentleman to have sex with me while I’m drunk.” She said and Bucky gaped at her for being so forward. “But we can do that tomorrow when we’re both sober.” She continued with a wink. “Tonight we just sleep.”

He smiled at her and nodded his head. “Okay.”

With that he got under the covers with her, and y/n didn’t miss a second before she crawled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, arm circling his torso. With that she let out a soft sigh and it wasn’t long before Bucky could hear her soft snores.

After all, maybe there was someone who could love him and make love to him without feeling grossed out by his metal arm or his scars. Maybe he just hadn’t looked in the right place.

He smiled to himself and let himself fall asleep next to her.

[pink-peony-princess]

You're My Life Now

Dawn had always been Peter's favourite time of day, he couldn't tell why, but there was something so peaceful about it. A time when the world seemed less corrupt,a time when you could just be still, be one with nature.

Nothing about this day had particularly stood out to Peter, there was nothing to suggest as he got ready for his usual early morning perimeter run to suggest that anything out of the ordinary was about to take place.

He'd been doing this run, every morning for almost two years now and nothing had happened yet. As one of the famous Mendes Triplets and Beta alongside his brother Raul to their eldest brother Shawn (Alpha of the infamous Shadowmoon Pack) Peter took his responsibility extremely seriously. He'd always been the sensible one out of the three of them, or at least the most level-headed one.

Shawn was an amazing Alpha,Peter had always admired his ability to lead,his empathy his compassion, but he could also let his emotions rule him, which could cause problems sometimes. Especially if there was a disagreement between the three brothers. Raul on the other hand, was, well, Raul. Fiery, and passionate and a bit of a trouble maker, he liked to stir the pot whenever possible and unfortunately for Peter he always seemed to be the piece keeper,to stop arguments (usually caused by some snide comment that Raul would make in the heat of the moment which he always regretted later).

Whenever anyone spoke of Peter the first things they'd say was that he was extremely loyal,always ready to help and would protect his loved ones with his life. He'd been like this as long as he could remember.

As Peter stood up from tying his shoe laces,putting his glasses on, he noticed the sheeting rain outside his window. It was so heavy that it was actually hitting the window,leaving large water droplets on the once clear glass. He sighed, it wasn't that he minded the rain, it didn't make a difference to him as to whether he got wet or not,he never felt the cold as a wolf anyway. But it would make it harder, more tedious to complete the run, he'd have to pay extra attention to his surroundings,to the sights, smells and sounds.

"I'm headed on my run," Peter called to Shawn and Raul as he past the kitchen where the two of them were making coffee and talking about day ahead.

"Thanks Pete," came Shawn's reply."I'll be in the surgery with Connor later if ya need me," Pete nodded as he made his way out the front door and into the rain.

The first part of the run was pretty easy, flat ground,open, easy to see the fields that sprawled unchecked for miles ahead. He made it in good time, easily nativagsting the familiar territory with no issues.

He was halfway home when he saw object up ahead. At first he couldn't make it out, even with his wolf-enhanced eyesight the sheeting rain was obscuring his view.As he made his way slowly closer,mindful that it might be some sort of a trap from the rogue wolves that were constantly trying to ambush their lands,he spotted the fabric.It was slightly covered by the truck of a tree, only half visible, but Pete was sure, it was definitely fabric from a tee-shirt.

It wasn't uncommon to find old clothes in random places around the lands, wolves would hide them in convenient spots so when they phased back to their human form they were able to dress themselves without hassle. Even Peter did it. But something about the way the shirt was sitting, haphazardly, carelessly, on the ground caught and held Peter's attention. Something told him it wasn't right.

As he made his way slowly closer the wind changed and he was hit with scent, overpowering his senses,causing him to falter momentarily.

It was the sweetest most intoxicating scent he'd ever smelt, like Rosewater and Ivy perfectly blended together. He took his glasses off pocketing them in the hope that not having the rain-covered glass in front of his eyes might allow him to see better.

As he stepped closer still, the clothing moved Peter stilled,watching waiting,a few seconds later it moved again,rolling over. It was then that Peter realised with horror, that this was not just an old disguarded set of clothing,this was a person, and a hybrid wolf at that, half human, half wolf he realised when another gust of wind sent a stronger wave of scent towards him.

He rushed forward no longer fearing an attack, only concerned for the welfare of this person. As he rounded the tree he got his first proper look at the person. It was a young girl. She looked to be about Peter's age. The first thing that struck Peter was not her bedraggled appearance- the way her dirty blonde hair hung around her face, sticking to her forehead and cheeks,not the mud that was caked into almost every part of her, not even the slashed in her faded green sweater that had obviously been made by wolves claws or the blood that was seeping out from the large wound beneath it and the several other cuts and bruises that peppered her small fragile body. No. The first thing that Peter registered was the look of fear, of terror as the girl made eye contact with him.

"D-dont come near me," the girl stuttered, a mixture of cold and fear Peter was sure.

He held his hands up in surrender, "Please don't be scared," he spoke softly, voice almost drowned out by the rain as he made his way closer still, now less than a foot away from the girl- young woman really.

Up close Peter could see the way her mascara was running from her eyelashes,leaving small black smudges under her red bloodshot eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you, I only want to help,I promise. My name is Peter."

She looked at him for a moment, seeming to weigh up what he was saying. "But you're a wolf," she pointed out. She was perceptive, Peter thought.

"Yes, I am," he admitted, watching as her eyebrows knitted together with fear again.

"And the other wolves hurt me," she chocked on a sob, looking away from him.

Peter reached out, placing a finger on her jaw, gently turning her head to look at him again. As soon as he made contact his whole hand began to tingle,and he felt the butterflies that so many other wolves had spoken of so fondly."Mate," he heard his wolf Timbre purr protectively from inside his head. He felt dizzy, slightly intoxicated now and had to shake his head a few times to clear his mind, to keep himself on the task at hand. If he didn't do something soon, he would have no mate to protect.

"But these are my lands- my pack's lands,my older brother Shawn is the Alpha, when he hears about what happend he'll send out a group to go out and deal with them. I promise you you're safe with me, with us," he was almost pleading with her by the end, but he didn't know what else to do.

"Just, please let me get you some help," he added,feeling the sting of tears in his eyes as the thought of what would happen if she didn't go with him ran through his head over and over again.

"How?" she asked. Looking up at Peter with wide eyes. Her eyes were so blue,it was like getting lost in the ocean.

"My brother,Shawn, when he's not working as the Alpha, he's a doctor, he'll be able to help you. I'll take you to him.I promise you'll be safe.

She nodded, water flying off her face, still not seeming entirely convinced, but she relaxed a little, her shoulders loosening just a little,as she reached for Peter's hand, surprising him. He took it feeling the tingles again, more than happy to have any contact with her that she'd allow. He wasn't sure if she was ignoring the feeling or simply in too much pain to notice, either way she said nothing.

"What's your name?" he asked, not breaking eye contact.

"J-Josie," she answered clearly still apprehensive. She watched his every move.

"Okay, it's nice to meet you Josie. Can you show me where you're injuried? I don't want to cause you anymore pain when I lift you," he asked, "apart from the gash on your stomach?"

"My back hurts," she told him, and my head. I feel kinda dizzy," she added, almost as an after thought. Peter didn't know much about medicine, bit what he did know was that it usually wasn't good when someone said their head hurt and they were dizzy. He knew he needed to get her home,out of the rain, to Shawn. They'd only been talking 5 minutes, but already she looked more pale, and slightly drowsy. He had trouble hiding his panic as he spoke again.

"Can I see?" she nodded, so he let go of her hand reluctantly and made his way around so he was behind her, slowly peeling back the layers of fabric to reveal a large oozing gash that ran from her left shoulder to the small of her back. She let out a whimper as the air and rain but it, making Peter's heart squeeze. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt his mate, when one mate hurt the other hurt."I'm so sorry," he apologised when she sniffled.

"Alright,let's get you inside," he murmured, coming back around and squatting so he was in front of her, automatically holding his hand out for her to take again. He could see how tired and scared she was and his heart literally ached."I know you hardly know me, but I think the quickest way to do this will be if I carry you, will you allow me to do that?" he asked softly, patiently waiting for a response.

She nodded again, and he wasted no time in carefully picking her up, trying his best to avoid her injuries.

That didn't stop her from letting out a scream.

"I know, I'm so so sorry," he whispered trying to console her.

She didn't say anything, instead curling into his body further, head resting softly on his shoulder. Peter couldn't help the small smile that pulled at his lips as he thought about the fact that she was already seeming to seek his comfort, his warmth. This was what he'd dreamt of since the day he turned 18 and was old enough to have a mate.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to be careful not to move her too much, and to shelter her from the pouring rain. He knew that if he'd shifted he would have been quicker making it back to the house, but she was terrified, and clearly in no way to be holding onto his back as he ran, somewhere along the way she past out, head rolling unsupported as he ran, making Pete panic more.

After what felt like an age, the house came into site, spurring him on to run harder. He sprinted the last 20 metres,and up the front porch stairs, banging on the door to get someone, anyone's attention. Finally, Connor came to the door.

"The door was open, why didn't you just-" he stopped taking in the unconscious young woman in his arms. "Holy crap," he whistled. "Where'd you find her?" he asked as Peter pushed through the doorway forcing Connor to step sideway to avoid being hit.

"Down by the south border," he answered moving further into the house. "She needs medical attention is Shawn still in the surgery?" he asked as he went to go up the first flight of stairs.

"Here, let me take her, you can get changed and meet us up there," he offered, holding his arms out for him to hand Josie over.

Peter immediately recoiled, baring his teeth,a soft growl eminating from his throat.

Connor stepped back a look of deep shock and confusion on his face. "Peter what the?" he started before he connected the dots, a large smile wiping the look of confusion from his features."Pete, did you, is she?" he asked tripping over his words.

Peter nodded,"But she's a hybrid Con, so we need to get her upstairs," he spoke, wasting no time waiting for his reply. Connor rushed past him so he could open the door to the surgery. The familiar smell of disinfectant hit Peter's nose as they walked in.

"Shawn, we need you right now," Connor called out, as they rushed through the front area and into one of the many consultation rooms.

Peter could hear Shawn making his way through the surgery as he placed Josie down carefully on the table, immediately missing the contact.

"What have we got?" Shawn asked, walking through the door, before stopped short as Connor had minutes before. "Pete, where'd you find her?" he asked grabbing a pair of gloves from the dispenser on the wall and making his way over to the bed. "She's got some nasty injuries," Shawn muttered as he surveyed Josie's body. He went to move her shirt away from her stomach, an automatic response,to make a better judgement, but Peter felt an immense feeling of protectiveness wash over him again at another male, even his brother,who was trying to help, touching his mate.

He couldn't help the growl that slipped out as Shawn pulled back the fabric exposing her stomach and the nasty gash which Josie had shown Peter in the field.

"What's your problem Peter," Shawn laughed, turning to him, "I'm doing my job little bro,"

"You're touching her, you'll hurt her," he snarled very unlike himself. He knew logically that what he was saying wasn't true, but he couldn't help it.

"Peter, as if I'm going to hurt her, I'm literally trying to do the opposite," he stopped watching the way Peter's gaze never left Josie and something clicked. "Peter is she your mate?" he asked beaming.

"Yeah," Pete chocked on the word.

"Congratulations man," Shawn smiled again. "It's a big step finding your mate, what's her name?" he spoke knowingly. He'd found his mate Ava two years earlier,and Raul a year ago with Mia. They were both always so happy, so settled and finally Peter could have that too.

"Thanks Shawn,Josie, how, how bad is she?" he asked, almost wishing Shawn wouldn't answer.

"Well, from what I've seen so far, not great if I'm being honest, she's lost a lot of blood and the gashes on her stomach and shoulder look like they're getting infected, and if I'm being truthful I don't like the fact that she's not conscious. But I need to have a closer look. Will you trust me?" he asked.

Peter sat for a minute taking in what his brother had said," Can I hold her hand?" he asked embarrassed, cheeks heating up.

Shawn looked at him knowingly," Of course mate, here, sit on this. It'll actually be good. Having contact with you will help to keep her calm," he agreed, pushing a rolling chair with his foot for Pete to sit on."Where'd you find her, what happened?" he asked as he went to a cupboard and pulled a thick blanket out. Normally the wolves didn't need them, but they were kept on hand for the youngsters as a comfort tactic."She's freezing, borderline hyperthermic," he added as he took her temperature gently, Peter watching his every move as he then carefully lay the blanket over her.

"By the south border, I didn't realise it was her at first, I thought someone had left a pile of clothes," Peter admitted feeling guilty,"but when I got closer I saw that it was her and then her scent hit me and I knew. She was pretty reluctant to trust me at first," he added,"Shawn, she said wolves did it."

Shawn shook his head, as he went about hooking her up to different monitors,getting an I.V. with antibiotics in, listening to her chest and checking her pupils with a penlight. "We've had a problem with rogues recently, I'm so sorry Peter, I'll get a party together to deal with them," he added as Peter expected. "Connor," he called out, and it was only then that Peter realised that he'd left the room.

"Yeah?"

"Get Raul up here, I need to talk to him about the rogue problem," he was angry, Shawn was passionately against rogues and what they stood for and everyone knew it.

"I'm going to have to try and wake her up buddy, I need to know what sort of head injury we're dealing with."

Peter nodded, watching as Shawn placed a hand on her sternum and rubbed. He couldn't help the growl that once again slipped his lips. "I'm sorry mate, I wouldn't be doing it unless I had to," he looked genuinely apologetic.

A small whine left Josie's lips, and Peter was on his feet in a matter of seconds looking down at his mate anxiously.

"Josie, can you hear me, if you can hear me, give Peter's hand a squeeze."

Peter nodded, feeling his heart swell with relief as he felt her do as asked.

She opened her eyes, slowly taking everything in, before a panic set in and she tried to sit up."Hey, hey, take it easy," Pete, comforted, gently stopping her from sitting up and hurting herself further.

"You're safe here,do you remember me, I'm Peter?" he asked. She looked up at him with wide frantic eyes before recognition crossed her face and she relaxed into his grip.

"This is Shawn, my brother, he's the one I was telling you about," he added when she looked over warily at Shawn. "He's going to fix you up okay."

"It's nice to meet you Josie," Shawn smiled kindly at the young woman."How are you feeling?"

"Tired, sore,can I have some water?" she asked, voice strained.

"Of course," Shawn grabbed a disposable cup and filled it with water from the tap,holding it out to her.

Shawn went about checking her over,happily reporting that she only had a minor concussion, before numbing her up and carefully sewing her wounds closed. The whole time she clung to Peter like her life depended on it, but he didn't mind. He was happy to be able to provide the comfort.

There was a knock at the door and Raul walked in, not waiting for a response, only stopping as Shawn had at the sight of Josie.

"Who,what?" he looked between the three of them confused.

"This is Josie, she's Peter's mate," Shawn put emphasis on the word. "She was attacked by rogues and I need you to go out and find them, deal with them, do what you have to," Shawn spoke, not saying what both Peter and Raul knew he meant. End them.

Raul nodded, turning for the door, "Congrats little bro, best thing that'll ever happen to you," he smiled before leaving the room.

"Congratulations?" Josie asked looking up at him. Peter sighed, he hadn't wanted to tell her like this, he'd wanted to wait but he also didn't want to lie to her. He looked at Shawn who nodded."Josie,when we were in the field, did you feel anything when I touched your hand, a tingling?" he prompted.

Her eyebrows knit together, before she spoke,"Y-yeah?"

He took her hand again, "You're my mate Josie," he spoke carefully, waiting with baited breath for her response.

She was quiet for a moment, before a soft smile graced her features. Peter thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"I am?" she asked, teary,surprising both the men.

"Please don't cry," Peter spoke quicky. "I promise you, I'll look after you with my life."

She shook her head,"It's not like that,my dad was a wolf, that's how I knew you were a wolf when we met in the clearing. I'm happy," she laughed, leaning into Peter's chest a little more.

Shawn beamed as he took in the cute sight before him,"You're okay for now, I'll leave you two alone," he spoke before excusing himself.

They sat in silence for a while, just happy to be in each other's company, still getting used to the feel of one another, the smell, the presence.

"Thank you," she whispered, eyes half open as she lay abck on Peter's chest.

"For what?" Peter murmured.

"For saving me."

"No Josie, thank you, you saved me," he countered, gently running his hands through her now only damp hair, causing her to shiver. "You are my life now."

[wafflefries13]

A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing

Hey there, it’s your girl, back at it with another story that probably took way too long to finish. 

Warnings: Fighting, cursing, threat of violence. 

~~~

It was fine. This was fine. Staying in a small cabin in the middle of the woods, getting back to nature, away from the city, away from those yakuza who were tracking you down because your dad had skipped out on the massive amounts of gambiling debt he had, and seriously, Dad, you knew he had a problem, not that he would ever listen to you, but did he really have to go and play mahjong, freaking mahjong, with some super sketchy people and really think everything was just going to be fine that he was going to be okay when he already had a massive pile of debt from that pyramid scheme that you told him was a pyramid scheme or the loss from that horse race last month, and seriously, Dad, this is why mom left-!

But it was fine. You were fine. 

The cabin was small, a one room structure that gave you flashbacks to ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ Thankfully, the owners had attached the outhouse to the actual house a few years back, installing a slim standing shower. Electricity came from either solar power or a gas generator hook-up out back, but there was no way you would ever get an internet connection all the way out here.  But it had a fireplace! That was pretty cool, right? 

You weren’t exactly sure how long you’d be out here. The detective from vice told you to stay off the grid as much as possible, that they’d get in touch with you, not the other way around. The police officer had dropped you off about an hour ago after bumping over an unpaved road tangled by tree roots and overgrown underbrush. You would never have been able to find this place by yourself. But you supposed that that was the whole point. 

You’d spent your first few hours there getting the cabin to an actual livable condition. Vice had told you that this place wasn’t used a lot, and you could immediately see it. Every surface was coated in a thick layer of dust. The windows were covered in who knows how many years of grime. Cobwebs littered with tiny insect carcases huddled in every corner and crevice. You were lucky you hadn’t found a racoon nest in the chimney flue. 

Finally, as the sun set, your muscles aching from the work, you decided that your temporary home was livable enough. You summoned all your knowledge from watching ‘Man vs Wild’ and lit a fire. You heated up a can of chicken noodle soup on the gas stove. The cabin didn’t have a bed, so you stacked several thick quilts stored in a cupboard, rolling out your sleeping bag on top. 

You sat on your makeshift bed, back pressed against the wall, slurping your soup. Outside the window, you watched as the light slowly faded away. Wow, you didn’t realize how dark it could really get out here. You put way too much stock in the light you could get from the moon and stars, apparently. There was no accounting for the noise, though. It sounded like a million different insects were screaming from the woods outside. You thought cricket noises were supposed to be comforting, like listening to the ocean to try and fall asleep. But this just made you itch and wish for another can of bug spray.  Man, vice really sent you out here with nothing, didn’t they? 

Sitting back and contemplating your possible execution via yakuza boss in the near future, it took you a while before you recognized the change. Every noise outside your four walls had fallen silent. The popping of logs in the fireplace was tantamount to gun fire. 

Slowly, you set down your half-finished can of soup, dragging a wooden bat out that you had snagged before the vice police shoved you in the car to bring you here. Staying as low to the floor as possible, you crawled to the front window. You pressed your back against the wall, like you had seen spies do in movies, and slowly lifted one corner of the thick curtains. You tried to crane your head to look out, but it hurt more than you thought it would and your visibility was cut by way more than half. 

Why hadn’t vice at least given you a gun or something? 

Taking a deep breath, you stood, holding the bat in front of you like a sword. Before you could convince yourself that this was a bad idea (too late) you burst open the front door, ready to swing at whatever you saw first. 

Noise exploded back into existence as soon as you stepped into the small clearing around the cabin. Panting heavily and breaking out in a cold sweat from the adrenaline, you whipped your head back and forth to look for intruders. Left? Clear. Right? Clear. Front? Clear. Behind-?! Wait, that was the cabin, you were just there. 

You felt all the energy leave you at once. The bat suddenly felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. You slumped forward, bracing your head on the backs of your hands settled on the pommel of the bat. 

You heard something from the other side of the cabin. A low groan, the result of footsteps. Gulping hard, you raised the bat again, silently making your way to the corner of the house. You whipped around the corner. 

A giant furry shape was slumped in a pile in front of you. It let out a low whine. You could see the powerful muscles under its thick fur coat ripple and stretch as the thing tried to get comfortable. Sensing your presents, it reared its large head, pinning you down with ruby red eyes. 

A wolf. There was a wolf in front of you. You had always assumed wolves would sort of look like giant dogs, but this close you could see how different they really were. This thing was huge, first of all. Its head would come up to your shoulder when it stood. It also had long thin legs, built for fast running and careening over obstacles. The wolf snared at you, its lips pulling back as a deep growl emanate from its throat. You could almost swear it was glaring at you. 

Its threat was cut short, however, by a pained yip. As it tried to stand, it faltered and fell over, back into a furry heap. You could see a patch of mismatched fur coating its back leg up along its haunch. The fur was matted, dark with something wet. 

You dropped the bat, holding your hands in front of you in what you hoped was a non-threatening pose. “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” You said softly. “I’m just gonna… I’ll be right back.” You ducked back around the corner, heading into the cabin. You threw open the cabinet doors, rummaging for a first aid kit you could have sworn you saw somewhere while cleaning. You found the small white box, hoping that whatever was inside was as suitable for giant wolves as it was for people. 

You headed back out. Going around the cabin, you saw the wolf trying to stand and limp away again. He didn’t make it two steps before collapsing. Instead of a pained noise, this time he just left out a frustrated humph. You giggled despite yourself. The wolf’s head reared back around, locking eyes with you again. It growled at you. 

“I don’t think you look as menacing as you think you do right now,” You said. You tried to talk calmly in a low voice. That’s what you were supposed to do with frightened and injured animals, right? Well, you also were supposed to leave them alone and call animal control or something, but you didn’t really have the option of doing that right now. And you didn’t think you could sleep, much less live with yourself, if you knowingly just let this wolf suffer right outside your door. 

You took another step closer. The wolf snapped his jaws at you but didn’t move from his heap. “Hey, easy, big guy. I just want to help.” You held up the first aid kit, as if that was supposed to mean anything to a wild animal. The wolf glared at you, but didn’t make any movement as you took another cautious step forward. As you knelt down beside his injured back leg, he huffed again, turning his head away and resting it on his massive paws, resigned to accept you unasked for help. This close up, you could see his fur was an unusual blond. It reminded you of wheat fields just before harvest (not that you had ever seen that, being such a city kid, but pictures and imagination counted for something, right?). 

You opened the kit and pulled on a pair of gloves. Parting his fur, you hissed in sympathy at his wound. There was a gash slicing through his entire haunch, more wide than it was deep, but still bleeding profusely. You could see smaller cuts and bite marks, punchers in his flesh, littering the rest of his leg and up his back. Some of these wounds had already half-healed, but had reopened again, oozing and clotted. 

You threaded a hand comfortingly through his fur, speaking softly as you dabbed an antiseptic wipe along the largest gash. The wolf winced and barked at you in annoyance at the sting, but after a glare (you didn’t even know wolves could glare with such intensity before this), he resigned himself and plopped his head back down. There were some butterfly sutures that you hoped would stick on with his fur. You pushed them down, pulling the edges so the flesh closed. You tried your best to clean the other injuries, but you didn’t have a lot of butterfly sutures, and bandaids certainly weren’t going to stay down. 

As you were contemplating this, a chorus of howls erupted from the woods around you. The blond wolf sprung into action immediately, jumping up and circling himself around you. You probably would have thought that was amazing or cute or something if a sense of panic hadn’t seized you. The wolf was still limping, trying to keep his back leg off the ground. His head jerked from side to side, ears constantly twitching. Whatever was out there, you could only imagine that it was closing in, and it was out for blood. 

“Oh, this is going to be a bad idea,” You said to yourself. The wolf cocked his head at you. “But, hey, I’m not making any good choices tonight, I guess. Come on.” You picked up your abandoned bat, standing to guard the wolf from the tree line. You started backing up, genteling nudging the wolf with your hip in the direction of the cabin door. He seemed to get your meaning, limping along, but trying to maintain his sense of canine bravado by making threatening growls and fangs bared. 

Backing your way into the cabin, you quickly locked and barred the door. You had no idea if conventional locks would keep out blood-thirsty wolves, but you figured it wouldn’t do much against determined yakuza members either, so maybe you should just cut your losses. 

You heard a loud slurping and turned around. The blond wolf had his muzzle buried in your reheated soup, lapping it up and spilling everything that didn’t immediately make it into his mouth. 

“Hey!” You chastised. You could have sworn he rolled his eyes at you. Could wolves do that? Like, physically? His long tongue licked his chops when he was done. He took a few stumbling steps then collapsed by the fire. 

“Alright,” You said to yourself. “I guess this is happening, huh?” You could have sworn the wolf made a sound of agreement. 

~~~

You woke up to the sound of bird song and a mouth full of fur. 

Sputtering, you pieced together the events of last night in your head. The wolf had you pinned against the wall of your makeshift bed, his back pressed against your stomach and chest. You had a fleeting thought that he was putting himself between you and any danger that might break in. You had heard stories of mother wolves protecting human babies, maybe this was something like that? Or were you thinking of The Jungle Book? The founding of Rome? Whatever. 

Either way, it made you smile a bit, petting his fur. Wow, you had no idea wolf fur was so thick! Your hand just seemed to drop forever through his soft coat. Your action was enough to rouse the wolf from his sleep just a bit. He cast a tired glance over his shoulder at you. You could have sworn you could read his expression. “Really? You’re waking me up for this?” 

“Hey there, sunshine,” You said. “I should probably take another look at that leg, huh?” 

The wolf huffed, rolling over. You thought for a second he was giving you room to get up, but when you started to move he rolled back over, landing heavily across you and pinning you down. “That’s, uh, that’s a no then, huh?” The wolf just shuffled to a more comfortable position (on top of you) and closed his eyes. 

You sighed, reaching up and rubbing the fur between his ears. “This is my life now, huh?” 

He blinked open his eyes, staring right into yours. They were a deep red, almost like uncut garnets. You had no idea animals could have eyes like that. Not just that, but something about them looked almost too… human to you. The proportion of iris to whites just sort of off from what you would expect from your average dog. Before you could put your finger on it, the wolf closed his eyes and rested his head again. 

His heat radiated through you like a miniature sun. You pet through his fur, deciding to narrate your thoughts out loud. You told him about how you came to be in these woods, in this cabin, your struggles with dealing with your father's gambeling addiction for so many years, the fall festival you had gone to last year, how you wanted to start hiking now that you were trapped out here, this song you couldn’t remember the words to, summarizing the plot from some book you had to read for English class. 

After the sun had already started to rise high in the sky, the wolf (you really needed a name for him, huh?) slinked off of you. You let out an exaggerated breath, thumbing your chest a few times. He flicked his tail at you. 

You opened up the cooler you brought with you. Take two slices for yourself, you handed the wolf the rest of the sliced turkey you had bought for sandwiches. He ate the entire pack in one massive bite, looking at you expectantly for more. Huffing in mock annoyance, you tossed him the other two slices. He caught them in the air, flicking his tongue to get the juice from his canine maw. 

He tested his weight on his back leg. You could tell it still hurt him, but he still tried to walk with his other three legs. He stretched out, arching his back. “Oooh, big stretch!” You said. There was that glare again. 

He limped over to the door, scratching it. You opened it for him, assuming he had to do his doggy business or something (wait, was he trained to go outside? That would explain some things). But when you tried to close the door again, he barked at you. He scratched the door frame until you followed him outside. He would walk several feet ahead then sit, looking over at you and barking. You went back inside and tugged on your hiking shoes, spraying yourself down with a healthy dose of bug spray. 

The wolf was still pretty unsteady on his feet. He would stumble occasionally, but when you would put out a hand to help him, he would snap back at you. Whatever the case, he at least seemed to know where he was going. Even in his injured state, he could keep a good distance ahead of you. 

You heard water rushing as the wolf dropped out of sight. Thinking he might have fallen, you rushed to where you last saw him. The trees broke away, revealing a rippling river with cool pools stretching through the forest. You took in the beautiful scenery, the ice blue water cascading down tiny waterfalls, when sudden movement caught your eye. You focused where you saw it and gasped. A salmon jumped from the water, swimming upstream. That one was joined by another, then two more, until the whole river seemed to burst with fish. 

You laughed in shock and amusement at the sight, but were cut off short by something cold and slimy hitting your face. You sputtered against it, swiping it away from you. Looking down, you saw your assailant was flopping on the sandy river bank. A giant salmon, mouth gapping and scales shimmering in the sunlight. 

You heard a huff that you could have sworn sounded amused. Looking up, you saw the wolf at the edge of the bank, dipping his paw in the water. He looked deeply into the river, still as a rock, before striking all at once and bringing his paw up. He batted another fish out of the water. You put your hands up, catching it in a slimy, uncertain grip. The fish thrashed around and you ended up dropping him on his friend. 

“You know all the best places, huh?” You said. The wolf shook water off of his fur and went back to focusing on the river. “I’m going to run back and get the cooler! We’ll be able to carry a lot more that way!” You weren’t sure why you were telling a wolf this, as if he could understand you, but it felt right somehow. 

You carefully followed your footsteps back to the cabin, breaking a twig or making a mark on a tree as you went to make a path. Back at the cabin, you quickly pulled the food you had brought with you out of the cooler, shoving it in the mini-fridge. You didn’t have an ice maker in the cabin, so you hoped the already half-thawed cold packs would work. Almost as an afterthought, you grabbed the first aid kit, tossing it in the cooler. Luging the cooler over your shoulder, you followed your improvised markers back to the river. 

You set the bulky cooler down heavily on the bank, looking up with a wide grin for your new companion. Scanning the banks and treeline, your face gradually fell as your search turned fruitless. Your new wolf buddy was nowhere to be seen. 

At first, you felt sad that he had just up and left, then scared for his injury. He was still having trouble walking. What if whatever was prowling around your cabin last night came back and tried to take a bite of him? 

“Wolf?” You called out, almost immediately feeling like an idiot for doing so. You knew you should have named him. Although, it wasn’t like he was trained to respond to your call. You had to remind yourself that this was a wild animal and not a trained dog from the pound, despite his reluctant friendliness. “Wolf? Where’d you go, big guy? Hello?” 

“If you keep yelling like that, a whole pack is going to come and tear you apart.” 

You nearly jumped out of your skin at the very human response. Bracing your hands on your knees, you looked down the drop away from the bank to the river. There was a tiny beach there. Leaving against the sandy drop was a boy, head tilted back and face bathed in the sunlight. Despite his relaxed body posture, one leg spread out in front of him, the other bent to his chest, arms loosely crossed, he had an annoyed if not pained expression across his face. His hair was the color of fresh cut wheat, but as spiky as a porcupine. Lolling his head in your direction, he opened his eyes under furrowed brows. You thought it was a trick of the light, but you could swear they were a deep red. ‘Like garnets…’ You thought, memory jumping back to your missing wolf friend. 

“Uh, sorry,” You said. “I was just looking for-” 

And then your heart stopped as you suddenly remembered why you were out in the middle of the woods. The whole reason you had come here, why the police had dragged you away from your everyday life for your own protection. 

You tripped over your own feet flinging yourself backwards. You landed heavy on your butt. Scrambling back, your head whipped from side to side looking for something to defend yourself with. Damn it! You should have grabbed your bat when you got the cooler! 

“Hey!” He yelled up at you. “You going to keep spazzing out or give me a hand here?” 

“Depends,” You said. “What are you doing out here? We’re in the middle of nowhere.” 

“The hell do you think I’m doing? I work out here.” You saw his hand come up and grip the edge of the bank. He pulled himself up, but winced in pain. Bracing his arms against the bank, he said, “I’m a forest ranger, kind of. Tag some of the animals, make sure no one’s starting forest fires, keep poachers away, that sort of thing. I kind of got banged up here, though, can’t put a lot of weight on my ankle.” He rolled his eyes, leaving the statement hanging in the air for your response. 

“Oh!” Of course, you thought to yourself, you had no real reason to trust what he was saying. He didn’t look like a ranger, dressed in a black muscle shirt and dark green cargo pants. But you could tell he was having trouble standing. But then, that could be an act too… 

“Sure,” You finally decided. “Hang on.” You looked through the brush until you found a fallen tree branch. You lugged it over, dropping half down the bank and keeping it ancored under your foot. You held out your hand to him. He grasped just beyond your wrist, pulling up and using the branch and a foothold to push himself up. Once he was up on the upper bank, he tried to take a step. You could immediately see his ankle give out, crumbling like wet paper. He fell to his knees with an annoyed sound, catching himself on his palms. 

“You okay?” You said, retrieving the branch and not so subtly holding it in front of you. 

“Yeah, fine. Whatever.” He tried to brush you off. You could see his entire calf was wrapped in bandages. It looked like some wound had reopened and was bleeding through. 

“What happened?” You ask, nodding to his leg. 

He looked down, growling at the red soaking through the bandages. “I have to get pretty close to some animals for my job. Checking tags or making sure they’re not hurting themselves. I thought I’d tranquilized a bear, but I guess he wasn’t all the way under.” 

“A bear?! You fought a bear?” 

He waved a hand at you. “I didn’t ‘fight a bear.’ I was just trying to get a blood sample and must have spooked him. He took a swipe at me. I’ll be fine.” 

“That sure doesn’t look fine.” You pointed to his bandage. 

He clicked his tongue. “Damn it.” 

You rung your hands around the branch. “I have a first aid kit. I’m pretty good at it. I could take a look if you want.” 

He practically snarled at you, trying to stand up again. “I don’t need some-” As he tried to put weight on his ankle, he let out a choked yelp, cutting into that tough guy persona he obviously was trying very hard to portray. He lost his balance, wheeling his arms. You dropped your branch, lunging forward just as he fell. You caught him under his arms, throwing your balance off. You both fell, you landing on your back. You groaned, rubbing the back of your head. Opening your eyes, you squeaked seeing his face so close to yours, bright red eyes locked on to yours. Your mouth suddenly went dry and your face went hot. He was practically pinning you down. 

His face burst into a blush as he threw himself off of you. He crossed his arms stubbornly.  Looking away, he said, “Yeah, fine. Maybe I need a new bandage.” 

“C-cool! Yeah! Great!” Well, at least you were pretty sure he wasn’t here to kill you. That would have been a pretty good opportunity. Unless he wanted to slay you with embarrassment, which seemed like a possibility. 

You silently checked out his ankle, spraying it out with antibacterial and put a fresh bandage on it. At this rate, you were going to run out of medical supplies before the week was over. 

“Hey,” You said in an effort to break the tension. You noticed the tips of his ears were still a blushed red. “I don’t suppose you know anything about the wolves around here?” 

His eyes snapped back to you, suddenly suspicious. “There haven’t been wild wolves in this area for over a hundred years.” 

You blinked. “Wait, no, that can’t be. There was a wolf at my cabin last night. It sounded like he was being attacked by another pack or something.” 

He looked at you hard. “There haven’t been wolves here in a long time. If you think you saw one, you didn’t.” 

You huffed. “I’m pretty sure I know what I saw, not to mention felt. He spent the night in my cabin.” 

“What kind of idiot lets a wolf spend the night in their cabin with them?” 

“Ha! So you admit it could have been a wolf!” 

“I didn’t say that!” 

You smiled, leaning back on your hands and looking out over the river. “It was fine though. He seemed trained or something. A little prickly, but he was hurt so I didn’t mind.” You heard him mutter something that sounded like “not prickly.” You continued, “He disappeared this morning, though. Around here. I’m kinda disappointed. It’s kind of lonely out here. But hey! I guess I have a new friend now!” You good naturally punched his shoulder. He winced and you just now noticed the fading bruise. “Oops. Sorry.” 

“Sure you are. And who said we were friends, anyway? You don’t even know my name.” 

Putting on your most welcoming smile (and trying not to grimace at his tone), you held out your hand. “(Y/N) (L/N), trapped out in the middle of nowhere for the foreseeable future for reasons I cannot currently disclose. Very nice to meet you.” 

He looked from your hand to your face a few times. He looked like he was turning something over in his head. Flexing his hand, he lifted it up and gripped yours strongly. You could feel the heat radiating from it, like he was a living space heater. “Bakugo. And that’s all you’re getting.” 

You fake pouted. “We will be friends, mark my words.” 

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “What were you doing out here anyway?” 

“I told you, I cannot currently discloses that information.” 

He huffed a laugh. “What, are you a spy or something? Lost princess?” 

If only, you thought. “Something like that.” 

“Hmm. You don’t have a fishing rod.” 

“Uh, yeah. I was kind of counting on my wolf friend to help me out. He did this thing where he just sort of whacked them out of the water.” You mimicked the motion in the air. 

“For the last time, there aren’t any wolves around here. Just drop it.” 

“Fine, fine. There wasn’t a wolf even though there definitely was. And I don’t know what I’ll do, exactly. I suppose I can survive on canned soup, saltines, and beans for however long I’m stuck out here.” 

“That’s disgusting.” He leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head and looking up at the clouds. “Alright, here’s what you do. You at least have a knife, right? Good. I’m going to teach you how to make a fish weir.” 

For the next hour, Bakugo talked you through cutting reeds and shaping them into a W-shaped trap in the river. According to Bakugo, the V-like entrance made it easy for fish to get in, while the indented center made it hard or impossible to get out. After some (a lot) of trial and error,  you successfully trapped a huge salmon. 

“I got one!” You yelled in excitement. “I got it!” 

“Good for you,” Bakugo said. “Now take your knife and stab it.” 

“Yeah, what?” 

“Right behind the gills.” 

“Uh, right, okay.” For a few blissful seconds there, you forgot you had to kill a fish to be able to eat it. Using another reed you cut for an unsuccessful weir, you pinned the fish to the side. Wincing, you stabbed the fish’s gills, trying to ignore how it flopped around the trap. Spearing it on your knife, you hoisted it out of the water, flicking it onto the bank. 

“Oh, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!”  You flapped your hands. Bakugo laughed at your distress. You tried to ignore how much you liked the sound. “Oh, shut up. It’s my first time.” 

He smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Your first time, huh? Glad I could walk you through it.” 

You felt yourself flush. “Oh my god!” Without thinking too much about it, you speared another fish in the trap, using your knife to fling it. The half alive fish landed smack on his chest, flopping around in a mess of falling scales and fish slime. 

He sputtered, slapping it away. He snarled, “Hey!” 

You laughed, hands resting on your thighs. “What? Now we both have dinner.” 

Catching a few more and storing them in your cooler, Bakugo taught you how to make a box-like campfire. Creating a grill with your reeds, you roasted some of the fish over the fire, picking it off with your fingers. You both sat by the river and watched the sun set. 

Not wanting your time together to end, but becoming too aware of the late hour, you said, “I should probably get back to the cabin. Not sure I could find it in the dark.” 

Bakugo shrugged. He struggled to stand up, waving you off when you tried to help him. Taking a few separate steps, he gripped a low hanging branch from a tree. With a thunderous crack, he ripped the branch off. Pulling off a few twigs, he held it under his arm as a makeshift crutch. 

“Hey,” He said, not looking at you. It sounded like he was deliberating something. “If you ever need help, I’m usually at the fire watchtower. See? You can see the roof from here. It’s about two miles that way.” He pointed over the tree line. You could just make out the top of a brown corrugated roof. 

“Sure you don’t want to take any of these back?” You asked, motioning to the cooler of fish. 

“Naw. You need all the help you can get.” 

“Hey!” As he wandered off, you yelled to him, “Watch out for the wolves!”

“There aren’t any wolves!” 

“You’ll believe me eventually!” 

~~~ 

You methodically tapped your fingers against the mug you held, letting the heat of your hot chocolate seep into your fingers. You were sitting in a folding chair just outside the cabin, bat leaning against the chair’s arm. You were snuggled up in a heavy blanket, watching the fireflies dance through the heavy trees, trying to remember consolations. 

But really, if you were being honest with yourself, you were waiting for the wolf. 

It didn’t matter if Bakugo said he wasn’t real. You knew what you saw. Maybe he had escaped from some conservation area or zoo? And he seemed used to people, so maybe he was trained? But that didn’t explain the howls you heard as you tended to the wolf’s wounds. It definitely sounded like some rival pack was hunting him down. 

It broke your heart to think of him all alone and injured out there. 

As if called by your thoughts, a round of howling rose from the depths of the forest. You jumped to your feet. The hot chocolate sloshed from your mug, burning your hand. Frantically waving your hand to ease the burn, you didn’t notice the heavy foot falls until it was too late. You turned as the thumping was right behind you. 

It felt like you were hit by a train. Your breath left you with a ‘woomp.’ Falling hard, your arms came up to wrap around what had just barrelled into you, catching it like a football. You would like to say that you were more surprised than you actually were  when your fingers dug into thick fur and bursts of dog breath panted in your face. 

“Hey there, Golden Boy,” You said, rubbing between his ears. You had decided on his name, Golden Boy, while trying to convince Bakugo of his existence. It seemed apt given his brilliant coat.  Your wolf friend yipped at you. Scrambling off, he crouched down in an attack position, growling at the trees. “Come on, bud.” You juggled your folding chair, blanket, bat, and (now empty) mug, pushing open the cabin door with your hip. The wolf backed into the cabin, eyes never leaving the tree line, lips curled into a snarl, until you closed and locked the door again. 

You took out a bowl from the cabinets. Opening a bottle of water, you filled up the bowl, placing it near the tired wolf. Crawling over on his stomach, he didn’t even lift his head as he started to lap at the water. 

“Yikes,” You said. “Rough night, huh?” You ran a hand along his back. He managed a half-hearted glare at you before deciding it wasn’t worth it and going back to his water. 

“So, you’re a wolf, right?” He ignored you, which is what you expected. But you always had a habit of talking to animals like they could talk back. “Because I met a guy today, yeah, I’m not the only person stranded out here, can you imagine, and he said there aren’t any wolves in this area. I mean, I guess you could just be a really big dog. You ever seen an Irish wolfhound? Probably taller than me. Or a Caucasian shepherd dog? I hear they used to breed those in Russia to hunt bears.

“I guess it’s kind of nice to have someone else around. Not that you’re not great company.” Could wolves roll their eyes? “Just… It can get kind of scary out here, you know? Well, probably not, you live in the woods and all. No offence and all, but this isn’t really my idea of a vacation.” 

You leaned against the wall, sitting cross-legged on your bed pallet. Golden Boy shuffled to you, resting his massive head in your lap while you checked his wound and changed the dressing. It seemed to be healing rapidly, way faster than you would have expected. 

“The truth is,” You continued. “I’m actually in hiding. There are some people who, uh, I’m pretty sure they want me dead. Maybe not me specifically. My dad made some bad choices, hey, that can be the title of my autobiography, and now I’m paying for it.” 

You felt your throat tighten up as a wave of emotion snuck up and crashed over you. You hiccuped, pressing your lips together as you tried not to cry in front of your canine audience. He looked up at you, wide, deep red eyes. Your eyes burned as tears threatened to spill out. 

Without warning, Golden Boy jerked his head up, wiping his long, wet tongue across your cheek, ineffectively wiping away your tears. You sputtered at the dog drool, breaking out into a giggle fit as he kept licking your face. 

“Okay, okay, I get it, stop already! I have a big, strong protector here to take care of me, huh?” He buried his head in your lap again. You  rubbed his ear between your fingers. “And I’ll take care of you, too. You know that, right? We’re in this together.” 

~~~

“Bakugo! I’ve come to pester you!” 

The next day, you awoke to find your wolf friend missing. You weren’t exactly sure how he managed to get out of the cabin since all the doors and windows were still securely closed, but you’d seen videos of pets doing weirder things. Maybe you should have named him Houdini. After cleaning up the cabin a little and finding a more stable storage space for the salmon you caught yesterday, a deep loneliness started gnawing at you. Stowing a tin of shortbread cookies under your arm, you set out in the direction of the river to find the watchtower Bakugo had pointed out to you yesterday. 

You finally found it about midday, only being scared to death at the possibility of getting hopelessly lost twice. You climbed up the high stairs to the box structure on top. The sides were made up of mesh screens, covered from the inside by thick curtains, you guessed so that he could keep an eye out for possible forest fires. 

“Hello? I brought an offering!” 

You heard some grumbling and banging around from inside the box. You heard a heavy lock slide open as the door cracked open. Bakugo’s ruby eyes met yours and you felt a pang of worry for your Golden Boy. 

“An offering, huh?” Smiling, you held up the tin. “Fine. I guess that’s a good enough reason to bug me.” 

You practically skipped inside. Bakugo pulled at the curtains causing them to zip up and spin on their rollers. The room was cluttered, which you mostly expected from going over to your bachelor friend’s houses. What you didn’t expect was exactly how it was cluttered. It wasn’t like clothes had been dropped on the floor and forgotten, a pile of dirty dishes and overflowing trash. The reality was more chaotic, like someone had turned over the place robbing it. Papers about the geography, flora, and fauna of the forest were strewn on every flat surface. The cot bed was stripped bare, looking like it hadn’t been slept in in days. There was a tall stack of books stacked on a table next to a wooden folding chair half pushed under a desk. A cork board was above the desk, red string connecting bits of cut-out newspaper articles, Polaroid photos, sticky notes with chicken-scratch handwriting, and marked-up calandras. 

Bakugo half-heartedly picked up a shirt from the ground. “Wasn’t really expecting company.” 

You shrugged. “You a big reader?” 

You set the cookie tin down, picking up one of the books. Its pages were marked with various colored tabs. Flipping through the pages, you saw blocks of text that had been highlighted. The book fell open to reveal a copy of a wood-cut illustration of a large man with a wolf head. His snout was pointed to the sky, jaw open in mid-howl. In his meaty hands, tipped with razor sharp claws, he cradled a woman in some medieval German peasant dress. Her head was fallen back, eyes rolled back in her head, a blood stain spreading across her neck and chest. In the background, a mass of angry villagers marched forward, armed with the standard torches and pitchforks. A bone white full moon hung overhead. 

Bakugo snapped the book closed in your hands. “Didn’t your parents teach you not to snoop through people's stuff?” 

“I wasn’t snooping,” You said defensively. “And just so you know, no, they didn’t. My folks weren’t exactly the etiquette type.” 

“Clearly.” 

“Hey!” 

He smirked at you, prying open the cookie tin and munching on a piece of shortbread. You sat down in the folding chair, looking down dubiously when it creaked under you. 

“So, how does a guy get a gig hanging out in the middle of the woods, anyway?” 

“How do you?” 

You pressed your lips, trying not to let Bakugo feel the sudden drop in your mood. You blinded him with a smile. “Maybe I just really like bird-watching.” 

“Sure. Bird-watching.” 

You swallowed a lump in your throat. Standing, you turned away and looked out the messy windows, taking in the acres upon acres of unspoiled wilderness. “Wow, you can see for forever up here.” Squinting, you saw the dip in trees around your cabin, the red roof just barely visible. “Hey, that’s my place!” You looked over your shoulder at him and winked. “You’re not spying on me, are you?” 

He popped in another cookie, wolfing it down in one bite. “You wish.” 

You hummed, looking back out over the trees. “Can you..” You trailed off. “Can you see if people come into the woods?” 

He came over to stand next to you, hiding the tin in the crook of his arm. “I don’t get records of who comes in or out, if that’s what you mean. That’s for the rangers at the front gates. I see campfires, sometimes. Need to make sure they don’t get out of control.” 

“And if someone, or, like, a group, maybe, was trying to sneak in? Like, not going through the front gates so there was no record of them being here?” 

He paused mid-bite and looked at you sideways. “You’re hiding.” 

You mock-laughed. “What? No, no. Of course I’m not hiding. Why would I be hiding?” 

“(Y/N),” He cut you off. He moved his head so you were forced to look directly into his ruby-red eyes. 

You crossed your arms and looked away. “I’m not supposed to talk about it.” 

He leaned back. “That’s okay. But, hey, we can look out for each other, yeah?” He curled his biceps, flexing his muscles. “Besides, you got a big, strong protector here, don’t ya? You don’t have anything to worry about.” 

“Big, strong protector, huh?” You echoed. 

He leaned closer, eyes half lidded. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Yeah.” 

You suddenly became away of how close you two were standing, how you could smell the remnants of the sweet cookies on his breath, about how soft his hair looked and thinking about what it might be like to run your hand through it, about how his muscles looked when he flexed them. 

You blinked hard, jerking yourself out of this impromptu daydream. You felt the tips of your ears burn as your face flushed. 

“The wolf came back last night,” You blurted. 

His eyebrows furrowed, mouth falling from a sultry smirk to a frustrated frown. “He did, huh?” 

“Yup! I named him, even. Golden Boy. Cause his fur is this really pretty yellow, you know? Kind of like your hair, but less shaggy.” Before you could stop yourself, you reached up and messed his bed-head. Good god, it was just as soft as you thought. 

He pulled away, scrunching his nose and fixing his hair. “Th-that’s stupid. Why would I look like some dog?” 

“So you admit he’s real?” 

“I said dog, not wolf. His owner probably just dropped him off in the woods somewhere. It’s sad, but it happens. Sounds like he’s doing alright for himself.” 

“I wouldn’t say that exactly.” You leaned on your elbows. “Every night he’s come to my cabin he’s been pretty beat up. Could another animal be targeting him? A bear or another wolf - sorry, abandoned dog?” 

Bakugo looked away, scratching the back of his neck. “I mean, maybe. There’s a lot of dangerous creatures out in those woods.” His voice dropped low. “A lot of dangerous creatures.” 

You looked over at the stack of books, the one with the werewolf illustration placed haphazardly on the top. “Like werewolves?” You joked. 

He didn’t answer you. 

~~~

“Buckle up, Golden Boy, we are going on a field trip.” 

It was night again a few days later. You’d spent almost two weeks in the woods by this point. Your days were mostly spent hanging out with Bakugo in the fire watch tower or hiking through the forest with him. He’d given you a blank mole-skin notebook. You’d started sketching and labeling plants and animals you saw on your hikes with him. He’d ramble off information he’d learned from preparing for this job. While your drawing skills needed some improvement, you liked the calm, methodical motions and scratch of pen on paper, taking note of the tiny details that made one plant safe to eat and different from the poisonous one. 

Your nights were spent with Golden Boy. His wound had long since cleared up, surprisingly fast, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all. You weren’t exactly sure why he kept coming to you at night. He obviously didn’t need any help finding food. Maybe he felt safer with you behind protective walls? A few times, you thought you saw reflective eyes in the depths of the trees, watching as you let Golden Boy inside the cabin as the moon rose. Or maybe he really did used to be someone’s pet and just felt lonely abandoned out here. He’d always be gone by the time you woke up, no matter how many times you’d fallen asleep leaning against him or curled under your arm. 

You’d also  kept arguing his existence to your hot-headed friend. Tonight, you finally decided to prove yourself right. You were going to bring your proof right to his front door. 

“Come on,” You said, clapping your hands at the wolf lounging by the fire. “You’re going to help me rub some sweet ‘I told you so’ in a cute guy’s face.” He raised his head at you, giving you a look you had come to read from his doggy face. “What? He is. Or maybe I’ve just been stranded in the woods for too long.” You shrugged. Golden Boy let out his ‘you’re ridiculous’ puff of air noise and flopped over so the fire could warm his belly. You took two quick steps forward and rubbed your hand over his belly, it sinking into the thick fur. He let out a surprised yip and curled up, nipping at your hand before licking it and resigning himself to your attention. 

You laughed, heading back to the door. “Come on! I haven’t gone hiking at night before. Think of all the cool nocturnal animals I can record in my journal. And I need my bodyguard, right? It’ll be fun-“ 

You cut yourself off. You opened the door, freezing as you came face-to-face with a fist, poised to knock. Looking past the fist, your throat went dry, heart dropping into your stomach, head going fuzzy. A man stood there in an expensive looking suit. He looked a little surprised, then flashed a wide used-car-salesman smile. One of his teeth was golden. You could see scars criss-crossing his knuckles and up one of his cheeks. His hair was practically a helmet with all the pomade in it. 

“Well, hello there!” He said, chipper. That somehow made it worse. “I don’t suppose you’re (Y/N) (L/N), are you?” 

The door blurred as you slammed it shut. Just before it closed, the man stopped it with his hands, which now seemed way too large and strong. You tried pushing it closed, but your muscles, even flooded with the adrenaline shooting through your veins, were no match for his. 

You stumbled backward as he threw the door open. You saw several more equally if not more menacing men behind him. One was rolling up his sleeves, one checking the knuckle-dusters shining on his hands, one methodically fiddling with the safety on a gun. 

You backed away, stopping when the back of your calves nudged into Golden Boy, who was now standing, a low growl emanating from his throat. 

“Hey there, pup,” The smiling man said. He leaned down, rubbing his fingers together to encourage Golden Boy to come forward. Your wolf just snapped his fangs. “Aw, well. You hate hurting animals, but sometimes it’s just a hazard of the job.” He drew out a long hunting knife from a sheath shoved in his belt loop. It glistened in the fire light. 

You were going to throw up. 

“I don’t know anything,” You said, hating the waver in your voice. How could you have become so comfortable, so careless? Where the hell was your bat? “I don’t know where my dad is, I don’t know where your money is. I don’t know anything, I promise.” Tears were blurring your vision, stinging the back of your eyes. 

“I’m sure you don’t, sweetheart,” He said. The other men crowded in through the door. The cabin suddenly felt ten times smaller. “But, you know, loose ends.” 

Yellow blurred in your vision. Golden Boy flashed in front of you, powerful jaws clamping down on the man’s knife hand. He yowled in pain and shock, the knife clattering to the floor. The other men were stunned for a moment before lunging forward. One hit Golden Boy hard on the back of his head, another grabbing his back legs and yanking hard. Golden Boy kept his death-grip, red oozing from his mouth. 

You scrambled backward, head whipping around to look for your bat. It now felt woefully useless. There, cast off in a corner. You’d been using it to dry dish towels. 

It felt like 100 pounds in your hands. 

You heard an unsettling thump followed by a yelp. Whipping around, you saw the man had managed to dislodge Golden Boy, throwing him against the wall. You cried a broken noise. You felt a hand grab the scruff of your neck. You jammed the bat behind you, connecting with the soft bulge of the man’s stomach. He “oof”ed and his grip loosened. You flung yourself forward, landing hard on your knees, and scrambled up. The door was wide open, the men temporarily distracted. You didn’t think twice. 

You shot up, sliding like a baseball player going to home plate in front of Golden Boy. You held your bat in front of you like Excalibur itself. 

“Don’t you fucking touch my dog!” You’d never said anything with such venom in your voice, but you still didn’t feel like it was enough to appropriately express your rage. Golden Boy shook his head, getting back to his feet. He stood by your side, head lowered between his shoulders, baring his teeth stained with blood. 

The smiling man, who was now scowling in disgust, wrapped his bleeding hand with a way too expensive handkerchief. “God, typical. I hate dogs. Let’s hurry up and finish this.” 

The one with the gun raised it, pointing it right between your eyes. You stood fast, gripping the bat so hard your hands were turning white. 

You wanted to see Bakugo. It hit you like lightening that that was who was coming to your mind. You wanted to say something to him, an explanation of why you wouldn’t wake him up tomorrow morning. You wanted to make him promise he would take care of Golden Boy, after making him admit that you were right about the wolves. You wanted to hug him, to go on a walk someplace other than the woods, you wanted to cook a real meal in a real kitchen with him, you wanted to wake up in the morning with him at your side, Golden Boy at your feet. 

You wanted so many things you knew you wouldn’t be getting. So you had to focus on what you could get. You wanted Golden Boy to get out of here, to be safe. And by hell or high water, you were going to do that. 

You swung the bat back, aiming for the gunman’s wrist. You would knock the gun out of his hand, grab Golden Boy, kick him if you had to, get him out the door to get a head start. You’d probably get shot in the back doing it, but maybe the loud noise would startle him into running away. As long as he was safe, what else mattered? 

One second you were staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, making peace with yourself. The next, the gun was gone, and so was the man. Blinking, you looked around to see where he had disappeared to. The other men, equally baffled, didn’t have time to react as they were tackled to the ground along with their firearm friend. 

Golden Boy was in front of you, pushing you back by leaning his weight against your legs. You watched as your tiny cabin filled with giant wolves, gray, red, black, brown, all with flashing fangs and claws. One man with a knife reared up, pulling his arm back to throw the knife at you. Materializing out of thin air, a new man, one you hadn’t seen before, appeared behind him, catching the first in a headlock and pulling him down until he went limp in a choked-out sleep. 

The new man snarled, whipping his head around to stare right into your soul. And he was naked. How did you not notice that? The man looked like he threw full grown trees around for fun, and cut them down for work. Every inch of skin, and there was a lot of skin, had some scar tissue or mark indicating a life of hard-scraps. 

His eyes snapped down to Golden Boy, still setting himself firmly between you and the raucous crowd. The man jerked his head to the open door. “Wait outside,” He said, voice unbelievably gruff and low. “We’ll take care of this.” 

“Okay?” You said, voice loose. You felt like you were going to faint. You grounded yourself with a tug on your sleeve. Looking down, you saw Golden Boy, his teeth gently closed around your sleeve. He somehow managed to avoid looking at you, pulling you on unsteady feet out in the cool night air. He kicked the door shut with his hide leg as soon as you were out. 

All of your energy left you at once. You slumped against a tree, forehead leaning on your knees and blood rushing back into your hands as you dropped your bat. You sat there, still save for the involuntary tremors that racked your body, for who knows how long. 

You heard a quiet whimper. Peeking your eyes through your fingers, you saw Golden Boy. He was pacing, eyes downcast and tail tucked between his legs. He was limping a little, his old wound bothered in no small part due to being bodily thrown against the wall. 

“Hey,” You said softly. He jerked to a stop and looked up at you, bringing his eyes back down in a guilty expression. “It’s okay. Come here.” You held your hands out, palms up and fingers splayed. He trotted over to you, resting his enormous head in your hands and laying down, his chest pressing on your legs. You buried your face in the thick fur on the back of his neck. “It’s okay. We’re okay.” 

When the cabin door creaked open, panic seized your adrenaline abandoned muscles. Your hand shot to the bat, its strange weight now frighteningly familiar. Golden Boy barely stirred in your lap, only lazily opening his eyes and shifting closer to you as if hiding from some sort of punishment. 

The burly man stepped out first, still naked, you (unfortunately) noticed. He had two yakuza members with him, one slung over each shoulder, limp and unmoving. Next came three huge wolves, one of them walking backward while pulling along another gang member by the cuff of his pants. A woman came out with him, also naked, with the longest hair you had ever seen, similarly scuffed and scraped as the first man. She was followed by two more wolves. The strange group dumped the bodies of your attackers in a haphazard pile near the tree line. Were they dead? You couldn’t tell. God, which option was better? 

The man stretched, thick cords of muscle rippling under his skin. He sighed, like a tired parent, and turned to you. You cut your gaze away quickly, making sure to keep your eyes above a certain level. 

“Are you badly hurt?” His voice was the same low rumble of an earthquake. 

“Um, no. I-I think we’re okay. Thank you.” 

He hummed, rolling his shoulders. “No thanks necessary. We stand for our own, no matter the pack.” 

“I’m sorry, pack?” You asked, voice squeaking. Your brain was working overtime to process everything. 

“Hmph.” The man looked disappointed but not surprised. He nudged Golden Boy with his foot. The wolf whined again, turning his head away. “You still can’t shift on command? How are you meant to lead your pack when you can’t do the most basic things?” Golden Boy whined and grumbled. 

“I-what? What does any of this have to do with my dog?” You wrapped your arms protectively around him. 

The man quirked an eyebrow. “A wolf without a pack is a dangerous thing. A lone creature who can’t even control his own body needs to be culled. Now that he has found a pack, he has a greater responsibility. He’s part of a whole, not only himself.” 

“Hang on-” You tried to stand up only for Golden Boy to shove his weight down on you harder. “Were you the ones hurting Golden Boy? What’s the matter with you? Why would you hurt an animal? And, sorry, but why are you naked? I tried not to say anything but it’s kind of bothering me a lot.” 

The man stared you down, looking back to your wolf. “You didn’t tell her anything?” Golden Boy whined. The man sighed. “This will be more difficult than I thought. Our pack must move. We’ve completed our duty.We’ll deal with this… refuse.” He looked at the unconscious yakuza. He nudged Golden Boy again. “Take care of this one. He has a lot to learn.” 

The man turned, a yell building in your throat. In front of your eyes, he shifted, skin sprouting silver gray hair. You heard the pop of bones as the man seemed to fall over, but you quickly realized his entire body structure had changed. Where a person had once stood, a wolf walked. The woman from before was also gone, now just the group of wolves. The gray wolf looked back at you, nodding once, before raising up a howl with the rest of his pack. 

When you finally managed to feel your heartbeat slow to a non-life-threatening level, you looked down. “Alright, we have a lot to talk about, because apparently you can do that?” Golden Boy turned away from you. “Yeah, alright, nap first. Nap sounds good.” 

You passed out. 

~~~ 

You woke up with a headache knocking at your temples. Your mouth felt thick with cotton. You felt warm, gradually taking note of the blanket that had been carefully draped over you. Blearily opening your eyes, you watched dust motes float through shafts of light that filtered through the curtains on your cabin windows. You must have forgotten to dose the fire before you went to bed. It was still crackling in the fireplace. 

“Golden Boy?” You said, voice craggy. Why were you still wearing your day clothes? “Yout there, bud?” 

A knuckle rapped gently on your forehead. “Exactly how hard did you hit your head?” 

You shot up, immediately regretting it as pain flared up your spine to bloom in your skull. “Whoa, hey, take it easy.” A pair of hands steadied your shoulders, helping you sit up. 

You blinked hard, looking up into now familiar red eyes. “Bakugo?” 

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “You can call me Katsuki now, you know. I think we’re close enough, after everything.” 

“Everything-? Oh. Oh! Oh my god!” You tried to jump up, knees giving out underneath you. Your limbs felt like they were encased in lead. 

“I told you to take it easy, dumbass,” Bakugo, Katsuki, said. He caught you before you fell, helping you sit back down. He stood up, going to the stove and sliding a pancake on top of a stack, still steaming. Pulling half onto a separate plate, he came back, handing one to you.

Numbly, you took it, tearing a piece off and shoving it in your mouth. “You have pecans in here.” 

“We didn’t have any syrup, so I thought this would be a good substitute. Having pancakes on their own is kind of boring.” 

“Sure. Yeah. So.” You let it hang there, watching him avoid your eyes and much on pancakes. 

He swallowed. “So.” He ate half of another one before continuing. “I’m a werewolf.” 

You blinked. “Okay.” 

He scowled. ‘There it is,’ You thought. “‘Okay’? That’s all you have to say?” 

You shrugged. “I mean, what else am I supposed to say? I’m pretty sure a group of werewolves saved my life last night. I literally saw a guy turn into a wolf, so that checks out. I might still be in shock a little bit, to be honest. So, uh, werewolf, huh?” He scoffed, rolling his eyes and shoving another pancake in his mouth. You cracked a smile and joked, “Well, you sure eat like a dog.” He punched your shoulder. You both laughed anyway. 

“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” He said eventually. “I don’t think anyone does. I got bit by a rogue wolf. Turned pretty soon after. I’m not going to lie, I did some pretty bad stuff. I was freaked out, half out of my mind, those wolf instincts kicking in. It’s not an excuse, but… I got a job out here, thought I could isolate myself, research to see if I could find a cure or something. The pack found me almost immediately. I mean, I practically waltzed right in to their territory, so I can’t blame them. That rule they have, it’s true. A lone werewolf, someone without a pack, they’re dangerous. Unpredictable. They tried to… put me down. I usually managed to get away, but one night I made a stupid mistake. I should have died.” He looked up at you. “And then I ran in to you.” 

“And then you ran in to me.” You reached out, petting your hand through his hair. It was still soft, whether as a golden wolf or a human. “So, I’m your pack now? That’s what that guy said, the other werewolf. What does that mean, exactly?” 

He blushed, pulling apart his remaining pancakes. “A pack is like a family. They look out for each other, stand with each other. I didn’t tell them we were a pack or anything. I guess they just sort of inferred. Since, like, we’ve been spending a lot of time together, no matter what form.” 

You grinned. “They think you’re my boyfriend?”  He punched you again, with less malice this time. “Hey, I didn’t say I minded.” 

“It’s a lot,” Katsuki continued quickly, the words all rushing out as if he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to say it all. “I still don’t know a lot about all this. I always shift at night. I’m trying to get better at controlling it, but it’s hard. And it’s hard to go through all the history and stuff and pull out fact from fiction. I feel like I can’t control anything and I’m so fucking useless and I-“ 

You pressed your lips against his. Finally. His lips were chapped, and your teeth clacked together at first, but the warmth that spread through your chest made it all worth it. A plate clattered against the floor as he shifted closer to you. His hand came up to cradle the back of your head, bringing you closer. Your fingers clenched the fabric of his shirt, pulling. 

He pulled back, your breath mixing together. 

“I think I like the woods, now,” You said, softly. “It’s nice out here. Good company.” He chuckled, lowley. “And I like you. A lot. And I love dogs.”

He laughed loudly, once, before pulling you back in for another kiss.