#seriously tho click through to ao3

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

Feb 6th

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1. Hi!

I've been watching your content for a while and I really liked it, so I would like you to please help me find a fic.

This fic is a One shot with a/b/o theme (wwx omega LWJ alpha) where wwx lived a "house" for omegas (where he is a friend of mm) and they "borrow" it for prince Lwj, Lxc ( alpha) is the emperor and JGY (omega) is his partner.

In Gusu, omegas are not considered for cultivation, however, wwx doesn't care much about that and there is a scene where he along with LWJ fight in a cave with a monster. The final scene of the one shot occurs when WWX runs away from Gusu to the beach, LWJ follows him because they promised to visit the sea one day together.

the wangxian relationship is slow and with lwj's problems to express his feelings 😓

I would appreciate your help, if you need more information, I will gladly try to remember more things😊 and sorry for the grammar, my native language is not English (google translator)

FOUND? Rattling our cages by danegen (E, 69k, wangxian, A/B/O, but like polite, Slow Burn, Pining while fucking, so much hair combing, WWX has a vagina, POV WWX, no yin iron or wars or plot really, Canon Era, spiders--see the notes, Spanish Translation Available)

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2. Heya! Can y'all help me find a fic?

The part of the plot i remember is that WWX uses an array to erase himself and the wens from the memory of the cultivation world. The array stops one day, and a bunch of people go to the burial mounds to see what's up. It was on ao3, probably.

and that's ~all i remember~

a nice fic but not the one i remember. pretty sure wwx was hiding in the burial mounds with the wens. thanks for this fic tho!

NOT FOUND! Second Summer by Anonymous (M, 152k, WangXian, canon, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Mystery, Amnesia, Memory Loss, Curses, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, somebody lives/somebody else dies, Golden Core Reveal, canon-typical lack of lube, Ambiguous/Open Ending)

NOT FOUND! you've heard that melody before by Stratisphyre (M, 66k, wangxian, JL & LSZ & LJY, JC/WQ, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Memory Loss, POV Multiple, Multiple Canon Character Deaths, Depictions of depression, Light Dom/sub, Not Everyone Dies AU, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics)

FOUND? Run Off The World by Sapphire_Roses (M, 271k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, SL/XXC, WIP, Not Everyone Dies AU, Canon Divergence, Wen Remnants Live, Flashbacks, YLLZ WWX, WWX Creates a Sect | Yiling Wei Sect, Sect Leader WWX, Married WangXian, OCs, POV Outsider, Morally Grey Characters, (Do Take That Tag Seriously), Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, Yunmeng Siblings Feels, Gusu Siblings Feels, Sibling Bonding, Pining, Character Study, Tenderness, Mild Smut, POV Alternating, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Minor Character Death)

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3. Hi, i was looking for a fic i think i found in your blog? It was a wip and it was something along the line of wwx as yilling patriarch and the sects sent lan wangji for tribute. But they already knew each other.

I remember this one scene where lan wangji finds bunnies inside the burial mounds but wwx captures them to eat and lwj is sad.

I don't remember the title or anything because i think i directly clicked the link and started reading but then i forgot to bookmark it and lost the link.

Please help me find it, i really wanna know what happened next.🙏😔

FOUND? The Jade Bride by lanwangjibo (Not rated, 16k, wangxian, WIP, Pining LWJ, YLLZ WWX, Misunderstandings, POV WWX, POV LWJ, Fluff and Angst, WQ Lives, Wēn Remnants Live, LSZ is a Wēn, WWX is Bad at Feelings, LWJ is Bad at Communicating, SS Being an Asshole, Pining WWX, Hurt LWJ, BAMF WWX, Angst with a Happy Ending)

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4. fic finder request! looking for two fics that i can't seem to locate in my bookmarks - A) in the first one, sizhui (and the rest of the juniors?) somehow reach through time and rescue wwx (i think dead in present time), bringing him into their present! in the process they create a lot of trouble, due to the power expended and released, i believe they turned a mountain into a crater or something.

B) the second fic I'm looking for takes place during the sunshot campaign, when baoshan sanren decides to join the fight and intervenes. she restores both jc and wwx's cores, by reaching back into time and removing jc's core right before it's melted by wzl, she also returns wwx's core from jc's to wwx's body. she does this in her tent, which is also a dimension travel portal or something which iirc links back to her home on the mountain.

thank you very much!! @potatokunst

4A)

FOUND! Would You Come Home? by s6115 (Not rated, 46k, WangXian, Junior Quartet Centric, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Junior Quartet Dynamics)

4B)

FOUND! Can't Tell Me Nothin by natacup82 (T, 35k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Everybody Lives, Family Feels, Communication, BAMF Women) Baoshan Sanren return Jiang Cheng's core from the past in chapter 4

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5. hi! gosh, i have had this fic stuck in my head for the past weeks but for the life of me, i just cannot remember the name. i really hope you can help me find it!

the fic is about how modern wei wuxian is a researcher/scientist and he got his hands on a shady book written by baoshan sanren, accidentally triggers a talisman/array and somehow being transported into the wuxia version and it involves the people who died coming back to life and they all watch/read the past and it just sort of becomes one big therapy session.

i think i remember there being a part in the fic where modern wei wuxian mentions transferring/donating his organ to modern jiang cheng in reference to how og wei wuxian transfered his gold core to og jiang cheng.

and also a part where it was mention that for modern wei wuxian, it was madam yu who found and brought him back to the jiang family to be raised and not sect leader jiang; also it was implied that the modern jiang family is actually a loving happy family in contrast to the sort of dysfunctional og one because modern wei wuxian address's madam yu and sect leader jiang as mother and father.

i wish i could remember more, i hope this would be enough to go on. please help me and thank you so much in advance! @lilith--14

I believe this fic has been deleted but please correct me if I'm wrong - Mod C

FOUND? Yes the fic was deleted. It's "Loving Future, Distant Past" by yareyarejojosan. Here is a link to a folder that contains all of the author's fics

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6. For a fic finder, there was this nsfw kinda darkji (probably pwp) fic that haunts me and might have been deleted, becaused i’ve searched in every way I know how: (post?)canon, wwx can’t get hard anymore for some reason. He is embarrassed to admit it to lwj, who then calms him and says it’s normal and that he doesn’t use it for much anyway. Turns out lwj was the one who started and keeps giving him the tea for impotence. The lan doctors are in on this(?) Thanks if anyone can identify this one!

I don’t think 6 on the last fic finder was it (still a delishiously dark-ish rec, thank you!), it was (probably) a shorter pwp and not modern

NOT FOUND You Sing of Thanatos; I Hear Only Eros by kanonkita (E, 39k, WangXian, MIND THE TAGS, Modern AU, Extremely Dubious Consent, Dark!LWJ, Mild Horror, Omorashi, Tentacles, Rope Bondage, Shibari, Praise Kink, Breeding Kink, Oviposition, Non-Consensual Body Modification, soft pillow talk, Hurt/Comfort, non-consensual emotional healing, Panic Attacks, Wetting, Body Horror, Impotence, Magic, Anal Sex, PIV Sex, Mpreg, Mild Suicidal Ideation, Voyeurism, PWP, Angst, nonconsensual medical treatment)

FOUND? Succumbing to His unconditional love? by MurderRose (E, 2k, wangxian, mildly dom/sub, WWX's floppy little cock, the trials of being utterly loved, LWJ can be a tiny bit dark as a treat, opt in or opt out at your will, its almost invisibly mild, a lil bit of humiliation)

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7. Hello (✿◠‿◠) hope you having a good day! This is for the fic finder, I've been looking for this fic where after his death wwx comes back as a rabbit, it has a glossary at the start for words/terms the rabbits use, I think? I really hope this is enough to go form!

FOUND! Dignity and Animality by quick_cat_tl (G, 31k, WangXian, Watership Down, u know the one with the political/philosophical bunnies, Reincarnation, Lapine language, Rabbit!WWX, Sunny Angst, Pining) Hi, number 7 is probably „Dignity and Animality“ by Anielka. Unfortunately, it seems to be deleted on AO3. / For #7, I remember reading "Dignity and Animality!" When I click the link for it (from the wangxianficrecs tumblr), it redirects to Dignity and Animality by quick_cat_tl - maybe the author changed their AO3 handle? / The question about #7 - I copied the link for the current posting for that story and then took it into the wayback machine where that same link does pull up the story being underneath the original name mentioned back in 2021, so it was a name change and not a repost.

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8. I’m looking for a fic, one chapter, Lan Wangji is a teacher in Cloud Recesses. He takes Wei Wuxian to the Jingshi and it’s implied that he told Wei Wuxian he’d not tell anyone what Wei Wuxian had done so long as Wei Wuxian let him fuck him.

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9. Hi! I hope you can help me find this. All I can remember is that WWX fell asleep in the cold spring and I think Lwj or Lqr saw his body few hours later and wwx is cold as if he is already dead.

FOUND? 🔒 Warming up (to him) by barisan (T, 9k, LQR & WWX, WangXian, Hypothermia, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Temporary Character Death, Medical Inaccuracies, YZY Abuses WWX, JFM Bashing, pre-wangxian, Good Uncle LQR, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort)

FOUND? Warmth by Quiet_crash (G, 2k, WangXian, LQR & WWX, Hypothermia, Fluff, Kinda, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm)

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10. Hi! Your work on this blog is absolutely amazing! For fic finder, I've been searching for a fic I read awhile ago. It's post-canon. WWX is traveling and writing to LWJ, but letters stop coming. LWJ searches and finds that to prevent a creature from preying on a local child, WWX took it on himself but to prevent the curse from hurting anyone else, he's hiding in a cave, constantly drinking to dull the effects.

FOUND? Fire in the Blood by Jo Lasalle (Jo_Lasalle) (M, 20k, wangxian, First Time, Post-Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, hurt/comfort themes)

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11. Hey I read a book recently, in there, there was a scene where, wwx was protecting someone? Or someone was protecting wwx? By standing on one side of fire and the attackers/i think it was jins or someone on the other side of fire. The scene was fierce. They were like us against the world type of scene. Do u know this fic? @constellationdks

#11 for recent fic finder here, thnx for the rec but it's not the one. The one I'm looking for is quite long, I think it was more than 30 or 40k. Also the scene wasn't with a yuan.

I know number 11 and I'm trying to search for it. It's wwx holding a-yuan in his arms in an alleyway when they are attacked by the jin. The premise has something to do with that strength parents get when defending their children? 🤔 let me get back to you!

NOT FOUND Hysterical Strength by covalentbonds (Not Rated, 3k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Parent WWX, Fix-It of Sorts, Everybody Lives/Nobody dies) Wwx is out one evening with a-yuan when he is ambushed by the jin.

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12. Fic finder please! 🙏

This would be a hybrid/warprize LWJ where he was a bunny hybrid and WWX was a snake. WRH has LWJ shipped off to WWX, who ends up helping him and eventually gets him reunited with LXC.

I remember there was art of LWJ and rabbits bc WWX was trying to help him calm down. I’ve read this sometime last year and can’t find it anywhere! 😭😭

FOUND! 山水盆景 (Shānshuǐ Pénjǐng) by meicairoubingfan (kiradyn) (M, 64k, WangXian, warprize AU warprize lwj, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Vers WangXian, Top WWX, Top LWJ/Bottom WWX, Animal Traits, Non-ABO Universe, Snake Demon Lord WWX, Animal Traits, Hand Jobs, Seduction, Found Family, Wedding In The Cloud Recesses, Handfasting In The Cold Spring Cave, Alternate 3Zun, Alternative Sunshot Campaign, Hinted Future ChenLi, YZY is a better mother, JYL Is Not A Wilting Wallflower, empowerment, Side-Character Cameos, Rabbit Sanctuary In The Burial Mounds, Cutest Little Bun MXY, Accidental Child Acquisition, Child MXY)

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13. (First part added to itmf) But I’m looking for a modern au were even though jc’s family is rich they don’t give wwx and jc pocket money and they were hungry in front of a bakery? And wwx used the « orphan in the street card » and lwj bought him food

I don’t know if it’s the same one but I think at some point wwx bought lwj home while he was drunk and waited for lxc to come pick him up and jc saw them talking on the couch and he thought they were dating (they weren’t together yet)

ANYWAY thank you for everything ✨✨✨ @ihaveasoftspotfora-yuan

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14. Hi! for the fic finder please, there was a fic where lz read on a book abt the hannaki disease and he thought it beautiful so he started choking himself on gentian flowers to imitate the feeling @cocoaphil

FOUND? the sweet scent of their tragedy by HeavenlySkyfarer (E, 23k, WangXian, Angst, Cultivation Sect Politics, Depression, Hanahaki Disease, Language of Flowers, Love Confessions, Manipulation, Marriage, Mental Health Issues, Pining, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Rumors, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Whump, Self-Harm, Bittersweet, Self-Blame, Canon-Typical Violence, Blanket Permission, Morally Gray LWJ)

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15. Hello, I am looking for a fic I read some time ago (it could be a few years). I think it was post-canon, Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian were together. LWJ gets cursed and the only thing he has in mind is killing WWX (since he sees him only as the big bad Yiling Laozu). At the end, WWX pretends LWJ killed him and the curse is lifted. It was posted on ao3. Thank you for your hard work! And have a great day!

I think I remember this fic! It starts out with WWX accidentally cursing LWJ with a talisman while they were in the jingshi and ends with WWX running to the burial mounds, finding out there are people who worship him living there, and he uses the incense burner to trick LWJ into thinking he killed him to break the curse, right? I can't recall the name though - Mod C

FOUND? all the broken things that I made by ilip13 (E, 43k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Lovers To Enemies, (then back to lovers I'm not a monster), Dubcon Kissing, Dubious Consent, But mostly not in the way you might expect - see notes for details, Explicit Sexual Content, Bondage, Flirting, Competence Kink) might be this? I haven't read it yet, but the summary sounds like what they are looking for!

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16. Okay I could have easily dreamt this up but I could have sworn there was a fic where either LWJ or WWX was in a orchestra and his band mates thought he was married to wen qing because she was the one to always bring a Yuan to him after school or something only to think he was cheating when his actual husband comes by pls tell me I didn't dream this

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17. Hi! im sorry i lost a fic and i need help. It was an old wangxian fic, where LXC He's emperor (?) and LWJ is engaged to WWX, in this fic they get married and there are problems with the marriage because LWJ was a little bad during their engagement, since they were children. WWX was always trying to get his attention until one day he gave up. In the fic there is a part where Su She shoots WWX with an arrow and LWJ punishes him in some way.I remember it was also a Tumblr AU that later become a fic

NOT FOUND! rebuttable presumption by @sarah-yyy

NOT FOUND! Burning Bridges by Keysmashed (E, 12k, wangxian, arranged marriage, misunderstandings, pining, angst w/ happy ending, family drama, swordfighting, non-graphic smut, emotional rollercoaster, love confessions, everyone lives au) it’s probably not this one because su she is not in it and it’s not royalty but wx are engaged and wy does give up so even if it’s not you might like it

FOUND! permissive presumption by sarahyyy (G, 7k, WangXian, Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Pining, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings) could also be permissive presumption by sarahyyy, on AO3, which is an AU of the author's fic on tumblr

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18. Hi! This is for fic finder. WWX is killed by SMS in sunshot campaign. He then resurected years later by MXY in JGS order. WWX and LWJ fight together. WWX hand is blackened i think. JGS refused to tell WWX what is MXY wish is. In last chapter, JGS is killed by JGY or Madam Jin and WWX is free from the curse. I think JGS death is because of NHS plot i think. Thank you! @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

Hi! I'am #18 from the latests fic finder. I want to add some details. Not much but i hope someone can recognize it. Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi was sent to Qishan either as a hostage or indocrination. In there, everytime they are punished, Wen Ning and Wen Yuan help them to make the punishment lighter. Sometimes they warned Jin Ling, Lan Jingyi, and other junior everytime other wen sect member (the one that didnt hesitate to punush them harshly) nearby. I think Wen Qing too help everytime the punishment is so harsh that caused injury, she make them stay in infirmary where they are safe

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19. Hello! I’m looking for a fic where mxy and wwx are a couple who take lwj home for a night in a modern AU. The beginning talks about how mxy and wwx looked so similar that when they first met they were worried they were related. Lwj is on the verge of being in love w/ wwx, but he’s hesitant to act on it bc of the relationship between wwx & mxy. Once he’s in bed with them there’s a line about red satin sheets for special guests. It’s such a specific premise but I couldn’t find it on ao3😭

FOUND? you and me alone by plonk (Not rated, 6k, wangxian, MXY/LJW/WWX, modern)

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20. looking for a fic from a prev ff or itmf, modern au, college/research lab? setting, abo dynamics. wwx and lwj participate in some scientific research study and get together in the process. iirc they are not in the same yr at college. i didnt manage to save it then but really want to read it, please help!!

NOT FOUND Pairfire by PaidSubscription (E, 65k, wangxian, NMJ/LXC, JC/NHS, WQ/MM, JYL/JZX, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Relationships 101, Getting Together, First Time, Explicit Consent, Bordering on Kink Levels of Communication, Elements of Assigned-ish Marriage-ish, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, A/B/O With a twist, Because Cultivators CHOOSE Their Gender During This Course, After Trying Out All Three, It’s a Three Course Meal and WangXian’s Gender Acceptance is the Dessert, But Horny Pining is the Main Meal and the Most of the Snacks, Bottom LWJ, Bossy Bottom/Henpecked Top Energy, Everyone is over 21, Gender Choice Raises Issues for Most But I Promise Happy Endings + Everyone Comfy in Their Own Skin, Side Couple Aro/Ace/Agender Storylines)

FOUND! 🔒 I is for Instinct by beeswaxing (E, 71k, wangxian, LXC/NMJ, JYL/JZX, hualian, A/B/O, Alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, Scenting, Possessive Behavior, Getting Together, First Time, First Kiss, Public Display of Affection, Public Claiming, Good Parent LQR, Alpha YZY, Good Parent YZY, Family Feels, Fluff, Romance, Aftermath of Violence, Slice of Life, Modern, College/University, BAMF WWX, Soft Wangxian, Barebacking, Knotting, Semi-Public Sex, Shameless, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg)

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[appleblueberry-pie]

How did you get into fan fiction?

I began reading it one day. I remember I searched up my comfort character online, and a wattpad "x reader" fanfiction with them in it popped up, and I clicked it, and now here I am. Lol.

It was my high school senior quote, but at some point you have to stop consuming and begin creating. And as much as I loved reading fanfictions, I wanted to try it out. It was literally so bad, like I can't stress enough how bad the fanfictions were. My first attempt flopped and I took it down😭.

My SECOND one.....I worked on that for about 4 years. I got about half a million readers and then wattpad took the entire thing away. I was lowkey sick of writing just pure smut on it anyways. That's what the entire thing was. Just my favorite characters being fucked and that's it. The longest fic I've written was in that book, which was around 5.2k words and I haven't topped it since.

Anyways. I took a break writing fanfictions after that was taken down and shifted to AO3, where the first half of that popular book still remains. No, I won't tell what it is. I got obsessed with the site and ran through it entirely. Seriously. Everytime i tried to search for more content on there, all of the fucking titles would be grey bc ive already READ IT. ☠️ I LOOOOOOOOVED AO3 but it's literally dead. At least the fandom I was looking into was dead on that site. Very, very sad.

I felt neglected at that point and heard tumblr was good even tho i thought it was like a dating site. It's not, obviously. The first time I tried being on here, the theme and construction of the site really overwhelmed me, so I thought I still wouldn't like it. But that was 2 years ago, and now I'm writing about my favs on here, too.

Funny thing is, I shifted from smut to just pure yandere filth.

But the real thing that got me to write on HERE is that a looooot of people are on this site, and a lot of people post super often. I love being involved in communities like that. I also write on here because I felt the yandere community wasn't being represented correctly. I've been a big ass fan of yandere content since 2020. And I felt like if I shouted with my artistic language from the rooftops, people that deserve to have what they're missing in the content they read would find it in my works. The only yandere fanfics I find on here are rape and manipulation fanfics. There's a spectrum of yandere tendencies, and I try to show the whole lining to you guys.

But I wouldn't be able to do all of this without the influence others have put on me. All of these writers are way more than I'm saying on this post rn, and I couldn't be what I wanted to be known as if it wasn't for them.

[artyblogs]

Mija

Read on Ao3

Summary: For @caruliaweek​. Prompt: Vacation/Travel. Carmen has been putting off meeting her mother, but Julia convinces her to go. They’ll go together.

---

It is already mid-morning, and they are still in bed. They need to be at the airport in a scant couple hours, but they are still in bed. Julia is fast asleep, her head resting on Carmen’s shoulder, and Carmen’s fingers idly run through her soft, black hair. Now and then, Carmen will turn and kiss her forehead, because she’s right there. Because she can do it. Because Julia deserves all the kisses.

Julia sleeps on, oblivious, her slow breathing the only sound in the hotel room.

Before, Carmen would only be immersed in silence during capers, or right before something bad happened. It meant danger and vulnerability.

Carmen’s fingertips follow the grain of Julia’s hair down and traces around the shell of her ear. They don’t usually lie in; most days they’re off as soon as the sun rises, following some jam-packed itinerary. But being languid and unhurried like this is nice. There is a calmness in her blood. A sort of hush that just sits, without tension. Without an underlying anxiety. Without an impending bite.

She’d never known that the quiet could be like this.

On the nightstand beside her, her phone buzzes. Carmen reaches over and picks it up. The newest text is from Player, asking if they are ready for their upcoming flight. A courtesy wake-up call. Carmen puts the phone back down. Perhaps they should get up. Perhaps in five minutes, they’ll get up.

Another buzz. Another text from Player saying that Zack and Ivy are on their way to collect them. Carmen texts a one word reply, then puts it back down. Her hand returns to Julia’s hair, and she presses one last kiss to her forehead.

“Jules,” she whispers, her voice low in her chest. “Jules, wake up.”

“Mmph.” Julia stirs awake, and she turns to kiss Carmen’s collarbone. “G’mornm.”

A thrill sings through her, centered where Julia pressed her lips. “Good morning.”

But Julia carefully detangles herself instead, and she rolls over to grab her glasses from the other nightstand. “We have a flight today, right?”

“Yeah.” But Carmen makes no move to get up. Julia reaches down and picks up one of Carmen’s discarded dress shirts and puts it on. It’s a little too big on her, so the cuffs fall over her hands and the hem is barely long enough to cover the rest of her. She walks to the bathroom like that, and Carmen is free to trace the lines of her slender legs.

“We’re going to Vienna, right?” Julia asks. She rakes her hand through her hair in an attempt to tame it and as she raises her arm, the shirt hem rises just the tiniest bit. “Carmen?”

“Hmm?”

“Insatiable wench,” Julia says with a sleepy grin. She starts brushing her teeth.

“Guilty.” Carmen tears her eyes away from how good Julia looks in her clothes and finally gets up. She rummages through her duffle bag. “We’re going to Seoul. Vienna was last week.”

“Oh.”

It’s not a good ‘oh.’ Carmen finishes pulling on her clothes and goes to join Julia in the bathroom. Up close, at this angle, the slight shadows under Julia’s eyes are unmistakable. Carmen’s heart sinks, but she picks up her hairbrush and begins to draw her hair back.

“Jules?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Whatever for?” Julia asks around the toothbrush in her mouth.

“Because I’m dragging you to all of these different places and they’re starting to blur together and…I’m sorry that this is your life with me.”

“You wanted to see the world.”

“I did. I do, but I can’t help but feel like I uprooted you and that you deserve more stability than this.” Carmen finishes lamely. She bundles her hair into a messy bun and lowers her hands with a sigh.

Julia doesn’t reply right away. She hums and leans over to spit in the sink. For the next several minutes, there is only the sounds of running water as Julia washes her face.

Carmen waits on tenterhooks. This deliberate stepping away that Julia does, this quiet consideration that she gives to every issue that arises between them like this, is why they haven’t argued. Out of all the disagreements they might have, they have never shouted or fought with each other on anything.

Finally, Julia wipes her face on one of the fluffy hand towels and gets up on tiptoe to kiss Carmen’s cheek. “I like traveling with you, especially now that VILE and ACME are no longer threats against either of us.”

Carmen braces herself. “But?”

“The pace can be a bit frantic. Sometimes, I wonder if you’re still running from something.” Julia packs up her toiletries. “Also, if I wanted a normal life, then I would have fallen in love with a normal woman. As it is, you’re rather exceptional.” She playfully bumps Carmen’s hip on her way out of the bathroom.

Carmen watches her go in the mirror, and a goofy grin spreads over her reflection’s face. “I love you too, Jules.”

Julia blows her a kiss, then turns to her luggage.

---

They do one last sweep of the room before they leave to make sure they haven’t forgotten anything. Carmen calls the front desk to check out, and then the both of them make their way through the stale hallways that hotels always seem to have, and into an elevator. The metal doors slide close with a muted ding and the floor numbers flash on the digital display off to the side. Julia blindly reaches for Carmen’s hand as she watches it count down, and Carmen meets her halfway.

“I’m afraid to meet my mother,” Carmen says and oh goodness, out of all the things that Julia thought might be the problem, she didn’t expect that. Carmen continues.

“What if I disappoint her? What if something goes wrong? What if I visit her and somehow all of this,” here, Carmen gestures vaguely around her, “stops?”

“The traveling?” Julia asks.

“Yeah, the traveling. I’m free to go where I want, when I want, and do whatever I want out here.”

“Ah.” So that’s what it is. “It might be a bit unfair to expect your mother to be like VILE faculty. Just because they trapped you on that island doesn’t mean she’ll imprison you too.”

“I know, I know, but I can’t really help but think that.” Carmen says.

“Do you want to visit your mother?”

“Yes.”

“Then you shouldn’t have to go it alone. You have me, and you’ll have Player too, once this metal box opens up and we get his signal again,” Julia says.

A lopsided smile stretches across Carmen’s face. “That’s true, isn’t it?” She tilts her head a little as she thinks, then, “Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

“Now?” Julia asks.

“Yeah, South Korea can wait.”

DING. The elevator doors open, revealing a rather posh lobby. Carmen and Julia make their way through the tourists and luggage carts to the front doors.

Ivy and Zack are already parked out in front with a rental car. Zack’s skin is almost as red as his hair, and he lounges pitifully in the driver’s seat. Ivy digs around the trunk until she pulls out a bottle, then goes to the driver’s side to hand it to him. She waves.

“Hiya, Carm! Hey, Jay.”

“Hello, Ivy,” Julia says. “What happened to Zack?”

“This guy forgot to put on sunblock.” Ivy affectionately pats Zack’s cheek, making him yelp and recoil.

“Aw, Sis! Aargh!” He drops the bottle into his lap and swats Ivy’s hands away. “No! Carm, make her stop!”

“Literal children.” Carmen swings her duffel into the trunk, then lifts Julia’s bag. “How do you treat that, anyway?”

“Aloe vera.” Ivy steps away from Zack with one last raspberry, then skirts around the car to sit shotgun. “Ew, you don’t need that much, Bro.”

“My skin is the Sahara and it needs quenching,” Zack says.

Carmen laughs and slams the trunk shut. She and Julia get in the backseat of the car. In the front seat, Zack’s ears and face glisten with a thick layer of aloe vera. There is so much of it that it dampens his hairline and the collar of his shirt. He snaps the slick bottle shut and tosses it at Ivy, who cringes.

“Gross!”

Zack leaves wet prints on everything he touches as he shifts the car into gear and pulls away from the curb. The radio fizzles as it’s turned on, and a familiar voice comes through.

“Everyone ready for Seoul?” Player asks.

“Yeah, about that. Change of plans. We’ve been working pretty hard and I was thinking that we could take an entire month off,” Carmen says. Ivy twists in her seat to look at her, but Zack just glances back through the rearview mirror.

“Are you sure?” Zack asks.

“Yeah. An entire month to do whatever and then we meet back at HQ.” Carmen smiles at Julia and takes her hand.

“There’s enough time for me to change the tickets. Where is everyone off to?” Player asks.

“Argentina,” Carmen says. There’s a stunned silence.

“It’s about fucking time,” Ivy says.

Zack laughs. “Good for you, Carm. What about you, Jay? Gonna come with us?”

“I’ll be going with Carmen, actually,” Julia says. Ivy turns around to stare and even Zack glances back.

“Oh shit,” they say at the same time. Next to her, Carmen blanches.

“It will be all right,” Julia says, just as much for Carmen’s benefit as theirs.

“Isn’t meeting the parents a big step?” Player asks. Julia’s face burns and Carmen ducks her head.

“Guys. Come on,” Carmen says.

“Just asking. If you say it’s okay, then,” Player makes a vague sound of agreement. “Ivy, Zack, where are you headed?”

“As tempting as it is to also go to Argentina with a shit-ton of popcorn, Zack and I have been talking about visiting Shadowsan in Japan,” Ivy says.

“Gotcha. Sending tickets now,” Player says. Everyone’s cell phones beep.

---

The moment they step onto the street outside the orphanage is the moment that Carmen goes strangely quiet. She’s been talking up until then, perhaps a little strained, perhaps a little terse, but she was talking. Julia tugs her hand and steps to the side, taking them out of the flow of traffic. Carmen follows her without complaint, her gray eyes a little wild and her jaw clenched.

“Come here,” Julia says. She steps into Carmen and hugs her. Carmen’s body is tense, and her heart goes a mile a minute next to Julia’s ear, but after a few moments, Carmen relaxes against her. Her arms come up around her and she perches her chin atop Julia’s head.

It is the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done to her.

Carmen sighs. “I don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“You’ll figure it out, Red,” Player says. Julia can hear him through her own earpiece.

“What about you, Jules? Are you nervous?” Carmen asks.

“A bit. It can’t be worse than when I met my ex’s parents. She introduced me as her flatmate,” Julia says.

“Ouch,” Player says. Carmen snickers and Julia can feel her smiling against her hair.

“Yes, it was rather tragic for everyone, and I’m not keen on repeating the experience.” Julia trails off when Carmen pulls away. This time, her eyes are less wild, but just as intense, if that’s possible.

“We won’t. You’re not just my girlfriend, you’re my fiancé. You’re my fiancé, Jules. If my mother doesn’t like that, then…” Carmen pauses, and a pained look flashes across her face. “If she doesn’t like that, then I don’t want to know her.”

And there it is. Julia intellectually knows that engaged people must choose between their partners and their parents, and she knows that she and Carmen are no exception, but to see it play out before her now is incredibly humbling. She probably has a leg up, because she’s not a stranger, but still. This is Carmen’s mother they’re talking about. Carmen doesn’t know her, and there will probably be a part of her that will always yearn to know, but here she is already making a decision and it’s Julia. It’ll always be Julia.

Julia doesn’t know exactly what in the world she did to be trusted with Carmen’s heart, but by whatever higher powers that exist, she will do everything within her power to take care of it. She gets up on tiptoe and gently kisses the corner of Carmen’s mouth.

“Gay,” Player says, the smile evident in his voice. “We don’t know what your mom will do though, Red. Maybe we should give her a fair shake?”

“We could do that.” Carmen draws herself up and takes Julia’s hand. “Shall we?”

They pick their luggage back up and continue down the street. The orphanage is actually an old hacienda that’s been converted. There’s a small playground in front and a few small children are already on it, swinging and screaming and running around. Some of them give Julia and Carmen quizzical looks as they make their way past to them to the front door. Others stare open-mouthed at Carmen specifically, but they’re soon distracted.

The both of them walking up to the orphanage like this, one might assume they were a couple wanting to adopt. The revelation hits Julia right in the chest.

Before she can even begin to unpack that, however, Carmen rings the doorbell. The wild look is back. Julia gives her a reassuring squeeze and Carmen flashes her a nervous smile in return.

The door opens.

The woman behind the door has Carmen’s nose and her mouth and her eyebrows; she is Carmen, but with dark brown hair and eyes and laugh lines. She is fuller in the hips and a little bit shorter, but the resemblance is unmistakable. Upon seeing Carmen, her eyes widen and her hand goes to her mouth.

Julia gently nudges Carmen, who is also struck with astonishment. She visibly swallows and says, “Carlotta Valdez?”

The woman nods.

“Hi, I’m your daughter, Carmen.” She says in Spanish. Her voice is shaky and her eyes are glassy, but the other woman breaks first. Her eyebrows knit together and her hand falls.

“You’re so tall,” she half says, half sobs. Carmen gives a watery smile and the both of them reach for each other. They hug. And Carlotta really does start to cry then. The both of them cry and it is messy and glorious and wonderful.

In Julia’s short tenure as a detective and secret agent, back when she was those things, she was in the business of saving artifacts and artwork, but never saving people. It feels good.

When they finally part, Carlotta stares up at Carmen in wonder. “All these years…how did you find me?”

“Jules found you.” Carmen takes Julia’s hand, and Julia’s ears grow hot under Carlotta’s scrutiny. “Mama, this is Julia Argent. I’m going to marry her someday.”

“Hello,” Julia says, already bracing herself for disappointment. But Carlotta sweeps her up in a similar hug, and she’s strong enough lift her too; Julia’s feet rise off the ground. Her glasses are knocked askew, but she can still see Carmen over Carlotta’s shoulder, beaming at her. Julia cannot help but grin back.

“Thank you,” Carlotta says as she sets Julia back down. She steps back from her and wipes her eyes, then regards them both. “Mija,” she says to Carmen, “Mija,” she says to Julia, “Would you like to come in and eat?”

Please show it some love on Ao3!

[solarishashernoseinabook]

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

Thank you! Answering them all as one as per usual :3

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?) Hmmmmmmm that's a good question actually! I think maybe Richard Thompson Learns About Rangers, it's short, fluffy, has worldbuilding and a focus on found family :3

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits? Whelp, we've got fluff (used 12 times), light angst (used 4 times), and angst, injury, and reminiscing (all used 3 times). That's, er, fairly accurate lol. I do be writing a lot of fluff.

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics? I think I mainly focus on character relationships! Not just romantic ones, I take time to build up platonic and familial ones too. And when there's hurt, there's almost always comfort. In fics like The Ward Ghost I spend more time showing recovery from trauma and characters looking after each other than I spend showing the trauma itself, and this goes doubly so for The Royal Ranger - most of the trauma went through as an autistic child raised by unsupportive parents is implied or shown in brief flashbacks, and more of it is about Crowley giving him space to be autistic in an environment that won't punish him for it

11. Are you partial to a certain character/pairing or are you more equal-opportunity? If you are partial to any character/pairing, why do you think that is? Either Will/Horace or Will & Halt lol. I like both the dynamics. It's fun to write Will and Horace in love, and showing Halt being a father and mentor is just great, especially when contrasted with how gruff he is

15. What’s your favourite AU that you’ve written? You're gonna make me choose between my two largest AUs? You're a cruel, cruel person /j

Okay but seriously, I like both The Ward Ghost and The Royal Ranger equally for different reasons. The Ward Ghost asks one simple question - what if Will hadn't gotten his apprenticeship? - and continues on from there. I have to put a lot of thought into what the characters would be like after the six years that have elapsed since, and what canon events I can or can't include, and if I can include them, how. The Royal Ranger is really fun because I get to play with narrative conventions to show how Halt sees the world through an autistic lens. When we're following Halt's POV, for example, I typically barely describe other character's facial expressions or tones of voice, to indicate that he has trouble picking up on them.

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to? I want to write an RA fic featuring predominantly - almost entirely - original characters. I've got it planned, sort of. Built With My Own Two Hands briefly features Will's last apprentices before he retires, identical twins named Joey and Roy, and I had a lot of fun writing them for the couple of paragraphs they appear in.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write? Yeah! A lot of scenes are ones I visualised beforehand so I could plan them out before writing them

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about! Yay, a choice!

46. Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

Okay, firstly, I never trust people who can type easily on phones /j

(in all seriousness tho modern phones are so uncomfortable to type on. No proper tactile feedback - and no, vibration doesn't count - and they're just too big and awkward to hold. The only phone I was able to type comfortably on was my old Blackberry Curve)

I actually most prefer writing by hand, with pen and paper! There's the obvious advantage of not having tumblr on hand to easily check, but it has other perks as well. Without the option to easily delete what I just wrote, I spend less time agonising over phrasing and just get the raw ideas down. If I realise I need to add something to what I've already written, instead of wondering where or thinking of how to transition to it, I just make a note to put it somewhere and continue on. There's a layer of portability to a notebook and pen that laptops don't have, and I don't have to worry about battery life or notifications breaking the flow of writing, and I can curl up more easily to write (which is a huge advantage when you're queer and autistic and can't sit in a chair without curling up). Finally, writing is a tactile stim for me (so's typing, but that depends heavily on the type of keyboard I'm using) so I feel motivated to do it just because! When I go to transcribe it to the computer later, that's when I do my editing.

I also regularly switch back and forth between handwriting and typing my fics - mainly if I get stuck. If I'm stuck typing something, I close my computer, pick up my notebook, and start writing from the last sentence I remember - even if it doesn't gel perfectly with what I already wrote, that's something I can fix later. If I'm well and truly stuck while handwriting, I go to my computer and transcribe what I wrote. Going over it and thinking about it often helps me realise what was causing the issue that stopped me writing - either I didn't set something up properly, or something was happening in the wrong spot in the story, or the character's POV doesn't fit the scene very well.

Link to the ask game if you want to play!

[batarangsoundsdumb]

guess fucking what? my inbox is so fucking full right now i'm unloading all of this shit in one post.

For the 11th gotham memes: gothamites react to bruce being jacked in a tiktok he made with kids, like super yoked, ripped as hell

fucking hilarious thanks. i think i did it in one meme post, but i genuinely don't remember which one

i dunno which of the batfam would do this but one time i was sleeping over at a friends house and ended up on the floor bc the bed was so very small and i just stayed there because the rug was soft

that's a drunk jason move i don't know what to tell you

tim and jason are "i listen to pop punk" solidarity. whenever jason highjacks the batmobile theyll go on long ass car rides blaring mcr and paramore and then never talk about it again

as they should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim: no jason it's my turn using the aux cord i gotta put on my jams jason: don't you dare put on weird shit tim: don't worry, you're gonna love this *plays fearless (taylor's version)

hear me out hear me out, red hood stans 🤝 nightwing stans t h i g h s

holy shit yes.

SNL au: Bruce breaks character when pretending to superman and says something like "I'm not superman! You've seen his gps!! It's from 2001!!!" @sabeanybabe

superman flies past the snl building the next day just to say 'actually it's from 2005, i'm not a heathen'

does your back hurt from carrying the batfam fandom

it hurts more from the exotic rock collection i keep in my backpack, but thanks for the concern.

I love your posts by why would you always leave the best parts in the tags?

as a treat for the people that check the tags ;) (and also because i'm committed to the short post aesthetic)

somehow your playlist was everything i never knew i needed. i mean it. this is my new favorite playlist.

and don't you dare get a new favourite playlist!

babe ur stoner tim playlist is exactly too perfect, earth is literally blessed by ur existence

babe thanks so much! i love my stoner tim playlist because it's just my usual playlist but people think it's an artistic choice that i put taylor swift and britney spears in there, when it's just what i unironically like listening to

JANDKSKDK BILLY RAY CYRUS ON THE STONER TIM PLAYLIST I LOVE IT IT

again it's not even an ironic choice, i know every single word and i genuinely like the song

The last chapter of Fundamentals of Casework has me crying at work. Thanks I love it @dudelookitsalesbian

oh babe, i'm sorry, but also, not sorry i love chapter 4 so much it's my lovechild with the 'mental illness' tag

soooo....stumbled on your tumblr by some stroke of fate??? read your DC fanfic first. which is PHENOMENAL btw. then found all the batmemes; the funniest thing EVER bc everyone forgets about regular old gothamites. kept scrolling and your blog pops up as recommended. clicked on the ao3 for shits and giggles and waddaya know?!?!? it's YOU!!! you're LEGEND!!!! ever seen that meme? it's a video of a cat that got into a baseball field and the two announcers get really invested in his escape attempt and start giving a play by play of the cat instead of the game. memeable moment: "GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!"

i seriously think about this ask every single day and it's so fucking funny to me that i've never seen the meme you're referencing, but i still find myself going 'GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!' whenever i see something funny. but wow i'm glad you liked this steaming pile of garbage

Fav dc character overall? And fav batfamily character?

don't ask me to pick between the loves of my life, but i can tell you i've cried about every single batfamily member and also wally west (my beloved)

What's your opinion on fans having a problem with batfam being "too big"? And some even claim that batfam is just "Bruce Alfred Dick Damian" and the rest of them are just "friends and allies" (source: reddit) Personally, I like batfam because of this reason but idk

stupid. a family can never be too big. i'm not that big a fan of like huge batfam stuff with everybody from every single universe, because as much as it's funny for bruce to have like 30 kids, it just feels a little too OOC for me.

This is the best tag I've seen involving the batfam, thanks for thinking of it

This is canon now @nctxrejects

lmao yeah i think at that point alfred has had to sit through like at least a dozen coming out talks and just has a pride flag collection in the attic that he pulls out whenever a kid comes out

idk why batfam hits different as compared to any other superhero family

bc it's found family and usually the other superhero families are almost all genetically related in one way or another

I don't know if you watch the umbrella academy but I saw your last post about batcest and saw the similarities. But the thing is (although I think it's weird) in TUA, they addressed it by saying "they were raised as weapons, not siblings" or something along those lines, which is simply not the case with batfam.

yeah i watched tua but i also thought it was ridiculous and they still treated each other as siblings so i didn't like the luthor/allison thing, and am glad they stopped doing that shit bc it fucking sucked.

Hot take: Batcest shippers are the same people who believe adopted siblings are not actual siblings

smoking hot take: batcest shippers are the people who watch 'my sister got stuck in the washing machine' porn

Duke was adopted by Bruce?

not technically no, but do i, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb, look like i care?

True story but I had to change my freaking name because it used to be "Damien" and most people would go "OH LIKE DAMIAN WAYNE" like please I'm just tryna live

true story, but i don't actually think of damian when i hear the name damian, literally the first thing that pops up is damian darkh like bruh what?

apparently dc comics company supported comic stores by giving out new titles and stuff during the beginning of the pandemic to help them run and I just think that's wholesome

ah yeah that's so fucking cool, still don't like dc, the company, because this world is a capitalist hellhole and we're all owned by warner brothers or disney with no in between.

ayo looking at tumblr head canons and finding out bruce is actually a terrible father is a punch in the gut

lmao yes, in like 50% of comics bruce is a terrible father and it gives me whiplash

oooh I just saw the jason todd vs winter soldier post and the real question is: batman vs iron man

while iron man has like hundreds of cases of armor, batman could throw out an emp and have the guy dropping out of the sky in 2 seconds.

dickfast = fastdick = quickdick = quickie

magnum hot take

hey bata(?) just thought I'd let you know I have copied the obnoxious emoji and Billy Ray post for use on simping men going forth

thank you 😘🌷 (@spacebarsidecar)

why would you do that to your followers???? i get why i did it, but why would you???

what is scarecrow made the nightwing funko pop himself, like those diy-ers that paint over other ones

oh god no, horrible take, horrible take, that's a disgusting thought oh no

I see your HC that Bruce and Oliver fucked and raise you this: Dick and Roy ALSO fucked

yes they did and it was a horrible moment for jason to find out dick has fucked both of his best friends

"at this rate bruce adds like 1 child to his family every decade or so" Duke is introduced in 2013, Damian as Damian, not as an unnamed child, in 2006. And he is already 14 years old, Robins rarely remain Robins after 16 😬 It looks like a new Robin and Batkid will appear in a couple of years

i mean i can't wait? but somebody will probably die first tho, we're due for another major character death. my money's on either cass or duke this time.

BRO you're so right all of your Bruce's ex headcanons are amazing but they aren't ships, that's kinda wild. Like I don't want any peeks into how their relationship was I just want to see everyone make fun of them

lmao YES it's just i love bruce being a slut, like good for him.

I am in love with your posts your honour thank you

omg thanks are we like,, gonna kiss now?

The justice league needs to have a meeting to discuss how many of their members/partners have slept with bruce. Because through a combination of cannon & fannon (if DC wasn’t homophobic) we have AT LEAST: 1) clark 2) lois 3) oliver 4) dinah 5) john

Thats not counting villains or random civilians @dudelookitsalesbian

yes yes yes, they'll have a yearly meeting about how many of their collective exes could be out for revenge and batman's list just keeps getting longer.

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

and what about it?

when steph's fighting livewire and she zaps her with lighting and nothing happens and then they both just. stand there awkwardly for a second and talk. yeah i couldn't stop laughing at that batgirl steph is the BEST

oh yeah that was fucking hilarious and i think it would be so cool and sexy of dc to give steph a little comic series,,, as a treat

Hi I absolutely adore all of yours "Bruce and Oliver very badly pretending they didn't fuck each other" memes

lmao i do too

I need you to know that “Bruce Wayne had frosted tips” is one of my favorite Bruce takes of all time it’s so galaxy brained. you’re right and you should say it

he also painted his hair blonde once when he was travelling and in conclusion, this is why he's being blackmailed by the gotham gazette.

you know my thing about gordon being branded as the only good cop in gotham is its a load of shit like arguably he's a good person and not working to screw people over or anything but the fact that he also works w. batman makes him a shit cop. like yea batman is better than the mob but its still illegal its still an abuse of power he just not making bank

babe, all cops are bad cops. (but yeah youre absolutely right, working with vigilantes makes you a shit cop, but also working against vigilantes just makes you an asshole cop yanno?)

ruh roh i think i’m about to add “so not yeehaw” every time i don’t like something

that's a very good vocabulary upgrade

somehow i feel like steph already knew. like babs obviously knew but i feel like bruce got high/drunk in front of steph and started telling his boarding school stories and steph was just like “oh you fucked up i’m never gonna forget this”

steph and bruce have weird uncle/rebellious niece dynamic and they just hang out sometimes and bruce will be like 'i once broke my arm when i tripped over a hedge when i was drunk so oliver drove me to the hospital on an electric scooter' and steph will just have to sit there with that knowledge in her head.

Hello I just wanted to tell you you are So right in all your steph opinions bc she is, in fact amazing and I think that's very sexy of you. Ps. Your Bruce/Oliver fic is hilarious

babe, thank you so much and yes steph is amazing and i love her and she deserves the world and she's the best member of the batfam hands down. also thanks

In Supersons we see a couple of kids that are implied to be Damian and Jon's children and the boy has laser eyes and can fly, so I asume he's not adopted. The girl, who calls Bruce grandpa, can also fly, btw. So it's canon (probably by accident) that Jon can have kids and he must have married one of Bruce's kids. (I'm hoping for Damian, mostly because any other of his children would be waaaaaaaaaaaaay too old.) @artemisa97

lmao that was probably an accident seeing as jon is a 17 year old superhero in the year 3000 (by the jonas brothers)

You know, I'm a die hard fan of your memes, but I gotta say one thing: if Gothamites actually took gas mask everywhere with them, then the Scarecrow would just be a weird dude in a weird costume, and not a villain oh so scary. DC really should just takes notes from you.

bold of you to assume there's no gothamite anti-maskers

How does it feel being the funniest person on this app?

horrible, next question.

I can't listen to Green Day or Billy Joel without thinking of your post about how Bruce got arrested at a Billy Joel concert @nightwings-kid

yeah that's your mistake, i on the other hand can't enjoy billy joel without thinking about the glee rendition of 'uptown girl'

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

superman: so what do you do in your free time? batman, thinking about the superman fanfiction he's writing on the batcomputer: i have no free time

bruce and oliver be like boyfriends to co-workers 401k (do the justice leagues get 401ks??? not that bruce and ollie would need them, but-)

lmao yes just 400 thousand words of bruce realising 'oh dip oliver is such a fucking dumbass' (also i don't know what a 401 k is but i assume they don't?)

Gothamites would totally boo superman as he saves Gotham while batman is out. @meenje

he's like 'okay think about that next time you want to be saved from an alien octopus'

I just took long break from dc comics and I come back to see ric grayson ??

i think it's very cool and sexy of dc to see dick and just think 'you know what? let's just give him a traumatic brain injury' and then didn't develop his character in any real way

SPEAKING OF RIC GRAYSON, gothamites making confused memes out of ric grayson is much needed

'dick grayson is my taxi driver? can anyone explain what the fuck happened he looks like an italian plumber?'

i hate to say it but batfam are def "marvel characters" in that sense they are characters who are human but become superheroes unlike most dc characters who are gods trying to be human maybe this is why I like batfam

fair enough

[cloudshapedpatch]

take my money (take my heart, too)

the awkward julie & luke sugar daddy/baby au no one asked for

rated teen and up for swearing and semi-mature themes such as the concept of a sugar daddy/baby arrangement

no smut! insane tooth-rotting fluff tho

slow burn juke

and disaster lesbians flarrie side plot and (eventual) willex

also a coffee shop au because i said so

read on ao3 (chapter 1 and tag list below the cut)

* * * *

Julie is nervous. No, nervous is an understatement. Her knees bounce uncontrollably under the table, shaky fingers twirling the straw in her iced coffee. And the knot in her stomach seems to grow ever tighter.

She pulls out her phone to check the time for the third time this minute. How is it still 10:57 am? Just as she is about to put her phone back in her pocket, it buzzes with an incoming text from her best friend/roommate, Flynn.

Flynn: calm down

Julie smiles despite herself, turning around to look at her friend a few tables away. Thank goodness for her friend, willing to throw away a morning to make sure she is safe and comfortable on her blind date. She shoots Flynn a small smile. Flynn, to their credit, is taking their job very seriously, wearing an absurdly large sunhat and sunglasses, sipping on a mug of hot tea with a decoy book under her nose.

Julie turns to anxiously watch the baristas, moving around the small space with ease, mixing drinks hot and cold alike. Twirling around each other without even looking. And she lets her mind wander.

How had she gotten here? Waiting for a man whom she had never spoken to, let alone seen? And she isn’t counting their text messaging. Not really. Not even if they had been talking for weeks. Not even if they regularly stayed up well into the night just to keep talking to the other. Not even if he had her blushing furiously, toes curling from giddiness and hiding under her sheets, smiling at the flirtatious speech bubbles on her phone for longer than she’d like to admit.

Because that doesn’t count. She has never heard his voice. She has never seen what he looked like. Anyone could be a charmer, and she is undoubtedly nervous about who she might find walking through the door and towards her.

How had she gotten here? It is a simple question, and one she has the answer to. Doesn’t mean she likes it. She had made an offhand comment to Flynn at work one day. Julie is sick of working 12 hour days in the cafe (not this one. she would be dumb to meet a stranger in her workplace) and barely scraping by. She had joked she needed someone to fund her shopping sprees.

Flynn had suggested a sugar daddy.

Julie wants to bang her head on the table. Past Julie is an idiot. And now Present Julie is going to pay the price.

Why had she let Flynn convince her to download that dumb app?

(Because she has a virtually useless college degree, bills to pay, and school loans creeping up on her and she is cutting back every month. Living in L.A. isn’t cheap.

And, if she really lets herself think about it, Julie is lonely.)

She checks her phone again, pleased to find it is finally 11 am. He should be here any minute. Luke should be here any minute.

Is it a red flag that he had only been willing to share his first name? Should it have concerned her that he didn’t have a profile picture on his online dating account? Is she dumb for letting him change the subject every time she asked about his job? Solid ‘maybe’s to all of those, but! After they had started talking, they had instantly clicked. He loves music almost as much as she did, maybe even more. They bonded over that, and many other things.

This is fine.

She straightens her posture, glancing down at her dress to make sure all is in order. It’s baby blue with golden sunflowers all over, and she had slipped a cropped denim jacket on top, the one with patches of all her favorite bands. She fusses with the loose curls hanging by her face, her hair pulled into a half bun at the top of her head, leaving a clear view of her sunflower earrings. It’s the perfect outfit to be noticed in, she had told him she’d be wearing blue and sunflowers, certainly he wouldn’t miss her.

Whenever he decided to show up.

Wait. he would show up, wouldn’t he?

Of course he would.

...Right?

Before she can get too far down that rabbit hole, the chime above the door is jingling, and Julie has to fight hard not to turn and see who it is. The anticipation crawls up her spine and settles in her neck, jaw tingling.

A man comes in, approaching the counter with confidence in his step. One barista takes one look at him and gapes like a fish, turning to a coworker to nonchalantly point at him. Both girls look at each other and quietly squeal, letting one of the male cashiers help him.

Must be attractive, she thinks, and she isn’t disappointed by what she can see from the back. His sleeves are short, showing off his muscular arms and he’s tall. She’s always liked tall men.

Supposedly handsome stranger orders his drink and waits at the counter for it. One of the girls hands it to him with a gleeful smile. He accepts, then says something to her before the girl’s smile falters and points right at Julie.

Wait, she’s pointing at Julie?

Definitely handsome stranger follows her finger and lands on Julie, eyes scanning up and down her body (at least, what he can see from above the table), his face instantly lighting up in the most gorgeous smile she’s ever seen.

And then he’s turning back to say thank you and then making his way towards her and oh no what what what--

Because this isn’t her date. It can’t be, right? But Luke Patterson is stepping up to her booth, sliding into the seat across from her.

“Hey, you’re Julie, right?” His voice, sweet and thick as honey, and Julie would know that voice anywhere.

“Luke Patterson? You… you didn’t say--” She cuts herself off before she can say something foolish.

Because there is no way in hell she’d unknowingly put up her sugar baby services to Luke fucking Patterson. Not rockstar Luke Patterson. Not lead guitarist and singer and songwriter for her favorite band, Sunset Curve. Not literally in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Luke Patterson.

“Yeah, about that… I am really sorry about not telling you. It’s just not something I like mentioning to everyone I meet, you know?”

She’s having a hard time processing what he’s saying. He’s so close. Why is he leaning on the table like that? Why is he so close?

“Yeah! Yeah, totally. That’s understandable.” She laughs nervously, taking a sip of her coffee to avoid speaking any further.

“This… this is okay, right? You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” This clears her mind a bit. She takes in the way his hands fiddle with the rings on his fingers, his shoulders raised, and while his smile is easygoing, his eyes say otherwise. Why would she be mad?

She expresses this to him, and he just looks at his hands.

“Well, because I wasn’t completely truthful with you. And I totally understand if you want to walk away.”

“No!” She says before she can filter herself. His eyebrows raise in amusement. “I mean, it’s fine! I was just… surprised, that’s all.”

And surprised is correct. Luke Patterson is the same Luke she’s been talking to for the last three weeks, the very same one who’s been making her laugh and who’d almost made her miss work last week because they had texted about everything and nothing until the sun came up.

He seems to like her answer. His smile never leaves his face.

“You seemed to recognize me. You a fan of Sunset Curve’s?”

And maybe it’s the way his cocky smile burns her cheeks, or just the fact that he’s talking to her. Panic sets in and she lies.

“Never heard of Sunset Swerve.”

“You knew my name.”

“You know it’s a household name, right?”

“Your jacket says otherwise.”

And shit. She had forgotten about the Sunset Curve patch right over her heart. In fact, it was the first patch she had put on the jacket. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“Fine. You caught me. I’m a Curver. Happy?”

And though she’s teasing, he couldn’t seem to be happier. Seriously, she’s worried his dopey grin is gonna break his face. Then an ugly, ugly thought rears its head in her mind.

“Wait. You let me gush about Sunset Curve so many times and you didn’t say anything?” Her sentence ends in a laugh.

“Oh, Julie, I wanted to so bad. You have no idea!”

Julie finds herself not really registering the second half of his sentence. She had missed it, the first time he said her name due to being starstruck, and her face warms a bit when she recalls just how good her name had sounded when he said it. Like a splash of cool water on a hot day. Like sap dripping fresh from a tree, glinting in the sunlight.

“Then why didn’t you?”

He sobers a bit at this, though his eyes still hold the same fire as before. “Well, I didn’t really want to go around announcing that. Can you imagine how many matches I’d get if I put that little tidbit in my bio?”

Julie laughs at this, the absurdity of it hitting her. Of course. He’d want someone who’d like him for him, not for his status, or name, or fame or money.

Oh. Shit. She was literally here for his money.

“For sure! Must’ve been hard.”

“Oh, not really. I matched with you on day one and deleted the app once we exchanged phone numbers.”

“Really?” Julie felt a little guilty for still having the app on her phone now, even after she was pretty sure Luke was a good match. There was still the possibility that mystery man was a total creep. If she’d have known who he was, on the other hand…

“Totally! I’ll be honest, my bandmates put me up to this, but once we started talking I just knew I had to meet you.”

Julie’s mind still feels a bit foggy, like she was dreaming. A fantastic dream, might she add.

“I’ve been really excited to meet you too. My best friend also convinced me to get the app. She’s actually over there.” Julie smiled, nudging her head over towards her friend, where they were certainly trying their best to eavesdrop.

“Brought a plus one, I see?” Luke chuckled, giving Flynn a wave. Flynn hid her already shielded eyes from view with her book.

“Hey, you gotta remember I was meeting someone whom I had never seen before, and the fact that I didn’t know your last name was not helping.”

Luke’s smile turned bashful again. “Ah. She’s backup.”

“Yep! But I think they’re good to go.” Julie whipped out her phone and sent Flynn a quick message, relieving her of her duties.

“You sure? I might kidnap you.”

“I’d let you kidnap me.”

Oh god. She so did not say that.

He seemed to think it was funny. At least she was amusing. At her own expense, maybe, but amusing nonetheless.

Amusing to Luke Patterson.

If she doesn’t stop saying his last name, she’ll go insane. This is just the dorky guy she’s been talking to. The one she’ll hopefully get to talk to tomorrow.

Despite the rocky start, Julie would say it was a successful date. Coffee turned into lunch at a nearby bistro, and he walked Julie to her car a few blocks away. She didn’t get to her apartment until after 4 o’clock, and Flynn was waiting with two glasses of wine in their shared living room. Julie is eager to spill all the details, and Flynn is the perfect listener, oohing and ahhing at all the right moments.

As Julie crawls into bed after her eventful day, her phone dings on her nightstand.

PayPal: Luke Patterson sent you $500.00  “I had a great time today :) hope to see you again soon!”

Well. If she had calmed down any, this just undid all of her efforts. A wave of guilt floods over her. The concept of a sugar daddy sort of seemed too outlandish to really fathom. But now she feels awful taking his money.

She’s really doing this, isn’t she?

Julie: you really didn’t have to

Luke: but i wanted to

Luke: it’s ok tho right?

Julie: i guess it’s fine, it’s just a lot of money

Luke: i realise how conceited this is going to sound but its no sweat off my back. just think of it as a gift

Gifts. She could live with that.

* * * *

taglist! @ladyblanche :)

[wrapped-up]

So just finished ‘happy birthday,you’ (yes obvs It’s amazing) and I’m there writing my lil review i do in my notes for all the wolfstar fics I read(and omg let me tell you I did that ao3 wrapped and I actually read 780 fics this year, I’m still contemplating whether to either be extremely proud or kinda maybe a lil bit embarrassed?) anyway so was doing this and thought it would be nice if you could see what I wrote about your fics as yes I’ve read all 5(omg but haven’t done a review on lock it down as ywah didn’t but know I read it )so yeah omg and even tho I am in my second year of an English literature degree I do write as I talk and I talk with my sweet ass adhd brain who has big fat dyslexia n yes am I the age of 20 where I deeply struggle on how to punctuate so when you read them and this I suppose keep that in mind okay good had to put that in there so Brain didn’t go over board with worry bout me now going to overshare. Btw thwse r all on my top wolfstar fics and I think 21/780 is pretty good Baso the 21 are my fav fics and ur 5(well 4 but we already established that) are in that list

Right cool “Ever thus” was the first one I read, this is what I said straight after I finished it - Ever thus - just such a good fic man LIKE MAJOR PINING but omg worth it ! And lime the friend group dynamic is so good ! And omg how they go pub all the time love it just so British and omg the roommates and best friends thing was DONE PERFECTLY like omg the banter aswell just love this fic sm ! 10/10⭐️’

Next I definitely clicked on ur profile to look for ur other works well that’s actually a lie I did it half way through reading ever thus to check you had more as wow ur writing style? So fuckin unique. So here’s JWTDO- ‘Just what the doctor ordered - urm hello THIS IS THE BEST WOLFSTAR NON HP AU IVE READ omg I CANT GET OVER IT ! ITS SO JUST BEAUTIFUL! Like we’ve got sexy older Remus and omg the depth of these characters! ‘Wrapped up ‘ is seriously my favourite wolfstar writer to date ! I lobe how this flows abs yes they finally propose omg injust want hours long of this fic ! It’s so funny aswell lime ahhhhh ! 10/10 SO FUCKIMG GOOD and how they get back together aswell oh man so good⭐️’

Next one is ‘the players secret’ man I loved this fic lime It would make me so excited like I would be at work see this notification from ao3 that you updated it and just squeal inside( also this is gibberish what I say next be warned) - ‘The players secret- Another work by wrapped up and I’m so excited!!! Story seems. So good so far and I just lobe how they write ! Omg hust finished it it was amazing I love their chemistry! Omg you literally don’t find out what the world thinks of the documentary I kinda like how she ended it as Cant really do more with it like it’s a fic bout new documentary abs when that’s relased what more can you do Yk so yes ending left me satisfied 10/10 ⭐️⭐️’

And this is the one I just did for ‘happy birthday,you’ as you can probably see from this ask I’m still on a massive reader high -‘Happy birthday, you. -HOW IS EVERYTHING THAT WRAPPED UP WRITES JUST SO FUCKING GOOD? like omg thw group ahhh I just love how she writes the marauders it’s all so real n mundane I love it ! And holy fuck I don’t think anyone write friends to lovers like her it’s just so good like fuckimg hell yes I’m in love I LOVED THE STRUCTURE LIKE HOW WE HAD FLASH BACKS TO Sirius birthdays mostly with Remus so we could see how much they loved each other and how it’s always been there. Omg alphard with the ‘tell me something nice… Ice cream and jelly that’s nice isn’t it’ holy fuck had me crying 3 fuckimg times! Also like I just love established wolfstar so ending was just soooooo omg yk !!!!! this story was just so beautiful like how Sirius learns to accept himself just yes so thought out and written beautifully 10000/10⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️���

Okay so kinda dunno why I did this but kinda do anyway love you love your fics ur just so lovely anyway yes fyi when u stop writing ff I will be taking them all making them into a book format pdf n printing that off into a physical copy of a book for me to annoté n only reason I’m not doing that now is cause one don’t know if u would like it abs two what bout ur other masterpieces u will release in the future like I can’t leave them out all. Real sorry if I bored to death, kisses

I honestly don't know what to say. Thank you, anon. You are a kind and brilliant person! I grinned reading this whole ask!

[angels-heap]

All your freehoun fics are aaaaaaaaaaa perfection!! tbh tho I wish you didn't post ns//fw on main bc there are minors in this fandom and we don't want to see all that

Soooooooo... I put off responding to all the asks I received last night because I needed some time to process this one, and I think I’m finally ready to try to articulate my thoughts. Anon, please understand that I mean all of this respectfully, but I am going to have to decline your request.

Before I say anything else, I do want to thank you for your kind words! Seriously, I’m glad you enjoyed my writing and I really appreciate you taking the time to send me an ask to help lift me out of my funk.

As for the second part of your ask... y’know, it’s funny, actually, that I was just talking about this with another fandom friend yesterday. I have made a very conscious decision not to separate my ns/fw fics from my other content, for a variety of reasons. Although I don’t necessarily owe you an explanation, I’m going to provide one anyway:

All of the Half Life games are rated M and the active fanbase was almost entirely comprised of older teens and adults until very, very recently.

I’m not ashamed of my ns/fw content. I mean, I’ll be the first to admit that some of it has not aged terribly well, but I’m not ashamed of the general fact that I occasionally write smut.

I have been told that I have a very distinctive writing style, which means posting fics on an alt account wouldn’t really grant me any anonymity. 

Posting my ns/fw fics to an alt account wouldn’t prevent minors from knowing that they exist, seeing as they’d still be posted on AO3 with the same tags.

All of my ns/fw fics are appropriately rated M or E and have been marked with 1-3 additional tags clearly indicating this is smut; do not read if you’re not here for smut. The descriptions are completely sfw and I have chosen not to tag specific sex acts, because I personally think scrolling through AO3 and encountering a huge list of sex words is off-putting (and potentially triggering). So, the worst thing anyone will encounter when browsing my works list on AO3 is the word “porn,” unless they click through to read more.

I honestly can’t be bothered to create a throwaway email address and another AO3 account. (And I like having all my emails and stats and comments in one place.)

Obviously, I want minors to be safe on the internet. We’re in agreement on that. And that’s why I do everything a content creator could reasonably be expected to do to make sure nobody accidentally encounters adult content in my fics that they weren’t prepared to see.

Beyond that, though, everyone (minors and adults alike) is ultimately responsible for their own internet/fandom experience. I am an adult who writes fanfiction about a game rated for adults, for an audience that is still mostly comprised of adults, and I am well within my rights to do that. Smut is always going to exist, and as long as it’s tagged properly on sites that allow it, it’s not really anyone’s place to try to change that. (Not to mention, I write the most ridiculously vanilla smut ever. Seriously. Even by fandom purity culture standards, I think I’m fine.)

If you don’t feel comfortable even knowing that ns/fw fics are out there, that’s cool. Bookmark an AO3 search with M and E ratings filtered out. Subscribe to individual works instead of subscribing to me as an author. Ask authors or friends about the content of sketchily-tagged fics that you’re not sure you feel safe reading. You have options; use them. 

And finally, all that said, I want to address one last teensy, tiny little thing that might have been a typo on your part, but just in case it wasn’t, it’s worth making a point here: You complimented my freehoun fics. Plural. Except... I have only ever written one (1) entirely sfw freehoun fic. The other two are rated E and M, respectively; granted, the M-rated one hasn’t gotten terribly spicy yet, but it will once the freaking fandom discourse dies down, and it’s been tagged accordingly since I initially posted it.

If you have read one or both of those fics, that is a choice that you made to ignore the ratings and warnings and consume content that might have been upsetting or inappropriate for you. I hope you’re okay, but I’m not going to apologize for that. That’s on you. 

Take care, and as always, I’m open to follow-up questions about this. 

[shadedrose01]

Young God

Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker

Tags: idek how to tag this one, uhh, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, kind of?, more like, Enemies to Lovers, Enemies with benefits?, Rivalry, Rivals with benefits?, Its hard to explain aodjsk, Harley Keener as Iron Lad, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Break, Peter Parker Has a Bad Day, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Nothing shown tho, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, parkner week 2020, Day 2, Arguing

Prompts: “And i said ‘no,’ you know, like a liar” / identity shenanigans / iron lad

Notes: Day 2, everybody! Hope you enjoy! 💞💞

Read on ao3 Here!

~~

He says "oo, baby girl, you know we're gonna be legends,

I'm the king and you're the queen, and we will stumble through heaven,"

Peter sucks in a quick breath just before he crashes onto the rooftop, sliding across the sandpaper like tiles and feeling as it rips up his suit, the backs of his arms and legs, his hands as he claws and slows himself down until he finally stops, just at the edge of the house.

He stays still for a second, pants as he hears the mechanical whirrs and clicks of the robotic arms coming closer and closer to him, before he feels his hair stand up, and jumps backwards off of one rooftop to the other, just as Doc Ock crashes through the house below him, leaving only destruction in his wake. Peter listens sharply, for a scream or a cry but hears nothing, and feels a wave of relief knowing the family must not of been home, before its quickly wiped away as he instinctive jumps out of the way again, a claw crunching the stone he was stood on just moments before.

"Come on, Spider-Man," the man taunts, his bluish purple goggles gleaming in the setting sunlight. "Stop running away, and fight!"

Another claw, and another jump, except this time, Peter bounces off of the next rooftop he lands on, circling around and kicking the man right in the jawbone. "You asked for it!" He spits out as the kick throws him back, off kilter for a second, a moment that Peter tries to take to get out of distance again, out of range, but he's too slow, a third claw reaching for him, about to grab him-

Before its blasted to pieces by a bright purple light, and Peter cant help but to stifle the annoyed sigh that threatens to escape, the simmering anger that's been inside him all day starting to boil, to bubble up as he hears the familiar, way way too familiar Southern drawl call out, in all its mocking glory, "Hey squid boy, watch where you're throwing those things, someone could get hurt!"

Peter lands onto the brick wall, sticking into place and turns just to see Doc let out an irritated yell, and lunge for the bright red and gray suit, purple lights attached like lazor pointers to a cat, an easy target that never seems to faze the man no matter how many times Peter told him to tone them down. For once, Peter understands Docs anger, annoyance, as the suit weaves through his claws and shoots them apart with ease, laughing and mocking him the entire time. It makes his insides twist, and his blood boil, his heart racing and his teeth gritting together.

Peter throws himself off the wall just in time to kick Doc to the ground, all of his claws and weapons destroyed, and an affronted, almost insulted noise comes from the robotic suit flying beside him. "You can't just come in and steal the kill, that's not cool, dude!"

Peter doesn't even spare him a glance, webbing the villians hand, feet and then body to the ground. "What, like you did?"

"I did not," The robotizied voice cries out, like a child. "I was just helping you out, Spidey! You should be thanking me!"

Now, Peter can hear the smug grin on the man's face, and this time he can't help the bitter sigh that escapes, as he turns to send a heated glare. "Fuck off, Iron Lad."

He can practically see his eyebrows raise, even through the emotionless mask and the man laughs, loudly, his voice higher pitched with pure amusement as he says, "Oh ho ho, Man! What's got you in a piss poor mood, huh? Having a bad Spidey day, Spider-Man?"

Peter's nostrils flare, and he has to physically hold back the words that long to spill from his mouth, tasting bitter on his tongue, flames licking at his lungs. "Police?" He asks instead, glancing away to glare at the stones below him, his hands clenched hard into fists.

"On the way, eta maaybe two minutes?"

"Then let's go." Peter doesn't wait for an answer, shooting a web off into the distance and yanking himself away, huffing out a breath when he hears the very clear, "Sir, yes sir!" And the echo of replusors sound from behind him, following him like they always do.

"If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes,

I know you wanna go to heaven but you're human tonight,"

Peter swings for a while, trying to ignore, pretend that the metallic sounds of blasters aren't following him, hoping that eventually, the man, that Harley would get the hint and leave him the fuck alone today, but after a while, he realizes that won't happen and lands on the top of a building, crashing to the ground a little rougher than necessary, feeling his bubbling anger, annoyance rising higher and higher in his chest.

"Finally," The suit groans out, landing right beside Peter on the rooftop before flailing his arms out dramatically. "I thought you were never gonna stop, jeez."

"I'm on patrol." Peter growls out, going to the edge of the rooftop to look down and focus his hearing, to make sure he doesn't miss any moments, any crime that he needs to stop, almost wishing, itching that there was some so he could get away from the man encased in metal. He doesn't know why his presence is bugging him so much today- he's normally annoying, sure but not this much, never this bad- but it is and Peter just longs to get away (even as a part of him begs to get closer).

The man just huffs, his neon purple eyes seeming stare into Peter's soul incredulously. "Thats never stopped you before." When Peter just ignores him, the man takes a step forward and his helmet retracts, the face of the one and only Harley Stark- son to Tony Stark, heir to Stark industeies and the main pain in Peters ass for the last eight months- scrunched up with a weird mix of childish annoyance and worry that makes him look constipated. "Seriously, Spidey. What's going on? Are you okay?"

The real concern that slips into the mans tone makes Peter's insides twist, but he ignores it as he spits out, "Why do you care? Thought you only cared about yourself?"

Its intentionally rude, and he knows it hits its mark when a pang of hurt runs across Harley's features before it disappears back into a blank slate so similar to the one his father wears for the same reason, to hide the pain. "You know that's not true." Even his voice has gone back to painfully neutral, and any satisfaction Peter anticipated to feel is overwhelmed by a sickening guilt that poisons him from the inside out, twists his stomach and makes him feel nauseous.

He should apologize, he knows, but he's still- he still feels the burning, the fire under his skin, in his bloodstream, charring his lungs, molten lava in his veins, and he can't stop the sour words from slipping past his lips, with a faint mocking laugh. "Do I?"

"I thought you did." He mutters, his usually bright, summer day skies eyes darkening as a storm cloud passes by, rumbling with a thunder that makes Peter's heart thump heavily in his chest. "I know you do. I know you don't really like me, I get that, but you normally aren't this much of a dick about it. This isn't you."

Peter just laughs again, bitter and twisted and wrong sounding, even to himself. "You don't know me. You don't know anything about me."

He says, "oo baby girl, don't get caught on my edges,

I'm the king of everything, you know my tongue is a weapon,"

Harley's eyes just narrow more, his jaw clenching, and Peter can see his words are started to get to him, his fingers twitching and his shoulders raising. Good. "I think I know more about you than you think."

"Do you?" Peter snorts, shaking his head in exasperation as he glances over to the man, glaring, the fire burning brighter, flames licking at his throat. "Say, what do you know about me?"

"I know your kind," He starts, scowling, counting on his fingers as if Peter is a child that he's lecuring. "I know you're considerate. I know you put everyone else before yourself, because you think somehow, subconsciously that your life is worth less than others. I know you feel guilty for something that happened in the past, and try to better yourself because of it. I know you care, much more than you let on." Peter snorts, trying to ignore the emotions and raw feelings bubbling in his throat, and Harley just continues, ignoring it. "I may not know your name, or your face, or your- your identity but I know you, Spidey. And this," He makes a waving motion at Peter's body, "whatever this is, it isn't you. So Explain. What's going on?"

He's almost pleading, now, begging for Peter to tell him and the masked man almost longs to tell him, but honestly, he doesn't even know what's wrong. He's felt this burning, this itch for something since he woke up, and as the day went on, he grew more and more irritated, irate, a chemical reaction gone wrong, Harley acting as a catalyst and speeding up the reaction until now, its starting to explode, bubbling over the glass and creating a mess of emotions.

Peter can't tell him that, though, can't tell him that he's being a dick for nothing, so he just shrugs him off, looking away again and muttering a quick, "Nothing."

He can almost feel the tension in the air rise, turning thick as Harley bristles and flares, "Let me help you, for fucks sake!"

"Maybe I don't want you to help me!" Peter sparks back, whipping his head back around to glare at the man, the energy high, electric around them.

"There's a light in the crack, that separates your thighs,

And if you wanna go to heaven, you should fuck me tonight,"

"Oh, no. You do." Harley sneers, stepping forward, closer to Peter. "You do, you're just too much of a coward to admit it."

Peter rolls up his mask to his nose, and glares heavily at the man, taking a step towards him in retaliation. "Middle school insults, really?"

"Only telling the truth." Another step forward. "You're a coward who tries to hide his true feelings and pretend they don't even, even though you know they do."

"Oh yeah?" Another step, and suddenly, they're face to face, their noses millimeters apart, almost brushing in their proximity. "Say that again, I dare you."

Harley takes the bait, leaning in closer until Peter can feel his air on his lips, their breath mixing. "You're a coward, Spider-Man."

And Peter thinks he's going to punch him. His fists are clenched, his body is tense, he's bracing himself to do it. But instead, he finds himself grabbing his shoulders tightly and pushing their lips together, his mind whirling as the reaction bubbles over and the flame in his chest ignites into a wildfire, bright and untamable as Harley kisses back just as heavily, just as intensely, pressing him back back back until his back is pushed against a brick wall. Their lips don't disconnect, their heads turning and tongue swirling as Harley's hands roam up and down Peter's suit, over his arms, chest and abs, Peter's moan being swallowed into Harley's mouth, only to be reciprocated moments later.

The kiss breaks only to allow Peter to jump into Harleys arms, his legs wrapped around and sticking to the waist of the metal suit and his arms around his neck before theyre reconnected again, sucking face and groaning into each others mouths.

"My place?" The blond asks, voice muddled by lips and tongue and teeth, and Peter only nods instead of answering, pressing his face into his neck to leave marks, bites and bruises as the other man wraps his arms around his waist and under his ass, before the repulsors start back up and they fly away, towards the giant looming tower in the distance.

And I've been sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool, for a while now,

Drowning my thoughts out with the sounds,

Peter blinks awake slowly, hearing the faint whisper of a fan and a steady mechanical hum and feeling the satin, silk sheets beneath his fingertips. He turns his head slowly, his brain still groggy as he sees the other man, Harley beside him, his ryestalk hair askew and his face lax, more youthful than Peter's ever seen it, the sheet only covering to halfway up his chest, the rest out in the open, bare outside of the bright red marks still covering his skin. He flushes slightly as the memory's return from the night before, or, evening? He looks to the large, floor to ceiling windows beside the bed to see that it's still nighttime, the bright moonlight shining in through the clear glass, the pale blinds and illumating the room, casting shadows onto Harley's features and making him look... softer, ethereal, such a contrast to his sharp words and his even sharper personality. He finds he likes it, the softer, gentler look, and finds himself staring for a few moments, taking the moment in before he sits up slowly, making sure not to awaken the other man, and stands.

He finds a pair of pants on the floor, and a shirt he isn't sure is clean or dirty, throwing them both on before noticing a glass door, leading out into a balcony on the other side of the room. He had remembered landing somewhere early, hazily, though he obviously wasnt focused on it. It must've been there. He finds himself drawn to it, tiptoeing quietly over to the door and sliding it open before stepping outside, and taking a large inhale of the chilled air. He moves to the railing of the balcony, listening to the faint breeze of the late August winds, the car horns and honks in the distance, stares down at the still busseling, still alive city below them, not really focusing on anything, not really thinking, just breathing, feeling, living.

That must be why he doesn't hear the other man stirring, or hear him approch until the door behind him clicks open again. Peter doesn't turn around, doesn't have to, just continuing to watch the cars drive by until two arms wrap around his waist, gently, warily, until a, now clothed, chest is pressed against his back, and a chin rests on his shoulder. Peter just exhales, leaning back into the other mans grip, feeling more relaxed, more at ease than he has in a while, longer than he can remember.

Do you feel like a young god?

You know the two of us are just young gods,

"Do you ever..." Peter doesn't know when, or why, he starts to speak, doesn't think of what he says as he murmurs, hushed, low, a whisper, "feel like a young god? With these powers, the suits, the- the responsibility..." Harley just hums, faintly, and they start to sway, subtle, gentle back and forth motions, back and forth, like waves cascading onto a beach. "They all look up to me. The people, the city. They all-" Peter shakes his head, sighing lightly, airy. "And sometimes I just... sometimes I just don't know if I'm enough, you know? Sometimes I just..."

"Need a break." The other man finishes, murmurs, his lips brushing against Peter's cheek and sends tingles down his back.

"I-I guess so, yeah." There's a few moments, a few seconds where they just sit in the comfortable silence, where Peter glances up at the smog filled sky, seeing a few stars shining through, the almost full moon gleaming brightly down at them.

Before, "Let me help, baby." Harley whispers, pleads, and Peter goes to protest but the blond beats him to it. "You're burnt out, constantly saving the city, saving the world, constantly being the punching bag for everyone else, let me help. Please, Peter," And that was something new, too, Harley knowing his name, knowing his face, knowing him through and through, though he knows the other man won't tell, won't share, turning his head with easy fingers to look him in the eye, his ocean blues almost neon in the glow of the moon. "Let me help you."

They stare at each other, flickering from eye to eye for a few beats, a few thumps in Peter's chest, and he doesn't answer, not really, just lowers his head and places it onto Harley's chest, into the crook of his neck, but his lack of an answer is answer enough. The older man just presses a drawn out kiss onto the top of his head, and holds him closer, a non spoken thank you that sends Peter reeling, unused to the feeling of care, of concern, of love.

And yet, surrounded by strong arms and held closely to a firm chest, Peter feels at his strongest, feels comforted, known, feels safe. He closes his eyes, and just breathes, let's himself have this moment of calm and quiet in the arms of his love.

And we'll be flying through the streets, with the people underneath,

And they're running, running, running...

[choukeimatsu-scenarios]

Hey I love ur stuff!!💕 here’s an idea for a scenario, osomatsu makes a gamble that he can’t pay for at casino!kara’s casino (honestly anything with the casino au would be amazing tho!! 🙏✨)

A/N: Thank you so very much, I’m so happy that you do!! I think you might find this fic a bit different from the other ones I’ve written, but hopefully you’ll enjoy it all the same! ^^ (Also, I included a bit of Animatsu this time around- couldn’t resist!)

(You can also find the fic here on AO3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/23921707)

-Summary-

It was just another day at pachinko-

-or it was meant to be, at the very least.

-----

In which Osomatsu is a miraculous idiot, Karamatsu does his best and Casino!Karamatsu just wants his money.

Neither of them have it easy.

-List of Translated Words-

賭ける (Kakeru): Bet

かける (Kakeru): Call

痛み (Itami): Pain, distress.

Iyami: Well, it's Iyami!

刺���る (Sasaru): Stuck

ハッスル (Hassuru): Hustle

*Words translated on Wordhippo.

------

                                   Gambling Shambling

"You did what?"

"Look, I said I made a bet that I can't pay so I need you to bring as much yen as you can!" Osomatsu cast a despairing glance over his shoulder, gripping on tight to the phone cord in hand. The two men who eyed him from the table where he had been allowed away from to make his call were yet vigilant, their gazes not having once shifted from the red clad NEET.

It was just another day at pachinko-

-or it was meant to be, at the very least.

There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone and Karamatsu responded as though in confusion.

"I'm afraid I cannot be of much help in this regard, Osomatsu. The least I can do is hang up*."

The first born all but fell back. "Wh- wait, don't-!" Too late, the line was cut off and he was left to the mercies of the casino guards and its owner who looked him over.

"Does your brother not have enough either?" The slightly taller, far more intimidating Karamatsu look alike seemingly leered and Osomatsu paled.

"N-No way, he's got tons more than me-! I just need to get the bastard to lend me some, that's all!" The first born searched his pockets before jamming a few yen coins in the telephone box and tightened his grip on the plastic receiver still in hand, punching in the numbers before managing to flash a wink and the money sign with his free one as a show of further reassurance. "Once I explain things properly, he'll come over for sure!"

The Karamatsu look-alike simply smiled, eyes alight with amusement. "I do hope so, your sake." Osomatsu grew faint and had nearly forgotten to reply when the line was picked up on the other end.

"Good afternoon, this is-"

"Ah- Karamatsu! Listen, you've got to help me out here-!"

"Osomatsu? I thought you said you couldn't pay...?"

The first born forced a laugh as the "other" Karamatsu drew nearer, the two guards following suit as they listened in on the call. "A-About that, you must have heard it wrong. I said-"

"I'm sorry, it's quite loud where you are. Call back when you're in a quieter space."

"Can't really do that right now- wait, don't hang up!"

There was a pause on the other end and Osomatsu stood, nearly frozen as he awaited what felt to be the inevitable click of the receiver. None came, and the eldest all but collapsed when the second born's

voice came through again. "... Is everything alright Osomatsu? It isn't like you to be so out of countenance." The first born internally wept with relief and he forced a grin.

"Didn't get that last part, but no. Nothing is alright right now! I'm seriously troubled Karamatsu, and there's nothing I can do over here-!"

The second born gave a contemplative hum before duly responding. "Well, why don't you try to calm down for one? Screaming on in such a manner is quite unbecoming, especially when one is in full view of the public."

Osomatsu blinked before raking a hand through his hair. "Ugh, I don't have time for your painful bullshit right now! I need you to be serious for once-!"

"Eh- I wasn't- I was being serious for once, Osomatsu!" Karamatsu frowned despite knowing he couldn't be seen. "You sounded as though you were in much distress*, so I thought it would be best to settle your nerves first before we can properly talk!"

"I am in distress*!! Karamatsu, you don't get it- I'm going to die if I can't pay off this bet!"

"And I told you before that I can just h-"

"Don't hang up the phone!!"

Osomatsu was on his knees now, gripping onto the carpet with his free hand. "You- okay, fine, be painful, whatever- just- just help me!"

"Ah- I understand now!"

The first born shot upright, eyes bright as he grinned and held tight to the receiver. "You do?!"

Karamatsu nodded before affirming with a smile of his own. "Yes! Wait for a moment Osomatsu, I'll be back soon with Iyami*!"

This time Osomatsu really did fall back, the execution of the Showa move and its quick recovery shocking all those around him. "No, that's not what I said-!"

"Then what did you say?!"

Karamatsu narrowed his eyes, annoyed by the others "antics". "Explain it to me properly Osomatsu, otherwise I can't be of any help!"

"Why are you getting upset?! I'm the one who should! My life is on the line*, Karamatsu, I told you-!"

"Then leave it, Osomatsu*! I don't know what more you want me to say to that!"

"For the love of- that's not what I meant, you idiot!"

The two paused, seething on their ends. Karamatsu recollected himself as he leaned back against the wall of the hallway, repressing a sigh. "... Osomatsu," He started again, voice calm despite his irritation. "I believe I stated this before, but it would be to both of our benefit if you could call from a quieter place."

The first born groaned, shaking his head. "And I told you that I can't- I'm stuck* here Karamatsu, there's nowhere else I can go."

"Just run* if you're in such a hurry then..."

"What part of 'I'm stuck here' do you not understand?!"

There was another pause, and Osomatsu sent out a fervent prayer that the other would at last catch on-

-however his next words proved that it would be far from such a prospect, much to the first born's chagrin and mounting despair.

"W-Wait, Osomatsu, y-you're not...?"

"Yeah," The eldest deadpanned, rubbing his eyelids as he stated for the fourth time. "I'm going to die over here if I don't get help real soon."

"Why didn't you say so in the beginning-?! Where are you, Osomatsu?!"

The near shriek forced a wince from the first born and he grimaced as he drew the phone back from his ear, shaken from his fleetingly apathetic state. "I did say it, from the very start-! Nevermind that, just get over to the new pachinko place that opened up a week ago with as much yen as you can!"

There was a rustling of what appeared to be paper on the other end of the line and Osomatsu repressed a sigh as he awaited the second born's response. The Karamatsu look alike and his guards who the eldest has until now forgotten were standing nearby at last made to address him again, the "other" Karamatsu unable to hide his amusement from such an animated exchange.

"I suppose he must be coming after all?"

Osomatsu gave a start before he turned to the other, plastering on a brilliant smile. "You bet he is! After hearing all of this, there's no way he won't." As if in confirmation, the second born's voice came through again and the eldest beamed in relief.

"Forgive me for taking my leave of you, but I'm back now."

"It's fine, it's fine. Did you get the yen yet?"

"About that..." Karamatsu lowered his voice and the first born strained to hear him over the ongoing din. "Osomatsu, are you still within the casino?"

Osomatsu repressed the urge to roll his eyes, affirming once again. "Like I said, it's not as if I can leave!"

A pause- then...

"Alright, well, do not panic if the one or ones who have assailed you are yet within your presence, for earlier I have hurried off to make a call with Todomatsu's phone. The police will be arriving there shortly-"

Osomatsu's eyebrows nearly shot up to his hairline. "The what?!"

"Osomatsu, you don't understand the gravity of your situation-"

"No, no, no, I do know that very well, thank you very much-!" The first born crouched down to the floor, hissing as he covered the receiver. "Karamatsu, are you crazy?! You're the one who doesn't understand! I told you, just bring the yen! That's all I need, not the police-!"

The second eldest nodded though declined, much to the others distress. "It appears as though you have managed to entrap yourself within the company of a notorious criminal group, the likes of which have recently attempted to take root here in the city not too long ago. They're from overseas, and the police has been steadily attempting to find their location- and it is only through this call that they were able to do so now." Osomatsu paused again, eyes widening as he took in the full extent of the others words.

"What, you mean... This is an illegal pachinko parlor run by a mafia gang or something?!"

"Yes, I have had it affirmed so." Karamatsu's confirmation was grave though his voice softened a bit. "Worry not, I have seen to it that the utmost care will be taken in transporting you out of there. I informed our brothers and we will soon be making haste to the hospital nearest your location to await your arrival."

Osomatsu blinked, taken aback. "Wait, hospi- Karamatsu, I'm not actually physically dying! That was just me being over dramatic!"

"Y-You sounded so certain of it, though..."

"Please don't tell me there's an ambulance on the way."

"... It's a bit late to call it off..."

Osomatsu slapped a hand over his face, giving an exhausted sigh. "... What did you tell them...?"

Karamatsu milled for a moment in silence, quietly twining the telephone cord round his finger. "That you were in dire agony from having been apparently impaled somewhere as you had asserted multiple times that you were in fear of dying... I took that to mean you were fearful of the blood loss which had ensued from such an attack, and reported it as such..."

"So you said I was stabbed and bleeding out, then..."

"That is what I said..."

"... and the police and ambulance are on the way here."

"Yes..."

"... and those guys know I took all their money and lost it to a foreign criminal gang and they'll never see it again."

"Correct..."

"... Karamatsu, give me one moment."

Osomatsu set the phone down atop the telephone box and turned to the Karamatsu look alike, eyes grimly set. The change in demeanor took the other aback for a second before he regained his even expression, gaze cool as he gave an unassuming smile. "Yes?"

"Can I see your knife?"

The "other" Karamatsu blinked, gaze hardening at once. "If you mean to try anything, I would heavily advise against it..." Osomatsu was not to be deterred.

"I'm not. I just want to see it for a bit."

The two guards shared a puzzled glance with each other as the Karamatsu-look alike considered the NEET's request before nodding in agreement, if only out of due curiosity. "Very well." He soon had it extricated and held out towards the first born who accepted it and steeled himself as he rested his palm upon the counter-

-before bringing the blade down upon the center of his hand.

A strangled shout escaped him as his grip loosened on the handle and it took a second before the guards were in an uproar around him, the Karamatsu look alike at first unable to do little more than gaze with widened eyes until he was forced from his reverie when another cry was elicited from the NEET as one of the guards wrested the knife free from the first born's hand.

"You- just what were you thinking?!" The "other" Karamatsu failed to mask his shock and Osomatsu merely grit his teeth as he winced, allowing the other guard to drag him back from the counter and haul him to his feet, spilling crimson from the marble onto the carpeted floor. Once he recovered enough however and the burn in his hand gradually began to subside to a dull ache, Osomatsu managed a weak grin much to the incredulousness of the others.

"D-Do I still owe you?"

He was met with stunned silence from all around and the guard who yet held to him released his grip, allowing the first born to lean against the counter as the trio contemplated his fate. At last after what was a seemingly interminable amount of time, the "other" Karamatsu gave a confused nod, looking the first born over with no less incredulity than he did prior. "Er, no... No, you do not. Did you imagine I meant for any physical harm to be done to you had you not any means by which to pay me...?" Osomatsu managed a chuckle, albeit a weak one.

"Too many words..." The Karamatsu look-alike made no comment, reiterating in a manner he believed to be concise.

"Did you do yourself bodily harm under the belief that you could avoid such a thing being done by our own hands?"

"Still too many words- but yeah, sort of."

Osomatsu was quick to add upon seeing the other frown, plastering on a grin. "Uh, hey so- does this mean I'm off the hook then? Can I go home now?" The Karamatsu look-alike glanced over at his two guards and gave them a curt nod, dismissing them. Osomatsu leaned fully into the counter to keep from sinking onto the floor with relief as the pair departed and the "other" Karamatsu studied him for a bit, not yet moving away himself. The first born met his gaze and shifted a bit after a while, grin slipping with nervosity which was barely masked in his voice. "You still need something?" He cast a brief glance at his injured hand, allowing another weak chuckle to escape him though his countenance paled. "Do I need to uh, do it again or-"

"No, no, that will not be necessary!" The Karamatsu look-alike cut in before he heard the others inquiry in full, shaking his hands and his head as though willing the first born to desist in mid-attempt. Osomatsu blinked, taken aback upon hearing the other decline- before his eyes widened with mortified horror upon hearing his next words.

"It was far from it to begin with- never once did I have it in mind to do you any harm-!"

It was in this moment, before the first born could even attempt to respond, that the front doors of the casino were flung open with a slam and a swarm of policemen flooded the floor, attempting to overtake the guards which braced against the attack before launching into the offense of their own accord. The last that Osomatsu could recall before his vision faded to black from the blood yet spilling from his unstaunched wound and his shock from the complete lack of necessity of his attaining of it was a pair of paramedics who managed to reach him amongst the tumult and made haste to borne him away as the world slipped entirely from view.

      "It sounds like it took forever for to calm them down..."

"That is to be expected, of course. We were all under the impression that your life was in grave danger."

The first born cast the second eldest a distraught look and Karamatsu paused, appearing uncertain for a moment. "Yes? What is it that yet ails you, Osom-

"I- I didn't have to stab my hand."

The statement all but sent the other reeling back and Karamatsu gripped onto the hospital railing for purchase, eyes impossibly wide. "Y-You what? We were under the impression that that was- Osomatsu, you- why would you ever even deign to do such a thing?!" The first born glanced away edgewise, brushing a finger under his nose as he offered by way of explanation.

"Well, y'know how you said you called the police and the ambulance was coming and all? I figured that I'll try my luck in getting out of there alive by..."

"... By stabbing yourself." Karamatsu completed his sentence for him, both horrified and incredulous. Osomatsu nodded, concluding swiftly.

"Yeah. See, the thing I didn't know though was that the guy who runs the place- and sort of looks like you by the way, don't ask me why- apparently wasn't planning on doing anything at all?"

Karamatsu mulled over his words, shaking his head as he mumbled. "In other words, you went to such an extent that even he in all probability had not surmised, thus rendering you being interred in this hospital with an actual injury to tend which could have been prevented from being obtained had you but made to inquire as to what your fate would have been before proceeding to go forth with impaling yourself."

"Didn't get all of that, but yeah! That's pretty much what happened."

Osomatsu grinned, rubbing a finger under his nose. "The good news though is that those guys probably feel bad and won't try to kill me for a while!" The second born repressed a sigh, shaking his head.

"How have you been able to last throughout the multiple tribulations of life until this present moment, Osomatsu...?"

"Hey, that goes for all of us y'know?! Especially you!"

"Heh... So you say, but you-"

"Karamatsu you've fallen off the roof more times than I've been unable to pay you guys back, and that's been more times than I can count." Osomatsu deadpanned and the second born flushed, frowning.

"That is not entirely true-"

"It is! Just the other day, you-"

"You steal our money nearly every instance you get-"

"-and we almost decided to board up the-"

"-not to mention failing also to properly explain-"

"-just to keep you from-"

"-were lucky that it was me who answered the phone-!"

"Can you two be any louder?!"

The pair fell silent at once as the door was slammed open, revealing the third born who stood there, hissing. "We can hear everything from the hall! There are other patients here too and some of them are trying to sleep!" The eldest pair winced, lowering their gazes to the floor as Osomatsu rubbed the back of his head with his uninjured hand and Karamatsu leaned against the wall where he stood, crossing his arms. Choromatsu's gaze softened once the duo had calmed and made his way over to the side of the hospital bed, looking the first born's bandaged hand over with evident worry. "How do you feel, Osomatsu-niisan? Did they-" He reached forth, pausing as though reconsidering before laying a tentative hand upon the others arm in all manners of gentleness, much to the first born's surprise. "You weren't hurt anywhere else...?" Osomatsu blinked before flashing the third born a bright grin.

"Nah, I'm fine Choromatsu! You should've seen the fight I gave 'em though, I knocked the guy around everywhere but he still got me in the end! Talk about lousy luck, right?" The third eldest cast a furtive glance up at Karamatsu who casually made to avert his gaze by studying the window blinds before Choromatsu turned back to the first born, frowning. "They- the doctors said the knife was poisoned, Osomatsu-niisan."

This elicited a screech from the eldest who nearly fell faint again. "It was what?!" Karamatsu turned back at once and strode over to the other side of the hospital bed, ashen.

"D-Does that mean he could've truly...?"

Choromatsu nodded, attempting to appear grim though the watering of his eyes had blatantly shown otherwise. "I-I didn't tell the others since they wouldn't be able to handle it. They cried so much already, s-so... "

And it was at this that Osomatsu panicked, heart sinking with remorse as he flailed and did his utmost best to reassure his two younger brothers who were both in tears now, forcing a wide smile as he gazed between them both helplessly. "A-Ah, it's alright now you guys! See? I'm just fine!" Osomatsu flashed the pair a grin in turn as he did his utmost best to assure them as the younger two gazed at him, downright distraught- and soon the first born's eyes were filling up with tears at this as his own expression fell, the pair all but entangling themselves in each others arms as they latched on and sobbed against him.

"Stupid Aniki-!"

"Y-You shitty e-eldest...!"

And Osomatsu, who had nearly as much cause if not more to fall apart as well began wailing right along with them soon after, doing his utmost best to cling onto them both.

"G-Guys, I'm so sorrry-!"

      "... Ah!- I forgot to inform that young man who stabbed himself in my casino that the knife he used was dipped in poison-!"

-.

-.

Casino Karamatsu leapt up and sped out the door of the office he was in, much to the surprise of its one other inhabitant who bolted upright in his chair from where he was resting half-asleep with his arms folded atop his desk, sending papers scattering everywhere as the announcement jolted him from his reverie. "A man who what...?" Casino Osomatsu yawned, blinking as he gazed at the papers fluttering back down to his desk before his senses sharpened- and he all but flung himself off his chair and hastened out the door, calling after his subordinate who had already disappeared from sight.

"Wait, we already left the- we have guys who can do that! Don't- The water's too deep- Karamatsu-!!"

    -. -.

 "Dear young man who courageously though needlessly mutilated himself in my casino..."

The paper was torn to shreds as Osomatsu did his utmost best to reign in a scream, scattering the former letter to the wind. "That's something you should have said the second after I stabbed myself, not three days later-!!"

[ninaahelvar]

The Stakeout (4/5)

Summary: In order to get all the information they can, the detective duo, Bakugou and Uraraka, must go on a stakeout. But close proximity may force some underlying feelings to come to the surface. Also known as “Bakugou had a really bad date and it gives him perspective”

AO3

A/N: please thank @doesitsaysassonmyuniform for all her hard work on this chapter. it wouldn’t be out without her. all the funny stuff was her. i will not take credit for her genius.

There was a heavy buzzing under his head, like a hive of angry bees had infested his pillow. He groaned, rolling over as his head throbbed. He’d drunk way too much last night.

Buzz buzz

Was it his alarm? What time was it anyway? It couldn’t have been that late in the day, not with how his room was barely lit when he’d managed to pry open his eyes. It was a small blessing - if he’d been late for work on top of everything else, he might just kill someone.

Buzz buzz

He didn’t hear his alarm, so it must be his phone. He had vague recollections of the night before, passing out on his bed before he could even get undressed. Had he put his phone on silent?

With another groan, he wrenched his head up out of the cradle of his arms, and fumbled for his phone.  He squinted in the morning light - it was low, but not enough to avoid hurting his eyes - and finally flipped his blankets in frustration. It flew out onto the floor with a thud and he stretched out to get it, his stomach rising into his throat as he moved.

Extremely hungover - noted.

By the time he picked up his phone, it had finally stopped buzzing, leaving a faint ringing in his ears at the sudden silence. Bakugou frowned as he turned on the screen, the blur of notifications clearing as his eyes focused.

Shitty Hair (9 Missed Calls)

Shitty Hair: Holy shit I can’t believe u did it!

Shitty Hair: (10 Messages)

Did what? Why was that fucking bastard calling him at - he checked the top of his phone - six in the morning anyway?  He unlocked his phone and opened his texting app, and was met with a wall of grey message bubbles.

Shitty Hair: Uraraka just txted me!!

(missed call)

Shitty Hair: Seriously dude pick up

(missed call)

Shitty Hair: if ur fkn asleep rn I stg

(missed call)

Shitty Hair:  I can’t believe u did it!

(missed call)

Shitty Hair: It better not be a joke or ill kill u

(missed call)

Shitty Hair: ok I don’t care if ur asleep ill make u answer

(missed call)

Shitty Hair: Dude she’s super freaked rn cause u wont respond

(missed call)

Shitty Hair: look im porud u finally did it but u cant send that and then go silent

(missed call)

Shitty Hair: *proud

Shitty Hair: HOLY SHIT I CANT BELIEVE U DID IT!

Bakugou was starting to have a bad feeling, one entirely outside of his hangover. It felt like something was squeezing his chest, and it was getting tighter and tighter the more he read. He looked at the icon, and winced at the little number telling him he had more unread messages.

From Uraraka.

Shit.

He clicked on the thread, and scrolled all the way up to his last message.

@ 1:37am

You: heyyyy want som fuk??

You: shit no i mean

You: ur hot

You: it pisses me off

You: we should fuck tho

You: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

No. No no no no no no. No! Fuck! No! The universe was fucking playing with him, right? This couldn’t be real. Fuck! It was, it was staring him in the fucking face! FUCK! He was going to explode his entire apartment.

Round Face: ...what?

Round Face: Bakugou wtf?

Round Face: Do you mean that??

Round Face: How drunk are you rn??

Round Face (2 missed calls)

Round Face: I’m gonna murder you

In the midst of Bakugou’s midlife - soon to be end of life - crisis, his phone started to ring, Kirishima’s face beaming as his name appeared. Bakugou immediately answered, pressing his phone to his ear as he hung his head between his legs.

“What did you do?” he asked, and Bakugou did the only thing he could think of.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“You fucking idiot,” Kirishima laughed and Bakugou threw himself backwards on his bed, hand pressed to his forehead.

“I WAS DRUNK! I DON’T EVEN REMEMBER!”

“Well lucky for you phones don’t exist and neither does she - oh wait.” Bakugou could hear that smug voice of his radiating through the fucking phone and he wanted to burn it in his hand.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” Bakugou whined, feeling completely beside himself - unaware of how ridiculous he was sounding. He was just having the worst day of his life, and it was showing.

“Hey, at least it’s out there now, right? She didn’t say no.”

“I wanna die. I’m jumping out the window.”

“You are the biggest drama queen I know,” Kirishima laughed, and Bakugou put his head between his legs, a sickening feeling rising in his throat and the overwhelming urge to projectile vomit across his apartment was becoming an almost welcoming idea.

“I will kill you later,” Bakugou groaned, shaking his hand through his hair, over and over again until he felt like he was at ease. He didn’t stop for a while.

“Oh, so you’re actually coming into work?” Kirishima sounded surprised, and it dawned on Bakugou...this day was going to be his last - he was deciding it before it was even over, his last day alive would be that day.

“I don’t fucking know, give me an hour to die first,” Bakugou said, knowing this would be the first time that he was late - and having no other excuse than being a fucking drunken moron.

Bakugou stumbled into work, his clothes a mess, hair barely done, and collar sticking up to hide his face. With every step, it felt like eyes were on him, watching his every move, and it made every hair on his body stand on end - he needed to fight something soon otherwise he’d go stir crazy.

Before interacting with anyone else, a bounding bubble of joy crashed alongside him, knocking him off balance. Bakugou stared back at his partner who smiled like a child - and his heart was racing like an idiot.

Her expression fell, clicking her tongue as she took him in. Why the fuck was he feeling so hot? He felt like he was a rising thermometer, about to burst at the fuckng end. He was a walking infomercial, some fucked up idiot that can’t keep it down.  

“Wow you look wrecked. Sleep well, Blasty?” she asked, a slight pout as she stepped closer to him.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“Not as wrecked as your face.” The two of them frowned at the words. Why did he speak at all? “Anyway, Case!”

FUCKKKKKKKK STOP TALKING!

If a villain could come in through the window and suplex him out of existence right now, he’d be grateful. So. Fucking. Grateful.

Now, Bakugou wasn’t a religious man. He didn’t believe in a higher power. That felt like a mistake - because God was punishing him for his abject atheism. This was a goddamn joke, and God was clearly laughing.

If he got down on his knees and started praying, would it stop?

Uraraka quirked an eyebrow at him, before answering. “Yeah, we had a new lead come in this morning and most teams are on it, you missed Aizawa’s speech.”  

Fuck.  Aizawa knew he was late.

Praying wouldn’t save him now.

Uraraka guided them both to their desks, rattling on about the case -  something about a guy getting into some dark shit with trafficking young kids. In the end, Bakugou found concentrating hard. He would normally listen and make sure to take notes when it came to figuring out who the guy was - but he just couldn’t stop watching her. He watched and wondered why the hell she wasn’t saying anything. Uraraka replied to the messages, she even called - and now it was radio silence.

Normally, Bakugou would yell about it - but it felt wrong to bring it up, it could embarrass them both, and although he didn’t embarrass easy, this was completely new for him. Embarrassment came easier with all that romantic shit. It was stupid and frustrating and Bakugou hated the fact that he fell for it all, after years of denying himself.

Bakugou wasn’t built for this shit, and it definitely showed.

As Uraraka went to talk to eye witnesses - a task that Bakugou was strictly not allowed to do anymore - he went to the kitchen, making himself a coffee and praying it woke him up enough to stop the nagging sensation in his heart and the throbbing in his head.

A whisper then came into his ear.

“Hey, want some fuck with that coffee?”

Bakugou spat out his coffee and it sprayed across the kitchen bench. Kirishima laughed behind him, moving away to grab a donut - the fucking prick.  Bakugou was meant to be safe here, away from her and this fucker had to come and ruin it.  

Bakugou coughed, thumping his chest before turning to glare at the other man. “Could you keep your fucking voice down, Shitty Hair?”

“I don’t know - can you look Uraraka in the eye?” Kirishima quirked his eyebrow and Bakugou stepped towards the pointy haired bastard.

“Want me to rip yours out?”

“Tetchy tetchy. Don’t lash out at me cause you’re not getting any.” Kirishima stuffed the donut into his grinning teeth, and Bakugou tried to burn holes into the fucker’s skull.

“Murder. Expect murder.”

Kirishima only laughed, waving at Bakugou as he went back to his desk. In the back of his mind, Bakugou could only think the asshole was talking about him - gossiping about Bakugou’s idiotic love life and how ridiculous this all was.

Bakugou wanted to fucking die.

The window looked so inviting, calling to him like a siren’s song.

As he sat in the kitchen, looking over notes on the case he hadn’t paid attention to, a loud blaring noise came over the speakers of the precinct. It was unusual for an alarm to go off - on rare occasions when fire alarm detected smoke (which may have been Bakugou - no on proved it was) or emergencies. With the chaos that was soon surrounding him, Bakugou guessed the latter.

“What the fuck is going on?” Bakugou asked as Kirishima ran back towards the equipment room.

“Genzo’s been spotted. We’ve gotta go,” he panted as he ran. He didn’t even stop.

Aizawa burst from his office, his scarf that was rarely off was primed at the ready. “He’s on the move! Everyone get going!” he demanded, stopping short of the door to look back at Bakugou, glaring. “That includes you, Bakugou!” he snapped, and Bakugou sighed, throwing aside his paperwork to head into the equipment room.

Kirishima handed him all his guards and gauntlets, the two rushing out as Uraraka was fixing her earpieces in, rolling her shoulders to prep herself. Bakugou smirked, watching as she worked her magic as she got ready for a fight. Regardless of how much of an ass he made of himself, he still couldn’t get over Uraraka being a goddamn badass at her job.

They got to the site of Genzo’s attack. He had completely wrecked a transport vehicle, exploded it like an atomic bomb and was causing a fucking disaster zone by the sheer amount of electric power around him.

“Any casualties?” Bakugou asked, tightening his gauntlets and making sure they were ready to go when he needed them.

“Two police officers that we know of,” Aizawa said, going over the short notes he was given by officers on the scene.

“Any officers we know?” Uraraka asked, her voice a little strained as she asked. Bakugou looked over to her.

“None,” Aizawa replied. Bakugou watched as Uraraka sighed. Deku. He knew who she was thinking of, and it made a spot in between his shoulder blades ache. He bound his fists and kept his attention on the chaos. This guy was burning every fuse within his view, drawing all of it to him and sending it back at people.

“Our main priority is to protect civilians, and keep him away from the generators. He probably saw he was close to the power plant - we have to keep him away and out of reach of that power. We have no idea what he’ll do with it.”

And with that, the teams were divided - one person on civilians, the other on containment. Both Uraraka and Bakugou knew their place without even a glance. Bakugou set off an explosion as Uraraka moved a group of worried people out of the way. She was great, when another eruption came through, she’s catch them in time and float them to safety - barely even registering that she’d activated her quirk.

When Bakugou set off an explosion that ripped up the entire road - something he knew he’d get in deep shit over later - he watched as the other agents got into position, preparing for their next move and knowing the reach of Bakugou’s quirk. The ground ripped up and threw Genzo around, knocking him against a building and an audible yell of pain rumbled through the area. It gave them time to evacuate. It’s all they needed right now.

Uraraka went to Bakugou’s side, panting a little as she pointed. “Group, ten o’clock. You got this?” she asking, pointing to the group of huddled people just across from Genzo. Bakugou scoffed at Uraraka’s words.

“Tch, who the fuck do you think I am?”

“Yeah, yeah, just wait for my signal,” she laughed, moving off, touching pieces of rubble that were easy to float. Bakugou smirked, watching as they floated skyward and eventually just guiding her hands on all the rubble she passed with her quirk activated. It wasn’t long before Uraraka found the stuck bystanders and pointed them to a safe route out of the danger zone. But Genzo was quicker than either of them had anticipated, rising from his injured state, rolling his shoulders with a tight grimace on his face.

Genzo roared, sapping the power from a nearby building, the electricity crackling over his skin and bared for a quick release. He wanted to inflict damage and make it count - Bakugou could see it in his eyes. Genzo looked for anything that was moving. The civilians. Uraraka saw it too, and she did something stupid.

She knew it too.

“Get back!” Uraraka called to the civilians, and Bakugou watched in horror as Genzo reacted first - her voice drawing too much attention. Her warning, was an attraction. The fucker moved quick - faster than any of them could have expected, and Bakugou redirected his explosions, trying to counter as best he could to the new position. He set off an explosion behind him, sending him to their location as fast as he could.

He wasn’t gonna make it.

“Uraraka, move!”

She turned her head, eyes widening and arms coming out to block far too late as the energy surge hit her full force. Uraraka was knocked so far back, she’s skidding across pavement like it’s slick. When she stops, she’s flinching, over and over again - her body reacting to the electric current running over her body.

He saw her hands come together, letting the meteor shower rain down, catching Genzo off guard and trying to evade the oncoming onslaught. He wasn’t expecting Bakugou though.

He was only a split second behind.

“DIE YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”  

Bakugou came bounding in, hands directed at the target and firing off two of the most explosive blasts he had ever mustered. It knocked Genzo to the ground, and Bakugou landed over him, his fits binding tight as he repeatedly punched - throwing him about as the bastard laughed. Once Bakugou finally cracked one of Genzo’s teeth, his face a bloody mess of what it once was - Bakugou regained his sense and tossed Genzo off to the side.

In the aftermath, there was silence - waiting for the next thing to fall or the next blast to knock over a bunch of people. But it was just simply silence. In the ash and smoke, Bakugou waded through it, leaving Genzo to whatever fate he had left him in, finding his partner curled  up and in pain.

Bakugou dropped to her side, hands fluttering around her useless as he took her in. This was bad. This was fucking bad. Her clothes were a disaster, the giant hole in her vest giving way to blistered and blackened skin. Some of it had fused to the fabric, and it made bile rise up in his throat just to see it.  He didn’t even know if he could touch her but one look at her glassy eyes made it impossible not to move.  

The ozone in the air made his skin stand on end - and that was the only reason - as he pulled her into his lap as gently as he could. “Hey Round face,” he lightly tapped her cheeks and she turned to look at him. Her brown eyes were so unfocused. “Stay with me, fucker.”

Her face was so pale and her mouth moved wordlessly for a moment before she was able to speak. “You called me Uraraka.”

His throat was tight. “Yeah well you’d kill me if I called you Round face in public, Round face.”

Her lips quirked ever so slightly, eyes looking somewhere over his shoulder. “You just did…ugly.”

“Yeah I guess I did.”

Kirishima landed heavily at their side, and his breath hitched when he saw her chest. “Dude..”

“Genzo?”

Kirishima shook himself. “Right. He’s out - you did a number on him. The police have got it covered. EMT’s should be here any second.”

Bakugou brushed some hair out of her face - it was just getting all tangled and sweaty anyway.  She didn’t even notice. “You with me Round Face?”

“Yeah - but- but my chest feels -” She tried to get up and he had to force her back down.

“Fuck don’t move okay - you’re gonna be fine.” He scanned the street, and couldn’t push down the relief as the familiar jackets of the EMT’s came into view. “Hey! We need some help over here!”

People ran over, moving Bakugou against his will. But in the end, when he watched Uraraka flinch in pain, he knew he wasn’t needed anymore. Regardless of how desperately he wanted to stay. They were fragile with her, placing her gently into the stretcher, and finally into the ambulance. Driving away, Bakugou felt his heart lurch.

Nakamura Genzo was captured easily, given more restraints and heavier security around him. They treated him for his injuries - third degree burns, his entire right side was a mess of broken ribs and bruises, and the left was a little less severe. Bakugou needed to work on his left hook apparently. Genzo had a punctured lung from one of his ribs, and his front teeth were busted, but it didn’t matter to Bakugou. He was taken in - he was completely taken care of. Bakugou just cared about one thing.

~*~*~

Hospitals were always a place of pain - mostly for Bakugou on certain missions, yet now it was different. The fluorescent lights were straining his eyes as he walked through the halls - the constant wailing and crying was enough to keep him away too. Yet, she was there. His partner was laid up in a hospital bed in whatever fucking condition Genzo left her in. Bakugou was told the room number and he walked to it with bound fists at his side.

Flowers were already placed in her room, cards lining the benches with well wishes. Uraraka was already propped up - though there had been a day between her injuries and his visit. The rest of the team had already gone to see her. Bakugou was questioned a fuck tonne in order to explain Genzo’s injuries. He didn’t have much else to say other than “what would you rather me do? Beat him within an inch of his life, or let him kill everyone in the area?”

After that, he was allowed home, where he stared at his phone waiting for an update.

Kirishima texted late saying Uraraka was asking after him.

Bakugou knew he had to go see her after that.

He hung back by the door as Uraraka stopped playing with her phone, smiling down to whoever was contacting her. She looked up and her smile dropped, like seeing him was more of a shock than a surprise. Bakugou’s jaw set tight and his heart felt like it was trapped in between two ribs - unable to beat without causing him pain.

“Bakugou, hey, I was wondering when you’d -”

“What the hell was that?” he snapped, his chest a mess of emotions he would never allow himself to process.

Uraraka sighed, scratching lightly at her brow. “I know I was a little -”

“You were reckless and put yourself in danger for that shitty mission,” he snarled, moving to the foot of her bed. Her once soft expression turned to that of defiance, her brow crinkling in frustration.

“Hey! I’m not as fragile as you -”

“I don’t think you’re fragile, moron! You were putting your life in danger for nothing,” he said, hands gripped tight to the edge of her bed.

“Don’t be an idiot,” she spat back, folding her arms over her chest.

“What?” His brow knit, watching as she stared back at him, anger etched into her features.

“You’re being an asshole, saying you think I can take it, but then say I can’t because I’m weak. I can fucking take it!”

“I know you can fucking take it, but I can’t! Not like this!” The rage let slip the words that were held back - anger and frustration finally touching at the parts of himself he wanted to hide away. His hands bound together, tight fists by his side as his jaw set. If he couldn’t unbind his teeth, he wouldn’t need to answer her obvious question.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

There it was.

“Don’t do it again, idiot,” he replied, voice breaking and pushing himself off the bed, moving out of the hospital room and going home. He had the day off anyway.

It was just mistake after mistake.

Words said.

Actions not taken.

Secrets let slip.

Everything was a goddamn mistake.

With his head in his hands, Bakugou could feel regret gripping him, like a force that bound him to the feelings that made him scared of himself. She made him scared. No one could make him fear the unknown - pain, injuries, death - it was all he ever craved. But she went down, and everything came flooding over him, like a fucking tidalwave, saturating his being until he was as desperate as any other fucker on the planet.

It wasn’t Bakugou.

And it all made him scared. Of Uraraka. For Uraraka.

What did it all mean when everything else was a fucking mess? He hated that he couldn’t piece himself together, unravelling like a perfectly tied up coil coming apart by one tight pull.

Word went around that Uraraka was released from the hospital after two days, and given a week’s bed rest. She deserved more for all the work she did, but Bakugou knew she’d bounce back sooner or later.

Bakugou was midway through writing a report for Aizawa when a booming voice called out through the precinct. “Hey! Asshole!” The whole room turned, seeing Kirishima storming through. He wasn’t the type of dude that got pissed off easily, so it was a surprise. Then, he pointed directly at Bakugou. “Yeah you!”

“The fuck did you just call me?” Bakugou said, standing and standing face to face with the bastard.

“You haven’t gone to see Uraraka, I get to call you what I like!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, stepping back from Kirishima and going back to his desk. “I don’t have to do shit all,” he replied, only for Kirishima to haul him back, fists in each other’s clothes - the two like gasoline and fire, ready to erupt at any moment.

“She’s fucking expecting you, so go!” Kirishima replied, his features hardening, expecting the fight.

“Who are you to demand -”

“I’m your best friend, so listen to me and go see Uraraka. Tonight!” he yelled. The precinct was silent, and Bakugou suddenly felt seen - that there was something telling everyone about he and Uraraka other than being partners. He didn’t want to be seen. Bakugou shoved Kirishima back, straightening out his clothes as he looked back at the spikey haired bastard.

“Fine! Fuck,” he swore, murmuring curses under his breath as he went back to his work, holding back on his anger.

It wasn’t as though he didn’t care about Uraraka. She’d had injuries worse than this. Fuck, Bakugou had stayed at her house while she had a broken leg and a few broken ribs before - cooking, cleaning, doing her laundry. This was different. She didn’t seem to need him like before.

Maybe he was just…

Scared wasn’t the right word.

He wasn’t ready.

After everything that had happened, he wasn’t ready for her to see him and maybe understand what he said.

But he did have to see her. Check in.

It was only right.

~*~*~

It was weird, holding a bag of things for her as he stood outside her door. It was a crumbly old apartment building with like no space other than the essentials. With most of Uraraka’s money going to her parents, Bakugou understood why she stayed there, but for once he’d wish she’d think about herself.

Huffing, he knocked on the door. It was harder than he anticipated, but it didn’t matter. With barely a second to straighten out his shoulders when Uraraka opened the door. He felt a lump in the back of his throat when he saw her. It had been four days since she left the hospital, and four days since they’d seen each other. She had a few tiny cuts and bruises on her arms and on her cheek, but other than that - she was just Uraraka.

She was in grey tracksuit pants and an oversized hoodie she’s gotten at their time with the agency. It was far too big, slipping off her shoulder as she took Bakugou in.

“Bakugou,” she said, voice a little shaken. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

He gave a vague shrug. “Kirishima.”

“Oh, okay.” Uraraka cleared her throat before she opened the door a little wider. “Come in,” she said, gesturing for him to enter. He followed and went inside, handing her the bag as she walked past him.

“Here,” he grumbled, focusing his attention to the floor. She peered inside the bag before gasping.

“Mochi donuts?! Thank you,” she smiled, tucking hair behind her ear.

“It’s better than the nothing I was going to get you,” he replied.

“But Kirishima talked you into it?” Bakugou returned a vague ‘tch’ sound before he stood back in her hallway and Uraraka was wandering into her kitchen.

“How’s the burn?” he asked, clearing his throat as his arms folded over his chest. He wasn’t sure what the fuck to do with himself. He felt cornered, that the walls might swallow him and he may never be allowed to leave - in a constant state of waiting for her to ask about the texts and what happened at the hospital.

“It’s fine. I barely feel it. Recovery girl really helped the process along so I’m ready to get back to work.” There was a voice she put on - a raise in her chin as she acted tough. A show for him to not think any less of her. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

“Good. That’s good,” he said, clearing his throat again and pushing off from the wall. “I only came ‘cause shitty hair made me. I’m gonna leave,” he said, going towards the door, ready to open it.

“What did you mean in the hospital?” she asked, voice quiet compared to earlier. She was scared. His hand was at the handle, inches from turning the knob, but he turned, looking back at Uraraka as she fiddled with the ends of her hoodie.

“What?”

She raised her chin, fingers still at the ends of her sleeves, nervously pulling at them. “I’m not repeating myself.”

He huffed. “I didn’t mean -”

“I’m tired of your shit Bakugou!” She yelled, and he stared across at her in shock. When he didn’t reply, she continued. Uraraka almost charged him as she spoke, getting right into his space and not backing away for a second. “If you lie to me, I swear to god, I’m going to fling you out the window, now tell me!”

She stared at him, a rage that only Bakugou could bring out of her. And in the midst of it, the scared teenager that couldn’t get over a crush was hammering away and begging for his chance. In the end, the man won out, and acted in the only way he knew how to.

Bakugou wasn’t a guy of many words.

So he didn’t use them.

He surged forward.

He didn’t dare to touch her, only kissing her as swiftly as body could allow, towering over her and making her stagger backwards. She gripped into his shoulders, responding with the most beautiful lips he had ever tasted. Then, she pulled back, staring back - no anger, just confusion, written into her features.

“W-what? Does this -”

“Stop fucking talking, round face,” he growled back, forehead resting against hers. He tried to dive right back in, only managing to steal a small kiss before she pulled away. Bakugou froze, watching as a smile grew on her lips right before she stole another. He smirked, knowing the game she was playing.

She tempted and teased, pulling back the moment Bakugou was about to latch his lips to hers, to never part them for as long as his lust would hold out. Whatever she she was doing, she knew the exact way to have Bakugou fall for it - she was going to have Bakugou everyway she wanted him, and he fucking knew it. All the while, it wound him up, like he was a jack-in-the-box, and god, was he ready to spring out and surprise her.

In one swift guide of his arm, he pulled her in by her waist, snaring her lips with his own and kissing her as sharply as he needed. He wanted her, and he wanted her the moment he stepped foot into her apartment. Pressing her up against the wall, she let out a soft gasp against his mouth, but he wanted to surprise her - do everything that every ounce of lust within him wanted to do. Her sweats were still midway down her thigh but they weren’t off, which gave Bakugou every excuse. Turning Uraraka around, her hands pressed against the wall - he bent and took down the remaining parts of her pants, bending down and watching the way her body swayed with each move he made.

Bakugou couldn’t help himself, hand squeezing into her ass, the bounce and shake of it making everything in him rise - adrenaline and lust surging across him. He teeth scraped across one cheek before he bit into it a little harder. Uraraka mewled, hands clawing at the wall - hard enough for Bakugou to hear - and as Bakugou kissed at the spot he not-so-delicately bit into, her hands released, reaching behind her to gently stroke at his hair. She looked over her shoulder as Bakugou took her underwear down swiftly, he wasn’t going to waste any more fucking time.

Gripping in once more, he pushed his face in the crevasse of her cheeks, tongue stroking at her tender lips and immediately making Uraraka rise on her toes. She fell back down, pushing her hips into his face, and holy fuck did he enjoy it. Bakugou held onto her thighs, widening her stance as he lapped up all that she was feeling. Uraraka whined, panting as he kept his mouth on her entrance, delivering his tongue in just to hear her moaning gasps.

“Oh, Bak -” she whined, and his hand snaked from her thigh to taking his tongue’s place, fingers circling her folds before entering her slowly. He slowly rose to his feet, her hand slipping from his hair back to the wall, and he kissed up the back of her neck to have her shiver against him. “Baku -”

“Katsuki,” he whispered in her ear.

“Fuck, Katsuki!” she said, pushing her hips against his hand, forcing it directly into his hips. She may not have known she was doing so, but she rocked perfectly onto his crotch, his cock aching inside his jeans. “Right there, right there! Right there!” she cried, her voice soft and desperate. She spurred him on, fingers working overtime just to hear what it would sound like when she finally came.

Her hips pushed back hard against him, her panting becoming a little harder to control and Bakugou could feel her around his fingers - Uraraka was at the end of her tether. She reached behind herself once more, hand on his wrist as she breathed in heavy gasps. He didn’t know if she was trying to stop him, or was telling him to keep going - either way, she crashed against the wall, crying out a little moan and pushing her ass straight up against his hips.

“Fuck,” he groaned, feeling the strain in his pants. “I’m not going to last if you keep pushing your ass into me,” he said into her ear. Uraraka looked over her shoulder, brushing hair from her face.

“I didn’t say you had to,” she said. Tempt and tease.

“Fuck,” he groaned, tugging on her arm to turn around, “you asked for it,” he warned her before bending down and picking her up into his arms.

Uraraka held onto his face, kissing him as he staggered around her cramped apartment. He fell into walls, struggled past the doorway, and had them falling into the bed. Uraraka giggled, kissing Bakugou before he rolled his hips against her, making her moan a little more. He just needed one more thing before he parted from her. He stood up from the bed, stripping himself of his shirt and kicking off his shoes. Uraraka took the cue and shrugged out of her hoodie and shirt, leaving her only in her bra. As Bakugou snapped off his belt and pushed his pants down, Uraraka unclasped her bra and tossed it aside.

Remembering where he’d seen them the last time - an awkward conversation was had when Bakugou was putting away laundry - he went to Uraraka’s dresser drawer, finding the condoms and tearing at the edge of one. He started to place it on when he saw Uraraka adjust herself slightly. Sitting up, Uraraka moved over to him, her hand gracing over down from his chest to his stomach, fingers tempting to down his length. He caught her wrist loosely, pushing it aside to her confusion.

“What are you doing?” he asked, leaning over her, forehead pressed to her own.

“I wanted to make you feel good,” she said with a flutter of her eyelashes. Bakugou smirked.

“Nah, this is all about you, lie back down.” She did as she was told, crawling her way up the bed and waiting for him to follow after.

Bakugou wasted no time - he could have savoured the beauty of her in all her glory, gaze at her wonder, but he wanted to touch her more than anything. He crawled up the bed, sucking at her skin, nipping underneath her breast and sucking at the edge of her collarbone. All the while she hummed her approval, nipping into his shoulder briefly as they came face to face once more.

Moving his hand down between them, grazing against her most sensitive bundle of nerves, her body arching into his touch. He smirked, the briefest of touches could have her responding, he wondered what more could do for her. When he guided his length inside her, Uraraka’s hands went to his shoulders, pulling their bodies together.

There was only the sound of Uraraka’s panting in the room, but it couldn’t last - Bakugou knew himself too well, he wouldn’t be able to stay still for much longer. He moved his hips slow at first, gaining speed and arching into every thrust to get the best noises out of Uraraka. She obviously hated that she was getting louder and louder. But his ego sure as fuck loved it.

“Katsuki,” she mewled, nails clamped down into his back, raking up as his thrusts came in quicker succession. “Yes! Yes!” she cried, her hand on the back of his neck.

She pulled him down, kissing him roughly, and he enjoyed every fucking second of it. She bit into his bottom lip when she got excited. Bakugou couldn’t help himself, he rocked in harder, taking up the back of her knee. Uraraka arched her back, panting a little harder than even before.

In her movements, he was finally able to look at her without the overwhelming urge to take her. There were scars that littered her skin, some old, some new, following the curves of her waist and hips. Her breasts were round, much like the rest of her, and tempting as everything else - Bakugou kissed down her neck to take one of her nipples between teeth, just to have her push into him again. It worked to perfection, her breast rising beautifully into his mouth, and her hips bucking into his own when he gave a harder thrust. She was perfect to understand, to love and hold in a single moment.

“Ah!” Uraraka said suddenly, her body recoiling in a single beat. Bakugou’s eyes snapped to hers, watching her face contort in discomfort. He pulled away slightly, letting her body fall to where she needed, but never leaving the warm depths between her thighs. Uraraka sighed, laying back into the sheets and looking up at Bakugou with pinker cheeks than usual. He wanted to smile, but he with the sudden halt on everything, he wasn’t sure if the passion had fallen to its wake.

“Shit, are you okay?” he asked, hand ghosting over her side. Uraraka’s hand went to the side of Bakugou’s face, palm to his cheek and guiding him to look back at her.

“I’m fine,” she nodded, “just take it a little slower right now,” she said, a little nervous with a soft laugh to ease her discomfort of their eyes meeting.

“You sure?” he asked once more.

“Yeah,” she replied, Bakugou once again moving his hips, a slow roll to gauge her reaction. Uraraka’s head fell back into the pillow, hand tight in his bicep. “Yes, like that,” she approved, and he smirked.

Bakugou bent onto his elbows, arms snaking behind her back and propping her up into his arms. Uraraka squeaked, the sighing as she sunk down onto his length.

“What are you doing?” she asked, all the while, rocking herself back and forth. Bakugou grit his teeth, breathing out a moan into her chest before looking up at her with a satisfied grin.

“I can’t do all the work, round face,” he said. She leaned down, hands either side of his face, kissing him in a slow, deliberate manner - making them both savour it.

Everything was slow, Uraraka’s pace, soft strides to ease her into it - or perhaps it was the way he hissed everytime she moved, liking the way he sounded, much like he had done to her. Then, she gained confidence and speed, hips jerking in a quicker pace, before she just tried to gain satisfaction by any means possible. She was glorious.

He could feel her unwinding, with every move, and every bounce back onto his cock, he could feel her walls clamping down around him. Whenever she moved down upon him, he’d trust him, making her jump a little in his lap. Before either of them knew it, Uraraka cried out, clutching Bakugou to her chest, hands winding into his hair as she panted out moan after moan.

She sounded like a symphony - gorgeous at her ecstasy. Bakugou watched her move on top of him, her hands stroking through his hair as her eyes looked into his own. He’d never had sex like it - something that made him feel understood, that every movement, all the pace, it was perfect to know who they were between them. Bakugou never wanted to watch anyone else on top of his cock ever again, not unless they looked as beautiful as she did.

In a moment, between his utter wonder and the growing need to come completely undone, Uraraka pulled hard into Bakugou’s hair. He hissed and Uraraka moaned, arching into his new position wonderfully well and he wanted to just take everything he had left in him and please her to every extent he could.

Two could play at that game. He may not have been able to move as fast as he could have liked, but he knew she’d not protest to it. With his hand moving up her back, he took a fistful of her hair and pulled, her neck exposed to him, and fuck he felt hungry for it. His mouth descended upon it, sucking and kissing at her throat, feeling the vibrations of every moam against his tongue. He loved it, and Uraraka knew he enjoyed it too much - especially with every thrust he added to make her close to her next orgasm.

“No fair,” she hissed. Bakugou thrust into her again, and she moaned, pulling at his hair once more, but it was much lighter than it once had been.

“All’s fucking fair game,” he smirked, feeling Uraraka’s hand on his thigh. He thought she may need to lay back down when her finger suddenly bound into his leg, making him jerk upwards into her. She moaned, biting her lip and smiling down at him. “Fuck!” Bakugou groaned, looking back at her.

“All’s fucking fair game,” she repeated his words. Bakugou bit his lip, thrusting into her again, watching as she circled her hips down onto him again.

“If you weren’t injured, I’d -”

“You’d what?” she replied with a smirk, and between his heart bounding like a drum, and his head screaming, he knew he couldn’t stop himself.

“Fuck it,” Bakugou muttered, pushing his weight onto Uraraka’s and onto her back once more, thrusting in one long and hard motion. It wasn’t until after that he thought of his mistake - his lust getting the best of him. Uraraka’s hand went to his ass, gripping in hard with her nails enough to make him hiss. He looked at her face, lip between teeth and chest heaving for more.

“I’ll tell you if it hurts, just keep going,” she begged, forcing his hips closer. When he moved inside her again, she guided him in with a hard pull on his ass. It was harder than he would have, but she enjoyed it all the same - eyes closed and body calling to his like they were magnets that hated to be separated.

His mind told him to go slow, to make sure it all lasted how he needed it to - but he’d be damned if he didn’t chase the sound of her desperate moans to get his own satisfaction. Her next orgasm came over her quickly, her teeth went into his shoulder to suppress the sound, but it did little to help, other than to spur Bakugou on. Her legs went over his hips, heels at the base of his thigh and urging his ass forward with every move he made.

Intimacy was lost on Bakugou, he never liked how he felt being within it, but Uraraka made it all different somehow. When her hand snaked down his arm from his shoulder blade, her caught her wrist, holding it down onto the bed. And he found himself wanting. Like he’d never wanted something so badly in his life. His pressure on her slim wrist went slack, and his fingers slid into her palm, binding into the gaps of her fingers. Uraraka held on tight, their joined hands going over her head as Bakugou continued to stride within her.

She made sure they kissed every few seconds, whining until she could kiss him again, becoming louder and louder to get him to silence her with one of his bruising kisses. Uraraka was using him like a puppet, but he didn’t care - she was heaven to be inside, her body a wonderful combination of sweat and silk and his body was to blame for half of it.

“Oh god,” Uraraka cried, her free hand back in his hair, body moving against his again. He could feel her hardened nipples against his chest with every movement, and he wanted to put his mouth all over her body again. Taste every inch of her. Uraraka whined, hand on his cheek, nails piercing skin behind his ear and on his jaw. “I’m gonna -”

She didn’t even get to finish her sentence, her release rocking through her in waves that made her hips jerk over and over again until Bakugou was following her. He held tight to her hand, the other was gripping tight into her thigh - unable to bring himself to move as he could his release come and go.

“Fuck,” he panted into her chest, trying hard to let her go, but it was no use, he’d drown in her skin before he’d let her move an inch.

Eventually, he had to - lying beside her as she moved to be on his chest. She was practically asleep by the time he’d shifted into his spot next to her.

“You good?” he asked her.

“Hm?” she replied, “Yeah, yeah. Just tired.”

Bakugou shifted, aiming to leave. “Do you need me to -”

“If you move, I’ll kill you,” she warned, hands tight on his body as she held him close.

“Fucking fine, round face,” he said, letting her rest back onto his chest. He smiled, his own exhaustion following hers.

~*~*~

When he woke up, there was hair in his mouth. He threw his head back, spitting it out with a scowl and wincing when it flopped wetly onto his neck. A heavy weight lay on his side, numbing his arm under the pressure. His eyes struggled to open fully, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the hazlenut hair he was very much used to.

Uraraka.

Holy fucking shit.

Bakugou groaned and slowly pulled his arms back only to stop dead still when she shifted. He waited, tense and holding his breath until she settled back down, soft snores puffing out onto his arm.

He tried again, and after a very slow escape over the next several minutes, he was free. Slipping from the sheets he staggered into the bathroom, took one look in the mirror at his neck covered in hickies, his hair a fucking mess and cheeks flushed - and barely recognised himself. There was no way his eyes should look that bright, or lips that swollen.

He’d had sex with his partner.  

He splashed cold water on himself, and contemplated drowning himself in the sink. He could do this - it was just a moment of passion right? Happened all the time - or so he’d seen in all his mums shitty romcoms.  

He could still feel her breathe against his face, hear the way she’d whispered his name. Feel her nails down his chest and the soft whimpers of her release echoing in his ear.

How the fuck was he meant to work like this?  They were going to have to… to talk about this.

Holy fucking shit was right.  

~*~*~

Bakugou hated quiet, and even with the sound of his pacing footsteps, it was all too much. He had half a mind to wake Uraraka from her sleep, or possibly just sit in her room to hear the fucker snore. Instead, he waited until the pot of coffee had fully brewed and made himself a mug. The rest of it waited for Uraraka to crawl her ass out of bed. It had been nearly two hours since he left, and she was still sound asleep.

He always knew she was a heavy sleeper, but it was like trying to wake to goddamn dead. He had went through most of her things, trying to entertain himself before he had to leave for work, and no matter how much noise he unintentionally made - she stayed in bed. The light of morning was peeking through her curtains, drawing a veil over most of her apartment and casting a glow on Uraraka that was criminal. Gorgeous was not the right word to describe her.

On his way to the kitchen hours before, he picked up his trail of clothes, putting on some as he walked past Uraraka’s. He was unsure of what the fuck to do with hers - was he supposed to pick them up? They were partners and it had been a habit before, long nights and untidy people tend to amount of a clean up when nights were done. But this was different. A line was crossed. They were more than partners.

Regret was something that was new to Bakugou, but he knew this wasn’t it. He stood in her kitchen and came to the conclusion that this was not something he’d ever regret. As far as the sex went, it was fucking great. It might’ve been the best he’d ever had. Maybe it was because he knew her, understood what her reactions could be and learning all new things about someone that he cared for. He wanted her to feel as good as he did.

Yet, what else would come of this? Was there a relationship there? Was he even ready for something like that? It wasn’t like he had one before to gauge what the fuck this even meant. His personality and overall work ethic was a pretty hard thing to deal with for most people. Uraraka was one of the only people that knew him, and still stuck around after. There was a trust between them, a fit that neither of them expected.

What did she even want? Was this all just heat of the moment?

He was about two seconds from marching into her room and finally dragging her out of bed when his phone chimed.

Shitty Hair: U need to come into work. Boss wants to see u

Bakugou rolled his eyes, gripping tight to his phone as he contemplated his next step. He took the remnants of his coffee and poured it down the sink, washing the mug briefly before putting on the remainder of his clothes. When he fixed his jacket over his shoulders, he stopped and saw into Uraraka’s room. She was curled into her sheets peacefully, and Bakugou grit his teeth.

When Kirishima texted again, Bakugou didn’t have time.

He left her apartment and went straight into work.

They could talk later.

He just wasn’t ready yet.

[artgurusauce]

Haven’t posted here in a while since the guidelines changed but I thought “Fuck it why not” since this is so huge.

Yup just go ahead and throw some shitty google translate kanji up there you dumb American hahaha Seriously tho I was just too lazy to do dialogue in english ;w; Anyways, been scrolling through the Haudion tags on here for the past couple of days and while I already have a Haudion fic on my plate and I'd rather not do 3 fics at once, I got inspired after watching "A Silent Voice" by Kyoto Animation on Netflix after being recommended to me by several people (Yes, I am aware of the arson attack btw, that was mostly why I was getting recommended). So I decided to make a special secluded AU thing here and share it with y'all. Not gonna elaborate on this further so please don't ask me. You guys are all free to write something of your own out of this if you want, though. But this little binch is just too tired and too overworked -▽- Now I did a doodle page of Gladion and Hau as Shoko and Iida but after clicking around on here and AO3 some I decided to make a new and more original doodle sheet. Gonna go over each doodle one by one, starting from left and going to right and also starting at the top and going to the bottom. Hopefully it's not too confusing lol. Context: This AU essentially is just "If Glad was a greaser" but also "Hau is blind/deaf". Gladion is a gang member, straight up. Not much to comment on, other than he is in constant conflict with an opposing gang that sometimes trespasses on his turf (The Skull Gang). He is in fact an ex-member of this particular gang, but quit after a huge falling out in which he actually left the leader with a scar on his face. Unfortunately, I didn't get to build much on his background for this since I wanted to keep the focus on the relationship. But you can fill in the blanks. Hau is basically a Helen Keller type deal, and while he can speak it is slow and stunted and sounds very awkward. Usually when talking to someone he doesn't know, he will attempt to sound out words while using his hands to communicate. He has a special sign language he performs by tracing and moving his fingers a certain way along someone's palm. 1.) Greaser Glad Reread an AO3 fic that was Haudion drabbles. I came across a chapter titled "Seven Kisses" and a particular scene was rather interesting. After reading the comments, I found someone who I was actually familiar with and has sent me fan art before talking in-depth about a possible Haudion Greaser AU and I thought it was a pretty cool idea (Obligatory shout out to @the-kawaiifan you should totally check out her page). So this first doodle is just concept art basically. I looked up Greaser fashion and I do in fact have my own Southside Serpent leather jacket so it was pretty easy for me to draw up lol. 2-3.) First Meeting I would imagine they first meet when Hau is being mugged on Gladion's turf by Skull Gang grunts. Of course, Gladion is mostly just beating their asses for trespassing on his turf, and he drives them away pretty quickly. At first he mistakes Hau for a girl as he is rather small and feminine looking with long hair. At first he warns "her" to leave but he quickly notices it seems that "she" can't hear him. Hau eventually manages to communicate with Gladion and figure out what happened to him and he speaks aloud while tracing on his hand to thank him for his help. Gladion is off-put by this and quickly realizes Hau is actually a boy and while he feels embarrassed and shameful he shakes it off. (Dialogue in number 3 translates to "Thank You") 4.) Chibi Smoking Sucks Just a cute doodle of the boys. Hau don't like the smell of smoke. 5.) You're Beautiful Now I've been taught a lot about how blind and deaf people work and the thing I hear most often is that their other senses are extremely heightened as a result of their other senses being cut off. Basically, since less attention is put on those senses, way more attention is put on others. And in Hau's case, I'm sure that's probably double the case. Just a generic scene of one of the first times Gladion realizes he's totally in love with this cute clueless boy. He's beaten up (Fill in your own context by whom and why, personally I'd insert a Skull Gang beat down here lol) pretty badly and Hau touches his face and basically examines him and he just says out loud that he thinks Gladion is beautiful. This pretty much has greaser boy totally head over heels for him buuut he hides these feelings cause he feels like he'd just be taking advantage of Hau. (Dialogue in this one translates to "You are beautiful") 6.) Obligatory Rain Snuggle Poor poor Hau is not very popular with other kids in his neighborhood. On a particular day going on his way to visit his best friend Gladion he's cornered and beaten up by a bunch of jerkwads in his class. They steal his jacket when they see it's about to rain and leave him there. He keeps on his way to visit his friend even in the pouring rain and starts to catch a cold. By the time Glad finds him he's pretty much blubbering incomprehensibly aside from Gladion's name and sobbing profusely. Gladion offers him his jacket and lets Hau trace on his hand to tell him what happened. He just hugs Hau and takes him inside somewhere to get him warm. Gee, what a nice gangster. Is his heart warming up lately? 7.) Confession Time Obligatory confession scene. This is pretty basic. After learning from Hau how to speak in his special signing language and eventually getting over that god darn insecurity of his he confessed to Hau by tracing on his hand. Hau is shocked initially and Gladion immediately regrets it. He decides it'd be best if he just went away. He tries to leave and Hau trips trying to follow him and begging him to come back and Hau confesses he's super in love with this dumb greaser boy. They kiss and hug and all that good stuff. Happily ever after, yay~ Or is it...? (⚆_⚆) 8.) Blind/Deaf Hau I tried looking around at 1950s-1960s wear that might look cute on him, but I ended up half assing on the clothing for this one. Hope it doesn't look too out of place lol. I imagine since he's blind wearing his long ass hair up is probably unnecessary. Not much to comment on here, tbh. Ain't he cute? .w. 

I haven’t slept since yesterday when I started editing this bout to pass out now bye

[unproduciblesmackdown]

you said random number so.. gimme 5, 17, 24, 26, 38, and 43

#epic thank you!!!! sorry this is so long, gang, but you know me. press J if you have that keyboard shortcut option

5)favorite fics?

soph nothingunrealistic’s!! click the link & peruse any of the dozen gifts to this world on ao3. also just go right to her writing tag

17)a fandom you wish more people were in/you had more people to talk to about?

well i don’t Really have an answer for this one, but just yesterday it was once again time to talk abt how jaclyn moriarty’s 4-book ashbury/brookfield YA series is a lot of fun and unusual in good ways, but like, i guess what with being published throughout the aughts and like, not being super obscure but also not being explosively popular, and idk maybe they were also more Known in australia than the US, and, idk, but there’s not exactly what you’d call a Fandom online, or even very many traces of one. and i just like to mention the series as Fun To Read because they are very lively and focus on girls and have a real variety of Girl Characters (and also some boy characters who are also varied and fun but that’s just a bonus) and in particular i like to talk about how the third book has a really Unusual Choice Of Protagonist (the unfun unpopular Best Grades by-the-book overachiever etc etc etc nerd girl, kinda having the personality that ppl misinterpret alana beck’s personality to be lol, like something of a killjoy goody-two-shoes lol, but also with that earnestness and drivenness that alana has as well)......and the format of each book is Epistolary, but in different and creative ways each time, and it’s fun how like, the characters who are telling the story (the ones whose letters are used and etc) rotate with each book [tho emily and lydia are Storytellers in the 2nd And 4th books] and it’s very neat how like, you do get that sense that just b/c someone’s not being Focused On as much from different people’s perspectives doesn’t mean they aren’t still existing and present and doing stuff and having their own story, even when that’s not being mentioned by whoever’s writing down the events that we’re reading. we love that sentiment. anyways i just like to always Promote them.

24)who are you at the end of this decade?

hmmm!! i mean in many ways i am who i have been the whole time but yknow, 2009 - 2019 was a tumultuous period. i was always furiously trying to think through Who Am I As A Person for various reasons, even though like, when you’re in ur mid-teens that’s always In Progress rather than there being a really set answer to be discovered, and for a while it was a lot of frustration with myself all “why are you like [this], why can’t you do [that] right,” etc etc. but eventually i had like, a better frame of reference for a lot of what was going on, and even why i never quite felt like i had a great sense of Who I Am and What I Like and etc in the first place, and more understanding and respect for myself lol. even now it’s like, yknow i’m ~self-consious~ in ways often lol and i’ll sometimes Use that to be like, okay try to improve [this thing] about yourself!! and yknow on the one hand i feel like stuff i’ve been Working On for years Has paid off in ways, but then recently it’s like......okay hang on but like, it’s not a bad thing to like, have some traits that maybe aren’t gonna be seen as “perfect” or might be annoying or yknow, your Demeanor and Vibe isn’t always like, the most important thing to focus on lol or something where like, oh being sweet & saintly & coming across as utterly pleasant to everyone always gets to be The Objective Ideal. like, i’m opinionated and can be argumentative and sometimes impatient?? like, there’s a balance here between “good to be trying to Improve Yourself always or whatever lol” and “but also everyone is People with Traits and Different Personalities and everyone doesn’t have to just sand themselves down into an edgeless smooth sphere” and like, sure it’s like “haha i’m a bit more temperamental than i’d like still” but also i sure sympathize w/ the fact that like, oof, depression makes it tricky sometimes! and i do pretty okay at like, being Aware of when my mood is cursed and trying to be as chill about it as poss! or like, “haha wish i was better at conversation lmao” but yknow also understanding that like.....i’m just kinda Not great at it and that’s what’s Natural for me and like, again, a balance between “trying to be easier to talk to, lol” and “being okay with the fact that i’m not super easy to talk to and most ppl aren’t very easy for me to talk to either, lol”

im trying to be a bit less cagey lol which i guess might not be the first word someone might use to describe me for a variety of reasons, But......and but then also, i just like, for me there is no simple Be Yourself, Just Talk Naturally As U Would conversation mode lol, but you know. it’s hardly a pressing issue, and at the same time, like, sometimes when i find it hard to talk to people it’s like “well this is just you needing to Be Nicer” or whatever, or like, well you’re just not used talking to Anyone so like, push through it, and then it takes me a while to realize like, well no you just don’t love talking to them, lmao......and at the same time i’m Really slow to realize when people *do* actually enjoy talking to me, lmao, i am just not used to it And used to people like, not really being super interested in interacting with me even if they think i’m alright lol. lord! so i’m still slightly surprised whenever Anyone likes me, but also like, then again there’s sort of always these repeated scenarios where it’s like [Glum Trombone Noise] i’m also the recipient of various ppl’s various contempt for various reasons........which like, i sure don’t Absorb that as like “way 2 go, you deserve that” but also like, sure also never is the most fun experience of your life. but i have a way more solid sense of the fact that like, i don’t inherently deserve that, and an understanding of Why people will be Like That sometimes, and that’s all been acquired knowledge from the whole journey of this decade lol

also like, i have always been and continue to be like, Basically A Cat lol.....cats-sonas for everyone, ___ the ___ cat, But Seriously Folks........like, oh, there’s a lot of ppl and/or noise around?? unless i have chosen to put myself in that situation for fun, i’m probably gonna be finding whatever quiet / distant corner to hide out in and try to remain as undetected as possible.......kinda wary about interacting with people sometimes, though then also, i like to be friendly w/ strangers (if they’re friendly with me) and won’t necessarily mind spontaneous interactions but only if it’s Plausibly Expected in the situation, and even then, i might just prefer that Nobody Talk To Me......and i’ve yet to be Really comfortable in a group of ppl if i’m there *with* that group lmao, like, i don’t like to take the lead or compete for attention or anything and just kinda will try to do my own thing on the outskirts, whereas if i’m by myself it’s just like, i feel a lot more comfortable and like i can just do whatever lmao..........and also i don’t like to make noise lol. unless again, it’s deliberate, and it’s Fun. like at a concert? i will be the death of whatever nerd like, wants it to be like a solemn “listening to a record” occasion or wants everyone to yell out complete sentences if a performer asks an Arena full of people How Are You Doing 2nite or whatever. i’m gonna yell!!! anyways. idk. i am always like “oh i am Very Much [this way], except for all the times i am totally [the would-be Opposite way]”........i can’t really opt out of having Anxious Qualities and that’s alright, even though it does get in the way of things sometimes for sure. like, c’est la vie!!! i understand why i am like this, and that like, while for my own sake i can try to hold my own hand here and encourage myself to be a little bolder, it’s totally fine that like, i have Problems and Difficulties. 

i’m also at like, maybe the lowest levels of Impending Dread that i’ve had since i was like, 8 or some shit lmao............like again kind of a Wild Decade and one where like, it was totally all like “wow am i even gonna make it to [a few yrs in the future] -> [a year in the future] -> [half a year from now]” aaand it hasn’t been a full year yet since i was last thinking like “lmfao oof i might not be alive by __, who knows!!” but even while that was going on it was at least an improvement from the times i thought i might like, hmm hope i don’t off myself. and like, this is probably the first Start Of A Year in like. well possibly the past decade lmao, where yknow, it hasn’t felt quite as dire. i mean im not really out here a cockeyed optimist about anything, and like, i’m aware that things are always a little tenuous and there’s other factors i’m always nervous about, but That’s nothing new, and i’m kinda more like, neutral about the future rn lol? feeling less Dread and Doom is new-ish lmao and like, allowing that yknow, despite how crappy the past decade has been re: how i felt in my Outlook, there’s been a bunch of surprising Good Things to come along, and i totally allow for the fact that that could easily continue to happen. having Less(ened) Bad Feelings about Things might not = Absolutely Thriving but i appreciate it!! i also try to be appreciative lmao. like, what with the dread and doom & (hope i don’t die this year, i guess,) feelings, it’s wildly hard nowadays for me to like, anticipate stuff in a ~fun~ way or at all, but yknow when anything nice, even a really small / unspectacular / ordinary moment and/or detail, is being experienced by me, i try to enjoy that. i like to be Appreciative. and i think i’m also sort of like, sharing more of myself than i’ve probably gotten to or felt capable of doing in the past, and i appreciate that a lot too. like, it can be really Depressing for sure to think of like, hmm i haven’t had the chance to like, feel in control of things and like things are Totally Fine and i feel Totally Okay & like i’m enjoying everything, and i can choose to pursue [things i might enjoy], and maybe i Won’t have that chance? [another glum trombone noise] but like. i appreciate the good experiences that i Do and Have gotten so far. and the fact i’ve ever been in situations to connect with people and enjoy things the ways that i can and like, it’s really nice that My Presence in other ppl’s lives, even as just like Some Online Rando re: some ppl lmao, has had some positive effect for them or even just been enjoyed is like, wow, this is pretty great lol.........not sure where i was taking this tangent but like, i am someone who appreciates this a lot.

hmm i am also a passionate person at the end of this decade lmao!!!! that has definitely always been true. i am Of That Temperament. it is funny b/c like, the fact that i am A Motormouth Actually But Often Not Saying Anything In The Least To People, they think i’m like, of this very mild disposition and Not someone with strong opinions that they will launch into, or else i would have been doing that already........but you know!!! here i am online, fully able to just dive into things and start talking about whatever for one million years. and i sure latch onto stuff in a Big Way sometimes, which is why anyone follows me at all lol, b/c if you like [whatever particular content] and i am just all about that too, it’s a beneficial situation for us both i guess lmao. i can get really excited and focused about stuff, obviously, and i sure Also Obviously like to explore the emotional aspects of things. which is a vague thing to say lmfao but you all know what i mean!!! it continues to be the only reason i draw lmaooo like i draw so much and like, Making Fanart And Sharing It Online has i think also been a journey of this decade for me, and i really only draw a) exactly that fanart that i feel like making, and b) what i feel like making is always also probably abt Feelings somehow, like the Three Emotions: kissing (aka gay), crying (sad), and angry (angry)........great news if you want to see the stuff i already happen to be drawing lol!!! bad news i guess if you were hoping i’d draw anything but whatever i end up wanting to draw. i cannot be diverted. and i don’t even draw for its own sake lol like, i’ve always doodled for fun and all that, but like, ive never been a “wow i want to make my own __ someday” or whatever, and if i’m trying to draw something which is anything other than [the exact thing i might feel like drawing] it is Such a chore that like, i just don’t do it except for like, total Exceptions. except exceptions lol. don’t ask!! anyways why did i get on that drawing tangent there........yeah it’s definitely lucky that i’ve been giving myself that Drawing Experience so that i can connect w/ ppl that way, cuz i’m godawful at like, necessarily providing other stuff lol Or at being the one to Make Connections Happen otherwise......and also of course sometimes it is easier to convey/communicate something via drawing. woohoo!!

anyways yeah i’m a bit excitable lol and i sure guess i’ve got that Chaotique energy at times, for better or worse lol........like sometimes my Contribution can be like, just an absolute wild card thrown into the pile, or just like, maybe adding some Boost to a situation that other people can run with if they so choose. just throw things out there sometimes and enjoy when other ppl find that fun lmao

what else is there about me??? lol.......oh yeah i’m always sort of an Office Goofaround (not actually in an office ever, though). like, when ppl Don’t have that sense of Collaborative Humor where like, if someone does something a bit silly u just roll with that bit, or if god forbid they have Exhausting Cishet Guy humor where they think everything is about Dry, “Intelligent” Sarcasm and that being “funny” is about making yourself look like the coolest or cleverest person there who Wins the Center Of Attention spot?? it’s like, eff that, where are my Get Silly gang. also puns are funny but also only b/c they are silly. you have to really lean into it lol. 

well anyways!!!! and when i am asked to talk about myself i can be very extensive and yet not necessarily cover everything. here we are

26)favorite look you had?

my look hasn’t changed too much! Tees n Jeans (or shorts? or jorts? lol) are pretty much my thing altho you Know i have at times added in A Layer, or even accessories.......as always, part of the first few years of the decade for me was the whole “aha, yeah okay i’m trans” process, but before that i wasn’t ever really trying to be more “””””””””fashionable”””””””””” than the tees n jeans type of look anyway lmao, and even nowadays like, i have some Wardrobe Items that like, ppl might consider ”androgynous” or whatever when cis dudes wear them, like leggings or a v-neck sweater........really some of the only significant Changes was getting binder/s eventually (by 2012?? ugh idk) and also like, by 2011 i cut my hair relatively short, and from there on i just like, every year went “ugh god i need it to be shorter” and even now i’m like, hmm, do i want it shorter or is this fine?? but also i’m somewhat limited styling-wise b/c i just continually cut it myself in a bathroom mirror, true chaotic. and! i’ve been like, god i wish i had a baseball cap that’s just like, solid [my fave blue] or yknow, black or something, or idk. one that i like. and also someday it would be nice to like, not only have an updated prescription of lenses but also Multiple Glasses Frames to choose from, even though my current ones are alright still lol.......this is me just talking abt my past looks and how i’d like to potentially update my look lmao i did Not answer the question but, as usual, i also don’t have a great direct answer lol

38)a prediction you had for this decade that came true?

lol this was not a decade where i was ever looking ahead to 2020 and making any assumptions about this Block Of Time as a whole.......i mean like, i was Really starting to suspect byyyy 2012 for sure that like, i could not like, be able to exist And have my parents be in my life at all lol and by 2013 it was just like. increasing confirmation of that. and i last saw / spoke to them prior to me just effing out of there at the end of 2015. snaps for me

43)an important relationship (of any kind) you had?

well a couple i appreciated that might not be obvious were pretty brief and fairly impersonal lol. so in 2015 i had this Nightmare Job for five whole months which was obviously miserable in most ways, but there was this other guy who wasn’t even a Coworker, we just had the same job and had similar routes of Stores to go to, so we would run into each other a lot of mornings, and he would talk to me and i’d talk to him and he was totally good-humored about everything and that was helpful lmao b/c it’s great to have Someone you enjoy seeing. i also struck up a rapport with a baked-goods stocker at one particular store, and that could be an enjoyable 14 seconds. it was a godawful job lmao and like, Any pleasantness at all / decent treatment from other people was very helpful

also at this other job the next year which was a lot less hellish, there was this customer lady who like, i can’t remember at what point she started talking to me but yknow it got to be that if we’d run into each other she’d kind of update me on her life. and she would be like “sorry i’m talking to you, a stranger, about all this stuff all the time, but my life is a mess and i don’t really have anyone to talk to” and i would be like, lmfao mood, do not even worry about it, and yknow this was someone i only ran into usually once every few weeks at my job, and could only listen to for however long, but she was Going Tf Through It all the time and as much as i am a chatterbox who will go on for a century about myself b/c i can’t be concise abt anything ever, i’m also decent at being in Listening Mode lmao or yknow, i was like No Truly i don’t mind you venting, and also yknow, i’m like well i know how much it sucks to have Nobody to talk to about Big Problems. and i am this random restaurant worker and if i’m one of the only people this lady can talk to, you can bet i’m going to listen lol.......and she was really goin through it all One Thing After Another and yknow i’d catch her two weeks later and she’d be all like, well [this situation] has gotten worse, or This One Problem is over but now New Problem has replaced it, etc, and a whole issue that i got updated on was like lol. she had this boyfriend who she’d kinda mention early on when she was talking abt trying to find a job, or losing a new-but-terrible job and once again being back in that Job Hunt Stress, and idk like. i just sort of have decent Relationship Instincts lmfao of like “hmm this doesn’t sound great” but like, a month or two later she’s straightup Married to this dude, and i’m like oh congrats :) and then when a month or two after That she’s talking about how like, she’s maybe having Job Probs again and her now-husband is really giving her shit for like, not having found a new one yet, i’m like internally all [ :)))))) Not Surprised :))))))) ] but i’m like. yknow you Sympathize n Validate but if you just up and tell someone who’s being treated real bad like “you are being treated terribly, this person is acting terribly” then they might just want to defend them like oh it’s not That bad, or minimize it, and blame themselves for making their terrible partner “look bad”.......and by extension when she once was in our restaurant With said husband and introduced us i was like, just getting further confirmation abt this dude’s shittiness from his Immediate Vibe lmao like....whenever i feel uncomfortable enough in someone’s presence in a [not just universal level of Anxiety] way, it’s like, that instinct is pretty reliable & accurate lol.....but i had to pretend Not to hate him or act too standoffish towards him lmao cuz like!!! i figured i could “get away with it” but yknow, this lady had already said how isolated she was and the husband sure seemed Controlling and like, yknow, if you act like you don’t Like the shitty partner or said shitty partner catches wind of you maybe telling this person that “hey your partner is being shitty” then it’s all, them telling their partner “don’t go around that person who is so obviously Against me >:(” and like. yknow i figured as Random Restaurant Employee this dude wasn’t about to be super on guard about me but i still was not wanting to risk it but luckily i only met him the one time and only had to casually pretend i didn’t think he was shit that one time. and anyhow! soon enough the lady is talking to me about how she thinks getting married to him was a mistake but like, again, she was real isolated and didnt have family or friends or ppl in the area to talk to, and like, yknow she would be pretty sure her husband was cheating on her but of course He was the one all like, wanting to be controlling and invade her privacy and accuse Her of cheating on him, and i’m like, internally screaming but again yknow, i’m just letting her vent to Anyone (me) and sympathizing. and iirc her talking about her “uh oh my husband sucks” was like, i had come back from this delivery so we were in the parking lot lol and she was so upset about all of it and like, “sorry i’m just this random person talking to you for twenty minutes in a parking lot and crying lol” and i’m like. i mean yknow if the only person you can vent to about this terrible situation is me, this random person in a parking lot, absolutely i am glad to do it, even though i would’ve done it anyways lol...........and i was so mad at our General Manager this one time lmao b/c. yknow it’s a couple weeks later and wouldn’t you know it, The Lady is really stressed b/c her husband was yelling at her and broke a window in their apartment, and the Cost Of Repairs added to their monthly rent meant they might not be able to make that rent, and she was in that crappy situation that gets pulled on Tenants Who Probably Don’t Have Much Money, where you’re supposed to get 5 Days Notice or whatever when they’re like “get out b/c your rent is overdue” but you get that Notice on like, friday afternoon when your Last Day is supposed to be the following monday, and nobody is at the office all weekend, so obviously that’s not five days and it’s really only One Day and that Last Day that you’d even have a chance to talk to anyone, which is also a monday when you’d probably have work, and yknow, good luck finding help over the weekend, when probably ppl will just want to spend that time rushing to just pack their shit up and leave anyways.....ANYHOW it’s just some particular heinous bullshit and it was like, the saturday after it had happened to her, and i sympathized entirely b/c that had happened to me and i now lived in my car but i figured i wouldn’t bring that up lmfao.......and anyways i was sitting down with her to listen to her b/c it’s an Insanely Stressful Situation and again like, whenever she’d show up i’d let her talk to me abt her Problems for however long she felt like. and anyways of course eventually the one By-The-Books manager gives me shit all like “what are you doing daring to Sit Down and Not be doing restaurantly actions, ugh” and i’m like. i mean, unsurprising lecture to get lol, of course, but i was just so impatient like. well this person was having a crisis so i prioritized that above keeping the coffee stirrers fully stocked at all times, bite me. ENNYHOW and i didn’t see her for a minute after that and i Was a bit worried b/c like. of course i had every reason to be and she was just always looking so completely exhausted but then like, actually the last time i saw her she was actually more upbeat than ever b/c like! turns out that during an argument her husband had assaulted her and had been arrested. which is of course like. i was like oh i am completely sorry about that trauma but congratulations at this person being separated from you!!! and like, i wish i could have kept up with her beyond that, but i couldn’t, but like, that was the first Improvement in her life that i’d heard since i met her, and it was a way better last-thing-to-hear-from-her than her stressing out abt eviction thanks to her abusive husband breaking shit. and like, weird relationship lmao but!! idk i did feel lucky that i could be The One Person This Lady Gets To Talk With b/c like, god forbid she have absolutely nobody to talk to about this shit or treat her with any sympathy, even if it was just me, the rando she only got to see on occasion. and i hope she’s doing okay still! wish i knew for sure of course, but i’m glad i at least got to be there for her in a tiny way for a period of time and did eventually like, Know that she both knew that this was a bad person to be with, and got that Reason to be separated from him.

[your-iron-lung]

No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross 10

aka ‘The House That Dripped Blood’; available to read on AO3 HERE

Story Synopsis:  Some weird low-key occult parties start popping up that Steve can’t in good conscience ignore and takes it upon himself to investigate. Billy gets caught up in the consequences of his meddling, and isn’t it funny? For all the strange things the Upside Down has thrown his way, it’s werewolves that Steve has trouble accepting exist.

Chapter Word Count: 7927

Pairings: Eventual Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington

Genre: Supernatural/Drama/Horror-ish

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Next Chapter: 11

Notes: if you follow me you may have noticed i havent posted in a while- this is bc i spend all my time playing ffxiv instead of setting aside determined amounts of time to spend on writing/drawing and i have a bunch of artist alleys coming up that im ill prepared for and im terrible at budgeting UH YEP bad excuse but WHAT CAN YA DO here we are

(ive also set up a ko-fi account if you want to give drop me some tippy tips if u enjoy the word things i do) ((no pressure tho))

"Bigfoot."

Hopper leaned back in his chair; let it creak and groan under his weight until he knew it was at its limit, and then pushed it a little more. He studied the no-nonsense expression on the hunter before him, and intrinsically knew that the man was speaking truth.

"Bigfoot," the old man said again, speaking a little sterner than he had before once he recognized Hopper's amiable expression of disbelief. "I seen't him out in the woods just the other day."

The aging man had lumbered into the police station almost immediately after Hopper came in, bundled in some worn hunting gear that looked almost as old as he was. The deputies had offered to speak with him after hearing his initial claim, but they'd been refused when Callahan couldn't stop smirking. The old hunter had insisted on speaking with Hopper, who leaned forward now, taking the stress off of his chair to take a sip of the coffee Florence had brought in for him. He didn't look at the old man as he drank.

"So let me get this straight," Hopper began, setting his coffee aside to rub at his forehead, "you came in first thing in the morning worried about a missing friend of yours, but now you're telling me you're worried about Bigfoot."

"You know me, Jim," the hunter said, a slight hint of pleading desperation edging out of his voice. "You know I ain't some crazy old coot. I ain't seen Lamm in a long while, and yessir I'm worried 'bout him, but when I went out to his cabin to check on him I seen it: I seen Bigfoot!"

As incredulous as the claim was, Hopper believed him- not about it being Bigfoot, exactly, but he believed that the man had seen something out there in the woods, and it had the possibility of being that something he'd spent the last two weeks fruitlessly searching for.

Regardless, he didn't want to let the old hunter know he was taking him seriously. The last thing he needed was for his community to think he believed in this sort of nonsense, but people in town were going missing, and people he knew were getting hurt: if his only lead should turn up in the form of an old man believing he'd caught sight of an urban legend, then so be it. He'd follow it through, but he'd be subtle about it.

"You sure it wasn't just a trick of the light or something, Wes? You know your eyes aren't what they used to be," Hopper remarked casually, softening his voice to let him down easy. "And this isn't the first time Lamm's gone missing; you know he's one of those types of shut ins. Remember those weeks he was gone hunting 'vampires'? He's the kind of guy who lives in his own head more than he lives out here, he'll turn up again on his own time."

The hunter's lips twitched into a frown. "Alright, maybe Lamm is a little off kilter," he relented, averting his eyes for a second, "and maybe it weren't Bigfoot, but the tracks it left were huge 'n mighty, by God, and I ain't seen nothin' else like it before. If it weren't Bigfoot, then at the very least it had big feet, Jim, and I ain't never seen feet quite like 'em."

Interest piqued, Hopper became more attentive. "How's that?"

"Well, they was stretched out lookin', for one." The hunter paused, tilting his head slightly as he tried to recall the details of what he'd seen out in the woods. He held his hands up, spaced apart in an approximation of how long the prints he'd found had been. "Human lookin', almost, which is what had me thinkin' it coulda been Bigfoot. They weren't the tracks of somethin' native 'round here, and I only caught but the barest glimpse of it, but it was tall, Jim; taller'n you or I."

That sounded right; the prints he'd found and unsuccessfully tracked were, as the hunter said, 'huge 'n mighty' and matched the description of what he'd just been told. It didn't take an expert's opinion (though he had consulted one) to discern that the markings just weren't natural. Hopper set his mug of coffee aside and pulled out a notepad from one of his desk drawers. He uncapped a pen and held it to the page for a moment before writing down a few preliminary notes for himself on the top line.

The hunter cocked his head and leaned forward to look at what he was writing and said, "That don't look official."

"Because it's not; this one's just gonna be between us, alright?" Hopper said, looking up to meet Wesley's blue, watery eyes. He held the stare long enough to get his point across, waiting for a sign of affirmation before looking back to the notepad and pressing the tip of the pen to the paper. "Tell me where and when exactly you saw this 'Bigfoot' of yours."

The day was cold and grey at its start, with harsh, biting winds ushering in thick clouds that blocked out any hope of the sun ever making an appearance. Steve eyed the sky apprehensively as he made his way back to his car, wary of the way the clouds looked as though they might start dropping hail on him at a moment's notice. Billy feigned disinterest as Steve opened the rear passenger door and leaned in to shove the box of things he'd bought at the Hunting & Camping store into the backseat. Even with his vision obscured in part by the sunglasses he'd elected to wear, he didn't miss the strong look of annoyance that graced Steve's features when he came around to the driver's seat and entered the car with a pout.

"That guy give you a hard time or something?" Billy asked as Steve buckled in and put the BMW into reverse, turning in his seat to hastily jerk the car out of the parking lot. "Why do you look like someone shit in your cereal?"

Steve clicked his tongue. "He just kept asking what a 'kid like me' needed with a bunch of chains and rope and shit. My god, he just would not let it go, like he thought I was trying to build my own sex dungeon or something. Fucking annoying."

"You mean that's not what we're doing?" Billy asked, grinning a bit at the way Steve's face pinched up in disgust. "What'd you say?"

"I told him the truth; said it was to tie up a werewolf. 'It's a full moon tonight, y'know? Gotta tie 'em down or they go all crazy on you', I said to him, and you know what he said to me then?" Steve asked, speeding out of the little downtown shopping area Hawkins played host to and sounding every bit as gossipy as Carol did when she caught wind of a scandal.

"How the fuck would I?" Billy drawled, turning away from the conversation to watch the scenery pass by disinterestedly.

"He said, 'Damn fool kids will never learn'," Steve said, ignoring him. "'Damn fool kids will never learn', like, what the hell does that mean?"

Billy shrugged. "Who knows? As long as he accepted daddy's plastic then what does it matter?"

Steve clicked his tongue again in annoyance and rolled his eyes. "Fuck you."

Feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on, Billy declined to retort. They rode on in silence, the chains in the box Steve had bought clinking together softly in the backseat before the radio was finally turned on to mask the sound.

Regardless of whether or not Steve actually believed something was going to happen to Billy that night, he couldn't deny that the whole day leading up to that evening just felt… off. From meeting up with Billy earlier that afternoon to go by the camping store, to grabbing lunch together before heading over to the Henderson's house, it all felt wrong.

It was something Steve had difficulty pinpointing the origins of, but as they began work on clearing out enough space in the cellar for Billy to do whatever it was he thought he was going to do, he soon came to realize that the feeling of wrongness seemed to stem from Billy himself.

Few words could better describe Billy than 'annoying' or 'smart-mouthed', but he'd been uncharacteristically tight-lipped all day. He'd become a remarkably dull version of himself, and Steve wasn't sure quite how to handle that.

Usually one to argue and bite back at everything Steve said, when he'd begun dishing out instructions on how best to clear out some floor space in the cellar, Billy hadn't talked back to him a single time; merely lit a cigarette and blinked at him slowly, silently acknowledging what had been asked of him before getting on with it.

It was unsettling. Steve could almost say that he hated how submissive Billy was because of how used he'd gotten to the back-talk and smart-ass remarks Billy usually had ready for him, and though, yes, there were times he had wished for this kind of attitude from him, the silence and absolute subordination coupled with all of the other behavioral changes Billy was exhibiting were enough to set Steve on edge.

Billy kept tonguing the gaps in his teeth where they'd fallen out over the course of the week, and he never seemed to realize he wasn't alone. Sometimes he'd jump at the sound of Steve's voice, or shake his head and crease his brow in confusion when he turned around to see Steve moving stuff somewhere behind him, but arguably the worst part of it all was that he stank.

He'd tried to mask it with an overabundance of cologne that had nearly suffocated Steve when they began working in closer quarters, but buried beneath that was a hint of something that smelled awfully rotten. If he had to, Steve could liken it to the stench of the monster they'd encountered in the woods, but he chose not to, instead chalking it up to a severe case of nervous b.o. or something. The implications that the scents could be related bothered him too deeply to believe, and even then he wasn't sure he really wanted to know what the source of the smell was.

The stench of decay emanating from Billy's person was worrisome enough on its own, but with so much to do in order to get ready before sunset, Steve had a hard time figuring out where to primarily apply his focus: there were simply too many things going on for him to worry about one thing more than another.

The giant hole in the wall that Dart made to tunnel out of the cellar was his immediate concern, but Dustin had done a good job of hiding it from his mother by placing a tall shelf in front of it, essentially blocking it off. That didn't mean it wasn't entirely inaccessible, but Steve wasn't sure what more he could do about it. In all honesty, he'd forgotten about it until he'd tried to move the shelf aside and then found himself peeking into the eerie tunnel. He'd knocked over several things in his haste to put the shelf back in place, but Billy hadn't seemed to notice it, and if he didn't, maybe he wouldn't think to use it if- or when- he lost himself to whatever supernatural effects he was experiencing.

"Big if, though," Steve muttered aloud to himself. Turning away from the shelf, he looked over to where Billy was inspecting some old power tools, turning a nail gun over in his hands before setting it back in the box he'd pulled it out of. "So, are we good or what? This baby-proofed enough for you?" Steve asked, startling Billy out of whatever ruminations he'd been lost to.

Billy looked at Steve blankly, face impassive and emotionless. He frowned, and then looked around himself as though he'd forgotten where he was. When he spoke, his voice was monotone and devoid of his usual arrogance as he said, "I don't know, Harrington; is it?"

"You tell me, man, this was your idea." Steve watched as Billy returned his focus on the box of tools he'd originally been rummaging through. Picking up a hammer, Billy balanced its weight in his hands before gripping the handle tightly. Steve distrusted the look in Billy's eye as he held it. "What are you, a child? Quit rifling through their shit, put it back," he said.

Billy didn't reply or even acknowledge that he'd heard him. Ignoring Steve's demand, he stepped up to the abandoned work bench to splay his left hand out over the wood and lifted the ballpeen up.

"What the fuck are you doing? Put it down," Steve said again, his voice rising slightly in pitch when he understood what Billy was doing. He started towards him in an effort to stop him, but halted when the hammer was brought crashing down.

It missed his hand, but the force of the impact splintered the wooden table's surface. Steve gaped as Billy turned around, a cocky little smile turning up his lips.

"Someone could get hurt real bad down here if they weren't careful, huh, Harrington?" he said, a fierceness that Steve hated to admit he'd missed charging his voice. "But we've been real careful cleaning this shithole out, haven't we, pally?"

"You sick piece of shit, give me that," Steve snapped, snatching the hammer away from Billy's pliant grip. "Fuck you, Hargrove; you could've just said you wanted to move this shit out of here."

"Had you pegged as being more of a visual learner," Billy sneered as Steve threw the hammer back into the box of tools. "Your concern was touching, though, really."

"You're the one who came asking me for help, fuckface. Begged me, almost, if I'm remembering right. 'Oh, Steve, help me, I'm so scared of fake movie monsters!'"

Steve hadn't meant to rise to the taunt, but Billy's insufferable attitude had him stooping to his level as he hoisted the hefty box of tools in his arms and lugged them over to the stairway. Billy laughed dryly at Steve's mocking tone.

"We both wish that fucking thing had been fake," he said as Steve placed the box on the ground at the foot of the stairs beside the box of supplies he'd bought earlier. They were both quiet for a moment, their attempt at a conversation dying as quickly as it had been brought on.

"Only one thing left to do then," Steve said morosely.

Billy blinked and turned to face the stairway, eyes rising slowly up to where the cellar doors were propped open wide. Steve felt the guilt of having to lock him in prematurely and had to remind himself that he wanted to be locked in.

"Better hop to it then, Harrington," Billy said lowly, lips curling back into a familiar grin, but without all his teeth in place to flesh it out, Steve found the display to be more unsettling than annoying. "Let's get this sex dungeon set up."

Steve grimaced. "Not even in your wildest dreams, Hargrove."

"Nothing's off the table in my dreams, pretty boy." Billy breathed out a small laugh at the disgusted look on Steve's face, but the grin he'd been displaying slowly fell away. "Is it getting dark yet?"

"Uh, kind of, but the sun hasn't set yet," Steve replied, stepping up into the stairwell to check the status of the sky. It was as dull and grey as it had been all day, the overcast weather acting as a harbinger for the snowfall the local meteorologist had foretold was coming. "If you took off those fucking sunglasses you'd be able to tell."

"These are for your benefit as much as mine," Billy snapped, frowning suddenly.

"Yeah, okay, whatever that means," Steve said dismissively as he began to fish out the cords of rope from the box, letting them spool out onto the ground before gathering them into his hands. "How do you uh, how do you want to do this?"

"Aw, is this kitten's first time tying someone up?" Billy purred, not moving from where he stood in the middle of the cellar, directly under the light. "Who knew 'King' Steve's favourite flavor was vanilla."

Steve rolled his eyes as he brought the ropes over, wrinkling his nose at the mixed smell of rot and cologne that got stronger with proximity. "I've dated girls kinkier than you'd know what to do with," he retorted as he gestured for Billy to hold out his hands.

"Oh please," Billy said with a snort, "there are no kinky girls in Hawkins or I would've found them by now."

"You're obviously not looking hard enough," Steve muttered in response, gesturing again for Billy to hold out his hands.

Shrugging out of his leather jacket and tossing it over the work table he'd splintered, Billy held his hands up obediently and watched stoically as Steve wound the rope around his wrists, binding his hands together roughly.

"What's should our safe word be?" Billy teased, smirking as Steve wound another, longer length of rope over the original knot.

"There is no safe word because this isn't a sex thing!" Steve insisted angrily.

Flustered, he sighed irritably as he wound the long part of the rope around Billy's waist, hating how close he had to get in order to make sure the rope was tight enough, though Billy seemed to be enjoying how close he'd gotten. He kept shifting his weight around, trying, it seemed, to get Steve into a more compromising position. Annoyed, but determined to finish, Steve did his best to ignore Billy's constant movement and the disgusting, rotten musk that was wafting off of his person to finish tying him up.

"Why do you fucking stink so goddamn badly?" Steve finally asked with a scowl, repressing the urge to gag as he tied the ropes off into a clumsy knot. He stumbled away from Billy, reaching up to pinch his nostrils shut so he wouldn't have to smell the rot anymore, but the rancid scent seemed to have lodged itself deep into his nose. "You smell like a dead Calvin Klein model or something, holy shit, did you use a whole fucking bottle?"

The amusement Billy had held while taunting Steve left his face. His smirk shrunk into an awkward grimace as he looked away in embarrassment.

"I don't know, alright?" he admitted bitterly. "It doesn't matter how much I bathe, and between that and my eyes I have no idea what the fuck's going on with me."

"What about your eyes?" Steve asked hesitantly, unsure if he really wanted to know the reasoning behind why Billy had insisted on wearing sunglasses all day.

Billy faltered for a moment, hesitating briefly before reaching up and plucking the sunglasses off his face. With both hands bound together, he awkwardly folded the legs against the lenses and tucked them into the collar of his button up. He turned his gaze to Steve, who couldn't help but suck in a slight breath of surprise.

His eyes were so bloodshot they looked ready to start bleeding straight out of the sockets. There were hardly any whites left in the sclera to be seen as Billy winked at him, looking immensely uncomfortable at the way Steve was gaping openly at him.

"Do they- hurt? Or whatever?" Steve asked, unconsciously taking a few steps forward to get a better look. In the dim lighting of the basement, even the blues of Billy's eyes looked reddish.

"What's it to you if they do?" Billy snapped, suddenly irritable. He squared his jaw and looked away, unable to face the amount of concern Steve was showing him.

The worry Steve felt for the both of them in that moment grew stronger as he backed off, letting the matter of the changes in Billy's physicality drop, despite how alarming they were. "If I don't hear anything an hour after the sun goes down, I'll let you out," Steve said abruptly as he walked backwards towards the stairwell, grasping for the hand rail behind him blindly, unsure why he was so reluctant now to let Billy out of his sight. It was what they'd agreed upon earlier, and he said it meaning for it to sound reassuring, but the way Billy's lips twitched made it apparent he didn't interpret it that way.

Billy didn't respond.

"Well, uh, I guess that's it then," Steve said as he bent down, placing his box of chains atop the box of tools Billy had been messing around with before lifting them up together to carry them up and out of their man-made dungeon.

The cellar doors shrieked loudly as they were closed, a high pitched agony that erupted when the metal grinded against itself uncooperatively. Steve didn't mind that so much as he hated the sound the chains made as he wove them through the door handles, reminding him of what he was doing and who he was imprisoning as the steel rattled sharply against the doors. He winced at the commotion, but continued to loop them through the small door handles until no more could be fit between them. He tested their sturdiness by attempting to pull them open, and to his pleasure, they remained shut. The doors were secured; the cellar, as far as he was concerned, was now a suitable prison. All that was left of him now was to play the role of the jailor appropriately.

He stared down at his handiwork for a moment before the cold, blowing winds prompted him to seek shelter. Already a few snowflakes were fluttering out of the sky, flying into his cheeks as he turned away, re-gathering the box of tools in his arms and headed for the door Dustin promised he'd leave a key for.

Searching under the backdoor mat, Steve found the promised key, and true to the rest of Dustin's word, the entire home was empty, save for the cat that chirped a greeting for him from atop the kitchen counter. With a deep intake of breath Steve glanced at his watch, stepped inside, and shut the door behind him, wondering if he really was prepared for the worst. In the trunk of his car his bat waited for him, ready to be put to use just in case shit really did hit the fan, but he found himself questioning if he'd really be able to use it; bludgeoning monsters to death was one thing, but turning it on a boy he knew was only a monster figuratively was something else entirely.

For both his and Billy's sakes, he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Shrugging out of his thick coat, Steve set it down beside him as he took a seat on the Henderson's couch. He glanced at his watch again, dismayed by the fact that time wasn't progressing as fast as he wished it was and sat in anxious worry about what the rest of the night might have in store.

But at least he was comfortable and warm.

The cellar was not.

It wasn't the cold that Billy minded, so much as it was the anticipation: when would the transformation start? Exactly at sundown? A little before? A little after? Would he actually end up transforming? And why the fuck did the word 'transform' make him so damn uncomfortable? The unknown factors surrounding his circumstances were almost worse than any of the physical symptoms he'd been experiencing as of late, and he'd been experiencing a lot.

Anxiety wasn't something Billy had a lot of experience with, but it was the only thing he could think of that explained why his heart had been beating oddly all day. It was running at a notably higher rate, as though he'd been playing basketball or working out extraneously, and brought on palpitations he wasn't used to dealing with at the elevated speed.

In short he felt terrible. His whole body ached like it was going through puberty again. Both his arms and legs were sore in ways that mimicked the aches that came with growing pains when he'd had them, but he couldn't understand why he would begin to hurt in that way again. He hadn't had the energy to work out in two days despite eating practically anything he could get his hands on, so the soreness in his limbs was unwarranted. Either his body was preparing itself for the coming night, or he was having an incredibly drawn-out heart attack.

Standing at the foot of the stairwell, Billy felt the cold permeating in through the closed opening and moved away to find a better spot to wait. He wanted rub his arms to bring some warmth into them, but couldn't with the way they were bound. Already the ropes were beginning to dig into his wrists, rubbing uncomfortably against his skin as he realized he wasn't actually that cold anyway, despite the frigid weather; his body temperature had been on a steady incline leading up to now, leaving him with a rosy complexion and a near constant fever, the long-term effects of which left him feeling severely disoriented.

He could barely remember meeting up at Steve's house only a few hours ago to carpool to his kid friend's house, riding with the windows down in spite of the severe wind-chill as they went into town to get lunch and buy rope. Even though they'd ridden together, he couldn't remember now if they'd actually talked about anything or not. All he could remember were the low tones of the radio and the resonating throbs of the wind as it swooped in through the open windows, rushing to fill the audial space between them. It was as though his mind had been steeped in a fog, and he couldn't accurately think through it: everything was clouded over, incomprehensible, like waking up the morning after a bender and being unable to remember everything he'd done the night before, but knowing all the same that he'd taken part in some memorable shit.

Would there be pain, he wondered, and would it come on as suddenly as it had to the character in the movie he'd made Steve watch? Even though 'American Werewolf' was just a movie, stories like that had to spawn from some sort of truth, didn't they?

The dim little lightbulb that hung overhead flickered briefly, drawing Billy's attention to it as he took a seat at the work table's bench, wishing his eyes weren't a dry and sore as they were.

Coming from above, he could hear the muffled sounds of a TV show permeating through the cellar's ceiling. He couldn't help but think ill of Steve in that moment, but if their situations had been reversed, he probably would have been doing the same thing; he couldn't fault Harrington for finding a way to pass the time, though he wished he had something similar to do for himself. There was nothing interesting to hold his attention, and time passed at a dreadfully slow rate.

Stretching out on the bench, he laid himself down slowly, mindful of which parts of his back hurt the most, and gazed up at the cement overhead disinterestedly. He listened to the muffled sounds of the distant television, trying to conjure an image in his mind that corresponded with what little dialogue he could hear, but the rapid beating of his heart overpowered the noises coming from the TV. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing in an attempt to lower his heart rate, but it just kept going, pounding in a determined rhythm that seemed to be quickening with each passing minute. A bead of sweat trickled down from his scalp and over his ear as he wondered if the tingling he felt in the tips of his fingers was because of the cold or from the ropes being tied too tight.

He flexed his fingers, opening and closing his hands into a fist to try and bring sensation back into his fingertips, but to no avail. They remained numb, and the cause of which eluded him.

Frowning, Billy stiffly sat up and began to pinch at his skin, belatedly realizing that the numbness was spreading slowly down the lengths of his fingers, a sensation that sent a chill running down the length of his spine.

"Oh," he said. "Oh shit."

The pain, when he finally did begin to feel it, started in his feet. There were still thirty minutes before the sun went down.

Billy licked his lips nervously as he tried to get his boots off, his numb fingers and bound hands fumbling uselessly with the laces as the pain centralized in his toes and grew in sudden intensity. He was no stranger to pain, but this was unlike anything he'd ever felt before: it was sharp and stabbing, with each throb of pain stemming from the bones in his toes, as though they were growing more pointed in an attempt to pierce their way through his skin as they elongated. He could feel them cracking; each joint slowly popping free of itself as the bones began to push themselves forward.

"Oh, shit," he repeated, and could hear the muffled sounds of a laugh track from whatever sitcom Steve had turned on upstairs roaring in delight as he struggled to finally pull his boots off.

The stabbing sensation didn't relent, even once his shoes lay discarded by his feet. He peeled away his socks with shaking hands and stared down at his toes.

They'd turned a bright, beet red and were bulging like they might burst apart, his skin bubbling up around toenails that were already starting to peel off. He couldn't help the whimper as he tentatively felt them, a pain like touching a freshly popped, skinless blister causing him to draw his fingers back.

It was real. It was happening.

Sweating freely now, he reached away from his feet to brush his dampened hair away from his forehead as sweat rolled down the sides of his face. He paused when he felt his hair pull free from his scalp, clinging to the back of his hand stubbornly. Billy stared at the loose, curly strands with a horrified expression and reached up with a shaking hand to grab more. When he pulled, a handful of his hair came away easily, eliciting another whimper from deep within his throat. Disgusted and frightened, he threw his hair away to the floor.

Breathing quickly, he hastily rubbed his hands free of the loose strands in a panic and tried to calm himself. His whole body trembled as he breathed in deeply through his nose, wondering if he should try to call out to Steve to alert him that the worst case scenario was indeed unfolding. Another laugh track from upstairs came through the ceiling as he felt a sharp, sudden stab of pain in his ribs, prompting him to gasp loudly and curl forward over himself. He could actually feel some part of his ribcage shifting inside his torso as he tucked his arms in to his sides. Any lingering thoughts of trying to remain calm left him as he transitioned from panic to full on fear.

He stood up not knowing what he was going to do, but regretted it instantly: as soon as he put weight on his foot, his ankle collapsed in on itself and brought him to the floor. A shout almost came out with his fall, but he managed to internalize the pain as he was used to doing and grit his teeth as his foot essentially broke itself in half.

The central part of his foot that arched snapped without warning. Billy swore loudly and reached for his foot instinctively, wanting to hold the break in place, but he couldn't bear the agony that came with the contact. Warm tears leaked from his eyes, and when his other lateral arch also split in half, he couldn't help but cry out.

From up above, the noises coming from the television ceased. Steve must have heard him and was listening for him now, trying to gauge whether or not he should intervene. Billy clenched his jaw tighter, determined to keep quiet, but gasped loudly when two of his molars gave out under the pressure, snapping to the side and coming loose of his gumline. The copper taste of blood filled his mouth as he spat the teeth out, shuddering uncontrollably when he felt the vertebrae in his spine begin to pop, one by one, pushing up against his skin that was quickly beginning to feel too tight.

Huffing in great breaths of air, he panted heavily as the bones of his tones finally pierced through his skin, causing most of the flesh surrounding them to burst open like little balloons. Blood splattered across the floor in gruesome, miniature arcs and Billy finally, finally became undone. He shrieked, unable to keep silent any longer as new appendages could be seen inside the flayed bits of bloody skin, slowly growing outward, already a part of him.

Warm tears of pain streaked down his face in thick lines as the skin of his feet continued to be ripped apart, making way for more muscle, new flesh. He wiped at his eyes helplessly and thought he could hear Steve's voice distantly calling out his name, asking if everything was alright.

He blinked, his vision blurred by the tears that would not clear away as he pulled himself over to the stairway.

Shaking wildly all over, Billy stretched out on the floor, realizing belatedly that the waistband of his jeans was growing tighter and tighter. Hissing sharply, he cursed himself for not having the foresight to undress himself as he hastily tried to undo his belt. A pain similar to the initial agony he'd felt in his toes was beginning to manifest itself in his fingers as both of his hands slowly began to turn red, swelling up under the bonds of the rope as he fumbled with the buckle, desperately trying to get it to come free.

"Fuck!" he shouted in frustration, his clothing growing ever tighter as his body continued to bloat. He felt like he was being pinched in half with his belt acting as an unneeded tourniquet. "Fuck! Fuck!"

"Hey! Talk to me Hargrove, what's going on?"

Steve's worried voice trilled down through the cellar doors as he continued vocalizing his frustrations. Billy felt an organ in his abdomen shift out of place before popping, prompting him to groan and curl in on himself before he threw up. His couldn't undo his belt as his vision began to darken.

"Hargrove!" Steve shouted, banging a fist against the steel door. "What the hell's going on? Talk to me!"

"Fuck you!" Billy screamed, unable to articulate anything else as he tried to rub the blackness out of his eyes, but the more he pressed his fingers to them, they more they began to hurt.

A pressure was building up behind them the more he rubbed, and as it increased, his vision grew ever darker. He kept blinking, over and over, feeling his eyes bulge out of their sockets and against his eyelids, trying now to keep his eyeballs in place. He was hyperventilating when he finally went blind, the pressure behind his eyes becoming intolerable eyes before it finally came too much, and his eyes popped free.

He felt them slide out onto over his checks and onto the floor, the slimy, blood-slick nerves leaving tracks of blood on his face as he became totally and completely blind.

"No," he whispered to himself, retching again on the floor as he scrambled across the cement, trying to find the stairs, unable to see. "No, no! This isn't real!"

Beyond the cellar doors, Steve had his ear pressed against the slight crack between the panels, desperately trying to understand what was going on. He wasn't sure what to make of the noises he was hearing, unable to determine if Billy was just trying to mess with him or if he was in actual distress.

"Hargrove," he said impatiently, turning his head to try and peak in through the crack to get a glimpse of what was going on, "you gotta start talking to me, man; what the hell's going on down there?"

"I'm fucking blind," he heard Billy shout, his voice rife with fear. "I can't see anything!"

His voice was shaking as he spoke, and Steve knew then that whatever was happening was legitimate; Billy wasn't one to openly show weakness.

"Okay, stay calm," Steve stammered, but he wasn't sure if that was actually sound advice or not. "It's- it's going to be okay, okay?"

Billy howled, and Steve understood that the pain that carried with his voice must have been terrible to get him to shriek like that. He licked his lips anxiously, not knowing what support he could possibly offer him. He continuously opened and shut his mouth, words of encouragement dying on his tongue before he could manage to speak them.

And then, all at once, the cacophony of agony ceased.

Steve couldn't hear anything over the rapid sound of his breathing for a moment before he finally spoke: "Hargrove? Is… are you okay?"

"Hurts." Billy's voice, quiet, strained, and barely audible over the sounds of things (flesh, fabric) slowly tearing, sounded disconcertingly like he was speaking with a throat full of water. It was gargling and grotesque; completely unlike the smooth, honeyed voice he'd become known for.

"Okay, what, uh, what… what hurts?" Steve whispered in response, fear quieting his previously urgent tone.

"Everything."

"Shit," Steve said to himself, backing away from the cellar door panels as the sounds of something large and heavy being knocked over made him jump. "Just, uh, stay calm," he said, though he wasn't sure if he was saying it to himself or Billy. From down below, he heard Billy groan loudly before going silent again.

Steve's heart was pounding as he hesitated, unsure of what to do. All the details of Billy's haphazardly concocted plan fled his mind as he tried to think back on what they'd agreed to do if something ended up happening, and his first instinct was to open the doors to go down and check on him. He looked at the chains wrapped tightly around the door handles and bit his lip before crouching down and pressing his eye to the crack.

The overhead light wasn't bright enough to reveal much, but at the base of the stairwell there was a small circle of illumination. Steve squinted, ignoring the cold of the steel as he pressed his face against the door, trying to see all that he could.

Blood stains. Torn bits of… something he couldn't quite make out. Dark masses on the stairwell; lots of evidence that pointed towards Billy transforming, but no trace of Billy himself.

"Hargrove," Steve whispered, and then shook his head to clear himself of his cowardice. "Hargrove," he said again, louder and with more emphasis, "dude, you have to talk me through what's happening down there."

He waited, unconsciously holding his breath as he waited for a reply. It was steadily growing darker as the sun slowly sank, making it all the harder to see into the cellar from the tiny slit. Frowning and unable to see anything, Steve turned his head and pressed his ear against the door. From somewhere in the depths of the cellar he could hear something breathing heavily. It was moving, too; he could hear something shuffling, moving around the floor space cautiously.

When he turned his head again to see through the crack, he caught a glimpse of... something large and hulking cross under the light, tall enough to set the lightbulb swinging. He couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath of air, his lungs and throat burning with the sting of the cold weather. The thing- whatever Billy had become- halted just outside the rim of light. Entranced, Steve found he couldn't move as it emitted a low, threatening growl that sounded more like a man impersonating a dog than an actual beast.

From his limited viewpoint, he couldn't see the way the muscles in its legs were tightening, or how it had begun to crouch; he didn't have time to react as it sprang forward, jumping up the stairs in a single leap to ram itself against the doors.

The chains held the doors shut, but the sudden impact smashed the metal against Steve's nose and soon all he could smell was blood as it drained out of his nostrils. He fell backwards, holding his nose as the Billy-creature growled again. Horrified, Steve could only sit in the snow and watch as the doors lurched forward when Billy rammed against them again, trying to escape. The second impact loosened the restraints, and all Steve could do in that moment was watch as they rattled uselessly in place, beginning to slip through the handles as they hadn't been properly locked into place.

Cursing to himself, staggered to his feet and rushed to grab the chains, but as Billy threw his body against the doors again it soon became obvious that even if the doors stayed shut, they were about to pop free of their hinges entirely. Blood dripped down over his lips and onto the metal panels as he tried to think of what he could possibly do to counteract the damage Billy had done. In an act of desperation, he threw himself against the steel and hoped that his added bodyweight would be enough to keep them in place.

If it managed to do anything, he couldn't tell. Almost immediately Billy was throwing himself against the doors again, nearly bucking Steve off.

"Stop!" Steve cried out, grasping for the chains to hold them in place. His fingers scrabbled against the cold steel links even as Billy let out another deep, throaty growl. With the doors as loose as they were, Steve was almost certain the doors wouldn't survive another body-slam. "Give it up, Hargrove!" Steve said again, desperately. "Just- fuck, Billy, stop!"

He braced himself for another impact, but it never came. Eyes closed in anticipation, Steve blinked them open and exhaled shakily, his fingers trembling as he let the chains go. Crystalized air puffed out in front of his face over and over as he rolled off the doors and stood up unsteadily, trying to wipe away the blood that had already frozen over and turned to crust on his upper lip. Somehow, miraculously, his pleading had worked, but before he could take comfort in that fact, other disturbing sounds began to creep back up to him from down below.

Things were being tossed around; the metallic clang of old paint cans being bounced off the floors and walls mixed with the hoarse, angry vocalizations of the creature Billy had become made his blood run colder than the air currently was. The noises Billy was making were at once both animalistic and human, deep and throaty and more akin to the bellows of a moose than a man or wolf.

Steve stood in front of the cellar doors not knowing what to do. Already their plan was falling apart, and he was quickly becoming aware of how vastly unprepared he was to handle the situation. He wanted the security of the bat in his trunk, but didn't trust himself to leave the doors unattended for the length of time it would take him to run back inside and grab his keys to get it, but he felt so weak without it.

Another loud, crashing noise came from within and Steve stilled, listening intently. Faintly, he could hear Billy snuffling about, and after the sun finally completely descended, all was quiet. His nose was throbbing as he stood attentively, but when nothing more could be heard, his stomach sank.

With trembling hands and his mind screaming at him to stop, he knelt by the doors and slowly unwound the chains from the handles. The fact that he couldn't hear anything coming from within didn't sit well with him; he had to make sure Billy was still down there.

He tried to shift the chains as quietly as possible, but with how nervous he was, he had a hard time keeping his hands steady. They rattled noisily against the door, grating on his already frazzled nerves as they slid free. Heart pounding madly, Steve carefully pulled the doors open and took the first step down into the cellar.

It was silent. He couldn't hear anything as he hesitantly took a second step, mentally berating himself over and over for being stupid enough to walk defenseless into the lion's mouth. He had no idea what Billy was capable of now, or if he'd even recognize him enough to (hopefully) have enough sense to not harm him. The lightbulb that dangled freely from the ceiling was swaying, throwing its light around erratically, showing him glimpses of the gore that lined the steps.

Eyes wide, Steve gagged at the sight of the flayed strips of bloodied skin that were splattered near everywhere. He had to avert his eyes as he took another step, making slow progress as he was careful not to step in any of the mess. At the bottom of the stairs he warily peered around the walls, hoping he'd only stuck his head into the lion's mouth figuratively. To his immediate relief, but long-term dismay, there was no trace of Billy to be seen in the space of the cellar.

Exhaling deeply, Steve tried to even out his breathing as he came to stand in the middle of the room, looking around to assess the damage. As the swinging lightbulb steadied, he turned towards where the shelf that was hiding the tunnel had been and found it on the ground, knocked to its side and several feet away from where it had originally been positioned. His shoulders drooped at the realization of Billy's escape.

He went and stood before the opening of the tunnel and felt all hope of remedying the situation vanish. A numbness overtook him as he recognized his responsibilities of keeping Billy captive had changed; he was the only one who knew about Billy's circumstances, and he was the only one who could do anything about it now. Distantly, and much further away then he would've liked, he could hear the muted, labored sounds of Billy's breathing as he escaped confinement through the underground system.

The burden of his responsibilities threatened to overwhelm him in that instant, but instead of letting himself be overtaken by despair, Steve took a deep, steadying breath and rolled his shoulders back. He hesitated for only a minute before he took charge and ran in after him, disregarding his urgent need to turn back and get his bat out of the car. There was no time, he thought; no time to get a weapon, no time to get a flashlight. If Billy was now as the werewolf in the woods was, then he was capable of speeds greater than Steve could muster, and every second mattered. If he lost his trail now, then it would be lost to him entirely. There was no time; he had to go now or he wouldn't go at all.

Alone and unarmed Steve ran, chasing after Billy into the dark, cold tunnel, hoping he would be able to catch him in time, and dreading the repercussions that would come if he couldn't.

[franeridart]

*SOBS* IM JUST SO GLAD YOURE BACK

Aw thank you !!!!! It’s really just thanks to the past couple of days of cooler weather tho, ngl hahaha the earth has been indulgent to me, this past week!

Anon said:I really liked that wgole bakushima gem thing! What would bakugou do if kirishima somehow got corrupted and couldnt reverse it? (Without the other diamonds)

Thank you for liking it!!!! And I guess he’d just go ask the other diamonds? Well, he would never let it get to that, but if it were the only option it’s not like he’d leave Kiri like that!

Anon said:Quick, someone put a flashlight on diamond!Kiri

He’d be shinier than Aoyama and Hagakure using her special move put together !!!!!!! v pretty~

Anon said:your kiribaku gem AU inspired me so much that i’m finally watching steven universe just so i can understand it better because what i did understand was that i loved it

OH MAN I hope you’ll enjoy it!!!! It’s a bit silly and all over the place through the first season, but try to give it time !!

Anon said:Hi! I went and checked out your fan art for Kuroko no Basket and I absolutely adore AoKaga! Your AoKaga works make me so happy! I love them all!

Ohhhhh man thank you so much !!!!!!!!!! it’s super old stuff tho how did you even find it hhhhh haha

Anon said:Hello hello! here w bad news a instagram page posted your art and i know you dont like repost so im informing you. The page is kags.fujoshi and it was posted july 23

Yeh I know, I’ve been trying to report it and the other one I’ve been being told about but instagram won’t let me submit the thing so I guess this is how things are and I’ll just die mad about it since instagram likes to make things as hard and impossible to me as it can

Anon said:Bless your art

Thank you ;;;;;

Anon said:Omg literally your kiribaku Steven universe crossover is so fucking perfect thank you for blessing us with it; I’d love to see more if you have anything or feel like ever doing more about it but I don’t want to pressure you or anything, do what you want to do and what makes you happy :) Take care!

Ahhhhhh thank you so much!!!!! I’m super glad you liked it this much!!!!!!!

Anon said:✨Gentle reminder to take care of yourself today ✨

You too, anon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Everytime I see you upload new art I end up looking through and loving your entire BNHA Art tag. It’s so wonderful

gAH thank you so SO much!!!!!!!!!! don’t waste so much time on my blog, tho hahaha

Anon said:heya! I was just wondering if u had any short bakukiri one-shot fic recommendations. i prefer to read short things bc i have some learning difficulties and i was hoping u might know some good simple reads. Thanks! (

Aw man sorry but I really don’t have the time to make a rec list rn ;; if you’re fine with it this is the tag on AO3 filtered so that it shows only complete content with a max word count of 5000 starting from the one with most kudos going down, the first ones showing are all super good fics - in case you’re not okay with explicit content you can filter that too (if youre not okay with mature either just check that out as well) and to go further this is the tag excluding the fics tagged as tddk  cause that’s not what you’re looking for and the tddk and krbk fandom sure like to put each other in the listed relationships even if the fic isn’t about them (it excludes some krbk fics too but what can we do about that)

Anon said:ASDFGHKRNOFNE your last doodle killed me!!!! soft todoroki

AHHHHH I’m super glad you liked them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;;;

Anon said:I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of your art, you beautiful gift you

Thank you smmmmm ;;;

Anon said:I am taking the SU story down for now. Please, let me know if I have your permission to post it, or if you don’t want me to. // And just to clarify - I’m not deleting the story out of spite or anything. I wrote it as a “get-well-soon” gift, but since you make it very clear you want to know how your art is used and that you must give your approval, I began to fear it would become a source of annoyance to you rather than something nice. I can put it back up if you want me to.

I don’t mind you writing the story or posting it, so if you wanna upload it again go for it! For future reference tho, if you’re in a rush to get an answer out of me (referring to the message where you asked if it was okay) your best bet is to go off-anon since those I always answer privately and as soon as I can. It can take me up to over a week to answer anon asks here, which I’d guess is sort of obvious? so seriously next time you’re in a rush to get an answer it’s better if you don’t go through the anon option!!

Anon said:HI I LOVE YOUR ART IT’S GORGEOUS AHHHHHHH

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Anon said:How long does it take t draw one artwork for you?

Some things ten minutes, some things three days of work, it really depends on what I’m drawing? If it’s bw or colored, if it has a bg, if it’s a bust or a full body, if it’s one person or five, one drawing or a full comic, how used I am to drawing the character vs how new it is, how easy the clothes are and how many details there are on them - if you sent me an example I could specifically tell you how long it took me!

Anon said:is bakugo ticklish? what do u think?

Bakugou is ticklish but the immediate aftermath of tickling Bakugou is to be blasted into kingdom come so maybe better not to tickle him unless you’re Kiri and can protect yourself

Anon said:Bakukirikami is some good stuff my dude

It sure as heck is! Lately my old stuff for them is getting a bunch of new notes, I’m assuming people are getting into it thanks to the anime haha the magic of the license exam my doods

Anon said:hey I hope I don’t sound creepy but, I just want to say that your art really makes me happy and that you’re one of my favorite artist out there. So even if somtimes you feel like your art sucks I want you to know that I think it’s beautiful! Hope you’re doing well!

You don’t sound creepy at all!!!!! thank you SO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:i live for ur kamisero art just saying

I haven’t drawn much of that, have I? I’m glad you like it tho!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Mako and Tai ♥️♥️

!!!

Anon said:This isn’t an ask, just that I love your art style and it reminds me of a beautiful and cute point and click adventure, “Harvey’s new eyes ” and “Ednas break out” Its very cute and pretty just like your art style and I love both ^^

Oh man thank you!!!

Anon said:Q U O R K

I honestly can’t even remember if this is just a random ask or if it was referring to something specific, ngl (if it’s the second, sorry about my memory being like this orz)

Anon said:Gah I keep missing preorders! I’ve only ever really wanted 2, and each time, don’t have any money, til after they’re done 😢 oh well, I guess. Hope you’re doing well!

If you’re referring to the takemyhand zine, preorders are still going tho!!! and thank you!!!!

[vino-and-doggos]

In Defense of Valentine’s Day

Read on AO3

Length: 4628 words

Rated: Explicit

Status: Complete

Summary: “It’s a ridiculous Hallmark Holiday that the corporations made up to trick the masses into believing they need to buy cards and chocolate and jewelry to let their significant other know they enjoy their company.”

“While I can see and understand your point, what is wrong with a holiday that celebrates love and relationships? Valentine’s Day doesn’t feel like an obligation or work when you’re with the right person.”   

“Are you saying I’m the right person, Roy Mustang?”    

Roy’s cheeks flushed, but for the first time in this conversation, he had a good comeback. “I’m not sure. Are you willing to give my favorite holiday a shot?”

Written for @hyuroiweek​! I don’t know how else to say this, but @flourchildwrites​ is amazing and everyone should go give her some love. Especially on Valentine’s Day.

Warnings: There be smut here!!!

“I never really cared much for Valentine’s Day.”

Only eight words. And yet, that was all it took to rock Roy Mustang’s world. Who on earth didn’t like Valentine’s Day?

Maes Hughes was apparently the answer.

He pecked away at the laptop as if the matter-of-fact statement was the only argument that held any water, stopping only momentarily to adjust the slouched beanie covering his dark, spiky hair. Roy absentmindedly picked at the sleeve of his flannel shirt as a blush burned through his body.

As always, Roy was unwilling to to meet his boyfriend’s gaze before he had the best argument in his suave arsenal at the ready. Alas, nothing quippy came to mind, and Roy settled for his honest appraisal of the situation. Roy was an idealist at heart, a hopeless romantic, and Maes, the jaded hipster, was not.

“How can you not like Valentine’s Day?” Roy all but whined, defeated by his lack of cold, hard facts in defense of the holiday.

The hustle and bustle of the student union around them continued on as if Roy’s entire worldview hadn’t just been shattered - simply shattered. He finally had a boyfriend - in fact, they had been together since last May. Their relationship had started just as their junior year was ending. After making eyes at each other across the coffee shop they both took a break in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Maes finally plucked up the courage to ask Roy out. Dates, kisses, and awkward fumblings that eventually led to good sex followed months later.

But was the relationship worth anything if said boyfriend didn’t like Roy’s absolute favorite holiday?

“Quite easily in fact,” Maes said. Peering over his glasses, his fingers stalled across the keyboard in front of him. Roy’s stricken face hovered over the cup of Starbucks he held in his hands, his notes and highlighters abandoned in the wake of the news he just received.

Maes continued, simply raising an eyebrow, almost looking completely unperturbed. “It’s a ridiculous Hallmark Holiday that the corporations made up to trick the masses into believing they need to buy cards and chocolate and jewelry to let their significant other know they enjoy their company.”

Roy gaped like a koi that hopped up on land for an afternoon stroll.

“That’s not even remotely the point!” he retorted.

“Ah, but it is, my beloved Roy,” he countered as he resumed typing, the clack of the keys lost in the drone of other students milling around them. “What is more meaningful? Flowers delivered on Valentine’s Day because your beloved felt they were required by a social contract? Or rather flowers delivered on a random Thursday because your beloved was thinking of you?”

Roy’s jaw clicked shut as he considered what his boyfriend said to him and quickly parried. “While I can see and understand your point, what is wrong with a holiday that celebrates love and relationships? Valentine’s Day doesn’t feel like an obligation or work when you’re with the right person.”

“Are you saying I’m the right person, Roy Mustang?”

Roy’s cheeks flushed, but for the first time in this conversation, he had a good comeback. “I’m not sure. Are you willing to give my favorite holiday a shot?”

Maes’s glasses flashed as he looked up from the words on his screen, light filtering in from the pretentious (in Roy’s opinion) skylights in the ceiling. He chuckled and raised his hands, surrendering. “Okay, okay, you win. What do you want to do for Valentine’s Day, lover boy?”

A gentle smile broke across Roy’s face. “Really, Maes, you break too easily. Criminal justice majors such as yourself need to have a little more backbone.”

“Oh, because chemistry majors know all about that, don’t they?” Maes laughed. “Seriously, Roy,” he continued, “what do you want to do? I’m yours on February the 14th.”

Roy gasped and dramatically put a hand to his chest. “But what about the other 364 days of the year?”

Maes shoved Roy’s hand down playfully, and behind his stylish glasses, Roy spotted the man he’d grown to love beneath all the cynicism and bravado. “All right, drama queen, you’ve made your point. But honestly, we can do whatever you please for Valentine’s Day.” A winning smirk crossed his face. “You might just change my mind about this corporate money grab.”

Roy walked across the snowy campus later that evening. The tree-lined campus seemed to come alive in the wind. Beautiful buildings, a delightful combination of red brick and grey shingles. The conical turrets of the administrative building on campus were Roy’s favorite part of campus. It made him think of Hogwarts, especially covered in crystals of ice and snow.

Some might have see a senior living on campus as a major drag. Roy saw it as an advantage, though. He still had a meal plan, meaning he never had to go grocery shopping, (just suffer through dining hall meals) and he was still close to the lab for experiments that needed babysitting into the late hours of the night.

The on-campus building that he lived in was furthest from the center of campus and was the nicest living space on campus. The dark brick that adorned the outside was a stark contrast to the light, almost sterile interior of the building. Hallways were painted a boring beige, accented with a slightly darker, low-pile carpet that was typical of the dorm buildings on campus.

Most importantly, though, in that building, he managed to have his own bedroom and only shared a bathroom with two other people. It was a strange combination of a suite-style dorm building and an apartment building. But that unusual set-up made the place one of the most desireable, and Roy was ecstatic to live there. It was worth the walk.

Roy’s mind rewound as he spied a group of prospective students and their parents touring the snowcapped halls of their quaint little university. Though it hadn’t been that long ago, he chuckled, breath visible in a wispy puff of white, as he took a turn down memory lane and turned his collar up against the wind. Why would they tour the campus during Winter, he thought. Was I that small as a freshman? But then, the setting sun caught his eye, and Roy remembered that there truly was beauty all around him. Winter sunsets were a favorite part of his walk; the bright pinks and reds tinged with purples and blues that reflected off of the snow filled him with a warmth that the chill in the air sought to seep from his body.

The color of the sky forced the upcoming holiday to the forefront of his mind. What on earth was he going to do to make this Valentine’s Day great? And ensure that Maes would celebrate it with him from then on out?

Grand plans with champagne and rose petals accompanied by classy dinner party music floated through Roy’s head. He walked dazedly past his favorite copse of sycamore trees whose leaves had abandoned their branches months prior - bare very much like his bank account. His work study job only did so much to help out with expenses. He hated relying on his foster mother for money and refused to text her for help on principle.

How could he give Maes the best Valentine’s Day of his life on the budget of a college senior?

Suddenly, the hazy clouds blocking the vestiges of the day’s sunlight parted in a gust of wind. Roy had an idea. It couldn’t fail, right?

February 14th arrived with as little pomp and circumstance of any other day. Roy awoke to birds chirping and smiled as the winter sun filtered around the school-issued, plastic, pathetic excuse for a window treatment.

Roy’s grin widened, and a sly glint filled his dark eyes. Today was the day.

Leisurely, he rolled over and grabbed his phone from the pillow beside him, pressing the button to unlock the screen. The clock read 7:28 a.m. - two whole minutes before his alarm was set to go off.

Bliss.

A minute later, he sent a simple message.

Roy Mustang, 07:29: Good morning. I love you <3

Wearing a content expression, equal parts eager and optimistic, he let his hand fall to his chest as he stared at the off-white ceiling. Roy’s musings were interrupted by the alarm on his phone signaling the end of his two minutes. He pushed himself up and out of bed, grabbing his shower caddy and keys and moving towards the shared bathroom.

Emerging from the shower, drops of water still clinging to his toned body, he carefully put away his bathroom accessories (less to put away later, he thought) he realized a text message had come through.

Maes Hughes, 07:42: Good morning, yourself, lover boy. Happy Hallmark Holiday! ;) Love you too, tho <3

Roy tapped away at the screen, shooting off a reply. As he was pulling on a shirt, he heard his phone buzz again.

Maes Hughes, 07:53: It is *too* a Hallmark Holiday, but for your sake I’ll drop it. And sure, I can meet you at 6 at your place. Where are we going?

Roy Mustang, 07:55: That’s for me to know and for you to be surprised with. Don’t you have class?

Maes Hughes, 07:55: It doesn’t start for another 5 mins. Hmm… Let me guess. We’re headed to The Devil’s Nest, right?

Roy Mustang, 07:57: Yup. You caught me. Only the finest $2 drink specials and loaded fries for my beloved.

Maes Hughes, 07:58: ...you know that actually sounds amazing, right? Like you recognize that I wouldn’t hate that? Roy Mustang, 07:58:

Roy Mustang, 07:59: Go to class, Maes

Maes Hughes, 08:00: LOVE YOU!

Roy felt like he was smiling quite a bit more than usual, especially for an early morning, and found himself doing it yet again as he pulled his coat on. He wound his knitted scarf (a wonderful Christmas gift from Riza) around his neck, checked his bag for his notes and keys, and then braved the deceptive sunshine to head to the lab.

The day passed with relative speed, which shocked Roy. Usually, when he begged the universe to let time move faster, it laughed in his face, and what felt like 2 hours was maybe 15 minutes. Today, it seemed the world was on his side.

Until that evening, however.

Roy’s classes wrapped up at 3:30 p.m, and he swung by the dining hall along the way back to his apartment. The dining services director, Sig, was a burly man with a soft spot for grand, romantic gestures. He had set aside two choice cuts of steak for Roy, and all he asked in return was that Roy spent a few night deep cleaning a few pieces of kitchen equipment over the next month. All in all, Roy considered it more than a fair trade. Oh, the things he would do for love!

He carried the package with a spring in his step. The paper-wrapped package swung jauntily from the twine holding it together, and Roy hummed a sappy love song that he had heard over the speaker system in the student union. However, walking on cloud nine was not without its perils, and the next thing he knew, the package was flying through the air, landing in a spot miraculously bare of snow. That didn’t mean it was free of mud, though.

Roy rushed over to the butcher paper and kneeled. “Please don’t be gross; please don’t be gross; please don’t be gross,” he muttered, gingerly picking up the paper. “Oh thank god,” he said as he realized that Sig wrapped the meat in plastic wrap before packing it in the butcher paper. Saying a silent thank you to who or what ever was listening, Roy gathered the plastic-wrapped steaks and began again toward his apartment.

Nodding curtly at a gaggle of girls exiting the apartment building who were eying him with disgust, he unthinkingly clasped the parcel to his chest as he reached for the door. His coat was mercifully open, so at least it wouldn’t need dry cleaned, but the liquid seeping from the plastic wrap and the mud on the scraps of paper mixed together. And whether it was the fault of mud or blood or some vengeful Valentine’s Day deity, one thing was absolutely certain: Roy’s shirt was ruined.

Cursing under his breath, he took the meat to the small, shared kitchen on the ground level. He forced himself to take a deep, cleansing breath. This was only a small hitch, after all. Some running water would help to get the remainder of the mud off. Breathe in; breathe out. And, truly, he was probably going to cook the meat to a temperature that would kill any bacteria that still decided to hitch a ride on their dinner. Breathe in; breathe out. This was a minor inconvenience. It would all be worth it.

Roy took the time to drizzle the steak in some olive oil and added some seasonings. He seared the two pieces and put them on a baking dish. Then, Roy haphazardly shoved his piece de resistance into the oven without a second glance at the recipe on his hopelessly cracked iPhone. How different is cooking than chemistry? he thought to himself triumphantly. Checking his phone, he wondered how it already got to be 5:15 and rushed upstairs set the scene.

He borrowed a small table from the common area and brought it into his room. Roy covered it with a spare sheet and produced a small shopping bag from his closet. Gingerly, he put the glass that was cut to look like expensive crystal taper holders in the center of the table. After some attempts at balancing, he managed to get the ivory candles into the holders, which contrasted nicely with the red sheet serving as a tablecloth, if he did say so himself. The only thing left to do was to light the candles.

He smiled at his handy work, knowing that it wasn’t the most romantic setting in the world, but also recognizing that he was doing exceptionally well with what he had. He stripped off his shirt and flicked through his closet, looking for a specific sweater… The royal blue top was Maes’s favorite of Roy’s clothing. According to Maes, the color was a really nice contrast between his dark hair and eyes, but it also was extremely soft, meaning it was comfortable for Roy to wear, but also exceptionally soft for Maes to cuddle with.

He could have sworn it was there, hanging towards the back with the rest of his sweaters. Pushing the hangers back, he pulled each one toward him individually to ensure he didn’t miss it.

Nothing.

Frustratedly, Roy growled, pulling a dark grey infantry sweater from the hanger and tugged it on instead. Now, he was going to have enough time to go back downstairs, check on the steak, start the sides, and -

A knock sounded at the door.

Roy ran his fingers through his hair, hoping to tame his locks somewhat after pulling the high-necked sweater over his head. He paced over and flung the door open, expecting it to be a neighbor, but instead he was met with familiar green eyes.

“Maes,” he breathed. “What are you doing here already?”

“What do you mean already?” the man at the door chuckled. “We said 6:00, didn’t we?”

“Sorry, I just didn’t realize the time,” Roy sheepishly apologized. “Come in, come in,” he rushed, stepping to the side and sweeping his arm into the room. It was hardly the first time that Maes had been in his dorm, but this felt significant somehow. Their first Valentine’s Day seemed to have some weight to it; was it because this was the time of the year that many proposals occured? Roy shook his head slightly to clear the clearly premature thoughts from his mind and took his boyfriend’s coat.

Maes, standing in the middle of the room, dressed smartly in a deep crimson sweater, looked at the items on the table and smirked at Roy. “I thought we were going out?”

“Ah,” Roy smiled back, as he made his way over to his open laptop on the desk, “You said that, not me. I just chose not to correct you. I’ll be your host, chef, and entertainment for the evening. I hope you don’t mind.” A few clicks later, a gentle jazz melody floated from the speakers, ensnaring both in its sensuous strains.

“Why on earth would I mind that, Roy?” His green eyes crinkled playfully as he crossed the room and closed the gap between them. Maes pressed his lips gently to his boyfriend’s forehead, and Roy tilted his chin up to capture his lips in a searing kiss.

Maes’s mouth parted, and Roy eagerly deepened the kiss, reaching up to tug on his cropped hair. The justice major chuckled and tenderly, yet insistently, pushed Roy against the door frame. A groan sounded from deep in someone’s throat - neither was quite sure whose - and suddenly hands were beneath shirts. It wasn’t the order that Mustang had planned for the night, but he was sure Maes wasn’t about to start complaining.

Just as Maes abandoned Roy’s lips and started seeking out purchase on his jawline and neck, the chemistry major managed to undo his boyfriend’s belt buckle. Roy felt the intake of breath against the skin where Maes had dampened with his mouth.

Roy chuckled darkly, letting his fingers linger over his lover’s length, and Maes shivered in kind. Let it not be said that Mustang didn’t know exactly what his boyfriend liked.

Roy sank down to his knees in front of Maes, wrestling with the button and fly of the designer jeans that fit his boyfriend oh-so-well. Happy to see that his ministrations were taking effect already, Roy began to salivate.

Freeing Maes’s member from the final layer of clothing and taking it in his mouth was transcendent every single time. There were so many things that Roy enjoyed when it came to sex with Maes, but the feeling of his mouth full and the little groan that met his ears sent jolts straight to his own groin.

As he worked the length of his lover, head bobbing somewhat in time with the music, Roy suddenly became aware of a faint buzzing noise. Normally his head didn’t start to buzz with pleasure until significantly later in their time together, but he chalked it up to a fat baby with a bow and arrow somewhere and continued his ministrations.

Maes murmured, “Roy,” and he hummed in return around the phallus in his mouth. Maes made a noise in the back of his throat and said it again.

“Roy.”

He wasn’t usually so talkative, but Roy was not about to start complaining.

“Roy.” This time with more urgency. Was he getting close already?

“I think your phone is ringing,” Maes said, his voice cracked and husky.

Oh. That would explain the buzzing.

He released Maes with a pop and smiled bashfully as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Roy kissed his boyfriend as he rose and awkwardly shuffled around the room to find where he tossed his cell phone upon entering.

“Do you see my phone?” he asked, moving pillows and the comforter around on the bed.

“Uh, no… But to be honest, I wasn’t looking too closely,” Hughes smiled in a placating manner. “Want me to call it?” Roy could tell that his boyfriend was tense after the abrupt halt but appreciated that Maes made himself look nonchalant.

“Yeah, I suppose,” Roy replied. “I don’t hear it buzzing anymore.”

After a few seconds, Maes found his pocket in his jeans and located his phone. Roy watched as the green-eyed man unlocked his pristine-screened iPhone, punched in his passcode, navigated to his favorites, and finally selected Roy’s name. Maes held the phone up to show he had dialed, and Roy saw a disgustingly cute picture of the two of them on New Year’s Eve. As Roy smiled at the memory, buzzing was heard throughout the small studio apartment once more.

It took Roy a few moments, but he finally found the offending phone. In the bottom of the closet. Under his favorite blue sweater that he could have sworn was not there earlier.

Shooting Maes a thank you glance, he woke the screen to see two missed calls and five text messages.

Jean Havoc, 18:08: Dude, is it you cooking something in the ground floor kitchen?

Missed Call: Jean Havoc, 18:09

Roy was almost positive his stomach dropped completely from his body, and he slid down the closet door frame to meet it on the floor. Scrolling down his notification center, he continued, sensing it was already too late.

Jean Havoc, 18:10: Seriously, Mustang, there’s something in the oven and I see smoke

Jean Havoc, 18:10: You know the temperature you set this oven at is like 25 degrees higher than normal ovens, right??

No, Jean, why the hell would I know that? You know as well as I do that no one uses that oven for anything, thought Roy frantically.

Missed Call: Jean Havoc, 18:11

Jean Havoc, 18:14: Yeah, I just pulled it out of the oven for you. You’re welcome.

Jean Havoc, 18:15: Dude, it looks like a charcoal brick. Bone app the teeth

“Fuck.” Roy whispered.

“So, is uh… is everything alright?” Maes asked, still in a state of undress, from across the room.

Roy felt his head drop backward and meet the door frame as his throat betrayed him. It suddenly became difficult to swallow around the lump he could feel in it.

“It’s fine,” he said in the cheeriest tone possible, hoping that Maes bought his story.

“Yeah, nothing about any of that said ‘I’m fine,’ Roy. What’s wrong?” He unceremoniously shoved himself back into his jeans and crossed the room to kneel down directly in front of Roy.

Mustang took a shuddering breath. “Really, I’m okay. I just… burnt dinner beyond anything recognizable.”

“Come on, Roy, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Maes scoffed. Roy leveled his eyes at him and turned the phone around. “Oh. That looks…well done?” he offered placatingly, only to receive another glare from Roy.

“I just wanted everything to be perfect for you. I got these really nice cuts of meat, and I set up nicely, but then I dropped the steak in the mud on the way here, and then I got stuff on my shirt, and then I lost track of time -” he cut off as Maes smiled at him.

“Roy. Look at me.” Dark eyes met bright green. “You didn’t have to do all this. I know I make a fuss about Valentine’s Day not being a special holiday or whatever, but any holiday that I spend with you is a special one. Steak and candlelight wasn’t going to be what made this special. It was you.”

A watery smile broke Roy’s face as he pulled Maes in for the tightest hug either had ever received.

“Now, what do you say we order in some ridiculously cheap take out to eat by candlelight?” Maes proposed.

Roy nodded as relief rushed over him. Not that he really thought Maes would be mad at all - Maes is a cynic, but he was never one that was quick to anger. The blue glow of Maes’s screen illuminated his glasses as he opened Grubhub to order something. Roy didn’t even know or care what he was ordering. Guilt wormed its way into his consciousness; this was supposed to be his night.

“Sorry,” he said softly.

“There’s no need to apologize, love,” came the gentle reply. “I’m sure you put a lot of time and effort into all this planning. But hey, the best laid plans of mice and men, right?”

Roy rolled his eyes at the old adage but chuckled nonetheless. “I did,” he replied honestly. “But now I’m starting to think I had the wrong idea all along.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. There is something way more appetizing in front of me right now that I fear I let get too cold.” A hungry fire lit in the depths of Roy’s dark eyes, and Maes smiled seductively.

“How long will it take for food to be delivered?” Hughes asked innocently.

Confused, Roy answered, “Typically a half an hour, but being Valentine’s Day probably closer to an hour… why?”

“Go ahead and order it now, then,” Maes instructed. “We can work up an appetite while we wait for it to get here.”

Blush blossomed on Roy’s face as he realized the implication of Maes’s words. He allowed his boyfriend to place a series of gentle kisses all along his face and neck while attempting to order their food, only to immediately capture his lips after hanging up.

Almost immediately, the two were shirtless as they moved together towards the bed.

This really is the best Valentine’s Day ever, thought Roy as the sound of a zipper followed by the feeling of a searing heat enveloped his length. Maes hummed appreciatively. White flooded his vision as Maes’s throat vibrated around Roy’s cock. And soon the buzzing seeped through Roy’s body in the form of twitching muscles and quickened breath. Roy’s mind reeled from the pleasure. With an obscene pop, Maes released him from his mouth and the cool air pricked against his heated skin.

Both men groaned as Maes crawled up Roy’s body, peppering it with open-mouthed kisses before finally meeting his mouth again in a passionate kiss. Maes reached confidently into the night stand for the lube that he knew Roy kept there and triumphantly pulled his spoils from the drawer.

He warmed the slick on his hands and proceeded to slip one finger inside of Roy, followed quickly by a second. Roy sighed appreciatively, relishing in the sensation. Using his two fingers, he confidently opened up his lover, reaching his head down and caressing his lips with his tongue. Roy panted as Maes just barely touched that magical spot within him. Maes chuckled.

He also knew exactly what his boyfriend liked.

A third finger. A sigh. A moan. A plea.

The snick of the lube cap opening again was lost to Roy in his pleasure, until he felt the head of Maes pushing against his entrance. Eager, yet willing himself to relax, he reveled in the moment.

There was none other like it.

He felt his body adjust and nodded, feeling Maes’s pulse from a place deep within him. He keened as Maes thrusted for the first time, impaling Roy to both of their delight.

The give and take from Maes felt wondrous. And Roy, full to the brim, saw stars as Maes thrust a fourth or fifth time. It was pointless to keep count. Maes’s large, soft palms wrapped around his cock, stroking faster as both lovers fell to pieces in the other’s arms. Roy was seeing stars. Reduced to an inarticulate mess, he wasted no time at all in allowing Maes to see just exactly how thoroughly he was being fucked.

White splattered their stomachs, Roy gasping and Maes whispering “I love you” as his member was gripped and released in the vice that was his boyfriend. Maes toppled over the edge three short thrusts later.

Lying together in a tangled mess of limbs, panting and sated, Maes smiled.

Roy’s head was comfortably nestled underneath Maes’s chin, basking in the afterglow. He felt Maes give him a gentle squeeze, his biceps cradling Roy’s body.

“I think I like Valentine’s Day.”