#since I gave her a ponytail that would match the teenager appearance in-game so I guess that's what she is here

[void-kissed]

Hello I come bearing (approximate/placeholder) fankid designs

(All designs were made using this one picrew)

From left to right, these are Mistral, Rime, and Virga, who are my fankids for my selfship with Aqua! The three of them are Aqua's apprentice Keyblade wielders at the Land of Departure, though all of them originate from different worlds. I have not specifically established these worlds yet, but it could be fun to, especially if I could work their lore into the characters themselves (for example, explaining why Rime has antlers, or why Mistral's magic is so strong)

And then on the left here is Ruby, my fankid for my selfship with Pyra, and Sophie, my fankid for my selfship with Skye!

..Doing this has given me a headache (or, in any case, I now have a headache), and obviously these aren't accurate to a lot of specific details, but I think they work okay for visuals for the moment, so here they are!

[ciggylungz]

Rivals

Summary: Y/n and Harry are both CEO’s of their parent’s companies since they inherited the businesses from them, they’ve been rivals since they were kids- now that they’re professional adults how will their rivalry affect them?   2.2k

 -

It’s no secret that growing up with a workaholic parent is hard for a kid, but for Y/n it was amplified due to the fact both her parents owned one of the most famous fashion companies in the world. This meant during most of her childhood she relied on nannies, private drivers, maids and child minders to care for her in absence of her busy working parents.

Of course having absent parents gave her some perks during her teen years, the ability to throw ragers in the absurdly large mansion they’d bought for the three of them –(well, they were hardly in it so mainly just their daughter)- not having to worry about getting caught when she decided to bring people over to get a quick shag in and the plus of having no one to bother her during her angsty middle school years. Those things were nice, yet you really can’t replace the role of your parents with teenage hookups and parties.

If there’s one thing that she absolutely hated about her parents work, it would be their former business partners cunt of a son. Harry Styles. Y/n had been forced to be in the twats life since they were 10 and his father joined stocks in her parents company before investing fully and becoming business partners. For Y/n that meant being forced to be around their son whenever their parents were too busy crushing numbers or out on boozy business trips clogging their noses with high end coke and buying out their competitors.

Harry was always a good-looking boy, and that only made things worse because he was a total prick. He was arrogant, annoying and always got away with being the biggest pain in the ass y/n has ever experienced in her life. He was insanely competitive, cocky and always found a way to weasel into Y/n’s business just to push her buttons. One’s he knew how to push perfectly to make her want to pound his head off a blacktop.

It was almost as if when it came to Y/n he never matured past being a 12-year-old boy, and now he’s a 23 year old powerful business man who still can’t manage to leave her alone.

Y/n had inherited her parents’ company when they decided to retire, two years before the retirement her parents and Harrys father had severed their ties and he’d gone back to his independent company. And just y/n’s luck, the man passed his roll as CEO down to his son, making the two young adults’ owners of two of the most famous fashion and beauty companies to ever exist.

Make no mistake, Y/n was a strong, independent and ruthless business woman so Harry’s subsequent inheritance didn’t threaten her in a business sense it more so made her worried for her blood pressure since the man couldn’t help but come bother her every chance he got. It didn’t help his dad had a single remaining stock left in the shoe portion of their clothing company giving Harry the perfect excuse to come barging into Y/n’s office to get on her nerves. To Y/n Harrys like a cold sore that won’t go away, just keeps coming back every time you think you’ve gotten rid of it.

___

Today was a busy day for Y/n, she had a meeting with her team that worked closely with her managing profit, stock, inventory, sales and all that stuff. Her team was large, with a company with over two thousand distributors worldwide and thirty-five exclusive stores scattered around the globe that’s to be expected. All in all, Y/n was responsible for making sure all one hundred and fifty thousand employees were running a smooth ship and every participating party was doing what they needed to do. It was a stressful job no doubt, but she never backed down from the challenge.

The meetings were always her least favorite part of her job. All the paper work that had to be read, numbers calculated, sales charted and any complaints or incident reports all had to be verbalized and talked about in detail with documentation of all the important things said as well as much more. Today the meeting took a grueling four and a half hours and the day was far from over.

Once she got out of her meeting it was nearing noon, she had to push her lunch off to phone the companies attorneys because one worker was trying to do a fake insurance claim. The man faked a work accident failing to remember every warehouse and factory was littered with security cameras that caught him in the act, so she had to inform them of the situation so they could sort it out. After that she got sucked into looking at new designs her design team had come up with for the next season, explaining that Chanel and Gucci both wanted to work with them to carry a few exclusive items only for that season.

Finally, at half passed two she made it back to her office, sitting down in her desk chair while taking her hair out of the headache inducing ponytail it had been in since she got there at five that morning. She opened her laptop, planning to send off some emails while she put in her order for lunch to her assistant, getting as much done as she could in the little bit of private time she was able to snag.

A knock sounded at the door, she knew it was Morgan coming in with the food she ordered so she didn’t bother to look up from what she was doing very drawn in to the email she was currently formatting. Only her attention was quickly severed when his voice rang out instead of the one she expected.

“I believe you ordered the chop salad, diet coke and fruit for lunch misses Yln.”

That annoying, cocky voice. You can hear his shit eating grin and teasing eyes simply in his tone, you don’t even have to look up at the jerk.

A prolonged sigh blew out of her lips, a grunt of annoyance following as she looked up at him. He looked nice, as always, she added bitterly in her own mind. She hated the fact someone so goddamn irritating was so undeniably attractive. He wore a dark blue suit, white button up with a black tie and yellow accent pocket square. Yet his fashion and handsomeness seemed a bit overshadowed by his personality that had the same affect on the woman as nails on a chalkboard.

“Harry, to what do I owe the displeasure?” Y/n reached her arm across the desk to snatch the paper bag from his ring clad hands, a sarcastic disapproving finger was pointed at her yet she didn’t take his bait opting to give him the death stare instead.

“Sassy today are we?” The man rested himself on the small leather loveseat that was in her office, propping his head on a throw pillow and putting his feet on the armrest. “You act like you’re not happy to see me, I know yeh missed me.” Y/n rolled her eyes, digging her fork into the salad aggressively. “I don’t think anyone’s ever been happy to see you, and I’m certain no one has ever missed your presence either.”

Harry chuckled slightly, loving how easily he could annoy the girl. Over the past thirteen years he’s learned just how to get under her skin, and he enjoyed doing so.

“Bit feisty today aren’t yeh Y/n? playing hard to get I see.” The man folded his hands on top of his chest, completely relaxing into the comfortable furniture, making himself comfortable for the undetermined amount of time he’d be spending there irritating his childhood ‘friend’.

The difference between Harry and Y/n’s perspectives on their rather odd ‘relationship’, if you could really call it that is Harry never hated Y/n. In fact he was always quite fond of her, he enjoys her company even when he’s forcing it on her and using the shared time to annoy the ever loving shit out of her. He and the woman have always been competitive growing up. In sports, card games, classes, and now business and Y/n took things a lot more seriously then he did. she was always wound a bit tight, she gets it from her mother.

Harry and Y/n had an interesting past. They have a love-hate relationship, seeing as even through the perpetual animosity they’ve carried since they were kids they did have their good moments too. And though Y/n would never admit it, there’s a part of her that does actually care about him even if she loathes that part of her deeply. In their teens they were at each other throats a lot, but in between that they would occasionally have their good days where they would refrain from getting into screaming matches and instead would be able to tolerate being together. Y/n chooses to describe it as tolerating him since she’d never admit she sometimes enjoys his company.

Through their formative years whenever Y/n was throwing a party, she wouldn’t protest when her friends would invite Harry as well. Pretending like she didn’t know he was coming and didn’t want him there when she saw him in the crowd, yet he always had a feeling she was anticipating and secretly wanted him to make an appearance. When he’d plan some sort of adventure with their friends he’d do the same, always slightly relieved when she’d show up but he’d put on the irritating act as soon as he got the chance which ruined her mood, every time. and well, it would be a lie to say the two never found themselves hate fucking each other after one of their parties, drunk and pissed at each other only to pretend like it had never happened.

To Harry, the animosity mixed with a hidden sense of fondness and maybe even a hint of attraction.

The woman ignored his comment, chewing her food before taking a swig of the soda looking back at him with a rather unamused expression. “What do you want Harry? And who the hell even let you in here?” she continued eating and wrapping up her email while he formed his reply. “Told Morgan I’d bring it up to yeh, she’s got a bit of a crush on me so she handed it over without much convincing.” Yet another eyeroll from Y/n was delivered. “She’s like 19, don’t manipulate her into worming into my office just because she can’t see that you’re a much bigger prick then the one in your pants will ever be.”

“First of all, 19 is legal so if she wants to eye fuck me I’ll allow it. Second, don’t be rude. This is a professional setting, do you think it’s appropriate to talk about my genitals in the work place? Might have to report you.”

Y/n couldn’t help the small snort she let out at his antics. As much as he annoyed her, sometimes she did find him a bit humorous. “and for the record, I’m very happy with my package and I don’t appreciate that comment.” He pointed a finger at her, a fake angry look on his face. “Just as much as I don’t appreciate you intruding on what was supposed to be my down time to eat, we’re even shrimp dick.”

Harry gasped at the insult, squinting at her slightly. While Harry was skilled in pressing her buttons, she could do it the same. Making comments on his dick size, sex skills, business deals or things of that nature always got him riled up. That 12-year-old boy mentality rearing it’s ugly head any time she makes a comment about his dick being small. Childish he was, absolutely childish.

“Don’t get smart with me, I’ll whip it out right here to prove my point.” His eyebrow raised and she could see him chewing on his cheek in annoyance. She truly found it funny how peeved she could make a grown man by making fun of his penis. He was ridiculous.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t, I didn’t bring my mental scrub brush to work with me today.” When she had finished speaking the woman tossed her now empty salad box into the trash, taking another sip of her drink and finally sending off the painfully long email.

Harry decided it was time for him to head back to his own office, which was right across the street much to Y/n’s displeasure but of course he couldn’t leave without a final childish jab at the woman.

“Just remember, I’ve had you bouncing on my dick more than once. Don’t hold yourself so high and mighty dear, because we both know I’ll have you like that again.”

And with that a Harry with a cheeky smirk on his face left the office, leaving a slightly stunned Y/n in his wake.

 (eek pt.1 lets see how this one goes.)

[notnctu]

to jisung, my family friend ♡

To All The J’s I’ve Loved Before Series by notnctu ♡ park jisung x fem!reader  ♡ genre - fluff ♡ wc - 2.2k ♡ warnings - none ♡ synopsis - in which you guide a lost freshman to his lecture ♡ taglist - @colpen ; @cestmoncoeur ; @hyucksberry ; @lexiluness ; @lovelycharm05 ; @dearlyminhyung ; @classic-antifood ; @pikijaemin​ ; @whorefortaeyong​ ; @jaeismytamtation​ ♡ a/n - let us know if you want to be on the taglist for the next ones!

Jisung,

I’m already laughing at myself writing this letter, but it has to be done. You’ve grown up so well, I think it has to be a good four years since I’ve seen you in person. I can’t tell whether or not you're a stranger to me.

Our moms are literal best friends and I think we could’ve formed the same relationship if they didn’t try to force that on us. I’m reminiscing about our many play dates we had together as I write this.

We were such awkward kids, I mean, you still kind of are. Word of advice as your upperclassman, don’t wear your freshman lanyard. It’s too much of a tell that you’re a freshie, not that you don’t already look like one being lost on campus or clumsiness bumping into people on your way to class.

Jisung, I can’t help but look at you differently. When did your shy smile light up the room? You really grew into your features, because I don’t remember you having such a sharp jawline. I questioned my thoughts for you as we laughed together even after all these years. Your personality was still the same, maybe more mature now? Like someone hurt you in the past. Like your eyes grew sadder.

But honestly, you’re the most innocence I’ve experienced being in college. You showed me a type of love that could develop beyond a kiss or devious acts. I thought I’d never come across that again.

It was like an epiphany, like my cheeks felt warm whenever you acknowledged me. Your silliness never sold itself short, I could laugh for hours with you. There were no consequential thoughts between the two of us, like a refreshing love that is so pure and full of warmth from sunshine.

There’s a lot for you to learn and experience. I won’t rob that from you, given that I’ve experienced plenty after all these years. But there is such a compelling feeling within me to shield you from any negativity, to guide you in being the best version of yourself. I want to help you find yourself and maybe, grow with you since we have been absent of that during our teenage years. Maybe this is what should’ve been of our relationship a while ago.

If I had tried to notice you sooner, we could’ve saved each other from all the pain.

-from your mom’s favorite, y/n

“Honey, do you remember Jisung? You two were best friends when you were younger?” The phone call with your mom had droned on for more than you had anticipated. It was one of her I need a favor calls that could not wait until later.

The loud chatter and background music of the store caused your lack of attention to what she had been going on about. “You mean, your best friend’s son who you tried to force me to be best friends with when I was younger? What about him? I haven’t seen him for almost four years now.”

The phone receiver buzzed before she continued hesitantly, “I gave him your number.”

The box of pasta fell from your hands at her sudden statement. The strangers around you watched as your anxious hands recovered it from the ground. “Why?” The annoyance in your cadence was nothing surprising.

“He got accepted to your college, sweetie! Isn’t that great? You can guide him around campus, help him transition to college life. No one is forcing you two to be friends anymore. But it would be an amazing favor for me and your auntie. You know, she has been saying how she wants to pitch in to buy you a new car.” Coercion. Rolling your eyes, you aggressively packed your groceries in your reusable bag.

“How could I ever say no to her when I’m her favorite person?” It was a double edge sword with your mom. She never really gave you many options to work with and expected you to follow through as her very obedient daughter.

“That’s what I like to hear!” After the strenuous call, messages from an unknown number sat patiently in your inbox.

(127)-127-1271: hi (Y/N)!! idk if you remember me, we haven’t talked in awhile but it’s jisung! I’m going to be attending ur school in fall and I was wondering if you can help me with some housing stuff????

you: hey bud, congrats! Yeah, you can ask me anything you need to know, everything is very confusing when you first start out :)

The least you could do was act friendly. Jisung never did anything wrong and if anything, you two were oftentimes in the same awkward boat during your childhoods.

Talking to him again reminded you of all the holiday barbecues spent at his house and running away from the adults to play games with his cousins. The many sleepovers where his mom made him sacrifice his bed for you and he’d end up sleeping on their blow up mattress. Fond memories that were definitely lost in your present. You no longer remember how this boy even looked like.  

Summer slipped from your fingers faster than you could blink. Another school year of newer experiences, yet without the aid of being a lost freshman. Everything fell back into a schedule as classes began. The floods of college students rushing to their next lecture. Students working in study rooms or at the outside commodities. The lost freshmen with their dangling lanyards who walk too slow and bumped into people.

There was one tall, shy boy that caught your eye. He wandered outside the building, checking the lecture hall number and scanning the enormous facility. The sheer panic in his expression when he looked down at his phone in his iron grip.

His features were clearly recognizable, but Jisung had grown incredibly older. His jawline was wider and he had several inches stacked above you. As you approached him, his infamous pout appeared as he rapidly scrolled on his dark screen. His cheeks weren’t entirely slimmed out.

“Jisung?”

Jisung was quick to see who could have possibly known his name at this new institution. He tilted his head when he finally laid his tired eyes on you. He knew there was no way he could have recognized you on his own. Not that you were absolutely different, but the whole aura that surrounded you embodied a college upperclassman. You were no longer the loud, weird middle school girl who wore her hair in wacky ponytails.

“(Y/N)! Wow, it’s been so long. I almost didn’t know who you were.” The deepness of his voice took you aback. His hand retreated to the back of his neck out of shyness. His high cheekbones marveled in the autumn afternoon. The boyish charm was very prominent, but his eyes seemed a bit lifeless, a bit sad. There was no gleam, loss of fairy dust that glimmered.

“I can recognize a lost freshman anywhere. Let me walk you to class.” You offered and his cheeks turned slightly pink from embarrassment.

A small side smile appeared when Jisung handed you his phone to see what building he was struggling to find. “I was trying to not be obvious, but the campus is so big. I really haven’t gotten used to where my classes are.”

A laugh escaped your lips when you gave the boy his phone. His wide eyes grew concerned, afraid you were mocking him. “It’s already the third week and I never noticed you were in my class. Let’s go, I’ll finally have someone to sit with.”

A sense of relief washed over his entire body as he followed your lead. The curious boy remained astonished as you two walked side by side on the large campus. He was barely taking in the massive structures, long roads, and the volume of people. His whole face lit up, with tiny sound effects whenever he was amazed by something.

“How could you ever get used to a place like this? I feel like there is so much to explore.” Jisung tried his best to match your strides to avoid losing you in the stream of hurried students.

“Yeah, it loses its luster after a few months.” Looking up, you noted the drop in his smile. Guilt filled your system at lowering his spirits. “But with the right experiences, you’ll fall in love with it more.”

Just like that, his rectangular smile rested well on his small face. “Thanks for answering all my texts over the summer.” His eyes averted to the ground as he held his backpack straps.

“I’m happy to help. C’mon, Jisung. We go way back, you’ve helped me escape many horrible adult encounters during your mom’s get togethers. The least I could do is return the favor.”

“Oh, we’re bringing up the past? Are you still afraid of the dark?” He raised a snarky eyebrow and you were surprised at the random attack.

You scoffed dramatically, and pretended to seem offended. “Says the one who had the night light in his room growing up.”

His hearty laugh surrounded the air around you two and you giggled lightly at how cutely he reacted. As his melody came to a descend, he analyzed your facial expression before saying, “talking to you is so natural, like we didn’t have a long pause on our barely developing friendship. I’ve been waiting to encounter a conversation like this since I got here.”

A strange, inexplicable feeling burned across your chest. Were those the butterflies that you felt so often around a boy you found the slightest potential? Long stares at Jisung’s profile had you admiring his strikingly handsome features. You shook off the unusual thought, “what about your roommate? You two haven’t hit it off yet?”

Jisung shrugged and looked around as if expecting his roommate to be wandering around him. He relaxed and stood by your side to wait for the lecture doors to open with leaving students. “Not exactly. Chenle’s a bit loud, a little weird too. He sleeps on silk pillows with his initials embroidered on them and has fancy cutlery.”

Laughter and more laughter filled the gaps with Jisung. It was the most refreshing feeling to be around, something you never knew you missed. Everyone was too busy being adults or experiencing wild, mature adventures. There was no room for innocence or child’s play. For a brief moment, you forgot about the stress of your future and wanted to bathe in the smiles that Jisung provided.

After the long boring lecture and a whole hour of Jisung performing pen tricks, he practically begged you to walk him to his next class. Given that your schedule was a bit more free today, with the spin of your heels, you were off giving him random tips about surviving his first year.

“Make sure you avoid walking to class through the center of campus on Wednesdays, unless you want to be harassed by clubs.” You cringed remembering the fateful encounter with your orientation leader from your first year, Jeno, that happened not too long ago. And how he still managed to flyer you after catching up.

Jisung did nothing, but nod aggressively to your advice to mentally note them all. He was overwhelmed, in a good way. However, knowing that he had you by his side, it made him feel all the more better. The realization that you two could actually be friends hit him like bricks. He wanted you to be guiding him, teaching him, bettering him.

“Hey homie!” A familiar, taunting voice called after you. You both perked up and watched as your best friend, Jungwoo, danced his way over to you.

You chuckled at your silly friend, “when did you ever call me homie?”

“When I noticed you standing next to a new friend and I don’t want to be too mean by calling you a loser.” Jungwoo’s happy smile bloomed as he stuck his hand out for Jisung to shake. “I’m Jungwoo, 2nd year Chemical Engineering major.”

Jisung stared at his hand, unsure how to even begin at introducing himself to other people. His only instinct was to throw scissors to Jungwoo’s extended palm, like he was playing a game of rock, paper, scissors. Jungwoo erupted with giggles and jumped at his hand being sandwiched between Jisung’s fingers. You, also, laughed at the awkward boy’s action.

“I like him.” Jungwoo patted Jisung’s stiff shoulder, causing Jisung to smile at his statement. “First year?”

“What gave it away?” You asked, eyeing Jisung with a matter of fact attitude.

“The lanyard dangling from his back pocket.” Jungwoo crossed his arms and joined you at your side. Jisung quickly stuffed the rest of his exposed lanyard into his pocket to refrain from being a first year stereotype.

The lecture doors opened with a bustling blast of people pouring out. You gave Jisung a warm touch on his arm, which he blushed unknowingly at. “Welcome to college, Jisung. We’re hanging out tomorrow because I said so.”

It was almost difficult for Jisung to stop smiling around you. He nodded and waved goodbye to both you and Jungwoo. A small thanks was all you heard before he disappeared inside.

Sighing, you and Jungwoo began heading towards any source of food. “Jisung, first year and undeclared major. He’s a family friend of mine.”

“He’s cute. You two look great together.” He winked. You pushed at Jungwoo’s arm playfully to rid any romantic thoughts. Though, it would be an absolute lie you weren’t already having some of your own. Maybe not entirely romantic, but more in a sense that you endearingly cared for him more than you had anticipated.

[side-shawty]

Burn VIII (Stark!Reader)

VIII: Yellow Lights

Fandom: Marvel (MCU)

Type: series

Prompt/Summary: Everyone needs to be reassured sometimes

Pairing(s): Peter Parker x Stark!reader, Tony Stark x daughter!reader

Requested? YES

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

•

“May! I can’t find my belt!” Peter yelled from his room, he had been searching frantically all morning. 

“Which one?” May called back, most likely from in front of the TV in the living room. 

“The black one that Ben gave me,” he replied and heard May move from her spot but instead of concentrating on her, he continued his quest.

“This one?” May said from his doorway. He looked toward her from his seated spot in front of his closet.

He stood almost immediately, “Yes! May, you’re a wizard,” he said kissing her cheek and taking the belt before tossing it onto his unmade bed.

“If I was, I’d be able to get you to keep your room clean,” She said as he haphazardly shoved things into his drawer and forced his closet door closed.

“I’ll clean it tomorrow, promise. Isn’t Sunday like a cleaning day anyways?” Peter asked moving to pack his backpack for the day.

“Sure,” May said moving to sit on his bed. “Peter I have to ask you something before tonight,” she said and the serious tone made Peter pay close attention to her but not halt his actions.

“What is it?” 

“What exactly is going on between you and Y/N?” May asked and Peter finally stopped what he was doing to turn to her with wide eyes. Peter had told her some of what was going on but not nearly everything.

He cleared his throat, “Well, um, I — she,” he began but couldn’t seem to get the right words out.

May stood at his distress and put her hands on his shoulders. He had gotten so tall since first becoming Spiderman but he was still her little Peter that lost too much too fast.

“Breathe, honey. Happy has already told me the gist of it but I just wanted to hear it from you. Are you dating?” May asked and his newly relaxed shoulders were tense all over again.

“I don’t think so,” he began, looking somewhere over her head, “I like her a lot but I don’t want to rush anything. And I mean we’ve been on dates but I haven’t asked her to be my girlfriend or anything,” he finished.

“Well, I think you should. You haven’t fallen over yourself this much since Liz,” she said and this made him look at her. “But it’s different this time, the look in your eyes is so much brighter and happier when you talk about her. There’s no hiding or secrets. When you’re together you just look like two happy teenagers,” May smiled and Peter couldn’t help the smile that pushed through the blush on his cheeks.

“Thanks May. You think I should ask her tonight?”

“I do,” she started, “But for the love of god please try and make it romantic. This venue is gonna give you a pretty good head start already,” she said before pulling him into a quick hug.

~~~

Nothing in your life had ever gone so smoothly. When you got to the venue the ballroom was set up perfectly. The only thing you had to do was wait for the flower arrangements and favors to be delivered. 

You were doing a final walkthrough when the flower arrangements arrived and you knew this was the end of your smooth sailing. 

There were supposed to be red and white peonies at the entrances and similar but not matching ones for the stage but when they arrived the peonies for entrances were red and the rather large ones for the stage were baby blue.

It took everything not to lose it on the delivery guy. It wasn’t his job but you’d be damned if you didn’t show him at least a bit of the fire in your eyes so he had a story to tell his superiors.

Twenty minutes later you got a frantic call from the florists telling them they would be there in less than 30 minutes with red peonies. Pepper had given you a serious talk about needing to be stern when working with businesspeople because you had always been framed as “Tony’s sweet innocent daughter” and they would walk all over you because of that. 

It was really paying off now.

Once the flowers were fixed you took a deep breath. You could feel your body temperature rising and the last thing you needed right now was for your venue to literally go up in flames.

You oversaw as the rest of the setup went smoothly and two hours before the doors opened you went to the venue’s bridal suite to get ready. 

You had changed into a dressing robe and were finishing on your hair when there was a light knock on the door.

“Come in,” you called, not taking your eyes off the mirror.

“Wow your hair looks so pretty Y/N/N,” you heard Morgan’s voice and you turned to face her and your mother with a smile on your face.

You opened your arms as she ran to you.

“I wish my hair curled like that,” She said tugging at her loose curls a bit sadly. They were almost identical to the ones your dad had at her age. 

You decided on keeping it natural because even the very beginning summer in the city was hot and humid sometimes and you didn’t really have time to get protective styles done anymore. 

“What? You have the cutest little curls I’ve ever seen,” you told her pinching at her cheeks as she settled onto you lap.

“Really?” She asked as you continued on your own hair.

“Yup,” you said popping the ‘P’ before your mother joined you both in the mirror and took the products from your hands.

“It looks beautiful downstairs Firefly. You really outdid yourself,” She said and began putting your hair into the updo you had showed her days prior.

Pepper had been doing your hair since you were little because your father had been a lost cause from the very start. He didn’t fare much better with Morgan’s hair either.

“Thanks mom, I learned from the best,” you said smiling at her and she couldn’t help but smile back as she pulled your hair into a ponytail but allowing a few curls to stay out and frame your face.

This was the most relaxed you’d been all day. As your mom finished your hair and Morgan took an interest in a game on your phone. You closed your eyes, only for them to shoot open at the question your mother posed.

“So is Peter officially your boyfriend now?” The question came after your hair was done so you quickly whipped your head around to face her. Careful not to drop your sister.

Who had subsequently gasped excitedly at your mother’s question, “Does that mean that Peter is my brother for-real now?” You snapped your head back around to look at her.

These two were going to give you whiplash.

“Wait. Stop. He’s not my boyfriend,” you told them.

“Do you want him to be?” Morgan asked.

“Yes, no…maybe,” you said and Pepper’s eyes softened at the distress in your voice.

She walked around so that she was leaning on the vanity in front of you. She gave you the look and that was all it took for you to cave.

“I mean I do but is it too soon? I mean it’s not like Harley has my heart anymore but I don’t want to rush into anything,” you told her.

“You know it took your father and me eleven years before we finally decided to tie the knot. Granted we had been together for a few years before that and that man is actually insane,” she said and gave a wistful smile, you and Morgan laughed lightly. 

“But sometimes I wish we had dived in head first, especially after you came into our lives. I always knew I loved him, even when I denied it so even though what you and Peter have right now might not be love yet it’s worth taking a risk. You’re only young once,” She smiled at you when she was done and you smiled back. 

You hesitated for a spilt second before saying, “You’re right, thanks mom,” she smiled and gave you a kiss on the cheek before lifting Morgan from your lap.

“Anytime sweetheart. Now finish getting ready, you’ve only got an hour and a half and Peter will be here in an hour with Happy and May,” she told you as Morgan gave you your phone back and they headed for the exit.

“Aye, aye Captain,” you saluted and she rolled her eyes.

~~~

Your makeup was done quickly and almost as perfectly as if you had gone to a professional. You had been coming to events like this since you were younger than Morgan and that meant that you had makeup down to a perfect science.

All that was left was for you to put on your gown and shoes. 

Unzipping the garment bag you were once again floored by the beauty of the gown. One of your mother’s friends had begged to make custom gowns for the three of you and had pulled out all the stops.

The gown was a deep red with thin straps and a deep v-neck on the fitted bodice. The dress flowed from your waist effortlessly only interrupted by a slit halfway up your thigh. There was no beading, just perfectly draped silk that shone as the light hit it.

You dressed quickly accessorizing with a diamond earring and necklace set that your father had gotten you for your 17th birthday. Finally, you made sure the bangles for your suit were secured to your wrists before slipping into your heels.

You checked the mirror once more before hearing a knock on the door. 

“Come in,” you called for the second time that day.

Turning to face the door you were greeted with an already-smiling Peter and you couldn’t help the warmth you felt creeping under your chocolate skin when his delight turned stunned. 

“Wow, Y/N, you look incredible,” he said as you took in his appearance. 

Sure you had seen Peter in a suit before but never like this. He was all hair gel and muscles in black on black and you weren’t sure your heart could handle it if he kept staring at you like that.

His top two buttons were undone as he held his tie in his hand.

“Thanks Peter. You clean up pretty nicely yourself,” you said before walking over and giving him a kiss on the cheek. 

“Thanks,” he said and had finally looked away long enough so that his own cheeks produced an adorable flush.

“Um, Mrs. Stark said you could give me a hand with this,” he said holding up his tie.

“Of course,” you said, your voice was soft as you tried to ease both of your nerves.

He was silent as you began wrapping the black tie around his neck. The only thing special about it was the single red stripe down the center that matched your gown.

After you were finished the air felt even more awkward, neither of you moving back from your very close proximity. You looked at him, taking in his features and when he looked back you realized that tonight would be intense if he kept up with that stare.

You caught his eyes as they slipped down to peek at your lips and did the same, as he looked back up. A silent affirmation of exactly what he wanted.

He held your waist tightly and pulled you closer to him almost agonizingly slowly. Frustrated, you tugged at his tie and his lips fell softly onto your own.

And that was all it took for you to lose yourself in Peter. Suddenly there was no gala, or press, or superheroes. It was just you and a boy you thought the world of who was holding you and kissing you as if you were the only one who he ever had eyes for.

As you moved your arms to lock around his neck you felt his tighten around your waist and any part of you that wasn’t flush against him had ignited as your body met his.

You could spend the rest of your life completely lost in Peter’s kisses.

That was until three quick raps on the door startled the two of you into breaking apart and look to said door,

“Five minutes, Y/N!” Happy called from the other side and didn’t wait for a reply, just retreating with heavy footsteps.

You and Peter laughed together as you looked back at each other. All the awkwardness from earlier seemingly fading away as you untangled and straightened out your clothes. 

Peter fell into a bow, “Shall we m’lady?” He asked and you laughed squeezing his outstretched hand.

“Yeah let me just fix my lipstick,” you winked at him and he blushed.

•

NEXT CHAPTER

[gallavictorious]

”You going out? I thought you weren't working tonight.”

Mickey looks up from his tie to see Ian leaning against the doorframe, in uniform and with his hair neatly slicked back.

”Nah, it isn't work. Well, not exactly,” he says, finishing the knot and taking a step back to admire the result in the mirror. He's getting pretty good at this. Lots of practice in the last few months, ever since he took the bodyguard gig officially on the road. Clients like it when he wears a tie. ”You know the chick I've been babysitting for the past few weeks, the one whose stalker I caught trying to climb in through the fucking window? She and her dad's taking me to some fancy place, uh... Piccolo something, to thank me. Since you're working the late shift, I thought – ”

Ian interrupts, straightening: ”Piccolo Sogno? Like, that really romantic place down in West Town? You telling me the girl who has a crush on you is taking you there?” He pauses, looking at Mickey with a cross between disbelief and bemusement. ”Are you going on a fucking date?”

Mickey stares at him. ”What the hell are you talking about?” he demands. Crush? Date? What?

---

The chick's name is Charlotte Eckerton.

He was supposed to call her Ms. Eckerton, she insisted he say Charlie, and what he actually went with was usually some classic television reference that she didn't get, or – when she's was being particularly annoying – ”hey, brat”. She was probably no worse than any other spoiled little North Side princess, but Mickey sure as hell didn't get why anyone, no matter how loony, would want to stalk her, because literally all she did was go to class, study, shop, and party with her equally irritating friends. Oh, and endlessly updating her Instagram stories with every last detail about her fascinating life, of course. He put a quick stop to that, because continually announcing your location to the public when a deranged psycho was stalking you was... well, let's face it, it was about as stupid as he expected from these people.

She threw a tantrum when he swapped her phone for one with restricted access to social media apps, and she tried to give him the slip at least twice a day for the first four days, going as far as paying some other goons to attack him while she made a run for it. She was not completely stupid, he had to give her that, and he was beginning to understand why her father had come to him rather than hire a more well-established firm. The girl was a complete nuisance, and occasionally quite clever about it. Clearly needed someone wise to all the tricks, and unafraid to rein her in and tell her in no uncertain terms when she was being an idiot.

Mr. Eckerton was loaded, having made his fortune doing some IT-shit or other, and for the kind of money he was offering, Mickey was prepared to put up with a quite a lot of hare-brained shenanigans, as well as hanging out at the Magnificent Mile afternoon after afternoon, and listening to the brat's endless babble about... hair? Make-up? Bands? Whatever. He didn't really pay attention; he'd have needed to be paid hell of a lot more than he was to do that.

After a week or so of thwarted escape attempts Charlotte had exchanged overt defiance for a more subtle approach, trying to throw him off his game by suddenly gifting him stuff, like a dark gray shirt ”that goes really well with your eyes”. He took the shirt, because it was pretty nice, as was the watch and the stupidly expensive hair-product she produced in the following days. He was a little insulted she thought he could be bought so easily, though; she'd have needed to double her father's money, at the very least – or gotten him a nice car. He had said as much to Ian, who had eyed the gifts with an unreadable expression on his face, and had failed to comment.

When bribery too proved a failed tactic she started asking a lot of personal question instead, fishing for weaknesses to exploit. Her strategy was pitifully obvious, however, and Mickey gave her nothing but monosyllabic responses. Finally, she resigned herself to being stuck with him for the time being, and mercifully stopped pestering him about letting her go to whatever concert or party was happening that night. She still dressed up and put on elaborate make-up every damned evening, though, even if it was just the two of them chilling at her place, but he supposed it was something for her to do. Fuck knew he could sympathize with the boredom of being locked up.  

So that was Charlotte, spoiled and stubborn and maybe a little bit clever underneath it all. Not the worst person he could imagine babysitting, not by a long shot, but not one he'd think back on either, now that the job was done. He probably wouldn't even have accepted her and her father's invitation to take him out for a meal, if it hadn't been for Ian's occasional insistence that he needed to be ”nicer to his clients” and ”cultivate professional contacts”. This only made his husband's reaction to the whole situation all the more annoying –

”It is not a date,” Mickey says flatly, irritation coloring his voice, because Ian is smiling at him in all too knowing way. ”I probably saved her fucking life, she wants to buy me dinner. That doesn't make this a – Listen, her fucking father is going to be there.”

”Yeah, sure he will.” Ian crosses his arms, still smirking like an asshole, but there's just a hint of an edge to the smile now. ”Does she even know you're gay?”

Mickey rolls his eyes. ”Of course she fucking knows, because I open every damned conversation with 'Hi, I'm Mickey and I love cocks' like a normal fucking faggot. Jesus. It hasn't come up. She knows I'm married.”

”Like that's gonna – ”

They're interrupted by the door to Liam's room opening, the boy stepping out to give them his very best judgemental look. ”Why are you yelling? I need to study.”

”Oh, it's nothing,” Ian says casually. ”Just Mickey having a date tonight. With a teenage girl.”

”She’s nineteen, and I am not – !”

Liam frowns. ”Is this like when he was fake-dating Byron to make you jealous? Are you going to go on a fake date too? With a girl?”  He pauses, frown deepening: ””Is there a Grindr for straight people?”

Ian's spared a reply as Lip comes up the stairs with Freddie in his arms. He pauses on the top step, brow furrowing as he takes in the scene: Mickey, dressed to the nines and with a scowl to match, Ian smiling with his arms crossed, and Liam wearing his trademark look, the one that says that everyone else is a bit of an idiot. ”What's going on here?”

”Mickey's going on a date with a woman.” Liam offers it readily, a true believer in the free dissemination of information. Probably something he picked up at private school.

Mickey gives a half-choked groan. ”It's not a – ! You know what, fuck you.” With one last glare and an extended middle finger, Mickey grabs his jacket and storms off.

Ian, Liam and Lip watch him go, nonplussed. Lip glances at Ian: ”Huh. Less than a year of marriage and you've already turned him off men.”

”Yeah, well. Have to admit I didn't see that one coming.”

---

The restaurant is fancy as hell, linen cloth and candlelight, one person to take his coat and another to show him to the table. Charlotte is already there, blonde hair pulled back in a strict ponytail, something expensive glittering around her neck and drawing attention to the generious helping of skin her lowcut black dress offers.

The table is set only for two. Mickey frowns as he takes his seat. ”Your father coming?”

”No.” The smile she gives him is very innocent. ”He got held up in a meeting, so he called to say he can't make it. He said to tell you sorry, and to thank you so much for your service.”

Listen to those alarm bells going off all at once... Mickey tries to mentally shake it off. It's nothing to worry about. Just Ian putting weird ideas into his head. ”Uh, yeah. Don't worry about it. Just doing my job.” He waves for the waiter to bring him a beer. He does need a drink, quite urgently.

Charlotte leans forward, looking up at him from under half-closed lids with a very intense expression on her perfectly moisturized face. ”You were so brave when Smithson attacked me. I don't know how I can ever thank you enough. You know, my father is paying for this meal, but if there was something else you wanted... ?”

And that's her grabbing the olive from her drink and very deliberately pushing it past her lips and that's... that's her foot, sans shoe, slowly sliding down his calf.

Oh. Fuck. This is a date. Inwardly groaning, Mickey rubs a tired hand over his face, before looking straight at Charlotte: ”You know I'm fucking gay, right? Like, married to a man?”  Jesus, Ian is never going to let him hear the end of this...

Charlotte reels back just a little, mouth falling slightly open. He's prepared for shock, disgust even – but instead a dreamy look appears on her face. ”Oh my god, that is sooo hot!”

What?

---

He feigns sleep when Ian returns home a quarter past midnight, but his husband isn't fooled. ”How was your date?” he murmurs as he slips in under the covers and wraps his arms around Mickey from behind.

”Shut the fuck up.”

A quiet laugh, a kiss pressed to his shoulder. ”I take it you're sticking with cocks for now then.”

And sure, there's a teasing edge to the words, and sure, he'll hear about this for-fucking-ever, but... Mickey turns around, facing Ian. ”I guess I am,” he agrees, reaching up to run his thumb over Ian's cheek.

Whatever mischief is there fades from Ian's eyes, from his voice: ”I'm glad,” he says simply, and pulls Mickey in for a kiss.

Yeah. So is he.

---

This one goes out to @starkcravingmad​  who suggested a teenage charge crushing on a clueless Mickey, in a reply to this post. I know you didn't ask me to write it, and I have no idea if this is even vaguely related to what you had in mind, but for better or worse you planted the seed, and here we are. Didn't intend for it to get this long, or this silly, but yeah.

[becausewerebatfam]

Our Future (2)

Jason Todd x Reader

Jason gets tired of sitting around babysitting.

Warning: Language and suggestive content.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Jason stopped short of reaching the cave. He looked back to see you standing with your hands on your hips, obviously disapproving of his trying to escape. “It’s been three days, they obviously need my help.”

He couldn’t stand being in the mansion any longer. Although he did appreciate getting to see you dressed down in your silk pajama top and matching shorts. The best part was the way your hair was free from the high ponytail you always wore it in for missions.

“Jason, don’t do this again.”

He always liked to play the rogue and do his own thing. But that always came with various results. Either he did good and helped the mission be a success, or he got in the way of progress.

“Sorry Doll but I think I can better help the kid out there.”  He began his descent down to the Batcave while you followed.

Jason had grown fond of James the two had bonded over motorcycles as he watched him work on his and even played some of Damian’s games.

“They’re going after Dent when they should be going after the clown.” Through his conversations with the kid, he found out how his mother was killed in front of him by the Joker. It reignited Jason’s anger for the clown.

You rushed to step in front of him and stop him by putting your hands on his chest. “What did he tell you?”

You had yet to hear anything about the case. James was always acting like a normal child wanting to do nothing but spend time with you watching television, reading, cooking... although Alfred had you beat on that one.

“Oh, so the little guy likes you enough to take your side but not to confide in you?” He would have gloated if it weren’t for his eyes landing on the empty space before him. The spot his motorcycle had been parked in was empty. “What the-”

He quickly ran over to the computer so he could check the surveillance cameras. That’s when he saw James put on his helmet and hop onto his bike. He even turned to wave at the camera before speeding off. The timestamp was crucial in letting him know it had only been minutes ago.

“The kid stole my bike and my helmet!”

You gasped seeing the footage. “We have to go after him.”

“I plan to,” Jason was fuming. Now he knew how you felt whenever he would go rogue on you.

He got into one of the Batmobile’s not paying attention to you until you got into the passenger seat.

Still, in your silk pajamas, you grabbed your spare suit from the cave. With no time to spare you decided changing in the car was your best bet of not being left behind.

Jason nearly bled from his nose when you went to lift your shirt up.

“Eyes forward Todd.”

He did as he was told, thankful that without his helmet he could still indulge in his peripheral vision. And what a vision you were. Only after you had finished did he snicker, “You know I can still see you from my peripheral.”

You rolled your eyes at his brazen point. “Have some shame, Jason.”

“What is there to be ashamed of?” He looked over eyeing you up and down with admiration for a quick second. “You look hot Babe.”

A subtle blush spread across your cheeks and tugged at the corners of your lips. The comment had your face burning up at the thought that Jason had been able to catch a glimpse of you.

"How long has it been Jason?”

Now it was his turn to blush knowing you were asking him how long it had been since the last time you two were together in a physically intimate type of way.

“Long enough.” It had been long enough for him to seriously consider leaving the Batmobile on autopilot so he could reacquaint himself with your curves. “Just say the word and I’m yours, Babe.”

Now it was your turn to laugh. “How teenage rich boy of you to fantasize about having sex in your daddy’s car.”

“Gross!” he stuck his tongue out only to smirk the next second. “Can you imagine me calling Bruce Daddy?”

“Never.”

“You on the other hand...” Jason trailed off imagining what a wonderful sight that would be. To have you begging for him, referring to him as Daddy. Blood was starting to rush south.

You scoffed, “In your dreams Todd.” Remembering how he previously tackled that rebuttal you chose to say something else before he could further interrupt your levelheaded thinking with thoughts of him. “You’re not even daddy material.”

The flirtatious argument was cut short when you caught up to James.

James did not notice that he had been found. His sight was focused on the park before him. It was much newer than he recalled, meaning this must have been a newly built park and by the time he got to play there years of play had weathered the metal jungle-gym. 

This was the park he frequented with his parents as a younger child. His hold on Jason’s helmet tightened recalling the last time he had been there was shortly before your death and his father’s comatose condition.

He hadn’t appreciated being treated like a child. Now that’s all he wanted, to be spoiled and watched over by two loving parents.

“Hey kid you don’t just steal someones-” Jason groans as you elbow his side pointing out the way James seemed to blankly stare ahead. Clearly, something was wrong with the kid. 

“James,” you called out.

James turned towards your voice wiping at his eyes to rid himself of their sudden moisture.

Even Jason couldn’t ignore the tears of a child. “What’s wrong kid?”

He shook his head not wanting to talk about it. The lump in his throat wouldn’t allow it anyway.

Your hand went to his shoulder unsure of how to deal with a young boy’s tears when he seemed to have been tough as nails up until this moment. “Ah-” you opened your mouth but no words seemed to be right for the moment. You knelt down beside him simply felt the urge to hug him.

When James felt your arms around him the dam that had been holding everything in broke. He hid his face in your shoulder to muffle the sobs that followed.

“I get it, you miss your parents.” Who better than an orphan to know what an orphan is feeling. Jason sat down beside you two looking up at the moon.

James inhaled and exhaled deeply taking control once more of his emotional state. “I just- can’t help it sometimes...” The fact that the people consoling him now were his actual mother and father didn’t help. He wanted to say something but knew he couldn’t for time continuity’s sake. 

He let go sitting beside Jason and urging you to sit down with them. 

Sitting down between you two was a simple act he missed. It made him wonder if he could just give up on his mission and stay here with you two. The future was never promised. Even if he did stop Duella... what if he was doomed to lose you either way.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re going through James but if a tough kid like you can’t help but shed some tears then it must be hard.” You ruffled his hair with a hint of a smile. “I’m sure your parents must love you a lot.”

“I hope so,” he muttered.

“Damn right they do,” Jason assured. “They might not say it often but your parents will always love you.”

You smirked, “Awww Jay so you do love your Daddy.”

“Shut up,” he scowled.

Both you and James laughed at his reaction. James gave Jason his helmet back with an apology.

“Sorry I took off but I couldn’t stay still much longer.”

“Tell me about it,” Jason sighed.

“I know,” you stood up dusting off your hands. “Why don’t we go have some fun.”

+++

“This isn’t good,” Bruce scowled as he viewed the monitor with absolute focus. His fingers speedily pressing buttons too fast for anyone to know what he was doing exactly. 

“What is it?” Tim asked.

“Seems someone called the GCPD about a bright yellow light similar to the one I saw when James appeared.”

“You think Duella or Joker finally got here?”

“Only one way to find out.” Bruce moved out of the way allowing Tim to take over the batcomputer. “Damian and I will check it out while you call Commissioner Gordon. Make sure the GCPD doesn’t respond.”

With Nightwing on patrol tonight Batman knew he could call him up in case the problem escalated.

“On it.”

At the mention of his name Damian jumps into action and into the batmobile. This was what he had been waiting for all week. The investigation had generally been nothing but surveillance as they kept an eye out for Duella. Frankly, Damian had begun to think perhaps James had miscalculated where or when in time Duella had gone back to.

In a way he was right.

When they got to the time portal’s location they managed to see Duella make a run for it until a dark figure ran after her. Duella Dent kicked and screamed as she desperately tried to flee but the dark figure was taller and sturdier than her. She was being dragged out and slammed against the nearest wall. It was hard to make out who he was with contrasting lights.

“Where the f*ck you think you're going?” The mysterious figure could now be identified as a male by the sound of his deep voice. He held her by the neck slamming her head into the wall once more.

Duella groaned before choking back a sob when she felt pleasure being applied around her larynx.

“I didn’t chase you through all that just to lose you here.”

She clawed at his arm trying to get him to release her. He had already taken her weapons away, he had managed to ruin her plans much sooner than anticipated. 

“But thanks for putting up a f*cking fight.”

Duella’s lips curled up as she attempted to laugh yet only a smug smile appeared. It was far to difficult to breathe let alone smile.

 “It gives me a great f*cking excuse to beat the sh*t out of you.” The dark menacing tone of his promised retribution echoed the dark streets of Gotham.

“That’s enough!” Bruce sternly warned.

When the dark figure made no move to seize his hold Robin threw a Batarang at his arm but it was easily deflected making him throw another.

This time the unknown male only moved slightly to allow the Batarang clean passage between his and Duella’s face making her turn her head in fright. Her captor’s hold on her had eased up allowing her to take in some much-needed oxygen.

“Go ahead- throw another and she’ll gladly catch it.” With her face, he thought.

Damian scowled with a loud click of his tongue. He took a step forward ready to engage the stranger until Bruce beat him to it. 

“Put her down James.” His voice was stern, commanding his grandson to obey. By now he didn’t need confirmation of who the dark figure was. Clearly, he had a personal grudge against Duella Dent. The combination of near-lethal force and profanity did help though. 

James sighed as he let go- more like threw her to the side. 

Instantly she passed out as her adrenaline was no longer able to keep her going. The beating she had taken along with the denial of oxygen, significantly weakened her.

Bruce paid him no mind as he proceeded to apprehend Duella making sure she was still alive.

In the meantime, Damian approached James, an irritated look about him. This one had the same helmet as the one back home but he was taller- older no doubt. “I wonder at what age you stopped being such a nuisance.”

“Huh?” James leaned forward to examine the Robin before him. In his mind, he was trying to identify which one it was. His mind had been elsewhere but soon he recalled it was Damian. “Aren’t you a little young to be talking to me like that you brat?”

Damian didn’t take it well.

+++

Elsewhere, despite Bruce’s warning to stay in the mansion where it was safe, you, Jason, and (child) James were off to have some fun. This time you were dressed as civilians. Not giving a care in the world that you would surely face Batman’s wrath should he find out, just like the rebels that you were,

Arcades were always fun for you as a kid which is why you suggested it to James, an actual kid. Jason, a child-like adult, had been to the arcade with you, that’s when he learned exactly how competitive you could get. Not only that but you were also both a sore loser and a sore winner.

So why the f*ck were you not yelling at James?!

Jason incredulously watched you high five and hug James when he managed to surpass your high score. You were absolutely beaming as you complimented the kid’s shooting skills. 

“Seriously James your aim is awesome!”

“Big deal,” Jason wedged himself between you two masking his jealousy with speculation as he reviewed the difference between his score and James’. “This is just a game, not like it’s accurate. Come to the shooting range with me kid then we’ll see who’s better.”

“Sure any time old man.” 

“Jason stop being so petty.” This was the third game he had lost to both of you and his frustration was starting to show. You brushed past him so you could follow James as he went looking for the next game to play.

He caught up to you placing his arm around your waist. “Babe you can’t just compliment someone else’s shooting in front of your man.”

“Since when are you my-”

“Since the first moment you laid eyes on me I was yours.”

You rolled your eyes, "Oh please.”

Jason held you tighter bringing you to a stop before you could get to James. He pulled you into a nearby photobooth drawing the curtain to a close behind him before attacking your neck with kisses.

“Jason,” you half moaned his name. The sudden attack to your senses had the butterflies in your stomach going wild.

He kissed you fervently not minding the fact that you were clinging onto him. The whole ordeal was so sudden it took a moment for you to find your footing but by then he had you pinned to the wall. In this position, you could feel all the hard muscle underneath his clothing and it was taking your mind places it shouldn’t be.

Stuck between a wall and a hard place, Jason had the upper hand. With a smug smile, he huffed feeling just as hot and bothered as you were. “Face it Babe, you’re mine just as much as I am yours.”

You sighed thinking this was just him trying to effectively get under your skin again, to arouse you in more ways than one only to then say something that would anger you.

Jason began to lose his confidence the longer you remained quiet. When you finally cracked a smile he was both confused and intrigued by what had brought it on. “What?”

“Nothing, just waiting for you to say something stupid again to ruin the moment but you’re taking so long that I started to imagine this might be how you truly feel.”

“So you’re laughing at my confession?” He let go of your waist bringing his hand to his chest as he pretended to be hurt by an accurate accusation. He always had done what you accused him of in the past. Now he realized how that affected the moments he tried to genuinely convey his feelings. 

“Is that what that was?” Your head tilted with a playful smirk. “Sounded more like you gave me ownership over you.”

"It’s mutual and you don’t seem to mind.”

You couldn’t hide the fact that you were blushing at his comment but you could try and regain your composure by turning your attention back to the task at hand. "Aren’t we supposed to be watching James?”

“Oh yeah,” he sighed. 

You swore you heard him mutter something about the brat stealing your attention but you ignored it. “Come on,” you led him out holding onto his hand up until you caught up to James.

+++

Damian and teenage James stood on opposite sides of the Batcave each sporting a few fresh cuts and bruises.

“Would you like some ice for that, master Damian?” Alfred offered as he finished bandaging James' arm. He had hurt it through his fight with Duella as they traveled through time but it wasn’t anything serious until Damian got his hands on it.

Damian pulled his hood lower to hide the black eye he had received in return. “I’m fine,” he huffed with crossed arms.

“There you are, master James.” Alfred removed his gloves and disposed of them allowing James to move about freely now.

“Thanks, Alfred...” James had never met Alfred. In his time, Alfred had died before he was even born. That didn’t mean he didn’t know who the man was. He was a legendary staple of the Wayne family. “I’m glad I got to meet ya!” He used his good arm to pat Alfred’s shoulder in a show of affection. 

“It was a pleasure meeting you as well master James...again.”

“Speaking of, where is the other James?” Dick asked.

“They should be upstairs,” Tim pointed out. The keyword being should, they all knew Jason wasn’t too fond of rules and given how easily he pushed your buttons they were sure he had done something to get you to go along.

“I believe they went to the arcade,” Alfred offered before slipping out of their presence there were matters for him to attend to upstairs. He only offered the tidbit of information because he had overheard you three returning to the cave only to leave shortly after out of your suits.

The mention of the arcade was a dead giveaway. “Oh, so it was Y/N this time who broke the rules.”

“Those two are nothing but trouble,” Damian scowled. His eyes shifted over to the most trouble they had imposed on the world. 

“What?” James caught the look. “You wanna go again Shorty!?”

With a straight face, Damian began pondering the idea of tagging along to all your missions. Perhaps his best bet was to become a permanent cockblock for Jason and keep James from being born. 

"Come on you two don’t fight.” Dick got a hold of the two and brought them together. “We’re all family here.”

“That’s the problem,” Tim muttered with no intention of being heard.

“Let go of me Grayson!”

A string of expletives cascaded from James when he tried to explain he was fine and wouldn’t instigate the shrimp again. Really it was all fun and games to James who was taking his frustrations for the elder version of his uncle on this the version of him he could look down on.

Bruce ignored the lot as he swiftly sent a message to you. Teenage James had no way of getting back to his own time as both his and Duella’s time travel devices were beyond repair. Their only hope rested upon the younger James.

In no time you and Jason rode into the Batcave on your respective motorcycles. You with James holding onto your waist from behind. 

“You two really never learn your lesson,” Damian scolded distracting their attention from teenage James.

“Remember-” Bruce began to warn James about revealing the future to his parents but was cut off by said future child who was all too aware of how time travel worked.

He put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder assuring him there was nothing to worry about. He would keep his helmet on to avoid their suspicion. One look at his dashing good looks and Jason would be on to him. “Relax, I got a big mouth but I’m not stupid enough to tell those two.”

Those two being you and Jason who he pointed to while you fought over who had been at fault. “I love my old man and ma but let's face it... I’m the reason those two end up together.”

It wasn’t to say that you and Jason didn’t love each other because you did. It was just a matter of fact that the accidental pregnancy that would result in James’ birth was the catalyst towards establishing your feelings and solidifying your relationship with Jason.

Bruce nodded in full agreement, “I can see how that would be the case.”

-end-

A/N: The more I wrote the more I realized you all deserve to see a bit more into the future so there will be a part 3!

Tag List:  @avengerdragoness @sarcasmismyfirstlove @butterfly-highflyer @annapointone @call-me-zero-zro @httpfandxms @jasontoddsgunholster

(could not tag)  @bad-bitch-khaleesi

[sunmoonandeddie]

feelings are fatal (6/24)

pairing: bucky barnes x reader, past steve rogers x reader

word count: 4,606

summary: After the events of Endgame, you struggle to come to terms with what you’ve lost, though you’re learning that you still have something to gain.

chapter warnings: swearing

masterlist

a/n: Let me know what you think!

You hummed softly as you took a sip of your wine, closing your eyes as you felt the cool liquid slide down your throat.  The midsummer sun was upon New York, and the breeze off the lake did little to help.  You were sitting on one of the couches on the front porch with Laura, Pepper, and Wanda, all of you sharing a box of white wine that rested on the coffee table in front of you.

Rhodey—“Let the grill master do all the work,” he’d said—was flipping burgers and hot dogs a little off to the side with Happy while Clint held Nathaniel on his hip.  Bruce and Sam were nearby, beers in hand.  Morgan and Cooper giggled loudly as they ran through the yard, Bucky hot on their heels.  The two braids you’d put into her hair that morning were already starting to fall out, the little red, white, and blue ribbons trailing behind her.  But you didn’t mind.

Everything felt so… normal.  It was a little disarming, and you half expected some alien spaceship to appear in the sky and for everything to go to shit again, but you tried to push those thoughts away.  Today was supposed to be a happy day.

“Y/N?”

You looked up to see Lila standing in front of you. There was a bit of a sheepish look on her face as her feet shuffled back and forth.  Her Old Navy t-shirt had an American flag on it, her brothers wearing matching ones.  “What’s up?” You asked as you leaned forward.

She bit her lip and glanced over at her mom, who she’d been whispering to just seconds before.  She gave her an encouraging nod and her daughter looked back at you with a new resolve.  “Can you… Can you braid my hair?  Like you did Morgan’s?”

A grin tugged at your lips as you nodded.  “I’d love to.  Just run inside and grab the ribbons and stuff, okay?”

The teenager seemed to light up as she nodded, running inside the cabin.

“Thank you,” Laura said with a bit of a sigh.  She was staring down at the half-drank glass in her hand.  “When we…  A lot of her friends weren’t affected by the Snap, and when we came back, they were five years older.  I know we had it rough, but I can’t imagine being thirteen and coming back from the dead to find out your best friends were about to leave for college, and you hadn’t even made it to high school.”  Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears as she watched the door her daughter had just disappeared through.  “I know braiding her hair seems like such a little thing, but—”

“It’s not,” you said with a reassuring smile.  “It means a lot to her, I can see it.”

“She feels like she’s supposed to be this grown up,” the older woman said with a sigh, her brows furrowing.  “All her friends are getting jobs and planning for the future and I keep having to remind her that she’s just a kid.”

Pepper hummed as she took a sip of her tea—unsweet, which made your nose scrunch in disgust. “She’ll get there, Laura, and—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Lila was stepping back out onto the porch with a wide grin.  The door slammed as she took a seat in front of you, holding the ribbons, ponytails, and brush up for you to take.  You took the brush and gently began to run it through her hair, being careful about any tangles you found.

“Lila, have you ever been to summer camp?” Wanda asked, her accent lightly lilting the words, and all four of you turned to look at her with incredulous expressions.  “What? There are at least five hundred American movies about summer camp.  It’s a fair question.”

The teenager shrugged as she pulled her knees up to her chest, suddenly very interested in the chipped yellow nail polish on her toes. “No.  It always seemed kinda dumb to go to a summer camp when I live on a farm.”

Laura looked a little thoughtful as she watched you carefully divide her hair into two.  “Summer camp might not be that bad of an idea.”

Wanda took a sip of her wine.  “All the movies say that it’s a great idea,” she said nonchalantly, sending a round of giggles through all of you.  The wine was starting to get to her head, and her accent got thicker and thicker as time went on.

You looked up as you heard a car door slam, grinning as you saw Peter Parker and his Aunt May getting out.  You knew that Lila’s plight was something he could relate to on some level, even though you’d heard that most of his friends had been Snapped away and come back just as they were.

Happy pulled May into a hug and you looked over at Pepper.  She caught your eye and both of you had knowing looks in your eyes at the way he let it linger.  Even once he let go, his hand lingered on her lower back as they quietly exchanged pleasantries.

“I wonder what that was about,” you said with a bit of a smirk as you turned back to Lila’s hair.  You had one side almost completely finished.  Pepper just shrugged, though she was grinning against the rim of her glass of tea.

Morgan immediately ran to Peter, launching herself into his arms with a squeal.  “PETER!” She shouted, her arms wrapping around his neck as he caught her.

Pepper looked a little teary eyed as she watched the exchange and you felt your heart well up with a little bit of emotion as well.  It was nice, seeing those two.  Peter had been a sort of son to Tony, and Morgan had listened to hundreds of bedtime stories about the teenager.

You also knew that it was good for Peter.  Helped him to realize that even though Tony was gone, he was still a part of your little family.

“May, over here,” Laura called as she scooted over a little bit for the other woman.

“Laura!  When did you get in?” May asked in surprise as she came up the front porch steps.

The two had met at Tony’s funeral and had become fast friends.  There was a sort of bond between Pepper, Laura, and May that you and Wanda just weren’t a part of it.  The comradery of raising children, you supposed.

You wrapped a ponytail around the end of the one finished braid before starting on the other.  Lila was taking in everything happening around her, content to just listen. She was getting to the age where she was starting to be let in on ‘adult’ conversations.

“Just last night,” Laura said as her and the other woman hugged.  “The flight was awful, but Southwest always is, you know.”

Pepper raised her eyebrows expectantly as she settled back in her seat.  She clearly meant business and wasn’t about to beat around the bush.  “So, what’s going on between you and Happy?”

May sputtered as her cheeks flushed a dark pink.  “Nothing’s going on.  Why would you ask?”  But as she sat down, she grabbed one of the empty wine glasses from the little coffee table in front of all of you and poured herself a large glass.

“You can’t lie to us,” Wanda said with a smirk.

“Hey, using powers isn’t fair,” you reminded her.

She rewarded with you an impish grin and a shrug as she sank back into her seat once again.

“We…  Happy still watches out for Peter, of course, and I don’t know…”  May took a small sip of wine as she tried to not let her eyes trail to the driver/bodyguard that was still talking with Rhodey and Clint.  The man was not-so-slyly taking glances over at her, only to quickly look away once he met her eye.  Peter, meanwhile, had joined Bucky in chasing Morgan and Cooper around the yard.  “He’s sweet.”

“Mmhmm, I’m sure that’s all there is to it,” Laura teased, nudging her playfully.

“What about Bucky and Y/N?”

All of you turned to look down at Lila, who had an expression of pure innocence on her face.

“What about us?” You asked, though your heart started to race.  Your mind immediately went to that almost-kiss at the baseball game even though you willed it not to.  You’d lied awake that night for hours, tossing and turning as you wondered what it would’ve been like, and it brought on a strange sense of déjà vu.

“You are distracted, malen'kiy.”

Your e/c eyes slowly focused on the Winter Soldier, who was standing just a few inches away.  The knife that you had thrown just seconds before was off center.  Way off center.

You usually never missed.

Shaking your head, you did your best to clear the fog in your mind.  “I’m sorry, Soldat.”

His shoes came into your line of vision as he took a step closer.  His metal hand reached up to tilt your chin up, eyes meeting with yours.  There was always something smoldering in his blue orbs that you could never explain. Like he was confused or… or afraid. “What’s going on?”

“I was…”  You bit your lip anxiously as you tried to figure out how to put your thoughts into words. You knew that if you told him the truth, he could report you.  You’d be put down immediately.  Like a dog.

“Yes?”  And even though it was his metal fingers on your skin, it was still tender and just as soft a touch as his flesh hand.

You took in a deep breath.  Despite the fact that he could report you, part of you knew that he never would.  He wouldn’t put you in danger like that.  “I was thinking about Natalia.”

It had been almost eleven years since she’d graduated, but that didn’t matter to you.  You never stopped wondering where she was, what she was doing.  It had been six years since she’d last visited to help train the girls in the Red Room, and you heard that she was no longer part of the KGB or HYDRA.  She’d betrayed the organization and was now an enemy.

You knew the Asset had one trained the redhead, which is partially why you brought it up.  “Have you heard anything?”

“No, malen'kiy,” he said softly, his metal digits running through your hair. “I’m sorry.  I know how much you care about her.”  His mouth opened as though he was going to say something, but he appeared to have thought better of it since he quickly closed his mouth.

“What is it?” You asked as you took step closer to him.  Being mere centimeters away from each other, you could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest as you had to lean your head back to look at him. You knew that if someone walked into the training room, you’d be screwed.  But none of that seemed to matter as his warm breath fanned out on your face.  He always smelled like gunpowder and gasoline. Like danger and heat.

Being close to him was always so… intoxicating.  With every training session you pushed your luck more and more, getting closer and closer. The distance between you two had ever so slowly decreased over the two years he’d been training you.  Your heart raced inside your chest and you tried to ignore how dry your mouth suddenly got.

He gnawed on his bottom lip before slowly saying, “You make me feel things, malen'kiy.  Things I am not supposed to feel.”  Your heart was pounding and you wondered if he could hear it.  “And it scares me, because I know that if anyone found out, I’d be wiped.  And you…” The Soldier sighed deeply as he took a step away.  It sent a pang through your heart as he dropped his hand from your cheek.  “You’d be punished because of me.”

Lila shrugged noncommittedly, not realizing the panic she had sent you into.  “I don’t know.  I just think Bucky looks at you like dad looks at mom.”

Your face felt hot as you stared down at the braid you were working on, trying to keep your hands from shaking.  You were suddenly hyper aware of everyone staring at you and also the shouts and laughter coming from the man in question out in the yard. Keeping your head down, you looked up to watch as Bucky grabbed Morgan.  Both of them were laughing loudly as he tickled her.  His hair fell around his face in chestnut waves, his eyes looking almost green in the light.  A sheen of sweat covered his forehead.  The smile on his face could’ve lit up the world, you were sure of it.

You were so entranced that you didn’t notice the whispers coming from the other women.

Bucky suddenly looked up, a fond smile on his lips as his eyes met yours.  You quickly looked back down at Lila’s hair, trying to pretend that he didn’t affect you as your heart went into a bit of a tizzy.

“There you go,” you said as you tired off the second braid.  Your hands were shaky as you let it go, rubbing your hands on your legs.  “All done.”

The teenager’s hands ran over her hair as she jumped up, shouting her thanks before running back towards the yard.  Since Peter had shown up, there was no doubt that she’d find her way to the fifteen-year-old’s side.  It was kind of cute, the case of hero-worship she had going on.  You’d think that having Hawkeye would prevent it, but apparently not.

You were very aware of everyone staring at you, but you did your best to dismiss the looks as you stood.  “I’m going to grab some more wine,” you said with as much fake confidence as you could muster before heading inside.

You’d decided—as a newly reformed family—to spend Fourth of July at the Stark cabin.  It was away from the city and quiet, which was a good idea all around for everyone.  The fireworks that would be going off around the city and surrounding towns could easily affect all of you.  The entire team suffered from some form of PTSD from constantly being in battle.  So two days ago, you and Pepper and walked through one of those little firework tents and picked out all the sparklers and little fountains that the kids could ever want, all the while asking questions about how loud each fountain got before throwing it into the cart.

It was nice, being back at the Stark cabin.  It brought back memories of your visits during the five years in between the Snap and the Final Battle.  There were happy moments all through out the years, most of them involving chasing Morgan through the halls and sitting out on the porch late at night with Pepper and Tony after she’d gone to bed.

You stood at the kitchen sink, taking in deep breaths as you looked out at the lake.  Off to the side was a photo of Tony and Peter beside a few others.  It was hard, being there without Tony.  He’d been such an important part of your life for almost a decade and it was hard to believe he was gone.

“You okay, sugar?”

Turning, you let out a weak laugh as you saw Bucky standing in the doorway.  “You managed to get out of Morgan and Cooper’s sight, huh?”

“Only after I promised them I’d come right back.” He leaned against the counter, frowning as he took in your glassy eyes.  “Talk to me, Y/N.”

“I just—”  You sniffled as you tried to blink away the tears.  “Just really miss him, is all.”

His hand gently grabbed yours, his thumb carefully running over your soft skin.  “I know, sweetheart.  I know.”

You could hear Morgan’s laughter still, and a small smile tugged at your lips as you stared down at your joined hands.  “I’m just trying to take care of them like Tony would’ve wanted.”

“Tony would’ve wanted you to be taken care of, too, you know.”

You shrugged as you flashed a smile up at him.  “I’m just taking it day by day.”  Your eyes shifted to a picture just behind him of the entire team together, Natasha’s arm thrown around you.  “Trying to make them proud.”

Bucky’s heart broke a little as he watched the way your eyes dimmed.  “They’ve always been proud of you.”

You looked up as you heard a car door slam, the moment lost.  “I didn’t know anyone else was coming.”

“Neither did I,” the super soldier said as he began to move towards the front door.

You followed him out onto the front porch without a second thought, the wooden boards creaking.  Your heart stopped as you saw a familiar minivan, an older couple stepping out.  Without even seeing their faces, you knew who they were.

Steve and Peggy Rogers.

Your hands shook as you stared at the man you’d once thought was the love of your life, your eyes catching the glint of the ring on his left ring finger.  His baby blue eyes met yours right before you turned right back around and headed back into the cabin.

The past two months, you’d just been trying to put yourself back together, and it seemed all for naught.  Your heart felt like it was going to break your ribs, it was pounding so hard.  Your breath was coming in short, labored gasps.

Outside, Bucky walked down the steps and marched towards Steve.  “What are you doing here?” He demanded.  He didn’t care that it was his best friend’s hundred and fiftieth birthday or whatever. Him showing up could mean you backtracking.

The man was clearly taken aback, looking at all of them in confusion.  “Pepper said that if we didn’t have anywhere to spend the holiday, we could come here.”

“I expected a call or something to let us know you’d be here,” the woman in question said, glancing back towards the house.  She’d offered it to them two weeks ago, and when she hadn’t heard anything, she’d figured that they weren’t coming.  That they’d be spending the Fourth with their children.

Peggy stepped forward, apologetic and understanding as ever.  “It was a last minute thing.  I’m the one who insisted that it would be okay.  I should’ve thought it through more.”

“She needs time, remember?” Bucky asked, his eyes still locked with Steve’s.  The others had never seen him act so aggressively towards him, other than maybe when he was the Winter Soldier.  “You can’t just show up without warning right now.  Maybe not ever.”

The blond—well, his hair had gone rather gray—nodded in understanding.  “I wasn’t thinking about it.  I’m sorry.”

Everyone looked up as the door opened once more and you came out.  You had a set of keys in your hand and you stopped on the front porch to talk to Pepper. “I think I’m going to head out, Pep,” you said, your voice cracking.  “I’m really sorry.  I—”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.  “It’s my fault.  They were supposed to give me warning and—”

.“It’s fine.  I just don’t want to make a scene, so I’m just…”  You swallowed around the lump in your throat, keeping your head down. You wanted to just get out of there without having to look at either of the Rogers.  “I’m gonna go back to the compound.”

Bucky turned and ran towards you, meeting you on the steps.  “Hey, sugar,” he said, his hand tentatively reaching to cradle your face.  “I’m so sorry.  If you want me to come with you, I can.”

“No, you should stay here and enjoy the holiday. I’ll be fine,” you said with a weak smile.  You weren’t sure if you were trying to convince him or yourself, but at this point, it didn’t really matter.  “You should celebrate his birthday.”

He nodded after a moment, letting his hand fall and taking a step back.  “Let me know when you make it home, okay?”

You just smiled in return, keeping your head down as you headed for the car you, Bucky, and Sam had taken.  You knew that Pepper and the others would be able to take them with them when they went back in the morning.

“Y/N.”

You froze as you felt a hand on your arm, looking up to see Steve staring down at you with a desperate look in his eyes.  Even after all the years he’d lived, his eyes were just the same.  Still just as bright and blue as before.  You tore your arm away from him as though his touch burned you, taking a step back.  “How dare you?” You asked, tears pricking your eyes.

“Y/N—”

“No,” you said, anger rising in your chest.  Your hands were balled into fists at your sides. “You don’t get to do that.  You don’t get to come here and act like nothing happened.”  Hot tears were streaming down your cheeks and you knew that this was definitely making a scene, but you didn’t care.  “You left me.  You left me all alone and I lost Natasha.  I lost Tony.  I needed you.  And you left like I was nothing.  Like I didn’t matter to you.”

He looked so pained that you almost felt bad, but not quite.

“You spent years telling me you weren’t the marriage type.”  Your chest physically hurt as you stared him down.  Even though you’d been trying to keep him from seeing you cry, you knew it was pointless now.  Now all you could do was stand your ground.  “I spent eight years with you, telling myself that it didn’t matter if we never got married as long as we were together.  That you loved me just as much and it didn’t matter that I’d never get that. I spent almost a decade with you. I went on the run and was branded a criminal for you.”  You motioned towards his wife, your hands shaking.  But you hesitated when you saw her.  Even though she was now old and wrinkled, she was just as beautiful as all the pictures you’d seen of her from the 40s.  But she was looking at you with such pity.  “And then you leave without telling me and marry her.”

“I’m so sorry,” Steve said, his voice croaking as he watched you.  He couldn’t reach out for you, knowing that you would just get angry again.  There was so much he wanted to tell you, so much he wanted to explain.  But he’d gotten it easy.  He’d gotten to go decades without seeing you, without facing up to the consequences of his actions.

You looked up in surprise as Bucky stepped in front of you.  “I told you, she needs time, Steve,” he said, his voice stern.  As much as he loved his friend and knew that he had only meant well, you needed him.  His hand slipped into yours, your fingers intertwining.  It was the only comfort he could give you at the moment, small as it was. “Come on, Y/N.  I’m going with you.”

“James—”

“No, Y/N,” he said as he turned to look at you.  “I’m going back to the compound with you.”  He tugged you towards the car, shouting back, “Happy birthday, punk.”

As soon as you were in the car, the floodgates opened, and you collapsed into a fit of tears.  Bucky had taken the liberty of getting into the driver’s seat, knowing that you were in no state to drive.  He reached over and buckled your seatbelt for you before starting it up and pulling out of the drive.

Your heart felt like it had been ripped out of your chest all over again as you curled up into a ball.  The rug had been pulled out from under you yet again.  You felt like the punchline of a joke.  Something for your former lover to laugh at when he looked back at his time with the Avengers every once in a while.

“I’m sorry that happened, James,” you said after what seemed like forever.  Your head was leaning against the window as you watched the sun slowly start to set. The cool glass felt so nice against your overheated skin.  “I didn’t want you to have to leave for me.”

“Nonsense,” he said with a bit of a huff.  You knew he was only trying to make you feel better, but you were gonna take what you could get at this point.  “I love Steve to death but I was two seconds away from giving him a shiner.”  His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard, and he was trying really hard not to be angry with his best friend.  His eyes brightened as he saw a cheap firework stand and he pulled in without a second thought.  “Come on, malen'kiy.”

Freezing at the old nickname rolling off his tongue, it took you an extra moment to get out of the car.  “What are we doing here?” You asked, though he had already taken off towards the stand.  The bright lights inside made it seem like a beacon in the falling darkness, though you could see every single moth flying around.

You weren’t sure if he’d realized what he’d called you, or if he just didn’t care.  You certainly didn’t mind.  Hearing the old endearment made you feel warm.  Safe.

“We can have our own little celebration back at the compound.”  Bucky was already grabbing a basket with one hand, his other finding yours.

It struck you that he’d been holding your hand an awful lot lately, but you found that you didn’t mind.  In fact, you’d started to find yourself reaching for his hand when it wasn’t already in yours.

“Y/N?”

You blinked, blushing as you realized that he’d been talking to you.  “I’m sorry, what?”  As his eyes roamed over your face, you remembered Lila’s words from earlier.

“I just think Bucky looks at you like dad looks at mom.”

He just smiled fondly and tugged you towards one of the racks of fireworks.  “Pick out whatever you want, sugar.”

An hour later, you found yourself out on the field outside of the compound, the sun long gone.  A bottle of Jack was on the grass somewhere, along with your shoes.  All of your worries felt like they were a million miles away and it was only you and the brunet man who was currently giggling like a child.

You spelled out your name in the air with a sparkler, watching as the man across from you did the same.  At some point Bucky had thrown his black bomber jacket over your shoulders, shielding you from the light breeze coming off the lake.  Your stomach twisted as you watched the way his face lit up behind the sparkler, biting your bottom lip.  “Hey, James?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for doing this with me.  I know you were looking forward to hanging out with everyone,” you said, your voice dropping to a whisper as the sparkler started to fade.

Bucky felt like his heart was going to burst as the two of you stared into each other’s eyes.  Even like this, with tear-stained cheeks and grass stains on your knees, you were the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.  “Sugar, there’s no place I’d rather be.”

[fourangers]

My valentine chocolate is you Part II

Part I

(4 years later...)

Loud, stuffy room filled with annoying fangirls usually wasn’t his preferred choice to visit, much less a place to stay for long hours to no end.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---NARUTO-KUNNNNNNN!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!” Their screams hiked up into a deafening noise when he jumped, smoothly adding more points with a slumdunk.

Sasuke let out an annoyed scowl, looking at the legion of hormonal girls as they screamed with their shrill voices, while whispering between themselves with wistful sighs.

He turned around to focus on the center of their attention (as well as his), with Naruto drying his sweat off with a towel, leaving his hair into a mussed, charming mess.

“He’s so cute.” One breathed out.

“Hot too.” Another cooed.

“Naruto-kunnnn!!! Do your best!!!” One group chorused together, catching his attention. Despite his teammates’ teasing, Naruto glanced back, lifting a small smile and shyly waving back.

This was more than enough to raise another wave of fangirl screams, shaking the whole stadium.

“I so want him to be my boyfriend.”

“I so want him to be in my bed.” This dissolved into playful shrieks and giggles, as onyx eyes narrowed in response.

“I had an eye on him long before you, needy, thirsty harpies.” Sasuke couldn’t contain his disdain, even though he had to begrudgingly admit that their goals were the same. Unfortunately for him though, he was stuck in the friendship-zone the moment he met Naruto.

He had to agree with their assessment too. Long gone were Naruto’s awkward, tiny body as mother nature graced him a growth spurt that compensated his previous years of being the shortest of the bunch. He was starting to attract positive glances of appraisal in contrast to derision few years ago, and as fate continued to throw him lucky coins, they discovered that Naruto played basketball well. Really well. His talent took everyone by storm when even some scouts from the national team was beginning to take an interest on him.

Soon Naruto noticed that he didn’t need any pranks any longer to grab everyone’s attention, when his own self was taking care of everything else. That tall, lean body with sturdy muscles, coupled with laughing eyes and dazzling smile irritated the fuck out of Sasuke because now, these captivated a legion of brainless vapid fangirls when years ago, all these smiles were solely his.

Sasuke sighed. Life was so much easier when Naruto was the class clown and Sasuke didn’t have to compete with anyone for his undivided attention.

“Sasuke!!! Wait up!” A boisterous voice boomed through the corridor, and Sasuke braced himself to receive that tight hug coming from behind.

“What is it?” He muttered.

“I saw you yesterday when we played against the Hokkaido’s team! Were you cheering for me?” Naruto widened a teasing grin.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I was cheering for our school’s team, dumbass.”

“Hah, whatever, I know you love me.” Naruto boasted, unnoticing the slight reddening on Sasuke’s ears. “I’m really glad you were there, I know you usually don’t like crowded, noisy places.”

Sasuke thinned his lips, as both young men walked towards the classroom, Naruto’s arm slung around his shoulder. Summoning every ounce of his courage, Sasuke said. “Naruto--”

One of Naruto’s teammate approached him, as the blond teenager greeted him with a high five. They began talking energetically about yesterday’s game, trading possible strategies and special training as Sasuke watched their exchange, feeling a little left out.

Once their conversation was over, his teammate soon left as they entered the classroom, placing their backpacks on their respective seats.

“Oh yeah Sasuke, you were asking me something before right? Before Tanaka-sempai came in. What’s about?”

Onyx eyes drifted from the quizzical glance, grumbling. “Nothing special. You free after class?”

“Yeah, I think!” Naruto chirped out. “Ah...no, wait. Yamato-sensei wanted to talk about some basketball strategies this evening.”

“Fine, tomorrow? You train everyday but maybe Yamato-sensei will give you break after yesterday’s game?”

Naruto shook his head. “Nope, no way. Sorry Sasuke.”

Sasuke ignored the sharp pang of disappointment in his heart. “Hn.”

“Man! We used to hang together all the time back when we were brats!”

“You mean, you used to pester me all the time.” Sasuke smirked.

“Whatever! Gah, I missed this.” Naruto messed his hair. “I’ll find some free time, for sure!” The school bell rang as their teacher arrived, soon all the students rose from their seat to bow in respect.

Watching from afar, Sasuke smiled to himself as Naruto was twirling his pencil with his fingers, head tilted to one side as they paid attention to the teacher. Despite being stuck with the label of 'best friend 5eva' coming from his dumb blond, at least Naruto wanted to stay by his side whenever possible.

"Hey Sasuke, I know you're probably going to reject every girl crawling on your feet, so do you have any plans for Valentine's day?" Naruto asked once the class was over.

Heartbeats drummed violently through Sasuke's chest, but he managed to keep a cool facade. "Why? You have your own fangirls to take care of, don't you?"

The blond teenager squinted his eyes. "What? What are you talking about? Why would I have anything like it?"

Thank God he's one, thickheaded, clueless idiot. For better or for worse. "Nevermind."Sasuke shook his head.

"Yeah, so anyways. Wanna do something that day?" Naruto then grinned, opening his hand. "And remember to give me your chocolate!"

"I bet you're receiving tons of chocolates this year, why should I give mine?" Sasuke teased.

"I'm not receiving tons of chocolates, I'm probably going to get some from the cheerleading squad from our basketball team, nothing else." Naruto answered. “And you always gave me chocolate on Valentine’s day, why do you need to change this anyways?”

“I used to give you because no one else would, but considering that now you have a whole fanclub dedicated to you, I doubt you need mine.”

“Who cares how many chocolates I’ll get this time, yours is different!” Naruto yowled. “It’s like tradition you know? Every year I’d get your chocolate so let’s keep it that way.”

"You're probably saying this just so you can get free chocolate--" Sasuke and Naruto noticed Yamato-sensei waving his arms to catch their attention.

Naruto looked apologetic, patting Sasuke's shoulder. "Sorry gotta go. We'll talk later!" 

Staring the retreating back as it disappeared on the horizon, Sasuke sighed, getting ready to go home on his lonesome self.

"Oh c'mon Hinata-chan, you just lost your chance, Naruto left!"

Upon noticing the infamous name, Sasuke stopped at once, noticing three girls at the corner of the corridor, whispering to themselves. 

The black-haired girl blushed. "I...I didn't want to bother Naruto-kun from his training Ino-san."

Ino, the hot-headed girl with a blond ponytail rolled her eyes. "You should have taken this golden opportunity before anyone else! You know how it's going to be tomorrow on Valentine's day!"

The third girl, a pink-haired named Sakura warned. "You noticed how popular he's getting now that he's in the basketball team. You better seize this moment before it's too late."

"Sakura-san, you don't mind this?" Hinata asked.

Sakura blinked, before shrugging it off. "Naruto is like a brother to me, so I'm definitely ok with this. I mean, I rather see you dating him than bunch of airheaded idiots who are only into Naruto's fame. You liked him way before he got popular."

"It's true!" Ino nodded. "So you better get your act together."

Sasuke knew enough, heard enough. He soon got away in fast paced strides, trying to take his mind off that conversation even if he noticed the determined glint coming from Hinata's lilac eyes.

--.--

Sasuke's crush was doomed to failure, the moment it started.

They were both guys and a conservative country like Japan were still struggling to accept homosexuality, despite the latest improvements. And even if they manage to ignore society's opinion, Naruto always considered him a close friend, nothing more. To add salt to injury, he didn't appear to take any interest on the same sex. Stupid, oblivious, straight male, but Sasuke had no control of his heart as he had fallen hard and harder towards his blond friend.

He was content being Naruto's closest person, even if it meant that his romantic feelings would never be returned. Sasuke already lost all hope back when Naruto had a mad crush on Sakura, that thankfully slowly died as they were getting older.

But Hinata...Sasuke always attempted to dismiss her since her crush was so annoyingly obvious, and painfully similar to his own. Sasuke didn't want to admit, but she's a good match to Naruto. She genuinely liked him and would shower him with affection, which was perfect for a love-starved orphan like Naruto.

This was ok...this was fine. As long as Naruto was happy, nothing else mattered.

If he kept repeating to himself over and over, maybe this lie would come true.

--.--

Onyx eyes gazed with annoyance as chocolate boxes littered his shoe locker, several ones fell to his feet. He picked most with his hands, throwing uncaringly to the ground, as he grabbed his indoor shoes, closing his locker with a loud metallic noise. He stared his reflection, the bloodshot eyes and heavy bags underneath it. 

This was going to be a very long torturous day, Sasuke contemplated with his fists clenched, his steps rigid.

"Um...Naruto-kun!" 

Sasuke heard Hinata's meek voice while he entered the classroom, taking note Naruto's confused gaze.

"Uh...what is it Hinata?" He asked.

"Can I...can I talk to you in a minute?" Hinata stuttered while Sasuke narrowed his eyes, zooming on the large package and a heart-shaped box she held behind her back.

Nodding hesitantly, Naruto followed behind her, in midst of masculine groans altogether with Sakura and Ino's excited screams.

His stomach were making painful lurches and turns, cold sweat damping his shirt as Sasuke felt his breakfast threatening to burst out of his throat. He placed his hand over his mouth, ready to sprint towards the nearest bathroom.

Unfortunately, someone stood right in front of him.

"Sasuke-kun." A red-haired girl wearing glasses crossed her arms. "Can we talk?"

(Part III)

AN: Ayyyyy don't you love whenever the story goes out of your control once again?

[jugandbettsdetectiveagency]

Let’s Be Lonely Together - 2

I can' t believe I dropped a chapter then just disappeared for a month. I hope you're still interested in this fic <3

1 . Read on AO3

“B! Oh my God, are you okay?” Veronica gushed, her heels clicking across the floor of the Blue and Gold office, arms outstretched to engulf her fallen friend into a hug.

“Don’t worry, V,” Betty told her instead, because she wasn’t okay, and both of them knew it. Her arms hung limply at her side as Veronica squeeze her tightly and Betty felt as if she were suffocating in the embrace. “Everyone will forget about it soon.”

Veronica pulled back too look at her with barely concealed dubiousness, highly arched brows drawn together in a look of worry. “Yeah, I’m sure they will.” Her eyes searched Betty’s face for a beat, looking as if she wanted to ask her something, but something she saw must have made her decide against it because instead she rallied, “Knowing this place, by tomorrow everyone will be talking about which JV cheerleader’s clothes Cheryl decided to have stolen after post-practice showers this week, in the ritualistic routine that is high school hazing.” She smirked slyly, hoping her comments would cause the blonde to crack a smile. Her face fell as Betty’s frown just appeared to deepen. “Don’t let it get to you, B. It’s probably just some bottom feeder clutching at the lowest rung of the social ladder trying to get a rise out of you,” she sighed.

Betty nodded, bunching the cuffs of her sweater into her fists so that her nails couldn��t reach the skin as she turned away to boot up the ancient desktop computer collecting decades worth of dust on the table behind her. She could sense the dark-haired girl hovering at her shoulder, watching her every move in a way that was starting to become taxing. She was just about to address her when Veronica finally spoke up.

“Who were the pictures for?” she asked in what she tried to make a light voice, but the wariness hidden there was too noticeable for it to fully hit its mark. Betty let her eyes flutter closed, grateful that she was facing the wall instead of her friend. “I… I won’t judge you,” Veronica added, volume dropping a few levels. “You can see your hands in the pictures, I know you didn’t take them yourself,” she continued after a difficult swallow.

Betty could feel her ponytail swinging as she shook her head, Veronica’s gaze causing a damp sweat to rise on the back of her neck and she suddenly found herself wishing she’d left her damn hair down.

She already thinks she knows, a voice in Betty’s head whispered as she continued to leave Veronica’s question unanswered. It was there, in the slight tremor of her words, her reluctance to ask her in the first place. It wasn’t out of concern for Betty’s fragile emotional state – Veronica Lodge was far too coarse and to the point for that. No, she was worried that her own heart was about to be broken, and Betty didn’t want to be the one to do it.

“Am I interrupting?” A voice drifted over to them, slicing through the thick, mounting tension in the room. Betty spun, hoping her face didn’t look as bad as she thought it did, to greet her rescuer.

Jughead Jones stood in the doorway, one hand gripping the dark wooden frame as he leaned slightly into the room, the other supporting the heavy strap of his satchel hanging around his neck, his forehead littered with cautious creases.

“Yes,” Veronica said sharply, rolling her eyes when Jughead didn’t even flinch. Instead he just raised one questioning eyebrow, curious eyes flicking between the two girls. “What do you want, Jones?” Veronica sighed.

“You know, Holly Golightly was always very welcoming to those who showed up at her door – your façade is slipping, Princess.” At Veronica’s resounding scowl he just shrugged. “Betty asked me to meet her to talk about something the other day,” Jughead said, shifting his eyes over to the quiet blonde. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on Betty where she stood across the room, refusing to meet his eyes. Her skin was ashen behind the scarlet flush that had risen to her cheeks, and she could feel the concern rolling off him in waves as he tried to get her to look up.

She’d known Jughead since they were in kindergarten, because wherever Jughead was, Archie was, and wherever Archie was Betty wasn’t far behind. He was always quiet but sweet to her, a listening ear whenever Archie would blow her off for something – or someone – else. As a result she’d ended up spending a lot of time with Jughead in their formative years, especially once Archie hit puberty.

Freshman year had brought the usual struggles of adjustment for the three of them but something else changed too. Jughead became distant, his sarcastic witticism swapped for pure, unadulterated derision. There was a bite to his words that Betty had never encountered before and she was unable to hide how much it stung. The boy who’d invited her to be the damsel in his treehouse just so Archie could play the white knight had faded into something else, something jaded and jagged around the edges and she wasn’t sure why.

Of course, she’d known deep down that perhaps she had been a little bit neglectful of their friendship in favour of football games and parties at the Pembroke once Cheryl finally deigned to let her become a River Vixen, but she was still friendly to him whenever they crossed paths. Or at least she tried to be; Jughead didn’t seem to be all for letting that childhood bond continue into their teenage years.

And she’d tried not to feel guilty. Jughead was pushing them away, not the other way around. But she was a Cooper and she couldn’t help but feel responsible for the happiness of others, or lack thereof. She’d tried to talk to Archie about it when she happened to notice a rather snide look thrown their way as Jug trudged across the cafeteria, burger-laden tray in hand, but he’d just brushed her off, told her to drop it.

So she had, and she continued to. Right up until a few weeks ago, that was, just after senior year had begun.

***

He’d been in his usual booth at Pop’s, far enough away from the door so that he didn’t have to be in the line of fire when they usual trail of jocks walked in and decided to throw out a couple of harassments as they made their way inside, close enough to the counter so that Maureen, the waitress, could see when he needed a refill in his coffee cup.

“Can I sit?” He’d looked up, startled to find the question directed at him. “Hey, Juggie.” Betty stood nervously, one newly manicured hand resting on the back of the bench opposite him, her hair perfectly curled and a pretty pink dress draped over her frame.

“There’s plenty of other booths,” Jughead deadpanned with a raised brow, glancing around the diner as if she hadn’t noticed that 9pm, during a school dance no less, was not exactly prime time for the twenty-four hour shack in what seemed like the smallest town in Eastern America.

“Oh,” she said, eyes slipping to the floor as her cheeks heated to match the colour of her outfit. He sighed, suddenly feeling like a complete ass.

“Of course you can sit, Betty,” Jughead tried again, softening his tone. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes and he felt his stomach swoop – she really did look nice in pink. It had been a while since they’d been so close, too, and he hadn’t realised how much she’d grown into herself over the past few years. Her face was more angular, her legs longer, and were her eyes always that green? He pulled his laptop closer to him as she sat down, wielding it like a makeshift shield.

“You didn’t go to the dance?” she asked lightly after a few minutes silence, just as he’d begun typing again. He scoffed before he could help himself.

“I’m not exactly the type to lose my shit over the prospect of school functions,” he remarked, looking at her dryly over the screen. She giggled, biting it back by capturing her lower lip between her teeth.

“Same old Jughead,” she teased, eyes sparkling. He shrugged, a hint of a smile pulling at his lips.

“What about you? You definitely went,” he said, looking at her attire. “What are you doing here?” Her smile faltered and she dropped his gaze in favour of looking out of the window.

“I just… I didn’t want to be there anymore,” she said cryptically, making it obvious that she didn’t want to elaborate. But Jughead couldn’t help but push.

“What, got bored of drinking spiked punch whilst being groped by football players?” he quipped, voice dripping with satire. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Shit, Betty, are you okay? Did anything…?” he trailed off, suddenly unnerved by her silence.

“It’s fine, Jug, don’t worry about it. Nothing happened really,” she placated, leaning over to steal a fry from the basket next to him, grimacing at how cold it was. Her ‘really’ wasn’t exactly reassuring. He wanted to probe further but before he could she spoke again. “What are you writing?” she asked, nodding towards the laptop in front of him. He looked down at it as if he’d forgotten it was even there.

“Err, a novel, I guess,” he replied absently, watching the way the cursor on screen blinked back at him rhythmically.

“Oh, yeah?” she sat up, resting her elbows on the table as she leant forwards, eyes glimmering. “What’s it about?”

“Um, I’m not sure yet,” he said lamely, wishing he’d told her he was just doing homework instead. Although that wasn’t much better for a Friday night. Then again, he gave no pretence when it came to being cool. “This town, the people. I don’t know, I’m waiting for something interesting to happen,” he joked with a barely humorous laugh. The gleam in her eye sharpened.

“Am I in this novel?” she pressed. As she angled her body closer Jughead could tell that if he looked away from her face he would be able to see straight down her dress, and possibly sneak a glance at the perfectly demure underwear she would have picked out to go beneath her outfit. He chose a spot on the booth behind her to focus on instead.

“Depends,” he said.

“On what?”

“If you’re the something interesting.”

His eyes met hers again and he found a defiance in them that he hadn’t seen just moments before. They both knew the implication behind his words. Little Betty Cooper; next to her sister there was no way she could outdo what had already happened for the title of most interesting topic of conversation. He’d heard the snide comments directed less at her and more at her family as people passed in the hallways, especially right after Polly got taken out of school. Now Betty moved as if she had a point to prove, that she wasn’t next in line to be the token basket case of Riverdale High.

“Well, you never know,” she said eventually, the corner of her mouth remaining ticked up in a way that let him know she wasn’t unhappy with him. “I should be going.” She rose, pausing once again by the edge of the booth. “You like writing,” she stated. He rolled his eyes, gesturing to the laptop like they hadn’t just spent the last few minutes talking about it.

“Yeah.”

“Come by the Blue and Gold office on Monday, I want to talk to you about something,” she smiled, turning to go.

“Talk about what?” he called after her, brow furrowed. If she thought she was going to get him to write for the school newspaper of all things then she had another think coming. But then she shot him a coy glance over her shoulder and suddenly Jughead wasn’t so sure in his convictions.

“You’ll have to show up to find out!” she shot back, grinning as she was gone with the tinkle of a bell.

***

“If you’re the something interesting.”

Well, she’d certainly outdone herself there. There was no way she wasn’t making it into his manuscript now.

There was a small part of her that hoped that she might have found a way to claw some of the genuine friendship she had with Jughead back by getting him to work with her on the Blue and Gold. After everything that had transpired recently she thought she could use something like that right about now.

And now it was all ruined, and he’d never look at her the same way again. Not after this. She was aware that a lot of people had a very specific view about her formed in their minds, but the one she knew Jughead to have was the closest to accurate that she was sure anyone had. He’d known her before they’d grown up, before they were separated by the joys of high school politics, and before she’d been exposed, quite literally, before the prying eyes of the entire school. This was it, her last shot blown.

“It’s okay, Jug, it doesn’t matter. I don’t need to talk to you anymore,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her middle. His frown deepened, and if she’d had it left in her she would have laughed at how that was even possible.

“Can I talk to you then? Alone,” he added pointedly after Veronica made no move to leave. The dark-haired girl huffed in dramatic annoyance and grabbed her purse from the table she’d dropped it on, striding over to Betty.

“Call later?” she said, touching Betty’s cheek lightly. Betty gave her the barest of nods before she was gone, throwing one last distrustful look at Jughead on her way out of the door.

“What is it, Betts?” Jughead asked as soon as Veronica had been swallowed up by the crowds. The use of the nickname made her shiver, eyes clenching against all the happier memories that bubbled up before her vision.

“Like you don’t know,” she muttered quietly, angling her body away from him slightly. He took a step closer, brows knitting further.

“Actually, I don’t.” The authentic cluelessness in his tone made her pause, looking up at him with an expression that mirrored his own, all but the extra little bit of apprehension that was thrown in on her part.

“You haven’t seen? It was sent to everybody,” Betty said, voice shaking as she thought about it once more. Her stomach churned.

“You mean this?” He held up his phone and a white hot anger shot down her spine at the thought that he would be so callous as to flash the offending images right before her eyes like this. Then again, who’s to say she didn’t deserve it – she hadn’t exactly tried very hard to keep him from drifting away from their friendship group. “Open your eyes, Betty,” he sighed in exasperation, and it was only then did she realise she’d clenched them shut.

Hesitantly, she did as he asked, the screen of his phone coming into view. Sitting there, in his inbox, was the message, the little notification indicating that it was still unopened.

“I don’t usually rush to open school addressed mail anyway but… when I got here this morning and heard what it was, I would never have opened it,” he murmured, swiping the offending mail to the left and hitting the big, red delete button. A sob rose in Betty’s throat, breaking air before she could clasp a hand over her mouth to silence it. Jughead hurried forward, stopping just short of her as he awkwardly reached out a steadying hand to place on her shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” he soothed, softly rubbing the material of her shirt between his thumb and forefinger. Betty focused on the warmth, rubbing smudged mascara from beneath her red-rimmed eyes.

“How on earth is this going to be okay?” she asked through a thick throat, shoulders sagging under the weight of the morning. He didn’t speak for a while

“We’ll find out who leaked them, and get them to fess up. There’s got to be some kind of punishment; I heard Weatherbee is already on the warpath,” he informed her, his smile looking a bit too much like a grimace. “You… don’t already know who did this, do you?” he questioned quietly, ducking his head to meet her eyes.

Betty stared back at him, searching the crystal blue depths of his gaze, bile settling warm and heavy in her stomach.

“No,” she answered after a minute, watching as he nodded his head swiftly. The bile rose.

The bell rang out above them, startling his hand from its place resting on her shoulder.

“I’ve gotta get to class. But, I’ll talk to you later, Betty, alright?” he asked as he backed up towards the door. She nodded, even though it definitely wasn’t alright.

“Yeah. Bye, Juggie,” she whispered as she watched him go.

***

“Miss Blossom?” Miss Burble looked up at the sound of a lethargic knock against the doorframe of her office. She’d done a check on the system just after Ethel had left her, matching up the names on her list to the faces of the students.

“Yeah,” the girl drawled, smoothing a hand over the long, auburn locks thrown over one shoulder.

“Please, come in. I wanted to discuss something with you,” she said sweetly, already offended by this girl’s attitude. Every school had one, she thought, and she was about to encounter the one. Cheryl rolled her eyes but stalked towards the chair and sat down, crossing on scantily clad leg over the other.

“Look, if this is about Bubbles Betty then I know nothing about it. That PowerPuff reject has more than one enemy looking to bump her from the social hierarchy before you even glance in my direction,” she remarked, examining her clearly perfect red nails.

“You seem to know a lot about this,” Miss Burble noted casually, pulling her notepad closer to her while twirling her pen between her fingers. Cheryl look up quickly, dropping her hand.

“I know a lot of things,” she said steadily. “It comes with the territory.” Miss Burble nodded slowly, realising she wasn’t going to continue.

“I’ve heard from some students that you may have had some issues with Betty and her family in the past,” she said carefully, watching closely for Cheryl’s reactions. The muscle in her neck twitched.

“And which students were these?” The sharpness of her voice made Bella’s eyebrows shoot up. Cheryl took a breath, uncrossing her legs as she deliberately placed her hands on her knees. A bright smile painted her lips. “Listen, it’s not my fault that Betty’s tweaked out sister finally snapped and the rest of the crazy Cooper clan blamed it on JJ. She was headed that way long before they started anything. It’s not like it gives me motive.” The measure in her tone was unnerving, like they were right on the edge of a precipice, balancing precariously. It was Bella’s job to make sure they didn’t fall.

“I’m not trying to accuse anyone of anything, Cheryl. I am simply here to mediate and try and find out the facts. I just want to know if you have any idea as to who sent the pictures, or know of something that might have prompted this to happen,” she said diplomatically. The blank stare she was receiving didn’t fill her with confidence until Cheryl sighed.

“I try and avoid Malibu Barbie at all costs to be totally honest with you. I don’t have the time or the care to out her freaky fantasies to everyone. I only let her on the squad because apparently we live in an age of cheer-ocracy that threatens to rebel if I don’t throw in an act of good will every once in a while.” Miss Burble tried to hide the appalled look threatening to consume her features. Resident mean girl appeared to be an understatement. “If you want answers, try Archie Andrews. I hear there has been some trouble in suburban paradise between those two recently, not unlikely because of a certain raven-haired Park Avenue Princess that rolled into town and scuppered the whole plain Jane fantasy Mini Cooper had planned out for the both of them.” The bell rang out around them, the loud, aimless chatter of students filling the halls. “Can I go now?” Cheryl asked, clearly bored with this conversation and believing she’d offered up more than enough information.

“Of course. Thank you, Miss Blossom.” With that the girl swept out of the office, leaving the young guidance counsellor more than slightly exhausted. This was going to take more effort than she thought.

[luci-is-a-devil-]

Dragon!Soonyoung

Notes: I actually had written this yesterday but I accidentally deleted it! So after screaming for a while, I rewrote it! Think it came out better, but we'll never know. Requests are open! •you lived in a cave, on a mountain, by yourself •this wasn't how you thought your life would turn out, but that what had happened •you are a dragon, and while you can use magic to turn your body to look like a human •it doesn't last very long, only eight hours, and that's if you were completely healthy •when you were in a human form, you were allowed to roam the streets, just as a human would •you could even make human friends! •which was a blessing and a curse, as you could only see them for a few hours a day •and then you would have to return to you cave, be in solitude for the remainder of the day •of course their would be dragon hunters, who wanted your scales or horns •that's why you were all alone after all, hunters had killed your mother and taken her body •you were most likely the last of your kind •and it terrified you to no end that one day you'd die and that would be the end of the dragons • •Fridays were the best day to go to to the village nearby •all of the friends you had made were there usually, all at the bar where they could get drunk and forget when you left •your human form was strange compared to other humans though, since you were a dragon •your hair was a dark purple, and your teeth were sharper than most humans •and your eyes were a silver color, which you could easily say was with the use of contacts •you had mastered the way of pretending to be a normal human •except for the way you spoke, and the way you weren't used to games that humans played in their childhood •the games you had played were about learning how to fly, or how to hunt for food •walking into the bar, you looked around for your group •spotting jun's purple hair that matched yours, you walked over to them •slinging your arm around Minghao's neck, you said hello to the group that had gathered around •"y/n! Glad you could make it!" •the bartender, mingyu happily said wiping a glass •laughing at him, you waved back as you sat down next to minghao •"didn't expect to see you here today, y/n." •Joshua said, smiling as he played a card game with Seungcheol •"wasn't sure if I was coming down, but I'm here now." •you said back to the brunette, turning your eyes to where wonwoo was sitting at the bar, talking to mingyu •"is mingyu really that clueless or is he just faking it now?" •you whispered to minghao, who shook his head laughing •"he's faking the hell out of it, he wants wonwoo to confess first" •Joining him at laughing at wonwoo's pain, you joined in conversation with Seungcheol and jeonghan who was cheating at black jack now •laughing at the obvious cheating that was going on, you thought everything was fine and dandy •before someone slammed the twin doors open, they hit the wall, making everyone's eyes turn toward the culprit •"we have reason to believe that not all the dragons are dead, that they might be hiding as humans." •a man explained, as he smirked toward your direction •as if he knew that you were here •looking at the members of the group, you waited to see what they would do, how'd they would respond •"alright, we'll be on the lookout then. Have a nice day." •Seungcheol said to the man, making himself appear larger •"…you too." •with one last glance and a smirk at you, he left the bar •there was a pause before the bar returned to the loudness from before •"hey hao? I gotta run. Bye" •you spoke quickly, leaving no room for him to speak •standing up from your chair, you could feel the gaze of people on you •taking long strides to get the door quickly, you opened them •only to have your wrist grabbed by the man who walked into the bar earlier •"I knew it was you. A dragon, more like a sitting duck." •he scoffed, holding your wrist tightly, as if you wouldn't be able to escape •looking at the group, the friends you had made, you saw the concern in their eyes but fear was first •tearing your eyes away from the group, you allowed yourself to be dragged outside •he pulled out a gun, saying that this was the same gun that killed your mom •"are you a fucking idiot?" •you asked, glaring at him •when he began to laugh, you scoffed at him and kicked him in the shins •making him let go of your wrist, once he did, you returned to your original form •your dragon self towered over him, making him shriek •choosing not to harm him, instead using this chance to escape •getting off of the ground, you flapped your wings, creating quite the breeze •flying away from everything you've ever known, you left •you flew for as long as you could, until your wings ached and your eyes couldn't stay open •you landed on a grassy field, and slept, deciding that whatever happened, happened • •feeling little toes on your tail, you started to shake awake •turning your head around so you could see what, or who was crawling on you •there a few kids were around you, climbing and dancing around your body •letting a soft roar, telling them that you were alive •the children scrambled to get off of you, and once they did you stood up •stretching your body, hearing bones crack as you moved them into place •a little girl was looking at you wide eyed, her thumb was in her mouth •"why were you sleeping on the ground?" •she asked, tilting her head to the side, the kids around her nodded, agreeing with her question •looking at them, you sighed and took a nail to draw in the dirt •drawing a more pg picture of what happened, the kids gasped as you explained •"why would he do that?" •the boy who had been climbing on you asked, sounding very offended •shrugging, you sighed once more, thinking of where you could go •they continued to ask questions, and you continued to answer them, they grew silly as they asked if you could breathe fire •of course you couldn't, you were purple, not red •you couldn't explain in great detail but a different little girl interrupted the boy who had asked •"nope! Dragons have powers according to the color of their scales. So they have magic, like spells! Kind of like a dragon witch!" •she said twirling around, her hair was a mess, it had leaves and pieces of grass in it •her clothes resembled her hair, dirty and had other stains on them •"kids! Get away from that beast!" •a male voice yelled, far away from where you were •the kids looked around for the voice, only to find a teenager running towards you •"soonyoung!" •the little girl who knew a lot about dragons yelled, running toward him •she hugged his legs, to where she reached •"soonyoung" quickly picked her up, and tried to grab the other kids •"get away from them" •the boy said, glaring at you •the girl with messed up ponytails and dirty clothes wiggled out of his arms and ran over to you •"their a nice dragon! Don't hurt them soonyoung!" •she yelled, putting her arms out as wide as she could to protect you •"yeah!" •"don't hurt them!" •"you meanie!" •the kids yelled, standing in front of your huge body •giggling at their innocence, you turned into a human, with wings though •using your wings to cover your naked body, you thanked the kids •all of their eyes were wide, as you had just turned into a HuMaN •"you're welcome!" •messy haired girl said, her eyes closed as she smiled at you •the boy was still staring at you, before running his fingers through his black hair •"you won't hurt them?" •he asked, his voice hesitant •shaking your head, you gently smiled at him hoping that would ease his worry •"can you come home with us?" •the messy haired girl, who introduced herself as jimin asked •shrugging you agreed, making the children cheer •walking along the path, to wherever they were leading you, you looked around •the path was dirt, with grass on the sides, flowers were blooming unlike where you had come from •so you flew pretty far •"what's your name?" •the boy who climbed asked, stopping as he turned to face you •"me? I'm y/n." •you said pointing at yourself, continuing walking •the kids would run up and down the hill, except for jimin who held your hand •soonyoung was following behind, probably making sure you didn't eat them or something •when you made it to the village, where the kids dispersed as soon as they walked through the walls •"cmon y/n! I'll show you my room." •jimin said, tugging on your hand •following her once more, you looked around, trying to see if there was any landmarks •there were a few signs, but nothing with information •"we're here!" •jimin said happily, letting go of your arms as she took off her shoes and ran inside •following her lead, you cast a spell to clean your feet •stepping inside the house, the first thing you saw was that the curtains didn't match, and there wasn't a door in the room jimin was in •"soonyoung and I share a room! But he lets my keep all my dragon toys out!" •she said pointing out the dragons that littered the room •White paint was chipping off of the walls, making you raise an eyebrow at soonyoung •"hey Minnie, can you play while y/n and I have a talk?" •soonyoung asked bending down to jimin's level, so they were eye to eye •she looked at him for a second before whispering something in his ear •he nodded and she agreed, sitting on her mattress that didn't have any blankets on it •stepping into the living room, you sat on the floor far away from the bedroom •he came out of the room, with a shirt and a pair of sweatpants •throwing them at you, he turned around and said to get dressed •his ears were red, making you laugh at his innocence •putting on the clothes he gave, you told him you were done once you sat back down on the floor •"listen, I don't know what you want with my sister, but you better not be planning anything. She doesn't need anyone else leaving her." •he spoke quietly, his words blunt though •you nodded, thinking of how you could explain that you weren't trying to do anything •"when I was young my mother was killed, by a dragon hunter. I'm pretty sure I'm the last of my kind, believe me in not trying to let the dragon blood line die out." •you replied hoping that he would believe you, that you held no underlying revenge plot •that all you wanted was to not be alone •he nodded, and for the first time he smiled •his eyes closed into little crescents, his cheeks popping out like a hamsters •"you didn't kick her out! You're part of the day family y/n!" •jimin yelled, hopping on your now clothed body •laughing at soonyoung's attempt if scolding the young girl, your heart doing little flip flops at her words • •with each day, soonyoung trusted you more •you had explained that you could only be in a human form for so long, before your body could take it anymore •so you'd stay up in the fields, until sunrise, where you'd walk to the house to make breakfast and get jimin ready for school •you'd all eat together, than you would walk jimin to school, while soonyoung went to work at a nearby bakery •you'd return to the fields, and become a dragon, so you wouldn't waste energy •when it was time, you'd walk back to the village to pick up jimin from school and bring her home •then the two of you would play, do homework and cook dinner •soonyoung would return, and you would eat dinner •once dinner was over, soonyoung and jimin would take a shower and get ready for bed •and then soonyoung and you would put jimin to bed •just like tonight •you flopped on the hard wooden floor •letting out a sigh, you closed your eyes •"hey don't go to sleep, I don't want a dragon shaped hole in the roof tomorrow." •soonyoung said, drying his hair with a towel •flipping him off, which made him laugh at your pathetic comeback •he laid down next to you, making your heart speed up •"remember when we met? Who would have though you'd be helping me take care of jimin?" •he said, his eyes closed as he whispered, not wanting to wake up the sleeping eight year old •"I know, you looked like you wanted to skin me." •you replied, looking up at the ceiling which had a hole right where you were laying •allowing you to see the stars as the two of you joked around •"y/n? What was life like before you met us? Where did you live?" •he asked, sounding sleepy •"well, I lived in a cave. And would go down to a nearby village to converse with the humans. They were strange, always complaining about nothing ever happening." •you spoke carefully, choosing your words slowly •he hummed, and waited for you to continue •"the bartender, Mingyu, liked the librarian, wonwoo but was waiting for him to confess. Then there was Seungcheol who owned a small market, he was dating Joshua and jeonghan. And minghao and jun who came from a far away village." •talking about them made you miss them, miss the small inside jokes, the laughing at wonwoo's pining over mingyu •you missed it all •"maybe we can visit one day." •soonyoung said before falling asleep, his breathing evening out •"yeah, maybe we can." •tip toeing inside of the bedroom, you grabbed his blanket •putting it on him, you smiled and went outside •walking to the fields, you stripped off the clothes that soonyoung gave you that first day •putting them under a nearby tree, you turned into a dragon •curling up on the grass, you fell asleep, the memory of soonyoung and jimin making you smile • •waking up, you could tell that something was off •the smell of the air felt different •using the spell you used every day, you turned into a human •getting dressed, you rushed to the house •entering the house, you felt even more wrong •the house which had become a home to you, felt cold •"looking for someone, y/n?" •a cold voice spoke to you, the same one who made you flee your old house •"what did you do to them, Seonho?" •you asked, voice wavering as you asked •"looks like Little dragon fell in love, tough luck. Your time is over." •he grabbed you by the wing, making sure that you couldn't rip it out of his grasp this time •dragging you to the square, where you saw soonyoung and jimin, their hands tied •"this is y/n! Child of Theo, who murdered an entire village." •he yelled, getting everyone's attention •"Liar, that was you seonho. You needed a scape goat." •you responded, not caring when he raised his hand and slapped you •"No manners! An unruly dragon, what happens when they become like their mother?" •he spoke with such a bravado, like he was doing such good work •snorting, you chuckled as he tried to feed nonsense into these people's minds •"that's where you're wrong seonho, I won't be like her. I won't be killed by the likes of you." •he removed his hand off of your wing as he went to hit you once more •quickly dodging it, you ran to where jimin and soonyoung was •untying the rope, you picked jimin up and ran, trusting soonyoung to follow you •hearing many footsteps behind you, but knowing he was there, you pushed yourself harder •running up to the field you put jimin down •"get on me and hold in tight!" •you spoke with an urgency, not bothering to take off your clothes, you took the spell off •turning you back to a dragon •feeling jimin quickly climb on you, and soonyoung making his way onto your back •"GET THEM!" •Seonho yelled, mobs of people running after you •once soonyoung sat down, you took off •flying as quickly as you could, until the field became a speck •you could hear soonyoung comforting jimin as she cried • •they had both fallen asleep on the journey, but once you had landed, jimin woke up •she shook her brother awake as they looked around •"y/n, where are we?" •soonyoung asked hopping down from your back, and then catching jimin who did the same •"this is the bar." •you answered once you transformed into a human, your body exhausted but this was the only way to respond •seeing your naked body, soonyoung stripped of the hoodie he was wearing, giving it to you •smiling at him in thanks you grabbed jimin's hand •walking into the bar, you saw the group there, just as you left them •except mingyu wasn't behind the counter, he was sitting on wonwoo's lap, staring at the three of you • •"we need your help."

[fortey]

Pigboy Saves the World

I haven’t written a short story in ages...

Pigboy’s Mega Piggy Platter featuring the UltraPig Thunder Munch burger, a sandwich with three quarter pound, all-beef patties made with no preservatives, three slices of American cheese, nine slices of bacon, a tomato slice, three pickle chips, three onion rings, ketchup, mustard and Pigboy’s own Secret Pig Drippings, a proprietary sauce that was probably mayo with garlic mixed in, was ungodly  The platter also came with a large order of fries, a large fountain drink and a small sundae for dessert.  It was not Pigboy’s best seller (that was the Bigboy Pigboy combo) but it was popular with hungry patrons.  Carlos was making two of them right now.

There was a precise order in which one had to assemble an UltraPig.  The Secret Pig Drippings had to go on the top bun first, then ketchup, then mustard.  Cheese went on each patty then a pickle, then the onion ring, then the bacon, unless it was the top patty in which case you put the tomato under the onion ring. None of this concerned Carlos at all.

Having worked at this Pigboy location for five years, Carlos could probably assemble an entire arena’s worth of Ultrapigs without even opening his eyes.  Muscle memory made him do it, the tragic PTSD sort of muscle memory one gets from compulsively masturbating or, in this case, assembling burgers of subpar quality for subpar customers for 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year for five years.  If Carlos’ math was correct, and he’d used the calculator on his phone to do it, he’d worked for nearly 10,500 hours.  That was literally over a year.  An entire, non-stop year.  Here, at Pigboys.  Carlos had become the living embodiment of Pigboy.

Carlos made no sound as he took the finished burger and began wrapping it in the waxed paper he had assembled it on.  The Mad Hatter grin of a neon pink pig grimaced at him from a cartoonish ring under the word “Pigboy’s.”  Below the pig was the Pigboy slogan “Let’s rustle up some grub!”  It was the worst slogan in fast food.  It was the worst slogan in business.  Rustle up some grub was something a cowboy might have said, it had nothing to do with pigs.  It silently infuriated Carlos but he gave no outward sign of it.

Wrapping the second burger, Carlos put both on the tray with the fries and drinks and Sonia, the elderly cashier who was the only person who had worked here longer than he had took it and gave it to the customer.  The customer was someone Carlos recognized, a man who ate here every day at the same time and always ordered the same order.  Two Mega Piggy Platters with root beers.  According to the company website, this meal rocked in at about 6000 calories. That the man wasn’t dead was nothing short of astounding.

In the kitchen with Carlos was a teenage girl named Eunice, a name which no teenage girl was supposed to have.  She went to a nearby highschool and usually worked three shifts a week.  She had a nose piercing and kept her hair in a ponytail. It was the color of a mouse, which is to say brown but not a pleasant brown.  It was the brown of an animal that carries disease to the already weak and infirm.  Also one of her eyebrows was thicker than the other, which had the effect of making her look like she was constantly questioning everything.  She spoke often to Carlos about how her Spanish class sucked, assuming that because Carlos’ name was Carlos he would be interested in all things Spanish.  He had stopped speaking to her after she insisted on using the word “loco” in casual conversation.  She had yet to notice and would talk at him for hours on end some days.

Also in the kitchen was Brice Bigelow, a man who also had a name no person should legitimately have. Brice Bigelow was the name of a man who sells you a car with faulty brakes.  In this case, however, it was the name of the Pigboy’s manager.  Brice had worked at this location for about two years.  He had transferred in from Brighton where he “made things happen” as he put it.  His job was to make things happen here.  In two years all he had made happen was burgers, which would have happened regardless.

Brice had hair so blonde is was almost white, and his face was round and pie-like.  He had very red cheeks like he had just stopped running and was flushed from effort, no matter what he had just been doing, and his lips were too chubby for his face.  He snorted when he laughed and would often steal food and clock extra hours he hadn’t worked.  One time Carlos caught him loading two cases of burger patties into the trunk of his car. He had explained to Carlos that they had expired and he was taking them back to the warehouse.  Carlos nodded at the bullshit story.  He couldn’t care less if Brice stole the toilet from the men’s room.

Aside from Sonia there was one other cashier working, a college student named Leah.  If Leah were not wearing the pink and white Pigboy uniform and were allowed to dress in human clothes as is the custom outside of fast food restaurants she would be stunning.  She had raven black hair and high cheekbones and was probably the most beautiful human in existence, a fact which Carlos had noticed frequently. Leah was, most days, his only motivation for coming to work.  That and his fear of homelessness should he not be able to pay his rent someday.  Oh, and the other thing.  

Leah was studying social work, a topic about which Carlos knew little as things of a social nature tended to give him stomach cramps.  She was very congenial in nature and would smile at Carlos when she came to work, and he would sometimes remember to smile back and other times stare dumbfounded until her expression grew wary and he realized he was being offputting again. Carlos was often offputting.  

Contrary to popular belief, Carlos was not creepy.  Sure, he had his moments, but who didn’t?  He wasn’t an obsessed stalker though.  And also, since Leah had a boyfriend, Carlos did not put much effort into trying to juggle or breakdance or whatever it was that would woo a lady these days.  If life were an 80s movie surely Carlos would destroy Leah’s boyfriend in some sort of shaming match and win her heart, but in point of fact her boyfriend, James, was an exceedingly pleasant and handsome fellow.  He looked like a model and had a winning smile and while Carlos was prepared to hate him in principle he would often bring Carlos a coffee and chat to him about gaming or the news and laugh in a way that made you feel warm inside, even if you weren’t gay.  He was a great guy and Leah was smart to have forged a relationship with him.  Their children would probably be so stunningly attractive that they’d never have to put effort into anything for their entire lives.

All of the minutiae of work was very inconsequential to Carlos.  While Leah was a delight and the money, though paltry, was welcome, the most compelling reason Carlos had for spending literally over a year of his life at Pigboy’s was saving the world.  Each and every single day, except for 2 weeks vacation per year and Fridays and Sundays (unless he traded shifts), Carlos saved the world.  It got dicey on the days he was away, and the world came very close to ending, but he was usually back in time.

In the back of the Pigboy’s kitchen was a very large walk-in fridge.  Pigboy used fresh beef, never frozen, so there had to be room for a lot of meat as well as the various other ingredients used to slap together one of their vaguely edible treats.  Just to the left of the large aluminum rack that held the boxes of burger patties, if you were to look carefully enough, you’d see a black crack in the white fridge wall.  At about 3 inches in length and an indeterminate depth, it certainly wasn’t a huge attention grabber, especially since it was also at shin height.  It was also a gateway through which interdimensional chaos entities appeared with some regularity and if one were to make it out of the fridge, the Earth would probably last for maybe two days tops before all life was sapped from the world and all that remained was a swirling miasma of warped reality and solidified panic.

The crack in the wall had formed during Carlos’ first week on the job.  Some irresponsible individual had dropped a tomato in the fridge and not properly cleaned up.  This resulted in Carlos slipping through the tomato mulch and grabbing the aluminum rack for balance.  The rack, not meant for such herky jerky movement, buckled and collapsed into the wall. Carlos would later come to learn that as aluminum rack hit aluminum wall it just so happened that, on an extra-dimensional plane that overlapped with our own in precisely that same location, a chaos entity and a confluence of divine order were clashing in an existential sort of MMA match.  The chaos entity had managed to get the upper hand and was in the process of both siphoning the energy from the divine confluence as well as unmaking it from existence when the effort of such a thing popped it through a hole in reality like a rabbit popping up in your garden.  That hole was in the fridge.  That pop hit Carlos right in the substantive part of his extra-dimensional self, which is kind of like a soul if it was made of phyllo dough and exists in many places at once but often in a state beyond consciousness.  And the two mixed like chocolate syrup and milk.  And that made Carlos into a tall drink of reality-protecting divinity.  Which meant he had to routinely go to the Pigboy’s fridge and battle very dangerous though oddly tiny chaos entities in an effort to save the world.  

As luck would have it, the cosmic scales of justice are overseen by para-dimensional energy fluctuations that have adapted a kind of consciousness as a necessary form of being and not being at the same time.  Those fluctuations maintain a system of order in the way that rainfall maintains an system of order by always falling down.  Yeah, gravity plays a part there too but ignore that.  Point is, the fluctuations flow in and of all things because they do, even the chaos entities which are constantly trying to disrupt that order in a very contradictory way.  And that means they follow rules.  And one of those rules is that Carlos gets two days a week off.  Not too shabby.

“I’m going to rotate the stock,” Carlos said, partially to Brice and partially to no one. That was his convenient excuse or saving the world.  Someone had to make sure the tomatoes stayed fresh.

Inside the fridge, Carlos approached the small crack.  It was black and unassuming just like always. Humans typically could not see chaos entities, or anything extra-dimensional for that matter but Carlos merged with the divine confluence could see a lot of things.  For instance, as he watched, the tiny crack flashed an electric blue, and a very small beast made of many, many tentacles and many more mouths slowly began to lurch itself free, like an octopus trying to fit itself into a water bottle, a thing Carlos had once seen in a Youtube video.

As was customary, Carlos first gave the chaos entity the opportunity to divest itself of negative intentions and return to its own dimension.  “Chaos entity, I offer you this one opportunity to divest yourself of negative intentions and return to your own dimension,” he said quietly, not wanting Brice to overhear.  As expected, the chaos entity spewed forth a string of otherworldly profanity which, to human ears, sounded vaguely like bubbling farts and bird song.  In five years not a single one had taken Carlos up on his offer.

The chaos entity writhed forth, a nightmare of dark energies and pseudo-flesh forged from negativity and solidified fear.  They felt a lot like rubber.  That the entity was adapted to the size of the dimensional rift made Carlos’ job somewhat easier than perhaps it should have been, as destroying a dimensional squid monster that’s the size of a cookie is really quite easy.

Carlos grabbed the entity before it pulled itself fully free and squeezed, crushing the tiny monster like a bug.  The pan-dimensional residue it left on his hand was slimy and warm and reminded him of pudding each and every time due to the ominous scent of butterscotch that came with it.  Carlos wiped his hand on a rag and reorganized the tomatoes.  Crisis averted for another day.

Leaving the fridge, Carlos returned to wrapping burgers for the final hour of his shift.  Tomorrow he would return and crush another chaos entity. And the day after that.  And the next day he had off. Sometimes he wondered if the divine confluence was going to make him immortal and he’d have to work at this Pigboy’s forever.  Sometimes he wondered if he was not immortal who would then save the world when he was gone. He didn’t know.  It would probably sort itself out, though.