#so yeah he might initially blame her a bit but it's just him redirecting that blame from himself probably

[monty-glasses-roxy]

How would cassie dad react to if cassie got turn into a animatronics?

Would he still be like

Your still my daughter even if you become a animatronics and time out you disobey my rule of dont go to the pizzaplex no matter what time out .

Well I like to think he's a pretty good dad. Not perfect, because what dad is, but still a pretty good dad!

So uh yeah I think he'd just be happy to not have lost her. If she's just entirely a Fazbear animatronic though, he's going to be grieving. He should have been there to save her, been there to protect her, but he wasn't. Now she will never grow old. She will forever be comodified by a brand that does not, and never will care for her. He can never take her home again, her birthdays will never be the same, Fazbear can just scrap her the moment they decide they don't want her there anymore, he's lost his daughter in so many ways it's difficult to comprehend.

If this is caused by Mimic or something, he could very easily blame Roxy for not protecting her. It's her job to keep Mimic hidden and keep it from harming anyone else. She failed. But then again, so did he.

It's uh... probably a lot??

He wouldn't blame Cassie though. Not in a million years. How could it be her fault? No one could have known this would happen, least of all her. And she's still his daughter, isn't she? It's still her! He could never see her as anything but!

And as for timing her out and stuff, he'd absolutely not do that. The poor kid has been through enough, why would he punish her for that? That'd just be cruel. It's not like it would even accomplish anything anyway. Surely going through whatever made her into an animatronic is bad enough without him putting anything else on her. I doubt the thought would even cross his mind

[voidpacifist]

okay rats, here's some machine herald headcanons <3

(with an appearance from a fellow mad scientist *wink*)

despite mh!viktor's claim that a mechanized heart isn't defective like a human heart, mans definitely is an emotive being

he'll never show it, because he's prideful (and a bit traumatized oops), but some days he thinks he feels more than before his augmentations

which is a little backwards, but considering how his best friend thought he was beyond reckoning with, and considering the physical trauma he had to put himself through to get this far, it makes sense

he can run now, in fact, he can fly if he wishes. he chooses not to though, except to spook any of the mean children who like to terrorize the smaller, younger zaun kids

he just hovers there and waits for the bullies to scamper away

most of the little kids have never seen him before though, since he's almost revered as an urban legend in the undercity. their first impression, he decides, should be one of respect because they actually respect them, and not because they're afraid of him

he's already made that mistake twice. the first time it gets sky killed, the second time he loses his husband best friend

so he invites them in for some sweet milk, or sends them off with ideas for some practical jokes

no one ever sees his face, because it's obscured by that glowy eye mask thing

because he feels things so deeply, especially for fellow outcasts, it fuels his obsession with the mechanical bettering of humanity

probably has a closet full of spare limbs for anyone who needs them. they're organized by type and size

has a fridge full of sweetmilk

might get a cat or a poro to keep him company

in fact, he probably finds one injured and decides to give it some good old Machine Herald TLC

so there's probably just a small animal running around with one or more metal limbs

he has a spice garden and you can't convince me otherwise

his whole vibe once people get to know him is like steampunk meets cottagecore meets mad scientist

if he meets jinx, it's likely as the machine herald

poor sweet beloved definitely traumatized herself with fishbones and the accidental murder of her dad so she latches onto a fourth father figure

probably initially goes to him because she trusts him best to understand that her emotions and mental health are becoming a detriment to her

and yeah he can do limbs and organs but he can't do a lobotomy

so he lets her stay instead. helps her redirect her explosive tendencies to other projects. definitely let's her add some artistic flair to his growing collection of metal limbs

imagine a little kid getting a new limb and it's covered in some badass blue and green and pink doodle

he's a great comfort to her when her hallucinations are especially threatening, because his presence in and of itself is so fierce and just naturally very protective

he knows that it was her who bombed the council That Day. he blames the action, but not the sentiment

they never talk about it but I don't think they have to tbh. there's a mutual acknowledgement of what happened happened, now let's go alter a body

viktor's urban legend status becomes more and more ridiculous the more it's passed around the undercity

"he used to be one of us?" "did you hear he used to walk with a cane?" "did you know he has a metal heart?" "did you know he died and came back to life?" "did you know he died and then a scientist made a robot and named it after him and that's what he is now?"

and in a way, all of those are true. but they're never confirmed and the rumors drift further and further from mad science into fantasy

the one time he ventures into the lanes, people scatter until it's essentially a ghost town

it's a bit sad, but then a little kid sees him and just s t a r e s

bug-eyeing this tall, half man half machine and ogling at his cloak and his third arm and his mask and just saying something like

"are you gonna turn me into a robot?"

and he'll reply with something cheeky like, "only if you want to be one."

and then saunter off like the conversation never happened and the kid will probably think it's a weird dream they had until the next day when they overhear someone mention the machine heralds "visit."

despite not really needing them, viktor still keeps around his old pair of goggles

two, actually. one of them is scribbled all over. that's jinx's pair

he has a lot of things he doesn't technically need, and he'll never admit his sentimental attachment to them even though that's the only thing keeping them from being melted down into parts

he doesn't need to sleep anymore. he probably avoids it even more than before because he gets nightmares

like he's physically capable of sleeping but his body has no dependency for it anymore

if jinx or just a curious kid who wandered by is helping him with an invention of his, he'll forget about how tired people get and see them nodding off and just like

tf do I do now?

will let his newest apprentice sleep on a banged up old couch in the corner of his workshop. will have sweetmilk ready for them in the morning. won't talk about it ever again

[viastro]

pinky promise | joshua hong

ミ★ synopsis: who knew that your crush of two years also happens to be your friendly neighborhood spiderman? not you! and who thought that you’d find out he’s spiderman through you two being paired for a group project? absolutely neither of you.

ミ★ genre: spiderman!joshua, action, fluff, humor

ミ★ warnings: mentions of almost death, mentions of blood, some ass kicking

ミ★ word count: 5,929

ミ★ pairings: joshua x female reader

ミ★ notes: hi guys! i did not mean to make this such a long oneshot... but alas. that’s how it be. i’m a huge marvel fan so i was like <333 spidey joshua <333 it’s absolutely time. but i also didn’t really incorporate many scenes of him as spiderman... am i stupid ? yes ! maybe in a different life i’ll write another spiderman au </3 anyways, i hope you guys like this one !!

You watch as your History teacher describes the upcoming group project that will be due in two weeks. Turning towards your best friend, Irene, the two of you flash each other mischievous smiles, already planning on pairing up. You lean back in your chair comfortably, feeling confident now that you don’t have to worry about choosing a partner. 

“I will be choosing your partner.”

oh fuck me in the ass.

“Jaehyun and Jungkook.” Your instructor reads off his clipboard, now sitting up straight in your seat. You look at Irene, anxiousness written across your features, and she gives you a small smile. She mouths, “It’ll be okay!” 

To which you shake your head vigorously and mouth back, “No it absolutely won’t!!”

“Irene and Seulgi.” You pout as Irene waves at Seulgi, knowing that she’s lucky because she got one of her friends. You have a few friends in the class, but they all have partners now. “I hate it here.” You mutter, about to lean back in your seat when your instructor announces:

“Yn and Joshua.” 

You fall out of your seat instead, causing a loud crash in the back of the room. Your classmates turn to glance at the sound, only to see you on the floor instead. Irene lifts a hand to her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laugh, knowing that you only fell because you just got paired with your longtime crush. 

“Yn… are you okay?” Your instructor asks, and you choose to close your eyes instead, refusing to look up and see what Joshua’s facial expression may be. 

maybe if i act like i passed out… then everything will be fine.

okay i’ll pretend i fainted.

“Oh my God, I think she fainted!” 

this was a bad idea. i shouldn’t have done that.

“Someone call the nurse!” Irene coughs into her shoulder to hide her laugh, and stands up from her seat. She puts on her best worried for my best friend expression, hurriedly walking over to you. She kneels beside you and grasps your hand, giving it a squeeze. “Someone help carry her to the infirmary!”

“I can help.” You hear Joshua say, and you immediately open your eyes, looking up at Irene in panic. She reaches up and rests her hand over your eyes, hiding everything from view. She gives Joshua a smile, “Okay, thank you so much!”

“WHA-” Irene clamps her hand over your mouth before you can finish your sentence, practically handing you off to your longtime crush. You feel Joshua’s arm go underneath your knees, and then under your upper back, lifting you up off the floor. You do everything in your power not to let warmth rise to your cheeks, or for your breathing to go crazy but that’s really hard because aaAAAAAA !!!!

Irene giggles quietly as she watches you hang limp in Joshua’s arms. She knows very well that you’re going to scream at her later, but she’s fine with it.  Irene tells herself, as long as I helped her to shoot her shot, then she absolutely owes me !! 

“Make sure to stay with yn until she wakes up Joshua, thank you for offering to help. Irene can update you both on what you missed when you come back.” You hear your instructor say, and you internally curse Irene for letting Joshua help you.

but at the same time i brought this upon myself.

... no i’ll blame irene.

You listen to Joshua’s shuffling footsteps towards the infirmary. You hear him curse to himself, before letting out a small giggle. “Sorry yn, this might be a bit bumpy. I have to take you down the stairs.” 

the way my heart just swooned. 

Joshua glances down at your closed eyes, smiling softly to himself when he sees them slightly twitch. He knows that you’re awake as he can feel your fast heartbeat, but he won’t say anything. He’s just happy to be holding you in his arms right now. 

so what if he’s been too intimidated to talk to you since the bathroom incident !! he thinks you’re really pretty and is afraid to initiate conversation !! let him live !!

Once the two of you make it to the infirmary, he carefully places you onto the bed with the help of the nurse. She slides off your shoes, and places the light blanket over you. Once she’s done, she turns towards Joshua, “Are you going to stay with her until she wakes up?” 

You feel heat rise to your cheeks again, and you pinch your thigh in an attempt to redirect it. Joshua glances down at you, chuckling quietly at the fact that you’re still pretending to be asleep. He nods his head, turning back towards the nurse, “Yeah, I will.” 

“You can just sit there then, I’m sure she’ll wake up soon. It might be dehydration that caused her to pass out, but I’ll only be able to confirm when she wakes up.” Joshua nods his head, telling her thanks before she steps out, closing the curtain around you two. 

“You can open your eyes now yn, I know you’re awake.” Joshua says softly, and you feel your heart stop. You slowly open them, turning your head to glance at him. He’s sitting on the chair beside the bed, looking at you with an amused expression on his face. You let out a quiet giggle as you slowly glance back up at the ceiling, now feeling awkward and embarrassed. “How long did you know I was awake?”

“Since Irene covered your eyes with her hand.”

“Ah, nice.” Joshua chuckles, resting his head on his palm as he watches you blink up at the ceiling. “How long were you planning to keep up that act?”

“Probably like, ten more minutes maybe.” Joshua nods his head, grinning at you. You raise your hands up, covering your face as the feeling of complete embarrassment takes over. You internally curse yourself for even pretending to have fainted, but at the same time…

it would’ve been absolutely horrible if everyone knew i just fell out of my chair.

at least they don’t think i’m clumsy, they just think i passed out.

...

that is not better in the slightest.

“I’m sorry Joshua.” You tell him, turning your head and looking at him. He smiles, waving his hands to tell you that it’s alright. “It’s okay yn! I wanted a little break from class either way, and you just happened to present a good opportunity for me to do so.”

“Our instructor does drag topics on for too long…” You mutter to yourself, and Joshua nods his head, letting out a sigh. He leans back into his chair, now thinking about the countless times that your guys’ teacher went from teaching about the lesson, to talking about his cat named Myrtle.

“Fucking Myrtle…” Joshua says under his breath, and you happen to catch it, letting out a small giggle. Joshua looks up at you, grinning at the sound. 

“I was kind of nervous to have you as my partner because of the bathroom incident,” You cringe at the memory, and Joshua chuckles at your reaction before continuing. “But I think we’ll get along quite well.” Joshua tells you, and you smile happily. He finds that his heart is warm at the sight of your smile.

“I think we’ll get along too-”

“Oh! You’re awake. You should’ve told me, Joshua.” The nurse interrupts, opening the curtains that were surrounding the bed. Joshua gives her an apologetic smile, scooting back so that the nurse has room to check up on you. “Have you been drinking enough water today? The weather is hot this afternoon.” 

“I only drank a few sips from my water bottle today.” You answer, and she tsks at you. You glance at Joshua to find him smiling at the fact that you’re about to get scolded. You’re about to roll your eyes at him when the nurse begins to speak again.

“You probably fainted from dehydration. You have to drink more water when the weather is hot! If you don’t, then you’ll pass out again. I’m going to get you a cup of water after I check your temperature, okay?” You nod your head, feeling a bit bad now about how worried the nurse seems to be over your overall well being. When in reality, you just pretended to faint to mask your embarrassment for falling out of your chair the moment your instructor announced that you and your crush are going to be partners.

She pulls out the thermometer, telling you to open your mouth. You comply, and she checks your temperature, finding that you don’t have a fever. She turns around and steps out to grab water, and you let out a sigh. 

“How come we always end up meeting over the most unfortunate circumstances?” You ask with a playful smile, and Joshua chuckles. He opens his mouth to respond when his phone dings, and he glances down to check the message. You watch as a stern expression takes over his features, and he stands up from the chair. “I have to go, there’s a family emergency.” 

You nod your head, having been used to Joshua leaving class at random points during the week. You’re more concerned at the fact that he has a family emergency every other week, but alas. He gives you an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, you’ll have to go back to class on your own. Um, put your number in my phone though.” You raise an eyebrow, and his eyes widen, blush forming on his cheeks.

“T-to talk about our project!” You smile, shaking your head at him and taking his phone. “I know Joshua, I was just teasing.” 

He lets out a breath, grinning as you hand him back his phone with your number in it. He waves to you as he heads out of the room, “I’ll text you later!” 

“Will do!” 

You sigh, about to lay back down when the nurse walks in with a confused expression on her face. She hands you the cup of water, and you immediately try to chug it all down. She glances over at the chair, before looking back at you as you prepare to swallow the water.

“Where’d your boyfriend go?”

aaaaaaaand there goes your water.

“Wait, so he knew you were awake the whole time?!” Irene asks over the phone, and you glare down at the pavement as you remember her being the cause of this. “Yes! But he was actually really nice about it, he kept smiling at me and I almost went into cardiac arrest.”

“Oh my God. I can’t believe you guys are finally speaking after two years since the bathroom incident, and it’s because of me! I think I deserve some loving for that one!”

“Stop bringing up the bathroom incident! That’s my most unfortunate memory of high school, also you didn’t do shit!!”

“You just said I’m the cause of this like ten minutes ago.”

“This ain’t about you!!” You respond with a laugh. You’re walking on the empty streets close to your neighborhood, on your way home from high school. You smile as Irene begins to argue over the phone, looking at the setting sun as you walk peacefully on the sidewalk. You open your mouth to respond when you feel something hard get pressed to the side of your head, and you freeze. “Yn?” 

“Give me your money.” The man says beside you, nudging your head with the gun. Irene’s mouth drops open at the voice, hearing your breathing turn heavy as you stand still in fear. “Did you hear me? I said give me your fucking money.”

“Sir, please. I don’t have anything on me.” You tell him quietly, and he lets out a sigh. He raises his hand up and strikes you hard with the butt of the gun, causing you to drop your phone and fall onto the ground. You cry out in pain, raising a hand to your now bleeding head. You reach into your pocket, grabbing your pepper spray as you feel the warmth of the blood trail down your neck. 

The man leans down beside you, pressing the gun to your head again as you look up at him with nothing but fear and hatred in your gaze. He gives you a sadistic smile, “Give me your fucking money or else I’ll-” 

You cut him off by spraying him directly in the eyes with pepper spray. He screeches in pain, quickly stumbling away from you. You take the opportunity to stand up and kick him in the face, before grabbing your phone that fell and running away as fast you can. You put the phone to your ear as you run, vision blurring from the blow to your head.

“Yn!” Irene cries into the phone, and it takes everything in you to not let any tears form in order to be able to see. “I need to call the police Irene, if I don’t call you back please check my location. Please.” You tell her hurriedly, hanging up after she immediately says yes. 

You raise a hand to your head as you run, feeling the blood seeping into your uniform as you dial 112. You place the phone back to your ear, only to be yanked back by your hair and falling onto the ground. You look up with wide eyes at the sight of the assailant from earlier, looking at you with pure rage and a bloody nose.

“112 what’s your emergency?” 

“P-please help-” You cry out when he kicks you in the stomach, effectively dropping your phone from your hand. You clutch your stomach in pain, looking at him with pure fear in your eyes. 

“Please, I really don’t have anything.” You beg, tears filling your eyes as he cocks his gun. He points it towards your head, “It won’t matter anyways-” 

His eyes widen when the gun is shot out of his hands, now on the ground covered in a web of sorts. You slowly try to inch backwards when you recognize the substance, knowing who must be here. Your heart still pounds violently against your ears, but you feel a bit safer now. 

“Well, that’s not how you treat a lady, now is it?” A voice says from above, and you watch as the guy looks around in fear. You watch as the red and blue suited figure swings over and kicks the man in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. 

“Spiderman.” The man states, and the superhero places a hand on his hip, letting out a dark chuckle. 

“So you know me? That means you know what I do to bad guys right?” Spiderman asks, leaning down to the guy’s level and shooting a web onto his hand, preventing him from being able to get back up. The assailant panics, before trying to swipe Spideman’s feet out from under him. The superhero chuckles darkly, leaning down to the man’s level. 

“How dare you hurt her like that.” He all but growls, and the assailant glares at the superhero. The man leans his head back, before slamming it onto Spiderman’s forehead, to which he lets out a hiss. You watch as Spiderman jumps up and kicks him in the face, knocking the man out cold. “I’ll deal with you in a second.” 

The superhero then turns around and walks over to you, bending down and checking your injuries. He hears the distant sound of sirens, looking at your phone beside you that’s still on the call with the authorities. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I had to get a cat out of a tree.” He apologizes as he lifts some of your hair up, taking notice of the large amount of blood dripping from the wound on your head. You let out a little giggle at the visual of the superhero trying to psspss at a cat, and he raises an eyebrow at you under his mask. He lets out a little chuckle at the fact that you’re still able to smile in this condition, and you tilt your head at the familiarity of his voice, but the soreness of your stomach takes over those questions forming in your head. You begin to feel dizzy due to the loss of blood, and you let out a breath. The sound of sirens draw closer, but they’re starting to sound far away to you.

“I-I tried to get away by using pepper spray. He still somehow… somehow caught up to me.” Your eyes slowly start to close, and Spiderman reaches forward and catches you as you fall backwards. “It’s okay, I’m here.” Your vision slowly turns dark, and the last thing you hear is,

“I’m here yn, it’s okay.”

Joshua clenches his jaw when you close your eyes, lifting you up from the ground once the police and ambulance arrives. He brushes away the strands of hair on your face, pressing on the wound to get it to stop bleeding as he brings you over towards the stretcher. He lays you down on it softly, before turning towards the EMTs.

“Hurry.” Joshua tells the EMT behind his mask, and the guy nods. Him and his team quickly bring you into the ambulance, before driving away. He then turns around and glances at the guy that attacked you, clenching his fist tightly at the sight of him. Before he does anything else to him, he shoots a web towards the building and swings away from the scene. 

“Oh my God! Yn! We heard what happened!”

“Spiderman SAVED YOU?!”

“Was he cute in person??” 

“You’re so lucky to have been saved by him!!” 

Irene slams her fist down on your desk, shutting up your classmates that were hounding you. You raise a hand to the healing wound on your head, feeling a slight throb coming on. Irene glares at each student that’s surrounding your desk.

“Yn literally almost fucking died, and you’re all asking her about Spiderman?” Irene asks harshly, and your classmates glance at each other. Joshua walks in, placing his backpack by his desk slowly as he watches it all unfold.

“Each and every single one of you needs to get your priorities straight! And fucking back up from yn’s desk, she’s still sensitive to loud noises and you’re all fucking crowding around her like dogs looking for fucking bacon.” Irene states, and your classmates back up from your desk, walking over to their own tables after muttering an apology. You let out a sigh of relief, and Irene rests a hand on your shoulder. 

“Thank you.” You tell her, giving her a small smile. She leans forward and presses a quick kiss to your forehead, before walking over to her desk. Joshua opens his backpack, pulling out the small squishmallow he bought for you, and heads over to your desk. 

He’s been unable to get the sound of you crying out in pain, as well as the visual of you fainting out of his mind since the incident. He somehow feels like it’s his fault for having not gotten to you sooner, and he’s been beating himself up for it for the past week.

hopefully she likes the squishmallow, Joshua thinks to himself as he stands in front of you, plushie being held behind his back.

You look up from your notes, and your eyes immediately widen at Joshua standing before you. He tentatively places the squishmallow onto your desk, and your demeanor softens. “I heard what happened last week, and I wanted to give you something to put a smile on your face. I’m really happy you’re okay.”

You let out a small smile, reaching out and grasping the small duck. You slowly wrap your arms around the tiny plushie, giving it a hug, and Joshua’s heart warms at the sight. You eye a healing bruise on his temple, and you bite the inside of your cheek to prevent yourself from asking what happened. Instead, you grin at him, “Thank you, Joshua. It means a lot to me.” He nods his head, watching as you place the squishmallow beside your pencil pouch. 

“I was wondering if uh, you wanted to come to my house after school? To work on our project?” You look back up at him, and his eyes quickly widen. “Unless you don’t want to, that’s perfectly okay too. I can actually do the whole project myself if you want. I’m sorry for asking, I should’ve been more considerate…” Joshua begins rambling and you raise your hand to your mouth as you begin to giggle at how cute he is. 

“I’ll come, but my dad will have to drive me there. I don’t walk around alone anymore.” You tell him, and he freezes at the fact that you said yes. He nods his head rather aggressively at your terms, and you fight back another giggle. 

“Of course! I’ll text you my address.” You give him a smile, as he pulls out his phone, typing down his address. You watch the way the sun hits his black hair, reflecting a pretty brown. His tongue is poking out of his lips in concentration as he makes sure his address is correct before sending it to you. You let out a content sigh, finally feeling a bit happy.

Ever since the incident, you feel constantly on edge. You knew that if it weren’t for Spiderman, you would’ve died. It’s terrifying to admit, and you’ve been having constant nightmares of what happened that you can’t properly sleep. This is the first time in a week that you’ve felt your heart rate increase, but not out of fear. It’s due to you talking to your crush.

hehe <333 joshua <33333

“Okay, I sent it. Let me know when you’re on your way!” You nod your head and he gives you a thumbs up before walking back towards his desk. You feel a pair of eyes on you, so you turn your head to see Irene wiggling her eyebrows. You glare, sticking out your tongue at her in response. 

“How cute! You’re going on a date with your crush!” She whisper-shouts, and you give her the thumbs down, turning away before your face can turn even more red out of embarrassment rather than being shy. 

All while Joshua watches from his desk, smiling softly at you raising your hands up to your cheeks in an attempt to stop the warmth from rising to your face. He chuckles quietly, shaking his head and turning back towards the front. 

“She’s so cute.” 

“I’ll text you when I’m done Dad, I love you.” You say as you exit the car, throwing your backpack over your shoulder. “Be safe! If you have a bad feeling just call me and I’ll come!” 

You close the door after nodding, and walk towards Joshua’s front door. You ring the doorbell, and you hear the sound of shuffling for a moment, before the door opens. It’s a lady probably in her early or late 40s, and she’s a spitting image of Joshua. 

“You must be yn! Joshua’s just up in the office room, it’s the first door on your left.” She tells you and you smile, slipping out of your sneakers. “Thank you auntie!” 

“Of course! Just let me know if you’re hungry and I’ll make you some food.” You give her a thumbs up before heading up the stairs. You look around at all the family portraits up on the walls, giggling at the sight of baby Joshua. “How cute!”

You walk into the office, placing your backpack down by the door. You glance around the room, not seeing Joshua anywhere. You raise an eyebrow, pulling out your phone to see if he texted you anything, but there’s nothing. 

“I guess I’ll use the bathroom before he comes back.” You mutter to yourself, walking out of the office and down the hall. You bite your cheek as you try to guess what may be the restroom until you reach the end of the hallway. You reach out and press on the door, only to realize that this is absolutely not the restroom due to the fact that there’s a bed and a guitar resting beside it. You’re about to turn back around when your eyes catch sight of something… large… on the ceiling.

You slowly look up, and you drop your phone onto the floor when you see who it is, catching the attention of Joshua. He lets out a screech and falls from the ceiling, landing on his feet as you stare at him with wide eyes. The two of you stand in silence for a moment, before you finally scream:

“What the FUCK?!?” 

“Oh SHIT!” 

“JOSHUA WHAT THE-”

“It’s not what it looks like!” 

“Joshua you were literally on your fucking ceiling wearing the Spiderman suit!” You scream, clutching your face with both your hands in shock. He presses the middle of his suit, causing it to loosen up and fall to his feet. “It is absolutely not what it looks like.”

“Looks like what? That you’re Spiderman!?” Joshua stares at you, raising a hand up and rubbing the back of his neck. He lets out a nervous chuckle, flashing you a grin while you continue to look at him, mouth agape.

“Yes.” You begin to feel lightheaded at the realization that Joshua Hong, the guy you’ve been crushing on for the past two years, is also your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. 

that explains why he always leaves class early!

wait. you glance at the bruise on his forehead, and your eyes widen at the memory of your assailant slamming his head onto Spiderman’s aka Joshua’s.

that means he saved-

“I think I’m going to…” Joshua zooms forward once he sees your eyes roll into the back of your head, wrapping his arms around your waist before you fall backwards and hurt your head again. He lets out a breath, before carrying you over to his bed and laying you down on it.

“Maybe she’ll think it was a weird dream.” He says to himself in an attempt to feel better.

it does not work.

Joshua quickly grabs his clothes, before sprinting into the bathroom to change out of his suit. 

You wake up with a start, immediately sitting up in the bed. You let out a small groan at the lingering throbbing in your head, raising your hand up and resting it softly on the healing wound. Joshua glances up at the sound of you waking up, and hurriedly prays that you don’t remember anything prior to passing out. 

You look over at Joshua, and you stare at him with a blank expression as he walks over. You point at him, and his eyes widen as you say, “You saved me the other day.” 

“Ah, so you do remember…” 

“That the guy I like is Spiderman? Oh hell yeah I do.” You tell him without a second thought, still in a dazed state from passing out. Only to freeze a moment later once the words you just uttered process in your brain. Joshua lets out a cheeky grin, and you place your head in your hands at how EMBARRASSING YOU ARE !!

“So…”

“No.”

“You like me…”

“I’m closing my eyes.” You say, laying back down on the bed and covering your eyes with your hands. You peek through your fingers after a moment to see him smiling happily down at you, to which you frown and sit back up. 

“You know!! This shouldn’t even be the topic of conversation right now because I just found out that you’re fucking Spiderman!! Shouldn’t you be more worried that I know your identity?” You ask in an attempt to change the topic. To which Joshua just shrugs, continuing to give you heart eyes. You squint at him, grabbing his pillow and throwing at his face, and he easily catches it, clutching it to his chest.

“I mean, probably.”

“Probably?!?!” Joshua leans closer to your face, and you lean back slightly from the close proximity. He tilts his head to the side, giving you a dangerous smile that makes your heart flip inside your chest. You wonder how he’s so bold, but what you don’t know is that he’s currently panicking inside.

joshua’s brain: she’s so pretty oh my god i’m going to go into cardiac arrest !! ohmygodohmygodohmygod look at the SPARKLE IN HER EYES hafjkwBGKJBWHGQBVAVNJEKRBGELBGE

“Do you want me to think that you’ll betray me, yn?” He asks in a sweet tone, but you know that he’s serious. You shake your head, and he leans back, standing at his full height once again. “I trust you, you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“How can you be so sure? We’ve only spoken a few times.” You ask, and he grins. 

“Because I didn’t tell anyone about the time where you accidentally walked into the boys bathroom and only realized it wasn’t the girls restroom when you ran into me on your way out of the stall two years ago.” 

“I’m going to the restroom, I’ll meet you at class!” You tell Irene with a wave of your hand, before hurriedly rushing in the direction of the bathrooms. You feel as if your bladder is about to burst due to the five cups of banana milk you drank. 

Was it a mistake? You can’t tell yet. 

You finally see the doors to the restroom, pushing it and going straight to the stall. After locking the stall behind you, you finally relieve yourself. As you pull up your skirt, you’re now able to decide whether drinking five cups of banana milk was worth it.

10/10 it was absolutely worth it.

You hear the sound of the door opening, and you quickly flush the toilet. Zipping up your skirt, you unlock the stall and step out, only to be face to face with holy shit.

Your classmate, Joshua stares at you with wide eyes, as do you. His mouth slowly drops open, and you finally take a glance around the bathroom to see that there are fucking urinals. You turn back towards Joshua in horror, and he immediately places his hands over his eyes, apologizing right away.

“I’m so fucking sorry.”

“I should be the one sorry! I was in such a rush to pee that I fucking went into the boys restroom without looking at the sign!” You cry out, walking past him to wash your hands before heading out. You continue to ramble out multiple apologies as you dry your hands, and Joshua just repeatedly tells you how he’s sorry and that we all make mistakes. 

You’re about to rush out the restroom when Joshua hears the sound of someone about to pull open the door. He quickly grabs your hand, bringing you into the stall with him. You protest when he places his hands under your arms, lifting you up onto the toilet seat so that it doesn’t show that there’s two people in the stall. Your eyes are wide and you’re about to say something when you hear the door open, and you quickly shut your mouth. 

Joshua just places a finger over his lips, before turning back around and facing the stall door to wait for them to leave. You quickly cover your ears at the sound of the guy peeing in the urinal, and Joshua feels his face warm at the fact that you’re both hiding in a bathroom stall together as a guy relieves himself right outside the door. 

After the guy washes his hands and steps out of the bathroom, the two of you let out a sigh. Joshua unlocks the door, and you both step out. You place a hand over your heart, feeling it beat wildly fast. You glance up at Joshua, to see him let out a chuckle. You feel yourself begin to giggle too at how ridiculous this has been. Once the two of you calm down, you turn to him and give him a smile. 

“Thank you, I’ll make sure to read the signs properly from now on.” Joshua laughs, shaking his head at you. “It’s okay yn, sometimes we just gotta go.” 

You giggle, turning and preparing to walk out of the bathroom, before glancing back at him. “Please don’t tell anyone about this though.”

To which Joshua just smiles at you, holding up his pinky. 

“I pinky promise.”

“Valid point.” You mutter, rubbing the back of your neck at one of your most embarrassing high school memories. It just so happened to also be the start of your raging crush on Joshua, considering how kind he was with the unfortunate occurrence. Still unfortunate nonetheless though. You look up at the handsome man, finding him waiting for your final answer. Letting out a sigh, you say, “Alright. Deal.”

Joshua smiles at you, holding out his pinky. “Pinky promise?” 

You stare at it for a moment, remembering the time he did the same thing in the bathroom two years ago. You wrap your pinky around his after a second of reminiscing, “Pinky promise.”

Joshua unexpectedly wraps his hand around your wrist once the two of you let go, pulling you up off the bed and he stares down into your wide eyes. He watches as you quickly try to avoid eye contact with him due to the close proximity between you two for the second time today, and he lets out a cheeky smile. 

“So… you like me, huh?” You scoff, pushing him away and he lets out a laugh. You step towards the door, before turning around and looking at him. He stares at you with those catlike eyes, always sparkling as he looks at you.

“We’re supposed to work on our project, Spidey.” He rolls his eyes at the term, following after you out the door. 

“I think we can work on the powerpoint as we talk about me taking you out on a date?” You freeze, slowly turning back and looking at Joshua, who is smiling happily at you.

“Did you just?”

“I did just.”

“Bruh moment.”

“Is that a yes?” Joshua asks, reaching out and grasping your wrist, pulling you closer to him. You stare up into his eyes, and you scrunch up your nose. “Perhaps…”

“Perhaps? I think you owe me~” You laugh, reaching your hand up and covering your mouth, to which Joshua chuckles back. He leans forward and rests his forehead on top of yours, and your eyes widen. 

“My God, you’re so bold.” 

“I’m literally about to pee my pants out of nervousness, but let’s pretend I didn’t say that for the sake of you thinking I’m a smooth man.” You giggle at his honesty, and his heart flutters at the endearing sound. You purse your lips, before grinning at him.

“I’ll say yes if we can travel the Spiderman way.” Joshua’s mouth drops open at the terms, leaning back and laughing heartily. He raises a hand to his head, still smiling at the fact that you’re giving him puppy dog eyes in an attempt to make him say yes. 

“Fine, we can travel the Spiderman way, but if you get sick that’s on you.” You nod your head, cupping your face with your hands to try and calm down the oncoming warmth to them, Joshua reaches out with his hands and turns you around, leading you towards the office. 

“You know, you faint a lot. What if you faint when we’re swinging from building to building?”

“I fainted once.” 

“Twice.”

“Same thing.”

“It is absolutely not the same thing.”

“Whatever, Spidey.”

“I’m only letting you call me that because of how cute you are.”

little did you know, you quite literally passed out in his arms when Joshua swung you two through the streets of Seoul. 

it made for a lot of teasing once you woke up.

[spookyc]

I sure do!!

Well then, I shall divulge.

So, in my talentswap Kiyo is the protagonist as he is the ultimate detective. Originally this was just because I thought it fit but I definitely have more of a definite reason as to why I chose him for the ultimate detective. So a big thing I wanna do with this au, is to give more of the unpopular characters a spotlight, this can be seen with the main central group of the game, Kiyo as the ultimate detective, Tenko as the ultimate astronaut, and Angie as the ultimate child caretaker/assassin. (Which, yeah, It's kinda funny how these three ended up being the main trio considering what happened with them in canon) And when I played v3 I always thought Kiyo was super interesting, not only his talent but also his entire personality. It was so unlike what you would expect from the typical dr cast, I mean the creepy guy of the cast isn't the main antagonist? It was so different and it drew me towards his character, and I even indulged in a few of his free times which were always super fun just because I learned something new with each one.

And then, well, chapter 3 happened. I don't believe I have to explain what happened with that. I remember being kinda bummed out, I mean, the creepy weirdo just ended up being a creepy weirdo, a creepy weirdo who was abused by his shitty sister, but a creepy weirdo nonetheless. Didn't help that I have a brother that I'm decently close with; the entire thing just made me very uncomfortable. So I figured it would be super interesting to go through a story with Kiyo's lenses, to understand why he believes the things that he does and to give him a second chance, in a way.

Also when I really sat down and thought about it, it made a lot of sense to me. Like, in this au I want to keep their backstories intact, (for the most part) and I also wanna keep the fact that they were originally pursuing their canon talents until an event happens that changes their mind. So originally Kiyo was still gonna go for the anthropolgy route, but on one of his vacations, he happened upon a murder case. In the beginning he planned to just observe how the scene would play out, but because he's so attuned with people, he ends up finding out the killer and has him arrested. After this he becomes fascinated with criminals, about their ideologies, their psychology, the history behind past criminals. And so he then redirects his path towards that of a detective, perhaps partially out of a sense of justice, but mainly out of a morbid curiosity to see, "how far the depths of humanity can go."

I also noticed how in the canon story Kiyo often likes to observe others and sorta likes to stay neutral on most topics and I feel this would really benefit him as a detective. But yeah! That's essentially the reason I decided to make him the ultimate detective but let's dive into more of his background and how he grows throughout the story.

So, let's just go ahead and get this out the way. The sister issue. Now, as I stated before, I have a brother I'm close with myself so the entire incestuous relationship with Kiyo and his sister makes me deeply uncomfortable. So I'm sorta divided on two options. 1. I could eradicate sister from Kiyo's story completely and pretend she never existed. Or 2. I keep sister but simply change the form of abuse she inflicts on Kiyo. I'm leaning more towards the second option as this way I'm not just neglecting the abuse Kiyo went through, but I also don't have to make myself uncomfortable by acknowledging the incest stuff.

Anyway! Moving on to the more exciting stuff. So, I still want to have Kiyo involved with the occult, or at least he used to be. See, possibly a year or two ago, (and possibly in regards to sister's death but I'm undecided on that) Kiyo performs a ritual that goes horribly wrong. And the result of this ritual enables Kiyo to see and hear the spirits of the departed. And while at first it was intriguing, it soon became annoying at best and mentally draining at worst. It's simply a fact of life he has to deal with, and due to this power he can see and hear the ghosts of his dead classmates throughout the story. Which is both a blessing and a curse.

Now, as for his development throughout the story, here's what I'm thinking. Now, Kiyo doesn't really have many confidence issues, he's proud in his line of work and he's unapologetic about his beliefs and such. And I wouldn't really wanna repeat Shuichi's storyline anyway. So, for this au, I think Kiyo's arc throughout the game will be learning to trust and gain acceptance amongst people he loves. Rather than the twisted perception of love that Kiyo gives off in canon, I'd want Kiyo's result from sister's abuse to be that no one loves him and no one ever will.

He then begins to believe that love doesn't exist, and not just romantic love, but any kind of love. But rather than grow depressed by this fact, Kiyo uses it as a way to uplift himself. Telling himself that he doesn't need love and that he's perfectly fine being alone. To put it bluntly he's basically just coping from the abuse, trying to use it as shield to protect himself when in reality it's just a sword pointed at himself. But then again, what reason would he have for not believing this? This very concept is what's made him such a great detective.

He doesn't take sides because he can't understand the reasoning behind either side, not in an emotional way anyway. And even though he's incredibly successful in his work, there's a part of him deep down that is terribly lonely. A part of him that longs for company, a part of him that wishes he knew why hatred always burns in the eyes of those he arrests. And it isn't until he's kidnapped and taken to the Ultimate Academy that he finally has to acknowledge this part of himself. This starts with his relationship with Tenko.

Which, as you might expect, doesn't start too well. Tenko of course still has her "degenerate male philosophy" (though after chapter 1 this part of her becomes severely toned down and we get to see what her actual character is like sorta like what canon should have done before chapter 3) but Tsumugi, (ultimate pianist) accompanies Kiyo for a lot of chapter 1 and this sort of slowly warms Tenko up to Kiyo. After chapter 1 tho, when Kiyo flawlessly solves the first case, Tenko sees how useful Kiyo is and grows a sort of begrudging respect for him. After the trial she congratulates him on a job well done and Kiyo appreciates the gesture, obviously being able to tell that it wasn't something she was particularly ecstatic to do. Chapter 2 comes around and if you read my ask about Maki (ultimate artist) , you know this is when she starts spreading the "rumor" that Angie is an assassin.

Kiyo initially doesn't buy this at all, because even though he's exceptionally good at reading people, Angie is a total blank for him, so he can't really confirm or deny the rumors. What he does notice, though, is that Tenko seems to he strangely angry at these rumors, growing visibily distressed whenever Maki brings them up. He doesn't really get it, seeing as though he's only seen the two talking a handful of times, but he brushes it off but he doesn't get involved with people's personal bis. Until Tenko comes to him. He's surprised to see her and even more surprised to see the angry expression on her face.

She tells him that they can't keep letting this go on. He asks what and she responds with the rumors. He agrees that the rumors have gotten out of hand but he asks her what she wants him to do about it. She tells him that he is the only one that the others will believe. And he's like, fair enough, but why do you care so much. And she responds saying, "Because I have her motive video." Kiyo is shocked by this info and asks why she can't just tell them herself. And she says that, "Well, because the rumors are true, she is the ultimate assassin."

Kiyo is again flabbergasted and asks Tenko if she intends on him lying and she says yes. He asks her why, in the most sincerest tone, truly not understanding why anyone would go this far to lie about someone they hardly know, Tenko responds. "Because something isn't right, Monokuma has to be playing some trick, there's no way Angie is capable of murder." Kiyo still doesn't understand, but seeing the fierce determination in her eyes, he knows he won't be able to refuse her offer. And so he agrees that tomorrow he will do his best to dispel the rumors about Angie and convince everyone that she isn't an assassin. And then, the very next day, another body is discovered.

Immediately the opportunity to clear the air is gone in the mass confusion. And it's not long after that everyone begins to pin their blame on Angie. So, Tenko approaches Kiyo again asking if she can accompany Kiyo on his investigation, but only on the basis of defending Angie. Kiyo, who isn't used to working with others, hesitantly agrees and the two form a reluctant partnership. Kiyo initially plans to work on his own but after Tenko finds a few vital pieces of evidence he grows more accustomed to her presence and the two actually bond quite a bit, although they don't admit it.

Eventually the investigation ends and the two head to the trial together, convinced that Angie isn't the killer. Of course the main lie of this trial is that Angie is not the ultimate assassin, the only real thing that was pinning her to this case. After that is cleared up, Kiyo, along with some help from Tenko, solve the case. All is well and good with the world it seems, until Maki speaks up. She asks Monokuma to show Angie's motive video, just to be 100% sure that she isn't the ultimate assassin.

Immediately Tenko retorts, saying that they already cleared up that she wasn't but Maki replies.

"Well, if you're so sure that Angie isn't an assassin, then you should have no problem with me showing this right?"

"Unless, you know something we don't?"

The others agree with Maki and demand that the motive video be shown. Tenko looks to Kiyo, demanding he do something but Kiyo shakes his head. "They're too far gone now." Tenko clenches her fists, but doesn't say another word. With a grin of pure malice, Maki tells Monokuma to show the video and he complies, if a bit reluctantly due to Maki's tone. The video plays and the truth is revealed, Angie is the ultimate assassin.

After the video the students erupt into an uproar, angrily turning towards Tenko and Kiyo and demanding why they lied. Tenko responds that if they hadn't lied, the rest of the students would have gotten them killed. They also turn on Kiyo, asking why a detective would lie. He responds saying it was the only way to get to the truth. He also adds that Angie being an assassin had nothing to with this case, they already determined the true killer.

But despite their statements many of the students are still outraged as they mount the elevator. They also notice Angie is not with them, as she seems to have disappeared during the chaos. Two individuals however observe the scene with twisted glee, Maki and Kiibo (ultimate supreme leader). After everyone gets off the elevator, Tenko approaches Kiyo. She thanks him for standing up for Angie, and this time she actually sounds genuine. She then admits that maybe he's different than the other degenerate males and that he's not so bad. Kiyo accepts the sort of compliment and Tenko walks off.

And for the first time Kiyo feels happy. Now he's felt satisfaction after a solved case and even sometimes felt contentment but, he can't remember the last time he felt happy. The last he felt like he belonged. And after this the two from a solid friendship, one that will carry them throughout the entire game and Angie joins the squad too and as much as I'd love to get into their relationship this post is far too long already and I wouldn't wanna waste anymore of your time. But! I hope this was enjoyable at the very least.

I really enjoy getting these asks because they always help me to flesh out the story and the characters and they're always super fun to write so if you ever wanna know about any of the other characters, don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for the ask!

[braincoins]

“Oh, take that off,” she said.

He gasped in mock-surprise. “Just like that?!”

“Shiro.”

“Not even dinner first?”

She rolled her eyes. “We’re not going out tonight.”

“Why not?” he asked.

She walked over in her pajama pants and oversized t-shirt and pulled his headpiece off. “Because we have to talk about our next move,” she said. “And I ordered pizza.”

His eyes lit up. “Oooh, where from?” 

“Peretti’s.”

“Gino’s is better.”

“Peretti’s is closer and I had a coupon.”

“Please tell me you didn’t get pineapple on it.”

“And extra anchovies.”

“Okay, the relationship is over.”

She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him slow and deep, savoring the taste of his lips and tongue. And when she pulled away, he murmured, “Okay, the relationship is back on.”

She grinned. There was a buzz. “Pizza’s here.”

“I could just teleport down and get it,” he offered.

“Don’t you dare. And get out of sight, will you?” she hissed as she went to buzz the pizza guy in. 

“I’ll just go home and change.” 

“That’s what I told you to do in the first place!” 

“After I know that’s really the pizza guy and you’re not in trouble. Give me my mask back.”

She tsked but handed it back to him. “Are you always going to be this protective?”

“Yes. I do more than hop around, you know; I was in the Air Force. I’ve had training.”

“I can punch through a steel wall,” she countered.

“Show off.”

“Shoo; I don’t want him seeing you.”

“We could just tell him we’re doing some kinky roleplay?” 

She snorted but Shiro duly got out of line of sight of the door as she opened it just before the pizza guy knocked. She loved doing that to them.

She signed the receipt, collected the ‘za, and shut and locked the door again. “I am unassaulted by strange pizza deliverers,” she announced, carrying the box to the living room. “Shiro?”

She shrugged, went to the kitchen, and grabbed some paper towels for napkins. She was just fishing out a grape soda when she heard his voice again. “Okay, I am in comfy talking clothes.”

She looked up from the fridge: he was in a t-shirt and sweat pants. “Good boy. I hope you’re okay with grape soda, milk, water, or orange juice.”

“Grape soda? Why not orange?”

“Because I like grape.” 

“Be right back.” And he disappeared again.

She chuckled and headed back to the couch.

“Okay, where were we?”

“Getting used to having a disappearing-reappearing boyfriend,” she said, falling into a seat and opening the box to pull out a slice.

“Let me guess: we talk while we’re eating?” He sat down next to her.

She nodded. “We know what Galra’s up to. We have to do something about it. But we can’t just barge back in there. And they’re not going to let me kiss you again.” She took a big bite.

“Shame,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek quickly. He redirected his attention to the pizza box. “Is there anything you have that can deal with Sendak’s new ...taser arm or whatever? Oh good, no anchovies or pineapple.”

She shot him a quick glare - I was kidding! - and thought about that as she chewed. “Not right now. I want to talk to Coran about the crash. He’d always told me we came in for a smooth landing, but if there was scattered debris...”

“Maybe this isn’t the only piece he missed?” 

She nodded solemnly. “And who knows what could happen if other people find Altean tech? Dr. King may be unethical, but she is still a scientist; she knows how to experiment carefully. If some child found something dangerous...” She shivered. 

“I don’t know what help it’ll be, but there’s a doctor that works at Galra that has his misgivings about Dr. King’s methods. He thinks she’s dead, of course, but he’s expressed to me that he doesn’t like how she did some things. He might be a good source, though I don’t think he’s quite ready to go full whistleblower yet.”

“Is it the doctor you see about your arm?” she asked.

“Mm-hm,” he answered affirmatively around a mouthful of pizza. He chased it with a swig of the orange soda he’d brought from his place. “Dr. Ulaz. I’ve checked him out; he seems pretty clean near as I can tell? I don’t see any reason to sic my hacker friends on him.”

“What’d he say about your arm, by the way?”

“It’s fine.” He said it too quickly.

“Takashi.”

“It’s just this weird... sensation, that’s all. We’re keeping an eye on it.”

She frowned. “And how did the subject of Dr. King come up?”

“She designed it,” he said, holding the arm out and turning it over. “As well as the study I’m in. She did it all, wouldn’t let anyone help her with it, and Ulaz doesn’t trust the secrecy of it.”

“You should let Coran take a look at it.”

“Why? Does it look like Altean tech to you?”

“Well, no, but if Dr. King designed it...”

“She also designed a lot of perfectly safe and normal things,” he reminded her unnecessarily. “It’s a coincidence. Though I admit, it’s kind of weird that she was so secretive about this.”

“And you said Keith’s mother works there?”

“Yeah, she’s sort of a secretary-nurse person? One of those ‘work behind the scenes and keep things running’ types.”

“She might be more help than the doctor then.”

“Maybe. I’ll bring it up with Keith, but I doubt he’ll like the idea of getting his mom involved.”

“We need more information somehow.”

“Yeah,” he said. “In the meantime, should we refocus on the human trafficking ring? Check in with Hunk, maybe?”

She nodded but her mouth was full. 

“You know,” he said, leaning back against the sofa, “Lotor’s initials are LK.”

She snorted as she cleared her mouth. “You’d blame him for the Kennedy assassination if you could.”

“Ohhh, if I thought I could get the charges to stick...”

“He’s probably thinking the same thing about you.”

“I bet he is,” Shiro asserted. “I’m telling you: he wanted you and he’s maaaad that I stole his ‘prize’.”

She leaned in towards him. “You do know that he never stood much of a chance with me, right? Not when I had this,” she ran one hand up along his t-shirt clad torso, “gorgeous hunk of kind and funny beefcake to tempt me.”

He sniffled. “I’m just a piece of meat to you,” he whimpered.

“But a very tasty one!” she asserted.

He laughed and pulled her in for a quick and sloppy kiss. “Okay, so I’ll talk with Keith about getting Krolia to dig up dirt for us on Galra and to arrange another meeting with Hunk about the traffickers.”

“What should we do in the meantime? Just crack down on smaller criminals?”

He shrugged. “Keep the city safe. I vote drug bosses: not only are they scum, but they might have heard something about the human traffickers. They’re used to sneaking things into the city, after all.”

“Good plan.”

“You really don’t want to go out tonight at all?” he asked.

“You’d rather go fight crime than stay in and cuddle with me?”

“I was thinking 50-50 split.”

“Not tonight,” she insisted. “Maybe not for a few nights, really.”

“What?” He sat up straight. “Why not?”

“Because Galra has to be looking for us. We know too much about their operation. It might be best for us to lay as low as possible for a bit.”

“They’ll keep Sendak close to home,” he asserted. “And he’s the only one we need to worry about.”

“Until they outfit all of their goons with those taser-arms,” she said. “I just...” She looked into his eyes. “Takashi, I thought we were both going to die. I was sure of it. And I knew, in that moment, I was going to lose you forever, and...”

“None of that happened.”

“That’s just it, though! We made it.” She curled up against him, and he tossed his slice down so he could wrap his arms around her. “I didn’t think anything would hurt as much as being cut off from a family, a people, an entire world I never got to know, but I do know you, and the thought of losing you is so much worse. I almost lost you. Let me bask in the security of having you, just for a little bit?”

“Okay,” he said. She felt him press a kiss into her hair. “I’m right here.”

She was quiet, enjoying the warmth of him wrapped around her. At least until he belched.

“Takashi!” 

“Sorry, I couldn’t stop that one.” 

“Oh, please. I’ve heard 80 year old grandmothers do better.”

“Did you just challenge me to a belching contest? I’m pretty sure you just challenged me to a belching contest.”

“I’m pretty sure it won’t be much of a contest at all if that’s the best you can do.”

He grinned and she grinned back.

{The Adventures of Starlight & Paladin}

[moonprincess92]

Alliance Industries 

Cassian starts his 8 week internship at Alliance Industries with a goat in an elevator…oh yeah, and a hot receptionist. 

For @deadpanprincess Happy Valentine’s Day! MUCH LOVE <3 

I.E. a ‘they all work in an office’ au  (Read on AO3) 

PART 1 

He had to ride 12 floors in an elevator with a hot girl and a goat.

Sure, he had no idea what he was getting into with this internship, but truth be told he really wasn’t expecting the goat. He’d squeezed onto the elevator on the ground floor of the Yavin Building with what felt like a billion other people and while not exactly comfortable, he’d figured that he’d been doing ok. Maybe even fairly well, considering it was his first day of this internship and all. It was somewhere around floor five, however, when she walked on dragging said goat behind her and literally no one batted an eye. Cassian stared at the goat, then at his phone open on the last email he’d been sent from his future supervisor, and back at the goat again.

This hadn’t been on the website. 

He decided not to concentrate on the goat that was currently trying to eat the hem of the girl’s pencil skirt and rather stare pointedly at the numbers on the elevator wall as they climbed. If it hadn’t been for the subtle side-eyes, he honestly would have questioned the goat’s existence entirely, considering the lack of attention it got. People slowly filtered out without a word, and the girl and goat thankfully got off at floor eight. Cassian himself exited on floor 12, breathing a sigh of relief upon finding the giant sign indicating that he’d found the offices of Alliance Industries… although it was rather short-lived. The reception appeared to be utterly abandoned. Cassian glanced around anxiously, but he was rather alone apart from some haphazard papers scattered behind the reception desk and what looked like a gnawed on stapler.

Shit.

The email had just said to ask at reception once he arrived and that their receptionist would show him through the offices until his supervisor arrived at ten. What the fuck was he supposed to do now?

He was just debating whether to email back or whether to try and find someone else, when he heard the elevator door open once again behind him. He turned to see the goat girl from before rushing out, her face flushed, hair coming out of its superb bun and swearing like a trucker.

“Fucking bollocking balls – I’m so sorry!” she called out. She dashed for the reception desk, not even taking the time to walk around, but instead catapulting herself over top of it. Sliding gracefully on her ass, she even managed to stick the landing in her high heels before turning and facing him. “We had a bit of an emergency – you must be the new intern!”

“Is the goat ok?” he asked, dumbly.

The woman, who was clearly the receptionist, blinked at him once before letting out a bark of laughter. “That goddamn fucking goat – it escaped from the insurance company on floor eight, we’ve been trying to catch it all morning. You saw?”

“I was in the elevator.”

“Jesus, I really am sorry – my name’s Jyn, I’m supposed to show you around,” she held out her hand over the desk and Cassian might have been a little blindsided, but at least had enough sense to shake it. She smiled at him, before hastily gathering up all the paperwork that had been scattered. She made to go and staple them all together, when of course she noticed the mangled stapler and cursed once more.

“I’m going to kill that goat.”

“It’s fine, I swear–” Cassian said, quickly.

He accepted his copy of the Alliance Industries Policies and Guidelines all in loose pages, although not without Jyn insisting that she at least find him a clip or something to keep it all together with. “Anyway, let me do my actual job and show you round,” she said, moving around the desk once more.

He was almost disappointed that she didn’t leap over it this time.

A few days later she was in the elevator again, only this time she was sans goat.

“Hey!” she said brightly upon seeing him.

“Oh, hey,” he said, talking awkwardly over the forced quiet that always accompanied every elevator journey. “no farm animals today?”

“You talk as if that was a regular occurrence.”

“When it’s the first time you walk in the building, can you blame me?”

“I swear, goats are not a usual thing at Alliance,” Jyn said. “But hey, I never caught up with you earlier, how’s your first week going with us so far?”

“It’s going…” Cassian racked his brain for words in English that would accurately describe the last few days he’d had. After the goat and his new supervisor Draven, he was starting to wonder if his university actually understood what kind of internship he had signed up for. “Is it always like this at Alliance?”

“Whatever it was that happened, probably,” Jyn answered with a slight smirk.

“They gave me my own office at least,” Cassian said. “Well – I say office – it’s just a spare cubicle they said I could have because the current employee is on leave until after I finish, but it’s nice to feel like I have a place here.”

“How long’s the internship?” she asked.

The tone was casual. Cassian couldn’t kid himself that there was anything more to it than that because flirting with the objectively hot receptionist was not exactly one of his tasks that would go towards his university credits. Still… he would be an idiot to not realise that with her ability to jump desks in tight skirts and heels, he wouldn’t exactly say no to flirting. It was fine. His heart was allowed to race a little imagining that she was asking because she wanted him to stick around.

“Eight weeks,” he answered.

“Sounds like ages, but that’ll go really quickly,” she said. He wanted to say more, except that was when the elevator stopped on their floor, and they clattered out along with several other people. He lagged near the reception desk as she walked behind it, booting up the main computer and opening the phone lines.

“Yeah, I guess it will. See you around?”

“Of course,” Jyn smiled at him from over the desk. “Have a good day.”

“You too.”

She was always there.

In the elevator, without fail, they somehow always managed to arrive at the same time, about ten minutes before eight. She would come over, pushing through the meagre space until she was at his side and would ask how his time with them was going. He was always brutally honest because he hadn’t been kidding when he’d wondered what he’d gotten himself into, and it seemed that if he wanted to survive this internship he needed someone like the Alliance Industries receptionist on his side.

The goat hadn’t even been the start of it. To be perfectly honest, Cassian wasn’t even sure any more about what the company actually did, which had to be saying something. From the initial application it had looked like a law firm, but the data he was analysing as his tasks covered everything from taxes to supply lists to transportation costs. One day there would be a meeting about the local market and the next, a photoshoot for the latest issue of Vogue, complete with full make-up crew, wardrobe and background models that would take over the entire office bullpen with their smoke machine and dramatic headpieces until eventually, several secretaries would manage to rope them into the right part of the building. Nothing about the company seemed to make sense, and every time he asked for clarification, the only answer he could ever get was along the lines of,

“I don’t know. Something to do with computers?” Jyn had told him quizzically once.

“You’ve worked here how long and you still don’t know what your company actually does?”

“I’m the receptionist! I schedule shit and take angry calls from clients, you think I know what kind of operation the CEO is running? This could be a black-market trade centre for all I know.”

(Cassian hoped to god he wouldn’t have to explain how he’d interned for two months with a black-market trade to his college professors).

Either way, the company kind of terrified him so much that it took an entire week just to get up enough courage to use the break room. 

Look, on his first say he had set one foot inside the room only to find everyone practically screaming as apparently, someone had accidentally set the toaster on fire. Rather than brave that, Cassian had promptly turned right back around and opted to eat his lunch at his desk. He might have just stayed there again if it weren’t for the fact that his lunch needed reheating today. Much to his relief, he’d only been hovering in the doorway to the loud and packed break room for a minute when someone had called his name and he’d looked up to see Jyn waving him over.

Thank god.

“So what’s it like having Draven as a supervisor?” she asked him through a mouthful of pasta once he had sat down with her.

“It’s…” he debated. Davits Draven, HR Advisor and Head of the Alliance Internship Programme, at least seemed competent and like he knew what he was doing. Cassian figured that he could be trusted to sign off on all his paperwork needed to get the required credits at the end of the internship… although there was the fact that according to two very gossipy PAs, he also apparently had a reputation of being ‘that dickhead who keeps calling meetings about shit that could 100% be solved through email’.

“It’s interesting,” Cassian decided on.

Jyn scoffed so loudly she nearly choked on her pasta. “You’re so nice,” she coughed. “Honestly, I’m pretty sure Draven hates me because I keep accidentally-on-purpose redirecting angry clients to his office phone.”

He tried not to laugh too much. She had sat with her legs resting long ways across one of the sofas that dotted the break room, but she’d swung them down when she’d called him over so that he’d have a place to sit. He noticed her heels had been tossed to the floor some feet away and she apparently didn’t give a damn if her pasta spilled all over her.

“Thanks for eating with me,” he said. He glanced over again at the other side of the break room where an argument was still apparently brewing over who was first in line for the microwave. It looked like it was all on the verge of boiling over and he added, “Also look, tell me the truth, am I going to get to heat this up today or not?”

“First rule about this office,” Jyn said. “never bring lunch that needs heating. You’ll never eat.”

“Noted,” He bitterly clipped the lid of his lunch container closed.

Jyn wrinkled her nose in sympathy. “Want some of my pasta?”

“Oh, I couldn’t–”

“Nah, it’s fine, promise–” She practically shoved the container into his hands. “It’s not the best, sorry. I’m not a chef for a reason.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Cassian said, warmly. “Your accent is British, right?”

“I am in fact one of like three British people in this office, yes,” she nodded. “I’m fairly certain my accent was the sole reason I was hired as the receptionist.”

“It wasn’t for your goat-wrangling skills?”

“No, believe it or not but those were just bonuses,” Jyn grinned. “What’s your accent?”

“I’m from Mexico.”

“Oh, nice. Sucks to be so far away though, right?”

“I’m not as far from home as you.”

“Still,” Jyn said through her food, barely pausing to swallow. “We’re the foreigners, we gotta stick together, you and I!”

He watched her in slight bemusement as they carried on eating in mostly companionable silence. The arguments over the microwave got louder and escalated to the point where someone actually started an official ‘Microwave Order’ list and others ditched the building entirely to go and buy something from the street vendors opposite.

Jyn snorted and shook her head at them. “Idiots,” he heard her say. 

“Ok, so on the first day, I was required to give you the official bullshit orientation of Alliance Industries,” Jyn was saying as she lead them through into the office bullpen. Cubicles lined the large room, phones ringing, colleagues talking over walls and the tell-tale noise of fingernails clacking on keyboards. Jyn glanced up at him and carried on, “You know, about getting your paperwork in on time and how to file complaints with HR, shit that no one really cares about. Today, I’m going to give you the real orientation.”

She started down one hallway lined with cubicles. Her hair was always tied back in some kind of bun, always professional, always poised, but the way her eyes sparked as she looked up at him said that this receptionist knew things. He was glad that she’d practically insisted on becoming his friend. She pointed out the first cubicle and said, “We start in legal. That’s Jason Biggs, he’s all right. Next to him is Han Solo,” she snorted a little. “You’ll never meet a bigger arsehole in your life, but he at least tries. Will hit on almost anyone, despite the fact that he is 100% in love with our PR manager.”

Jyn continued in this stride as they traversed most of the entire office. She pointed out colleagues, friends, the managers to watch out for, the ones to not cross under any circumstances, and the ones who could be bribed with coffee to extend your deadlines. She pointed out one of the HODs Raddus, who had apparently borrowed her hole punch once and never given it back, and a new hire in graphic design who everyone knew had a ridiculous crush on his boss.

Cassian’s brain practically swam with the onslaught of information. “That’s Shara Bey – hey, bitch!” Jyn called out then into one of the fancier corner offices. “You can count on her for anything, except being on time. She’s 30 weeks pregnant and insists he’s the reason she’s so slow. Her husband works in IT.”

“So… it’s ok to date colleagues here then?” Cassian asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Jyn leaned in the doorway to Shara’s office. “What was it Draven said at the Developing Professional Relationships seminar?”

“‘You can fuck each other in the copy room all you like, so long as no one has to see it’,” Shara snorted, not even turning around from her computer.

“It’s good, though,” Jyn mentioned after laughing. “It means everyone can just get it out of their systems, rather than cluttering up the office with sexual tension. Unless you’re Han and Leia, amiright, Shara?”

“The less said about those two, the better.”

“Anyway,” Jyn turned back to him. “next thing to know: understand what someone means if they say they need help with the photocopier.”

Cassian was about 90% sure the entire conversation was going too damn fast. His mind was overloaded with information, his brain couldn’t keep up in English (or maybe it was the way she laughed) but whatever the reason was, he didn’t quite catch Jyn’s meaning and he ended up asking,

“I’m sorry? What does it mean?”

Thankfully, she didn’t tease him. 

“It means they’re asking to go do it.”

He blinked. “But what if I actually honestly need help with the photocopier?”

She smiled. “Then you’re fucked.”

“Either way you’re fucked!” Shara threw back, making Jyn choke a little with laughter and step in to swat her upside the head.

They moved on from Shara’s office after that and honestly, Cassian was a little disappointed. She eventually told what seemed to be the life history of the entire office – who was sleeping with whom, who was looking to move up and who was looking for a new job, who had just transferred and who to make friends with so that you got free home-made muffins at four o’clock every Friday – but honestly, Cassian only wanted to know about her. And if there was anyone whose story she didn’t mention, it was her own.  

But it was fine. He had several more weeks to go, after all.

The first time she wasn’t in the elevator was a few weeks in.

Honestly, he was fine with it. He barely even knew the woman, he had no right to be disappointed or whatever the hell feeling it was that he was swallowing down from creeping its way up his throat. No, instead he gripped his briefcase harder and thought of what kind of data he would be analysing that day.

When the elevator dinged on his floor, though, he at least quickly figured out where Jyn was. She was already at her desk, ten minutes early and apparently in a heated argument with Draven over what seemed to be a broken email attachment.

“I don’t know what the hell else you want me to do!” she was saying hotly, work phone tucked under one shoulder and also clicking around on her computer, clearly flustered.

“I’ve told you, get it fixed!”

“I’M ON HOLD, do I look like bloody tech staff?!”

“Is that how you talk to all of your direct superiors?”

“I’m the receptionist, not your PA, I don’t work for you,” she snapped. Someone on the phone must have answered her then because she suddenly snapped up straighter and grabbed the phone in her hand. “Yes! Thank god, look none of the attachments are opening in email and–” 

“I have to print 50 copies of this by eight thirty!” Draven yelled in the general direction of the phone.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK I’M TRYING TO DO?”

Cassian honestly didn’t know what to do. Other workers were eyeing the two with interest, but ultimately just walking on past like it was no big deal. Cassian, on the other hand, was loath to even approach should he accidentally get stuck in the crosshairs. No one deserved to be chewed out like Jyn was, at least not this early in the morning, but Draven was also his boss, and he needed this internship to pass. Shit, shit, shit.

In the end, he hid himself behind a group of workers from customer service and walked in alongside them. He managed to avoid Draven’s eye, but accidentally caught Jyn’s just as he clearing them and heading for the main office. She smiled a little and mouthed, “Hey,” before rolling her eyes at Draven.

His heart pounded back.

The day naturally ended up being a bit of a crazy one. It just had to be one of those days when Han Solo would declare, “OFFICE FLOOR IS LAVA!” and Cassian was forced to spend most of his day trying to get places without touching the floor. Usually, it meant climbing over cubicle walls and hastily stepping around his collegues PCs and photo frames. At least Cassian had discovered that he was rather adept at the game, (“Andor’s light on his feet, who knew?” Han pointed out, impressed). However today all he had wanted was to reach Jyn’s desk, and without anything lining the corridor down to the elevators, nothing short of wheeling himself there on his desk chair was going to make it (which he kind of interpreted as a bit pathetic). As a result, he didn’t see her until the end of the day, as they were all leaving the building.

“I’m sorry Draven chewed you out this morning!” Cassian practically yelled after her once he caught the sight of her retreating back out on the street. For a second, he feared that Jyn wouldn’t or didn’t want to talk to him, but she paused when she heard his voice and turned.

“Hey, thanks,” she called back. “Sorry, I can’t stop and talk, the bus leaves at ten past and if I miss it I have to wait another half an hour–”

“I’ll walk with you,” he hurried forward to fall into step with her.

There was something about walking alongside her through the busy financial district in the early evening. They were out of the office, her in her leather jacket over top of her business casual and him simply trying not to trip over that fact.

“Draven’s an arse,” Jyn said, quietly.

He was starting to become familiar with the sentiment. “Is he like that with everyone, or…?”

“Or just with me?” Jyn shoved her hands in her pockets, heels clacking against the concrete beneath their feet. “He’s hated me ever since I started working there. I always assumed it was because I was young, but now I think it’s just because he’s a prick.”

“You’re not that young.”

“Exactly what a girl wants to hear,” she grinned.

“I just mean,” he held back the urge to knock her shoulder with his. That would be far too familiar, considering how long they’d known each other. Yes, definitely. “You can’t be much younger than me and I’m 26.”

She smiled a little. “I’m 24. I’ve been with Alliance since I was 19.”

“As the receptionist?”

“I know,” she rolled her eyes. “five years and I’m still only a receptionist. Will I ever figure out what I want to do with my life?”

“I wasn’t thinking that,” Cassian assured her.

“I know,” she said. “or at least I hoped. Just ignore me, I’m wallowing and feeling sorry for myself.”

They were approaching the bus stop now and the quick pace she’d kept up the entire time was apparently worth it as it seemed that the bus was only just pulling up now. “You’re allowed to – what was it? Wallow?”

“Yeah,” Jyn walked backward so that she could keep him in her sights as she joined the line. “thanks for listening.”

“No problem.”

“Hey,” she added, quickly. “who won the floor is lava today?”

“I did. Apparently, I’m light on my feet.”

Jyn laughed in response, congratulating him just as she climbed onto the bus and disappeared into its depths. He waved once and turned away, a grin on his face.  

“So you’re the new intern?”

Cassian glanced up at the head that was staring over the dividing wall between his cubicle and the next. He had dark scruff, hair pulled back in a ponytail and a smile spreading across his face that was far too bright for someone at work at eight in the morning. “Um, yes,” Cassian replied.

The man leaned even further over the wall, extending his arm down so Cassian could shake his hand. “I’m Bodhi!” he said, happily. “So good to meet you, it’s been boring without a cubicle buddy.”

To be honest, Cassian wasn’t sure how anything in this office could ever be described as ‘boring’. Within his first three days, there had been at least six emergency drills for wild animal attacks (“Back away slowly! NEVER play dead!”) two minor fire incidents in the break room and one rather epic wheelie chair race from one end of the office to the other without touching the floor. He STILL didn’t know what the company actually did, but that was about when Leia Organa had kicked herself off a wall and spun her wheelie chair in front of Han Solo’s by about an inch, declaring herself the winner of the race and all fucking hell had broken loose.

“Boring! Right, wouldn’t want that,” he said, hastily.

“You’ve met Jyn, right?”

“The receptionist?” Cassian really needed to work on his self-control. Get it together, idiot. Don’t sound so excited.

“Yeah! She said that she’s been showing you around and stuff. Me and her and a bunch of others usually go out for drinks after work on a Friday,” Bodhi explained. “It’s just casual, no benders or anything, we do the pub quiz, that kinda thing. Did you want to come this week?”

“Oh,” Cassian suddenly blanked on words. Quite honestly, it sounded great. A chance to get to know his colleagues more, a chance to really get to know Jyn… “I’d love to – but I’ve got a lot of work to do and – I wouldn’t want to impose or anything–”

“No, no!” Bodhi insisted at once, frowning. “I swear, we all want you to come! Gotta get you on our side before Draven turns you into one of his mindless slaves, haha.”

Cassian hesitated. “It’s just drinks?”

“Just drinks.”

“And you’re sure no one minds if I come?”

“Jyn would have asked you herself, except she apparently had some kind of meltdown and made me do it,” Bodhi rolled his eyes. “Please, I’m dying to get to know the man who made Jyn Erso speechless!”

“You’re joking, surely.”

“Well… half joking,” Bodhi snorted. “Please?”

Cassian took a deep breath.

“Ok.”

She looked about as hungover as he still felt in the elevator on Monday.

“I blame you,” he told her at once.

“I did nothing,” she insisted, not even moving from where she was leaned back against the elevator wall, dark sunglasses covering her eyes even inside under the artificial lights.

“You’re a dirty enabler is what you are, getting me to drink two nights in a row so that I’m literally still feeling it on Monday morning.”

“Not my problem that you can’t handle tequila.”

He grinned though, despite himself. His weekend had been a blinding two days thanks to her. What had started as ‘casual drinks’ on a Friday night had of course turned into still hitting the clubs at three am, Jyn’s skirt almost up around her hips as he gave her a piggyback home. They had made quite the scene, Bodhi crying as he carried Leia’s heels in one hand and a bottle of wine in another, Han belting out Queen songs with his tie around his head, Leia barefoot and with her arm around who was apparently her brother Luke, who had turned up somewhere around midnight and worked in graphic design. Cassian couldn’t even remember adding Jyn on Facebook, but the next morning he had woken dumped outside his apartment door and with about five messages from her saying that they should hang out later. She had talked to him Saturday night over the aforementioned tequila, told him stories about office pranks on Draven and Han, told him about how she’d always wished that she’d gone to collage, about the one time a criminal from the Bail Bonds Office on floor 17 had taken someone hostage and the entire building had been forced into lockdown, and he had laughed and taken it all in.

Taken her in.

“Why did you never go to collage?” Cassian remembered asking her. They’d invited everyone else on Saturday, but they’d all had the sense to bail early this time. By eleven, they’d been the last ones left in the bar and she had sighed underneath the lights.

“I guess I didn’t think I could,” she’d answered him.

He glanced at her now, leaning her head back and attempting not to groan against what was no doubt a throbbing pain in her head. He watched the line of her jaw as she stared at the ceiling, the curve of her neck, the dip where her collarbone met her blouse and… oh, shit. 

Yeah, he really was in trouble.

Thing is, it hadn’t been long.

Technically, he knew it was normal. People develop crushes within hours, let alone weeks, but the point he was trying to make in his head here, was that he was only going to be with Alliance for the next month and a half. Couldn’t he have at least, like…TRIED? What had started as a fleeting ‘I wouldn’t say no’ when he’d first met her had at some point turned into a monstrous crush so yeah, he was fucked, for sure. He at least liked to think he could also be subtle about it. He could subdue the smile that came to his face whenever he saw her in the elevator in the mornings, pretend that it wasn’t the highlight of his entire day. He could hold back, remain friendly and professional, asking for work advice and being able to admire the way she would lean over his desk without flipping his shit. Yes, he had this. He could do this.

Apparently, Bodhi didn’t seem to think so.

“Ok, what’s the deal?” he asked.

“What?” Cassian asked dumbly, ignoring how the other man’s head had stuck up over the dividing wall once more, like it usually did at varying times throughout their day.

Bodhi rolled his eyes in exaggerated exasperation. “You and Jyn!” he said. “I thought you totally liked her!”

“I’m trying to work here, can’t this wait until later?”

“I’m sorry, you think office hours are for work?”

Cassian shot his new friend a look, and Bodhi grinned.

“Ok, ok, but seriously. Ever since drinks last week, you’ve been acting weird. Did something happen between you guys?”

“NO,” he said, perhaps too quickly to ever actually be reasonably considered the truth. He caught Bodhi’s look and he groaned, “No, seriously, nothing happened. I just…” He shoved his chair away from his desk and computer, rubbing his forehead warily. “I like her, yeah, but I’m trying to be professional about it, all right?”

“And how’s that working out?”

“Divine,” Cassian grumbled. Luckily, before Bodhi could grill him more, Jyn herself suddenly burst into Bodhi’s cubicle. Cassian tried not to have a heart attack as she practically threw herself up to the wall alongside Bodhi and exclaimed,

“Guys! You have to come witness this!”

Apparently unable to get out of whatever it was that was happening, Cassian and Bodhi followed Jyn all the way down to Shara Bey’s office on the opposite side of the office bullpen. Shara was apparently finding it tough to find things to do in her last week of work, since she totally welcomed them all piling slightly suspiciously into her office. She swung herself around in her chair like Doctor Evil while Jyn happily boosted herself up onto her desk.

“What’s going on?” Bodhi asked in amusement.

“Ok, I’m going spare with nothing to do, so I’ve been fucking with Han all afternoon,” Shara explained. “I got Kes to go and change the settings on his computer while he was at lunch so that every time he gets an email, the notification is a duck quacking. It’s driving him mad and he doesn’t know how to change it back – watch!” She turned and hit send on what must have been a pre-written email. They all listened carefully and sure enough, a faint quacking from out the door and down the other end of the corridor echoed down. As if on cue, someone roared in annoyance and quickly yelled out,

“SHARA BEY, I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD!”

They all burst out laughing. Cassian tried not to, but it was hard when Jyn looked at him like that (doubled over, face and neck flushing red). She caught his eye and he was unable to help it.

“You – you want to know the best part?” Shara added once they’d all somewhat calmed down.

“What?” Cassian asked.

“Watch what happens when I send out a group email.”

With ‘reply to all’ entered into the recipients box, Shara hit send once more. Almost at once, what sounded like an entire menagerie of animals sounded off. Ducks quacked, cows mooed, and horses neighed as the entire office collectively groaned in exasperation and Jyn nearly fell off the desk in her hysterics at the office turning into a zoo. Cassian hastily moved forward, arms outstretched, to keep her from face-planting. It was only once he was assured she wasn’t going to fall and was moving back when he caught the look on Bodhi’s face from across the office.

“Stop it,” Cassian insisted later that day.

“Stop what?”

“It. That look. Everything.”

“Yeah,” Bodhi grinned. “You’re brilliant at staying professional.”

“So you’re a math major, right?”

Cassian nodded in the affirmative, glancing at her from where he was keeping her company on his lunch break. Jyn wasn’t allowed to have hers today since at approximately 11.59am, someone had fucked up and some kind of Statistical Disaster had apparently happened that, according to the HOD, SHE had to fix since it had already been emailed through. “Goddamn motherfucker…” she had been grumbling when he’d swung by her front desk and he’d tried not to be too pleased when she’d called him an angel upon finding out that he’d brought her lunch to her desk for her. Now, she turned her computer screen to face him and he tried not to have a mini heart attack when she grabbed his hand, pulling him forward and closer towards her.

“I’m going bloody nuts! Look at this, am I even doing this right?”

Cassian squinted at the spreadsheets. He was silent for so long, Jyn started whacking his arm.

“Oh god. Oh fucking lord. I fucked it up even worse didn’t I? Mothma is going to FIRE my arse–”

“Jyn, you literally did this?”

“Yeah – I mean, I tried, but this really isn’t my area and I wasn’t really sure what I was doing with the–”

“You could fucking do my job,” he laughed, turning back to her. He might’ve been slightly in awe.

“Seriously?” Jyn peered back at the computer in amazement. “You mean I did good?”

“Fucking good,” Cassian said. “Do people make you do analysis like this all the time?”

“I usually wing it and hope for the best after a lot of Googling. Honestly, what even is your job?” 

“I’m still asking myself that and I’ve been here weeks now,” She snorted, leaning back in her chair. Cassian copied her stance opposite her against her desk as he added, “Jyn, I wasn’t kidding. You could do this job, if you wanted. Really, why did you never go to collage? You said before you didn’t think you could, but you’ve really proved yourself wrong just now.”

Jyn shrugged a little, but sighed. “Have I ever told you about my dad?”

He blinked a little at how on earth the conversation had suddenly gone in this direction. It suddenly seemed all so personal, too personal for the little length of time that they’d known each other, but somehow at the same time the exact right amount of personal for the way they’d been getting to know each other. He shook his head and Jyn carried on,

“He’s a scientist. Chemistry, specifically and something else even more so, but I never exactly understand what it is. All I know is that he’s world-renown, published what feels like thousands of articles in journals and shit and is probably the smartest man you’ll ever meet. I love him to pieces because at the end of the day he’s just my dad, but… it was a lot to live up to.”

“Wow.”

“Thing is, I was always interested in business,” Jyn shrugged. She gestured back at her computer screen and added, “This kinda thing, it fascinates me, but I guess I never thought it was as good as studying chemistry so I just… never did. Dad’s always supported me no matter what, but…”

“You could do this, Jyn.”

“I think I’m finally starting to realise it, yeah,” she said. She nudged his leg with her own and said, “Thanks, Cassian. I’m glad you chose this insane company as your internship.”

He might have blinked a fraction of a second too long, burning the feeling of her looking at him like that into his brain.

“I am, too.”

Sometimes an unexpected fire drill could be a great thing… and other times, not so great.

“This presentation is going to run late now!” Leia was huffing next to Cassian as they were all forced out of their wonderfully air-conditioned office and out to the evacuation point across the street. “and since the presentation will run late, my meeting with Mothma will run late, which means I will probably miss the ten past bus, which means I WILL MISS PILATES AGAIN, GODDAMN–”

“Oh no,” Jyn’s voice turned up, rolling her eyes as she flung an arm around Leia’s shoulders. “not Pilates!”

“Get off me, it’s like a tropical sauna out here,” Leia said in disgust.

Jyn just laughed. “So what set off the alarm this time? Any bets? Rats chew through the wiring again, or was it yet another Microwave Incident?”

“For some reason,” Leia was glaring in the direction of the building. “I shrewdly suspect Han.”

“You suspect him for everything.”

“And I’m right about 90% of the time,” she pointed out.

Cassian stayed quiet. He’d quickly learned that that was the best approach to surviving whenever Han and Leia came your way. They seemed like such a contradiction, Leia always looking very professional in her blouses and elaborate up-dos, the PR Manager always ready to talk their arses out of anything… and then there was Han Solo, with his tie always shoved rebelliously in his pocket, bedazzled briefcase and known for always accidentally spilling confidential details about clients on prime time news channels. Half the time Cassian couldn’t tell if Han and Leia even liked each other, although Jyn had at least assured him that his guess was as good as the rest of theirs.

“Yeah, for two people who can’t seem to talk without bickering, they sure as hell are terrible at staying away from each other,” she’d once mentioned.

They were forced to stand out on the lawn in the park across the street for a good half an hour while the designated fire wardens cleared the building. The fire department then arrived to inform them all that the cause of the fire had probably been someone attempting to cook instant mac and cheese with the fax machine again. Han looked smug for all of five seconds before Leia was yelling his name, and then he had the decency to look ashamed.

“Look, Princess–” he began hastily.

“You moron!” she thumped him hard on the arm. “I am not forgiving you for this!”

“How do you even know it was me? I deny everything!”

“Because who the hell else would attempt to use the fax machine as a cooking implement?”

“Hey, that thing is so damn ancient I literally risk exploding every time I’m forced to use it! It’s so obsolete, I don’t even know why–”

“So you admit that it was you!”

“I confess to having used said machine before at some point in time,” Han pointed out cheerfully. “Nowhere in that statement, however, did I confess to setting off the fire alarms.”

“You really are a lawyer, aren’t you?” Cassian pointed out.

“I don’t know, sometimes I think he got his degree off the internet,” Leia glared, causing Han to furrow his eyebrows and exclaim,

“Oi!”

“I don’t know why you’re all still arguing, there’s clearly only one solution here,” Jyn pointed out. When both Cassian, Han and Leia all turned to stare at her, she shrugged and said, “Leia’s pissed because she’ll be missing pilates. It’s hot as balls out here. Make him do pilates as punishment.”

“I like this plan,” Leia said with a smirk, turning her folded arms onto Han.

His expression was stricken. “But this is a new suit.”

“On the ground. You’re working your core.”

It was as good as a confession when Han finally conceded and allowed himself to get ordered into doing crunches on the hot grass.

At around 3.30pm, the late-snack munchies apparently ran rampart throughout the office.

You couldn’t so much as rustle a protein bar wrapper without getting at least ten people’s heads popping up from over their cubicle walls like meerkats, all in search of who had the coveted snack. Therefore, whenever Cassian wanted to eat his trail mix in peace, he usually ended up seeking refuge underneath Jyn’s desk. The only downside was that he had to share as payment.

“God, I could live off this stuff,” she said with her mouth full of pecan nuts and M&M’s. “Only an hour and a half to go.”

“Only four weeks to go,” Cassian said. Jyn pulled her chair out from her desk then so that she could glance down at him.

“What? You’re halfway through already?” she asked. “It feels like you’ve been here forever.”

Her tone changed slightly with her words, though Cassian couldn’t figure out how. Jyn had never exactly struck him as a overly cheery person, but she could laugh. She could smile. But now she wasn’t doing either and maybe that was because now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen those laughs or smiles directed any anyone other than himself, excepting maybe Bodhi and the occasional prank on Draven. He didn’t know what that meant, or even if it did mean anything (not to mention that he berated himself for even thinking that he might want it to mean something in the first place).

“I know,” he forced himself to say casually. “This place is nuts, but I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t want to leave.”

“Then don’t.”

“Sorry?”

He stared at her a moment as Jyn swung back to her desk. She gestured for him to come up and he clambered to his feet to join her. She was pulling up an open tab on her computer screen, which if he wasn’t mistaken at first glance, looked like a job vacancy for somewhere within Alliance Industries. Jyn pointed it out and said,

“The lady on maternity leave who’s desk you’ve been using – she told Mothma that she’s not coming back anymore, so the job’s open,” She nudged him with an elbow and added, “You should apply.”

“No… really?” Cassian peered at the screen closer. “Wait, what does the title say, I need to know what this job fucking is–”

“‘Reporting and Data Analyst’, apparently.”

“Well, that is moderately unhelpful,” Cassian muttered. But on a louder note, he added, “but I can’t apply – I haven’t even finished my studies yet, I have another entire year to go!”

“Oh, who needs a fucking degree?” Jyn waved a hand.

“Seriously–”

“You might think I’m joking, but I’m serious too – look –” She pointed out a headline that said ‘Potential applicants should have the following’. “They don’t even specify a degree, they’re asking for shit like ‘experience with leadership’ and ‘positive attitude’. Plus they know you! You’ll have worked here for two months doing this sort of thing, I’ll bet if you applied, you’d be guaranteed an interview, if not the job entirely.”

Honestly, it was a serious consideration and a tempting one at that. He had heard their CEO Mothma talk on more than one occasion about how she always preferred to hire within the existing company, that it was ideal since the candidate would already have affiliation with them and know how things worked and operated. Not to mention the appeal of staying and working alongside Jyn for however long he wanted, rather than having to face the bright red deadline of a few weeks from now when his internship would be over…

But he glanced up at her hopeful face and realised that there was a much better candidate who should apply, rather than him.

“You should do it.”

“I’m sorry?” Jyn snorted.

“You should apply!” Cassian insisted. “We both know you have the knack for it, you just pointed out that you don’t need a degree, and you already work for the company! It would be better pay, work that you’re more interested in… Jyn, you should honestly do this.”

She shook her head, scoffing. “You’re out of your mind. Gimme more trail mix.”

He handed out the bag exasperatedly and she practically snatched it off him. “You’re being stupid,” he pointed out. 

“And you’re hogging the snacks!”

It seemed that she wouldn’t discuss it any further, since his attempts at pushing the subject fell on distractions and otherwise deaf ears until eventually, Draven tracked him down and forced him back to work. Still, as he was being practically frog-marched away, Cassian glanced back and noticed her sitting and staring at her computer screen hard. Like her mind was blowing through a million thoughts per second.

She could do it. 

He had to make her see that.

[crazyclouds5281]

Unnamed Naruto fic 2

Sasuke was perplexed. No, scratch that, he was flat-out flabbergasted. Uzumaki had just snatched one of those bells without a second glance from their sensei, a fucking Jounin, then left. He left! Who does that!? It wasn’t like Kakashi had allowed it to happen, either; the man looked just as confused as Sasuke felt. Eventually, though, Kakashi just shook his head, apparently determined to put that little incident out of his head.

Sasuke decided now was the time to test the waters, when Kakashi was unbalanced due to Uzumaki’s stunt. He grabbed a handful of kunai and shuriken, then shifted on the branch he was hiding on. Breathing deeply, he focused himself, then threw all eight projectiles at once. They curved towards the Jounin, and much to his surprise, actually hit him. Then, in a puff of smoke, a log replaced Kakashi. A Kawarimi.

Sasuke swore, then took off running. There was no doubt Kakashi had traced the trajectory of the projectiles, so staying still wasn’t an option if he wanted to remain hidden. Bouncing through the trees as fast as he could, Sasuke wondered if he might actually make it to a new hiding spot, when the next branch he stepped on was sliced off the tree. He fell to the ground in a tumble, rolling to his feet, then whirling around, trying to spot Kakashi. The Jounin appeared right in front of him, thoroughly startling the boy, but Sasuke didn’t show his surprise. Instead, he pulled out two kunai and sunk into the Taijutsu stance of the Uchiha Interceptor Style, and waited for Kakashi to approach- it was called the Interceptor Style for a reason.

It was not often that an Uchiha took the initiative in battle. It might seem like a death sentence to other shinobi, but the purpose of the style was to conserve stamina and chakra. The Uchiha may tend to have slightly larger than average chakra reserves, but the Sharingan consumed most of that, so they had to be very frugal in combat. The Interceptor Style mainly focused on redirecting blows, using the enemy’s strength against them to unbalance them, then getting in quick, lethal attacks with a bladed weapon when the opportunity presented itself.

The standoff continued for nearly a minute, and a bead of sweat trickled down Sasuke’s forehead, right into his eye. He blinked to clear away the slight burning sensation, and when he opened his eyes, Kakashi was upon him. The Jounin was fast. Logically, Sasuke knew that he had to be, and had expected it, but actually dealing with this kind of speed was even more difficult than anticipated. He had a feeling the only reason he could even see a blur was because Kakashi was holding back significantly, and he had to beat down his pride and concentrate.

Sasuke managed to keep Kakashi’s fists away from certain parts of his body, such as the throat, face, and kidneys by holding his kunai in front of those areas, and relying on the fact that the Jounin likely wouldn’t punch a blade with nothing but cloth covering his knuckles. Still, the areas that he’d left unprotected were getting steadily more battered by the second. Staying on the defensive was not an option. He’d just end up as a giant bruise like that. Taking a risk, Sasuke swiped at Kakashi, only for the man to leap back several feet. The boy quickly threw his kunai at the man, then flashed through hand seals.

Snake, Ram, Monkey, Horse, Boar, Tiger. Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Grand Fireball)!

A stream of fire flowed from his lips, enveloping Kakashi in a ball of fire nearly three times larger than him. Sasuke held the jutsu for five seconds, before cutting the chakra flow. At his current level, he only had enough in him for maybe two more of those. When the flames dispersed, Sasuke saw nothing except the blackened ground. Either Kakashi had been burned to ashes, or the man had escaped, and he had a feeling it was the latter.

His hunch was only proven correct when hands burst up from ground, grabbing him by the ankles, and dragging him into the dirt.

Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Double Suicide Decapitation)!

A moment later, Kakashi crawled out of the earth, and crouched in front of him. The man flicked his hitai-ate with an aggravating ping!

“You’re about what I expected. Taijutsu’s decent, you were able to block a good number of my hits, despite my speed. You Uchiha have sharp eyes, even without the Sharingan. The katon jutsu was a bit of a surprise, but I guess it shouldn’t be. You’re Fugaku’s kid, after all. It’s a shame I had to cut things so short.” Kakashi pointed up at the sun, which was almost directly overhead. “Time’s a wastin’, though. Hope you can understand.” With that, he patted Sasuke on the head, then disappeared into the forest. Moments later, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the trees. Looks like he’d gotten to Haruno.

Sasuke’s attempts to move his body were all met with failure, and he had no choice but to wait until the shrill beeping of the alarm clock reached his ears. Sasuke sighed- his father was not going to be pleased.

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

“So, looks like your exam’s over!” Kakashi said cheerfully to his two Genin. Haruno was tied to one of the training logs, while Sasuke sat slumped against another. A combination of fatigue and shame made his shoulders heavy. “Now, normally, I’d tie you both up, but I figured I’d make an exception for Sasuke, because he at least tried. Watching as your comrades do all the work is hardly befitting of a kunoichi, Sakura,” he said sternly. The Jounin picked up the plastic bag he’d brought with him, and pulled out two convenience store bentos. He handed one to Sasuke.

“Anyways, both of you failed. You may as well eat that, since I bought it for you, but make sure you don’t give any to Sakura. She doesn’t deserve it. Hell, you can eat the second one, too, if you’re still hungry. Now, I’m gonna go find Naruto since he’s the only one that actually got a bell, and the brat thought it would be funny to leave with it like that… God, what a pain. You two have fun!” Kakashi said brightly, then walked off the training ground, leaving Sasuke alone with Haruno, something he very much did not appreciate.

With a sigh, he opened the bento and grabbed the pair of disposable chopsticks, quickly picking his way through the meal. If he was gonna be lectured for hours about being a disgrace, he would at least have a full stomach while doing it, dammit! A second later, Sasuke choked as Uzumaki poked his head out from behind the log Haruno was tied to.

“...You're not very good at this whole shinobi thing, are you?” he asked quietly. Sasuke was too busy trying to hack up the rice in his esophagus to answer, so Haruno screeched at the blond in his stead.

“Don’t act like you’re any better, Naruto! The only reason you got a bell is because you cheated! I bet you grabbed it before Sensei even said start!” the pink-haired girl spat.

Uzumaki tilted his head. “Does it matter how I got the bell?”

“Of course it does!” Haruno yelled. “You can’t cheat like that!”

Uzumaki’s eyes narrowed. “We’re shinobi. It’s what we do,” he said flatly, before puffing out a tiny sigh. “I guess that’s why you failed at something so simple,” he muttered, shaking his head.

Sasuke finally managed to catch his breath. He scowled at the blond. “What do you want us to do? He’s a Jounin. Even with all three of us, we wouldn’t have been able to take him on, and then you left.”

Uzumaki blinked at him. “You know, he only said you to get a bell. Not that you had to steal one from him.”

Sasuke scoffed. “So, what? We’re supposed to go buy one from the store?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“As if that would’ve worked, idiot!” Haruno shouted. “There’s no way Kakashi-sensei would’ve let us leave the training ground!”

“He let me leave pretty easy,” Uzumaki retorted calmly.

“Yeah, and because you left, we got picked apart,” Sasuke accused. He set aside his bento and stood up, noting to his satisfaction that he was taller than the blond by an inch. “Don’t stand there acting all superior just because you’ve got sticky fingers.”

“You’re really intent on blaming me, huh?” Uzumaki asked blandly. “Then, let me ask you; did you two even try to work together?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “As if. Haruno’s got no skills as a shinobi. She would’ve just gotten in the way.”

“Wha- Sasuke-kun!?”

“Maybe,” Uzumaki acquiesced with a shrug, “But you didn’t try, so you don’t know that for sure. At the very least, you could’ve used her as a distraction. I know I did.”

Sasuke’s eyes widened. “Wait, when-?”

“When Haruno was yelling at Inu-sensei? Yeah.” Sasuke turned to the tied up girl, an appraising glint in his eye. He pointedly ignored how she blushed under his gaze. Mind made up, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and cut her ropes.

“Sasuke-kun?” she asked hopefully. He just thrust the extra bento into her hands, and passed Naruto the remainder of his.

“Eat,” he commanded. “When Kakashi comes back, we’ll convince him to give us another try, and this time, we’ll do it together. Until then, though, you need to regain your strength.”

Uzumaki looked at the half-eaten bento, the barest trace of an amused smirk on his face. “What makes you think I’ll help you? I already passed.” Sasuke gritted his teeth at the reminder of his inadequacy. He forced his hands, which were clenched tightly, to relax.

“...We’re teammates,” Sasuke said with conviction. “We should be able to rely on each other. I won’t try to force you to work with us if you really don’t want to, but… I’m asking you. Will you help us?”

Uzumaki bared his teeth in the facsimile of a smile. “Sure. It might be fun.” He gave Sasuke the bento back, causing the boy to look at him questioningly. “I got ramen when I left. I’m pretty full.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, but finished off the boxed lunch quickly. By then, Sakura had also finished, and they stacked the empty containers next to the alarm clock Kakashi had left, and waited.

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

“You disobeyed my orders.”

Sasuke couldn’t do anything but nod in the face of the Jounin’s rage.

“Tell me, what were you thinking when you decided to completely ignore what I said and free Sakura? Your answer won’t make your punishment any lighter, but I’m just curious.”

Sasuke inhaled deeply. “I was thinking that you might allow us to try again.”

Kakashi’s visible brow raised. “And why would I do that, when you’ve already proved how inadequate you are? It’d just be a waste of my time.”

“Because this time will be different. This time, we’re gonna work together to take you down.”

Kakashi’s eye narrowed. “Together?” he asked, voice dangerously soft. “As a team?”

Sasuke took a shuddering breath, before nodding shakily. “As a team.”

The Jounin loomed over the three children, staring down at them menacingly. “Then… You pass!”

“...What?”

[queenarrow]

Revelations & Confessions

AN: Hours later and I’m still reeling from that episode. it was so raw and emotional. Truthful. This is my attempt to process that.

(Set somewhere post 5x17)

Oliver sat on the cot in front of her, arms supporting his weight on his knees, head hung low. He knew she was there, he always did. Still, he refused to look up at her, to meet her gaze.

It had been this way for weeks. He’d shut himself off, emotionally, physically, much more that he had ever done before, in the times she’d known him. Then, he would always glance up, make sure that she knew that she mattered to him, in some small way.

Now, he stiller than a statue, frozen in misery.

“Oliver.” Felicity whispered, stepping towards him. Still he refused to move.

Cautiously, she approached him, her heels sounding a knell with each stiletto strike. As though every step was another scar on his skin. She settled on the floor in front of him, kneeling at his feet. This way, she could peer up at him, find his eyes and see what he was thinking.

If she knew what the wound was, she could heal him. It was deep, and unseen, but had broken Oliver to the point that he didn’t spring back by his own power or the encouragement of her or John.

Still, he didn’t move. He gave the illusion that she wasn’t really there, that perhaps she was an illusion of his mind. An echo of his mistakes.

Felicity reached out and grasped his hands, his fingers between her palms. They were cold, dry and brittle, smooth as a stone. Ridges of calluses mapped a pattern of hardship and toil, orators of his heroic acts. The same scars that revealed the instrument of darkness he held tightly to.

The instant her hands made contact with his, he shuddered, pulling away. Quickly, she reclaimed her grip.

“Don’t.” He whispered, voice hoarse from disuse.

Felicity ignored him, readjusting her grasp, and bringing his hands to her lips. Reverently, she caressed each knuckle, every ridge and valley. Her lips pressed with care to those battered hands.

“Felicity, stop.” She looked up and for the first time since she’d entered this room, he looked her in the eyes.

“Why should I?” He needed help. He needed her help, and she wanted to finally stop denying both of them proper healing.

“I-- I don’t... just stop. Leave me alone.”

“No” She brought his hands down, cradling them against her chest. “Let me help you. Tell me what Prometheus did to you so that I can fix this, so I can fix you.”

That hardened his gaze, just like she knew he would. Better to have him angry than despondent.

“I don’t need fixing. Not everything can be fixed, Felicity, as you very well know. Death cannot be fixed. I cannot be fixed.” His ire vanished as fast as it had appeared. He adverted his eyes from her once again. “We cannot be fixed.”

She let her fingers run through his hair, an intrinsic action born of their time together. A soothing motion that brought him a semblance of peace whenever he got lost in his head, when his demons cried too loud for her to shut them out.

“No, people cannot be fixed, you’re right. But we can be encouraged, hopeful. We can change if we have the desire to do so. Most of all, we love despite faults and failings, and that love heals.  And I know you Oliver Queen. You love and forgive people so much that you believe you can heal them just by loving them.”

“I don’t--”

A hand moved to cup his face, her thumb softly silencing him.

“And let me tell you, Oliver, your love has done just that. Your love, your forgiveness to those that have hurt you heals them. So for once, let someone heal you.”

Oliver jerked back, effectively removing her hand from his cheek.

“You’re wrong Felicity. You couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t love people- I hurt them. I love them and they end up dead or tainted by the darkness within me. Adrian said---”

Oliver physically bit down on his tongue, shutting her out. And with three sentences, he’d revealed where he was hurting most. The place she needed to examine closer, to perform surgery so that Oliver would heal and be the hero she knew he was.

“What did he tell you?”

“No. No. “ He stood up, turning away from her.

“Oliver.” Damn the stubborn bastard.

“No, Felicity. Leave me alone.”

“No Oliver., I won’t.” She got to her feet, marching after his retreating form. She grabbed his arm to pull him around. He let her, she knew, because he could’ve resisted if he wanted to. Felicity didn’t have the strength to physically force Oliver to do something he didn’t want.

She compelled him to meet her eyes. “If you remember, you promised me, over a year ago, that you would never lie to me again.”

He flinched.

“And what are you doing now? Lying.”

“But--” She raised her hand, cutting off his protests.

“A lie of omission is still a lie. Just because it doesn’t feel like you’re not telling the truth, doesn’t actually mean that you are.”

A fierce look came over him, his lips tightening to a white line.

“You’re one to talk, Felicity. You’re still lying to me! You asked me to trust you and I did, but you don’t get to pull this card with me for doing the same thing!”

He huffed, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “I just thought we promised to not lie to each other.”

“You, and you alone,” she poked his chest with every utterance of the word ‘you’, “made that promise, Oliver. I never said I would never lie to you.”

“Oh, so it’s okay for you to lie, but to condemn me for doing the same thing? To break off our relationship because of something I did, and then turn around and do likewise? If you consider me a hypocrite right now, Felicity, then take a look in the mirror. You might not like what you see.”

“Fine! I’ll tell you what you want to know.” Felicity turned away from him, cutting of the tension brewing between them. She collapsed on the cot. All her anger and frustration faded away, leaving her feeling hollow.

Oliver, unbidden, followed suit, sitting next to her, leaving a small gap between them.

“When I was trying to free John from prison, I stumbled across another hacker, one who recognized me as my old handle from college. From my hackivist days.”

This was harder than she thought it was going to be, but in a way, it felt freeing to tell Oliver this. He wouldn’t condemn her for this. She hoped.

“Long story short she gave me information, a cache called Pandora, that she and her team had collected throughout the years. With this information, I could help the team better. I got John exonerated, I found the nukes in Russia, I found Amanda Westfield.”

Oliver almost smiled, a hint of wistfulness. “So that’s how you did it.”

“Yeah. Well, then Helix started asking me to do things in order to continue helping me. Illegal things. You needed me to find Susan, so I redirected some government drones. Then you went missing and I couldn’t find you...”

“You helped them again.”

“Felicity..”

“I know what you’re going to say. But I made my own choice. It wasn’t you.”

“You did all that  because I brought you into this life. You’d never need to join Helix if you weren’t part of the team. If I hadn’t created the team.”

“Oliver, this is not your fault. I made this choice. This was my past catching up to me. It couldn’t be your fault because I didn’t know you in MIT. I was the hackavist before you ever were the vigilante of Starling City. The blame rests on me.”

“And now?”

“Now Helix has threatened me that if I don’t hack into ARGUS, that they will expose you as the Green Arrow--and the Arrow and the Hood.”

He reached over and touched her wrist, the first time he’d initiated the contact for the longest time. She’d always made contact with him, not the other way around. It caused butterflied to stir in her stomach.

“Now that I’ve told my secret, it’s time to tell me yours. What did Prometheus tell you?”

He shook his head, letting her go. “It’s not what he said, Felicity. It’s what I confessed.”

She faced him, bringing a leg up on the cot. “What do you mean?”

“He made me confess my darkest secret, Felicity, one that I’ve been hiding from even myself.  He--”

Oliver started shaking his head almost frantically. “He threatened you Felicity” Oliver reached up and touched her glasses. “ Adrian showed me these, he’d snuck into your apartment and taken them while you slept. He could’ve-- Then he threaten William, that he’d find him it was only a matter of time.He knew about Shado, about my time in Russia, of course he’d find him. I had to. I had to tell him. He even pretended to kill Evelyn. I couldn’t, I had to tell him Felicity. It was the only way.”

“What did you tell him?”

Oliver was silent, tears slipping down his face.

“Oliver, trust me. Please. I trusted you. Now, you need to trust me.”

“You’ll want nothing to do with me. I’ll lose you, a-and John, a-a-and everyone. You shouldn’t know this, Felicity. You’ll never look at me the same.”

“Look at me, Oliver. Look at me.” He did so, albeit reluctantly. She took his face firmly in her grasp. This was it. In order to have him face his fears, in order to save him from his own mind, she’d have to give it her all. Every last drop.

“Nothing, nothing, will ever change the way I see you, Oliver. Nothing. You forget that I’ve known you almost as long as John. I have seen you at your lowest. I saw you after Tommy died. I saw you be mean, and cruel, and uncaring. I watched as you made stupid choice, after selfish choice. None of that changed my feelings.

“In fact, watching you showed me the good inside. The man behind the mask. How deeply you love. How protective you are. The same drive you have to take on other’s sins is the same drive that has you putting on that hood every night. You save people; whether it’s from themselves or from others, that’s what you do. That is who I see when I look at you. I don’t see the Mayor, or the Green Arrow. I don’t see the murderer, or the martyr. I see you, Oliver, and I love that man. Nothing, not your lies, not my insecurities will ever change that. And definitely not this secret.”

She watched as multiple emotions crossed his face: despair, hope, love, self-loathing, awe. He stared into her eyes, letting her past all the barriers. he’d erected over the past ten years.

Then he shut it down. He looked down at the space between them, and with a low voice, afraid of the truth he held inside, carefully, he let the demons out.

“I told him that I didn’t start this to right my father’s wrongs. I did this, I became the hood, so that I could separate the monster from the man. So that I could justify what I was doing as dealing justice. I was telling myself a lie. I did all this, because I wanted to kill. I wanted to kill those men on the list. I wanted to because I enjoyed the feeling it gave me, that of- of power and control. I held people’s lives in the balance and desired to destroy them, as a pleasure. That is my secret. The Hood was an excuse to do what I wanted.”

He tried to duck his head further, but her grip halted him. Felicity gazed at him, her heart hurting for him, but grateful that he finally trusted her enough. This man, this broken man was finally shattered enough to be remade. To heal the fractured bone that had healed crooked, it must be reset. Deconstructed to be made whole.

He had finally faced the darkness within.

“I know.”

Oliver stilled beneath her fingers, slowly raising his eyes to hers.

“I know, Oliver. I’ve known this from the day you revealed yourself in the backseat of my car. You killed because you could. Because it was permanent. Once a life was taken, that person would never hurt you or others again. This was why you killed the Count. It was to protect me, but not the way you think. You killed him so that he’d never have the chance to hurt me again. You relish killing because of the result, not the act.”

She moved then, shifting her hands to his shoulders and pulling herself into his lap. Oliver froze, arms stiff at his side. Now, more than ever, she couldn’t reject him. They would never come back from that. Though, it was agony not to have him hold her.

“You’ve changed since then. Found a better way to achieve that outcome. Until you killed Damian Darhk. Probably when you killed Ra’s. That temptation returned, the satisfaction of destroying your enemies came back. You started killing again.

“I’m to blame too. I encouraged this. I told you to kill Darhk and Ra’s. I exploited this weakness you have, and used it myself. We all have our demons, Oliver. Yours is this. Mine is information.

“My point is, we have to come to terms with this temptation. We can’t avoid it. We can’t separate from ourselfs or we just give it strength. I’ve learned this from watching you, but also from my own mistakes. I should never have gotten involved with Helix. It was stupid of me.”

Finally, Oliver found his voice.

“You could never be stupid.”

She laughed, short and rough. “You might be surprised.”

“I’m serious.”

“Alright.”

Oliver snaked his arms around her, pressing her to him. He kissed her head, and that’s when she knew he had heard her, really heard her.

“Thank-you.” He murmured against her hair.

“I love you.” Was her response. “and we will get through this, Oliver. I have your back. I’ll be your anchor, to pull you back when you go too far. This means, that you have to stop killing. The more you indulge in this behavior, the more it will have a hold of you. You can’t kill Prometheus. I won’t ask you too.”

It was a long time before Oliver responded.

“Alright.”

It wasn’t a promise, but it was going forward. He was taking a step in the right direction.

“We’ll get through this. We’ll stop Prometheus.”

“We’ll also figure out how to get you out of this mess with Helix. I promise.”

She looked up at him, at the face of the man she loved despite his faults. “Together?”

He kissed her then, unexpectedly. He pulled her close, melding her to him. She gave as back as much as she could, expressing her feelings she had for him. He took what she gave, and he returned in kind. Felicity had finally come home after so long being adrift.

Reluctantly, a need for air taking priority, he pulled back. “Together.” he agreed.

fin

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[girlsnighttrash]

girls chase boys

a/n: hey guys!!! so someone suggested I write some angst for arguably the two most angsty characters on the show and then girls chase boys came on shuffle and I couldn’t help myself!!!

just for some background info (u kno how it goes) morgan had a conversation with vinny while he was visiting new york annnnnnnd yeah! that’s all i can say without giving everything away >:~) have fuuuuuun

Sapphire found herself on the rooftop, leaning over the railing and staring past the cityscape at a fixed point in the horizon just beyond a distant mountain. She had escaped the confines of the corner dorm and snuck up the stairs when she had the chance, desperate for a breath of fresh air. They were all celebrating something, though what, Sapphire wasn’t sure. She was too focused on the distance Vinny kept from her, drilling holes into the back of his head, holding back question after question to notice. Maybe it had something to do with Charlie and Go finally making it official and maybe that was a part of the reason she was so……..vexed.

She hated it. She hated that everyone around her was pairing off and finding happiness in love. First Cormac and Iris and then Romeo and Lo had mended all of their woes. And now Charlie and Go had finally confessed their undying love for one another (not that that cane as a surprise to anyone - even Romeo started to catch on before they did anything about it). She didn’t want to be this miserable, really. She wanted to be happy for her friends and involve herself in the merriments that came with it. But how could she be happy? Vinny and Cormac were graduating after this semester and just when she thought things were finally looking up, just when Vinny had as good as professed his feelings for her, everything grew cold. Just like that.

God, he couldn’t even look at her. Not even when she started to pour herself a drink (not that she was actually planning on drinking it, but she was so desperate for any hint of attention from the brown eyed boy she tried everything she could). It must have been something she said. But when she thought back on all of their conversations, all she could remember was matching his level of wit and charm and, god dammit, flirtation! So then she thought it must have been something she did. But everything she did, every move she made, was only made in response to whatever it was Vinny himself initiated. The only “sin” she was guilty of committing was taking part in what was clearly splayed out in front of her. So what was it that changed? Unless –

Oh, god –

Unless nothing had changed. Unless all of this was nothing more than a figment of her imagination and she had misinterpreted everything. It wouldn’t be the first time. Just look at Teddy (I mean, honestly, the fact that she thought he could ever have any semblance of romantic feelings for her was inherently ridiculous). Teddy had very clearly wanted nothing more than friendship, but due to her pure stupidity, she thought he wanted something more. And now it was happening all over again. She had fallen in love with a boy who wanted nothing more than a best friend.

But that can’t be true, a light chirped at the end of her tunnel. He already had two, arguably three, of those why would he want, or need, another one? The voice in her head fought hard to pull herself out of the hole she dug. Instinctively, a grin brightened her previously dark features. She bit her lip to hide it, though there was no one around to hide it from. A habit she picked up while trying to hide her feelings from Vinny all this time she supposed.

Besides, the voice reasoned, if he wasn’t interested, why would Cormac have hassas us with those hints two weeks ago? Sapphire nodded her head to the side, moving her gaze from the spot beyond the far-off mountain to a plant on a balcony opposite of her. Her grin dropped after thinking on her observation for a moment, head shaking. “But that doesn’t explain why he’s been so hot and cold recently,” she muttered under her breath, smoothing the front of her hair and pressing the heel of her hand into her closed eye in thought.

Before the little voice in her head could refute her statement, the heavy door at the other end of the roof swung open with a moan, causing Sapphire to jump and nearly topple off the side of the building. She looked over her shoulder and the oddest thing happened to her insides. Her heart swelled and her stomach spiraled into her shoes all at once, causing the grin rising to her lips to weaken upon seeing Vinny’s sleek hair and puppy dog eyes.

“Don’t let me interrupt, Sapph,” Vinny effused, barring the door behind him with ease. He continued to speak, crossing the length of the roof until he took his usual spot beside her. “Conversations with one’s self are often the most important conversation one can have.” Toasting his own words with a nearly empty beer bottle, he looked Sapphire up and down once and downed the remaining contents.

Sapphire tried to hide her smile and soft chuckle with a roll of her eyes, but that only made the sparkle behind Vinny’s hickory eyes shine brighter. He stole another look at her frame and he swore his heart skipped a beat. He could hear Cormac’s voice in the back of his mind now, rambling on and on about how if someone’s heart skips a beat they should see their doctor, not ramble about it in poetry. But Vinny pushed it away, focusing instead on the way Sapphire’s hair hung around her shoulders and how the strands that framed her face billowed when a breeze whispered past. He studied the way her nose pointed slightly upward and the curves of her lips on her profile.

And then it hit him.

The guilt. His throat tightened so quickly he struggled to breathe. Immediately he redirected his gaze to a faraway point just beyond the outlying mountains. When he promised Morgan that he would stop pursuing his daughter, he didn’t think it would be this strenuous. Sure, Vinny was great at lies and deceit and manipulation and everything in between, but there was, he found, a difference between lying and deceiving and manipulating someone you loved, really loved, than doing the same to those he merely enjoyed spending time with.

That’s not to say that it was impossible, seeing as nothing was truly impossible (much like the fact that noteverything is possible). In fact, he thought, all things considered, he was doing a decent job. If it were anyone else at all, he would be proud of himself, but again – Sapphire was different.

“Oh, don’t fret, Ansari,” Sapphire reassured. Pink danced across her cheeks, so she pulled her light jacket closer to her body as a means to blame it on the cold and hide her true intentions. “Especially seeing as this is the first time you’ve decided to acknowledge my existence tonight.” Conjuring up all the courage she had, she stole a glance at the much taller boy, her heart fluttering in her chest upon doing so.

Again, the guilt hit him. Vinny hid his face from her view altogether, not wanting to betray his vow, not wanting to rid Sapphire or any future successes or happiness coming her way. She can’t be happy with someone like you, Vinny. I think, deep down, you know that as much – if not more – than I do, Morgan’s words ricocheted around his brain. He debated whether or not he should respond at all for a long moment before deciding it was best not to.

After waiting some time for a response, Sapphire finally got the hint. Scoffing, she shook her head back to the skyline before them. She took a deep breath, ducking her head for a moment before inhaling sharply and addressing the man who held her heart, whether he knew it or not. “Am I missing something? Did I overlook a crucial, life-altering event entirely? Because one moment, we’re holding hands and planning our future together, as husband and wife, father and mother, as equals with mutual feelings and the next you’re ignoring my existence entirely. Honestly, Vinny, it’s as though you’re keeping note of how far apart we are at all times and I don’t quite understand where it’s coming from, so, please, inform me.” Sapphire turned so she was facing Vinny now, hip resting against the edge of the building. Her hands gesticulating so wildly they demanded Vinny’s attention. When she was finally finished, she concluded her tirade with a huff, jade colored orbs desperately searching for any sign of guilt in Vinny’s.

Of course, it was there. And for a moment, as her peridot eyes scoured his, he was sure she’d find it (though he wasn’t sure if he was frightened or hopeful of her discovery).

Taking his time, Vinny straightened his back, correcting his posture, and turned to face Sapphire. He paused, fighting the urge to kiss her then and there. Change is inevitable, it’s necessary, even, he wished he could say,but the only change I want to occur between the two of us is us. “I don’t recall such an event ever taking place because I don’t recall any change ever occurring,” he said instead. Raising an eyebrow, he continued, forcing lies past his lips. “Are we not doing business as usual? I thought the point of such discussions was to explore the opportunities the universe presents. Rationally, that was a possibility, so we discussed it.” His tongue rolled across the roof of his mouth before he pushed a smirk to his lips. “It’d be no different than analyzing what might happen if you and Cormac looked past your enmity for one another and fell in love.”

Vinny watched as the sparkle dulled from Sapphire’s eyes, the color going from that of a meadow on a summer’s day to muddy algae. But even as the sparkle diminished, it was as though she knew exactly what game he was playing. Sweat began to accumulate in the folds of his palms as he studied her closely, searching for her ticks.

After a long bout of silence, Sapphire took a deep, shaky breath and mustered up the courage to ask the only question on her mind. She knew if she didn’t ask it now, she’d regret it for the rest of her life. Just as shethought she knew this wasn’t something as simple and ridiculously stupid as a miscommunication between the two of them. She corrected her posture and stuck her nose in the air, feigning a confidence she would never admit to lacking. “Does your - does your heart still beat for me, Ansari?”

Vinny’s mouth went dry. The crack in her voice broke his heart and he couldn’t help but despise her father for what he was not only putting her through, but for what Morgan was putting him through in turn. After all, Vinny hadn’t even believed in marriage until he met Sapphire. Now that was all taken away from him. Just because the man who knew the love of his life the best decided to stand in the way of the happy ending Vinny never knew he wanted nor thought he deserved.

He took a moment to ensure his voice wouldn’t tremble when he spoke. Tilting his head slightly, Vinny mustered a small smile. “Sapphire,” he lamented softly, shaking his head. “Let’s not make this harder than it has to be…”

The moment he tilted his head, Sapphire’s eyes began prickling. She cursed herself for relenting such a reaction, but the moment the tears began falling, she couldn’t stop them. “I don’t need your pity,” she spat, hoping to distract from the tears streaking her face. As though the ground beneath her feet had suddenly grown very hot, she jumped from her place and flashed across the roof. Hurling the door open with a sudden sense of strength she didn’t normally obtain, she continued to bolt down the stairs and did not stop until she was in the girls’ restroom.

Once she was certain she was alone, she let a sob burst through her lips without attempting to quell it. Tilting her head toward the stratosphere, she folded her arms tightly beneath her chest and succumbed to her sorrow as she slid down the cold tile.

She blamed herself, and she hated it. Because even after all that Vinny had put her through, even after the heartbreak he caused her, she loved him so much she couldn’t find it in herself to blame him.