#something felt off with the framing and idk what but that specific lead in made me a bit uneasy

[cringefaecompilation]

mfw orym, guy with a missing dad who fucking despises him to the point he refuses to remember his first name and notably cares deeply or is overprotective for the vast swath of his surviving all-female family members starts talking about how "important the relationships between fathers and sons" are

[septiembrre]

I'm a little late but I just saw your post from a year ago about latinx rep in good girls and its sad reflecting back on it and how the show could've done better. Rio was just another stereotype, I hate how he was ambitiously latino and there was just no connection to his culture. Was he first, 2nd, or 3rd Gen? If he was 1st Gen it didn't make sense to have the family speak English. One thing that always annoyed me is how OOC he was at times and how the writers purposely made him out to be like some brown aggressive misogynistic man. They didn't bother making him complex. In a way I'm glad the show got canceled. As a Mexican woman the way Rio was written was racist.

Wah, I’ve been sitting on answering your ask. I wanted to tease your ask apart and respond to it sentence by sentence. But... my brain kept rechazandolo, so now I have feelings dump instead.

Since Good Girls ended, I have been parsing through how I feel about S4 and GG overall — sometimes more positively, sometimes more negatively. Then, I flip to reminding myself it’s not that serious (it's just tv! this is supposed to be my leisure activity!). Then, I waffle back to reflecting.

So, no textual analysis just feels and whining under the cut. I know folks are still mourning the end of the show and I don't want to yuck anyone's yum. Tagging with #ggnegativity.

My short answer is that Good Girls is my beloved, sometimes joyful, sometimes hurtful, complicated little show. Even now that we’re no longer getting new episodes I’m wary of sifting through the information we have about Rio because it’s a mess and it seems like a lot of his character was poorly thought out (ahem, all those dumb messages from Bill Krebs confirming multiple instances of lack of intentionality or care!).

I say this because I was tempted to start responding to you by riffing off of your comment with, “y'know, now that you say that, I think he’s third or fourth gen…”, pero who cares? And the point was never specifically about what gen he is, or even more specifically about... lol, I was going to say it doesn't matter what nationality he was, they just needed to pick one. Ugh, but the wording of that is too glib. The lack of intentionality behind these details feels sanitized to me, it feels very white gaze, it feels lazy.

However, I could have forgiven a lot of this weak character construction if his baseline, plot-related characterization on-screen was more consistent. But, Rio was often used as a plot device in a way that often fell flat for me, a weekly recurring bogeyman whether his antagonism made sense or not. On one hand, I feel for the creative team, because I think they were in a hard place, trying to avoid romanticizing Rio, and trying to seemingly backtrack the sexualization of him in Season 2, but... Idk, it's complicated.

Retrospectively, it’s sitting with me how much Good Girls is rooted in whiteness. While it's something I discerned before (lol, most obviously with 2x13 and in S3 with Lucy's disposability), you know how some shows get to their third or fourth season and finally start investing in their marginalized characters? It’s a crappy thing to hold out hope for, they're crumbs! But, I was. And we did get some Rio worldbuilding. But, ultimately, it felt weak to me -- under-conceptualized or under-worked.

For example, I liked Nick as a Bigger Bad who drove Rio and Beth together. I also thought that Nick's non-existent moral code was a lovely foil to Rio's, and that this contrast humanized Rio in a way that he needed. It also cast a new light on Rio's behavior of the earlier seasons, outside of Beth's perception in a way that I thought was healthy and needed. Great, meaty stuff! However, Nick and Rio's relationship came across as shallow to me. There really did not seem to be a lived-in quality to their scenes. The show really struggled with that element overall -- even with the three lead protagonists (their decades-long history with each other and interactions between their families being largely absent). I wonder why they made that choice.

It's strange because on the flip side we got a hefty amount of contextualization for MLM guy Vance and Annie's bf Kevin... Even that cop who Mick killed! All white men, too.

Me da pena.

Or maybe the thing that bothers me is that those scenes between Nick and Rio didn't center Rio's perspective effectively? Despite the one-on-one scenes being outside of Beth's framing (Rio being a secondary character typically tethered to Beth's story arc), there still was a lot of distance between Rio and the viewer? Like I think of Vance in his kitchen with his wife and child, and the way we as viewers were brought into that to empathize with him, and I think of the distance of Nick+Rio boxing scene or the scenes at the bar. Argh! It's hard to pinpoint without the textual analysis I feel too grumpy to do. It was such a narrative choice to keep Rio aloof and I side-eye it.

Anyway --

Overall, the writing room/show creators/decision-makers didn't seem to consider Latine/x/a/o viewers throughout the crafting of Good Girls and that sucks. It really feels like I'm being told to conform to the white gaze in watching the show, and after 2x13 that makes me feel prickly and defensive. A part of me yearns to do a rewatch to map Rio’s character (and inconsistencies) but I still yield joy from Good Girls — it’s been my main comfort story during the pandemic. I also rendered joy from Season 4 specifically — some of those scenes between the leads at the end were phenom!!

I am leaning into what's bringing me joy right now, so I feel hesitant to stew in critique, even while I also feel some sort of need to make sense of the hurtful racializations. I have a compulsion to write them all down on the same post or list -- somewhere where I can see them all at once and understand. But, at the moment, it’s not a use of my time and energy that feels good. Opting into fics and writing is bringing me a lot of joy during hard times.

I have to close with one final whine, that I am SO fatigued with television options right now. I find myself desperately wishing for more TV out there whose priority audience isn't only white folks. Good Girls isn't alone in its treatment of Latinx characters, or alone in mishandling characters of color or gay characters, or prioritization of empathy for white het male characters, but certainly, creating something more thoughtful shouldn't be so hard.

[firelxdykatara]

kitty i can't wait for your thoughts of Shadow and Bone asdfasfaw

Ok well I just finished and I have so many fucking thoughts. Most good! Some, less so. Part of it may just be my bias because I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology and have little interest in actually reading the original trilogy, because I know how it ends and Leigh clearly hates me personally and doesn’t want me to be happy (/j), so I was already predisposed to be far more invested in the Crows and Darkling/Darklina segments (genuinely, the Mal/Malina scenes/storyline bored me to tears, and while I appreciate that the show went out of its way to change Mal’s character to make him much less of a toxic douchebag [I’ve read enough excerpts and explanations of his actions in the books to really loathe book!Malina], it isn’t enough to make me ship them when Darklina is right there), but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Crows absolutely stole the show.

It’s actually kind of funny, because I’d assumed they were only being so heavily marketed to hype the show up even more, since while there’s a lot of TGT/SoC fandom overlap they are also two fundamentally different genres and I’d wager there are a lot of people who are massive fans of one but not so enthused with the other, while remaining fairly insignificant to the overall plot. Turns out, they make up fully half of the show’s runtime (much to my delight). Which is part of what I think will help this series stand on its own, both as a book adaptation and simply as a fantasy TV series.

I’ll put more of my story-specific thoughts under a cut, so there’s lots of show spoilers to follow!

I know that a lot of early reviewers were saying that Alina’s motivations and storyline revolved too much around Mal, and that really held true for me. It made sense in the beginning--he was the only constant in her life, she was thrust into something new, terrifying, and completely unfamiliar, and they’d developed an unhealthy codependence as a coping mechanism for their childhoods and the traumas they faced, the lives they lead growing up in a war-torn country. But she started coming into her power, falling for the General--not just his power and charisma, but what she felt when she was with him. The way he helped her summon the sun, the way she felt free in a way she never had before.

Until it all went to shit--but the Darklina make-out scene in episode 5? Fucking iconic. Poetic fucking cinema. The way they were quite literally about to have sex on that wartable (and someone better write fic of that moment, what if they hadn’t gotten interrupted), and the General left, but then he ran back just to kiss her one more time... this is what OTPs are made of ok.

I think what really bothers me overall is that Alina ultimately lacked agency in her one storyline, pretty much the entire way through. She did make a few choices, but they were mostly incidental, and a lot of it was Alina desperately trying to get back to Mal rather than seizing her own power and destiny and running with it. The most prominent example is the end of episode 5--Alina is having happy make-outs and almost bones the General in his own war room, and then he leaves, and Baghra comes in and infodumps to her about how evil he is and how he’s only using her and she needs to escape.

I recognize that a lot of this is probably because that’s essentially what happened in the book and Leigh is an executive producer for the show so she has a lot of shot-calling power. However, I really think that even in the book this plotline would’ve been better-served by having Alina make these discoveries on her own.

For example, imagine that the letters which were used as framing devices for episodes 2 and 3 were vitally important to the plot, rather than being one-offs that are mentioned a few times but not really affecting much of anything. Alina begins to get suspicious when she doesn’t receive word from Mal, and she starts wondering if her letters are even reaching him--so she starts snooping. She finds ashes in the war room hearth, late at night,, and recognizes a fragment of Mal’s signature and larger piece of her own. She now knows that someone--possibly the General, but maybe that creepy priest guy, or someone else in the palace--is keeping her and Mal from contacting one another. So she starts snooping around even more. She asks the General leading questions, trying to figure out what the truth is of his intentions. She still feels this pull--this connection to him, and she hopes she’s wrong, but she’s not willing to just sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop.

The Winter Fete still happens, she still gets the hot make-out session with the General, and then when he’s called away, she snoops through his papers, looking for anything that can tell her the truth. She finds a hidden compartment filled with journals.

She reads about Aleksander’s past (and, incidentally, wasn’t that supposed to be a huge moment in the books, him revealing his true name to her in private? kinda wish it had been kept that way in the show but who knows where they’ll go with it in the future)--that leads to the flashbacks in episode 6. She feels for him, but she also reads further--she gets a firsthand look at his desire for power, something that began as a noble desire to save his people, but was twisted by a lust for vengeance (for his lost love and all the Grisha who were killed) and shot through with greed, the realization that if he found the Sun Summoner he could control the Fold, rather than just destroy it. He could create a new world where Grisha could live without fear--where Grisha could rule.

Alina is terrified. Whoever the General used to be--whatever humanity she saw flickering in his eyes, the way his heart fluttered when they kissed--she can’t trust that it’ll be enough to save her from plans centuries in the making. So she goes to Baghra, the woman who helped her discover her power, learn to channel it--the woman who always seemed to know much more than she ever let on. Baghra gives her side of the story--Alina got it from the General’s perspective first, now Baghra is telling her something framed much differently. She isn’t sure what or who to trust, but she knows that Baghra seems willing to help her escape--but rather than trusting her ‘loyal Grisha’, she makes the choice she made in the show, to choose the other path, and winds up with the Crows.

Idk how Mal and the Stag thing would fit into this (if it isn’t obvious by now, Mal just... doesn’t interest me), but Alina’s story and her character arc would be so much stronger for it. And she’s supposed to be the central character, so her story being weak and her agency so frequently being compromised ultimately hurts the show as a whole.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Alina and the Darkling (look, I’m a slut for enemies-to-lovers, and also lovers-to-enemies-and-back, so Darklina and Helnik are where so much of my investment is rooted--plus Kanej, but that almost goes without saying), but the true standouts of the series were the Crows. Inej, Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina and Matthias in their episodes, stole the show (along with the Darkling, Ben is far and away the best actor in the cast and I love that for him, but Freddy, Amita, and Kit are also amazing, and Danielle&Calahan were fucking phenomenal as Nina and Matthias--I do have to say, though, that the whole cast is really solid and has amazing chemistry).

They worked together so perfectly--Freddy and Amita communicated so much with their eyes alone, especially together, and a whole lot of their relationship dynamic is rooted in how they exist together, which really came through. The show altered the Crows timeline considerably (I’m pretty sure Kaz would’ve been 14 during the original trilogy lol), so Inej is still at the Menagerie, but things like Kaz putting up the Crow Club for Inej’s freedom, the way Kaz needed her but could never bring himself to say it (until the end of the season dklhfgdkjfgh i SCREAMED)--the way Jesper played off the both of them, and it’s so obvious they all love each other even though they’re criminals and thieves and murderers, and Kaz would never admit it (out loud--which actually feeds into my theory that his love language is acts of service; Kaz does things for the people he cares about, he never announces it and he will almost always try to downplay it, but the way you know he cares is if, for example, he puts his entire life, everything he built, up as collateral for your freedom), but they’re a family.

One thing that I was kind of iffy about was Inej’s refusal to kill--but I thought it might be something they were planning to work into her overall character arc, and they did. It was the one line she hadn’t crossed--in the books, I’d imagine that it took a while for Inej to wind up at that point, being willing to kill on top of everything else. So I actually like that they worked that into the Crows plotline, and Inej killing for the first time was to save Kaz’s life.

Just like Kaz’s first selfless act was to save her.

(He’d deny it, of course. He protects his investments. He needed her for the job. But the truth is, he did it for her. And he’d do it again. Even if he’d never admit it.)

Meanwhile, Nina and Matthias’ storyline was pretty much note-for-note according to their backstory as it was revealed in Six of Crows, and I loved every second of it. Their chemistry was perfect, their journey from enemies to begrudging allies to friends to maybe something more (Matthias’ stomach cockblocking them when they were about to kiss had me fucking SCREAMING AT THE TV, and then of course the whole ‘betraying him to save him’ thing happened and I sobbed), and then suddenly right back to enemies.

Because from Matthias’ perspective, he trusted a witch--believed in her, liked her, wanted her--and she turned on him. He has no idea that she wasn’t the one who knocked him out in the first place, and no reason to believe her, because as far as he knows, she just confirmed everything he’d ever been told about Grisha. That they are deceitful and treacherous, would turn on you as soon as look at you, that they are dangerous and not to be trusted. It wasn’t revealed in-show but I imagine Matthias’ backstory is largely the same, which means that his entire family was slaughtered by Grisha when he was a young boy, and then he was turned into a brainwashed child soldier by the witch hunters and never knew anything else.

They are perfectly primed for their SoC arc next season and I, for one, am so stoked to see the rest of their journey. And if I slip Netflix a couple twenties, maybe they’ll let Helnik have a happy ending please please please.

Anyway, yeah! I have a lot of thoughts but things are still percolating in my head so I’ll probably float around the tags for a bit and let things settle. This is just a preliminary overview of my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of bingeing the entire show in one night kldfjghdkjfhgkjgf

EDIT TO ADD: I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THE TRUE STAR OF THE SHOW, M I L O

MILO BEST BOY. MILO THE MVP. MILO DESERVES ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD AND I HOPE HE LIVES A HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND FULL LITTLE GOAT LIFE.

[nite-shay]

His Hero Part 4 (Kirishima Eijirou x Reader)

A/N: I don’t know if I’m completely happy about this chapter. I’m trying to get better with witting panic/anxiety/non-humor, so hopefully, next time, it’ll be a little better. Also, sorry for the long time off and just sporadic posting. Works been hell, but now that we’ll hopefully *grain of salt* were getting more people hired, I’ll have more motivation and time to write 

Warnings: Panic/anxiety , references to sex and/or sexual acts (nothing descriptive but suggestive) so I guess 18+? IDK how this works :/ If yer too young, offended by sex , sexual acts, sexual reference or don’t know where babies come from, please don’t read.

Word count: 3K 

Other then that, please enjoy! :D  

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4

*****

Kirishima didn’t protest when Fat sent him home for the day. 

‘Go home. Clear your head. Call me if you need anything.’ 

Honestly, he barely heard his mentor’s words. He just sat there staring at the screen. Watching, pausing, rewinding, and watching again. Over and over again. It wasn’t until Fat picked him up and carried him to the door, did he finally get the memo.

Yeah... he didn’t need to be here right now...

The trip home was nothing but a blur, and honestly, he remembered nothing about it. His body was on autopilot as his mind tried to wrap the possibility that he might have a kid. 

A kid… A son… Your son… His son? But… How? Err… Wait! 

Ok, he knows the ‘how’ of how kids are made. 

Better phrasing, how could this have happened!? He was always careful with anyone he was with! Err, not that was a really long list or anything. Typically, he was only intimate with someone he’s known for a while, and when he was, he’d use a condom, or they were on the pill. 

Oh fuck. How could he have let this happen!?!?

Calm down. Calm down. 

Maybe he was just overthinking everything? It could just be a coincidence. Sure, he and the kid have some similarity, but hey, there’s like, billions of people on the planet! So some are bound to look alike! That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re related, right? Total chance! That’s it! It’s that stuff we learned in school. Static? No, that’s not right; that was in science. The other thing was in math...Statistics! Yeah, that’s it!

So what if the kid has red eyes? His best bud Katsuki does too! 

The sharp teeth? Look no further than his gym bro Tetsu! Hell, depending on the quirk, it can be a super common trait!

The quirk being exactly like his... well, ok, that was… odd. And yeah, he hasn’t run into any with his quirk specifically, but, big but, it doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there with his quirk! 

Or maybe it’s not his quirk! Maybe its a similar one! Really, really, reeeealllly similar.

Total coincidence! Anyone can have those traits!

He just… happens to have all of them… just like the kid… whose mother he just happened to have slept with… around six years ago… 

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!

The room suddenly felt like it was closing in on him. The air got thinner, making it harder for him to breathe. He jumped off the couch and started pacing. He’s had issues with anxiety for years, and one thing he did learn, when he got like this, he needed to move.

Breath and walk. Breath and walk. Breath and….wait! The kid can’t be more than five! He slept with you six years ago! Ha! The time doesn’t match up! So he can’t be his kid!

His legs felt like jello as the waves of panic finally came to a halt, and took a deep, much-needed deep breath.

He wasn’t a father.

This was a good thing. A great thing!

He doesn’t have a kid. The time frame didn’t add up. He was in the clear.

He should feel happy. Relief. Ecstatic!

So why did he feel like he just got punched in the gut? 

He sighed as he made his way to his fridge in search of something to calm his nerves. Beer isn’t his typical drink of choice, but he was glad he kept a few on hand in moments like this. Since he was single and didn’t have a roommate, his place was the place of choice for ‘bro’s night.’ 

Though sometimes, there was nothing like a cold one to just chill after a long hard day.

He grabbed one of the glass bottles by the neck, activated his quirk, and flicked the lid off with his thumb. Cool little party trick he learned a few years back. 

As he tilted the drink back, he took a long hard swallow and let his mind wander. The beer of choice today was one Katsuki preferred. It was good, smooth going down, and less alcohol content. Which was fine. Ochaco, even after giving birth, still couldn’t stand the smell of alcohol. Pregnancy wasn’t a subject Kirishima knew a lot about, but he knew enough to respect it. 

He’d seen her hauling ass many adays to the toilet of the slightest whiff of something she didn’t like.

Then the cravings came along, which prompted a few late-night trips to the store by Katsuki or himself if his bro was at work. 

He chuckled as he thought about the few times Katsuki had said something to piss her off and sent him over to the redhead’s place for the night. Only to call him back a little while later in tears because of mood swings. 

Towards the end was rough, though. She’d been put on bed rest and was in a lot of pain. Katsuki took fewer shifts during that time to stay home and help ease her in any way he could. 

Damn, she went through all that for, what almost a year? Maybe not quite a year, but it had to be close. 

Was it nine or maybe ten months?

His brain came to a screeching halt, mid-swallow as he started calculating.

Beer spewed out of his mouth and nose as he tried to breathe and swallow at the same time. 

The nine months adds almost a year! *Cough* Meaning the kid’s age would make sense! *Cough Cough*

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! It can’t be true, can it? He… He’d used protection… hadn’t he?

His mind raced as he thought back to that night six years ago.

It was Izuku’s birthday and his girlfriend, future wife Melissa, rented out a small private Terence at a hotel to celebrate. It was small, maybe fifteen people max: just some friends, family, and a few colleges of the green-haired hero.

He was having a few drinks while chatting with Denki and Hanta when he first saw you. That was when he first saw you… You were chatting with your Melissa and Izuku, and damn… he couldn’t stop staring at you. You were so beautiful, and the way you tried to hide your angelic smile every time you laughed made his heart skip a beat. 

Eventually, his two friends figured out just what or who had caught his attention. Which brought on a relentless amount of teasing. It took about twenty minutes, a few beers, and an angry blonde for him to finally make his way over to you.

Katsuki, at some point, approached his childhood friend, then proceeded to yell at him for some reason or another. Even on his birthday, the guy couldn’t catch a break. Now that he thought about it, it was over something All Might related. Something about a suit and which version was from what era? You were looking rather uncomfortable (Melissa was used to this) at the aggressive (mainly Katsuki) debate. That’s where he came in. With the help of Ochaco and Melissa, he finally got the two distracted enough to send them to opposite corners of the party. 

And then, he was left all alone with you.

He was so nervous that he even stumbled through his own name. Luckily, he played off his nervousness by making light of his two friends. To his surprise, you took his jokes in stride and even had a few comebacks of your own. 

The two of you must have talked for over an hour! Just one conversation after another. He’d never met anyone like you before. You were just so loving, kind, and just… wow!

Then things start to get a little fuzzy.

He remembered talking, drinking, joking, more talking, and more drinking. 

A weird memory of a drunk Denki yelling, “I swear to drunk I’m not God!” before face planting into the punch bowl. 

Then while everyone’s attention was on Denki, the two of you snuck away and back to his room. 

A makeout session on the elevator leads to the two of you missing his floor and shocking an elderly housekeeping lady. That was embarrassing but didn’t seem to stop the two of you.

Then things get really, really blurry, but somehow the two of you made it back to his room without any other incidents. 

While the rest of his memories were bits and pieces, but he… did remember the most of the ‘activates,’ and it’d been consensual, and yeah… he’d definitely used protection! That much he remembered!

The next thing he knew, it was the next morning, where he woke up alone, with a hangover, and felt better than he had in awhile. 

Too bad that feeling didn’t get to last. His phone rang not long after he woke up. It’d been work, a villain was causing trouble, and they needed him asap. 

He showered, dressed, grabbed his stuff, and left. 

Then… he’d gotten hurt… bad…

Ended up in the hospital for nearly a week. 

After he got out, he, well, had an interesting voicemail and charge on his credit card.

He blushed hard as he remembered the hotel’s message regarding the ‘damages’ done to the room. In particular, the ones done to the sheets and headboard. They even sent him pictures!

Damn, he couldn’t believe he lost control of his quirk like that. He hadn’t done that since… well, since his ‘first time.’ That was so embarrassing. Thankfully, he didn’t think he’d hurt you in the process. Of all the pictures and list of damages, blood-stained sheets weren’t listed. Maybe that’s why he never worked up the courage to reach out to you. Even if he didn’t hurt you, he might have scared you...

Wait….

He lost control of his quirk.

Oh… OH SHIT! Realization dawned on him.

Even if he had put a condom on, his quirk might have damaged it!

Then that means… there is a chance he's the father of your son!

FFFFFUCCCCKK!!!!

But wait.

If he really was your son… why haven’t you contacted him?

His footsteps slowed until he came to a standstill.

You would have told him if he was, wouldn’t you?

Granted, the two of you never exchanged numbers, and we’ll it’s not like he did much to reach out to you either, but… You would have known he’s friends with Izuku, so you knew a way to contact him. 

Two-way street, buddy. He internally lashed himself.

Between racking his brain and scolding himself, he didn’t hear the knock on his door until the visitor started pounding. 

“Oi! Shifty hair! Answer the damn door!” A loud, brash voice that could only belong to one person yelled through the abused door.

Katsuki? Why was he here?

Kirishima hurried over to the door before the blonde got too impatient and blew it down… again. He took a deep breath and put on his brightest and cheerful grin before opening the door to greet his grumpy best friend. 

“Oh hey, Bakubro, what’s up?” 

“Don’t bro me! Why the hell am I getting called from your boss to check up on you?” He growled.

“Fat called you?” That was a surprise. 

“Yeah, he did. Had to switch my patrol around and everything.” He brushed past the redhead, letting himself in. Kirishima sighed as he shut the door behind them. 

“I’m really sorry about that. Not sure wh-”

“Don’t start that bullshit with me.” Those fierce red eyes locked on to him. “And drop that fake ass smile. Always hated when you did that shit.” He mutters.

Damn, Fat just had to go and call him of all people. 

If it’d been anyone else, anyone at all, he could play this off. A bright grin, crack a joke or two, maybe a few reassuring words, and he could send them on their way. 

But not him.  No, not Katsuki. Most people wouldn’t in a million years think the aggressive blonde could show anything other than anger. And yeah, the guy was rough around the edges, and he wasn’t the best with words. But nonetheless, here he was. 

And sometimes, that’s all that mattered.

Fuck. 

“So why am I here?” Katsuki wasn’t backing down, so Kirishima took a deep breath.

“What did Fat tell you?” While his smile didn’t waver, he felt his stomach belly flop to the floor. 

“Bastard would spill it, just said you’d need me right and to get over here. Now what the fuck is going on?” While he still sounded angry, there was an underline concern in his tone that most people tend to miss. 

Who would have known that would be the thing to make him crack? Well, obviously, Fatgum knew, hence why he sent the blonde over. The great explosive hero was one of the few people that could blow a hole right through his hardened armor. 

Both figuratively and literally.

With tears in his eyes, he dropped his bright grin and let the damn of emotion bust. He explained everything that had happened. The robbery, the hospital, you, your son, the night he first met you, the security footage, everything! Hell, he was sure he went into a little too much detail when he described you and that night.

The blonde just stood there shell shocked as he tried to absorb the word vomit hurled at him. 

“S-so, yeah… I might… have a…” he couldn’t finish. He just let the silence hang between them. 

“You… dumbass.” He sighed quietly, running his hand through his hair before looking him right in the eyes. While his best friend was known far and wide to have a temper, when shit got real, it was eerie how calm and focused he was. “Are you sure he’s your?”

“I-I don’t know. I mean-”

“Have you talked to the mother?”

“N-No!” 

“Have you talked to anyone about this?” He pressed. “Does anyone else think you’re the father?”

“No! Well, Fat might, but that’s cause he was with me when I put the piece together. But I haven’t told or asked anyone else about this. Honestly, other than the mother, I don’t even know who else to go-” The redhead piped up. Something flashed in his friend’s eyes, and for a moment, he looked like he was ready to commit murder. Fuck was he made? He hadn’t come to him about this yet!? Of course, he was! He was finding this out because his boss called him, not because he had called him! Some friend he is... “I was totally going to call you about this! I swear! You’re my best friend. This just happened so suddenly!”

“I know you would, Ei. Chill.” The blonde’s features soften for a second, soothing the redhead some. But he could tell Katsuki was trying to keep his temper in check. “I’m not mad at you but, I’ll ask again. Does anyone else know about this?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I only found out about this today, and I haven’t had any contact with (Y/N) since the other day and well at Izuku’s birthday party.”

“Ok. Stay here for a bit. You need to calm down. We need more information first. If he isn’t your kid, you’re losing your shit for nothing. And if he is... well,” He paused, “Cross that bridge when you come to it.” He pushed the hero towards the couch and made him sit down. “I need to make a phone call.” 

Kirishima blinked as his best friend made his way towards his front door. “NOW SIT THERE. SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN!”

*SLAM*

This was a new level of anger for the blonde. He couldn’t stand seeing the redhead like this. He felt even worse, leaving him alone like this. The damn guy lived off socialization with others, so for him to be facing this alone. 

Yeah... it really pissed him off.

The blonde stomped his way back to his apartment, which was just a few doors down. He did need to make a phone call; he hadn’t been lying. But it was a call, that big, dense red rock didn’t need to hear. 

Fuck. He couldn’t believe this. Did shitty hair really have a kid? 

Katsuki made his way inside his home. The home he shared with not only his wife but his newborn daughter. 

Fuck. He has a kid… and he never even knew. 

As he made his way through the foyer and into the living room, something caught his eye. Something black, orange, green, and tiny laid on top of a basket of unfolded laundry. It was the custom design onesie Momo had gotten for their daughter as a baby shower gift. The custom design was made to look like his hero costume. While he scoffed at the thing initially, he made sure that she wore home from the hospital. 

Well, tried. About halfway through the hospital parking lot, she decided now was the best time to need a diaper and outfit change. 

Little brat. He smirked.

If you’d ask him a few years ago what he thought of kids, he would have brushed it off, not really caring about it. His hero career was his focus. He needed no had to be number one. 

But now that he has a little one of his own, he realized there was more to life than being number one. Was he still going to do it? You bet your ass, but now that he has his wife and his child that climb to the top well, he couldn’t dream of making it there without them. 

He couldn’t imagine a world without her. Let alone a world where he didn’t realize she existed.

He whipped out his phone and thumbed through his contacts.

Especially if someone knew about them. 

He took a deep breath and hit send.  

Someone close to not only the kid but himself. 

And still not tell him.

He knows. There’s no way in hell that precipitative little shit doesn’t know!

One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

“K-Kacchan. This is a surprise. You never call. Is everything-” Katsuki cut him off. 

“We need to talk. Now.” 

****

Links: Part 1,  Part 2 ,  Part 3, Part 4

Thanks for the read! If you want see the other stuff I’ve done, click the link bellow!

MasterList

Tags: @hot-pocket01 ,  @simpforeveryone , @remember-happy-things 

[reversecreek]

pops hip n winks at the dash. haaaaiiii. me again. i’ve honestly missed playing lana fr a while she’s one of. my most treasured muses bc she’s jst a silly n vivacious ball of sunshine or alternatively? a train wreck depending on which way u turn her in the light..... i actually hv two playlists made fr her n one is rly old bt it’s more like. songs that Remind me of her which u can find here n then here is more like. stuff u’ll most often catch her blasting on her record player as she dances around in her underwear w the curtains open. OH and here is her pinterest 🍓⚡

* kristine froseth, cis female + she/her  | you know lana jameson, right? they’re twenty-three, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, a few hours? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to play that funky music by wild cherry like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole cherry red gym socks worn with nothing else, doodling penises in the condensation of a stranger’s car window, a bumper sticker on the back of a convertible cadillac that says ‘scrappy doo is a filthy slut’ thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is june 2nd, so they’re a gemini, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt, she/her  )

HISTORY:

lana grew up in a big house in albany, NY. i picture it w dark oak floors n lots of light furniture. albums framed on walls. mayb some rolling stone covers too frm way bk when of the bands her dad’s label signed. kind of like… a rock star palace w no evidence of children at all. i think i described it best in one of lana’s self paras once when i said the garden ws “as big as it was unloved”

lana’s mum victoria (vic) ws a music journalist w a pretty fruitful career ahead of her when she met lana’s dad richard (rich). his record label ws jst starting out, founded on the coattails of his wealthy best friend’s (jensen peters) investment w his other best friend (who he jst calls knoxville). it rocketed to success when they signed poppy injects, a rock band w an electric stage presence, n vic ws drawn to the glitz n glamour of a man tht ws at the helm of his aspiring industry. their love ws very impulsive, all or nothing right frm the start, n it ws almost like she ws mre in love w his accomplishments n what he represented than him.

(DRUGS TW) anyway so jameson records repped a few rock bands bk in the eighties, altho poppy injects r who they’re mostly known fr, namely bc of hw brightly they crashed n burned. they were a big chart success bt the lead singer hd quite an intense struggle w heroin (wsnt rly subtle abt it either while he ws in the public eye as u cn probably imagine frm such an on-the-nose band name) n he ws always in n out of the papers. it eventually brought down his career n it ws a big publicity nightmare

lana pretty much… grew up around figures like this throughout childhood. real characters who wld kind of… b extremely volatile n destructive abt their troubles. the jameson house was an open one as welcoming clients went n a lot of parties took place there. a lot of the time musicians wld b snorting lines in the kitchen when she wnted to grab a bowl of cereal fr breakfast n it was just. a very strange environment fr a child to grow up in. more zoo than home. more shaken snow globe than resting place. (END OF TW)

(ABORTION REFERENCE) her parents always kind of jst… didn’t like her much. her older brother caleb ws unplanned bt they sort of welcomed the surprise more bt… quickly realised they weren’t cut out fr parenthood n then when lana came as another surprise 3 yrs later they didn’t even try to hide their resentment abt the situation. her mum ws actually booked in to have an abortion bt cldnt go through with it at the last minute. once when lana ws a kid she asked her why she’s so cold towards her she jst turned her head frm her dresser, looked at her, told her abt this n said “idk why i didn’t go”. lana didn’t kno wht to say to tht so she jst left her room n closed the door (END OF REFERENCE)

(DISSOCIATION TW) bc of the intensity of her parents ignoring her growing up lana adopted this sense of like…. she didn’t rly kno what it ws bt it ws a delusion of sorts where she thought she ws a ghost bc she gt this strange outside feeling. she’d jst sort of… drift around the halls w no-one acknowledging her n sometimes she ws jst convinced she wsnt actually there or they cldnt see her n she ws jst haunting the house frm a previous family. (END OF TW) her imagination festered an explanation out of smthn she didn’t understand essentially. lana used her imagination to do this a lot growing up. it ws kind of like the band aid she slapped over everything. after all she wasn’t alone if she was sword fighting imaginary pirates dwn the hallway with a poker from the fireplace. 

the one saving grace tho tht sort of?? gt her thru this n made her feel Seen ws caleb. lana quite genuinely hs always thought the sun shines out of her older brothers ass like she jst thinks. he’s the best person in the entire world. wld b rly bewildered if anyone questioned tht. he wld always look out for her n cut the crusts off her sandwiches (he’d cook fr them most of the time bc their parents were too busy/didn’t care to) n sometimes wld even sleep at the bottom of her bed curled up like a guard dog. it ws always lana n caleb n his best friend tommy against the world in tht house (tommy lived next door bt was always over bc he had very strict parents tht he found suffocating)

(ARMY MENTION) SO when tommy announced tht he’d signed up to the army (bc of pressures from tommy’s military dad to fulfil some kind of stupid “legacy” tommy didn’t even care abt) n caleb said he was going with him lana ws understandably…….. completely blindsided. she ws rly upset tht they were leaving n was kind of like “wtf why are u doing this like what do u even think this is gna solve” etc n begged caleb not to leave her there on her own n jst to not sign up in general bc tommy had to bt he didn’t listen. 

ERM i won’t go into it but it didn’t turn out well as u can probably imagine bc the army is a terrible industry n caleb had to return home without tommy. he wasn’t the same after that. (END OF MENTION)

what’d been a rly close relationship before where he ws basically like a surrogate father figure to lana was Not there any more. he ws rly withdrawn n always pushing her away n snapping at her for the sake of getting her to leave him alone. on top of this lana had a lot of shit go down while he was away n rly just shouldn’t have been a kid alone in tht house. regardless lana thought if she kept grinning as wide as she cld she’d convince caleb to join in too. maybe if she seemed fine n happy he’d take the lead. maybe she’d believe it too n start to feel it n everything could go bk to how it was before her world became so different. lana liked the way the sky flipped when she tipped her head back on the swings bt this was different. everything was upside down bt this didn’t make her belly feel like she’d swallowed a butterfly and it wasn’t funny bt still, she kept laughing. always desperate to find something to laugh at n if she couldn’t find it she invented it. as long as ur laughing the world can’t b that bad.

she ws always well liked in school bc she jst tended to treat everyone like they were bffs no matter who like u cld have literally bumped shoulders w her once in the corridor n she’d be like OMG HAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII let’s kiss<3 n like she ws a huge notorious flirt w any n all as well as incredibly impulsive n jst. wild honestly to put it simply too bt things like. changed a bit frm 16 onwards. (HYPERSEXUALITY & IMPLIED TRAUMA TW) she jst became far more reckless honestly n like....... jst didn’t rly seem to care after a certain point abt herself too much.... got herself in a bunch of bad situations.......... kind of jst flung herself to the wolves numerous times without any caution abt the way they’d bite. formed a lot of self destructive habits one of which ws cruising craigslist personals fr random hook-ups n like. she literally cld have wound up in a ditch somewhere honestly it’s a shock she hasn’t. despite various dips n inclines in her journey navigating this side of her it’s very much still present in her life to this day n she struggles to kno hw to control herself at points. sometimes she feels like a melting candle tht needs moulding by thumbs until it can form a person again. sometimes she’s only sure she’s real when she’s being touched. (END OF TW)

ANYWAY. laughs nervously. went to college to study dance bc she’s always loved dance in general bt specifically ballet (despite definitely not hving the discipline for it) n honestly this was both good n bad fr her. had a whole string of terrible heartbreaking relationships bc she tends to fall into those hard n fast n they were w a lot of bad people fr like 98% of the time. she kind of learned more abt what love is during her time there tho which is a gd thing bt she still isn’t very good at knowing hw to believe she deserves it so it’s a process. she hd fun tho. threw 498572598475 outrageous n elaborately themed parties. ws friends w pretty much everyone on campus. 

despite a strained relationship w her brother n having to go home to visit n check on him whenever he got rly bad it ws the first time it actually felt like she’d found a home in a lot of rly loving n genuine friendships n lana will never forget hw much that experience meant to her even if she definitely struggled there too. college felt like a place she belonged n then suddenly she couldn’t belong there any more n there was a big sense of floundering in that. like where do u go now when u’ve never known home elsewhere? how do u happily go out into the world if it means leaving ur world behind?

she applied to a dance company in LA n fell in w a pretentious art scene there full of wannabe andy warhols n the like. became a makeshift edie sedgwick to some guy w dyed white hair n the idea his every concept was revolutionary when rly he jst shot her dancing barely clothed splashing around in a random fountain in his friend’s mansion on an ancient film camera. she’d spend her days floating around on lilo’s and prancing in feather boas and racing with glitter leftover frm last night in her leotard w smudges of faint red lipstick to barely make her job on time. always a sexy train wreck bt this time? make it hollywood. 

(IMPLIED ALCOHOLISM TW) i won’t lie to u lana hs always partied way too hard bt then partying way too hard turned into slurping merlot thru a crazy straw shaped like a flamingo at 4 in the afternoon wearing penis novelty sunglasses n it wasn’t quite so much of a party when u were doing it on ur own. this rly snowballed into place in college bt carried on n wound up getting her fired from the dance company bc she turned up to rehearsals drunk one too many times n they didn’t allow fr sloppiness like tht. it was a “professional operation” that didn’t “accept that kind of behaviour” bt lana was jst like ummmmmmmmm that’s totally dramatic btw way to spank me in the town square like i’m gale w a raw ass n back in the hunger games bt ok sure i’m out ig. BOOP! (literally booped the director on the nose before leaving) (END OF TW)

honestly hd no idea what to do w herself after her job fell thru in LA n was pretty embarrassed actually upon sobering up the nxt day. cldn’t bring herself to tell her friends for a hot minute bc she felt like a failure or smthn n she was meant to be living this glamorous life out there being the classic wild n silly n fun Lana Jameson. cldn’t figure out how to repackage it into a funny story tht wouldn’t worry ppl. eventually wound up jst caving n telling her closest besties (shoutout freya n rosa) bc she ws hving a weird time dating losers n randomly living in LA even tho she didn’t kno why she was there any more after losing the job n they were jst like. fk it then. jst come here. we’re in irving. and so? mizz jameson packed her bags....

PERSONALITY:

always smells vaguely of wild cherries or strawberry starburst or jst the candy aisle in general. if she ws a vinyl record she’d b this one n she’d only play good vibrations by the beach boys, dancing on my own by robyn, play that funky music by wild cherry, femme fatale by the velvet underground n (i can’t get no) satisfaction by the rolling stones

the jameson family r pretty well off n bc of her relation to such a big music industry figure she’s hung out w a fair few relatively high rep ppl thru her teens. mostly kids of celebrities n stuff like tht. she amassed a bit of an instagram following #nepotism bt also fr her style (v penny lane-esque in some aspects. lots of fur cuff trimmed jackets bt then also jst…. a wild combination of everything honestly. pastel faux fur coats, seventies style platforms, bright red cowboy boots, pink fishnet tights, holographic stickers of planets on her cheek n glitter used like highlight, 90% of the time a red lip) n bc she’s not gna make ur eyes bleed to look at or anything let’s b real

growing up lana was always a huge social butterfly. knew everyone n everyone knew her. she ws one of those girls tht ws kind of impossible to ignore or forget. very animated, always made u feel like u were the centre of the universe whenever she spoke to u, always made it feel like u were best friends even if ud only spoken to her once.

deliberately puts on tht kind of Magnetic Alluring Act tht femme fatales wear in movies w most ppl. kind of…. is always playing A Role of the person tht she wants to b seen as. hates being sad n always wnts to be happy / making ppl happy. chameleons to situations. feels like she’s performed as the vivacious n fun loving Lana Jameson fr so long tht she doesn’t rly kno who she is beneath tht bt she isn’t too keen to find out. sometimes gets glimpses n feels the urge to close her eyes.

she’s always been rly spontaneous n adventurous. always doing something weird n wild every weekend. she has ten thousand ridiculously absurd n chaotic stories. she’s like oh ya this one time this guy made me ride him with a daddy saddle like i was woody and he was bullseye. he literally made me call him bullseye. or she’s like. oh ya once i had to run barefoot thru a cabbage patch bc this one farmer wanted to have a threeway w me n my friend tht we met off craigslist n every framed photo in his house was a pig dressed up in cosplay bt honestly they were kind of cute n he was sexy aside frm the murderous vibes n the fact he kept calling me babe which i’m pretty sure means he wanted to dress me up next bt like whatever honestly.... she tells jst the most batshit stuff n the person she’s telling it to is left blinking like. wtf.

uncontrollably flirty. insanely confident. cld make a joke out a paper bag n will try. she tends to laugh when she feels like crying n has a smile brighter than a ray of texas sunshine.

likes to roller skate n hs a red pair she’ll glide around in at night lit up by amber street lamps breath sticky w the taste of wine n lollipops probably heading to a random hookups. who needs ubers?

always dapples her fingers thru the breeze when she’s driving in a car w the window down. honestly likes dangling her whole body halfway out too. she almost always has some sort of sweet on her, whether it’s sour haribo cherries or strawberry lollipops.

luvs bowie (ONLY aesthetically) n prince (wholeheartedly) n madonna (completely) n anyone tht’s a vintage style icon w little care fr what ppl think.

daisies n poppies r her fav flowers bc daisies r wild n overlooked n poppies r the first thing u look at in a green field. she’s had like 8472493874 ‘relationships’ n none of them hav lasted beyond a month / hav been terrible / hav seen her being treated badly / she’s cheated on them. honestly it’s like a burning train wreck but u can’t quite tear ur eyes away. often the heart of many sordid gossip scandals.

PLOTS:

TBA bc she’s only jst arrived in town i won’t lie to u all but i’m gna whip things up on here anyway n link in chat w updates at some point........ that said? lana is insatiable n it isn’t rly unlikely tht she cld’ve bumped into ur muse in a grocery store aisle n somehow a wild spontaneous adventure spawned frm that alone.......... if u have any immediate ideas we can discuss 😋

[stray-tori]

TPN Vol 8 - Chapters 66-70 Thoughts

[we're already on vol 9 but I'm slow with compiling]

I know I always rag on the "cop out" deaths and it is true that no corpse no dead, and I am curious if there will be any more worldbuilding regarding Lucas' survival (hello deus ex machina person) but uh. Idk. I'm sure it has a point and it makes sense in universe (having him be the reason for the knowledge among GP kids is good) but it just feels a little. Eh. Like it feels like paddling back on a small part of geezers guilt and feelings. In part it also feels like a "reward" for choosing the heroes moral side and going to help save Emma (why ever that happened - ig bc Gilda would blow up the shelter if he doesn't so. YAY).

...

Obviously the development is still his, and he obviously isn't expecting to find anyone alive there, but ig i felt like he was leading up to... healing more through the kids and not one epic Emma speech and "oh your one friend is alive btw" reveal later on. It feels like a spark of hope and happiness for him that I'm not sure if was needed narratively. He already decided he wouldn't harm them.

Like maybe they handle it very differently so i might be jumping the gun here but idk. It just feels a little... weird to me. Probably in a similar way how speeches about Norman hurt but also kind of get that "well uh about that...." Air once you know. I feel for the characters and their separation but it doesn't have the same weight it could have anymore.

In theory it reminds me a bit of the whole gate reveal structure in s2. With a setup being built up or established and a reveal just going "nvm that's not what we're doing".

It makes sense, I'm just not a huge fan of what it does for me for previously established things.

But i guess writing wise it puts its cards on the table with small scale Lucas and then Norman haha.

.

I find it rly funny how much the arc sort of mirrors the s2 arc so far (character assumed dead is alive, new cast of demon kill children introduced, a plan to kill demons).

Ig that might be intentional, for all intents it's a good method of conveying character change. Or different specifics or how things might be judged differently with different specifics (like hunting for enjoyment vs. farming)

I'm totally jumping in on this too early but idk it's interesting to think about.

That and also our whole "There's someone I want you to meet" - "ITS NORMAN" jokes made me think, like you could probably ACTUALLY restructure some of this in a way that would allow Norman's return here instead lol. Could be a fun AU, esp since we have the seeds of a (small-scale) demon annihilation plan anyway.

I also just find it funny to think about Norman grumbling from his future self that Emma agreed to some random guy's plan so easily udkhjsd

Obviously the time is a bit of a mess -- it's only been 3 months? is Adam out bc Norman's escaped already or was Adam just shipped to GP? if he already escaped, our boy is quick - plus, why would he go to GP. the supporters in Lambda probably know it's been compromised, so aside from freeing the children, there isn't a lot of reason to go there and while that may have priority, I feel like 3 months is a bit of a short timeframe for Norman to settle in there well enough -- so it's more wonky than anything BUT IT'S FUN TO THINK ABOUT.

.

btw I find it so funny how Emma has that whole "intent to kill" thing going on now, considering her later moral stance - like it's fair but coming from s2 it's a bit of whiplash haha especially since she's so determined about it right from the start. (though I have no idea if she ever addressed killing demons before this, memory bad)

Though notably she said "she wants to shut down the hunting ground too", not "want to kill them too" - and it's good that she draws a line but IDK IT'S JUST INTERESTING because what bothers her is the toying / no respect for their lives, right? - "this kind of hunt", not hunting in general.

... so like, if you were hunted by a demon in the wild, who didn't toy with you, just killed and ate you, that would be fine then? Idk, it's a very fine line and I get it, but it's interesting to think about. A quick, suffer-less death is of course a valid thing to want if you will die anyway, but you're dead afterwards in both variants.

Of course maybe I'm reading it wrong and it's just her sort of realizing that between mass production farms and GP, they really did have it good, even if they died an early death, and how this is much more hate-worthy than GF's method. Which is true, I suppose, and might expand on the building blocks of her moral development down the line (as in "there's different stages of demon-badness").

.

Also a more funny thought but imagine if Lucas DID have the pen, would... Geezer-senpai just not find the way back? And even if he did would he even get into the bunker? That'd be one tragic ending pff. Tell the person to run away and they can't even go back inside sudhdjd

.

Also i thought about it and isn't it weird that none of the books or materials mentioned what goldy pond actually is? Like youd expect sth that important to be in there.

We know WM wasn't at the bunker in the last 13 years and we know that the books he supplied to GF, the newest one was 2015. What if he was discovered or had to limit his WM activity 30 years ago?

So 30 years ago, he still sent people to goldy pond.

I'm just realizing.... That totally sounds like a setup for minerva to actually be on the demons side or a demon himself sjdhjddj. Like he orchestrates escapees (who are likely to be smart) and then sends them to GP where he and his noble friends can hunt them.

But where i was actually going with this uh, what if GP 30 years ago (potentially longer depending on how long ago he was there last) wasn't actually a hunting a ground? Why would you send kids there without a warning otherwise? What if it WAS a small human community (tho that would likely have been passed around by the inhabitants) or it was at least WM supporter base like the bunker, intended for humans to live there. Not sure about mansion then but YKNOW.

If it was, i wonder if it being discovered was a huge part in WM cover being blown OR if the demons decided to keep it secret bc you know this place is rly convinient haha

I also wonder how wm even finds and builds all these underground things lol. Bc it can't have existed since before the world split i think?

Man has some big construction projects running pfff.

I'm also not sure how that underground thing works-

.

its tori is confused about minor things hour

[Emma takes the axe with right hand, her right hand is still behind her as if she was winding up, but the axe is already thrown?]

like if she had the axe still in hand it'd make sense or if it was in her hand AND spinning, it'd be like "2 frames".

but this?? i am just-

.

im rly late with this but the glove is Lucas' memorial. the pair will only be together again when they reunite :<<

what I want to know is HOW. like the John thing is already questionable but I guess he could have gone back again?? but with this.

he has both gloves when they part he still have one glove on when his arm is gone. but the arm Leuvis has, doesn't have a glove?? So either Leuvis took it off but i wouldn't know why, and just dropped it on the ground for geezer to come pick up ORRRR he took one off for some reason?? maybe he threw it at the demon pff something is very un-continous here and i need answers-

.

the duality of man... not wanting people to know a) your age and b) your name (which you may have forgotten, who knows)

we just assumed geezer's name is censored here but I guess it could be anything haha-

[chaoticgeminate]

Exposed

So I had a plot bunny that ran rampant, after reading the post about it being illegal in France to record/take pictures without consent. It was supposed to be short but apparently I can’t do that? IDK, what started as a 1k word blurb sort of evolved into nearly 7k words in like two hours.

So! Just a heads up for everyone before you click the Read More tag. Contained within this insanity is:

Class salt (moderate) Lila salt (major) Alya salt (moderate bordering major) Ladyblog salt (moderate bordering major) Crush reveal on the wrong side of the mask (MariChat) Supportive Gabriel (shocking, I know, but I had too much salt) Supportive Sabine (again, had a lot of salt, wanted some sweet)

[AO3]

Expelled, again.

Marinette stared at the online course schedule that was now hers to complete, after Lila spread a photo shopped picture that led to bullying and her second expulsion, the only change to this time and the last was that her parents were firmly on her side and didn’t want her going back. Once again there hadn’t been any investigations done, Lila’s mother hadn’t made an appearance in the office, and Principal Damocles hadn’t listened to any arguments of the crime that Marinette was being accused of.

Taking a candle, supposedly, to Lila’s homework packets; but Marinette wasn’t an idiot, she knew exactly what that picture was from and a part of her was pissed at the girl squad. The original photo was from a funeral for her great-grandmother, who had passed away recently, Marinette had been burning joss paper and her mother had taken the photo; the original picture had Marinette in tears with her hair done in a loose bun that her great-grandmother had loved to see her wear.

Lila had photo shopped a picture of Marinette wearing a vicious scowl, no doubt from an argument with Chloe, as well as the school hallway as the background; if you really looked there was obvious distortion around Marinette’s neck and a faint lining around her legs. But the Principal didn’t want to hear that, he declared her a problem and got rid of her, which was now leading to an outraged Tom and Sabine with an emotionally distressed teenager.

Then came the slander against the bakery, the Ladyblog outright posting articles about the supposed incident, with tabloids trying to hop on the trail. Thanks to Nadja Chamack and TVi, after the Ministry of National Education had been contacted with proper proof and documentation, the station had Aurore deliver a stunning counter article about the power abuse and out-of-control nature of the staff at François Dupont with her own private experiences adding to it all.

Chat Noir had been the first hero to make an appearance on the news, on TVi specifically with Aurore sitting across from him, his very public denouncement of the Ladyblog had stunned her to tears when she watched it.

“I’m not allowed to go into detail but I’ve met Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she is a hardworking young woman who fights for her friends and stands up for what she believes in, I can honestly say with one-hundred percent faith that she has never been a bully and that whatever she’s being accused of is just another lie because Lila Rossi feels threatened by her.”

“Another lie, Chat Noir?”

“Yes. I’ve spoken to officer Raincomrpix about this already but during the akuma that was faced named Oni-chan, which was created when Lila lied to get into Adrien Agreste’s manor and then kissed him without his consent before sending the picture to every female on his contact list, Lila Rossi also lied to me directly about being injured to separate me from Ladybug.”

“Wait, so on top of sexual harassment and possible stalking charges she could be possibly accused of aiding a terrorist?”

“Correct, but Ladybug and I agreed not to say anything at first because neither one of us could say for certain if she was trying to separate us or be seen carried by a hero so that she could get fifteen minutes of fame, we didn’t want to make that accusation and be incorrect since it’s a rather big one.”

“Why bring it up now?”

“Seeing as her track record is to lie and make things up, Aurore, I’m certain that photo is false and that she created evidence to frame the girl she sees as a threat in order to get rid of her; I’m angry that the school has mishandled this situation, as this is the second time Marinette has been accused of a supposed crime without investigation where Lila Rossi is concerned.”

“I know of the first, Marinette had told me about it, I cannot believe Principal Damocles and Madam Bustier made the call they did without pulling the CCTV footage from the security desk.”

“Indeed. But I’m here to say that Ladybug and I both publicly denounce the Ladyblog, from here on out, because we don’t endorse tabloids of any kind. Nor do we support or endorse bullying, which Alya Cesaire has been doing to Marinette ever since the accusations against her were made, so any more news on Ladybug and I that is correct will be delivered through TVi or through The Catbug News.”

“Oh, my blog? But I just post memes.”

“Well, Aurore, now you’re going to be our go-to; if you promise to help with submitting akuma locations, tips to avoid being akumatized, and a lot more cat memes.”

While his little stunt with the memes was entirely what she expected, though it was fair for him to ask those to continue because they were hilarious (something she would deny if asked), she had been so touched that she’d suited up and hugged him for a straight ten minutes without a single word before she remembered herself. “For Marinette, she wanted me to talk to you, I was talking with her about everything and she’s a little embarrassed because your faith in her made her cry off her make-up.” He’d gotten a funny shine to his eyes before nodding and purr-omising to stop by too on a night he didn’t have a ton of homework to do, then they patrolled as usual, Ladybug had made an appearance at Aurore’s window and given her own interview.

Talking about the emotional trauma, the fact that Marinette had lured no less than three akuma butterflies, and that she was ashamed that the reporter she once trusted had gone so far as to try and attack a business without proof or evidence. The heroine had gone on to agree with Chat, that The Catbug News would be the go-to source along with TVi for any official news that came from the heroes directly, before she looked right at the camera. “I also want it known that Rena Rouge and Carapace, along with Queen Bee for obvious reasons, have been permanently retired and will no longer be seen.” While she couldn’t have used them again after Hawkmoth learned their identities with Miracle Queen, something she’d planned to talk to them about, she’d purposefully made that public as a definite revenge move.

Hawkmoth had tried but with Ladybug and Chat on city watch, patrolling houses of all former heroes, there hadn’t been any akuma that spouted up because she was purifying them before they could reach a target.

That had all been two days ago, now Marinette was enrolled in classes online as the Ministry did their investigation into both incidents, the teenager stared until the screen blurred after a busy day of talking with agents and her new therapist; everyone was on self-harm watch, afraid she’d resort to cutting or starving herself out of misery. Gentle tapping at her skylight made her look up at the glowing green eyes, it was dark enough that they were the only visible thing in the square panel, Marinette moved up onto her bed and pushed the window open before gesturing the hero to enter.

He hesitated a moment, for good reason since this was Marinette and not Ladybug, they’d only had maybe three or four meetings outside of the suit; but he did take up her offer when the thunder rumbled, his lean form landing on his knees so he kept his boots off her blankets. “Uh, hi Princess, I wanted to check on you; Ladybug pointed out-“ He didn’t get to finish his statement at all as she threw herself at him with a wail, finally able to express her gratitude properly as she clung to him, his stiff posture faded as he wrapped his arms around her gently and rubbed her back.

“Ch-chat why is this happening? What did I- what did I do wrong?” It was a question she wondered for a while now, just what happened that led to the universe throwing all this at her, why was it that she always had to fight and struggle for every little thing? His grip tightened and a low croon vibrated through him, not quite a growl and not quite a comforting hum, something between that was a strange mix of human and cat.

His voice was rough and she felt his tears as he sniffled. “Nothing, Marinette, you have done nothing wrong; I am so sorry that this happened, that I let it get this bad without trying to do something about it sooner.” Like always he was trying to take the punishment and blame, in and out of the suit he was trying to keep all the fault and punishment off her, it was both heartwarming and heartbreaking enough that Marinette’s tears grew and her body broke into heaving sobs against his shoulder.

Calming down took a long time, especially since it led to calming him down too now that he was worked up from her own tears and misery, Marinette stroked his hair gently and made sure to help him dry his own eyes. “It’s not your fault, Chat, you had hero things to do and you have a life outside the suit that I don’t know about; but I can promise you that I don’t blame you, or anyone really, except Lila and now Alya and the other. Except Adrien, he did call me to apologize and promise he’d try and come up with something to help, but he was also the only one who knew that she was a liar aside from me. He was right though, in the beginning at least, because she should have lied herself into a corner by now if the teachers and students had paid attention at all. It wasn’t until the first expulsion incident that it got really bad, she accused me of cheating on a test and then stealing her grandmother’s pendant as well as pushing her down the stairs, Adrien tried to speak up for me but Principal Damocles wouldn’t listen.” Marinette couldn’t stop the soft blush or the warmth in her face, even if he didn’t like her back she was touched that he’d tried to do something.

Chat coughed into his hand and glanced around the room. “You a fan of his, Princess?” He nudged her and Marinette decided that she had to trust her partner with something.

“Well, I’m his friend… I hope. But, uh, I wanted to be more; at least, before he met Kagami and asked me to help him on his date with her. I mean, I like him and would love to hold his hand in a totally non-platonic way, but his happiness is more important and if he likes Kagami then I’m not going to interfere with that either.” Kagami was her friend and they had a long talk with a promise at the end, regardless of who Adrien chose (even if it wasn’t one of them) they would be friends and they would not treat whoever he dated with any negative attitude, Marinette was tired of everything she did being about a boy and all her negatives supposedly being about a boy.

There was a high-pitched sound, not unlike a tea kettle boiling, that made her look at Chat; his face was flushed and his pupils were shot wide, tail jerking and ears twitching. “You- him? For how long? If I might ask, I mean, I’m just- I thought you liked guitar boy.” Marinette tilted her head at the silly cat as she thought of Luka, then of the strange up and down relationship with Adrien that she had, before she smiled fondly.

It was sort of embarrassing but it was nice to talk about. “I, uh, didn’t like him at first; I didn’t even know who he was, I followed his father for fashion but most of my stuff is women’s wear so I wasn’t much for watching the men’s portion of runways. I thought he put gum on my seat and when Chloe and Sabrina giggled about it, well, I really just laid into him and didn’t even let him say anything before I accused him of being a bully. But, well, it was after you and Ladybug saved Ivan and Mylene the second time… I forgot my umbrella and it was raining. Adrien was- I wasn’t going to listen to him, but he went out of his way to admit the truth to me, he could have just gone on his way and not confessed anything at all.” Marinette would never forget that gentle, almost pleading expression, that he’d worn.

The lonely Prince trying to make friends. “He didn’t have to try and clear the air between us, he could have made friends with everyone else and ignored me, but he did try to make things right; then he, well, he offered me his umbrella. Since that afternoon I was lost, I fell for him really hard to the point that I still struggle to even talk around him, I mean… I know I’m not perfect but I want to be for him and I’m terrified that if I confess he’d tell me no and then decide that it was too awkward to even be my friend anymore.” A fear that she knew was sort of silly with how valuable Adrien held his friends, something she probably didn’t need to worry about at all, but it was one she couldn’t ignore.

Chat’s blush hadn’t quite died down but he had lost the shocked look, which was sort of a relief, Marinette looked at him and wondered if maybe he’d seen her with Luka sometime and jumped the gun on who she liked. “I don’t think he’d do that to you from what I’ve seen of him, but I won’t push you to confess or anything because that’s not fair to you.” Hearing him say that just brought another wave of emotions down on her that made a swell of relief flood her, she wasn’t at school and that meant no more set-ups by Alya, she could finally do things at her own pace.

“Thank you, Chat. My best friend-“ The words choked quiet and she drooped. “F-former. My former best friend, Alya, was really pushy when it came to trying to get me to confess to him. It’s a relief to hear you say that because you’re the first one.” His hand settled on her back and Marinette sank into his hold, he laid back and kept his feet off the bed as he pulled her into a cuddle with one hand carding through her now loose hair.

Marinette sighed as the exhaustion from stress finally took over, lids drooping as Chat purred her to sleep.

Working on her Physics, puzzling through the equation she had to do, Marinette completely missed her Maman calling out to her and missed the opening of her door. “Hey Marinette!” Adrien’s voice registered after all of two minutes and she abruptly shrieked as she turned, feet tangling in her blankets as she also tried to stand up, a painful kiss with the floor was inevitable until she was practically snatched out of the fall and pulled into a leaning position against Adrien. “It’s just me, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mouth opening and closing rapidly, her face flushing with color since she was most definitely wearing her Chat Noir onesie that she’d made and never planned for anyone to see, the teen struggled against her blanket snare before shaking her head and clearing her throat.

“You’re fine! I mean, it’s fine- not that you aren’t fine- I mean, uh-“ His hands squeezed her shoulders and Adrien’s fond smile made her brain blank as he chuckled, his finger pressed to her lips and his bangs falling just so as he tilted his head. It was not a look she’d associate with Adrien, since she had only fantasized about his romantic gestures, but it was familiar in a way that she couldn’t quite place.

His cheeks were pink and she felt her own flame in response to his blush. “You’re so cute, Marinette.” Somewhere she thought a record scratched loudly, her heartbeat thundering in her ears at his words as they registered, she wasn’t even sure what color her face was anymore because she was sure that it was purple with how hard it was to breathe all of a sudden. “Uh, wait, I-“ A frantic sort of panic ruined the soft look on his face. “I mean- you are cute but I didn’t want to- I have an idea on how to really end the thing with Lila!” How did that equate to her being cute, she didn’t quite know, but all of a sudden she couldn’t tear her focus from the possible end to it all.

Marinette blinked rapidly and he took that as a sign to continue. “You heard Alix, Alya, and the others; she admitted she took that photo of you to them, they quoted her and Alya had video proof Lila verbally admitted it.” This made her nod warily since she knew that much, it was why the girls had gone on a crusade against her and reported it to the Principal. “It’s illegal in France to take pictures without anyone’s consent, why do you think fans don’t flood my photoshoots and paparazzi are practically non-existent unless they crowd me asking for my allowance?” Everything in her swelled and she couldn’t help but throw herself at him with a squeal of joy because, holy shit, she had everything she needed.

“Adrien Agreste, you genius, I could kiss the hell out of you right now!”

His arms had wrapped around her to hold her steady, as she’d thrown hers around his neck in her jump, so there was no escaping her words as she floundered in a panic and her brain scrambled for something to say. “I wouldn’t stop you, in fact I’d kiss you back if you did.” His voice made her pause, his words registered once her heartbeat muted a little for her poor brain, and then she found herself pulling back to stare up at him as he looked back at her. He slid one hand up to take one of her hands from behind his neck, kissing her knuckles as he wove their hands together and brought it to his mouth, her ears were ringing and she was struggling to even breathe.

A part of her worried that this was all a dream, that she’d wake up and be heartbroken, but when he smiled and leaned down a little she couldn’t find it in her to care. “With your permission?” His request was a whisper and his breath tickled her lips as his forehead pressed to hers, Marinette swallowed as she dipped her head a little.

“Please?”

He sighed into the kiss and she whined softly against his mouth, his lips were warm and soft and perfect, the whine faded to a satisfied hum of delight because she was finally kissing Adrien Agreste. One kiss became two, two became a few more, and soon she found that she quite liked when his hand pressed to her lower back and that he practically purred when she sank her hands into his hair. It was clumsy and wet, their teeth often scraped together as he angled his head to explore her, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with her tongue but she didn’t care. It was perfectly imperfect for a first kiss.

Loud ringing from his cell made him wince and look at the alarm. “I told the Gorilla I’d be out before we couldn’t use traffic as an excuse, I really have to go, but look into suing her for use of your picture without consent. I’ll call you when I finish eating and we can talk about, well, us.” Marinette nodded and practically swooned as he turned to descend from her room, her face was warm and she was really happy, it was amazing. “Oh, uh-“ He peeked at her over the top of the floor. “I love your onesie, it’s really cute with a soft material.” Then he was gone and she was left staring down at herself, realizing she’d just kissed Adrien Agreste while wearing a Chat Noir onesie with cat ears on the hood and a fluffy belt tail that was very detail specific.

Tikki was shaking her head as she emerged from her hiding place, the string of silk lanterns were a great way to offer Tikki more than one place to hide if someone came in, they were all different colors and some had tealights while others didn’t; the Kwami giggled fondly when Marinette abruptly turned and returned to her schoolwork. Adrien still had to eat lunch and Marinette didn’t even know where to begin with pressing charges against Lila for the picture, whether it was the police she had to talk to or just a lawyer, but she had time to find out. “I’m happy for you, Marinette, even if the circumstances leading to this aren’t ideal. Maybe things will be better now.” A dreamy sigh escaped her and the teen knew that schoolwork was a bust until she and Adrien finally talked, choosing to take a break for lunch.

“Thank you, Tikki, I’m going to head downstairs. I’ll bring up some cookies for you.”

Hearing her Maman in the kitchen, grinning at the plate of bao on the table, the teen walked up and began helping with stuffing the remaining pouches of dough after washing her hands and tugging up her sleeves. “Maman, uh, Adrien kissed me.” It wouldn’t do to try and hide anything from her parents, not now that she had their trust in her again, if she wanted to hide being Ladybug and the Guardian than she’d have to admit about the relationship possibly changing. Her mother’s smile was warm and Marinette giggled as her Maman bumped her hip against her since their hands were now covered in filling.

Marinette heard the soft hum, affectionate and loving, before her Maman finally replied to her confession. “He told us when he dashed out that he liked you and wanted to take you on a date sometime when he was free, if his Father agreed to it, Tom nearly stopped him from leaving in order to ask him what the wedding colors would be.” That made her choke and very nearly fling pork filling into the air, laughter from the elder made her look and glare at the mischief in her expression. “Sorry Marinette, I couldn’t resist at all, but he did tell us about the date request. I’m happy for you, baobei, and if you need to talk to us about anything please don’t think we won’t listen to you first.” Marinette knew exactly what her Maman was talking about, since she told them about Evillustrator and they had been there for the Chat Noir fiasco, the elder woman had pulled her aside and talked about consent and STI’s as well as birth control.

While the topic had been embarrassing to endure, she was only fourteen and just the thought of kissing Adrien was enough to get her light-headed, she knew it came from a place of love and wanting her to be educated. Especially since Marinette knew that Alya and Nino had already done the horizontal tango, because Alya had gone right to the girl squad and told them in vague terms what happened, while her Maman knew because Marinette had asked if fourteen and fifteen were too young for that sort of thing. “I know that and I’m sorry I made you and Papa feel like you did something that made it so I didn’t trust you, I just wanted to try and handle it on my own since that’s what I thought I had to do, thank you for understanding. Oh!” Marinette had almost forgotten about the picture thing. “Adrien suggested I should look into pressing charges against Lila for taking a photo without my consent because it’s illegal in France, we know the photo is fake but the school doesn’t think so, if we press charges then she’ll have to admit it was false.” A considering look grew on her Maman’s face before she leaned down to kiss Marinette’s forehead and smiled.

“That boy is a genius, baobei, I never thought of that. I’ll discuss it with Officer Raincomprix after you return to your studies. Now I know you’re waiting on a phone call, instead of helping me why don’t you wash up and take some of the cooked bao to your room.” Marinette grinned and washed her hands after setting aside the last bun she was working on, taking three cooked bao for herself to munch on, she also snagged a few cookies as well as a small bowl of noodles before dashing upstairs. Tikki took her prizes to the shelf that sat just above the trash can, a small toothbrush had been modified to act as a duster so the Kwami could just brush her crumbs into the trash, Marinette pushed her keyboard aside and started eating as she turned on the demo album Jagged had sent her so she could work on the cover art.

Chiming made her answer the video call, Adrien was flushed and she realized he had the phone angled so she could be seen by the others in the room with him, Gabriel Agreste was seated behind his desk and Marinette nearly choked swallowing a mouthful of food. Adrien flushed in a slightly panic. “Sorry Marinette! I didn’t think to text you first, are you okay?” His concern was sweet and she gave him a thumbs up as she downed some water to regain her ability to talk and breathe.

He didn’t look convinced. “I’m okay Adrien, you just startled me, I wasn’t exactly expecting to be seen by too many people.” The unspoken indication to her pajamas were there and didn’t need to be verbalized.

“You are supposed to be comfortable in your own home, Miss Dupain-Cheng, I shouldn’t have asked Adrien to call you while I am an audience without proper warning. I merely wanted to ask you of your intentions with my son.”

Marinette blinked and then again, realizing Gabriel had sort of asked her a serious question. “Well, sir, I just was hoping to at least try and go on a few dates to see if we’re a compatible couple. I really like Adrien, not just because of his looks but because he was kind and he went out of his way to apologize to me for a rather dumb jump of conclusions on my part when he could have just ignored me for the rest of the year. He’s been nothing but kind, patient, and understanding while I really just fumbled around like a spazz worried about being perfect to make him look my way.” It was something she’d been fighting to admit to herself since her therapy visit a few days back, that she was so scared of disappointing people that it made her lose all will to say no or made her do stupid things to try and impress others, it was something her therapist wanted to work with her on specifically.

“Would you be adverse to attending dinner at our home, with your parents, on Thursday? I would very much like to meet you again, in person, with your parents to work out the boundaries and rules. I’d also like to offer some advice in dealing with the public reaction that will no doubt come when it reaches social media that you two are in a relationship.”

Dinner with Adrien and his Father? It almost made her want to hurl that he was, apparently, approving of their relationship being a thing. “Let me, uh, Maman is downstairs; let me find out if she and Papa have anything planned for Thursday.” Marinette took the phone with her as she hurried down the steps. “Maman? Do we have dinner plans for Thursday at all?” The elder turned around and Marinette turned the phone to show just who was on the call.

“Ah, hello again Adrien. Hello Monsieur Agreste. We do not, baobei, would you be asking for a date evening or is this for us to get acquainted with Adrien’s father?” The ridiculous levels of motherly intuition were still a shock and Marinette was wondering if maybe she wasn’t so slick in hiding her hero life, if she was hiding that from Maman’s apparent psychic abilities then it was where any and all good luck had to be going.

“I’d very much like to meet you and your husband in person, Madam Cheng, as well as discuss any boundaries or rules we’d like in place.”

“I think that’s a lovely idea, Thursday evening is perfectly fine, Tom and I can bring desert. Are there any food allergies we need to worry about?”

“None at all, Madam Cheng, do my chefs need to know anything to avoid?”

“Only that Marinette is extraordinarily picky with her vegetables will not touch brussel sprouts no matter how they’re prepared for her.”

“Maman! You’re embarrassing me.” Marinette’s whine earned a chuckle from the older woman along with a forehead kiss and a one-arm hug since she had one hand with bao filling on it still.

A blush had to be on Marinette’s face because she felt warmer. “Oh baobei, I’m your Maman and it’s my job to be embarrassing, I love you.” That made the teen tug at her hood in a guilty sort of way, she hadn’t meant to imply anything.

“I love you too, Maman.” The mumbled reply earned another chuckle from the elder woman.

“I shall ensure that the menu is acceptable to everyone, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Adrien and I still have a few things to discuss, he will be calling you after his fencing lessons today I’m afraid.”

Marinette nodded and ended the call after exchanging goodbyes. “I’m going to go finish lunch now.” Her Maman’s laughter followed her up the stairs and the teen quickly began to shovel food into her mouth.

School had become a warzone.

Adrien stalked by Kim, Max, and Alix as they murmured in low voices at their lockers; it had been a week since the incident and he was no less angry about how everything had turned out. Juleka and Rose were whispering with wide eyes and visual concern for the state of the tension in the room, Nathaniel was walking with his head ducked and hiding behind Ivan as the taller boy comforted the very flustered Mylene. Alya’s rampage hadn’t quite ended yet after he, in a protective decision that was admittedly very petty the more he thought back about doing it, publicly shamed her blog while in his other alias; the Ladyblog had gone from the number one source of Ladybug information to bottom of the bucket after TVi and the heroes had gotten done with it. The reporter was still stomping around spitting fire at anyone who so much as blinked at her wrong, Nino had backed away from trying to talk her down and instead could be found with his headphones on at his seat, Lila was happily sitting in Marinette’s former seat talking about how she and Ladybug were fighting after what they’d done to poor Alya when the reporter was only doing the right thing and making sure a bully was exposed.

People were wary of Lila, now Alya too, after the TVi return fire; naturally so after the station tore apart the interview that rocketed Alya to fame just the night before and Adrien knew that none of his class had seen it yet with just how they were not shouting or even attracting akuma yet. When they did, though, it would be even uglier. The station had contacted Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Prince Ali’s PR team, and even the Italian Embassy just to prove what happened when a reporter never researched or checked their facts.

“Adrien, you’re still going to help me study today, I cleared my schedule for this afternoon.” Lila had waited for everyone except the teacher to enter the room, to hear the implication that he’d offered to help her before this, usually he would either make an excuse or he’d play along to avoid a scene. But after what she had done and the trouble she caused, hearing the anguished tears and seeing Marinette break down because people she thought were her friends hadn’t even believed her, Adrien was done playing nice.

There was no reasoning with someone who was proving to be a problem in the worst ways. “I never offered to help you study after you lied your way into my home and got my father’s assistant and my bodyguard in trouble because of it, Lila, I deal with enough stalker fans and I’m not going to tolerate my classmates doing the same.” Throwing the word stalker in there was all he needed to do to throw another wave of tension in the room, Chloé and Sabrina both jolted in their seats after they had dealt with a stalker at the hotel during the blank period after the blonde transformed on television, the rest of the class stared as Adrien leveled Lila with a look.

A touch of anger and disgust was blanked before a false confusion and whimper made her look very much like a victim, the fake tears were a decent touch. “I have CCTV footage from the mansion of everything that you said in the hall, when you first told Nathalie that you were there to help me catch up on my work and then when you told me father that Nathalie asked you to tutor me. Along with kissing me without my consent, as well as taking a photo of me without my consent, then sending it to every female on my contact list specifically? Every action of yours has proven that you’ll do and say anything to look good and get what you want, which obviously is me, but I’m no possession and I’m not going to tolerate some fangirl use me as a means to get famous.” He wasn’t shouting at all and his anger was quiet, calmer despite the intensity behind his words, it was very similar to his Father and Adrien could see that Lila was shaking.

But it wasn’t his place to fully expose her, it wasn’t his place to make the class see just yet how badly they’d messed up, he looked right at Ivan in the back row. “Ivan, can we switch seats? I don’t feel safe with Lila hovering behind me.” The taller boy goggled for a moment and then nodded while gathering his things as Adrien did the same, trading places and waiting for the teacher to enter without another word, Alya was staring at Lila who was frantically trying to regain control of the situation until Madam Bustier walked in with a few people.

Showtime was here and it was a lot sooner than he’d thought, which he should have expected after his Father heard the extent of just what Lila had done and caused, the AGRESTE legal team had been launched into action with lawsuit after lawsuit on behalf of the company as well as Adrien personally and the Dupain-Cheng family. 

Adrien didn’t hesitate to turn the recorder on his tablet, for Marinette to see later, since it wouldn’t go public. “Lila Justine Rossi you are hereby under arrest for two counts of unlawful photography, one count of verbal harassment, one felony count of truancy, multiple counts of false signatures on legal documentation, and one count of malicious intent to slander an innocent party.” Adrien blinked at just how much they were slamming on her now as her Mother, he could only assume by the quiet stare and droop of her shoulders, watched with a blend of horror and sadness.

Lila didn’t disappoint at all. “I’m the daughter of a diplomat, you can’t arrest me!” The real fear in her voice made it sort of a shriek.

“I suggest you remain quiet, as anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law, your diplomatic immunity was revoked the moment your truancy was revealed and once the French Court is done with you there will be a ban on your VISA as well as your Mothers and you will face justice under the Italian court system per the ruling of the Italian Embassy in accordance with France’s president.” Having her out of Paris was another plus, Adrien would admit, no akuma would pop up in her whole anger and hatred thing and he did cast a suspicious look around the school. But there were no signs of black butterflies, even Hawkmoth seemed to be avoiding this situation.

As she was handcuffed and her things were gathered, tears pooling in her eyes, the girl seemed to finally decide the truth was necessary. “I never took that picture of Marinette, it was photoshopped after Alya sent me a picture of her doing some stupid Chinese ritual thing, she bullied me first and-“ The officer didn’t even allow her to continue speaking.

“We have recorded evidence, from a video posted to the Ladyblog, where you specifically and verbally admitted to taking said picture which led to a vicious slander attempt of a local business. Please keep moving or I will be forced to carry you to the cruiser.” Adrien watched as the officers led them out and Lila finally quieted, he saved the recording to send to Marinette and made sure it went before he deleted it, the room was quiet enough that the buzzing from the fluorescent lights was deafening. Even Madam Bustier was staring outright at the door, sinking into her chair with a very heartbroken expression on her face, but she’d helped lead to this and Adrien wasn’t exactly happy with her either.

Adrien jolted in an instant. “Wait, that psycho photo shopped a picture of my girlfriend at a funeral for her tài lǎo lao?” He noticed the looks and glared at all of them. “Traditional Chinese funerals include burning joss paper.” It really explained the whole reason that Sabine, Marinette, and Tom were so infuriated by everything; Adrien really wanted to go cataclysm her, consequences be damned.

It was Alix who jolted out of her stupor first. “Guys there’s no way Marinette will ever forgive us.” The room burst into frantic murmurs of ‘oh God what have we done’ and ‘how could we have been so stupid’ around him, Alya was shaking in her seat and Nino wasn’t moving, but the worst of all was their teacher who was whiter than paper with tears sliding down her face as she clenched her eyes tightly. There was a light tap at the door before a severe man in a proper suit, along with another severe man in a less formal dress style, gestured to the redhead.

The less formal man entered the room and closed the door behind him. “Good morning students, I am Baxter Kennedy and I’ll be taking over the role as your teacher for the rest of the year, we are aware of what just occurred only minutes ago and as such I have had the Ministry of National Youth and Education send in a psychologist who specializes in youth groups to spend the rest of the day with you. We are quite understanding that nothing will really stick if we try teaching today.” Adrien watched as the severe man returned without Madam Bustier and leaned into his seat.

“I am Doctor Oscar Bennet, I would like you to introduce yourselves before we begin.”

He hadn’t expected a therapy session today but Adrien figured his input wouldn’t be as important. Oh, how wrong he had been though.

Doctor Bennet made it apparent quick quickly that while Adrien’s reasoning for being quiet was sound when dealing with the paparazzi and tabloid spreads, as denying it only made it seem truer, a school bully was an entirely different beast and his request for silence had helped bring things to this point. The model was left exhausted, picked apart mentally, and wondering if he could schedule sessions with Doctor Bennet privately because he’d actually learned a lot about himself and his reactions in his short talk with the man.

Like his relationship with his Father, which was almost nonexistent by this point, was actually a problem that needed to be addressed because Gabriel was prioritizing his grief and his company over his relationship with his own offspring. That his lack of control in things like his attire, his diet, his hobbies, was leading him to being a potential control freak when he did finally gain independence or not being able to exist on his own at all.

Alya had spent ten minutes into lunch screaming at him, blaming Adrien for not speaking up as to why her blog was ruined and she’d lost her best friend, until Doctor Bennet pulled her aside and disappeared into the room set up for him. Alya’s parents arrived not long after and Adrien shook his head, Nino looked a little disappointed but even agreed that he should have trusted Marinette and not blamed everything on her jealousy over Adrien. Nobody else tried talking to him, which was good, or even asked him to talk to Marinette for them.

Things were going to get better, he knew, now that the right steps were in place. Principal Damocles and Madam Bustier, as well as the rest of the staff, were required to take remedial training seminars on bullying; the Principal had been forced to forfeit his position to the man assigned by the National Youth and Education Ministry, Oswald McKinney. Madam Bustier’s teaching license was being revoked until she completed multiple courses on bullying, how to handle claims of plagiarism or theft and even destruction of private property. Chances of her being given to a higher-level class were slim after this, if she even was allowed to teach again, but that wasn’t his concern.

Adrien grinned at the big smile on Marinette’s face as he dipped into the bakery for lunch period and slipped a rose into her hand with a wink, her face flushed and he couldn’t help but press a kiss to her nose, he did squeak when she hauled him down by the collar to leave a searing kiss on his lips before she scampered up into the apartment with a giggle and a reminder that Kagami was waiting for him to join them.

Things weren’t perfect but they were getting there.

[ohwereusingourmadeupnames]

Skin Pressed Against Me Tight 

Pairing: Peter Parker/Tony Stark (Starker) Rating: Mature (M) Word Count: ~12K Notes: This is my porn star au fill for @starkerfestivals bingo. Idk how porn turned into Starker being parents, but it did - hope you enjoy! Warnings: NSFW stuff for sure, bottom Tony, non-linear narrative  Summary: 

Peter Parker is a young 18 y/o breaking into the porn industry. Things change for him when he shoots a scene with Tony Stark, illustrious size queen. This is the story of their relationship told in both perspectives.

Or, the one where Peter Parker has a huge cock and rocks Tony Starks world - romance absolutely ensues.

Read it on AO3 here

2019

Getting into porn at the ripe age of 18 was never Peter’s intention. May worked her ass off to try and put him through college, but a neonatal nurse didn’t make that much money. The last thing Peter wanted was for her to always be working – so he took funding into his own hands.

It started out as cater-waiter jobs – he pulled off a suit well enough to stand around and look nice while holding a tray of champagne, or if they were feeling frisky, appetizers. The money wasn’t the best, but it was something. After four months of doing that specifically, he picked up a job at a director’s home – the type of director he didn’t know until he walked in to see all the waiters in only small underwear and bowties. Not ashamed of what he worked so hard to get, Peter took to the uniform like it was meant for him – and maybe it was, his huge cock was highlighted all night.

When all was said and done, his favorite appendage and willingness to do pretty much whatever was asked of him made Peter one of the best porn actors to work with. He started out small – masturbation and cam services for a select few clients. The demand for that became too much to keep up with, so Clint, the director who drew him into the business to begin with, started to pair him up with people. Beautiful men, specifically. Peter hadn’t known about his sexuality until he felt a warm ass wrap around his cock – something told him that he’d found the key to his sexual heart.

When users started to comment on the size of his cock, Peter started to shoot with specific men within the industry – ones so gloriously known as size queens. In the back of his mind, Peter hoped for the chance to partner with Tony Stark; he’d been watching Man of Iron videos for most of his adolescence. Tony Stark could take a dick – and not for the first time, Peter wondered what it would be like for him to take his.

Surprisingly, it only took Peter mentioning the man’s name to make it happen. He hadn’t thought too much about his popularity, but when he told Ned about it later that night, his friend freaked out. “You’re one of the big studs now, Pete. Only well-known names get to work with Tony Stark.” Peter heard the dreaminess in his friend’s voice and laughed – in less than a week, he’d know exactly what it was like to work with the boisterous power bottom.

Walking onto the set the day of the shoot, Peter couldn’t keep his excitement from overflowing – he jerked off twice that morning to make sure his performance was top notch. The last thing he wanted to do was cum too early. Despite being young and able to go forever, he wanted to cast an air of maturity. The silver fox he was going to top was one of the best in the business – that meant he’d been around for a while. If anyone knew good sex, it was Tony Stark.

The smile swept off his face for a second when he walked into the room of the suite they’d deemed the dressing room. Tony was standing there in small shorts and a black tank top – his arms were rippling, the sight making Peter’s mouth water. He almost missed the words coming out of Tony’s mouth – “He’s so young, Pep. This can’t possibly be a good idea.”

It should have stung a little, the words and the fact that Tony looked up with a gasp when he realized someone else was in the room. Coloring, Peter nodded in his direction and retreated quickly – he didn’t want Tony to see the smile on his face. There was a mission now – Peter felt bound and determined to prove the older star wrong. The tingle of arousal that kissed his skin was a little different than before and he reveled in it – pleasing Tony would be the best experience of both of their careers; he’d make sure of it.

Tony found him a few minutes before they were set to start the cheesy lead up to the frame by frame fucking that would inevitably happen. Peter reached down to adjust himself, his overeager cock getting hyped up at just the sound of Tony’s voice. Turning his head away for a second, Peter took a deep breath, his features schooled when he looked back.

“Peter, right?” Tony asked, his hand settling between them. Peter looked at him for what felt like a solid minute, his eyes roaming over Tony until he felt satisfied.

Reaching between them, Peter shook his hand. “Yeah, Peter Parker. While we’re shooting, Pete is fine.” He kept Tony’s hand in his own for a few seconds longer than socially appropriate, his fingers squeezing lightly.

As if the touch opened the floodgates, Tony smiled at him, his head shaking. “You fucking rookies and your requests. We’ll see what comes out in the moment. Kid for you, probably,” Peter didn’t miss the wink sent his way, his cock reacting to the word before his brain could process it.

“Sure, and I’ll be sure to moan daddy real loud,” Peter rebutted almost instantly. He shouldn’t feel as warm as he did – no one else he’d ever paired with made him crazy the way he felt in that moment. The sizzle in his veins seared a little more the longer they stayed next to each other. Tony moved a little closer, his natural musk adding to the intoxication.

“There’s an entire fan base out there that would go wild for something like that, Pete,” Tony said in response, his hands moving to grip Peter’s elbow. Shit like that was common practice – they would be butt naked in front of each other in a few minutes, it was nice when his scene partners at least tried to ease the tension a little. The fact that it was Tony fucking Stark made it 100 times better – his hands were soft and squeezed him so nicely.

Peter’s head was swimming by the time Clint was calling them all to the center of the room for his pre-shoot pep talk. It consisted of the word ‘fuck’ and little else, so Peter let his mind wander, the only grounding agent the now familiar hand still tucked into his arm, Tony’s fingers slip-sliding across his skin like he’d been doing it his entire existence.

The lead up to their scene consisted of Tony walking in on a naked Peter who was just starting to get himself worked up on the very big, very empty bed. He didn’t need to pretend to be extremely turned on by the older man that wanted to join him on the bed – his eyes stayed glued to Tony as he settled against the headboard next to him. He didn’t move to take his clothes off, but Peter could see his impressive erection pressing against the small, too-tight shorts they were making him wear.

Without any prodding, Peter continued to fist his own cock in one hand while the other moved to Tony’s lap, his fingers skating over the bulge he couldn’t wait to see. He kept the rhythm slow, his focus more on the delicate tongue that was tangling with his own – Tony’s lips captured his own when he started to fondle him. The twitch he felt under his hand had him reaching into Tony’s pants to touch the soft flesh of an already rigid erection.

“Fuck,” Peter mumbled, the word captured by a swift move of Tony’s lips. The angle was a little weird, but the smooth velvet under his palm was more than enough to help him forget the crick in his wrist. Peter continued to run his hand up and down Tony’s length, gathering up the precum at the tip to ease the slide until a hand was reaching down to stop him. Tony gave him a heated look and pulled away just enough to get his tank top off.

He felt insanely greedy when he pulled his hand away from his own cock and ran his fingers over Tony’s newly exposed flesh. For someone that was no longer considered ‘young’ in the industry, Tony’s stomach was taut and well-muscled – the fact that he worked to keep his physique very obvious. He embraced the daddy thing and had thick patches of chest hair, the look a direct contrast to Peter’s practically hairless torso.

All of the sudden, Tony was turning – Peter moved his hands to let him sit across his naked thighs, the fabric of the annoying little shorts soft enough to make the move pleasurable. Tony settled close enough to put his elbows over Peter’s shoulders and palm the back of his head. Their faces were already right near each other, the slight shift bringing them so close that Peter felt Tony’s breath trickle down his throat.

Palming firm ass cheeks, Peter gave Tony’s muscle a light tap – the slightest wiggle making him moan, his hips pressing up. Tony ground down against him, warm chocolate colored eyes staring into his own. Not able to stand the tease any longer, Peter surged forward and took Tony’s lips in a kiss. The fingers in his hair tightened, Tony using that leverage to pull Peter closer, the angle of their heads perfect for the passionate kiss.

Peter worked the shorts down Tony’s thighs as much as he could with his legs stretched out the way they were – his fingers were desperate to press into bare skin. Huffing, Peter grabbed the back of Tony’s thighs and flipped their positions, impatient hands pulling shorts and underwear off in one fell swoop. A groan left his mouth when he saw the expanse of Tony’s flesh in person. The pixilation of a computer screen would never do it justice.

Fingertips danced down his legs and across stiff arches, his thumb digging in ever so slightly. Tony drew his bottom lip between his teeth in an attempt to keep the noises in, but Peter wasn’t having that. He reached up and tugged that lip from Tony’s grasp. “I want to hear you,” Peter stated, his voice deeper than he’d ever heard it.

Tony’s eyes flashed, a moan slipping from his lips in answer. Peter grinned and continued his exploration, his hands running back up Tony’s legs, across his hips, up the trail of hair on his lower stomach, and between his pecs. He pulled at his right nipple first, his fingers moving until it was a tight bud before moving onto the left one. His fixation brought moans out of them both, Tony’s cock jumping against Peter’s abs – a small streak of arousal brandishing the skin there.

Peter took Tony’s lips in another hot kiss, his hips settling between the v of Tony’s thighs, their cocks lining up. He let his hips roll forward. After a few minutes of chasing Tony’s tongue, Peter was leaking precum and slowly losing control over himself. Pulling away with a nip to Tony’s lip, Peter settled his head in the crease of Tony’s neck. Peter pressed his lips to the shell of his ear, the position perfect to whisper to him. “Straddle my face. I want to eat you out while you blow me. Put those pretty lips to use.” He pulled away with a laugh, Tony’s hand hitting his shoulder.

The transition wasn’t fumbly like Peter’s prior experiences. Peter rolled off of Tony and settled in the big pile of pillows at the head of the bed. He put a couple under his head so that he’d have a better ability to reach his destination – then, Tony settled over him, his ass in Peter’s face. Using both hands, he pulled Tony’s cheeks apart and went to work on teasing the already loosened hole. The thought of Tony slipping his fingers into himself in the ‘dressing room’ earlier making his cock twitch.

That must have spurred Tony on, the next thing he knew, plump lips and a warm tongue were caressing the tip of his cock. It broke up the rhythm of his tongue, a loud groan slipping from his chest. “Your dick is huge,” Tony murmured – for once, words that would probably be kept in the footage at the end. Thrusting up, Peter answered with his hips, Tony’s lips slipping further down his length as he did.

He tried his best to get lost in the salty taste on his tongue – Tony’s fluttering hole around him was rather nice. Tony’s lips, however, knew exactly what to do to pull him right to the edge. Peter felt like he could’ve leapt off the cliff of orgasm a few times, but Tony always pulled back at the last minute. Peter retaliated with a particularly deep thrusts of his tongue into Tony’s hole and the entire loop started over again.

Finally unable to take it any longer, Peter pulled away from his task, his chin and cheeks covered in his own spit – he could already picture the camera panning in on his face. Peter huffed out a breath and moved his hips away from the delicious suction. “You’ve gotta stop or I’m going to cum,” Peter admitted, two fingers pressing into Tony’s hole in hopes of a distraction for them both.

Sooner than Peter expected, Tony was on all fours in front of him, his hand reaching back to grasp onto his thigh. He seemed to be egging Peter on, the slightest bit of desperation he portrayed enough for him to quickly lube up his cock and line up against Tony’s entrance. The barely heard “fuck me, Pete” had him pushing in and breaching the tightest heat. Peter bit down into the side of his cheek to stop himself from coming.

Gripping Tony’s hips, Peter set a teasing pace, his hips pulling back slowly only to push forward hard, his fingers digging into supple skin. Tony pushed back against him, his hand still gripping Peter’s thigh tightly. The wild abandon that Tony took his cock with was too much – he wanted to wrap his arms around his middle and fuck him with abandon into the mattress. The more time past, however, the more Peter understood that Tony deserved to be thoroughly taken apart.

When he eventually picked up his pace, Peter leaned forward and started to work his lips and tongue over the back of Tony’s neck – the task just enough to keep him from finishing before he should. His hands gripped around the solid trunk below him, Peter using the momentum to bring Tony back against him harder with each thrust. The imperceptible heat building up in the middle of his stomach made him groan, his control almost completely gone.

Tony was right there with him, though – he reached behind him and grabbed Peter’s head, pulling him down. “I’m close, pull out and flip me over. I want you to cum on my chest,” Tony chocked out the words, Peter’s hips still moving. Quick to comply, Peter eased himself out and worked to turn Tony over – he barely thrust back inside before Tony was coming. Peter watched every splash of cum hit the older man’s chest before pulling out, tugging his cock once, and adding to the mess.

Unlike all of his other scenes before, Peter wanted to lean forward and press his lips against Tony’s again – arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him close made it seem like he might like that, too. Peter let his lips get carried away, a loud throat clearing the only thing pulling him back from the delightful task of kissing the life out of the man below him. “Alright, alright,” Clint said after Peter didn’t stop – the annoyance in his voice apparent.

After all was said and done, Peter was surprised by Tony approaching him. He was fully dressed and just about to leave for the day when he felt a hand on his elbow. “I know you walked in on me bitching about you to my manager,” Tony started, both of his hands sliding into his back pockets, the stance making his chest poke out a little. “I’m an asshole, I’ll admit that. You, uh – we’re much better than I expected.”

Peter watched him drag his bottom lip between his teeth and ached to reach across the space and use his thumb to soothe the redness that welled there. He shifted his position instead, his hands hanging loosely on the top of his thighs. “It’s okay – really. It served as good motivation.” Peter shot him a wink; his lips pulled into an eager smirk. Would it be pathetic to ask for his porn idol’s number?

That question was answered almost right after he thought it, Tony pressed a business card to his chest, his fingers staying there for an extra moment. “I’ll have Pep set up another scene. In the meantime – my personal is on there. If you’re interested in a repeat performance not in front of the cameras.”

Blinking, Peter gripped the card and nodded – there was no way in hell he was going to pass up and offer like that. He made sure to slip it into his pocket before shouldering his bag and walking out.

That went a lot better than he ever could have expected.

----

2025

The best part of his life with Peter was the never-ending adventure. At the age of 24, his husband was quickly excelling through the college program at MIT they were easily able to afford. Going to the fiscal services office each semester and paying with a thick stack of cash always felt more satisfactory than it probably should. The beaming smile on Peter’s face drove home the greatness of it – being able to provide something like that for his husband made all the work he’d done in his life worth it.

Things were slowly starting to change for them – though they still did scenes together, Tony and Peter both were trying to step away from the industry. Tony knew the daddy thing was only cute for a little while – his age was starting to become a thing that he couldn’t just look past. If it weren’t for the draw that he and Peter pulled as a tag team, he probably wouldn’t have lasted as long as he did. Settling down took some of the fun out of the job, anyway – not so suddenly, he didn’t want to share his body with just anyone.

Luckily, Tony spent enough time at Arizona State to get a degree before he delved into the world of porn. There weren’t too many people that recognized him, or were willing to admit it, at least – so stepping into the job world wasn’t nearly as hard as he thought it might be. What he always imagined being his fallback became something he could actually be proud of. Financial advising wasn’t the glitz and glam of full-time porn star – but it paid the pills and kept him out of the arms of too many random people.

It was Peter who made the suggestion to step away, first – which surprised the heck out of him. Despite getting married at such a young age, Peter was right at the peak of his career – if he wanted it, he could’ve taken the top billings for years to come. The man was absolutely gorgeous and would combat age with a grace that not a lot of people got to claim. And no matter how much he didn’t want Peter to be constantly fucking other men, it was part of the game – he loved the man enough to support him through it all.

Learning that Peter was just as weird about fucking other people made his heart warm – in all the time they’d been together, his husband never stopped surprising him. Of course, they were both so balls deep in the business that it took a while to slim down their scheduling and almost exclusively work with each other. Pepper wasn’t very happy about anything he did with Peter over the years, but she was surprisingly supportive when Tony spoke to her about their plan. He figured that after six years, maybe she was finally warming up to Tony’s other half.

In the two years of their marriage, Tony found himself finally understanding what Rhodey was always talking about when he spoke of his love for Natasha and the relationship they spent many years creating. Learning and living with another human being wasn’t something Tony every thought he’d be into. He looked at his friends and shook his head.

Then – he met Peter. Life was a lot more fun because of the younger man’s influence. While still a dramatic size queen, Tony let himself open up and start enjoying the little things in life – things like the same man’s arm slung across his stomach in the mornings and the enjoyable bickering about who was going to do the dishes. He spent a lot of time worrying about money and how people looked at him – Peter took that need away and kept reality within his grasp.

And while Tony got to fulfill the daddy fantasy with his husband whenever the man had the inkling, he was grateful that’s where the boat would soon be stopping. In all honesty, Tony yearned to be an actual dad – he’d been getting more and more jealous of the small children that ran around Rhodey and Natasha’s place. Peter was so good with kids and would make the ultimate father – Tony was sure of it.

Those were dangerous thoughts, however – he hadn’t brought up the topic with Peter; he didn’t know how.

Tony pushed them away and focused on the sauce he was stirring on the stove. Before she passed, his mom taught him all the family recipes. Over the years, Tony perfected a few of them and always fell back on Maria’s sauce when he needed something to clear his mind. It took a long time to make and needed almost regimented attention.

It was soothing, in a way – to let his mind get lost in the swirl of the increasingly thickening tomato paste on the stove. Tony felt more capable of tabling things that were unnecessary and focusing on the ones that were. Such as the front door opening and Peter walking through it.

Perking up a little, Tony grinned at his husband when he walked into the kitchen. He saw the look of hunger pass over Peter’s face, Tony aware that the sauce was only half the reason for it. In 6 years of being together and having frequent sex, Tony and Peter never got tired of each other. He felt wanted every second of being in Peter’s presence – they’d perfected physical connection so much that it seemed to make the craving more intense.

Peter wrapped his hands around Tony’s hips, his face settling into the side of his neck. Tony always liked the way he would drag in a deep breath and hold it – the huff of it warm air on his neck when Peter finally let it go making him shiver every time. He liked the idea of sitting deep within Peter’s chest, caught in the capillary beds, and transported through the systemic circulation until he was breathed back out into the open air.

Flat palms caressed his thighs, Peter using them to pull him back until they were flush against each other. “Hey, sweetheart,” Peter mumbled, his lips on Tony’s ear. In the early days, Peter took to whispering to him like that to keep the words he couldn’t hold at bay as between them as he could. It kind of became a thing after that – Tony liked the tingle it always sent down his spine, the intimacy of it a beautiful perk of being with someone so affectionate.

“Hey, yourself. How were classes?” Tony hummed and tilted his head; the nuzzling Peter was doing needed to continue.

He felt Peter take the space given to him, his wandering nose and lips mapping out a well-known path across his neck. “Good – I think I finally found a lab worth interning in. My biophysics professor is starting some new research up at the end of the semester that I would love to dive headfirst into.” Peter spoke with such clarity despite the teasing way he treated Tony’s sensitive skin.

Sighing, Tony leaned forward and turned the heat down – the sauce was at a point where he could let it sit for a while. He gave it one last stir, then turned in Peter’s arms, his own wrapping around wide shoulders. “Happy to hear it – I know you’ve been stressing over that for the past couple of months. Did you get your differential equations exam back?” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Peter’s nose – the gesture pulling the softest smile from his husband’s lips.

“I did – I got a 98. The points I lost were a little petty, but I’m not upset about an A. I appreciate all the help, by the way; I don’t think I ever thanked you properly,” Peter wiggled his eyebrows and drew him into a deep kiss, the caress of his tongue almost enough to sweep Tony’s feet out from under him. Damn Peter and his endless charm.

He let himself get lost in the drag of the facial hair Peter was starting to grow – it tickled his lips and he wondered if that’s how it was for Peter this whole time. It was sexy and if Tony got his way, Peter would be keeping the nicely developing beard.

The need for oxygen forced them apart. Not wanting to separate too much, Tony traced the flush that spread across Peter’s cheek with the edge of his thumb. His nose rubbed along Peter’s before he snuck in for another soft kiss. He felt a rush of happiness when Peter’s hands moved to grip him tighter. “I’m sure you’ll find many ways to thank me over the course of the semester, Pete. That class is only going to get harder.”

Hands slapping his ass pulled a solid laugh out of him – Tony jumped from the contact, his fingers gripping Peter’s cheeks for support. “You’re a little shit.” He slipped his tongue out to wet his bottom lip. A satisfying feeling rushed over him then; Peter’s eyes followed his every movement. “Proud of you, though. Want to celebrate with Mama’s pasta?”  

Peter’s eyes widened, a huge smile overtaking his face. “You’re making Maria’s sauce? I’m 100% game for that. I hope you made that baked chicken, too,” Peter replied eagerly. Tony moved out of his grip and pulled a hot pad onto his hand. The smell of lemon and parmesan flooded the kitchen, both of them making a satisfied little noise. “Smells amazing, Tones.”

Tony nodded his agreement, a content smile on his face. “It does – go get changed and I’ll pull everything out so we can eat.” He gave Peter a soft pat on his cheek, his husband rolling his eyes and grinning in return.

“Do I have time to shower, too? Or should I wait for you?” Peter stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, his arms wide and holding him there. Tony let himself look him over, Peter’s biceps were pulled deliciously tight by the posture he stood with. It really was too much sometimes, being married to such a good looking human.

Settling against the stove once more, Tony picked up the wooden spoon, his brain forcing him to look anywhere but in front of him – if he did, they’d never eat the food he spent a good bit of time making. “Waiting sounds nice. I’ll clean you up after we eat. You’re messy as hell, anyway.” Tony threw a wink over his shoulder and laughed when Peter made a disbelieving noise before turning and starting his trek up the stairs.

In obvious retaliation, Peter walked down the stairs in plain black shorts and a tight tank top, the roundness of his deltoids sinful and mouth-watering. He walked past Tony to the cabinet housing the plates, not even bothering to look at him, and went about setting the table. Shaking his head, Tony couldn’t stop the affectionate laugh that dripped from his lips. Even after all this time, Peter’s puppy act still made his heart race.

It was easy to get dinner on the table after that – Tony carried all the food in with an eager Peter trailing behind him with glasses of water. His husband never got to meet the illustrious Maria, but he understood her talents in the kitchen and went a little nuts whenever Tony brought her food to the table.

Peter was also smart enough to know that Tony only ever cooked comfort foods because something was up – though, he waited until they were into dinner a bit before bringing anything up. Tony knew it was coming when Peter complimented the chicken for the 20th time. Putting his fork down, Tony looked at him pointedly.

Without missing a beat, Peter did the same, his attention now fully on Tony instead of the food before him. “So – what’s up? We avoid your lineage like it doesn’t exist most of the time – you don’t cook this specific thing unless you’ve got something on your mind.” Peter reached across the table and grasped one of Tony’s hands in his. “Everything okay?”

Softening, Tony gave Peter’s hand a soft squeeze. “It’s fucking eerie, how well you know me,” Tony started, his other hand joining the masses on the table. “I’ve just been thinking about our last scene coming up and what comes next. Got a little lost up there.” He shrugged his shoulders, Tony hoping that his anxiety was not overtly apparent.

“I’ve been reading you since the first day we met, Tones – hard to miss all the obvious tells.” His eyes moved over the food on the table, a light smile on his face. “Delicious tells, though – I hope you know that.”

Tony barked out a laugh, his feet pulling his chair a little closer to Peter’s so he could reach over and grab his husband’s face in his hands. “I know, baby. Thank you.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips, then settled into his chair again.

Peter looked at him with wide eyes for a few seconds before he caught back up to where they were. He narrowed them then, “you’re trying to distract me.” Picking up his fork, Peter went about poking at the pasta – “What I was trying to say, before you so rudely interrupted, was that whatever we want comes next. I’ll be done with school at the end of the year, you’re in a job you like – it seems like the only place to go is up.”

Tilting his head, Tony let the words sink in – Peter stating it so simply made all the worrying he’d been doing seem a little silly. “There’s something specifically I want to bring up – but I’m a lot terrified. I – “ he shifted on his seat a little, the move just long enough to give him a second to muster up the courage to actually get the words out. “I think I want to have kids, Pete. I want to be a dad and I want to watch you be one, too. I know you’re young and we’ve never talked about it, but – its been stuck in my head on a loop for longer than I care to admit.”

He forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths once the words were out, his eyes not meeting Peter’s until he felt like he wasn’t going to hyperventilate. The happy look he was met with was not what he’d been expecting – Peter’s beaming smile made his eyebrows furrow, an excited smile waiting on standby.

“Tones – you should have said something. Ever since Nat brought baby Sue home, I’ve been dying to know what it’d be like.” He didn’t say anything further, just got up from his chair and reached a hand out, Tony taking it to join him. They tangled up in a tight hug, Tony pulling Peter as flush against him as he could.

Later that night, they collapsed sweaty to the mattress, Tony spooning behind Peter without worrying about the grossness that was covering them both. He pressed a soft kiss to Peter’s neck, a sigh falling from his lips. “You make me so fucking happy.”

Peter tugged his arm to pull him closer, the silent hum of appreciation the only needed reply.

----

2020

After that first scene together, Tony and Peter’s partnership blew up. Just like Tony figured, the daddy aspect of it pulled in a huge crowd that demanded more. Which wasn’t any skin off of his back – Peter genuinely liked Tony as a person and enjoyed the physical connection between them even more.

With the business card in hand, Peter dialed Tony’s personal number a couple of days after they left set. He sat in the same position two nights in a row, contemplating what was too soon and how much excitement would look like desperation. His resolve was quickly melting down to nothing, so he finally let his fingers move over the screen to enter the number. Three rings later, Tony picked up – the timber of his “hello” more than enough to make the anxious energy he was feeling worth it.

“Hey Tony – it’s Peter. Peter Parker.” He wanted to slap himself, words coming out of his mouth had never felt more awkward. It couldn’t be helped, his heart leapt up into his throat whenever he thought about Tony. Of course, it made sense that he’d become a babbling idiot the second he had the guy’s attention.

The chuckle on the other end of the line settled low in his stomach, for the first few seconds, he couldn’t tell if it was arousal or shame. It ended up bringing a smile to his face, though, so he tried to relax – things hadn’t gone to shit yet, he could do this.

“Peter Parker – I was starting to wonder if I was going to hear from you.” Tony’s voice sounded genuine across the line and helped to further relax him. There was something about the older man that made Peter feel comfortable – he couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but he knew he wasn’t about to let it go wandering out of his life if he could help it.

“I didn’t want to seem too eager. Even though I am.” He heard Tony laugh again, the sound kicking up his heart rate a couple of notches. “Is your offer still on the table? Meeting up off-screen, I mean,” Peter said, his voice cracking as he backtracked quickly, his cock already twenty steps ahead of him. He wanted to see Tony outside of the bedroom, too – more than anything, Peter wanted to make that clear.

Tony didn’t miss a beat – “For you, Peter Parker, I think that offer will always be on the table.” Tony spoke matter-of-factly, the tenor of his voice never waving.

“Really?” Peter found himself saying, a sharp blush rushing across his cheeks when he realized what he actually said. “This trying to be smooth thing is not working.” He stopped and let a laugh fall from his lips – if he didn’t find humor in it, he might die of embarrassment.

“I want to take you out to dinner. Then see if anything happens.” Peter reached up and smacked his hand across his forehead, each new sentence slipping from his mouth lamer than the last.

Regardless of how Peter felt, the babbling ended up being the thing to seal the deal. It wasn’t hard to believe that Tony didn’t usually date other people in the business – mixing love and scripted sex was usually more work and heartache than most people could deal with; but Peter felt pretty determined. He’d been around the business long enough to know that the connection he felt with Tony was unlike any other – Peter was too smart of a person to pass something like that up.

As the number of jobs they booked together started to go up, so did their interest in each other. It wasn’t strictly Peter, either – Tony was a lot more open and available than Peter initially thought he’d be. Their first date turned into incredible sex on Tony’s living room floor and the promise of another date the next day. Seeing each other every couple of nights quickly turned into staying over at the other person’s house and slowly slipping into the joys of domesticity.

The most surprising aspect of their relationship was the way Tony handled Peter doing scenes with other people. Walking into the relationship with open eyes was something, but actually dealing with it was an entirely different beast. Tony was at the point in his career where he could be choosy – Peter wasn’t. For the first few months of the thing they settled into, Peter needed to take everything thrown his way. Despite putting off college for a little while, Peter still wanted to make the time he worked count.

Coming home after a particularly unsatisfying scene, Peter immediately stepped into the shower. He didn’t see Tony in the direct path to the bathroom and didn’t bother to look any further – Peter still wasn’t all that comfortable smelling like someone else when he pulled Tony into his arms. They hadn’t been together all that long, but it already felt like he was taking something away from them every time he went in front of the cameras.

Peter ducked under the water, his body working on autopilot. The water beat down on the top of his head, the warmth so nice on his skin that felt taut and drawn for the past couple of hours. He was distracted enough to not hear the door open – a grunt fell out of his mouth when arms wrapped around his waist. When his heartrate settled, Peter gripped Tony’s arms, his fingers desperately tight.

“Let me finish up in here, Tones – I thought maybe we could have Chinese.” Peter said the words, but each one of them lost a bit of meaning as Tony’s touch took him apart. In that moment, the last thing he wanted to do was let Tony go anywhere – the guilt of someone else’s hands on him felt washed away, Tony’s touch on him the magic eraser he needed to forget.

“It’ll go a little quicker if I help. I have something a little more fun in mind when we’re done,” Tony mumbled, his lips on the wet skin of Peter’s neck. Methodically, Tony nibbled, licked, and kissed him while his hands moved a loofa with body wash all over his skin. By the time Tony was fisting his erection and pressing his own against Peter’s thigh, the only thing he could smell was the stress relief body wash and Tony’s arousal. Grinning at the dirty trick, Peter turned in Tony’s arms, his nimble fingers quick to turn the shower off.

Between drying off and trying to make out with each other, it took them a long time to get from the bathroom to the bedroom. Despite coming back from two hours’ worth of well-staged sex, Peter’s cock was as hard as a rock. Falling between Tony’s thighs on the bed was the best feeling he’d been privy to all day.

“Thought I could ride you,” Tony managed to get out between all of their kisses and gropes. He grabbed Peter’s face with both hands. “Gotta remind you who you belong to.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows and gripped his arms tightly, effectively rolling them over. Peter settled against the mattress, his eyes bulging a little when Tony’s mouth immediately went to his cock.

Like they’d been doing this for a while (which they had), Tony knew all of the right places to lick and suck. Tony could take him all the way to the root, a feat that even some of the more seasoned people he did scenes with could not achieve. The move had him thrusting up, his hips moving on their own accord. Tony used his free hands to press down on Peter’s hips, effectively cutting off anymore thrusts into the already full throat clenching around him.

Peter let his hands tangle in the length of Tony’s hair, his grip just barely guiding his head up and down. Tony moaned around him, his eyes looking up, catching Peter’s glance. “You were made for this,” Peter babbled, words coming out of his mouth now that he could say whatever the fuck he wanted – cameras be damned. Eventually, he tightened his grip in Tony’s hair, his head tossed back. “Stop, stop. I want to cum inside you.”

One of the best parts of sex on their own time was the way he got to prep Tony – when they shot a scene, little details like making a partner feel good weren’t ever included. Pros like Tony took that sort of thing into their own hands. Yet, Peter appreciated the process – Tony stretched out so nicely around his fingers as he breached him first with one finger, then another. The look in Tony’s eye blew him away every time – it was like he’d never been touched so reverently in his life.

Impatience set in while Peter worked a third finger inside of Tony’s tight heat. He could feel how relax he was, the touch now purely for pleasure. Hitting Tony’s prostate lit him up, his skin breaking out into a sweat, Peter’s name falling from his lips like a mantra. The compiling stimuli were too much, he needed friction and he needed it right that second.

Tony must have felt the same way, his lube-coated hand wrapped around Peter’s cock as he shifted his position. Sitting back, Tony let out a sharp gasp, Peter’s wide head always the toughest stretch. Peter gripped his hips to help as much as he could, his fingers digging into the flesh the closer he got to bottoming out. The second Tony shifted and got up onto his feet, Peter started to thrust, no time for adjustment needed or given.

The bed squeaked with the force of their movements. Peter pushing through the bottoms of his feet to thrust up, Tony rolling his hips and meeting him with a sharp downward stroke. Slap of bodies and echoes of moans were the only thing that could be heard in the room for a while – the animalistic way Peter let himself get lost a little different than their normal coupling.

When Peter flipped them over and hiked Tony’s legs over his shoulder, the older man looked up at him with such devotion. It didn’t matter that he had some random person below him in this same position only a few hours earlier – Tony was the only person he could imagine being there for the rest of his life. Looking down, he appreciated the recognizable body and the amazing personality attached to it.

“I’m gonna cum, Tony,” Peter babbled against his cheek, his upper body falling onto Tony’s chest a few thrust earlier. The fact that he staved off as long as he did was achievement enough. Tony nodding at him and gripping his own erection pushed him over, Peter emptying himself deep within the tight confines of Tony’s tight hole. The splash of cum against his stomach drew a moan from him, the rhythmic clenching that went with Tony’s orgasm bringing another set of body shakes quaking through his muscles. Not able to hold himself up any longer, Peter shifted his weight and dropped half on the mattress and half on the man below him.

“I hope that was the fun you had in mind – because I’m exhausted and don’t think I could lift my arms again,” Peter muttered against Tony’s shoulder. Resting his head there, Peter felt Tony’s laughter spread through him, the clenching of his stomach bouncing him a little. A soft grin slipped across Peter’s cheeks, the niceness of his reality a beautiful thing to be able to cling to.

Tony turned a little, his lips pressing a kiss to the side of Peter’s head. “I thought we could catch up on Penny Dreadful, but we can do that from the comfort of this bed, so no arm movements needed.” Shifting, Tony wrapped an arm around his shoulders keeping him pressed tightly against his side. “I wouldn’t mind that Chinese you mentioned, either.”

His words were the last ones spoken for a while – Peter drifted into a light sleep, the high of his body keeping him right in that glorious in between stage. Tony’s chest rose and fell like he too was asleep, the exertion of the amount of passion they shared between them knocking them off their feet every time they came together. The tranquility of it felt like nothing Peter ever experienced before – the thought of being in love alive and prominent in the front of his brain.

A little while later, Tony woke him up with a warm flannel on his skin and an affectionate look. “Thought you might not want to be crusty for the rest of the night. Go back to sleep if you’re still zonked,” Tony said softly, his hands gentle in the way he caressed Peter’s skin. Closing his eyes for another second, Peter soaked up the moment. When Tony tried to pull away, he threw his arms around Tony’s neck and pulled him down, the older man bending in half.

“You take such good care of me,” Peter admitted, his lips finding Tony’s for a chaste kiss. “You’re kind of the best.”

Ducking his head, Tony tried to shake the words off, Peter now familiar with the gesture. He let him pull away, Peter dropping his hands until they were once again on the mattress beside him. His lips quirked into a reassuring look – “I love you, Tony. I really do think you’re the best.”

The sudden impact of Tony’s body against his own tore a breath out of him, his arms automatically welcoming the other into his space. “You’re not supposed to say shit like that. You’re making me too sappy.” Tony moved until he was sitting between Peter’s legs, his smile scrunching up the corners of his eyes. “I love you too, Pete. So much.”

From that point on, Peter was a little more choosey about who he signed on to do scenes with and when he could swing it, he worked exclusively with Tony. Their videos made enough of a splash that not a lot of people even thought twice about the fact that they worked together so often. Of course, there were the weird shippers that caught small moments between them and made them into something that he and Tony both didn’t want them to think was the case. His relationship with Tony was his own – they were both determined to protect that with everything that they could.

----

2026

Starting the process of adoption was a lot more time consuming than either of them thought. There were countless documents that needed to be filled out, letters of recommendation to be written, and never-ending interviews to be had – it seemed like more work to get a baby than to get a government job or a visa to travel to another country. After being told that most of their life would be scrutinized, Tony tucked his tail between his legs and stepped back from the situation.

Everything was done as thoroughly as they could do it – the rest of the process landed on someone else’s shoulders. Of course, it wasn’t the greatest, to be sitting around waiting to hear back from people that were picking apart both their lives with a fine-toothed comb – but they got past it. Tony spent the time working his ass off and preparing for his final scene in the porn industry.

When Clint found out he was leaving the business, he begged until Tony let him direct his final scene – he and Peter both made the man more money during their careers than he’d ever be worth. He decided to do something reminiscent of the first ever scene he shot with the two of them together – down to the stupid outfit he rolled his eyes at. The only real difference was the way he felt about the man standing in the mirror next to him.

The space where apprehension and nervousness sat was now replaced with affection and confidence. Not just in Peter’s sexual prowess, either – he got the distinct pleasure of getting to watch Peter mature and grow. His professional persona was so different than the one he walked into the industry with. It made his heart ache a little, just how much of Peter he’d gotten to experience over the years.

Under the pretense of catching up, Tony saddled up to Peter’s side, an arm wrapping around his waist. “Ready for this?” Tony asked quietly. His body was prepped, and his mind was in the zone, but his heart was sitting in the palm of Peter’s hand. It’d been a while since they worked for the cameras – he wondered if the happiness and excitement that seemed to radiate off them both would be apparent.

“Yup – I’m more than ready. The fact that the rest of the world will no longer have direct access to your ass makes me terribly giddy inside,” Peter replied with a bit of cheek, his body leaning into the contact Tony couldn’t help but provide. “I’m not mad about the set-up of this scene, though – I’m already hard just thinking about how much like our first time this is.”

Without thinking, Peter pressed a kiss to his forehead, the words “I love you” rolling off his tongue so fucking easily.

Much like that first time, Peter started him on his knees, his hands enthusiastically pulling him back against his cock with a tight grip around his chest. Tony bit into his bottom lip to stop himself from groaning out how good Peter was making him feel, how much he loved the man making him feel that way. He slid his hand down his own chest to take his cock in hand just to stay distracted.

Peter wrapped him up more tightly and started to really thrust into him, his lips pressing against the shell of Tony’s ear. “I love you. And fuck, I love fucking you,” Peter whispered. The words pulled a long moan from Tony’s chest, his stomach tightening. The sneaky little shit knew all the right places to hit, Tony’s heart strings included.

Reaching up, he thrust his fingers into Peter’s hair, pulling his head closer. “I love you. Now flip me over and cum all over me,”

There wasn’t any further prompting needed. Peter did exactly what he asked, his hands desperately gripping Tony’s hips to keep them as close as possible. Tossing his head back, Tony didn’t notice the way Peter’s eyes bugged out, the younger man focused on the tattoo that was normally covered up.

Hard clenching hands had him looking up, Peter’s eyes trailing to the now fully uncovered ‘Property of Peter Parker Stark’ he got on his side the day they got married – the ‘EST. 2023’ seemed to stand out the most in the seconds between his arms coming up and Peter covering him with his upper body.

The news of their marriage was out before Tony could even call Pepper to tell her what happened. Clint showed him the footage as he cleaned Peter’s cum from his stomach, the last five minutes of camera work catching the words at every angle. They could always reshoot, but the news would be out, regardless. Tony watched two of the crew members take a picture of the playback screen.

Not wanting to deal with it, Tony got dressed as quickly as he could, collected his check, and disappeared into his Audi. For once, he wished that they drove in together – since the news would be out anyway. Getting a little comfort from his husband wouldn’t have been the worst thing. Tony forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths – he needed to get the fuck out of there and the only way to do that was to drive away as fast as he could. The tingling feeling in his fingers retreated, so he got the car started and out of the lot before the next round of freak-outs could happen.

Having Peter’s arms around him when Pepper sent them the first article published about their marriage sort of softened the blow. Not only did it go into explicit detail about their career in porn, which hadn’t been publicized because of the cultural taboo, there were a few pretty accurate accounts of bits and pieces of their relationship over the years. It seemed like they weren’t nearly as inconspicuous as they thought. “I could have sworn we were way better at not being completely obvious,” Tony mumbled as he buried his face in Peter’s neck.

For the first couple of days, Tony kept his phone turned off. Texts came in from all directions, some angry and some congratulatory. The mass of them was just way too overwhelming. He also didn’t want to deal with the fact that the adoption agency probably didn’t want anything to do with either of them. Tony wasn’t embarrassed by his career – he’d been doing it for over 20 years. The idea of his private life being shown to the entire world to see – that’s really where he felt the most grief.

When he couldn’t avoid working any longer, Tony returned to his office – he’d been apprehensive about going back, but the great husband he had wasn’t willing to let him give up on things. The sharp outfit Peter had waiting for him when he got out of the shower gave him just enough confidence to get out the door and walk in to work with his head held high.

Surprisingly, no one said a word to him. He felt eyes following him every now and again – that was to be expected. Yet, all of the people around him treated him exactly like they usually did. It confused him, how little it seemed to impact the professional part of his life.

The personal side was a whole different matter, however. After Tony turned his phone back on, he found several missed calls from the adoption agency. He hunkered against Peter and listened to the one definitive voicemail that said their case was now pending. They’d been in limbo for months now and the thought of taking any steps back made his heart hurt. In all reality, Tony could probably put money down on the fact that at least one person in that office that determined the goodness of a person had watched his videos.

It didn’t do him any good to think that way, though – he didn’t have any control over what happened from that point on.

Falling into a bit of a slump, Tony got himself too and from work, spent time with Peter, and even went to the gym like normal. He did his best to keep himself in the game, but it was getting harder by the day. In his worst moments, he wondered about the other people that actually got to take kids home – were their pasts squeaky clean, or did they just manage to keep it from getting splashed across the headlines?

A couple months after all the drama, Peter dropped an invitation in front of him, a hopeful look in his eyes. “Annual Smutty Awards are coming up – we never get to go together, I thought maybe you might want to this year.” His voice was careful, Peter trying his absolute best to be supportive of him through all of the weird emotional ups and downs he experienced since bearing his heart (in the form of a tattoo) for all the world to see.

Tony didn’t need to look at the contents of the envelope to know that he would say yes. Now that they could be open about their relationship, it seemed like the perfect time to stroll up to the biggest night in the porn industry with the hottest man in the business on his arm. “I like the way you think, Pete,” Tony finally replied, a soft grin slipping across his lips. “I’ll call Nat and have her make us a couple of suits.”

The day rolled around a lot quicker than Tony anticipated. It’d been fun to go through the process of getting gussied up, including the suit fitting that Nat did in her usual no nonsense way. What she ended up creating for the evening was way beyond either of their expectations, the blue hues she put them in went well with Peter’s bright white skin and the dark hair that covered Tony’s head and chin. They offset each other and looked great standing side by side. After getting them dressed, she kissed both their cheeks. “You are two of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen. Absolutely unfair.”

Smacking both their asses as they walked out of the room, Nat waved nonchalantly when Tony looked over his shoulder. He shook his head and slipped his hand into Peter’s, the new white gold band they started wearing pressing against his fingers. “She’s right, you know,” Tony said softly, his chin resting on Peter’s shoulder as they slowly made their way down the hall from their room to the front of the house where the limo was waiting. “You are – the most handsome man.”

Peter didn’t say anything until they were tucked into the limo, the two of them sharing the bench seat along the back. “No, that’s absolutely you. I’ve gotten so much hate over the past few months – the world is traumatized by the fact that their favorite silver fox is a happily married man,” Peter whispered, the words still coming out like shouts despite the low volume.

“The world is fucking crazy, isn’t it?” Tony shrugged his shoulders and wrapped his arms around Peter, pulling him closer – “I’m just glad that at the end of the day, you’re still there to come home to.” Leaning in, he pressed his lips against Peter’s, the touch barely there. “Glad for you, Pete.”

They didn’t talk for the rest of the ride – Tony happily allowing himself to be preoccupied with Peter’s lips and hands that ran up and down his sensitive thighs. By the time they got there, Tony was red faced, his hair mused and sticking out at weird angles. Peter shook his head at him and ran his fingers through it, the movement making it much worse. Despite that, Tony leaned in for one more kiss. “Might as well show them what the Parker Starks are really like.”

The walk down the pink carpet was much easier with Peter by his side – the paparazzi wasn’t interested in too many of them individually, so he got to keep an arm around his husband’s waist the entire length of it. When they were stopped for interviews, Peter didn’t step away from him, he merely gripped Tony tighter.

“It’s the Parker Starks!” Big Red, a well-known tv show host, exclaimed when they approached her. Tony let himself smile, the sound of their names together like that still enough to send his heart into overdrive.

“Yup, I guess the cat really is out of the bag,” Tony remarked, his fingers gripping Peter’s hip hard. He felt an answering squeeze on his shoulder, Peter’s silent support more than appreciated.

“It absolutely is. The world wants to know – why all the secrecy? 6 years is a long time.” She looked between them, the big painted on smile never leaving her face.

“It wasn’t secrecy – it was discretion. I was trying to grow up and juggle and industry that wanted to exploit my youth; keeping our private life private was a priority for us both,” Peter answered, his voice definitive; if they were anywhere else, Tony would’ve thought seriously about finding a quiet place and jumping his bones. He looked at him dreamily instead.

Their gazes met, Tony’s cheeks coloring with the rush of affection that pulsed through him. A loud ‘awe’ brought his attention back to the very live recording that was happening. “It’s obvious that you two are very much in love.” Big Red’s voice was saccharine sweet, the red lipstick getting more and more overwhelming by the second. Luckily, their time was up, the two of them escaping with quick hugs all around and drastic sighs of relief.

Right before walking into the theater, Tony’s phone started to ring – the number that popped up shocking them both. Looking over at Peter for a bit of courage, Tony swiped his finger across the front of the screen and accepted the adoption agency’s call.

“This is Tony Parker Stark – “

----

2023

Peter decided he wanted to marry Tony on a whim. They were celebrating their 4th year anniversary across the country – Tony got them into a small bed and breakfast in Italy. His mother was from the town they were staying in, so they spent their days exploring it: eating the food, drinking the wine, and making love wherever they possibly could. It seemed like the longer they were together, the more insatiable Peter became. It was obscene, how much he loved Tony Stark.

It was under the sepia light in a small restaurant that Peter grinned over at Tony and blurted out – “let’s get married.” Tony blinked at him; the signature eyebrow furrow being directed his way. Peter grinned at him, his smile growing. “Yeah, you know what – why don’t we? Want to marry me, Tony Stark?”

Tony stared at him dumbfoundedly for a few seconds before surging forward and pressing their lips together. It was more teeth than anything else, but totally perfect for the moment. “I don’t think you could have done that more perfectly,” Tony babbled when they pulled apart, his eyes glowing with the soft flicker of the candlelight sitting on their table.

The spur of the moment decision meant that he didn’t have a ring – but that didn’t seem to matter; wearing one while they were still shooting scenes wouldn’t be a thing, anyway. Peter simply pulled a pen out of his jacket pocket and wrote on one of the paper napkins on the table – “HE SAID YES – 9/21/2023”. Folding it a couple of times, he handed it over to Tony. “Until you can wear a ring on your hand.”

The day they got back on US soil, Tony and Peter applied for a marriage license and got married. Not a soul knew about it for a while, and they liked it that way. Getting to have Tony all to himself was something that didn’t happen often. The further they stepped away from the business that brought them together, the more they worked on individual things. It felt good to finally be in a college program that he liked and could afford – and watching Tony flourish would always be one of his favorite things.

Tying himself to Tony just sort of made sense, so he went with what his gut told him. When Peter got into MIT, Tony didn’t blink an eye and moved across the state with him. There wasn’t any question that together was how they were supposed to be – the permanence of marriage just made it more real.

He never told Tony about it, but he had a world shifting conversation with Clint after a scene a couple months after Italy. Since getting married, he’d been having trouble being as active a participant in the shoots. In all honesty, it’d been that way for a while. Clint was merciful and cut them for the day – his eyes following Peter as he cleaned himself up and got his shit together to get the hell out of dodge.

“Pete – wait a minute, will you?” Clint managed to get out before Peter could sneak out the door. Hanging his head, Peter walked back into the suite.

“What’s up, Clint?” Peter asked, his eyes staring at his shoes and nothing else.

“Did you guys finally make it official?” Clint put the question out there, point blank. It shouldn’t have been that surprising – both he and Tony worked with him for several years. The guy wasn’t stupid.

“I’m not even going to ask how you know. Yes – we did. And it’s fucking with my head. I don’t want anyone else.” Peter dragged his bottom lip between his teeth, the habit one he picked up from his beautiful husband.

“The long haul isn’t for everyone. Tony was a lifer because something better didn’t come his way. Not until you, of course. Maybe that’s enough, you know? That MIT degree can get you places.” Clint landed a hand on his shoulder, fingers squeezing. “Just a little food for thought.”

Neither of them said anything else, Peter hovered in Clint’s presence for another couple of minutes before turning and getting out as fast as he could. A part of him liked the fact that someone knew – Clint had obviously been keeping their secret for multiple years now. The rest of him was too focused on the man’s words to really worry about what Clint knowing actually meant. Having Tony meant the world, the life they were building was more than enough.

Later that night, Peter brought up leaving the business for good for the first time. Watching Tony’s eyes light up with a desire that the man himself probably wasn’t even aware of was the biggest sign that he’d done the right thing. “It might take us a while to phase out completely – but I’m right there with you. I’m getting too old for that shit, anyway.” Tony looked at him intensely, softness in his eye. The unspoken thank you sat in the air wrapping them both up in the exciting thought of a new start.

----

2027

Tony’s 47th birthday was the day they got to meet their son. After several phone calls and teary-eyed interviews with the agency, Tony and Peter were finally able to get their names cleared and put onto the list. The triumph of that was enough – but the opportunity to have another person join the family was the ultimate win. They got a call about a 4-year-old boy named Spencer needing a home six months later.

The first few days of fostering him were like a silent sort of torture. Tony wanted to love him up, but the shy look and overall tension the boy projected stopped him. He remembered how big of a dick his father was to him and simply smiled in Spencer’s direction, instead. Peter and Tony made pancakes at the stove side by side, their voices low as they tried their best to contain their excitement and extinguish the need to cling to the small boy. They’d been waiting for this moment for a long time – the kid that sat huddled in the booster seat at the table had not.

Slowly, Spencer started to open up – he didn’t do a lot of talking but would join them on the couch when they sat down to watch a movie and asked nightly for a story. It was a couple steps forward and a few steps back for a little while – but that was to be expected. The boy was still so young and surrounded by people and things he’d never seen before. Tony watched him eagerly, hoping for signs of acceptance.

All of the home visits they needed to have were passed with flying colors. They spent so much time making their house child proof, it was surprising that they were able to get to some of it. When it felt right, Tony and Peter were in the clear to sign the adoption papers. Before that happened, they wanted to give the small boy a chance to adjust and truly make sure he’d be comfortable with them. He came from an abusive situation and was understandably sceptic of people that were even the slightest bit like his abusers.

As the fall started to roll around, Tony and Peter were finally making a little bit of headway with Spencer. Tony managed to find an office that allowed him to work from home and Peter was steadily working his way through a graduate degree – there was plenty of time for the two of them to spend time with the boy they were absolutely smitten for.

The first true signs of Spencer starting to relax into the life they were offering came when Peter turned 26. Tony threw a small get together with Rhodey and Nat and all 4 of their kids. It was fantastic to watch Spencer run around with them and when they all broke for refreshments, Spencer came right up to him. “Can I have a juice box, dad?”

It took Tony a couple of seconds to process what he just heard – the word dad had only been tossed around a couple of times and never by Spencer himself. Forgetting himself for a moment, he threw his arms around the small boy, a soft sigh leaving his lips. “You can have whatever you want, Spence.” He quickly remembered and pulled away, but not before catching eyes with Peter. His husband was looking at him with an open mouth, his face a little scrunched up as if he were trying not to cry.

He sent the young boy on his way with a juice box, then quickly made walked over to Peter, a giant grin on his face. “He called me dad.” Tony gushed, wrapping his arms around his husband’s middle. “Holy shit.” He couldn’t believe it – after several months of trying to get Spencer out of his shell, it happened on a whim.

“What do you think he’ll call me? Papa, maybe?” Peter leaned into him, the racing of his heart against Tony’s hand making the moment all the more special. The simplicity of being gathered around friends and creating the most basic form of happiness was something he didn’t think he’d get to experience. Being loved so fiercely by Peter was the best thing to happen to him. Loving beside Peter with that same intensity was his most prized creation – he’d do anything for the family they continued to build on a daily basis.

Instead of waiting around, Tony and Peter sat down with Spencer. The little boy no longer looked at them with skepticism – his eyes were wide, his cheeks flushed with redness from the cool air they’d just been playing in. It was the greatest feeling – experiencing him take to them in the way they desired more than anything.

Tony laid a Capri Sun in front of him, his own on the table by his elbow. Taking a drink, he cleared his throat – an almost 5-year-old kid shouldn’t have made him so damn nervous. Peter’s hand on his thigh helped to ground him – Tony shot him a grateful look, his hand reaching under the table to grab it and hold tight.

“Spence, Papa and I are really excited that you came into our lives and we want you to stay. You make our little family complete. Do you – I mean,” Tony looked to Peter for help, his heart suddenly beating way too fast against his chest.

Peter stepped in, a soft tone to his voice. “What Dad is trying to ask is if you’d like to be a permanent member of the family. We love you and would be honored to be your parents.” It seemed like a lot to throw at a kid so young, but they both decided that everyone needed to be sure about it – Spencer included.

Watching him closely, Tony almost laughed out loud when the small boy sucked back the juice and sat forward. “You guys are already better than the parents I had before. I want to stay.”

And that was that.

They signed the papers in the courtroom a couple of days later – the judge proclaiming Spencer Parker Stark their son with a loud bang of his gavel.

Sitting in the booth of their favorite pizza place a few hours later, Peter wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulder and pulled him close. Spencer was running around the play-place, so they had a couple minutes to themselves. “Is it everything you thought it’d be?” Peter asked, his lips pressing against the side of Tony’s head.

Tony leaned into him, his hand raising to tangle fingers with Peter.

“It’s even better.”

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #385

“I am a human being, capable of doing terrible things”

Who in your family has been married the longest? (and how long?) Uhhhh. I don't know. Do you take your shoes off when you come inside? Yes. What’s your favorite movie series? I think Shrek when you consider all the movies' (well, I haven't seen the last one, but...) quality. No memeage here, I just genuinely love Shrek, haha. I would say The Lion King, but miraculously when you consider the focus on meerkats, I actually don't like 1 1/2 much. What was the first color you ever dyed your hair? Hm... I think I got purple highlights? Do you want to move anytime soon? Even though we haven't even lived here a year, yes. I don't like living in an urban area, and I also reeeeaaaally don't like our family friend being our landlord. I know that sounds very weird, but she's just a very controlling person who forcefully inserts herself into my family's lives now more than ever, and I have a pretty deep fear that a potential argument finally erupting will lead to us being kicked out. I genuinely don't think Tobey would ever do that, but the fear is still there. How good/bad was the quality of education you received in high school? Average, I guess? What was the most interesting year of your life, and why? "Interesting," maybe... 2017 or 2018? I learned a lot about myself in that time range. But at the same time, my life was (and still is) VERY uneventful. Just a lot of mental stuff went on. What was the first social media site you ever used? Myspace. Do you have any exes you really regret dating? REALLY regret? No. I wish I'd never dated Tyler, but it's not a massive regret or anything. He was still a cool guy that I have a few nice memories with. Have you ever lied on a resume? Or even in a job interview? Ha, I'd definitely stretch the truth about being more of a people-person than I am. I couldn't go too far with lying, though; I'm just not comfortable doing that, 'cuz like, they're gonna find out eventually that it's not true. Of all your friends & family, who has the most nicely-decorated home? Maybe my friend Summer. Her room has always been super cool. What brought about the end of the worst relationship you’ve been in? Apparently, not talking to him every second of every day two weeks into a relationship was a no-no. Where was the last place you spent the night other than your own home? The sleep study building or whatever it's considered in the medical plaza. Do you have any step- or half-siblings? I have both. What do people always seem to think is weird about you? The fact I don't watch TV. Do you ever braid your hair? It's way too short for that. Even when it was long, I didn't do it frequently at all. Is there any certain style of architecture you really enjoy? Roman, in particular. What was the last thing you gave up on? uhhhhhhhhhhh If you watch Parks and Recreation, who is your favorite character? I don't. What’s the last DIY project you did, if any? If you can’t remember, what’s something you’d be interested in doing? I'm not really into DIY stuff, honestly. I'd rather just buy products that were made better than I could, or commission someone who can. What's a song that makes you feel happy? I dunno. It's rare a song alone makes me happy. What is your favorite clothing store? Rebel's Market. How did you meet your best friend? YouTube, back when it was a more social platform. What is something you do well? Catastrophize any situation. Assume the worst of everything. What's a good idea you've had recently? Probably to re-engage with a calorie-counting app I used to use. I'm back to trying to use it consistently. Do you like to wear high heels? Does ANY person LIKE to? How many slices of pizza do you usually eat? Two or three depending on my appetite and the size of the pizza. Do you play any instruments? Not anymore. Do you always smile for pictures? Not always. What are you most excited about right now? To see the results of my TMS therapy. What's the last song you listened to? "Ex’s and Oh’s” by Elle King. What's the last YouTube video you watched? I'm watching an Erosium livestream rn. Newest channel binge, haha. Do you know anyone who's died in childbirth? No. Would you ever consider moving to another country for your career? No. I don't want to leave my family. Do you wear foundation? No, I hate the feeling of that crap. Do you know anyone who has run for public office? No. Do you have a cartilage piercing? I used to, but the hole closed when I had to take it out for the hospital. :/ I plan on getting it repierced. Have you ever been taken to the emergency room or urgent care? If so, why? Yes; for being suicidal, a suicide attempt, and when I had a horribly infected cyst and just existing made me want to sob with pain. Have you ever had to visit anyone in the hospital? Yeah, a few times. What is the most pain (physical, mental, emotional) you've ever felt? Physical: having the aforementioned cyst drained when I was not nearly numbed enough. Mental and emotional (what's really the difference?): my breakup with my first real boyfriend. What is the longest time you've spent crying? Oh, hours on end, fluctuating with intensity. Have you ever been stolen from? Yes. Have you ever been to a ghost town? No, but I would FUCKING LOVE to. Let me bring my camera and it's a field day. Has anything in your house ever caught on fire? Not in this current house. Have you ever been inside of a vacant house? No. Have you ever been attacked by a dog? No. What is the most disgusting thing you've ever seen? The massive cyst my late dog Teddy developed on his lower belly. That fucking thing hung on by a THREAD and was absolutely nauseating to look at. How old were you when you learned how to read? I don't recall, I just know it was earlier than most children. Do you prefer cats or dogs? Cats. Which book series was the first you read? I want to say Hank the Cowdog. I was hooked on it. Would you rather write a book or direct a movie? Haha, what a question, as I've considered both of these as potential careers. I think write a book. What dream that you’ve had has stuck in your head the most? Describe: A nightmare about my dad that I'm not going into. What emotion do you find yourself trying to hide from others? I'm very uncomfortable revealing jealousy or envy. How emotional/sentimental would you say you are? Extremely. What is the most fun game to play? Shadow of the Colossus, probably. What is your sense of humor like (dry, dark, sarcastic, etc.)? I don't know, maybe dry. How many languages can you say "hello my name is…" in? Two. What language do you think sounds the nicest? I don't know, it's not like I've heard every language be spoken. What language do you want to learn more of? German. Do you have any form of OCD? I'm diagnosed with OCD. Do you make promises often? No. I take promises VERY seriously and am not about to make one unless I'm certain I can keep it. What is it that you are responsible for? My pets, keeping my room clean, stuff like that. Do you have a lot of secrets? Not "a lot," no. Are you more likely to be verbally aggressive or physically? Verbally. I'm only physically aggressive in my nightmares. What warning has someone given you that you wish you’d have listened to? Hm. What warning has someone given you you are glad you didn’t take? I also don't know. What is your favourite video of on YouTube? I can't pick just one. Name one creature that freaks you out/scares you? Maggots. Just the word makes me squirm. What was the last thing you wrote down on paper? My signature. Have you ever watched Breaking Bad? No. Are your fingernails always painted? They never are. What color is your bed frame? A rich brown. Did any of your neighbors come over to welcome you when you moved into your current house? No. What's something you didn't realize how bad it was until it happened to you? Heartbreak. Do you like Taylor Swift's singing voice? No. It's squeaky and annoying to me. Does it bother you when people get super emotional? Why the fuck would it bother me? Let people be in touch with their emotions. Have you ever worked in a restaurant? No. What was the last drive-thru you went through? Ummm I want to say Starbuck's w/ Mom after my TMS appointment. Do you know anyone who claims they can see/feel spirits or other supernatural "things?" No. Does your house have any unoccupied bedrooms? Yes. Do either of your parents have a mental illness? My mom has depression, and she personally suspects something's up with Dad, but idk. He's never seen a doctor about that kinda stuff. What fun things are there to do where you live? Ha! Do you know anyone with a really poorly-trained dog? I know many like that. When you were growing up, did your family rent or own your home? My parents owned it. Can you see the stars at night where you live? I actually haven't paid attention at this house. I'm certain it'd be harder now living in an urban area, though. What job do you know you'd be terrible at? Like, everything? I'd probably be worst at promoting stuff to people and trying to push them into buying something. No being a salesperson for me. Do you do meal-prepping? No. Do you know anyone who got preggo less than a year into their relationship? Who doesn't? And now, for the greatest question of all time! Toilet paper- should it go over or under? I literally couldn't care less about this. Fun fact though to "end" the argument, the original concept art of the idea (the word for that is evading me...) has it designed to go over. Are you afraid of mice? Not at all, they're adorable. What type of souvenir do you usually purchase when on vacation? I don't have a specific "type" of thing I get, really. It depends. Do you vacation often? Not at all. Are you comfortable wearing your pajamas in public places? It depends on the place, really. Generally, I really don't care, so long as I put a bra on. What’s your favorite candy bar? That one that's a bunch of Reese's squares composed into a rectangle. It. Is so. Fucking. Good. Do you own more than one copy or edition of a book? No. If you could see any musical on Broadway right now, what would it be? I don't like musicals. Do you own a helmet of any sorts? No. Does your family generally decorate for most holidays? Just for Christmas, really. Do you eat soup when you’re sick? I'm not a soup person. Have you ever watched Doctor Who? I saw one or two episodes with Sara. If so, what do you think is the scariest creature yet? N/A Do you read tour guide type books before you visit places? No.

[ranmanjuu]

so, i just had a thought; what would the warlords be like if they were like, superheores? and then my mind just drifted to them all as magical girls i'm laughing too hard heLP-

i’m finally answering and writing this and you don’t know how lowkey happy i am rn. now i don’t know enough about magical girl powers,, cause it rlly varies but uhh. there’s a Lot of bullshitting here cause there’s no solid magic system, just that each media portrays it different (be it just unexplained and specific to one character, elemental type things, etc. am i making sense?) so i’ll just be making stuff up as we go along. and also the thought of these big buff (mostly) men in puffy and short dresses just. mwah, perfection.

(also will be combining it with this ask, but if you meant superpowers as in something more bnha-like, i’ve kept it in my inbox just in case.) (oh and character selection is just random here. i really wanna do the whole cast but i’m Commitment-to-projects-phobic.)

——oda forces:

—nobunaga:

nobunaga oda is, as you’d expect, the leader of the oda league, who’s mission is to more or less band magical girls together into one organization (as some individuals use their bestowed powers for their own gain).

his weapon is a staff made primarily of wood from an isunoki tree and metal, one that shoots dark matter into the range of 5 meters from the tip, max. it’s been rumored that a part of his staff was made by an ingredient from hell, or even given by the devil itself, hence his name, “the devil king”.

nobunaga seems to disregard the unspoken and unnoficial rule to not hurt the enemy more than you need. his battles with his opponents, if he deems it needed, are ruthless and unforgiving, making sure they lie on the ground and stay on the ground.

perhaps not to the level of killing (well, ‘banishment’ is the equivalent of death, but less blood and overall gore), but he isn’t above shattering every bit of magic you had on you (staff, orbs, spellbooks, etc.) to assure you don’t get up to something in the future.

of course, this deters some from joining in on his whole mission of unification.

his magical prowess is in the offense, unsurprisingly. but also a good amount on defense, able to create barriers for attacks that will last long enough for him to attack back/heal.

the reason for the second one is that he’s targeted by a lot of his enemies, from head-on battles to assassination attempts.

perhaps his weakness, stat/magic wise, would be speed and healing respectively. his staff is probably the heaviest in his league, and thea dditional protection on his outfit doesn’t make it easier. and healing magic hasn’t really been his forte, so to say.

if he were to wear a magical girl dress (idk man thought it’d be cool): he’d probably wear something flowy and elegant. like, ribbons or transparent black silk would be tied around him as a symbol of grace and leadership. he’s very covered in barrier armor (a type of armor made of barrier magic), almost impenetrable but also heavy. his sleeves would be long ones, either in the design of a kimono sleeve or a bell sleeve.

—mitsuhide:

with magical girls’ image being mostly of bright and nice people, mitsuhide sure does break the stereotype. because he’s anything but; if his entire personality were to say something about it.

the public has even shown doubt of him being a magical girl, with the aforementioned personality quota most have. some conspiracies have spread that he isn’t really one who possess magic, just riding off of nobunaga because he’s good at,, extracting information?

some say that his ‘powers’ lie in his innate ability to deceive and slither out of situations.

but if you’ve fought him before, it’s no question he has powers. strong ones, at that.

his staff is made of primarily antique-like wood and aluminium. unlike most of his peers, in which they hold their staffs like a stick (most often for melee attacks), mitsuhide holds his lying down, with the deadly tip facing to the enemy. while the rest in oda league usually has an attack range of 2-5 meters beyond the tip (because again, they use mostly melee attacks), his range reaches way above than a field.

and whispers of the town say that with the other components of his staff, it was mixed with either a snake’s poison, or an ancient fox’s fur. 

thus, he gained the nickname “snake” and “kitsune” respectively.

yes, he can do close combat with that staff of his, but nobunaga used his long-range attacks more often. a beam of light would charge at the direction of the tip just enough for the eye to see, and those who get hit don’t ever tell the tale of the damage.

since his staff is quite old (rumors has it it was bestowed upon him from an old portugese sorcerer, hence the antique-like wood), any other person weilding it would have trouble with things like precision, and even the sheer amount of recoil. but mitsuhide isn’t any other person.

his deadly aim is perhaps what the enemies fear most about him in battle.

if he were to wear a magical girl dress: he’d probably have a lot of layers on his (capes, inner shirts, layered skirt, etc.), and it wouldn’t be puffy or anything at all. probably wouldn’t have that many accesories. but looots of pockets (to store,..,. who knows what). he’d have long sleeves, and most of his skin would be covered by some kind of clothing, including the hands (black/grey gloves babyy)

—ieyasu:

another member who doesn’t quite fit the cheerleader image, but people frame him more of being the token tsundere. after all, you can’t just lead a league of magical girls without some sort of following.

his staff is entirely made of nature (and magic, but that’s a given), with a colorful mixture of woods from all sorts of trees, and pretty patches of cloves, leafs, roots, and flowers sprouting out. each one symbolizes the magic that he possesses.

and so, he acts (usually) as the healer of the team. the magic he has mostly come from the sheer amount of power held in the plants of the staff, and as such, he uses the healing properties of a lot of them to heal his allies.

but, it’s not to say he’s offenseless. nature is dangerous, after all.

along with magic herbs, come magic poisons. in terms of range variety of spells/effects one could do to the enemy, ieyasu places second bellow mitsunari from the array of options he has.

from mere skin contact to sending just a little bit of dosage of poison, the damage can range from skin irritations to instant death, and he uses such in battle.

of course, the stronger the damage it will be, the cost is higher for what would be ieyasu’s MP. he tends to fight in a more traditional ways and using his magic to boost him forward, but it’s not the main course of the battle.

and another of course, he wouldn’t be proficient in his magic if he hadn’t studied which herbs did which. from both magical to non-magical, he’s got his knowledge of them down to the t.

if he were to wear a magical girl dress: i don’t think he’d be the biggest fan of a short, puffy design, mostly out of some kind of embarrassment. i think he’d settle for a more simple design, with a slightly bowl-shaped skirt and his scarf still remaining on. batwing/butterfly sleeve design, and would wear gloves too (mostly to handle his own staff as to not get hurt as well).

.

——uesugi-takeda forces:

—sasuke:

it’s said that sasuke wasn’t originally supposed to be a magical girl. while most people have their powers chosen by the magic they’ll later possess, and develop them over time. but rumors have spread that sasuke only just acquired his at age 20-ish, which has never happened before.

to be true, he himself didn’t know what happened. it was when, through some magical interference, he got teleported in the middle of a raging battlefield.

and after saving someone’s life (who he’d later know as kenshin), the air around him started to glow. and it got brighter, and brighter—his whole body felt tingly and fresh.

and as it turned out, he just transformed. just like that.

unknowing of how to use his powers, sasuke used the offer for saving kenshin’s life to take him under his wing.

he never really did tell anyone he was just a normal guy before—the rest just assumed him to be a magical girl that never, ever used his powers before apparently.

unlike many around him, due to his sudden transformation he has a different weapon than the rest. as opposed to the long staffs the others use, sasuke owns,,, many, many wands. they’re small, and act more as a throwing knife and the likes than anything. the handle is made of steel while the tip is a star-shaped one, made from magical asteroid material, with surrounding dust of smaller dots.

each time he throws one of them, it’ll make a small supernova explosion with the surface it comes in contact with, and other than creating extra damage, can stun the enemy long enough for him to strike it down.

but the edges of the stars are also sharp, so sasuke’s engineering brain decides to,,, pluck that part out and it functions as a shuriken? no, no he’s—oh god he’s making ground spikes.

as mentioned, he doesn’t have just one wand with him. he can spawn up to 15 of them in the span of an hour, and each time a wand supernovas or something, it’ll come back to him eventually.

of course, he knows many other magic spells, and most of it pertains to space (sasuke wonders if his powers tie into his fascinations with astrophysics)

the stealth part of him is no magic at all, it’s just that when you’re trying to get away from a deadly magical girl named kenshin you learn to sneak around as silent as possible.

if he were to wear a magical girl dress: sasuke would probably be a fan of magical girls already. and so i can see him going with the popular puffy dresses, short sleeves with long gloves, maybe some flowing space-patterned ribbons tying around him. he wouldn’t go too overboard—he needs to sneak around kenshin without the jingling of his accessories after all—so i feel like he’d pertain a simplistic part of his design.

[on-fic-writing-spree]

I’m gonna write?? A shit load of things I do down and uh can anyone tell me if these are normal things or not cause god I fucking hate not knowing and it tears me apart sometimes cause I really think there’s something wrong with me but I can’t say WHATS wrong with me and I hate not knowing but

Shit I do that honestly leads me to believe I have OCD or something at least:

I get into these weird moods where anytime I do something to one part of my body, I feel a need to do it to an opposite corresponding part. Even sometimes when it’s painful (mildly painful, I luckily haven’t gotten into these moods and seriously injure myself). If I don’t do it right I have to do it again. For example, if I tap my left first finger on something, I either have to tap all my fingers on my left hand, or my right finger. If my foot hits a wire, I have to hit my other foot on it. If I feel something under my nail and scrape my thumb under that nail, I have to repeatedly do it to each of my nails until it feels “right.”

If something doesn’t shut “right” I have to reshut it.

I can’t drink out of a cup anymore without rinsing it out. I standardly do this three times.

This one is kinda about something more personal but at one point we had bed bugs more recently (within the past two years I’ll give vaguely) and they were a huge pain to get rid of. When I was younger, the houses we lived in were real shit and they were far from clean (meaning yes there were bugs, this was when I was super young) and when I was a really little kid??? It never bothered me. But then when I had found out we had bed bugs and it was just such a pain in the ass to get rid of them, I couldn’t sleep, I straight up sat on my dresser all night and waited until morning. Then I’d tear apart my room, excessively vacuum, sweep, pour rubbing alcohol down all before I told my mom they were still there (my mom actually caught me tearing apart my bed frame to try and pour rubbing alcohol on it) and I just?? Broke the fuck down. Really badly. My mom bought heaters and we’ve rid ourselves of that problem luckily, but it absolutely?? Tore me the fuck apart, and that’s something I’ve developed rather than always felt.

Dirt under my nails (or anything) drives me nuts

Certain sounds or feelings make me grit and grind my teeth they feel awful

Textures in food fuck me up. Like any sort of seasoning that doesn’t dissolve besides pepper fucks me the fuck up when I’m trying to eat. I can’t swallow it. It isn’t like it doesn’t taste good, I can’t swallow it if the texture isn’t right.

Textures also fuck me up in terms of weird ass shit like my tomatoes have to be an exact firmness that’s consistent for the whole tomato or I won’t fucking touch it.

Intrusive thoughts and nightmares. They’re fucking bad. They’re really fucking bad and I can spend so long obsessing over them. Other times I have nightmares that I’m just so desensitized to that I don’t even react. Some of them I genuinely don’t think I could even say out loud because they were that terrifying and sickening.

If I touch raw meat, I wash my hands so many times. I actually once tried to keep count, and I washed my hands 7 times in the span of 10 minutes (and that’s what I could keep track of).

If anything touches anything that may have touched raw meat, it has to be cleaned twice, and I have to wash my hands. For example, if spill a little flour on the counter while making fried chicken, I have to wipe down the counter once to get off the flour, a second time with an anti bacterial cleaner (usually I do this more than once though). If a knife might have touched the bag that held a marinade (despite not getting the marinade on it) it has to be washed twice. I wash all dishes that involved raw meat twice.

Usually I don’t freak out about things that aren’t cleaned until I really notice them. My anxiety spikes while I clean, so while I’m wiping down the stovetop, I notice some grime on the handle bars, then I notice it at the edges of the oven, then I realize the whole front hasn’t been cleaned, and next thing I know I’ve been cleaning the stove for two hours and I can’t stop cleaning other things in the kitchen, constantly telling myself “it’s just this and this... and this... and that... and this...” and it drives me nuts if I get sent to bed before I can finish.

I’ve literally?? Started crying because my sister put something in some spot in the fridge and I was like “why would you put that there” and she was like “idk if you don’t like it do it yourself” and really I didn’t so I just started recognizing the fridge.

Yesterday: I drank out of a water bottle, not sure if it was mine or not, I glanced it and honestly I have no clue if it was air bubbles or backwash, but I immediately start gagging. So I go brush my teeth (with way too much toothpaste, and way too rough) and then rinse my mouth out 5 times, then go back out, get a new water bottle and rinse out my mouth until I am certain (you know how saliva is like more slimy than water??) that I only have water in my mouth. As if ANY OF THIS affects that I already drank the damn water.

Another weird thing I did recently: my cousin was doing my makeup, and she was using this homemade (as in like one of those DIY makeup kits) lipstick except she mentioned she had put the coloring from a nail polish in it and she got a little on my teeth. I couldn’t swallow my spit for about an hour, constantly spitting into the trash, and she had suggested maybe I just get a cup to spit into (the kid is a genius). It was a kid’s makeup kit!!! There’s nothing harmful in that shit!!! Anyway I ended up brushing my teeth several times and then forcing myself to swallow after rinsing out my mouth several times.

Sometimes people’s existence??? Just bothers the fuck out of me. Like my brother will be standing in the kitchen when I’m doing dishes, a few feet away and doing nothing, and his mere existence is just enough to piss me off. I just don’t think that’s normal???

After I wash the dishes, I have to wash my hands. Like my hands were just in soapy water?? Is there a point??

Despite all of this, I can’t keep my room clean for shit, but I know my makeup has to be organized in a specific way.

I get paranoid as shit that I’m going to hurt people, or that people will hurt themselves around me. Like there will be a knife somewhere near by and my brain will deadass think it’s going to drop and cut someone, so I MUST shove it back even though it wasn’t on the edge.

I once cried?? Because someone sent me a picture of a cup teetering on the edge of a table and god fuck??? I couldn’t stop?? It was so ridiculous???

I can’t write using pencils without a perfectly flat surface. I mean like textbook top kind of thing. Or if I’m drawing, I can use a mechanical one. But otherwise?? If I’m writing on top of wood?? Or desks that are made of that granite shit with the littlest texture differences?? No I can’t I have to write in pen and I’ve gotten in trouble from teachers for this

I don’t know. There’s more I’m sure. But like?? Can anyone with OCD or who shows a lot of these symptoms actually tell me if this is normal or if this is smth that’s actually not okay up with me? Cause idk it really fucks me up not knowing because I feel like there HAS to be an explanation???

[rezdogsyonder]

Deafening

Pairing: It’s a Surprise :)

Summary: you are taken by A.I.M. a branch connected to hydra at the age of nine. They shaped you into who you are today.

Warnings: murder, traumatic events, fighting, mentions of testing on reader

A/N: idk what I’m doing with this. The reader will be 18 turning 19 in the year 2020.

**********

**********

There is nothing but death. You were a fool to think that you can enjoy anything else.

**********

2010, Age 9.

You and your family are about to go on a vacation. It’s gonna be a big road trip. You could barely remember any of the destination names no matter how many times your dad says them.

The first week you were in California You think. While there you ate at a pretty good restaurant there. You tried avocado. You also did these weird trips, your parents wanted to make this trip educational too. Since they were making you miss the first two weeks of school for this trip. You haven’t yet, but it’s scheduled to go as long.

This big lab by the beach, with really big windows had a station where you can get your blood turned into a one time use light. Every member of your family tried it, and it didn’t even really hurt... that much.

Next week you guys were going Las Vegas, that was the most memorable destination because while on your way through the desert is the first time you heard the phrase “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Too bad you never made it.

On the way, your car was stopped at a road block. Men with guns were stood at the side of the road. Two of them went to your parents doors, the one by your dad looked in the back. Past your siblings. Right at you. He glanced down at a photo, then back at you, and nodded to the man of your mom’s door.

“May I ask what this is about?” Your dad asked.

“I’m gonna need you and your family to step out for a moment. Just routine check.”

“Let’s go kiddos.” Your mom looked back. “It’s alright, just go by your father.”

Each of you undid your seatbelts and followed your parents. They went to the side of the roadblock.

You were the only one on your fathers right, holding his hand. Your brother held his other hand on his left, then your mother and sister also stood on his left.

“What are you guys looking for? Or who are you looking for?”

The man that first came up to your fathers door points his rifle at him.

“Your daughter. Now let go of her hand and bring the rest of your family behind the vehicle.”

“I’m not going anywhere without her.” He started pushing you behind him. You hear a loud crack, like those big firecrackers.

“That wasn’t an option.” He lowered his gun as your father slumped forward, unfortunately pulling you with him. You scraped your elbow trying to catch yourself. You hear your mom cry you and you look at your dad. He was shot in the back of the head.

Letting go of his hand you go to crawl to your mom, but she is just led away along with your siblings. Behind the car like the guy said. Then you hear three more shots.

And just like that your family was gone.

**********

After that stop the men took you in their truck and brought you somewhere. You can hear the ocean. You hear someone say something about shock. They gave you a blanket.

Time passed by really quick, and before you knew it you were being taken out of the truck. This time with zip ties around your wrists. It’s dark out. You look across the water, the little bay that you are by, and you see the lab. You didn’t make the connection at the time.

You only got a brief look of where you were before you were shoved in the building. The inside was dull, and cold looking. A long hallway with many doors connected. You don’t even think of tracking where you’re going within the building. You know how stupid that was now.

They brought you into a room. It looked like the doctors office, but dirtier. You didn’t want to go in there.

“No.” They pushed you. “NO!” You tried turning around but he just shoved you backwards into the room. You slid across the cement floor and hit the table. Hard.

The man that pushed you picks you up and slams you on top of the table. With the wind knocked out of you it was harder to struggle against them as they strapped your arms and legs after untying you.

They leave the room but you feel like they’re just outside the doorway. Guarding you. It felt hours before someone came back in the room.

“How’s the girl with the perfect DNA?” An old man walks in. He reminds you of your second grade teacher. He is wearing a lab coat, and on his pocket it has ‘A.I.M.’ over the pocket.

“Do you know why you’re here?” You shook your head. “Well when you were over in the lab across the water—I know you saw it—we tested your blood. In fact we tested the blood from every member in your family. You are superior.”

“Why... why am I here?” You asked.

“You’re here because when we tested your blood it had everything we are looking for.” He dug through a cabinet and grabbed a metal tray. He placed it next to you. “We just need more blood for some more tests.” He grabbed a syringe from the tray.

“No!” You try pulling away, but the bindings prevent you.

“Stay still or it will hurt. Ok?” You calm down little bit. “Good girl.” He says as he sticks the needle in your arm.

“Alright there you go, I will be back and these men will lead you to your room.” He said looking at the full syringe. He walks out of the room and the guys that strapped you down to the table come back in.

The stood you back up on the ground after releasing you from the table, but laying there for so long made your legs fall asleep. You fell over.

You hear them sigh, and the grab you under the arms, right above the elbow. They drag you back out into the hallway. Into an elevator and deep within the ground. With the nearly 15 minute elevator ride you regained feeling back in your legs, painfully.

When the elevator doors opened back up you were standing but they still had you in their grip. The pulled you with them once more before you saw it. Your new room. Your prison. One mattress with a hospital gown folded on the bed.

**********

As they strapped you face down on yet another table you realized what they were doing. They are testing on you. You’re nothing but a lab rat now.

It is so painful. You think back to your family. How you wish that they killed you too. They stick rows and rows of needles in your back. They’re thick, and they drag them through your skin. They were drilling. When they moved over to your spine they gave you three more straps.

You felt it going into your bone. Staying still lessened the pain, so you didn’t even breath. Maybe they noticed but they didn’t look like they cared. You felt as though your lungs were about to burst, and right when you were about to take a breath the needles rose. Feeling as though they were pulling you up with them. They were barbed.

You were only given a minute to rest before they started injecting something in the holes they just made. You didn’t know what it was but it burned. They slapped what felt like plastic over the holes. Like Saran Wrap.

They flipped you over and did the same to your ribs, hips, and shins. Then tossed you back in your “room”.

**********

After 6 “sessions” as they called it, you think they were seeing the results they wanted. You know this because after the first session they were still hopeful, but the second and third came with punishments when they were unsuccessful.

First taking away your blankets and mattress leaving you to just the metal frame. Then bringing you to a different cell, where the walls were slick from condensation and the ground dirty. Nowhere to lay, you couldn’t lay down and straighten your legs either way. Forced to curl into a ball for comfort.

But the sixth session, that is when they started treating you better. You got your old room back blankets and all. Even some warm food.

The seventh you got regular clothes. Socks. A sweater that closely resembled the one your mother wore on the trip.

You don’t know how long you’ve been here. You know it has been a long time but no specific amount of time. Nothing indicating if a day has past. After each session you’ve slept. The first one you asked the guard how long you’ve slept.

“Three days.”

That was the first and only time you’ve gotten an answer from them.

**********

The twelfth session has past. They’ve brought you into a new room. This one has padding on the floor and walls. Like the wrestling room where you saw your brother practicing. But this one had windows, sun leaking in. You didn’t have time to enjoy the warmth.

“The tests have been successful. Now is the time to prove yourself.” You looked around but couldn’t see anybody.

A door slid open and a man came through, he was wearing a mask, a black tank top and a black sleeve that covered his whole left arm, he began charging at you. You’re scared. You tried running away, but he was too quick. He grabbed your leg and swung you around till he let go and you hit the wall. It hurt, but you got up and tried running again.

He narrowly missed you, but he still caused you to fall. He was walking towards you, backing you into a corner. You held up your hand, and felt this light flow through your arm. It felt like water running from your shoulder all the way to your fingertips.

The man was thrown back. Hitting his head and knocking off his mask. He smiled and left the room.

“Well done. You have proven yourself worthy of A.I.M.” The voice sounded over the room once again. You wait for the door to open again, but a few moments pass.

You walk over to the sun on the floor and lay down. Basking in the warmth.

**********

The eighteenth session has passed. After each session they’ve brought you to the room with the mats. You begin to look forward to it.

Each test here is honing down your skill, your telekinesis. At least that is what they’re telling you. They’re actually talking to you now. It has been so long since you talked to someone, anyone. You don’t know how long his has been, they still won’t tell you, but your hair is so much longer than when they took you.

This one was different. You could tell, because this time the man walked in with weapons. There was also a new rack on the wall lined with them.

He began going through what weapons were what. You nodding every now and then when you grabbed three weapons.

“Those two are sai. And this is a knuckleduster.”

“How do I use them?” You ask.

“You’ll know.” He grabbed his weapons again. He said they were something called Tonfa. They were like the batons he showed you but these are backwards almost and protect his arms.

You grab the sai and go to your usual spot when starting a fight. You’re ready.

“No telekinesis.” He says, and that catches you off guard.

He charges and that’s when you feel it. You can see. Not like before but his movements and it almost seems slow. You dodge and keep watching. It’s like something off tv when the kung fu fighters movements are blurred and trails follow after their limbs.

You can feel yourself memorizing his patterns.

He try’s to strike once more, and you dodge it just as easily as before, you laugh, amazed at your newfound ability.

You move forward, around his arm, and you swing your elbow up and hit him in the chin. Something that he’s done to you in one of your past trainings.

He stumbled back. Regaining his footing he tries with more effort than before. He stepped forward and when you think he’s stepping left, he goes right. He hit you with the end of his weapon.

You spend the rest of this training session properly fighting. At the end he speaks again.

“Nobody has been able to hit me before. I thought I would never meet my match in martial arts... guess I was wrong.” And with that he disappeared through the door.

You walk to your spot in the sun and lay down, waiting for the guards to take you back to your room.

**********

You lost count of the sessions, but they haven’t done any in a long time. You think they’re finally satisfied with their asset. You still train with the man though. Or some days they simply let you two interact. Like today, where you and him are sitting against the wall in the training room.

You’ve asked for his name many times, most of the time he simply ignored you. But today...

“I don’t remember my name.” He said quietly.

“What do you mean?” Genuinely confused.

“They have this machine they put me in. It takes away memories. When you go through the procedure you’re going to go through it too.” He said sadly.

“Does it hurt?” You wish you were back with your family again. Which doesn’t happen too often anymore.

“Yeah.”

“How long have you been here?”

He pauses.

“I don’t know how long ago my last mission was, but when I was out the newspapers said November 15th 2010. My file said I arrived in 1945. So almost 65 years.”

“Whoa! You don’t look that old, that’s so cool!” Not understanding the pain he went through to be alive this long. But you think, “Wouldn’t your name be on your file?”

“No, it just has Soldat.” He brings his knees up and rests his arms on them. “My last mission, they didn’t put me in there. They brought me here and they said you are my mission. They haven’t put me in that machine since then.”

“I’m your mission?”

“I have to train you to be a good soldier like me. Pretty soon I’m going to teach you languages. You’ll go through a few more sessions, then you’ll be ready for that.”

“Cool... since you don’t remember your name can I give you something to call you?” You turn around and lay down, putting your legs straight up on the wall.

“Depends on what you want to call me.” He didn’t smile all the way, but you could hear it in his voice.

“Boo.” Like from monsters inc.

“No.”

“Bunbuns.” You giggled and gestured to his little bun.

“No.” He gave you a fake stern look and you laughed.

“Honey?” You’re running out of ideas, and you don’t want to give him a realistic name in case he remembers his real one.

“Well if you’re not going to come up with any better ones, I guess Honey is alright.” He rolled his eyes and begins walking towards his door. You never know how he knows it’s time, but he always does.

You get up and go to your spot to lay down, “Well, I’ll see you next time we train. Honey.”

He scoffs and goes through the door. You know he’s smiling.

**********

He was right. They did put you in more sessions.

These ones were different. This time they drilled into your skull. The drilling hurt worse, but the stuff they put in it didn’t burn as much.

They didn’t toss you back in your room this time. They kept you at the table, head wrapped. Whole body strapped down.

There was a new doctor, she’s really nice. She asked you how you were doing and said sorry when something hurt. She sang when the others weren’t around.

After the first session when she sang, it was quiet, pretty.

“What song are you singing?” You asked.

She just looked back at you surprised.

“Just an old lullaby.” She said quizzically

“It’s very pretty.” She just smiled and left the room.

“Get the soldier!” You could hear her yell in the hall.

A couple minutes pass and you hear heavy footsteps approach.

“The asset is already responding. We just need to test her range to know how many more sessions she will have to endure.”

You hear her voice again. It sounds different but you can’t place how.

“Honey!” You exclaim when you see him walk through the door.

“Hey, Pooh bear how you doing?” He pulls up a chair.

“You sound weird.” You smiled. He began stroking your hair, the one comfort he could give you while you were strapped down.

He cleared his throat, “Is this better?”

You laughed, “No, you still sound funny.” The doctors were back in the room. You looked at them as the watched as if they were in awe.

“What are they doing?”

“They’re Just monitoring your progress Pooh.”

“What progress? You sound even more weird.”

“𝑅𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓉𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓊𝒶𝑔𝑒𝓈? 𝐼𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓃𝑜𝓌. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝓉��𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓊𝓅.”

“𝒲𝒶𝒾𝓉 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓊𝓅?” You day and you look up. They’re all smiling.

“Anata wa totemo hayaku manande imasu.” He smiled.

“What?” You asked not understanding.

He looked at the doctors, they were frowning, scribbling in their notes. He looked back at you, and from the look on his face you knew you failed.

He looked scared. You never seen him like that. He stood, and faced the doctors and now the guards that were filing in. He looked scary.

“Give her a break, she’s just a kid!” He pinched a guard that approached.

“Put him in the meniry surpressor now!” One of the guards yelled. Five more filing into the room. Dread settling in your stomach as you realized what they were going to do to you both.

You were getting another session right now. Without any recovery time. Honey is going to go in the machine.

He struggled with them, but they got the upper hand as one guard held a gun to your head. He stared at the man and two guards walked behind him and pinned his arms behind his back.

“Honey?” Voice trembling as you looked down the barrel.

“I’m so sorry Pooh.” Once Honey stopped struggling the man with the gun promptly left the room. The guards holding Honey following.

“HONEY!” You scream, and you hear him start to struggle again. But they keep getting farther.

“Pooh! Let go of me, Y/N! Y/N!” You hear from far away.

You let the tears stream down the sides of your face. But you are gonna stick through this, to see Honey again. But this showed you that Honey didn’t like what they did to you. He wasn’t like them.

**********

They kept you strapped down to that table for a long time. You got bed sores. They had to feed you when you were still stuck. When they finally took the straps off of you, you felt so stiff. When you stood up, your joints popped, and you just fall over. A guard picked you up and put you in a wheel chair.

“How long has it been?” You ask the doctor taking you to your room. You don’t like her as much anymore.

“Since?” You think, since you’ve gotten here or since you seen honey?

“Can ask two questions?”

“No.” You have an estimate on how long you’ve been here so...

“Since Honey went to the machine.”

“Who?”

“The man that trains me.” You feel yourself stop and you look back. She wrote a note and shoved it in her pocket.

“24 days.” You get to your room and a guard puts you on your bed.

“Work on standing back up. Someone will be by to give you food.” You nod and she walks away. You’re about to focus on your task when you look over.

There’s a teddy bear wearing a red shirt on your pillow.

**********

When you went into your next training session you were excited. Eager to see Honey. You were practically bouncing behind the guards as the escorted you to the training room.

Once there it was empty so you grab your usual weapons and sit. Waiting for him.

He came in a couple minutes later. He was quiet. You run over to hug him.

He was cold, and he pushed you on the ground as soon as you made contact.

“Honey?”

“Who the hell is Honey?” He stared blankly at you.

Then you remembered what the machine does, it wipes his memories.

**********

You didn’t like your training sessions as much since Honey doesn’t remember you. It doesn’t keep you from trying. He’s warming up to you but it’s different. They also keep putting him in that machine when he starts acting too nice.

You try asking him how long you’ve been here, but he just say that he doesn’t know. You know it’s years now. You’re taller. You need a bra, among other necessities. That was quickly solved in a “hysterectomy”, you don’t know what it was but you didn’t care at this point.

You have more abilities than you can count. Well maybe not abilities, some of it is just information they planted in your brain, but you do have powers after they mutated your DNA.

The procedure is coming up. The one Honey told you about a long time ago.

“This will make you perfect.” They say. “It’ll change you in ways you can’t imagine.”

You don’t really care about change anymore. You don’t even remember how you looked anymore, not having seen a mirror in ages.

The only thing your scared about is the machine. Remembering that he said that you’ll have your memories wiped too once you’re done with the procedure.

You don’t want to forget Honey.

**********

Many years later

“Mission report.” Your handler demands.

“Mission: successful. Target eliminated. 7 casualties.”

“Very good soldier. Clean up for cryo.”

You nod and walk to the showers. Once there you begin stripping yourself of your armor and stepping under the lukewarm spray. Washing away all dirt and blood.

Thinking about the man you saw while out on your mission. Why didn’t you shoot him? You were done and you go to get your other armor, leaving your previous set in the shower. They’ll repair it later.

Once you have it all back on, that is when you realize.

You have to get out of here.

[inkprintt]

the one that got away.

Word count: 2.5k

Genre: Mafia Au, lowkey angst but not really.

Members: Jaehyun, Haechan, Mark.

Warning(s): none really unless you don’t like swearing I’m pretty sure there’s a swear word or two.

Authors note: Just beware of my writing, I’ve never written an au before and I’m not really sure how to so any feedback would be very appreciated. I really had no idea how to piece the scenes together but here you go! Also this was inspired by a tweet by jack on twitter his @ was hetphobeyoon but idk what it is right now

Today is the day. You’d been chasing mafia-leader!Jaehyun for months now and you’d finally managed to intercept a messenger and find his future location. As a detective you’d faced a lot of difficulties both in gaining respect from colleagues and losing members of the team. This however, was your most difficult challenge yet. Somehow in spite of everything the end of this case was finally on the horizon. The rendezvous point for today was a dimly lit, rustic cafe. The view from the outside wasn’t much but it was kind of cute, it happened to be the place you’d first seen Jaehyun. Your eyes screwed shut as you thought of your ex, a now mafia leader. You inhaled a slow breath and pushed open the door of the cafe.

The inside of the cafe was made up of small tables and booths. Towards the back there was a fish tank with crystal blue water and an array of fish. Right next to it was a booth, away from any windows and full of a ragtag group of people. To the untrained eye, they looked like a odd group of people, a confusing mixture of people. To the trained eye, they looked exactly the same. This odd group were your team, with them you had begun to solve the case of the mafia leader off the grid.

You grinned as one of them raised a hand in greeting. This ragtag group were like family.

“Hey.” You said sliding onto the seat next to Haechan as a chorus of hey’s and hello’s floated back towards you.

All together you were a group of 6. Two junior detectives Mark and Haechan, your boss Jack, and two senior detectives like yourself named Amaya and Starr. It had been extremely difficult to hide the fact that you had this connection to Jaehyun from them, but it had to be done.

“Are we ready?” You inquired, reaching for the coffee already ordered for you. Black, of course. Today was no time for cream and sugar.

“Well, it’s looking like its gonna be a rough night but we are definitely ready this time. Our sources are secure and we have everything we need.” Amaya spoke, subconsciously tapping her nose ring. Her dark skin seemed to reflect every speck of light in the room, she was truly beautiful and brilliantly clever. Seeing her on the field is always a shock to the system. She investigates with precision and care, you’d never seen anyone so perfect at what they do.

“Here’s a spare phone, this has all the necessary locations, emergency contacts and a recording device just incase.” This time Jack looked at you, carefully sliding a sleek phone towards you. At the moment it lay dark and silent on the table.

“Okay, shall we start then?”

He nodded, opening up his ipad and beginning the briefing.

You nudged haechan, smiling up at him. “ You good?” You whispered, he tended to be nervous before big missions like these.

“Yeah, I’m good don’t worry.” He said, his honey skin now lightly dusted with pink. You zoned back into the conversation a small smile on your lips.

“-You guys are gonna need to be careful, the atmosphere is going to relaxed, yes. But it’s our job to stay alert and stay focused. You know your individual roles in this bust.” Jack said his tone laced with caution.

“Starr, I’m looking at you in particular when I say stick to the plan. I don't care what ideas you have while we are on the scene we have one thing to do and we ARE going to do that if it’s the last thing I do. Now isn’t the time to veer off course, okay?” He spoke gently, allowing his frustrations to peak through without coming across aggressively.

Starr seemed to slide down in her seat slightly. Although she was a great asset to the group, she had an unfathomable mind and that led to her going in a completely different direction to whatever was planned. Her dark hair floated around her head, as if each strand was trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Got it.”

“Okay. Mark? What have you got for me?”

Mark looked up, pushing his circular frames further up the bridge of his nose.

“Alright, numbers are looking low. I’m guessing about 8 members at this specific party. So we need to think tactically cause like, they in theory out number us. We know that we are better trained than at least 5 so that gives us a real advantage going forward.”

He looked around at each of us carefully noting our facial expressions before proceeding.

“In terms of weapons, it’s not looking great. A meeting of this importance is likely to have people on both sides heavily armed. Y/N, i'm sure you’ve got our weapons and deterrent devices sorted?” His eyebrow raised slightly in question.

“Yes, of course. I've had everything delivered to your houses, you’ll see when you go to get ready. The club is going to be packed so we don’t have the capacity for much firepower. You guys are going to have to rely mostly on your training.”

Haechan reached into his breast pocket, and slid two grainy photographs on the table. One man and one woman, both of a similar age.

“These two will lead us to him. Find them, you find the leader. Find the leader? Job done.”

He lifted his chin, determination visible on his face.

“This is our only chance, let’s do what we can.”

* * *

The night air was biting and a shiver ran down your spine as you reached the entrance to the bar. You couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or something else. Fear? Anticipation? None of it mattered, the only thing you needed at this moment in time was focus.

You nodded at the group. Haechan sported a red, velvet suit not a hair out of place, his skin glowed as usual but this evening it seemed to glow even more. A shimmer glittered across his eyelids and his lashes seemed long enough to brush his cheeks casting shadows on his face.

Amaya and Starr were at odds, one wearing a white dress, a perfect vision of beauty and innocence, while the other wore a playsuit of darkest black embellished with blinking diamonds, a vision of beauty and mystery. Mark and Starr appeared to be entranced by Amaya. This made you smile slightly, they were so obvious. It had been so difficult to get mark a good suit but Mark’s simple grey suit and turtleneck suited his low-key vibe.

Lastly, Jack sported a simple all black outfit, with a plain dress shirt and pants. You had made sure everyone dressed accordingly. The gala you were attending was one full of finery and spectacle. You had chosen the only extravagant outfit you owned. You wore a deep red dress that reached the floor. A slit in the side exposed your long legs, and intricate detailing snaked its way up over your chest and up to your neck. The dress hugged your figure as if it were an old friend.

“Let’s go. “ You murmured, becoming aware of the people around you. At a moments notice, you all went your separate ways. Entering the building and becoming lost in the crowds.

The air was warm in the gala, carrying the smooth scent of night blooming jasmine. The further you walked the more your jaw dropped, the place was something out of a dream. Large marble pillars held up a ceiling covered in renaissance art. The large chandelier in the middle of the room sent shards of light bouncing off peoples glasses, giving the room an odd glow. The loud music made your skin tingle. Your eyes slid shut, images of jaehyun swimming behind your eyelids. It had been a long time since you’d seen him and now it was to arrest him. When you opened your eyes you located a bar and ordered a drink.

The bartender was a stocky man with thick dark hair and a some wireframe glasses similar to Mark’s. He handed you your drink with a smile and you turned back to the party leaning on the bar. Your eyes flickered over the brim of your drink as you managed to spot one target almost immediately.

“I see the girl in the photo, she’s like halfway across the room from me. I’m going in.” You spoke, hoping your earpiece was picking up the audio over the loud music.

You glided away from the bar, downing your drink and placing it on a passing waiters tray. The crowd was thick with people, not one person looked the same and yet they all were connected in the fact that they were filthy rich. As you approached you noted the girls appearance, she was indeed the girl in the photo. She was incredibly beautiful, her fiery red hair appeared to swim around her head as she threw her head back in laughter. The many rings on her finger glinting as she tugged a strand of hair behind her ear.

The knife in your thigh holster felt like it weighed a ton as you slid towards her trying to remain inconspicuous. Before you could reach the girl, a tall figure stepped in front of her blocking your view. You raised your eyes to the stranger, freezing when you realised the man who stood before you was the leader of the mafia you were here to catch but also your ex-boyfriend.

His ash purple hair shone in the dim light, It offset his brown eyes making them appear even brighter than usual. He stood with a casual grace as though he was a dancer trained to move with ease. You rolled your eyes before slowly turning around and walking back to the edge of the room. Tapping your earpiece.

“Guys, nevermind the girl, I see him. I nearly came face to face with that idiot.”

“What? Where?“ Haechan questioned, “Where are you I think I just-”

Suddenly, the sound just cut out.

“Hello?” You whispered.. no answer.

You tapped your earpiece once more before you felt a tap on your shoulder.

Jaehyun stood before you again. His eyes glittered in amusement, he was annoyingly attractive. A fact you had tried to ignore time and time again. Despite the nature of your job and the nature of his, you had history. A relationship that you could never go back to now.

“Have we met before?” His voice was deep and sensual, everything about him radiated confidence. He was stood extremely still, his velvet accented suit hugged his muscular figure and you struggled not to acknowledge the way he affected you even now.

He seemed to not have recognised you yet. You held your breath, staying silent. You were unsure of whether or not to make a move when you had no back up.

Eventually when there was no response in your earpiece you said simply,

“I don’t know, Jaehyun. Have we?”

His brows furrowed and then his eyes widened slightly as he realised who you were.

“Y/n?”

He began to lift his watch to his mouth as if to speak to his cronies. From one second to the next, you had tackled him to the ground, a hand on his throat slowly increasing pressure. You were sat astride him, his well built body tense beneath yours, thankfully there were no people in this area.

“You’re really trying to call for backup right now.” you muttered, nothing but loathing dripping from your voice.

“I have not spent all this time trying to catch you to fail again.”

“I can't believe I didn't recognise you. “ He said a sly grin on his face despite the position he was in.

He moved so fast your eyes couldn't follow it, next thing you know he was on top of you an arm holding your chest to the ground.

“I’m sorry princess, but I can’t have you and your friends take me to jail. That would be no fun don’t you think?”

He was so close his breath fanned your face. You smiled before reaching up to knee him in the crotch, making him keel over. He groaned in pain before slowly getting back up.

“You piece of shit. I actually can’t believe I dated you.” You began to circle each other, ever so slowly his eyes travelled across your body.

“You know I never wanted to hurt you. My job is … what it is and you knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. ” Both of his hands were in his pockets as though you two hadn’t been rolling about on the floor two seconds ago.

You ran at him aiming a punch at his jaw, but rather than the punch connecting he grabbed you and pushed you up against the wall.

“I’m not gonna hurt you so stop trying to attack me.” He sighed, running a hand through his now mussed up hair. His eyebrows were knitted together as if it hurt him to be in this situation.

“I regret what happened between us everyday, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.”

You were incredibly close to him and looking into his eyes was dizzying. His lips looked so soft and plump, if you could just- NO. Every time you were with Jaehyun your mind went places it should never go. He was like a drug you couldn't get enough of.

He gazed into your eyes as if searching for some kind of response, then his eyes flicked to your lips. You’d had enough. You grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him towards you. Your lips met tentatively at first, he tasted like fresh mint and old memories. After a moment, he melted into your lips and you began to move in sync. You could feel his heart pounding against yours. His hands lifted from beside the wall and pulled you ever so closer to him as you leaned into his touch. For a moment, you forgot why you were at the gala, who he was and who you were. For a moment you were just a girl and a boy.

That moment was cut short however as Haechan walked in and yelled “What the hell are you doing?”

The two of you broke apart as fast as you came together. You put your hand over your mouth, in shock, but also to hide your swollen lips. You both glanced at each other, Jaehyun's eyes twinkled as if he was holding in a laugh.

“Uh, keeping my enemies closer?” You blurted, immediately wanting to throw yourself off the nearest balcony as the rest of your team joined Haechan.

[gukptune]

Eccentric [m]

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: cyberpunk!au, cyborg!jungkook, eyepatch!jungkook, courtesan!reader, smut, dom!jk, switch!reader

Warnings: a lot of smut, explicit language, explicit acts, oral, foreplay, slight daddy kink, slight bionic finger stuff, cumplay, creampie, edging, big dick jk

Words: 5.4k

Plot Summary: A certain red haired client buys you for the entire night.

a/n: I was inspired by the new cyberpunk 2077 gameplay reveal, cuz im hyped i wrote this - the whole rebellion thing is a meh, a filler, cuz idk how the night city in the game actually works hahah.

Endeavouring into the cleaning of your room for tonight, you could only put away the decorations and pamper up the sheets. In the house everyone had a room for their routine work, all sound proof and completely bare. They kept it that way so that each person had their own individual style, it was nice, nice enough.

Yours was truly nothing special, kept more simple and graced with large windows. You had landed yourself one of the corner rooms which was completely open, the windows reflecting the night city well. Decorated with darker comforters, pillows and blankets. A lot for just the aesthetic but mostly for comfort, something for you to hold onto when you wanted.

You worked at Black Rain Bath House, merely a cover for the sex work that happened every single day. The people who work here are called, Courtesans, mainly because everyone here costs a whole lot. Apart from the sex dolls, bots, of course. Though in this world it was hard for anyone to really stay fully natural, most get modifications― for appearance sake or the perks of having tech in them, like heightened agility, eyesight or just wanting metal parts.

You were one of the rare ones here, nothing done, mainly because they seemed pointless to you.

As you had arranged your room well enough for your liking you hear someone step into your room, “You’ve got one tonight, 10 pm.”

The head mistress came into your room with a device, she handed it to you as you stared at her with confusion.

“Only one?” Usually you started work around 8 pm and kept going all night, the least was at least 3 and the most, well, you weren’t even going to mention it.

She chuckles as she nods, “Hmm, he seems diligent on being your only for the night. Words gone around that a fully fleshed girl knows how to treat any man.”

She smirked watching as you sighed, “Wow, I guess I’m pretty popular.”

“Natural girls are hard to find even here, we’ve got a mere handful and you’re the best of them,” She explained, leaning on the side of your door, “Even I dare say, my pussy is definitely not natural― years of this kind of job, it’s synthetic.”

Not that it was bad to enhance yourself with modern technology, it was just that it was extremely popular. A few years back, courtesans with synthetic bodies or even androids were extremely popular but now that it was so popular and mainstream, everyone seemed to go backwards and want the original just plain ole human again.

“Funny how the world changes,” You said, spinning the spherical device around in your hand.

“Well, let’s just say, human men still like the fake shit but those androids or cyborgs love humans,” She shrugged, “At least we both get some.”

She then pushes herself off and begins to leave, turning around to take a look at you. You watched as she pointed to the device, “Read up on this one, he’s a real big one and not just in that way.”

“Have fun,” She struts away before you could respond, her high heels and formal attire leaving your sight. Even though, this was technically a brothel you dressed extremely formal just like bath house employees would, merely ripping all the formality off as soon as you step into the room.

Humming as you motioned for the door to shut. Walking back to sit on your bed, pondering in your thoughts. Rubbing your thumb against the plate on the sphere, watching as information about your client beamed up.

Jeon Jungkook

Age: 21

Race: Human (Previously), Cyborg (Currently)

Enhancements: Right arm (Metal), left eye (Computerised), knee and joint replacements (Metal), Organ replacements (Synthetic)―

Gosh, you can’t even comprehend, most of these are quite serious and seemed as if they were for medical reasons and that wasn’t even all of it. This made you think of what this boy had gone through to have to had so much done, remembering what Mistress said you blinked, Big...

What could she mean by that in a non-sexual way. As you scrolled through his information about birthplace, education and what not you looked at his affiliations.

It was as if your heart stopped beating at the text you read. He was not just anyone big, he was one of the most influential. He lead an Anti-Governmental gang that fought against the laws against weapons and technology. Things like the ban on manufacturing their own without government supervision, it needed to be owned by someone on the board. Laws against testing and creating new technology that would pose to be a threat against government issued technology. Of course it was stupid, mostly the laws were governed in the upper ring, but not here. The night city still infested with crime and illegal activity, the free city.

It was to say the least that you had known him, you’ve seen him before, he was powerful― it was strange to think that he had specifically requested you. Making you feel like you needed to really prove that you were what they say you were.

Feeling strange about your bedding arrangement now, you shivered nervously with the thought of him being in near in a few hours. Maybe you should consider decorating better now.

9:52 pm

The red digital number blinked angrily at you. Dressed in a new outfit you had just bought you sat on one of the loveseat awaiting the arrival of a certain client. Nervously, biting on your lip as you fumbled with the clip on your thigh high socks. Your toes wiggling, barefoot, as there was no need to really wear shoes in your own room.

The client comes to your room in your establishment, he had a number and himself. He’d knock and you’d answer. At this point, you truly didn’t know why you were so nervous, how were you suppose to open the door now.

9:56 pm

Your eyes never leaving the numbers as it slowly got closer to ten. Groaning as you leaned against the cushion on your seat, pulling it out from behind you wrapping it in your arms as your chin rested against it.

9:58 pm

Fuck. You felt like you needed to pee, was it real or just your head. Keeping your head faced towards the clock you kept peering by the side of your eye at the door, awaiting the heavy knock.

9:59 pm

One minute, a chill shot down your legs. Pursing your lips as you tried to look in the mirror at yourself. Wondering if you looked good enough, jeez, you sure did but the nerves was not something you could push away. The feeling of butterflies in your stomach wasn’t the good kind but the gross anxious one.

10:00 pm

It as time, turning towards the door. You watched. But nothing happened, breathing a sigh of relief.

10:03 pm

He must’ve been late. If it was any other client, you’d cancel and find another one. He was paying a high price for you and you weren’t going to be able to just cancel on him for being a few minutes late, you wondered if he even cared about being on time.

Petting the soft cushion on your lap, your legs crossed you nearly forgot about what you were suppose to do, until a heavy knock echoed in your room. As normal, whenever a client knocked the lights would dim, you watched as the door opened and there stood the man.

You could smell him from where you were, your breath hitched at the sight of his glorious self. He wore a suit, without the blazer, it was folded on his arm― a dark red dress shirt clings to his muscular body, the silk shirt left nearly nothing hidden. His hair seemed wet, brushed up, his forehead exposed― even wet you could see the tint of colour in his hair that the blue light in your room shadows.

His eyes were centred on you, eyebrows raised at you, you noticed the eyepatch he wore― he must’ve not finished his eye replacement, though that made him look even more dangerous, in a good way. At first you were confused, then realising that the cushion you had was covering you entirely, pushing it aside quickly as you stood and walked towards him.

“Sorry, I was just waiting on you,” You said, smiling at him. He breathed, taking you in. You looked up at him through your lashes, reaching out asking for his blazer.

He lets out a chuckle before letting you take it, “Sorry about that. I had a long meeting and the world decides to curse me and rain.”

That explained his wet hair and clingy shirt. You took the blazer gently as you motioned for him to come in. The door closing at that. You hurried to put his blazer on the dresser, hopefully it would dry.

You watched as he strode towards the bed. The bed was facing the door entirely, the headboard non-existant as it was a mere bed with a view of the city as the head board, on it’s left was also a floor to ceiling window.

“Nice room,” He said.

“Thanks, most of them look like this― you know without the windows,” You replied, watching his back flex as he turns.

“I wouldn’t know,” He said, eyes trailing down your body, “Never been here before,” oh, well that’s just great, his first experience with the House was going to be you, that’s just fantastic.

“Glad to be your first,” You trailed, getting up close to him. As you stepped closer to him, he stood proud and big watching your every step with lustful eyes, “Hmm, you sure? You seem tense.”

He teased you, of course he did. Not paying mind to it, you ignore it. Reaching his large body, getting a smell of his aroma. Hands placed on his plump chest, you pushed him down on the bed. He smirked, watching as you straddled his sitting frame.

Arms lacing themselves behind him, your lower body grinding against his― feeling the budge of his cock brush against the thin red lace that barely covered you. His large hands grasping the back of your thigh as his fingers ran over the clips of the thigh highs, both of his hands felt the same―must’ve been some expensive prosthetics, “These are pretty hot, though they’d be better off.”

Feeling a pinch and the snap as it fell off, you peered down at him as his attention was fully at your thighs that were spilling out of your socks.

“Hmm, wouldn’t it all be better off?” You asked, pouting your lips. Feeling his hands stop at the other thigh.

“You’re naughty, is this what you humans are like?” He asked, with amusement. Not hiding the fact that his boner was dying to push out of his pants as it rubbed against your clit. He was huge to say the least and that was one of the only real parts of him. The heat radiating him practically making you melt under his touch.

You shrugged, “Aren’t you human?”

“Sort of,” He shrugs before tugging on your socks to get them off. Rare, usually the clients enjoyed keeping them on. You stepped back onto the ground, on your tip toes as his thick hot hands grasped the bands and pulled them both down in one pull, stepping out of them before giving him a light twirl.

Seeing his smile enlarge satisfied you, his hands immediately went to brush against the bare skin of your thighs. You stood in front of him as he pulled you against him. Spreading your thighs so you’d straddle him as you were standing, feeling his hands molded the skin as you felt heat twitching at your centre.

Letting out a gasp at his hand that slipped between your thighs, zoning into your centre, swallowing as you placed your hand on his thick shoulders―holding on to keep yourself upright. His hand wasn’t as hot, your eyebrow twitching trying to get use of the feeling.

“Not used to prosthetics?” He murmured as his finger brushed against your most sensitive bundle. Biting your lip at the sensation.

You shook your head quickly, letting a smirk slip, “I am. Just not you.”

His eyebrows jumped as the corner of his lip curved, his hands leave it’s original place and rub itself up towards your waist, stopping as it reached the small pinch. Squeezing the lace covered bodysuit, trying to get a feeling of the skin beneath it.

One of his hands slipped down and grabbed your ass, groping as he lifted you up, pulling you into him, back to your previous position. His breath now hot against your neck, as his lips were merely a few inches away.

He swallowed, you watched his adam’s apple bop as the veins on his neck thicken. His tongue slid across his lips as he eyed the exposed skin of your neck, his hand still tight on your bottom.

He hissed as he felt your slick wetting your underwear, “Why don’t I get you accustomed then.”

It wasn’t a question, more like an order― his voice raspy, out of breath and deep, the volume echoing into your spine. Getting aroused by the mere sound of his voice, though his touch was nothing to look pass either.

Knocking the wind out of you as he spins you over, pinning you down on the dark blanket. At the corner of your eye you watched as pillows bounced off the bed due to the sheer force. Your mouth gaping at the sight of him above you, breathing heavily as the hair on his head fell across his forehead slightly, he looked fucked out before you even began.

He had his thick muscular thighs pushing against yours spreading them apart, as he did this you heard a gush of arousal push out. Eyes widening in embarrassment but he didn’t seem to care, he seemed to have liked that. Gliding his warm hand that was on your waist up towards the zipper in front of your chest.

Hearing him slip a groan as the zipper was being pulled down, more and more of your cleavage being revealed to him. As it stopped at your hips he slipped his hands against your bare stomach, pushing the lace back, exposing your entire chest to him.

He bit his lip at the sight before a hand grazed one, making you whine at the sensation, “A whiner? Fuck, would you whimper for me?” He moaned at your voice.

It was hot, you felt hot― things were heated, “I’ll do anything you ask.” You whimpered, smiling as your eyes twinkled at his expression. He was pleased, a grin plastered on his face.

“Good,” He breathed, taking a nipple in his mouth. Twirling the nub with his hot, wet tongue― you arched your back letting a moan out. Your hand grasping underneath his arm, scratching against his back, feeling the muscle flex against your nails.

“Argh, how are you’re so hot,” You froze, shit, what did you just say. Guessing that he was confused, you looked scared. Pausing as your face burned red, “I’m sorry.”

He cocks his head, “Why’re you sorry?”

As if he was in disbelief, as if he didn’t understand what you were saying. In the House you weren’t really suppose to speak out of terms, as in you sound only response to your client. Though, you did let it slip every now and then, usually the clients never notice.

“I’m not suppose to―”

“Speak? Seriously?” He chuckles, pulling himself up, his bulge now placed perfectly at your entrance as he leaned on his forearms which were on the sides of your face. He stared down at you, one of his hands cupping your face, “I asked for you because I heard you speak out of ‘terms’, speak all you want baby girl. You got me hard just with that look on your face and fuck I’m leaking from the tone of your voice.”

“But―”

“Aah, no buts, I want to hear all of it,” His lips captured yours in a hot wet kiss, his lips were red from sucking on you before. Your moans were incased in the kiss, arching yourself into him as his hand slipped under your head to pull on your hair. He tasted like mints, must’ve been from the meeting but god he tasted hot, his tongue snaking around yours. He held onto your face, leaving your jaw open and your lips red and swollen.

“So hot, so fucking, hot,” He placed an open mouth kiss on your open lips and practically tongue fucking your mouth. Making you whimper at the rough feeling, feeling hot in your core― aching down there.

Yours hands running over his front, feeling the sculpted abdomen, whining at the feeling of it being clothed. Your eyebrows dropping as your lips pout at him, tucking on the shirt.

He chuckles with a deep breath, pulling away on his knees, “You’re needy, huh?” he began unbuttoning the top of his shirt, seeing more and more skin your smile grew bigger, biting your lips as you watched his bulge near your face. Resting on your elbows, one of your hands brushed against his cock, causing it to twitch.

He lets out a strangled groan, huffing at you. His hands shaking trying to button, what seemed like a million buttons. You felt kind of good teasing him, “Please―”

You palmed the protruding cock, blinking at him, hoping he’d hurry.

“If you want a taste, you’re going to need to take me out, baby,” Oh, so he wanted you to do it. Fine, you took that as a suck me off cue and unbuttoned him. Pulling down the zipper as you watched him slip the shirt off. 

Halting in your tracks at the sight, licking your lips, he took notice of your change of attention, “Like what you see?” He teased.

Taking your hand and placing it on his hardened stomach, his thick veiny hands gripped your smaller one tightly as he used your heat to rub himself. Nodding at his question you pushed off the bed into a sitting position, lips immediately on his hip― sucking on the protruding angle.

“Ah, argh, fuck,” He groaned, you watched as his only visible eye closing at the feeling. You wanted to please him so bad, he looked so good― all your hesitation and fear left at the fucking door.

Pulling his pants and underwear down quickly, taking him by surprise, before he could even say anything you had your hand on the base of his cock. It was huge, being compact and strained inside his tight pants you watched as it strung up to hit his belly button.

He gaped at sensation of a pair of warm hands rubbing on the base of his sensitive dick. His hands rubbing your head through your hair, pulling you in slightly.

“You want me to suck you off?” You tested.

He hummed in response, pulling you in even more. But you kept yourself in the same place, wanting to test him even more.

“Do you? Do you really?” You breathed, your breath blowing against his red, leaking cock. Teasing him as you did.

He seemed to not be very patient as that pretty much ripped him off his nice boy look, his eyes hair and lips set in a firm line― realising that you weren’t just a simple little submissive one but definitely a switch, though he wasn’t going to be having none of the latter. His hand now holding onto your jaw tightly, you stared into his eye― paying more attention to the eyepatch. God, he looked so hot with it.

“Be a good girl and suck me off, okay,” He growled, patting your cheek. You pout at this, feeling his dick throb against your palm as you stayed still.

He realised you weren’t going to do anything from that command, letting out an amused chuckle he bent down towards your face, “Difficult aren’t you? Don’t be a brat, come on―”

“―be a good baby girl and suck daddy’s cock, princess,” He placed a kiss on your forehead. Grinning as you got him to reveal his not so sly kink.

Enough of testing the air, you had your tongue out and licked the tip of the head. Tasting the salty precum, pursing your lips as you pushed his dick to the side. Placing a kiss on the base of his cock, tongue feeling the area before licking the side from base to tip, he choked out a moan at the feeling. Tightening his grasp on your hair, he must’ve liked that. Completely taking the tip in between your lips now.

Feeling the veins that throbbed through his length encased around your lips as he held onto your hair tightly, feeling himself getting so close he began fucking your throat. Gagging and whining at the roughness of his thrusts, you peered up to watch him, blinking as you saw him looking right at you. He choked out a moan as his thrusting jittered and stopped, watching as he quickly pulled himself out― pushing your head back, hearing a lewd pop of your lips, “Fuck, don’t look at me like that when your throat is filled with my cock, baby girl. I nearly came, fuck.”

Pushing you onto your back, he had everything off of you in a split second. Must’ve been that close cum call. Breathing heavily as he pushed your thighs up, placing himself between them. You watched him, his hot, wet― from your sucking, cock dangling it’s glorious self between his thick thighs before they disappeared into the sheets as his body flattened against it.

Completely distracted by his lower half, you didn’t notice his hot breath against your core. Taking you by surprise, a wet and hot lick flattening against your clenching hole, gasping as you felt his tongue exploring you. His hands holding onto your thighs, tightly spreading them apart as one slid itself up to hold your hips down. Completely held down and unable to move your hips against his tongue, he slowed the pace on purpose, hearing the displeased whimper that left your pouty lips he smirked against you as his tongue flicked your sensitive nub, sending a huge jolt of sensation up your spine.

“We’re going to have to prepare your tight little pussy for this huge cock, princess,” He grunts, pushing his thighs underneath your own. Bringing his cock into view again, seeing it twitch and leak at the sight of your clenching saliva wetted hole.

His hand feeling down your cleavage, stomach, naval and stopping right before it hit your most needy spot, whining and thrusting your now free hip at him. He lets out a breathy chuckle before slipping his finger inside you, clenching at the thrust. He gaped, cocking his head, “Only one and already, whimpering? Fuck.”

His other hand squeezing your bottom as the pinky brushed against another hole, letting out a sharp breath you realised reacting like so was a mistake, seeing the arched eyebrow plastered on his face and his curved lip. As if he didn’t know he brushed another finger there.

“Aren’t you full of surprises?” Leaving the finger already thrusted, knuckle deep into your pussy he teased the ring on your bum, feeling the hole clenching hard by the mere brush peaking his interest, “As much as I personally like this, you’d cum way too fast from this― we’ll keep this hole shut til next time.”

Leaving your other hole lonely and tight, he began thrusting again now with another finger. You couldn’t help but reach down to grab onto his wrist, feeling how hard his hand was and how fast he was going. He watched you with his body now leaning over you, hand flat by the side of your face. You could feel his throbbing dick rubbing against the inside of your thigh.

Moaning breathlessly at his pace, you felt it. You high racing up, you body tensing and clenching, he hummed at the tightness and began rubbing his thumb against your clit. A large gasp left your lips, holding onto his shoulder as your eyes shut and eyebrows squeezed together at the simulation, breathing out curses and moans you left gushes of cum pouring out of your.

“Fuck―uh―keep going, fuck!” there it was, already looking completely fucked out and coming undone infront of him. His eyes were watching his fingers disappearing inside you, biting his own lip as he felt it all.

He grinned at the cum all over his hand, “Great job.”

Taking that cum and rubbing it onto his length, pulling on it― getting himself ready as if he wasn’t hard as a fucking rock already. Pulling away from you, letting your arms drop down against the comforter. He pulled his pants off completely, alongside with his underwear. Nearly cumming again from the sight of his sculpted body, fully nude in front of you. 

“We’re not done yet, ready to go again?” He murmurs as he was paying a whole lot of attention to your swollen pussy.

“Of course I’m ready,” You breathed, you were so ready to feel that thick cock inside of you.

Chuckling, and letting out a low response he got to it. Placing your thighs on the sides of his waist, pulling you down to meet his hips. Pulling on his soaked cock he lined it against your already clenched whole, from the mere sight and though of him inside.

Rubbing the head up and down the slit, avoiding your clit, he pushed his hips forward feeling the head slip in a bit before pulling out and doing the same thing, “Stop teasing me.”

You whined, pouting at him. His lips curved, “You’re going to need to stop clenching then, it’s never going to go in like this.”

Rolling your eyes, settling onto your elbows you breathed slowly trying your best to stop clenching before he’s even inside, letting out a deep breath Jungkook began pushing in again but now not stopping once the head in nearly all the way in. Gasping at the feeling of fullness you held onto his forearms, squeezing, reassuring him to go on.

Thrusting up fully, and roughly, bottoming out against you. You let out a pitched gasp as he groaned, head dropping onto your shoulder. Letting you set yourself, you squeezed his arm again― he nodded against your shoulder, placing a wet open mouthed kiss against it before pulling out nearly all the way and thrusting. Your body shaking at every thrust, he held your waist to keep you in place. Dropping your head back moaning, he took the chance to suck on your neck drowning out his own moans.

Your legs wrapped around him, keeping him close you could feel him going faster, he must’ve been close. Beads of sweat rolling down him, you let out a loud whimper, “I’m close.”

“Yea? Fuck, I am too.” He looks up at you. Taking the opportunity of both being close, you wrapped your hands around his cheeks keeping his face up looking at you.

Your eyes opening and closing to his thrusting, moaning for him to see, watching his dark eye glazing over your lips. Your hand brushing against the string of the patch, Jungkook took your expression and reached his hand up to pull it off. His eyes both narrowing into you, you felt as if this was extremely thoughtful― seemed like an extremely big gesture to reveal something he was hiding from everyone.

Taking his lips you wet your tongue against his, sucking and pulling. Moaning into his mouth as your high came again, this one inside your core. His own choked breath you felt through his lips, pulling away you gasped.

“Come on then, cum for me,” He said.

His voice was enough to trigger your entire body to shiver, feeling the tinge and spike at your core. His thick cock holding that clenching making the sensation so much more heightened. Letting yourself go completely, visibly shaking in his arms. Eyes shutting and feeling it all.

He raced for his high not long after, using your high to help himself. Within a single loud groan you felt him fill you up completely. He was completely bottomed out inside you feeling your clenching and his throbbing cock inside you, both your cum filling you up.

As you both caught your breaths and came down from your high, he gently pulled out watching as the cum spilled out. What a sight. He rubs your thighs sensually before getting up.

Relaxing against your tower of pillows you stretched, feeling the cracks in your back and relief of the sounds. Watching Jungkook as he wondered around your room, “What are you doing?”

He perked up, turning to you. His body showing off his plump ass and softening cock, “Uh, towels?”

You let out a laugh before pointing towards the dresser where his blazer was, he nods and moves towards it, pulling out the first towel he sees. Getting back on the bed, his knees digging into the duvet, his weight completely shifting you. Holding onto his arm as he bounced around. He breathed an apology for being so rough, for jumping on the bed like that, you shook your head not really caring about it.

He wiped away the leftovers of your passionate fucking. Tossing the towel away as he captured your lips again. His tongue poking at your lips wanting entry.

“Baby girl, don’t be like that,” He pouts, looking much cuter now without the eyepatch. You chuckled at his pouting, a finger brushing over the red hair covering his eye. Purple and blue neon lights, reflecting against his eye. He swallowed, watching as you stared at the eye he kept hidden before.

“I don’t understand why you hide it,” You muttered, poking at the puffy bags under his eye instead of paying much attention to the eye.

He smiled, genuinely, “I don’t either, people think I have prosthetics in them,” shrugging before continuing, “I don’t, it’s just the colour― it kinda bothers me.”

Humming as you looked at it, the bottom half seemed normal, just brown like the other yet the top part was blue with specs of gray, “Did something bad happen to it?”

He shook his head, brushing your hair over your shoulder― placing another kiss on it, right at where he left a mark, “Something like that, it’s weird, huh?”

“Weird? No, it’s probably the most normal thing about you,” You replied, watching as he gave you a confused look.

Continuing on, as it seemed he needed the explanation, “You changed your body so much, from organic body parts that you lost into bionic parts instead of living with it. Whilst with this eye, you could’ve easily gotten it removed and changed even with organic parts yet you kept it. In a way, keeping the memory of it becoming that way, living with it. You tell me you’re not human, but you are. Being human is being able to adapt and live with whatever happens with you, even if you’ve had other things done, you kept something that everyone can see.”

An impressed huff left his lips, he grinned as he met your eyes again, “And yet during your ‘job’ they tell you to keep your mouth shut.”

“They’re just scared of how smart you are, how human you are, aren’t they?” He brushed his fingers against your jaw.

Blinking at him, letting your lips curve, “Maybe, though I don’t usually talk this much to anyone.”

“I guess I’m special,” He replies. Chuckling you hit his shoulder, he pretended that it hurt and rubs it, before his expression changes.

“So,” He flexes his back and straightens up, “Would you consider going outside with me?”

Furrowing your eyebrows as you looked out into the night, “What do you mean? I don’t think I can do that―”

“I think you can, I have you for the entire night.”

Watching him hop out the bed and throw his clothes back on in effort to make you agree, sighing at it knowing that leaving this room with this man would forever change you, it would change your life― whether it be for the better or worse, nothing was stopping you from taking the risk.

“Alright.”

c. 2018

[bananonbinary]

Final Epilogue Thoughts

okay, ive OFFICIALLY finished homestuck. 100%, all epilogues complete.

yall, i was really expecting it to be so bad? everyone hated it so much, but i really enjoyed it. meat was a little rough for me to get through, but after a bit of a depressing start candy REALLY took off. it really felt like a dozen other homestuck fics ive read, and i dont mean that in a shitty way. i dont understand why people disliked it, i was especially having a lot of fun in the revolution plot.

(On that note, has anyone talked about yet how the ao3 framing actually would make the ending fucking brilliant even if it never upd8s again? do you KNOW how many goddamn homestuck fics i’ve read that are forever discontinued, many of them ironically specifically because of the epilogues? it felt SO much like every other fic ive ever read it actually made me nostalgic. getting to the end and feeling like “hey author where’s the rest” is sort of part of the fanfic experience lmao.)

i mean, i know a few characters really had a Bad Time, but i dont really feel like any of them were completely butchered or unrecognizable? i mean i didnt see jane coming, but like hussie talked about in that bigass statement on pgenpod, that’s...sort of the flawed nature of sequels and continuations, you always need to find a way to undo the happy ending you left everyone with to have Drama again. coupled with the kinda fucked-up and Too Much nature of the epilogues, i dont feel like it butchers jane’s character any more than Bro butchers dirk’s. it’s just one way she could’ve gone if she was handed ultimate power and an unstable narrative depriving her of real friendships.

Speaking of Dirk, meat was MUCH harder for me to read, but i don’t feel like he was super slandered either. it kinda seems like Ultimate Selves aren’t....supposed to exist as characters? which makes sense from a narrative standpoint because how could you have any sort of character development if youve simultaneously done everything you ever will or could do, that’s not a character that’s a model sheet. And dirk’s ultimate self includes...a lot of fucked people including Bro. so he was always going to be a prick.

don’t ask me about the graphic and triggering shit, there was literal trigger warnings that the writers repeatedly said beforehand were real, so i dont wanna hear any complaints about dead doves.

idk, it was all very silly, and fun, and had a lot of interesting things to say about storytelling just like the rest of homestuck, and OBVIOUSLY is leading up to something else, and honestly, i dont know what the big fuss was about. it’s cool if you hated them, i aint gonna try to change your mind, but personally i thought it was a great story and i cant wait to see it continue

[bisexualstokes-archive]

Atrophy (5/7)

Chapter (5/7): Dig Him Up Rating: Teen+ (For: Language, Graphics Depictions of Violence) Summary: It’s not what you think.  Chapter Notes: I have three warnings for this chapter: 1) It is the longest of all the chapters so far (3.6k words), 2) There are certain things that are implied, that seem like it's leading to one thing, but it is most certainly not., 3) It will also seem like there is a character death, but I assure you, there is NOT. .......what have I done? also...girls just wanna have fun ;) @letswaitforme, @deltajackdalton, @impossiblepluto,@mutatedsilverunicorn,@12percentplan,@telltaleclerk…idk, who else wants to be tagged in updates of this fic?? lemme know ;) 

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Something beyond nausea was swirling in the pit of Nick’s stomach. As Veronica dragged Nick back through the hallway which seemed to extend for miles, doors opening and closing on both sides, showing terrible visions of torture chambers, he couldn’t help but wonder what Veronica had intended for Greg.

Maybe they didn’t know what had happened yet. Maybe Greg just hung up on Veronica, as soon as she started moaning. Maybe Marsh was still buried somewhere in the earth, before his time. Maybe nobody would realize he’s gone until the start of his next shift--what time was it, anyway?

“You know, it’s a shame you’ve gone all quiet,” Veronica mused as she brought him through a door. “I really liked the sound of your screams.”

Helpless, Nick stared up at her, his head rolled backwards as she dragged him by the arms. His more...injured shoulder was most certainly dislocated by now from the rough pulling, his back was probably covered in carpet burn. Whatever expression that was on his face seemed to only fuel her fire more, a devilish smile spread across the woman’s face.

She dragged him into a room which was also as barren as the living room. A bedroom, containing only a bed, a dresser, a closet. No windows in sight, the only source of light was a ceiling light.

Veronica hauled him onto the bed, Nick noticed she struggled a bit, as she did when getting him in an out of the trunk. If he could only move, he could have tried to overpower her.

But instead, he was on top of her bed, and she pulled out a pair of handcuffs. She tied one end to the bedpost, walked to her drawer and pulled out another pair for the other post.

“It’s not what you think,” she told him, as if she knew the horrific images that were conjured in his head, of what his “punishment” might entail, on a bed, with handcuffs involved.

It didn’t ease his anxiety regardless.

She walked away from the bed, towards the closet. Next to the closet was a long chain that seemed to come out of the wall.

“For your punishment...I was thinking,” she opened the closet doors, then turned her head towards him. “I’ll make you watch.”

Nick was dizzy, the room was spinning, his thoughts were bouncing all over the place. His train of thought had jumped from deadly premonitions of Greg Sanders, to one of painful memories, that he had tried so hard to repress.

Watch? Watch what?

She reached into the closet, Nick couldn’t quite see what was inside--but heard the jangle of metal, like a chain. He heard another sound, as if the chain was being pulled, and then retracted. Almost like a pulley system.

“I’m afraid you’re not going to get the best seat in the house, however. It is a punishment, and I remember how...uncomfortable the trunk made you.”

Oh no.

“Although, maybe it wasn’t just the dark, maybe it was...the tight space of the trunk? C’mon, you can tell me…”

She walked over to the bed, stood over him, relishing the silence before bursting into a fit of giggles. She playfully tapped his cheek, he would wince away if he could.

“Oh, that’s right, you can’t.”

As if he needed the reminder.

She grabbed his arms again, pulling him off of the bed. He was dragged once more, this time towards the open closet. She kept his arms raised above his head, he heard the connection of metal around his wrists. She stepped on top of him, just like she did at the crime scene, only this time, a little less carefully, stomping down on him with such pressure to his gut that he couldn’t feel.

She stepped out of the closet, began to pull the chain, and Nick was lifted upwards, his assumption was correct, there was a pulley system at play.

He was lifted up so that his feet were a few inches off of the ground. His head fell forward, his chin was touching his chest, and he had a close-up view of his bleeding scars. He briefly wondered if he would bleed out before any death due to the toxin’s effects.

He directed his eyes towards Veronica, who was smiling at him, holding a camera—oh, how he wanted to just punch that smile off of her face. The whole idea of this...ownership, this torture was bad enough, but the possibility that she had done this before, given how the house was laid out, how the chains were installed...brought Nick to a whole new level of questioning if he had truly fallen into hell, or if the reality was that demons were real, and he was face to face with one of them.

“Behave,” she ordered. “Or I will kill him.”

Click. Flash.

She closed the closet doors, leaving Nick in the dark, but it wasn’t completely dark. Beams of light shone through the slits of the louvered closet door.

The closet was not as bad as the trunk, all things considered. At least he had more room to breathe, he wouldn’t run out of air, he could still see the room, though his view was limited. The confinement was terrible, and he did feel a hint of his claustrophobia, but it could have been worse.

And then, it got worse.

Veronica turned off the room’s light, Nick heard the sound of a door closing. The final nail in the coffin. What he was once able to identify as a bedroom, became another dark tomb, that he couldn’t even scrape his nails against, in a futile effort to escape. He was trapped in a claustrophobic void, an existential stasis, wondering if it was minutes or hours that passed as all the voices in his head kept him company...voices of people he loved, of people he hated...of people he failed.

He failed his parents. Left his home, all because he wanted to escape from their shadow, escape from his childhood home--which never really felt like home, not after that night. He left to “prove himself,” but what has he proven now, a broken man chained to a wall, a plaything of a twisted woman’s whim?

He failed Grissom, disappointed him--even if Grissom had specifically told him, on a foggy, groggy night spent in a hospital bed, that he never did.

He failed Catherine. How could she still trust him to be her right hand man, when he can’t even process a crime scene without getting injured? When he can’t shoot an armed suspect without emptying his entire clip, because he’s scared--scared that if he doesn’t, the suspect will shoot him and he’ll fall to the ground again?

He failed his friends. Sara, Ray, Jim...Greg. What must they think of him, can’t even keep a promise to meet for breakfast, making false phone calls, unable to say a word of what he’s truly feeling? They don’t deserve him. They deserve someone greater…somebody who could be a good friend, to listen, someone smart enough to see the warning signs of danger before he walks face first into it.

Echoes of disappointments, failures, screamed at him through the void. Mistakes he’s made, people he couldn’t save, whose deaths he was directly responsible for--two men that he had even killed, himself, all because they would have killed him first. Final words of a serial killer, who deserved the swift hand of justice, though maybe Nick had swung a little too hard...

“Great men who are what I could never be…”

He was no hero. No John Wayne. The Duke would take one to the shoulder and walk it off, like it was a mosquito bite. Mercilessly shoot down the bad buy, live to fight another day. He was brave in the face of danger.

“The pain doesn’t go away, the rage doesn’t go away. So, come on, put your gun down, walk out of here, be a man.”

Nick, on the other hand was a coward. A man who now flinches every time he hears a gunshot. A man who can’t seem to pull the trigger when it really matters, when faced with the murderer of his partner, his best friend.

Maybe he deserved this punishment, after all.

His stomach churned, fearing that the worst was yet to come, as Veronica’s humming intruded upon his thoughts. He heard a dragging sound, a grunt, and then nothing. For seconds...or minutes...or hours?

With every blink, time seemed to get a little slower. He was finally nodding off, if he was lucky, perhaps he would fall asleep, better yet--maybe into a coma. Dreamless sleep.

“What’s taking him so long?” Veronica’s voice broke the silence, Nick was startled out of his doze. She turned the light on, her position in the room was not where Nick thought it would be, based on his perception of her voice in correlation to her body. She was in front of the mirror, brushing her hair, checking her face...she had seemed to be talking more to herself than to Nick.

Perhaps she had forgotten that he was in the closet? If it didn’t kill him, the drug would wear off soon...if he could just stay quiet, maybe he could slip out...

“Does Greg even care about you, Nick?”

Guess not.

“I saw him, not too long ago. At the house. Digging. Everyone, in fact, was digging so...purposefully, like they were uncovering something they had buried there themselves.”

She turned toward the closet, stood right behind the horizontal prison bars. He always hated prisons.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the closet door was open. He was suddenly near-sighted, everything past Veronica’s fuming frame was blurred, distorted. He needed his glasses, but didn’t need them to see the sharp nails as they slid across his cheek. His head lolled, falling back to his chest, his mouth gaped open.

“Hey! Wakey, wakey--this isn’t naptime!” Veronica snapped at him. She wiped off the drool that had landed on her hand onto his pants.

“Ssst………...op…” he groaned in a thin, raspy voice. A sharp breath, held in, released at the syllable of his broken words. His jaw clenched, his unsteady breathing thundered in his ears.

“You’re so cute when you think you still have a chance.”

He blinked, there was music playing, bubbly, poppy music. He never liked this song anyway, it never really applied to him, and the application of it to his situation made him grind his teeth. Veronica was dancing, lip syncing, occasionally looking to the closet, winking.

He blinked, and the door was closed again, Veronica was on the bed, blowing a bubble from her lips, kicking her legs on the edge of the bed as she swayed to the beat of the song.

He blinked, and he wondered if he had opened his eyes at all--he was in the void again. She was nowhere to be found, but heard her vile giggles--his eyes scanned the dark space of the closet anxiously, wondering if maybe she was in there with him.

He blinked, and she was in front of the closet, a deadly, hateful expression on her face. The sound of chains grinding, he began to fall. His body spasmed, an involuntary response to a threat he was helpless against. His feeble struggle made her giggle.

He blinked, and she was at the other end of the bedroom, behind the bed, the closet doors were wide open. She was smiling at Nick, widely, holding a finger to her lips. She started to crouch down, disappeared behind the bed. The music was beginning to fade.

He blinked, the door was closed, the light was on. The music was gone, there was an eerie silence...that was broken by the sound of a door creaking open.

A flicker of light, danced onto the bed, the ceiling, the walls.

Steady breathing, Nick told himself. The tension, built up within the last few minutes--was it really minutes, or was it hours? Or days? Or years?--was bound to reach a boiling point, a climax. The suspense was tearing him apart, whatever Veronica was about to do to him, he wished she would just do and get it over with.

The light crept onto the dresser, onto the mirror--it flashed onto the backboard of the bed frame, the silver of the handcuffs gleamed.

The light headed towards Nick, soon it was shining in his face, nearly blinding him.

Enough with the damn light!

More creaking, this time from the closet door, which was being opened...slowly…

Just get it over with you bitch…

The space in front of the closet was occupied by the shadow of a person, but it wasn’t Veronica--wasn't even a woman. A lean body figure, an outline of tousled hair. A flash of reflective white material on his chest. The light was lowered, something got caught in his throat, hitched his breathing, stopped his heart. The man standing right in front of him had a horrified expression on his face, his eyebrows curved in concern, his skin was a pale green.

It was Greg Sanders.

“Nick?” Greg asked in disbelief, lifting Nick’s head up with gentle fingers. Nick’s eyes remained locked on Greg, blinked, to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

I’m just as shocked as you are, buddy.

Outwardly, Nick could only manage to sputter drool in response. But something seemed to transfer from Nick’s eyes to Greg, and understanding, of the true nature of the situation, and not the false one Veronica had tried to fool Greg into believing.

“We gotta get you out of here,” Greg gulped down, gently lowering Nick’s head down. He used one hand to dig into his pocket for his phone, stuck the flashlight into his vest with the other and began to fumble with one of the shackles on Nick’s wrist.

Nicks eyes wandered behind Greg, the woman who had crouched behind the bed was now rising, the same smile on her face, the finger still pressed to her lips. Veronica disappeared behind Greg’s body--but Nick could see a camera coming closer on the left, and a syringe on the right.

Nick fought against the confines of his body, his veins surging with fire, his eyes bulging just slightly out of their sockets. Greg had gotten one of the shackles open--Nick tried to aim his falling hand to fall onto Greg, to get his attention. Something rose within his throat, but wouldn’t leave the surface--Greg was unaware, holding the phone to his ear, was just about to spew out the details of the address--

GET OUT, GREG!

Greg groaned, dropped the phone, and fell towards Nick. His hand grabbed onto the top of Nick’s pants, released his grip as he fell to the floor.

Click. Flash.

Nick’s eyes dropped to the floor, staring at the unconscious CSI at his feet--his head was resting on Nick’s shoe. He wanted to kick at him, make him wake up. If there were any time for a seizure, it would be now. Tears were raining down onto Greg’s head, but that didn’t wake him up, either.

“You didn’t tell me your friend was such a stud...Although, given how quickly he fell to the floor, should I say, a dud?”

Shrill laughter pierced through Nick’s ears, his body vibrated with anger at the fact that he couldn’t do anything to help his friend. All he could do was watch.

Veronica dragged Greg away, towards the bed--she stopped as she reached the foot of the bed, looked up at him, to relish the look on Nick’s face. He thought she was about to pull him onto the bed when she kept going, behind the bed. Giggles, cooing, rustling sounds...what the hell was she doing?

Then, a hand flopped onto the bed. And the other. A head popped up--a blur of brown hair, followed by a torso, dressed in a black vest, a reflective strip of white. The torso fell onto the bed, and then a hand raised up, waving.

Veronica rose up behind the body, crawled onto the bed. She handcuffed the unconscious body to the bed, spread his body out. She straddled Greg’s lap, pulling out a marker and wrote on his face.

She fell backwards, somersaulted off of the bed. She pulled something out of her dresser, and spun around eagerly.

She lifted up a black blur, held it in front of herself--Nick hyper focused on the object, it was a gun.

“You know, I was never actually that good at playing darts,” she mused, pulling the trigger. No gunshot, but a swift vhoom.

A dart gun.

Thank god.

“Aw,” she moaned. “I missed. I only got four darts left, better make them count...maybe I’ll get lucky, though.”

She described her misfire for him, because she knew he couldn’t quite see the dart hidden behind the man’s head. She lowered her arms, reloaded her weapon in between each shot.

She raised her arms again, seemed to aim with careful precision.

“When I caught you earlier, that was just sheer luck.”

Another miss, Nick saw it land above the man’s blurry head.

“Or...was it destiny?”

She dropped one arm, but it didn’t help her aim. The dart landed next to the man’s hand.

“I have to say, out of all the toys I’ve collected throughout the years…”

Another dart, between Greg’s chest and armpit. A pulse spread through Nick’s body--spiked at his heart. His limbs twitched, pins and needles pricking at the surface of his skin.

Veronica reloaded her gun, raised it up again, and then spun around to face Nick.

“You’re my favorite.”

She squeezed the trigger, but not before moving the gun back towards Greg--though her body was still facing Nick, her blurry face was still directed towards him.

Despite his distorted vision, the result of her last dart was crystal clear, but she decided to announce it anyway.

“Bulls-eye.”

A tremor shook the room, as the gun clattered to the floor. A violent laugh boomed through his ears. His already blurred vision stretched out, his face became a burning waterfall. Two separate blurs combined, dropped, one stood tall and he knew without knowing, what was going on. The sound of cloth dragged across carpet.

“Another broken toy, ready to be buried,” Veronica sighed glumly. “I was really hoping he would last longer…”

Lava rose up his throat, spilled out of his mouth. More lava poured out of a hole somewhere in his chest.

“Oh, what’s this? I think he’s still alive.”

His body jerked, hiccuped, a sound that was not human escaped his mouth.

“Hopefully he won’t fight as hard as Marsh did.”

Click. Flash.

He blinked, and he was left in the dark again.

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

One minute, he was at the scene of a terrible crime, and the next, he was in a world of darkness. He lifted his head up, immediately came into contact with something cold, hard.

He tried to sit up again, and couldn’t. He placed his hands in front of him, felt something inches above his head. He fumbled around for his flashlight, his vest was gone.

Luckily for Greg Sanders, he had put his flashlight in his pants pocket.

He turned the flashlight on, stared up at bed springs. He rolled himself out from underneath the bed, his head heavy. His hands clutched the comforter, he grunted, but didn’t quite hear himself, as the only thing he could hear was hyperventilating mixed with sobs.

“Please, please, please, please…” Over, and over, and over, and over.

“Nick?”

Greg waved his flashlight around the room, the hairs on the back of his head spiked upward, tingling. He saw a few darts on the bed, and a mess of flesh raised up beyond the bed’s surface.

He stood up, it was difficult--the room was tilted, hazy. He concentrated on the beam of his flashlight, focused on the hand that was still shackled to the wall, and another hand that was clawing at the metal binding it.

Nick was frantically trying to free himself, but he was too weak, his hand kept slipping, his nails scratched the metal so hard that they were bleeding. Gurgles and sobs filled the space between them, as Greg drew closer.

“Nick, hey--”

“He’s gone. He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone...gone...Rehhhhhhhh….k-k-k-k-k…….killed.”

Nick’s speech had faded to a low whisper, but  it didn’t take an investigator to figure out what Nick was so distraught about. Greg’s heart twinged, he was talking about Warrick.

“Gruh…….Reg.”

Or not.

“Nick, it’s okay, I’m right here,” Greg whispered, gingerly removing Nick’s bleeding fingers from clawing at the shackle.

“NO!” Nick screamed, an earthquake spread through his body, startled Greg backwards. “No, please! I’ll behave! I’ll behave…”

“Nick, y-you’re scaring me--” Greg gulped, and Nick started sobbing again.

“I-I’m sorry...I’ll behave just please…”

Greg wasted no time in undoing the shackle, avoiding as much contact with Nick as possible, until he was freed and fell to the ground, curled himself up in pain.

An arm reached up, grabbed Greg’s shirt, pulled him with such force that Greg nearly fell on top of Nick. He froze, unsure of how to react--he had only heard such noises when they had rescued him five years ago, but this time, he had a front row view. Nick’s eyes were shut tight, lost in his own mind.

“DIG HIM UP!” Nick screamed. “Please, dig him up...”

“Nick...look at me,” Greg told him, touching a hand to his cheek. His eyes began to flutter, his lips quivered. His nose sniffled, his breath caught itself. A trembling hand pressed Greg’s harder against his cheek. A spark in his eyes, a connection.

“I’m right here.”

Greg stared right into Nick’s eyes, a sound that almost resembled a laugh rose out of Nick’s body, before the crying stopped all together, and his eyes closed again.