#step 1: be worm. not like a regular cute worm but a fucked up one because of david lynch

[scumtrout]

This explains everything, thank you.

Sometimes when I'm between wakefulness and sleep, I hear BEAUTIFUL MUSIC and have ASTOUNDING REVELATIONS... And then I forget about 95% of it and it pisses me the fuck off.

Last night I dreamt I was shown how to fold time and space but I was too dumb to understand it. I will never make it as a Spacing Guild Navigator. :(

[one-winged-dreams]

Okay, never fucking mind, I have brain worms and I need to get them OUT, so I'm gonna risk passing out in my chair and eating shit for the sake of this awful fucking man

Initially, this was just supposed to be the dragon version of the Prestor and swan!insert ship. Doe-eyed idiot falls hook line and sinker for a handsome powerful man and he just is like 'okay cool whatever' and has a lot of fun just playing around with him in his weird 'i love you but i don't' way.

AND IT SORT OF STARTED THAT WAY???

PART ONE of the Nel and Dia ship progression.

(cut for length)

Step 1 ) Nel notices one of Alexstrasza's personal tenders is always stumbling over himself whenever he's around, he's wondering where he's seen him before but doesn't really think too hard about it.

Step 2 ) At some point Alex addresses Dia in front of Nel. He vaguely remembers the name from Dia's visage day when Alex asked him about his gender presentation because dragons respect trans rights in this house. He was just like "Oh, I don't know, I just let it happen. Does it look okay?" and everyone has a heart attack from how cute he is. Nel not entirely an exception but in a passing sort of 'that's interesting i guess' sort of way.

Step 3 ) Nel is progressively taking note of Dia whenever he's around because it's BRUTALLY clear that Dia is head over heels for him. Which, I mean, it wouldn't be the first time one of the regular drakes crushed on an Aspect, but he's cute and it's kind of fun to fuck with him. Because he's Nel and he's awful.

Step 4 ) At some point Dia gets sent on an errand to the Obsidian Citadel and Nel can't NOT eat the poor boy alive. The black dragons are just GLEEFULLY watching their Aspect tear this young Ruby's composure apart. Because Nel has always been described as super charming in the lore, old-god-crazy notwithstanding. And Nel, being such a CONSIDERATE and NOBLE Earth Warder, insists that Dia stay while the errand is completed. Wouldn't make sense for him to go back to the Life Shrine and then have to make the trip both ways AGAIN, right?

Step 5 ) Dia's soul leaves his body.

Step 6 ) Nel is absolutely bored out of his mind at any given moment so might as well get to know his little admirer. And the more they talk the more the cute aggression starts to build up and Nel's like "Oh I can't NOT fuck him." So he decides he's gonna shoot his shot but SLOW BURN IT.

Step 7 ) Suddenly Dia is making a lot of requests to volunteer whenever anyone needs anything from the Citadel. Alex doesn't really mind all that much but she IS squinting at Nel from across the Waking Shores.

Step 8 ) The progression of intimacy is SO long and convoluted, with one of the stages being Nel inviting Dia to sleep in his visage bed while Nel is away, he doesn't mind, he has things to attend to anyway and Dia is SO sweet and helpful, it's the LEAST he could do.

Step 9 ) Dia does VERY little sleeping that night. Nel knows this because the smell is EXTREMELY evident when he comes back. Experiment success?

Step 10 ) Little near misses of intimacy turn to intimate BONDING, turn into finally [EXPLITIVE EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE EXPL-]

Nel is very pleased with himself, especially now that he's got a new toy that's ripe for playing with.

BUT WAIT- THERE'S MORE!

(continued in the next post)

[dalishthunder]

1) “You know, you always look so much better when I mark you up.” & 48) “I can’t wait to put bruises all over that pretty skin.” with Mallek to a human s/o?

I combined these two because I felt they worked really well together

The Hottest Person in the Room

Pairing: Mallek Adalov/afab human s/o

Rating: Explicit

Words: 1192

Biting, rough, marking, cream pie

You were supposed to be out all day, busy running around dealing with social obligations only for your friends to cancel last minute. Which sucked because you'd already gotten yourself prepared, out of bed, and actually had left your beautiful, comfortable abode.... But no matter, it just meant you got to choose the flavors on the flavordisk for when you visited Mallek instead... like mushrooms and the troll version of olives... or maybe just plain instead of the monstrosity Mallek always ordered.

Yeah... you decided to pick up a regular normal flavordisk for you two.

It smelled absolutely heavenly and not at all like jellybeans, grub crunch, peanut butter with extra garlic or some other crazy concoction he kept on ordering. Most of them were pretty awful. But with a plain you figured he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to his slices while yours remained delicious and not at all like an alchemist's shopping list.

When you opened the door to his hive he wasn't in his entertainment block so you shoved some things aside on his table to put the box down and went up to his respite block where he was probably working. He got really intense about it sometimes so he'd probably been at it for hours knowing him. You heard a quiet, strained. "Shit."

You didn't bother knocking because it was honestly a little disconcerting hearing him say that and you were a bit concerned that maybe he'd hurt himself. What you did not expect was to see him very flushed, whipping around to look at you, his wire rimmed glasses reflecting your nudes on his screen with his hand firmly planted around that blue raspberry gummy worm of a phallus. "You = back early." He sputtered.

It took you a moment of blinking before you just smirked, "Aww, poor baby, you want me to take care of it for you?"

He let out a little chuckle, recovering pretty quickly from the shock, "You know I can't resist my cute little robobuddy."

"Well with sweet talk like that how can I resist?" You sauntered over to where he sat, shucking off your shirt and sports bra on the way. You planted a soft kiss on his lips and he cupped your face, following as you pulled back.

"Fuck you really = cute."

"I'm about to be even cuter." You waggled your eyebrows dropping to your knees and kissing the inside of those tree trunks he called thighs. Well, he didn't actually call them thighs. He called them upper strut sticks which was dumb.... Troll naming systems were dumb.

He tipped your chin up with his fingers, his sharp teeth catching the dim light. "Hmmm, stand up I have a better idea."

"Oh?" You quirked a brow, but did as he said and he rewarded you with a bruising kiss.

Oh.

It was That kind of night.

You let out a giggle as he pulled away just enough to nip at your bottom lip. "You about to = realcute." His grip on your hips was tight, hard enough to bruise.Mallek traled his lips along your jaw, down your neck to bite your shoulder. "You always look so much better when I mark you up."

There was a low grumble to his voice and you shivered. "Well good thing I like being the hottest one in the room, so you'd better get on that."

"Mmmm I can't wait to put bruises all over that pretty skin." He purred as you fumbled with your pants, finally kicking out of them fully. In no time he was on you, sucking and nipping at your neck as he pushed you back until you were pinned against the wall. You threw a leg around his hip, your hand wrapping around to squeeze an ass cheek.

He let out one his his clicky purrs, biting you again, this time hard enough to draw a few drops of blood, his hand coming down to grip your thigh and hold it in place.

God you were so fucking wet for him already.

You could feel his bulge teasing at your folds, prodding at your entrance sliding in just a fraction before pulling back and teasing again. His other hand came down, thumb rubbing at your pleasure nub... god their language was starting to take hold.

Though pleasure nub was actually kind of cute.....

Mallek bit you again and you dug younr nails into the fat of his ass, bucking against him. "C'mon Mal, stop teasing."

He chuckled, his tongue lathing over and soothing his last bite mark, "Your wish = my command, player #2."

You snorted at that dorky pet name, your fingers curling in his hair and pulling him closer as he grabbed your other leg and wrapped that around his waiste as well, bulge slipping slowly into you.

You let out a moan, savoring the stretch as he eased in little by little, giving you time to acclimate. "Fuck you feel so good."

He began to squirm in you as you clenched around him and bucked against him. He snapped his hips forward claw tips pricking against your skin from where he held you up, and your ass smacked against the wall. His pace was slow, pulling out almost fully before thrusting back into you. A sort of clicky buzzing sound that you'd come to call a trill escaping his throat.

He was so fucking hot. Maybe not like temperature wise but the way he affected you, made you sweat and squirm he might as well have been.

Your nails raked down his back, leaving marks of your own against his thick skin. He picked up the pace, hitting just the right spot to have you seeing stars and you absolutely keened out his name.

He bit you again, harder this time, grip around you tightening, bulge thrashing inside you. He was close. "Bucket?" He asked.

You shook your head legs holding him closer, squeezing him in a vice grip.

He snickered, "You're so fucking weird."

You smacked his ass in retaliation and he gasped.

"You love it and you know it!"

Malleklaughed, but let out a choked "Fuck!" as you clamped down around him again. He threw back his head. "Fuck I'm so close."

"Damn right you are. Got that gorilla grip p-" His horns knocked against the wall as he swooped in to kiss you, bulge stiffening as you felt him spill into you.

He let go of one of your legs, fingers going to rub furiously at your nub, and it wasn't long until you were tumbling after him.

When he finally let you go you were both still panting, and he took a step back to admire his handiwork. You weren't sure how quickly he'd gotten his phone again, but he had it in his hand again, snapping a picture to show you just how thoroughly you'd been marked. You pulled him down to bite his neck back, hard enough to leave a mark before whispering in his ear. "Now we're both the hottest person in the room."

"Babe... it literally = just the two of us."

[whump-town]

If The Lord Don’t Forgive Me

Bi!Hotch returns

I brought Charlie around for round two because sometimes you just need sweet, wholesome gay love. And it’s sweet baby (okay sweet like sour gummy worms but it is sweet and, hey, I cut the whump out just to keep it that way so you’re welcome)

There is cussing, the slight implication to sex (but not graphic and far more like “men sometimes have sex”), homophobia (I know, I know why can’t I let them live in peace?? but I have to get something out of this too and I LOVE angst), child abuse (ugh... :( sorry Hotch but if you’re showing that pretty face in a fic, I’m gonna bring up the fact that your dad hit you...), and probably something else but I doubt it’s that bad

Anyways-- cut to the gay shit but let me hit it off with some “Work Song” by Hozier because... I’m the author and I can do what I want 

My baby never fret none About what my hands and my body done If the Lord don't forgive me I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me

Despite it only being eight o’clock in the morning, Aaron Hotchner feels today has aged him immensely.

The morning started with Emily knocking over an entire bookshelf. The decision to move her into his apartment was stupid and on a whim but he’s never truly felt the consequences of that until today. Which is good considering she’s been living there for nearly three years (straight from “dead” in London to living in his house)  but that is not where the focus should be placed. No, it should be placed on the fact that the crash caused him to jump. A normal, knee jerk reaction but not good when in the middle of shaving.

So, he’d come running out of the bathroom-- face stinging because he’s just jerked a razor across it-- to find the living room in shambles. Emily standing on the other side of the room looking to the point of tears but only managing the barest morsel of containment and Jack, school clothes covered in milk from his cereal, lower lip trembling, and little fist clenched for some semblance of control over the tears pouring down his face.

Standing there, the three of them each taking each other in, had felt surreal. Bit by bit, they all came together. Emily wiped her nose and rubbed the tear that fell off her face. She went to get him a band-aid and he went to Jack. That setback was only a step in the wrong direction.

Truthfully, that old bookshelf needed replacement about twenty-years ago when he built it. Its bitter fall was only a matter of time and he has yet to mourn it. The mess of the shelf was easy to clean up. He’d need to take the larger pieces to a dump or ask Morgan if he knows what to do with it. The books just got stacked on the floor and the wood splinters swept up and Jack advised to stay away from there until he or Emily could really go at it a little better and make sure there was nothing left.

The hard things came afterward.

Fighting with Jack to wear other clothes. He’d picked his current milk-soaked clothes out and Jack is reliant on a schedule. Changing clothes is a deviation and no matter how patient Hotch had tried to be, he was finding it hard to keep his cool. So he’d caved rather than lose his temper over something as simple as a second grader’s clothes. So, Jack went to school today in green overalls and blue rain boots that are a little too big. He’d looked silly but he’s seven so it’s technically still cute for him to do.

As for the nice cut he’d dug into his jaw, Emily had come to inform him that the only band-aids in the house are scooby doo. So, he has wood splinters in his living room, blood all over his shirt, Jack in poorly matching clothes, and a fucking scooby doo Band-Aid on his face.

Coffee is the only thing he knows can fix this.

“Uhm--” Leave it for today to also be the day he is confronted head-on with the very repressed sexual attraction he feels for men. “Can I--” his palms are embarrassingly damp. “Can I just get a-- a large black coffee?” The muscle in his forearm flexes and he can’t really force his fingers to grasp his wallet.

The man in question raises his eyebrow but takes the order. “Alrighty,” he answers. “Do you want creamer? Sugar?”

Hotch can feel his throat tightening in and his face heating up. Thank God he’s never been the type to flush visibly or else he’d be in some trouble. He forces his eyes on to the nametag pinned to the apron over the other man’s chest. Charlie, it reads. Hotch glances back up. “Yes-- Yes, please.” If he were a blusher, he’d be beet red.

Charlie smirks at the stammered manners. It’s cute. “You got a name, suit?”

“Ho--Hotch.”

Charlie raises an eyebrow at that but he’s not going to comment. It’s unprofessional and Hotch is more than likely a nickname. He lets it go. “Hotch” comes in enough that Charlie gets used to the strange nickname but to the staff of his shop he refers to the cute stuttering agent as “suit” and it’s easy to understand why.

“A-- A date?”

Charlie is gay but he’s not sure what “suit”/”Hotch” is. He’s thinking at least a little curious because getting the poor man into a stuttering puddle of anxiety and stammering is as simple as deviating from their typical “cream and sugar” discourse.

Charlie smirks, he thinks the stammering is cute. “Suit” is such a composed guy that it is cute. “Well, yeah. Unless the terminology has changed, yeah, suit, a date.”

Hotch’s throat feels impossibly tight. He’s aware of Charlie, very aware of him and his jaw and how hard the pads of his hands are and-- “I’m--” I’m not gay “Ugh, wh-when?”

Oh. Well, he wasn’t expecting it to be that easy. “Hmm, good question. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Charlie sucks his lip into his mouth, thinking. He snaps his fingers with a sudden idea. He bites the Sharpie’s lid off (the one he uses to write names on the cups) and hurriedly scribbles something on a napkin. “Here’s my number. Text me and we can work that out.”

That was… months ago.

Things have been steady. Good.

Pulling in a deep breath, Aaron Hotchner plunges his head under the luke-warm water of his bathtub. Goosebumps have broken out across his skin but the cold kills the ache in his overworked muscles. Besides, he’s entirely too distracted by two things: (1) he’s too fucking big to fit comfortably in this bathtub. Knees bent, his thighs are out of the water making this bath entirely useless. (2) The very unnervingly attractive coffee shop barista who’s shop he goes to, all the time. Who just so happens to be on his way over right now, for dinner.

“Wow.”

Startled by the sound, Hotch jerks and gets a mouthful of water and suds. Coughing and pulling at his burning nose, Hotch scowls at the intruder. None other than Emily Prentiss standing at the side of the tub, one hand on her hip, and the other extending a towel to him. “Emily!”

She raises an eyebrow of indifference as if he’s the one acting oddly. “You can hold your breath for an impressive amount of time,” she says. She moves the towel in front of him, trying to get him to take it from her. He won’t move his hands from where he’s placed them over his groin.

“Emily, get out!”

“Why are you making this a big deal?” she groans, rolling her eyes. “Hotch I have seen you naked!.” She puts the towel near the edge, where he can reach it without it falling into the water or to the floor. She makes a show of planting her hand over her eyes and turning her back. “Such a baby,” she mumbles. “What is the big deal?”

He ignores her.

She hears the water moving with him as he stands, large splashes as he disturbs the surface. “You’re welcome by the way,” she mumbles. She’d thrown the towel in the dryer so it would be warm for when he got out. Contrary to his dramatics, she does love him. He’s her friend and in the same ways that he takes care of her, she makes sure someone takes care of him. “Besides,” she says, turning around despite his disapproving huff of a sigh. “I came to tell you Charlie is here.”

Hotch freezes. Ah… that’s why she’d come in. That deer in the headlights look that she doesn’t see nearly enough of. It’s silly, if not endearing, that Hotch gets so nervous for these dates. Charlie is pretty clearly head over heels for him and it’s a little surprising. Charlie all bright and cheery, a hard extravert. Perfect, always early to their dates, Charlie.

“He’s early,” Hotch stammers.

Emily nods. The date is at seven-thirty and it’s not quite six. “He knows,” she informs him, settling her hips back against the sink. She’s not watching him throw on his boxers but she’s just… standing there, talking as he drops the towel and makes quick work of drying himself off and pulling his legs into pants. “He also knows you’re in the bath so don’t go breaking your neck. I don’t want to tell your seven-foot-tall, beefcake of a boyfriend that you’ve managed to kill yourself in here.”

Hotch huffs, rolling his eyes. It would be just his luck that he breaks his neck in here while buck ass naked, with Charlie in the living room no doubt. Though, that is a bit of a ridiculous thought to care about.  Here Emily is standing, casually watching him pull jeans over his boxers, having already seen him in his full glory. Charlie, even, has seen all of what he has to offer. He’s spent the majority of his life in the company of Jessica. She’s seen him in hospital gowns, bare assed which is strangely humiliating (and there’s the bonus of the repressed memories of Jessica catching him and Haley multiple times).

They’ve all seen him naked but that’s still not something he wants to deal with.

“You really do look strange in jeans,” Emily informs him as he’s shrugging on his shirt. Charlie had warned him against his more traditional polo. Evidently, he’d look like a “stiff” if he chose to wear a polo to the park. He shoots her a glare but it’s true. No matter how many times she sees him in regular clothes… she just can’t get used to it.

Charlie isn’t mean to him when he wears jeans though.

“There you are,” Charlie greets when Hotch steps out of the bathroom. The strange, beautiful thing about Charlie is that he doesn’t really care that Hotch’s life is crazy. He’d been unsettled by the grisly things that seem to occur so brutally to Hotch but he was quick, startlingly so, to remind Hotch that none of what Charlie had just been told sounded like it was Hotch’s fault. Despite Hotch’s swayed narration.

He’d thought it might be a bit strange to have Emily living in his apartment but Charlie also knew about the details leading up to that decision. The loss of Haley putting a strain on Jack’s independence and pattern of life. Being a single parent and a federal agent pulling Hotch every which way. Haley’s father, Roy, falling ill and commanding more of Jessica’s attention. Then, the fateful fall out with Ian Doyle, Emily moving to London, and the internal bleeding that had almost killed Hotch.

The last of which had been the end all be all. Emily came home and she found herself drawn back here by the less than stellar track record of her family. The abrupt decision landed her here, with Hotch, and it’s been beneficial for everyone involved.

Charlie feels a little safer knowing that when he has to go back to his own apartment, Hotch has his own apartment full of Jack and Emily waiting up for him. Even though he’s only been with Hotch a short while, he’s becoming more and more aware of the trouble that seems to follow his partner.

“Your hair is still wet!” Charlie kisses Hotch, fingers slipping easily through the soaked hair at the back of his head. “I won’t take you out in the cold until you’ve dried it. The last thing I need is you getting sick on me.”

Jack nods seriously hearing this. He’s seated beside Charlie on the couch, the two having been discussing superhero comics. It was turning into an argument when Hotch had come out (who would win between Batman and Ironman-- Charlie says Ironman and Jack Batman). “You can’t get sick,” Jack informs him firmly. “You promised you’d make pancakes for breakfast Saturday.”

Hotch raises an eyebrow, shaking his head. “All I’m good for to you people is my cooking skills.”

Charlie sucks in a breath, making a I don’t know about that, sort of face. “Just your pancakes, Aaron.” Charlie pats Hotch’s thigh the opposite of tender just downright taunting. “I love you but you can not cook or bake. You literally burn everything.”

The chorus of grunted seconding of that statement behind him feels like a betrayal but he really is bad at cooking. And math. And remembering general the most basic things. So, true but hey! “I’m going to go dry my hair,” Hotch announces, shaking his head. Sure, laugh it up now. They all need him. It’s funny now… brats.

“Get some gloves! There’s a wind chill!”

Emily huffs a laugh and Hotch turns around to catch it. He smirks at the sight of his living room, melancholy swelling in his throat. His family genuinely looks like his lesbian best friend, his ex-wife’s older sister, his son, and his 6’5 ex-college football player turned coffee shop owner boyfriend. It’s a little crazy and yet… comforting because at eighteen when he’d packed up his meager belongings to go to college, he didn’t think he was capable of having any of this.

As Charlie pulls him out the door-- hair dry-- Jack’s actively talking to them both. Something pointless but childish and so, by reason, very important. Emily’s reaching into his jacket and stuffing a pair of gloves into his pocket, throwing a scarf at his head. Jessica’s calling after them too and as soon as the door shuts Hotch pulls in a deep breath.

“They’re smothering,” Charlie informs him as they step off the porch. He offers his hand out to Hotch, scowling down at the icy steps.

Hotch hums in agreeance taking Charlie’s hand out of necessity for touch not help. “You’ll get used to it.” The implication of his statement comes to hit him centerfold but Charlie seems unaffected and Hotch is reminded that not even ten minutes Charlie had said that he loved him. “I love you but you can not cook or bake. You literally burn everything.”

I love you. I love you. I love you.

“Aaron? Did you hear me?”

Hotch blinks stupidly, looking up, and shaking his head. “No,” he mumbles regretfully.

Charlie shrugs it off. “I asked if you were hungry, yet.” Though a year is not altogether that much time, especially when compared to their ages, Charlie would like to think he has an understanding of Aaron. He does know that for certain, actually. He squeezes Aaron’s hand within his own and smiles over at him. He’s got layers, Aaron, and you have to pay a price to understand each and every one.

Somehow, that enchants Charlie. He loves it. There’s nothing he wouldn’t give up to have another layer.

“No need to pretend to be,” Charlie explains as they separate to get into his car. “You either or you aren’t. I just wondered if you wanted dinner now or after the walk.” Charlie wants his opinion. He desperately wants to understand what is going on in Aaron’s head. The thoughts he has when he gets silent like this, his restless fingers digging and rubbing.

Hotch hums, reflexively drawing his arms to his chest after he buckles himself into the car. He fidgets anxiously as he tries to figure out the correct answer. What it is that Charlie wants to hear. Charlie likes to eat early, that’s something he’s noticed. However, if Charlie’s asking him then maybe he doesn’t want to eat early. Would Charlie be hungrier after a walk? If they eat now it’ll be cold outside by the time they can get to the park. Then Charlie’s going to be mad at him because it’ll be his fault for having chosen to eat early and go to the park late. Maybe then Charlie will finally realize how stupid this whole relationship is, that he can do better, someone who isn’t like him, and--

“Hey.” Charlie doesn’t reach out and touch him. That’s a lesson he’s learned over the last few months. Hotch doesn’t mind physical touch but he’s easily unnerved by it when he doesn’t know it’s coming. Considering how lost in thought he just was, there is no way he would have seen it coming. “We can just go after, okay?”

Hotch immediately calms, “okay.” His shoulders fall from where he’d slowly, stiffly brought them up. He nods his head, looking down to his lap, while Charlie drives. He has to calm down.

He looks over, catching Charlie’s smooth movement. His arm is on the center console, palm up in a common gesture waiting for Aaron to take his hand. He blinks for a moment, mind slowly turning over exactly what this is. Glancing at Charlie, Hotch slowly lifts his hand up and shyly slots his fingers between his. Smiling when Charlie doesn’t even react much more than a pleased grin.

Oh, he thinks calmly. He likes holding Charlie’s hand. He likes Charlie. The way that he just fills the silence without ever expecting Hotch to return the vigor. Simply requiring Hotch remain engaged with the occasional hum of understanding or scowl of confusion. And Hotch loves that so much more-- that he never has to find the words to explain that he doesn’t understand. Charlie just knows.

“You can’t.”

Charlie frowns, turning to glance at Hotch. “What do you mean?” That’s where the compensation occurs-- Charlie is awful at remembering things. He forgets his dry cleaning, appointments that he set up, holidays, birthdays, weekend plans-- everything. Hotch seems to forget nothing.

Hotch looks out the window of the passenger side, feeling the cold seeping in from the door, but docile and contently closes his eyes to narrow his attention to Charlie’s thumb rubbing lazy patterns on the back of his hand. “On the twenty-third you have interviews for waiters. Your morning, at the very least, is packed.”

Charlies frowns, well shit. “You know,” he says, giving Hotch’s hand a little squeeze. “If you just came to work with me, I wouldn’t have to have those interviews. It would fix so many of both of our problems.”

Hotch turns his head, smirking at Charlie. Not true. It would fix some of their issues-- how much time Hotch’s job steals from them, Charlie’s need for more staff. However, Charlie just wants him working there because Charlie thinks Hotch would look hot in the apron (actually, he knows Hotch is hot in the apron).

They arrive at the park and the two get out. Charlie immediately regrets coming out in this weather.

The grass crunches under Hotch’s feet but he enjoys the way the snow muffles so much of the noise around them. Leaving nothing but the few courageous birds watching them from their perches. It’s a safety Hotch finds entirely enrapturing. Enough to not mind the cold at all and how Charlie’s been fussing with his own clothes since they set off.

Hotch is just walking along. His hands are cold but not enough to ache and with Charlie’s covering the majority of his right hand, he can slip the left into his pocket. It’s not until Charlie squeezes his hand to get his attention that they stop, that Hotch pulls his attention to his partner and away from the scenery.

Charlie pulls him by the lapels of his dark jacket, turning him so that they’re standing facing one another. The toes of their shoes bumping together. “Come here,” Charlie instructs, words a cloud of condensation around them. He wastes no time in pulling the hat off of his own head to pull it down over Hotch’s. Smiling when it smushes his overgrown bangs against his forehead. “I don’t want you getting an ear infection out here. Gotta keep you healthy.”

Hotch shyly grins, looking down at the ground, “I’ll be okay.” He still turns his cheek into Charlie’s palm, letting him wrap that hand around the back of his neck, turning his chin up to kiss him. His lips are cold and the tip of his nose feels frozen. “It’s not that cold.”

Charlie shrugs and Hotch doesn’t pull the hat off.

“You outta be disgusted by yourselves.”

Hotch flinches, recoiling from Charlie and bowing his head rather than to look up and see who it is shouting at them. But Charlie is not new to this little game and he straightens his back and raises a questioning brow. “Oh? Should we?” He glares down at the woman on the track, it’s clear she’d been running before she decided to come nosing her way into their business. “I’d appreciate it if you left us alone, ma’am. We aren’t hurting anyone.”

She scoffs.

Charlie stands still, unwavering. They’re big men. Hotch may be a force to be reckoned with but Charlie is not, by any means, small. They’re the same height and the woman in question is a petite blonde. They’re intimidating. She rolls her eyes, shaking her head disgusted but stalks off. Whispering under her breath about hell and how their time will come.

“What a hag,” Charlie grumbles, rolling his eyes and reaching down between them to take Hotch’s hand. He steps to move on but he feels the resistance in Aaron. His hand now loosely holding on to Charlie, fingers lightly hooked together. “Aaron--”

Hotch forces himself to take a steadying breath-- drop his shoulders, unclench his jaw, inhale slowly. His eyes peel up off of the ground and he knows he hasn’t moved fast enough. Creases of worry have broken up Charlie’s handsome face, tension that doesn’t belong there. “I--”

Charlie shakes his head, discouraging Hotch’s lame excuse. “What she said…” Charlie can’t tell Hotch that what she said shouldn’t affect him. That he should brush it off and not worry about what a small minded bitch has to say about them but that’s not fair. None of this ever really is. Not when it comes to Aaron. “She doesn’t matter, Aaron. You. You matter to me, okay?”

Hotch furrows his brows, letting out an aggravated puff of air as he fails to work through the shame burning his chest.

Charlie looks around them, tapping his fingers as he contemplates what he should do. “Do you--” How, in all of Virginia did he manage to get the one DILF, Unit Chief with the inability to make a decision or admit what he needs? He means it fondly, of course, but sometimes he’d like to lovingly shake some sense into this man.

Taking a calming moment, Charlie knows that his ability to play out this next scene is vital to his afternoon. If Aaron detects even a fraction of impatience, anger, or frustration he’ll shut down and then Charlie is going to have to spend days if not weeks working Aaron back to where he is now.

“It’s cold out here,” he states calmly. Aaron glances at him, sniffling and rubbing at his wind burned nose. “I’m hungry, I-- I forgot my lunch at home this morning.” Even though Aaron bought him a bright, hunter’s orange lunch box that sits painfully on his kitchen counter so that he has to see it. “What do you say we turn back for the car and surprise Jack with an early return? Order pizza? Watch some Scooby Doo?”

Aaron sniffles again, glancing at Charlie and then to the path they’re clearly meant to be headed on. “But…” he clears his throat. He can’t stand being like this. The anxious partner. The fucked up partner. He was with Haley. Now he is with Charlie. And, well, everyone knows how Haley played out. “You-- You wanted to walk.”

Charlie shakes his head, smiling and playfully poking Hotch’s chest. “No, I want to spend time with you.” Though he’s terrified Aaron will recoil from it, he makes the careful decision to touch him. Smiling when Aaron just looks back at him, searching for something but Charlie isn’t mad so Aaron won’t find what he’s looking for. He strokes Aaron cheek, “I’m cold. You’re cold. We can walk if you want but…”

Hotch looks back down the trail and shakes his head. No, he doesn’t want to walk.

Charlie feels pretty proud of himself. He’s pretty good at this.

And Jack is thrilled to have them back.

Hotch feigns hurt when Jack runs straight past him to Charlie. “Am I chopped liver?” But his light, fluttering chest betrays him and he can’t help a soft smirk as Jack holds Charlie’s hand. Charlie nodding, listening to Jack as he kicks his shoes off.

Emily appears at the mouth of the hall, frowning at the sight before her. She’s in different clothes from when they left. One of her dating apps having finally come through and delivered her plans for this lovely evening. She was just about to call Hotch to tell him she was going to have to call Jessica to watch Jack. “What are you doing back?”

Before Hotch can overthink the question Charlie smirks and motions over his shoulder, “it’s like ten degrees out there. Way too cold for a walk, don’t know what I was thinking.”

Good enough excuse for Emily, she doesn’t care. She has other things on her mind. “I have a date.” Both Aaron and Charlie look surprised. Which is annoying but she won’t engage them in conversation because she’s better than that. “So, I will be out of your hair this afternoon.”

Well, kind of. She steals some of their pizza before she leaves. Even sits down for an episode of Scooby Doo before her date texts and says she’s ready.

“Well, boys,” she leans down and kisses the top of Jack’s head. Wishing him a  good night and a whisper to make sure he’s extra good for his father when Hotch puts him down tonight. “I’m off. I will see you in the morning.” She offers Charlie a cordial head nod and Hotch gets his hair messed with as she passes.

“Be careful,” Hotch calls as she shuts the door.

It doesn’t take long for Jack to fall asleep and Hotch can feel himself slipping with Charlie leaning against him, his hand on the inside of Hotch’s thigh. Warm and comfortable, he doesn’t want to get up. But he manages to get Jack to bed with minimal fighting-- they agree to keep his nightlight, the hall light, and the bathroom light on. Emily even sends a text to confirm that she hasn’t been murdered by her date, he rolls his eyes but appreciates the sentiment.

It’s a good night, all things considered.

For a while, at least.

He’s in bed. Boxers shifted low on his hips as lays atop his beaten, threadbare comforter. The thick, heavy heat of an August night settling thickly over his bones. A blanket of sweat shining on his chest, just barely visible from the light of the hallway peaking into his cracked door. Downstairs, his parents roar on. He can make out every word spoken but if he hums just enough and presses his fingers into the thin mattress until it hurts he can numb out the world.

Nothing.

He thinks about Scott from his biology class. His booming laughter, already having hit his growth spurt and though only sixteen standing over them all in a man’s body. Thick with muscles that Aaron had felt when Scott had pulled him in for a tight, jovial bear hug. Perhaps he’d imagined it but for a split second Aaron had seen a flash of something-- warmth that he, himself, still can not name.

Closing his eyes, he brings back the heat of his stomach. A smile pulling at his lips as he thinks about how it felt pressed to Scott’s chest. Swallowed by the other’s boy’s body. The ache between his hips increases. It’s bad and it’s ugly but it’s Scott that he thinks about. It’s Scott that he wants.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Aaron scrambles upright, both hands planted on the bed as he scurries away from its edge and anywhere near where his father might be able to grab one of his frantically moving limbs. Still, a rough hand is thrown out and Aaron yelps in surprise as his body is yanked to the edge. He can’t hear the words being thrown at him, just looks at his drunken father screaming. Sees his mouth move but knows nothing of their meaning.

He’s wrenched up and out of bed, scrambling to keep up with the direction in which he’s pulled down the hall. To the large, cast iron clawfoot tub in the bathroom. He’s thrown chest first into it’s cold edge, his fingers wrapping tightly around the biting cold of the rim. He knows his fate long before his father’s broad hand grabs onto his hair and hauls him up just enough to push him down into the cold, soapy water.

His ringing ears hearing the slurs being thrown at him. Faggot. He screams as his father punches his exposed chest, causing him to gasp, the bubbles of air hitting his face. He’d used that word before. Thrown it at another boy the way rocks had been thrown at him for doing the same thing-- being too small, wearing weird clothes. He wonders exactly how it is that he can change because he tries. Good Lord, he tries so hard.

“Aaron.”

His vision blacks out for a moment and he’s lifted from the water. Everything feels strangely familiar. He can’t feel the cold water. Can’t feel the water dripping down his face.

“Aaron!”

He can’t expel the water in his throat. The hand on the back of his head tightens as water and his dinner come up, hot and wet against his chest as he’s moved mid-choke. His head goes under and he screams, grabbing frantically at his father’s hand on his head.

“Aaron--”

Screaming Aaron fights weakly against the hands touching him. It takes a moment for the uncoordinated sweeps of his arms to connect with nothing. For him to get a proper amount of space to breathe. The ringing numb of his ears slowly dies and he feels the world creeping back in around him. He blinks into the darkness, chest heaving  First, the dull clicking of fan in the corner of the room. It sweeps left to right, pauses, and comes back right to left. Then the hobbling, swinging of the fan above him. Cold air.

He’s not there in that tiny, suffocating town. In that too-big house with too many places to be seen and not nearly enough to hide.

“You fucking scared me,” pants someone behind him.

A large hand plants itself between his shoulder blades, the bed dipping as weight is moved across it’s top. His body flinches but he’s only minutely aware of the physical movement and, slowly, the rest of him leans into the warmth of the palm. Tears swell as he turns over his shoulder, eyes closed, and going blindly where he knows arms will enclose him. Protect him. “Charlie,” he finally recognizes. His face finds the other man’s shoulder and he feels, rather than hears, the sob that leaves his grimacing lips.

Charlie wraps his arms around Hotch’s shoulder, pulling him closer.

Hotch gives himself over, leaning completely into him. Gently, Hotch feels Charlie moving parts of him to adjust them back onto the bed. “Do you want to talk about it?” Charlie lays back, pulling Hotch’s knee so his hips cant against Charlie’s. The inner side of Hotch’s thighs lies laying across his. There’s no need to open his eyes, to fight. He knows he’s safe.

His tears have slowed but there’s no denying something big has happened. Lately, Hotch has noticed Charlie pushing for him to open up more but Charlie and Hotch’s childhoods are nothing alike. It’s hard to tell him about the dozen times his father put him in the hospital, each time with a better story than the last, and always Hotch’s fault. Had the whole town believing Hotch to be some miscreant kid.

And he was bad but not the sense that was ever true. He’d smoked and drank but that was small-town stuff. Everyone gets into that sort of thing one way or another. He’d had sex but no one he and his partners knew about that, his male partners, anyhow. The first time he’d slept with Haley he’d been proud to have fallen for a woman.

There was an old run-down barn that he’d take boys out to. There was one wall, facing the woods, that was strong enough to support weight and you could lean up against it. He’d been caught only once and the old farmer had beaten him with the wooden end of a rake. The other boy had managed to run off. Hotch’s pants had pooled against around his ankles and the other boy hadn’t taken his completely off his hips. That was a mistake Hotch only made that one time. Not that it would have mattered.

After that day, everyone knew what he was.

Which is what bred his nightmare. Though, that night had gone nothing like his dream. He’d come home with welts and broken ribs from the beating that old farmer gave him. As soon as he opened the door, he knew what was waiting for him. It was from the first floor that his father had dragged him, by his hair, to the second floor. Where Sean’s dirty bathwater sat cooling all afternoon.

But Hotch won’t tell Charlie about that day. It’s not worth it. So he changes the subject. “We need to clean the sheets,” Hotch finally sniffles. His voice is rough from the night’s activities and he remembers what they’d done before he’d fallen asleep and knows that surely did not help. Under his left hip, there is dampness to the old cotton sheet, like something wet has been drying. Sheets probably should be replaced but these are the back-up sheets and the goods ones are in the dryer.

Charlie hums, a vibration that Hotch can feel all the way down to his toes. “That would be your mess,” Charlie informs him matter-of-factly. Pressing his lips to Hotch’s forehead. “I did try to clean you up if you recall.” Charlie’s fingers have wrapped protectively around Hotch’s body, thumb lazily rubbing back and forth over his bare hip. “You told me to fuck off so…”

He remembers. He was still sensitive, shaking with exertion, and hadn’t taken kindly to Charlie dragging a slightly too cold wash rag over his ass. First of all, it was way too wet and secondly, it was cold. What was he to do other than protest?

Charlie’s chest shifts underneath his head as he bends to look at the clock. Yawning deeply Charlie pulls the blankets back over them both, rubbing at Hotch’s hip. “Let’s get some sleep,” he mumbles around another yawn that manages to overtake his breath. “Don’t be afraid to wake me up,” Charlie mumbles. “I want you to wake me up, capeesh?”

Hotch closes his eyes and turns a little more into the warmth of Charlie’s body. Trying to think of nothing. To slow the rapid progressions of his thoughts. There is no way that this was a good idea. A relationship. A life. He brought Haley into his world and looked at what happened. He’s a swirling storm of trouble, sucking in the best parts of the world and ruining them. He’s a liar.

“I love you, Aaron,” Charlie whispers, straining his neck to kiss the top of Hotch’s head. His hand holds Aaron still against him. “I don’t want you to be lying here suffering afraid to talk to me.”

I love you. I love you. I love you. That’s not good. It can’t be. He’s not worth that. Charlie is great. He’s gentle and he’s kind and he’s loving and Hotch can’t even decide when they should eat. If a walk in the park is better than a movie.

“You have not tricked me.” He wonders how Charlie sees so clearly into his mind. It’s not mind reading, Charlie can feel his pounding heart and tense muscles. He’s always so tense. “I love you completely, entirely, enchantingly by choice.” Charlie sighs softly. Content. He wishes desperately to bring Aaron the same peace that Aaron brings him. It's a content, pleased sigh that leaves his mouth and that confuses Aaron so much. No louder than a whisper, seemingly more to himself than to Aaron Charlie whispers. “There are worse life sentences than to be tricked into falling in love with you.”

[advena87]

What if... Patrt 3

.

Here is Part 1  and Part 2

.

Roche: Hey, look, I know you totally want to kill me and all, but today is kinda a bad day. Assassin just showed up, and he killed my king...

Iorveth: Oh, yeah, I was watching that. That was priceless!

Iorveth: *prolonged Evil Laugh*

Iorveth: Sorry for your loss.

Roche: …

Roche: Anyway, this whole Letho is my main concern now. So, go kill dh'oine somewhere else.

Iorvrth: Wait, you choose him over me? And who the fuck’s is he?

Roche: Uh, well, my new nemesis.

Iorveth: BUT I’M STILL HERE!

Roche: Do you really believe your own hype that much?

Iorveth: I AM THE HYPE!!!

***

Geralt: So, Iorveth living here now, that’s neat.

Roche: Elf single-handedly responsible for murdering a hundreds people is taking a shower in the other room. ‘Neat’ is not the first word that comes to mind.

***

Iorveth: All right you dh’oine maggots, listen up. Iorveth is about to teach you the pecking order. It goes: You. The dirt. The worms inside of the dirt. Iorveth’s stool. Vatt'ghern. Saskia. Then Iorveth.

Roche:

Roche: I have the feeling that he doesn't respect me.

Geralt: You don’t say...

***

Geralt: Why do you antagonize Roche like that? You know he can kill you, right?

Iorveth: At this point, it’s a game. If he gives in, I win, and he knows that.

***

Roche: Hey, elf, we’re friends now, right?

Iorveth: Fuck off.

Roche: The best.

***

Roche: Oh, you think you're being cute!

Iorveth: Bitch, I'm adorable.

***

Roche: *taps table gently*

Iorveth: *taps back*

Geralt: What are they doing?

Ves: Morse code.

Roche: *aggressively taps table*

Ves: OOOOOOOOOH

Iorveth: *slams hands onto table*

Iorveth: YOU BITCH TAKE THAT BACK!

***

Iorveth: Some people are like slinkies.

Geralt: Explain.

Iorveth: Not really good for much but makes you crack a smile when you push it down the stairs.

Geralt:

Geralt: Please don’t push Roche down the stairs.

Iorveth: You can’t stop me.

*later*

Iorveth, entering the room late and visibly disheveled: Sorry I’m late, I was doing things.

Roche, entering also late and visibly disheveled: HE PUSHED ME DOWN THE FUCKING STAIRS!

***

Loredo: We have Ciaran.

Iorveth: Let me speak to him.

Loredo: Go ahead you’re on speaker.

Iorveth: Dumbass

 ***

Iorveth: *speaking in elder speech*

Roche: I know, I know.

Geralt: You speak elder speech?

Roche: No. I just know the phrase, “this is all your fault.” in every language he speaks.

 ***

Iorveth: I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BEING IGNORED!

Roche: I wish we could ignore you.

Iorveth: FUCK OFF!

***

Roche: Letho died of natural causes.

Geralt: You pushed him off a roof !!!

Iorveth: Gwynbbleid, you know I hate to agree with him but gravity is natural.

 ***

Roche: We can do something fun.

Iorveth, smiles: Like fight to the death?

Roche: . . .

Roche: Can someone tell me if he's joking or not because I can't tell–

 ***

Iorveth: I spy with my little eye someone who needs to shut the hell up.

Roche: Is it me?

Iorveth: It’s always you.

Roche: I don't wanna have to solve this with violence, but I also really wanna punch you.

Iorveth: Pretty big talk coming from a bipedal animal.

Roche: Big talk coming from a bipedal bitch.

 ***

Roche: No problems!

Iorveth: *walks in*

Roche: One problem!

 ***

Geralt: So? How’s Roche?

Iorveth: Bad news.

Ves: No…

Iorveth, steps to the side to reveal Roche: He’s still alive.

***

Geralt: So, do you and Iorveth have like weird nicknames for each other now?

Roche: What? No!

Geralt: Okay... and what you called him when we first met him in Flotsam?

Roche: A regular son of a whore?

Geralt:

Roche:

Iorveth: *screaming from the other room* Oh my god, what the fuck do you want?!

Geralt:

Roche:

Roche: It only goes one way.

***

Iorveth: Sorry, my hand slipped

Roche: You threw it at me.

***

Iorveth: Dh’oine, I’m your doom and you will refer to me as such.

Roche: Ok, such.

***

Iorveth: Due to circumstances beyond my control-

Roche: Impulsivity and inattention to detail.

***

Iorveth: *looks at Roche*

Iorveth: *longingly gazes at Roche*

Iorveth: *scans Roche from head to toe*

Iorveth: *checks Roche out from afar*

Geralt: Jesus, just say that you like him!

Iorveth, already red: What do you mean? I fucking HATE HIM!

***

Geralt: What is Iorveth to you?

Roche: The reason I wake up every morning.

Iorveth, earlier that morning, barging into Roche room: WAKE THE FUCK UP, YOU DISGUSTING, LAZY DH'OINE, IT’S ALREADY PAST 5! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!

Roche narrating: Living with Iorveth is just a test to see whether I will commit suicide or homicide first.

***

Roche, introducing Iorveth: That’s Iorveth. He is insane. From Vergen.

Geralt: He is aen Seidhe, Roche, AEN SEIDHE

Roche: Are you sure? Insane fits.

***

Iorveth: I’m impressed, behind all that shit and ridiculous hat, there’s a real fighter.

Roch: And behind all that insufferable smarm is a dead man!

Iorveth: Oh dh’oine, you couldn’t fathom the amount of dead men behind me.

***

Geralt: Iorveth! Time for retreat!

Iorveth: I take orders from no one!

Saskia: REATREAT. NOW.

Iorveth: Okay...

*later*

Saskia: You have to pick your battles, Iorveth.

Iorveth: Well, I'm full of rage and I'm picking all of them.

***

Iorveth: Murder is not on today's agenda.

Roche: It's not on anyone's.

Iorveth: No, it’s on mine, just not until next Thursday.

Iorveth: I mean, I for one didn’t want to start my day with slaughter. Which really just goes to show how much I’ve grown!

***

Saskia: I'll go with you.

Iorveth: No, I can't risk losing anyone I care about.

Roche: I'll go.

Iorveth: Okay.

.

[inkribbon796]

Like a House of Cards Ch. 12: Prince Ali, Fabulous He

Summary: Roman and Janus help cause a commotion in town.

A/N: There is a lot with this opposite universe I wanted to do but I don’t have the time and it gives me an excuse to come back to it.

“Prince Ali” is from Aladdin and it was actually the first fusion I decided on when I had the idea for fusions.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

At the heart of Egoton’s city was a high rise skyscraper and towards the 7th floor was General’s lower office. He took that office when he expected meetings, and so he had a packed schedule.

A schedule that he was forced to put on hold to deal with his boyfriend.

“You irresponsible skirt chaser,” General snarled at Dames.

“We were fine,” Dames rolled his eyes and scoffed, the madman was sitting on the couch in the office.

General used Dames’s cane to pin him onto the couch, “You did that to get my attention, I am busy.”

“You’re always busy,” Dames accused. “Not my fault if I find someone warm when I get bored and lonely. You’re insufferable. You’re lucky I love you.”

Then the glass of water on General’s desk began to shake.

General growled out as he used his aura to stabilize it. “Let’s not throw fits, darling.”

“It’s not me, if I wanted to knock over your things like an overgrown house cat, I’d kick the glass off your desk,” Dames scoffed, but it brought a smile to his face.

Then the ground began to shake a little more. Music starting to be overheard faintly.

“What the devil?” Gen demanded in anger and confusion. The two immediately went to the nearest window and saw what was the cause of the shaking. In the distance there was a procession of color and lights started to make its way through the town. People were rushing to see what the commotion was.

“Ma~ke way~ for Prince Ali~!” Roman and Janus’s voices sang out, a third voice already echoing out as Roman was making their voices sound like many. “Say~ “Hey!” It’s Prince Ali~.”

General opened his windows and saw the procession coming in the distance. Dames worming his way past him.

Roman parted his way past the white curtain, his outfit a shimmering red and gold. Janus stood next to him looking more like Jafar but more gold in his outfit.

“Hey! Clear the way in the old bazaar!” Roman sang loudly, his magic making his voice reach the General easily.

“Hey you, let us through it’s a bright new star,” Janus used his magic to part the crowds so their path was not impeded and people weren’t accidentally trampled by the procession.

“Oh, come be the first on your block to meet his eye~” Janus ended the word with a serpentine hiss.

“Make way, here he comes,” Roman began sending out his magic as animal constructs started appearing behind their main float. “Ring bells! Bang the drums! You’re gonna love this guy!”

While the song was going on General was watching, Dames was — of course — enraptured by it. The vast display of magic had him guarded.

“The fuck is all that noise?” Bim shouted as he walked in, corralled on either side by Illinois and Bing who had been sent to find him.

“Where have you been?” General shouted in a fury, before turning to Bing. “Report.”

“It seems to be a purely magical construct,” Bing told General as he walked up. Illinois quickly making his. “They don’t have any weapons on them.”

“I like the pretty lights,” Dames smiled, elbows propped up on the windowsill, Illinois walked over to him, checking him over for any bruises or wounds. “Doesn’t it look pretty, Illy?”

“Yeah dad, it’s real pretty,” Illinois smiled gently at him.

“Stay braced for an attack,” General ordered, opening the door so he could step out on the balcony and face whatever attack came.

“Then come and meet his spectacular coterie~!” Roman sang, every second getting the procession closer and closer. Flowers fell from the sky.

“Prince Ali, mighty is he, Ali Ababwa,” Roman flexed his arms. “Strong as ten regular men, definitely!”

“He’s faced the galloping hordes,” Roman and Janus both summoned swords and began to clash. “A hundred bad guys with swords.”

Roman flicked his sword up and Janus let him propel his sword up into the air, the sword disappearing into dust.

“Who sent those goons to their lords?” Janus knelt, the two thespians getting into the performance and the engaged crowd. “Why Prince Ali!~”

Roman’s magic made more animals and more people appear. “He’s got seventy-five golden camels.”

Janus used his magic to conjure up a massive snake to slide him down to the front of the procession, his outfit shimmering into one covered in peacock feathers. “Purple peacocks he’s got fifty~three~!”

“When it comes to exotic type mammals,” Roman gestured to the collection of animals around them. “He’s got a zoo. I’m telling you, it’s a world class menagerie!

Janus snapped his fingers and disappeared into the crowd for a second, his form changing and her becoming a different dress. “Prince Ali, handsome as he, Ali Ababwa~!”

“That physique. How can I speak?” Janus made a little fake half-swoon, bracing her hands on her knees, “Weak at the knee.”

“Well get on out in that square,” Janus practically slid out into the street again. “Adjust your veil and prepare.”

“To gawk and grovel and stare at Prince Ali~” Janus sang out, he voice darkening as her body shifted back and his suit changed to accommodate. In the most guiltless expression he could muster, Janus smiled, “Oops.”

“He’a got ninety-five white Persian monkeys,” Roman sang out. “He’s got the monkeys!”

“Let’s see the monkeys!” Janus called up as a horde of monkeys came out of the procession and evaporated into magical dust before they could even touch anyone.

“And to view them he charges no fee!” Roman continued as the procession finally stopped in front of General’s building.

“He’s generous,” Roman and Janus both sang, their eyes glowing their respective colors for a brief instance as a third voice started to echo theirs. A voice that had only ever accompanied Janus and Remus, now starting to make themself known. “So generous.”

“He’s got slaves, he’s got servants and flunkies~” the two Sides kept going, Enigma’s echo steadily getting stronger. “Proud to work for him!”

“They bow to his whim!” Both the Sides cheered and the respective gold and red. “Love serving him. They’re just lousy with loyalty to Ali~”

“Prince~ Ali~!” Roman used his magic and strength to pick Janus up and toss him into the air. Both them started to glow. “Glamorous he~”

“Ali~ Ababwa~!” They sang as Roman caught Janus and two Sides became one: Enigma. His outfit more gold than red but flowing like Janus’s had been.

“Heard your prince here was a sight lovely to see~” Enigma pointed at Bim who was staring at him enraptured.

“And that’s good people is why,” Enigma winked, pointing to himself with his index finger, “I got all cute and dropped by.”

“With sixty elephants!” Enigma cheered as Roman and Janus’s voices acted as echoes. “Llamas galore! With bears and lions.”

“A bass band and more,” confetti burst into the air as Enigma sang. “With forty fakirs, his cooks and bakers, and birds that warble on key!”

“Make way~” Enigma smiled at General. “For Prince~ Ali~!”

The music swelled before dying down and the confetti began to settle as the crowd began to cheer. Dames was cheering and jumping up in excitement as General had to use his aura to click Bim’s jaw shut.

The procession vanished and just Enigma was standing there. Enigma just stood there and soaked up the honest praise and excitement. Then Janus directed them to look up at Gen. “Alright, we want an audience, and I’m not taking no for an answer this time.”

Gen glared at him, his bushy mustache twitching a bit in anger. “Fine, get your friends.”

Then he angrily looked at the crowd, “The rest of you can get out of my bloody sight!”

Slowly the crowd began to disperse and Enigma led his group inside the building, Dark bringing the group in with a portal, aided by General’s own portals.

[liliesoftherain]

My Hero Academia Main 3 Boys x Reader Ch.2 Battle of Heroes vs Villains

Pt. 1

Here’s part 2! Sorry for any mistakes, I hope you enjoy!

-*-*-*-*-*-

The next day at school you felt better than ever. Even though you had to sit through regular core classes like any other high school, it was still amazing to you. You were learning from Pro Heroes. How could that get any better? 

When lunch rolls around you're shocked to find Lunch Rush, the Cook Hero making the food. You sit next to the friends you made yesterday, and get to know them a lot better while digging into the amazing food that has been served. Then came your favorite part of the day. 

During your afternoon classes is when things finally were turned up a notch. You were sitting in your desk for your Hero Basic Training to start, when a loud and booming voice came through the door.

"I AM HERE!" Everyone turned their heads to the door, eyes wide. You were amazed, you've heard that the one and only Number One Pro Hero was teaching at the school, but you never would've thought he'd be teaching you first years!

"Coming through the door like a hero!" AllMight yelled, his grin from ear to ear as always. 

"So he is a teacher!" Kirishima stuck a fist in the air, he turned to you with a wide smile.

"This year is going to be awesome!" All you could do was nod back, too excited to speak. 

You noticed he was wearing an old classic costume of his, and only smiled larger when Tsu- is what she wanted everyone to call her, pointed it out as well. 

"Consider this class as Hero 101! This is your most important class, and you'll be learning the basics of becoming a pro! As well as what it truly means to fight in the name of good."

He turns around, looking like he was grabbing something from behind the desk, before turning back around and presented what he had. A card with giant block letters spelling out  'BATTLE' was shown. 

"Fight training!" You heard Bakugou shout out, his voice sounding less nasty and more like he was having a good time? Well, he did seem like the guy to have a great time bashing heads together. You shake your head and focused back to AllMight. 

"One of the keys to being a hero issss.. LOOKING GOOD!" He pointed over towards the wall, where a bunch of suitcases lined up with a number representing each student. These had to be your hero costumes!

"These were made with the designs you guys had turned in with all that enrollment paperwork!" You tried not to let it show but you were really curious on how they made your costume look. 

You suited up with AllMights  directions, ready to see what will be happening at training ground Beta. You walked outside the locker rooms to see Bakugou walking out as well. His costume was, pretty extreme. But, you had to admit it really suited his personality. You had to stifle a laugh at the gauntlets, but you didn't do a good job when he turned his head in your direction.

"You got something to say you fucking glow worm."

 Your eyebrow raised at the name, trying to figure out why he was calling you a glow worm of all things. Then you realized, you tend to glow when you try to make your body into Photons to act as light. So you smirked light while crossing your arms, giving him a sassy retort back.

"Uh glow worm? C'mon Bakugou I'm sure you can do better than that."  He huffed at you, eyes narrowing. He seemed to actually be thinking of another name, and although you didn't like the fact he had to call you a nickname, it was still nice to not be called a shitty extra, as he so liked to call everyone.

"Tsk, stop wasting my time glitter bomb." With that he walked away to the training ground.

"Glitter bomb?" You muttered to yourself, following him. That was really any better, you almost preferred glow worm. 

. At least glitter bomb was much cuter, and even if he said it with a nasty frown, hopefully he didn't think too badly of you. You walked out with everyone else following behind you, hearing AllMight yelling about how now you have to think of yourselves as heroes in training. Ah, you liked the sound of that. 

"You all look so cool! You bunch of newbies!" AllMight laughed as soon as you all were standing in front of him. You took the time to look around and you had to agree, you all looked really amazing. However you noticed Deku's costume and you actually had to let out a laugh. It was kind of cute of him in his fanboy costume. It looked not as nicely made as the others costumes, so maybe it was a gift. Still, it was a nice sight to see. You saw AllMights face when he realized the same thing, causing you to laugh again.

"What's so funny huh (y/n)?" You looked to Kirishima and shrugged, slyly looking towards where Deku was talking to Ochaco. 

"Tsk, a second rate suit for a second rate nobody." You hear Bakugou grumble under his breath, and you meet his eyes. 

"You know it's kinda cute how simple it is, and the fact it's supposed to resemble AllMight." You swear you saw a vein pop out of his head.

"Shut up stupid glow worm!" Kirishima looked between the both of you, confusion painted on his face.

"Glow worm..?" You ignored him for the moment, still looking at Bakugou.

"What happened to glitter bomb?" 

"I SAID SHUT UP!" He briskly walked towards the front of the class, leaving you and Kirishima towards the back. 

"UH? Glow worm? Glitter bomb? I'm so confused." You pat his arm with a smile, choosing to say nothing once more before looking back at your instructor. 

"Now that your ready, it's time for combat training!" 

"SIR!" Iida called out, he was decked out in a full body suit of armor. "This is the fake city from the entrance exam, does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"

Give it to Iida about going above and beyond with asking questions. You admired his high sense of authority, and couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Your father acted like this every day, having to deal with sidekicks and his own crew, making the most tactful choices and asking all the right questions. You hands clenched at your side. You had to step it up if you were one day going to be as great of a Pro Hero as he was.

"Not exactly!" Replied AllMight, holding up a peace sign with his fingers. 

"I'm going to get you two steps ahead!" AllMight begins to talk about hero vs villain fights happen outside, but things can always take place indoors. He went on giving examples of backroom deals and home invasions. You mentally agreed that the most shadiest stuff was always going on inside, somewhere that was more private to the public eye. 

"This training exercise will be split between the heroes and the villains., and pin you up against each other."

"Isn't this pretty advanced for us?" Tsu asked, her brows furrowing as she thought.

"Think of it this way, the best way to learn is through experience! Plus you won't be dealing with robots, you'll be dealing with actual people now. 

"Sir will you be deciding who wins?" Momo asks.

"How much can we hurt the other team?" Of course the one to ask that was no one other than Bakugou.

"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled?" Ochaco was nervous when she asked, you saw her almost shaking in worry.

"Will you be splitting us up on chance or skill?" The ever so thoughtful Iida asked.

"How exactly will we be able to win?" You asked, "What's the goal of the exercise?"

"Is the cape amazing?"

With all the questions being asked, AllMight looked far too overwhelmed. This guy dealt with villains all the time, you'd think he can handle a few kids.

"I wasn't finished. LISTEN UP," He pulls out a script.

"The situation is the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in the 5 story building. The heroes must stop them and their plans! You have two ways to complete the job, either catch the villains, or recover the weapon! Likewise the villains have a chance to win if they protect their weapon or capture the heroes. There's a time limit so here, we will choose teams by drawing lots!"

"Why lots? Can't we decide teams based off of quirks? Wouldn't that be more practical?" Iida asked. You looked up at him from where you stood and spoke up.

"It's easy to believe that when fighting villains you'll be able to team up with people you know. But that really isn't the case." 

Deku smiled at you, nodding quickly to agree.

"Yea Iida think about it, most heroes don't have a choice for who they are partnered up with for cases. That's probably why we're learning it like this!"

"Yea you guys are right, life is not a straight line. Excuse my rudeness." Iida bowed at AllMight, who just turned and waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, let's draw!"

You all walked up and picked papers out of the box, you were team A. You looked at Kirishima who only shrugged.

"Sorry man, guess we aren't together on this." 

"U-uh hey (y/n)! I think we're partners!" You saw Deku smile at you, and you grinned back.

"Hey there Midoriya, sounds like a plan!" He nodded shyly and rubbed the back of his head.

"You can call me Izuku if you want. Not that you have to, I just know that everyone has been calling by your first name so I figured since I'm calling you by your first name you'll want to call me by my first name, or even just to have it even so we can call each other by our names. But maybe you don't feel comfortable and are only going to do it out of obligation-" Deku was talking a mile per minute and you had to get your thoughts together before you could shut him up.

"Izuku chill out, I don't mind. I prefer calling everyone by their first names. To me it makes us all closer don't you think?" You smiled, to show him you were serious. He was blushing, probably because all that talking made him out of breath. Before nodding again eagerly.

"Y-yeah of course!" 

"I declare the first team to fight will beeeee..." AllMight trails off, digging his hands into both boxes labeled 'Hero' and 'Villain'.

"These guys!" 

He held up an A ball and D ball.

"Hey looks like we're up first Izuku, isn't this going to be fun-Izuku?" You looked at him with a grin before it faded at his shocked expression. You saw why once you felt a glare towards your team. Bakugou was frowning, murderous intent in his red eyes. 

"Everyone else, head to the monitoring room! A team you're our heroes, D team, the Villains!" You watched the class walk on, still looking at the glaring Bakugou and shy Midoriya. You gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, and he glanced over to you. 

"We got this." He smiled stiffly, his eyes hardening in determination and his fists squeezed together. He stared straight back at Bakugou, which caused the other to jolt back in surprise. He must've never seen him like this before you thought. 

Bakugou practically growled at the two of you with an intense look. Which was only cut off by AllMight telling the bad guys to get settled inside the building. So Iida and Bakugou headed inside, while you and Midoriya stayed out. You were given a layout of the building, and you stared at it trying to formulate a plan. 

"It's a lot to take in, but it's better than going in blind. Most Pro Heroes don't get the luxury of knowledge." You say while looking over the paper, trying to drink in all the details you could.

"So we can relax just a little-ah geez Izuku you're practically sweating through your costume." You snicker while glancing at the boy next to you. He looked terrible nervous, none of that determination from earlier when looking at Bakugou had stuck apparently. 

"Uh well, it's um," He bit his lip looking away, you felt your stomach churn, This kid was like a chihuahua, he was going to come right out of his red sneakers. "We're just going up against Kachan, and there's Iida too. We just really need to stay on our guard." You hummed in agreement.

"Bakugou, you have a funny nickname for him too, huh? Yea seems like he likes those." You chuckle, remembering the stupid ones he called you, and that he calls Izuku, Deku. 

"What's up with you two anyway? He's always glaring at you. Well, even harsher than he glares at everything else."

"Uh, it's a long story.. But, I just know we have to be careful because he's really amazing. He can be a real pain sure, but he has strength, ambition, and confidence. Plus his quirk is so much better than mine. But that just means I have to try harder than ever. I refuse to lose today." He glares up at the building, popping his mask on. His shaking has stopped, and you felt yourself smile.

"So I see, it's a battle we can't afford to lose." He looked at you, blush back and shakes returning. Oh man, this kid has some mixed emotions.

"You don't need to try so hard for me! I can't get you mixed in my fight!"

You take a hold of one of his outstretched hands. Giving him a bright smile. His cheeks went darker as he stared at your hand in his.

"It's not just for you. I want to win too. Plus, we are a team. No way in hell am I letting us lose today, you can count on me Izuku."

"Yeah!" 

"Alright! Let's begin, team A enter the building! The clock starts now!" AllMights voice sounds from the intercom, you give Deku a nod as you both race inside. You both crept in through a window, carefully walking around corners. You both fixed your ear pieces, making sure your contact stayed on. You felt energy swirling in you, an adrenaline rush coursing through your veins. You let Deku lead the way, guarding his back, and he looked around corners. You two were silent and stealthily. 

You wondered if both of the boys would both be waiting for you in the room where the weapon was, sure Bakugou may have been a hothead but surely he was smart and tactful. Along with Iida, you were sure he had a plan at the very least. You both paused before coming up to your next corner, moving onward. You heard a slight movement and you held Izuku back, signalling him to be quiet. But it was too late, Bakugou was jumping from a hallway that you both hadn't seen before hand, aiming a punch directly at Deku. You held onto him as you jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding a full on punch. Smoke went everywhere, and you fell straight on top of Izuku. 

"You good Izuku?" You questioned, jumping off of him and getting back on your feet. You missed the blush he had when you were pressed against him, but he shook it off. Going back to the battle in front of him.

"Yea I'm good." You looked down and saw no blood on his face even though his mask had been torn off along the left side.

"Good, it was just your mask." The smoked cleared as Bakugou smirked towards Izuku.

"What's wrong Deku, afraid to fight me yourself?" 

"I knew you'd come for me first." Izuku gritted out, standing beside you. You looked between both boys, your hands starting to glow with your light. You willed the light to change it's formula as you let it harden over your wrists. The light burned you, but over many years of trying to perfect  your quirk made you numb to the pain, as well as the gloves you wore really helped with it. 

"Sneak attack, very villain like Bakugou. " You said while you jumped up and swung, missing him by a thread as he tried to counter with a kick to your torso. You dodged it last second, landing behind him. Using your quirk like how you did during the long jump, you shot out a few light rays, solidifying them to give you a boost. You went to give a roundhouse kick but ended up missing again. Bakugou was able to grab your wrist and toss you to the side, close to the ground by Izuku. You spun yourself last second landing on your feet crouching to stop your momentum with your hand. You were able to lessen the damage of what would've happened if your back had taken the fall.

"Stay out of my way shitty glitter bomb. I'm not here for you." He glared at Deku, charging forward.

"I want to hurt you so bad, they're going to have to stop the fight!" Before you could run towards him, Izuku sprinted past you, and grabbed his right arm last second as if he knew that'd be his first move. You were as shocked as Bakugou looked when Izuku managed to flip him over and land him on his backside with a painfully loud thud. You saw spit fly out of Bakugou's mouth and you wondered how much force Deku actually put into that throw. 

Izuku was breathing deeply as he spilled his secret.

"Kaachan, you always use a big right hook when you start a fight." You looked over at Deku, was he seriously that in tune with his surroundings and the people in it? How observant was this guy?

"I know because I've watched you for years! I've analyzed every amazing hero, that includes you. Everything was in the notebook you burned and tossed out the window." He stood up tall, fear in his eyes but body held up with something much stronger than that.

"You can call me Deku, but I'm not the same hopeless kid anymore! You understand? I've changed, for now on, Deku is the name of a hero!" You grinned, a part of you felt happy that Izuku was overcoming any obstacles. It seems these two had a rough past, one you didn't want to get into or get in the middle of, but that didn't mean you couldn't feel proud for someone standing up for themselves.

You quickly realized that if you left now to go obtain the bomb more than likely Bakugou would not follow you. His fight was 100% with Izuku and you were just someone in the way of that. But if you left him here with Bakugou, with Izuku's quirk the way it was he had no chance of really doing anything to him. Bakugou may have been surprised and taken down by that sneak attack, but there was no way he'd be able to keep that up. Bakugou would overcome that in an instant.

"Deku.." Bakugou huffed, his anger rising faster than you've ever seen it. "You're shaking in your boots you're so scared. Why do you always insist on fighting me.. THAT’S WHY I HATE YOU!" 

You saw the blue light from Bakugou’s earpiece go off, before he yelled back in it for Iida to shut up and defend the weapon. You realized if you were going to go, you would have to go now. You made eye contact with Midoriya who nodded in your direction. Seems that great minds think alike.

"(y/n) hurry go!" You cast a beam of light, aiming for Bakugou's  eyes as he used his quirk to push himself forward towards Deku, before running off. Bakugou snarled as that caused him to miss kicking out Izuku's legs and hitting his arm instead, giving him a slight advantage.

" FUCK!That was fucking too bright, that shitty girl. Ballsy move Deku. You think you're so tough trying to take me on without that STUPID GLOW WORMS HELP!" 

That was the last you heard of their battle before you dashed away. You were trying to locate the bomb and Iida who was with it. You knew at least he was taking this seriously, and you really needed a plan before you found him. You knew you were safe from Bakugou, the guy must've been working alone, which you're sure put Iida in a sour mood. He's going to try to make up for his missing partner and be an even bigger pain in your ass.

You heard shuffling from one of the rooms, and you knew this must have been it. You hid behind a pillar, taking a quick glance and saw Iida talking to himself. Hearing him mutter about villainy things. You tried not to make any noise as you snuck around, pillar after pillar. Hoping to make this a quick and easy mission, to make sure Bakugou didn't hurt Izuku more than he had to.

You unfortunately misinterpreted a move and Iida spotted you from the corner of his eye.

"Ah (y/n)! There you are, I knew you would be here alone Bakugou ran off to engage in a battle with Midoriya. Your quirk has to deal with sunlight right? Well I made sure you wouldn't get any of it, seeing as I blocked off the windows allowing no light to shine through! Muawhahah! What are you going to do now you hero scum!" You glanced around saw all the impressive ways he blocked the sunlight from entering. 

"Sorry to burst your bubble, villain! I don't need direct sunlight all the time!" You sent off a ray of light, blinding him just like you did with Bakugou, before running off behind another pillar. 

You couldn't make a run for the weapon, Iida was faster than you when you weren't using your quirk, and since there was no water nearby you couldn't afford overheating yourself too early in the game, you'd be defenseless for a while until you were able to cool yourself down. You held your earpiece and contacted your partner.

"Izuku, are you alright?"  The piece crackled as he responded.

"I'm here, what's wrong."

"Right now nothing bad, Iida spotted me before I could reach the weapon, and he blocked off any light. I may be able to outrun him but if it doesn't work I'm down for the count. Even with my suit built for me I doubt it'll cool me down in time to continue the fight before I get caught."

"I understand, where are you at?"

"Near the middle of the top floor."

"You're right above me, hang tight. We probably don't have much time. We can't give up yet. Keep him distracted, I'll tell you when."

"Roger. I'm counting on you Izuku." 

You didn't hear anything back, so you got to work, You kept making small bursts of light come off your hands, dodging from one pillar to the next. Even without his sight, he was able to find you and take swings. You dodged them all, rolling and ducking away. Till a giant explosion had the whole building rattling, you looked at Iida, shock on your face, and while he was wearing a mask, you assumed he had the same expression when he asked you what the hell was that.

You bit your lip, praying Izuku was alright, things weren't going well based on the current position. Iida got side tracked, trying to contact Bakugou through his own earpiece.

"Bakugou! Come in, did you cause that blast!" You were going to take advantage of his distraction. You willed your light to travel to your feet and you took off, simultaneously making your light from regular beams to solids, back to rays again. Giving you an added boost. It was terribly difficult, and you were focusing on making sure you didn't mess up. Your feet burned but you kept going, the sweat never reaching your eyes as your mask caught it all. Your body was overheating itself but you couldn't afford to stop now!

However, Iida was too fast, and used his engines to burst his speed and move the bomb towards the other side of the room. You were able to stop yourself right before you ran into the wall, turning around and shooting a glare.

"Nice try, but you're no match for my speed the way you are now. I'm sure the fact that there is no light is causing you to use whatever kind of storage you have, meaning if you keep this up you'll be drained. So I can easily keep this weapon out of your grasp until you run out, or the time does! Muahahah." You huff, teeth grinding as he actually got that part of your quirk right.

You never remember telling him how the ins and outs of your quirk was, and you briefly explained it to Kirishima and the others when you ran the race, so all he knew was from that conversation. Even then, that was very brief and you didn't go into details. All you could do was bluff.

"You're smart, I'll give you that. But you're completely wrong about my quirk. I can keep going, can you?" You threw another beam dashing around trying to get to the other side of the room, but Iida knew how to keep you at bay, moving it back to another position across the room. You clench your hands into fists, willing the light around them. You threw punches, anything to try to get him away from the weapon, even if you couldn't reach it, he wasn't able to move it. You heard your earpiece crackle, and Izuku's voice come through.

"(y/n) what's the situation, you okay?"

"Not looking too good, I can't get close to him or past him. He's too fast for me right now."

You didn't hear his reply, but AllMights voice rang throughout the area.

"Bakugou, use that stored up power again and not only I will stop this fight, but your team will lose. " You glanced at Iida, taking this time to give yourself a break. You were heavily overheating, and you could feel your suit work to try to cool you down, but it wasn't enough. At least not for what you have planned. You needed the rest of your strength if this was going to work. 

"To employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting! That's a poor strategy, whether you're a hero or a villain. The penalty is a massive loss of points resulting in your loss." 

"Get to the pillar by the window, get there now and stay out of the middle."

You smiled. This will finally be over, you both were going to win. You dashed there, ignoring the strange look from Iida.

"Running away are we? No matter, time is up soon anyways! Attack from long range all you'd like!" He shouted after you, and you used smaller light blasts to try to let him think you were still trying to do long range. 

You felt the ground rumble and you knew this must of been it, you heard him shout your name.

"(Y/N) GO NOW!"

"Roger!" You shouted back, charging up your energy, feeling yourself break down and start to glow. You grew hotter by the second and felt the building shake even worse than it did for Bakugou. The windows shattered and you felt light poor in, which help you out even more now that you can replenish your energy. The ground in the middle split off and a beam fell which allowed you to use it as a pathway.

You charged up and sprinted, reaching the weapon before Iida could even get his bearings in order. He was so focused on not getting blown away by Izuku's blast. You ended up hugging the base of the weapon, almost knocking it over with how fast you were going. You let out a sigh of relief, but also a groan of pain when you felt how hot your body was an the air surrounding you. Your suit was going into overdrive, and you're lucky you didn't have to continue fighting, you were drained.

"NO! THE WEAPON!" Iida yelled, upset he had lost. 

"The hero team, WIIIINS!" You heard AllMight's shout. "Your indoor combat training is over."

You fell from the bomb and landed on your behind, steam coming off of you and mixing with the clouds from the destroyed building. Iida rushed to your side, trying to stroke your back but you were too hot, even with his gloves. He immediately pulled away. He was surprised you weren't melting through the floor at this very moment.

"Are you alright?" You nodded weakly, trying to breathe in large amounts of air in hopes you'll cool down faster. Iida began to fan you, hoping something would help. 

When you were able to stand after cooling down a bit, Iida helped you to the bottom. You both walked back to the examination room to see how well you did. You looked around for Deku but you couldn't find him. 

"Do not worry miss Hakamata, young Midoriya is with Recovery Girl, getting his wounds healed. 

You only nodded in response, still slightly out of it but getting better. While there wasn't any more steam, you were hot to the touch, like accidentally touching a cooling stove. Not terrible but still painful.

"Despite the winners here today, I can say that both sides have done amazingly. Miss Hakamata and young Iida have proven themselves to be co-winners in the battle!"

You both looked at AllMight in shock, not understanding how you both could have won.

"Shouldn't there be only one winner? Like just (y/n), since she was one of the winners?" Tsu asked, her tongue flopping out of her mouth as her head tilted. 

"Valid question! Who can take a guess as to why it was the both of them?"

Momo raises her hand.

"Sir, I can tell you exactly why. Iida embraced this challenge wholeheartedly, and thought logically as the villain. Taking steps to ensure his enemy's defeat, like by blocking all the sunlight in the room to weaken his opponent. He adapted to his assigned role perfectly. While Hakamata was very quick thinking, knowing that she couldn't use her trump card so early on, and sticking to dodging and smaller attacks to watch out for not only the missile, but even the villain. As heroes, we should always aim to immobilize not kill. To look for the perfect opportunity in any situation and that's exactly what she did." You felt proud that someone saw what you were trying to do, and even a bit bashful getting this praise.

"While Bakugou had his judgement clouded due to a personal grudge, he had no care for what was around him, causing him to let off a large scale attack that would have been bad if the missile were real. Villain or not he should always put the plan first. While the same thing goes for Midoriya, while his plan gave his team the edge it needed to complete the mission, it was poorly thought out and could've- did, render himself helpless, which helped no one considering Bakugou was still on the loose."

You could see the praise getting to Iida from where you stood, he was on the left side of Bakugou while you sandwiched him in on the right. You flushed lightly, looking away from the eyes of your peers. AllMight looked to be shaking as Momo finished her rant, coughing before continuing.

"well uh yes, you missed a few things such as young Iida could have relaxed a bit, and Miss Hakamata should have been more open to using her move if it would've meant less damage in the future. However, good job! You nailed it! Let's move on to the next battle."

You looked at Bakugou and saw the look on his face. It worried you to see him look so devoid of emotion. You looked away, not wanting to start any more problems and focused on the next students beginning their match.

You couldn't help but let out a gasp, you were amazed at the brute strength this Shoto Todoroki had. He made the entire place freeze over, making sure his partner was safe outside. The sheer amount of power had you taken a back. You could feel the cold all the way from the room you were all in, and it caused your body temp to drop instantly, the temp regulating it out.

"Wow.." You whisper out, still somehow standing next to Bakugou even though the  class moved closer to the screen. 

"This guy is insane." You finished, noticing the others, even AllMight shivering in front of you. This guy was one of four to get in on recommendation alone.

‘Incredible.’ You thought. 

The rest of the matches seems to go by just as fast, you realized a lot of classmates had powerful and useful quirks, but your mind was still on the 3 boys who, in your opinion, out shined them all. 

You cheered on Kirishima and Sero as they fought bravely. Even Mina as she burned holes into the flashy kids cape. You couldn't remember his name.

It was finally all over, and AllMight congratulated you all.

"We had no major injuries, accept for young Midoriya. You should be proud, that was excellent training from you all."

He took his exit as said he was going to check on Izuku, rushing away and leaving the students buzzing with excitement. You all returned to change out of your hero outfits, and went back to class to collect your stuff for the next class. 

"(y/n) you were badass! I wish my quirk was flashy like yours!"

"Thanks Eijirio!" You slapped his arm playfully, "You're quirk is pretty good too. I wish I had it! I could fall and not get hurt? Yes please!" 

You all settled down as the next part of your afternoon classes began, your thoughts circling back to how Izuku was fairing. To be honest you weren't sure if you'd be allowed to go see him if he still wasn't back by the end of the day, but you decided it's fine. You were partners after all. 

Before you could go once classes had ended. Eijiro, along with Sero, Kaminari, and Mina kept you behind to chat. You figured a few minutes wouldn't hurt so you let yourself go in the laughter and happiness that swirled around you. Your head snapped towards the door once you heard it open, Kirishima beating you to the punch of saying hi.

"Hey it's Midoriya! Good to see you! I don't know what you were saying during that match but you were all fired up huh!"

"I can't believe you held your own against Bakugou!" Sero pitched in, "He's super strong!"

"Glad to see you still in one piece partner!" You grinned at his overwhelmed expression as he started rubbing the back of his head with his uninjured hand. The other being in a cast and sling.

"You really went all out didn't you." You hummed while poking the sling, grinning up at him. "We made a badass team yanno, you were pretty good too I guess." He laughed, nodding in agreement,

"We sure did, we won thanks to you." 

You saw his cheeks heat up in embarrassment as others, including yourself, told him he played a big part in that win. Everyone introduced themselves to him and you could see his eyes swirl with so much going on. You ll stopped to watch Iida go berserk over another student putting his feet on his desk, and failing to get him to listen. 

Denki also walked in at that moment, along with Ochaco, holding books for the class. She blushed slightly, before excusing herself and running over to join the group. Izuku brushed her off in a nice way, letting her know he's fine and there's no need for any worrying. he glanced behind you, then looked at you in the eyes, 

"Hery uh (y/n)? Where's Kaachan?" 

"Oh Bakugou? He just left. We tried to make him stay but he really wanted to go." You saw Izuku run out at that very moment, and knew something was going to happen. You wanted to go and be there in support but you knew better than to get involved.

You went to glance out the windows with other students, seeing Bakugou shouting at Izuku. You couldn't tell what was being said, but you saw that Bakugou was in a lot of pain. Maybe he's realizing that he can't win every battle? Who knows, so you ignored it, and shrugged along with everyone else. Packing the books that were brought in and making sure you had all of your other materials before leaving with your newly made group of friends. You saw that AllMight had dragged Midoriya away, you wondered why they always seemed so close. That was really suspicious and you felt uneasy. Was he somehow related to AllMight? They have similar enough quirks, and AllMight, while he tries to hide it, obviously cares about Izuku. 

With that on your mind you waved your friends off once you parted ways at the station, you began to head home. Once there, you did whatever homework you had, mind still reeling on the secret around those two. You made dinner, and left it in the fridge for your father, it seems he was going to be late tonight. You readied yourself for bed. Staring at the ceiling, now thinking about just more than the Number One Hero and his fanboy. You thought back to Bakugou and his face after he lost, and that Todoroki kid with his half-and-half quirk. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many talented people, you really weren't expecting it.

Honestly, you didn't even know what to expect when you first started. It was only the second day and you felt exhausted by all the people, by all the work. But that wasn't going to stop you from reaching your goals. You aim to be as great of a hero as your father, maybe even better. Your goal is to show him you can one day care for him and others, just like he does for everyone around him.

Damn anyone to hell if they were going to get in your way.

[artificialmillie]

How do I start?

It’s been troubling me a lot that AQ has been receiving an influx of requests recently around the idea of chronic illnesses, or specifically, diabetes. Honestly, as a fandom with a very diverse demographic, I thought we would know better. Things such as chronic illnesses and disabilities (or disabilities caused by chronic illnesses) seem to be something that many are unaware of, and while the ignorance frustrates me, I would rather educate everyone as opposed to just straight up rant (although that's gonna happen too).

First of all: why did I choose to talk about this?

As someone who has grown up with a father with type 1 diabetes, seeing these kinds of sickfics disgust me. I want to go into some detail and get down to the nitty gritty of the condition so that people unaware can have an understanding of it, and I want to talk about my experiences and why they make me feel this way.

Type 1 diabetes typically develops during childhood, and causes a gland called your pancreas to stop producing the hormone insulin. Insulin allows your body to absorb sugar into your cells and also your liver (it converts to glycogen which allows it to be stored for the future and released when blood sugar levels get too low). Without insulin, the body cannot absorb this sugar and so it stays in the blood, causing severe damage to blood vessels. Diabetes also causes high blood pressure, also contributing to the damage. This damage can then further affect nerves, kidneys, the heart, and the eyes. Lots of people confuse it with type 2, however this typically develops in adulthood and happens because one’s diet is poor and their body stops responding to insulin; it can only be controlled by maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Type 1 diabetes is treated with insulin injections and maintaining a regular blood sugar level to prevent this damage; there is currently no known cause of type 1. Other treatment for type 1 diabetes (and also type 2 but I’m not 100% sure) is dialysis which is a process that filters the blood to rid it from sugars and urea, which could otherwise not be removed due to kidney damage. I could expand on this, but this is not the main focus.

Because of the circulatory system damage caused by his diabetes, my dad had a stroke when he was in his early 40s. And, because of his nerve damage, he has little to no feeling in his hands and legs - he can no longer write, and the nerve damage in his leg caused him to lose one. This was the result of not only that, but also the fact that diabetes made him more susceptible to serious infections, and when he accidently stepped on a nail while we were redecorating when I was five, it turned gangrenous. The nerve damage caused numbness in the body parts mentioned earlier, and nothing was done about it until the infection turned gangrenous and almost reached his liver. The only thing that could be done was an amputation, and so now my dad has one useless, numb leg, and about half of his thigh with a prosthetic attached.

He was then confined to a wheelchair while he was recovering, however, he’s still in it now. The effects of the stroke a few years prior prevented him from ever walking without a frame, and even that was a struggle. So, now he’s wheelchair-bound.

However I do want to add a disclaimer. My dad has always been very irresponsible with his diabetes, and some of the damage, especially with his circulatory system, could’ve been reduced if he had ever bothered to use his glucose monitor to check his blood sugar levels. He still doesn’t use it now. So, I’m not saying that everyone’s diabetes will cause all of this, but it definitely has the potential to, and it’s not a friendly condition as you can tell thus far.

So, now that I feel like there’s been some education, I want to tackle the romanticisation of the condition. This will solely be based on diabetes, since other chronic illnesses are a whole other story.

You may be asking: how is writing a fic about diabetes any different from writing a fic about an illness like a sickness bug or [insert other minor, temporary, non-detrimental-in-the-long-run illness]? Short answer: a chronic illness is more often than not debilitating, and something like a sickness bug? You’re very likely to recover with little to no long term effects.

Therefore, go forth and write a fanfiction where Person A has a bug and Person B cares for them - at least they’ll recover. To me, there is no problem romanticising that, because no character is potentially dying or having their health and life at stake. I hope this makes sense.

Watching my mum be a registered carer for my dad for ~eighteen months was painful. I remember little, but what I do remember is the tiredness and the isolation from her friends because she had to be there full time, and it was terrifying whenever he went hypoglycaemic. I could talk about the instances where I've witnessed this, but that’s a whole new can of worms and PTSD that I don't want to open, probably ever.

Also, to all carers out there: thank you. Your work does not go unappreciated.

To summarise: I do not find these fanfictions “cute”. I do not want to read a fic that romanticises the fuck out of something like this, and I’m 99% sure that most people requesting these fics do not have diabetes. I do not want to see a condition diluted into, “Sharon protects her uwu bean Alaska when her blood sugar gets too low”, because, I can guarantee you, that after a couple weeks, Sharon will be exhausted and not have had a decent break, especially if she’s a full time carer. But I digress.

Disclaimer 2: the above paragraphs are not me implying that diabetic people are a burden. I simply want to the raise the issues that come with diabetes and why they shouldn't be watered down to a “cute”, little sickfic. There are a million little temporary illnesses that do no harm for that.

Disclaimer 3: if you’re a diabetic person requesting and/or writing these fics, that’s entirely your choice, and I have full faith that you wouldn’t do what's mentioned in the above paragraph. Also, as a non-diabetic person, it would feel wrong to tell you what you can and can't do regarding it.

I know that this rant probably won't stop people from requesting and writing these fics, but I'm hoping to shine a little light on the issue. Since my ask about it to AQ was not responded to, this is all of my built up feelings in a big explosion of anger and repression during the sixteen years of my life. If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for reading.

PS: if you have any questions or anything regarding this, don’t hesitate to DM me and we can talk about it :)

[meditatemoremedicateless]

Gold Can Stay: Chapter 7

Banner by @ormille

In tribute to @netherborn and @loveisstrange-vn

Summary: Max and Chloe spend the day together while they try to figure out their feelings. That night, in the motel, Chloe and Rachel have a long talk while Max is "sleeping."Maybe there's room enough for the three of them.

Read the full story on Tumblr or Archive of Our Own.

Chapter 6

I may be breathing easier, but I could still really use some guidance. Some advice. Some relationship experience. Of course, Kate Marsh doesn't really have any of those things, but I text her anyway.

Max: Hey there, Kate. Could I talk to you about kind of a complicated situation? I need to talk to someone who isn't involved.

Once I put my phone back, though, it's mostly back to the uncomfortable quiet. At least Chloe drives more safely with awkwardness than grief. Was grief the right word? Had Chloe been grieving what could have been between us?

Now that I finally have a chance to look, the streets of San Francisco are beautiful. The urban sprawl reminds me of Seattle, but the colors of the houses and shops alike here are vibrant, bright, often clashing as if to say, 'notice me.' Even as we make our way downtown, I get the impression that Chloe us driving as slowly as she can to let me look, sinking into the back of her seat and putting her elbow up against the window to relax. We made it to San Francisco. Together.

It doesn't take long at the Exploratorium for us to forget, or at least effectively ignore the tension. Underneath it all, Chloe and I bring out the kid in each other, and the museum brings it out of us both. There's stuff we both get to play with, like growing marshmellows as big as you can or messing with the ChemCam, and some stuff that, admittedly, only Chloe can figure out. Chloe stops dead in her tracks when she finds their Vector Toys, those toys you pull over a table using a weight, only for them to stop at the very edge every time. She loves it. She starts telling me all about how the trigonometry works and how it's a vector calculation and it's just so cool!... but I mostly just like getting to see her play. I like seeing the Chloe I knew years ago, who loved physics games, loved the math of it, loved messing it all up. And then, yeah, there's some stuff that she loves that I hate, like looking at insects and worms in displays, but at least she humors me to pass by those quickly.

I never was very good at Biology. I think it's because half of it made me want to throw up.

Finally, we get to something I don't recognize at all.

"Wait, wait . . . I've heard of this," Chloe says, staring at the sign, then past it. It reads 'Tactile Dome'.

What?

"Oh my god, we have to. This is going to be so fucking cool." Chloe finally turns to me, stepping forward and reaching for my hand in the same motion. I stay still, not sure what to expect, and she stops, closing her hand a hair's breadth away from mine.

She shakes her head to dislodge a thought, and then nods towards the entrance. "Come on, we have to."

"What . . . is it?"

Chloe seems genuinely surprised I'm not familiar with the exhibit. "It's, uh, so it's a maze, yeah? Except it's dark enough that your eyes are totally useless, and you have to get through the whole thing just through feeling your way and memorizing the layout. It's so cool."

I shrug. "Well, if you insist."

I crack a smile at Chloe's delighted expression. I'm so glad she's having fun today.

Unfortunately, as we make our way inside, we notice another sign that reads: 'By Reservation Only.' We stop in our tracks.

"Fuuuuuck," Chloe groans, looking up at the ceiling. I'm pretty sure she planned on flipping God off, but I jabbed her side and nodded my head at a group of two kids and their dad. Chloe just flashed an embarrassed, wide-eyed smile, and stepped away.

Chloe steps towards me and says more quietly, "Fuuuck."

I clap a hand to her back for a second and say, "That's rough, buddy. Maybe you could look up how to get a reservation? Like, we'll be heading back this way later, right?"

She perks up immediately. "Oh yeah," she says, and starts to look on her phone.

I take the break to check my messages from Kate again.

Kate: What's going on? Are you okay?

Max: oh yeah I'm totally okay Max: I think

Kate: ?

Max: okay so just quick story: rachel and I are dating i guess. but like, 1) she is apparently just getting out of a relationship and 2) chloe kind of just told me she loves me Max: and I'm at the SF exploratorium with just chloe right now and I don't want things to be weird

Kate: Wow. Um, okay. It totally makes sense that you're feeling confused! I don't think I can really help but here's some thoughts: You like Rachel, obviously. Chloe is your closest friend. Chloe and Rachel are also best friends. Even if Chloe's upset, I know she just wants what's best for you! You're great, Rachel's great, and Chloe knows that better than anyone! I think she'll be happy to see her two best friends happy as long as you're all still friends.

Kate: Are you worried she wouldn't be comfortable around you anymore because she likes you?

Kate's messages pull a grin out of me. It's not really new information, but if she's confident of those things despite not being close to Chloe or Rachel, that helps. Maybe. A little. And all those exclamation points are just too cute.

Max: no, no I guess I'm not. even when I came back to AB she still wasn't uncomfortable around me. Max: I'm not sure she can be, if that makes sense? Max: she's just really upset and I don't know how to make it okay

I want to write more, but Chloe suddenly interrupts me with an excited, "Ah! Fuck yeah!" She basically shouts. Now it's more than one parent glaring at us, but Chloe just ignores them.

"Max, there's a weekend thing for adults. We can still make reservations and go tonight!"

I shrug. "But, Chloe, we still can't -" and then I pause.

"Oh god," I whisper under my breath. I cross my arm over my chest to try and warm up from the chill that just ran through my body. "We're adults."

Chloe just replies with finger guns.

I quirk my eyebrows, trying to punish the finger guns with a glance. "I can't believe you're excited to get all . . . touchy feely."

First there's confusion on her face. Then uncertainty. Then, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. "Tac-tile," she says slowly, carefully.

"Mhm."

By lunchtime I've all but forgotten about the weirdness this morning. Not 'forgotten' as in my heart has stopped racing anytime in the past four hours, but forgotten enough that Chloe and I can still joke around, talk about the Exploritorium, crack up at the goofy photo that I'd taped into my journal from Joyce. We get macaroni and cheese with bacon in bread bowls at some restaurant on the wharf, and play around at Musée Mécanique. There are moments where I tell myself: This is the happiest I've seen Chloe in a long time. But sometimes, when I'm playing pinball or staring off into space, and she thinks I'm not looking, I can see the smile drain away from her face.

Chloe wanted to escape. And I'd brought something she wanted to escape along for the ride.

Around 4:30 we're eating Ghiradelli's ice cream and sitting on a bench in front of the ocean. There's no beach to speak of, and with dozens of people passing by every minute, it doesn't have any of the peace that we had on the beach near Big Sur. It reminds me again of Seattle, but I know it's not what Chloe's used to: the bustle, the noise, the tourism. All it shares is the long strip of coast of California and, well, me.

My phone buzzes, and I do my best to avoid tilting my cone as I pull it from my pocket. My heart sinks. It's Victoria. I've been dreading a reply since this morning.

Victoria: We're not friends, Max.

Yeah. That's what I knew was coming. It's not like anything had ever told me we were . . . it just stings to hear. Or see, I guess.

I text a reply with numb fingers.

Max: then why are you trying to look out for me?

Chloe side-eyes me. "Kate sure likes your attention today. Looks like me and Rachel aren't the only ones who love you." She elbows me in the side to remind me it's a joke, but I still manage to choke on my ice cream. Impressive, really, it's so creamy it's kind of hard to mess up eating it. She pats me on the back as if it'll do anything to keep me from just literally dying right here on this bench. Not from the choking, no, but the embarrassment.

"UM!?" I shout. "No!? Illegal."

She just smirks, leaning back as much as she reasonably can while still eating her ice cream. "Kate's got a cru-ush," she sing-songs.

I know this is her way of both calling attention to, and deflecting, the elephant in the room, but it also basically is making my heart explode. "First of all, it's not Kate, it's Victoria being specifically disinterested in me, and second of all - no! Third -"

She raises a hand to cut me off. "Wait, wait, wait. So Victoria Chase just texted you to tell you that she's not interested in you?" She grins devilishly, waggling her eyebrows. She sounds way too pleased with herself as she says, "Max, why didn't you tell me you'd become such a heart breaker? A Casanova. A ..." she paused. "King . . . Solomon? He had a harem, right? Or was it-"

"I WILL LITERALLY SMASH YOUR FACE WITH THIS ICE CREAM, SO HELP ME GOD." I hold it in front of her face as a warning, but she just scoots as far to the edge of the bench as possible.

She covers her mouth with her hand as if scandalized, adopting a high drawl that sounds absolutely nothing like Victoria: "Oh, Max. I just hate your guts. I look at your selfies every day so I can write about how shit they look. You'll never be as good an artist as moi - X O X O, Vicky C."

I'm quiet. Staring. Blank faced. I've got to hold still until she gets curious.

Luckily, it's never long until Chloe gets curious. She turns around to look me in the face.

"Alright, Chloe," I say as deadpan as possible (which I hear sounds basically the same as my regular voice). "It's icecream time."

As I scoot towards her, though, she leaps to her feet and darts a good ten feet away. A good deal of her own ice cream gets caught by inertia and just sloughs off onto her shirt, staining it brown.

She looks down at her shirt. She looks at her ice cream cone.

She looks at my face. She takes a deep breath.

"You asshole," she mutters, trotting back to the bench and then past it. "C'mon, let's go. I'll change on the way to the Tactile Dome."

I groan at the thought of another car trip, but follow a second later.

My phone buzzes. Victoria, again.

Victoria: I don't know.

I clutch my phone to my heart for a second, but then put it away. I don't reply.

"Wow this is really dark."

Even the sound of my voice seems wrong once we're inside the Tactile Dome, and I can see weird pulsations in the darkness. What are those, I wonder? What is that gray over your eyes when it's so dark you can no longer actually see anything?

"Uh, yeah Max, that's kind of the point."

I hadn't realized she'd stopped, but promptly crawl my way right into her chest. I think she topples over, because there's a quiet 'oof', a split second later.

"Oh, sorry! Crap, I just - it's hard to know where anything is."

I can hear the scratch of Chloe's socks as she gets back upright, and tapping along the wall as she fumbles around with her hand. "Yeah, you goof, that's what we're here for. You get to approach the world like you never would otherwise. Unless you go blind, I guess, but then this would probably become easy."

I pout. Not that Chloe can see it. "I don't know how we're supposed to get out like this."

Chloe snorts. "Okay, okay, so. You've got a hand on the wall, yeah?"

I nod. Then, "Um, yeah."

"Okay, now check to see if there's a wall on your other side."

After a second of groping the darkness, I confirm that there is in fact another wall.

"Okay, so, you can go back and forwards, there's a low ceiling and a floor. You're in a hallway. Up just a little bit, it's going to split, and it's going to start getting more complicated. The idea is to try and remember branching paths, so you know where to go back to if you reach a dead end. Just like a normal maze, but you work off mental images, not stuff you actually see."

"Okay," I reply. I sit criss-cross applesauce for the lecture. "So, we just do that until we get out? Or get lost and call for help?"

"Yep, basically."

"Okay, I can do that."

"Awesome." Chloe's voice turns conniving, "Want to make it even more fun?"

With a groan I ask the dreadful question: "What now?"

"Well, I told you it's about to split . . . so how about we race?"

Oh no. Chloe has always loved racing. Sprints, Mario Kart, you name it, and she wins every time. I'm not sure I could out-jog a drunk, chain-smoking Chloe, nevermind a sober, chain-smoking Chloe. And that was all when I can normally see!

Still. Chloe has always loved racing.

"Fine," I concede.

"Ready - go!" Chloe says, and just like that I can hear her scrambling away.

Oh god, I'm going to die in this labyrinth.

I keep my hand on the wall and begin my trepid journey through the Hell Box.

It can't be more than five or ten minutes later that I feel like giving up. By the time I'd found my first dead end, I wasn't sure which way at the most recent branch was the direction I'd come from, and quickly became lost. At least, once I started to move up the dome, I was pretty certain I was progressing towards the center of the dome, which was at least progress from where I started. But now, well, I'd gone down a little, and now I'm not sure if I'm level with the floor, which way was the entrance, and I don't think I ever saw where the exit is. Literally any direction might be right, but with a certainty I could say that most of them are wrong.

I know Chloe wants to play her game, but this would be a lot easier and a lot more fun with her here.

"Chloe!" I call. "Chloe, where are you?! You win, I suck at mazes."

Then, closer than I expected, just down the hall, I think, I hear, "Max? I'm here."

"What? Where is here?"

"I'm right - oh, don't worry about it. I'll come to you."

I can hear shuffling that goes on longer than it should considering how close she sounds, and then I feel a tap on my shoulder blade as Chloe gropes in the darkness. It's a good thing she came from behind, or this would have been an awkward reunion.

I turn to face her, using her hand and then the wall as a reference to orient myself. "How are you here? I'm so lost."

"Oh. Well, I just think I figured out the way to go, so I waited up ahead a bit. Just past the bend of the right path."

"You . . . waited up for me? I thought we were racing."

I can hear her crossing her arms. She's probably pouting, or giving me an indignant glare, or something like that. "I can still kick your ass without leaving you behind. I'm a good multi-tasker."

"Ha." Despite her smug attitude, it's only too easy to feel a blush in my cheeks. Chloe tries to hide it most of the time, but she is kind. I tap my fingers along the floor until I find her leg, then jump up to her arm and give it a squeeze. "Thank you."

"Yeah, totally." It sounds a little higher than normal, I think. Then, she clears her throat, and says, "So. Follow me and try not to die."

She moves quickly, but every time the maze diverges from a straight line she waits, and I do my best to not ram into her again and again. Once we've turned a few corners and seem to be making progress, my anxiety withers, and I even begin to enjoy the heightened sensation, or the way that tiny pulses of color seem to appear in my vision despite the fact that there is nothing to see.

Sometimes, things are easier to handle when you don't have to see them.

"Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Rachel."

"It's not your fault, dude. Shit happens."

"I know but . . . can we talk for a second?"

"In - in The Dome?"

"In The Dome."

I can hear some padding as Chloe feels her way along the wall, and then she sighs.

"Well, it looks like we just found a dead end, so, it's as good a time as any."

She scoots along the floor, I think settling against a wall. I do the same, using her leg as a reference so that ours line up, and even in total darkness she doesn't have to look straight at me.

"Look, Chloe -"

"Sorry, I can't."

I pause.

"Too dark," she says.

"Uugghhh," I groan, the closest to an eye roll I think I can get across, given the circumstances.

"Sorry, nervous. Go on."

I take a breath and try again. "Chloe. I like Rachel, and she likes me. I need you to be okay with that. You're both of us's best friend. There's no way we can date if it makes you . . ." I'm not sure how to finish that sentence.

Luckily, Chloe has some ideas. "Sad?" She offers. "Jealous? Lonely? Scared, even?" She pauses. "Well, fuck, I don't know what to tell you, I already was all of those things. I'm a sad, jealous, lonely punk ass townie. You can't change that."

"You know that's not what I mean," I say, although that is, kind of, exactly what I mean. I know Chloe has these things inside her. But I don't want to be the person who brings them out anymore. She already paid four years for my mistakes.

"Listen Maxine. I love Rachel Amber. She's the girl I fell in love with at a rock show, y'know what I mean? I literally did."

"Are you Tom DeLonge??"

"Bitch I might be," she said, pushing my shoulder. "But like for real. She's been my best friend for three years, and I've been in love with her the whole time. It's honestly kudos to you that it took you this long to fall for her - I knew you were oblivious but like, wow."

"Stop it," I reply with a laugh, slapping her arm with the back of my hand.

We take a second to settle down, and she clears her throat. "But, yeah. I don't know. I spent so much time . . . being mad at you when you went away. Even before you stopped texting or anything, I was just so angry. But it was like the minute you were back I . . ." I can hear her voice cracking, but she trails off. To hide it, I think.

Then, she adds, "Look, I don't know if I was always in love with you, or I fell in love with you when you got back, or what, but somewhere along the line I just knew, and with graduation coming up I've been scared. At any moment it feels like it can just fall apart, you know? That either one of you could just move on at any time."

I don't feel that way. I've had ambitions, I've had things outside and beyond Arcadia Bay, but my friendship with Chloe, and now with Rachel, hasn't felt temporary. Even in Seattle, Chloe always felt like my best friend. Even if she hated me. Even if I didn't know who she was anymore.

Her voice is lower and raspy, but she's doing her best, and she's not yelling, so I just let her talk. "When Dad died, for years I'd dream about him. I'd talk to him and sometimes I'd hear him talk back to me. I felt like he was close, you know? I think that's how I survived those years. But . . ." she takes a deep breath, and continues, "but after I met Rachel, I stopped dreaming about him. I stopped hearing his voice. One of the last things I ever dreamed about was him telling me that, sometimes, people need me. And that I have to be there for them. So I've tried . . . I've tried to be who you and Rachel need me to be. Because I . . ."

I could hear her crying, and reached out. As soon as I felt the back of her hand, she flipped her hand over and squeezed my hand so tight.

"Because I love you guys so much. So I don't - I don't care if you fall in love. I want you to have what you need. And, fuck, if that's each other, that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

There are other people moving through the area in the Tactile Dome, but I think the sound of us talking and Chloe crying keep them away from this passage. I'm crying too, now, but silently. My heart hurts. Why does loving people hurt sometimes?

I think it's my turn, now.

"Chloe, y'know that you were my first girl-crush, right?"

She lets out of a laugh, a little choked from crying. "I thought that was Sailor Mars."

I roll my eyes. "Well, fine, first real-life-girl crush. I thought you were so cool. Tough, tomboy Chloe, who would skip out on playing kickball to play Pirates, or Lord of the Rings, or Pokemon with me. You'd play pretend, and I'd almost always be your first mate, or your princess, or something else so you wouldn't have to play the girl. You'd be surprised at what that kind of flirting can do to a fourth grader."

She laughs again. Her thumb works small circles into the meat of my palm, and it is warm and nice. If we were outside, and I could see, I'd probably pull away. But not in The Dome, I guess.

"After your dad died, I stopped knowing how to pretend. We always lived in fantasy worlds together, but after that, I just wanted to live in the past. I didn't want to go somewhere spectacular anymore, I just wanted to . . . get away."

"You didn't want to be around the things that made you remember why you were sad."

I nod. She can't see it, but I think she recognizes my affirmation.

She sighs and says, "I feel that way every damn day. I think it's why I left. It's not like there's anything to find in California, really."

I'm still not done, but the words for this part are harder to find. "When I came back . . . you weren't the same anymore. And I wasn't either, I guess. I still felt a pitter-patter in my heart around you, let's be honest, but you weren't my hero, my captain anymore. You were just my best friend. And for the longest time, I think I wanted that stuff back."

I'm not sure what's in Chloe's tone - it's distressed, but much quieter than normal for her distress; "What are you saying, Max?"

"I'm saying I have to move on from the girl you were when you were a kid. I have to get over my childhood best friend, Captain Chloe Bluebeard, adventurer extraordinaire and lover of booty."

We both snort at that, just like we always would when we were kids.

I continue, "I still love you, Chloe. But we're never going to get to be those kids again, are we?"

Chloe hesitates. She shifts along the wall - she's facing towards me now, I think. "We absolutely, never ever, will get to be those kids again."

That makes me feel like something sharp is being pushed through my chest. I don't want to let go. I don't want to lose those days. Even now, I still want things to go back to how they used to be. But between dreams of the past and Chloe right now, in front of me, I'll choose her. Every time.

"I love you, Chloe Price. My lonely, jealous best-"

And then, she's kissing me. If we were outside, I'd probably pull away. But not in The Dome. I find her cheek with my hand and kiss her back, and it's the easiest thing in the world in this dark.

When we stop, and she pulls away, I try to get the first word out, before she can say 'sorry' or something incredibly stupid like that.

"Was that a goodbye kiss?"

There's a few seconds before her reply.

"I think so, Max."

There's a few seconds where I do my best to get on my feet, to get ready to crawl away. The moment is over. It has to be over.

"And, Max?"

I pause a second longer.

"I love you, too."

Our time on Haight street is easy, or at least easier than I thought it would be. Chloe humors me in the novelty book store for over an hour, but the place we spend the most time in and adore the most is a vintage formal wear store. It doesn't take long to push her out of her punk rock comfort zone and start trying on suits. She's too thin for a lot of them, so she tries on dress shirts and starts holding different suits over her shoulder like some cool fashion model. Surprisingly enough, some of the smaller suits fit me just fine. After that, I start to seriously consider purchasing one.

"I think I want one with elbow pads," I tell her as we look through the central rack, for me this time.

She quirks an eyebrow at me, discouraging. "Elbow pads, really? That's dorky, even for you."

I scrunch my face up in protest, glaring. "Elbow pads are cool."

She laughs, but then pauses. Then glances at me suspiciously. Then, "This isn't some Doctor Who bullshit, is it?"

I raise my eyebrows as high as they'll go. There's no way to hide my nervous smile. "This may very possibly be some Doctor Who bullshit."

Chloe sticks out her tongue and gags. "Max, please. You've got to get some better taste in Sci-fi. Just some basic, low-level stuff, like Star Wars."

I wave her away. "There's no reason I can't do both."

After a moment of silence passes, Chloe picks a suit off of the rack. "How about this?"

It's nice - it's got the right dusty librarian look, and it might be small enough to fit me, and it has elbow pads. Still, the shoulders look a little big and I don't really like the pinstripes, so . . .

I wave a hand in front of her face. "This is not the suit you're looking for. Move along."

"Pfft, nerd."

When I finally do find a suit, the suit, the one that I look at in the mirror and look nothing like myself but have no complaints, I leave the dressing room to give Chloe a chance to look it over and make some snide remarks. She's there, waiting, looking up from her phone when I exit. I put on my best sophisticated face, squinting a little, folding my arms while holding my chin in the crease between my elbow and thumb, doing my best to look like I'm contemplating a very important, deep idea. Like, I wonder what I missed in lab today, and what would it actually be like to have sex with Rachel? Luckily, Chloe's not a jedi.

She looks me up and down for a few seconds, holding a bemused smile. "Nerd," she concludes.

I roll my eyes, and turn back towards the dressing room. "But kind of in hot way?"

I don't reply to that, just close the dressing room door after me. After maybe a minute of indecision and mental screaming, I decide to buy the suit.

From just outside, Chloe calls, "Yo, let's go get Rachel. She's ready."

I'm getting sleepy by the time we finally pick up Rachel from the University of San Francisco, the only road to which we could find is so obscenely slanted that I'm confused as to why they ever chose to build a school there. When I see her coming down the steps, I pop the door open for her and scooch into the middle, and she hops right in.

"Hey there you two - miss me?"

"Nah," replies Chloe.

"Yeah," I reply at the same time.

Rachel looks amused but doesn't question it. She just buckles up and we're out of there faster than I feel is probably safe in this city.

"So, where are we staying?" she asks. Chloe seems to have an idea where she's going, but neither of us do.

Chloe just waves a hand without looking over (thankfully). "I made a reservation at the Super 8 a few days ago. Cheap, easy to go to, free breakfast. Seemed like a good chance to take a shower."

"Oh, cool." I would absolutely love to take a shower. I've been making out with Rachel Amber for three days now without a shower. It's not quite as bad as the time I fell asleep without brushing my teeth, but it's pretty bad.

I don't pick up on the other problem, but Rachel does. "Wait, if you made the reservation before-"

"There's only one bed," Chloe cuts in, and Rachel drops off immediately. I think my heart nearly breaks out of my chest and into my lap. The two of us just stare at her until she expands on that. She finally catches our looks and adds, "What? I didn't know you were coming."

"But now it just sounds like tropey fan fiction," I whine.

She rolls her eyes. She's just loving living life on the edge with her eyes on the road today. "You two can take it. I'll get a cot or something."

Rachel glances at me, then Chloe, back to me, then Chloe again. Her face looks frozen as she works something out. "We could all share if-"

Chloe just shakes her head, but she's smiling, just a little. "No thanks. I'll take the cot."

Rachel and I look at each other, and she just shrugs.

We're barely inside the room before Chloe drops her backpack on the floor, throws her beanie after it, and calls "Dibs on shower I've been gross for days bye!" Within a second or two, the bathroom door locks behind her.

"Uuugghhh," I groan loudly. "I have to pee! Hurry!"

"No promises!" and then I can hear the water start.

Rachel and I sigh in unison, then shoot each other looks for it.

"How was your-"

"Did you have a good-"

She holds back a grin, shaking her head as she drops her duffle bag on the near side of the bed. "Try two," she announces, and then, "How was your day?"

I toss my bag next to hers and plop down on the - our - bed. "Good. It was good. It started out kind of rough, but Chloe and I had a good time. I ruined one of her shirts, it was great."

Rachel sits next to me. Right next to me - close enough that I immediately feel a tingle of excitement and remember that I can, in fact, kiss Rachel basically any time I want.

"Oh?" she asks. "Why rough?" The concern sounds casual, but when I look at her, she's got a soft look with genuine concern, like when she held me when Victoria was acting like a jerk (Tuesday evening, specifically - I know she's kind of a jerk all the time).

I play the early hours of the day through my mind: ruminating on the scene between Rachel and I in the bed of Chloe's truck, having an emotionally charged drive with Chloe, a panic attack, the realization that I might love my best friend as more than a best friend and having absolutely no idea what to do about it. Nevermind the kiss and the crying.

I shrug. "I . . . don't really want to get into it right now. It's been a long day and I'm just . . . wiped. Can we talk tomorrow?"

She looks surprised, but not really displeased. "Oh. Okay. Sure." She looks straight for a second, then back to me. "Is there anything I can do?"

Another shrug. "I'm not sure. But I swear, it's not really anything bad, just . . . kind of complicated." I fall back onto the bed. It's so nice to be in a bed again.

She still looks worried. Worried about me, which shouldn't surprise me because we've been friends for a year now, but everything just feels special from her now. But I really don't want to worry her, so I figure a spoiler can't hurt.

I close my eyes as if drifting off to sleep. After a moment, though, I say, "Y'know, I'm going to ask you out tomorrow for real."

I open one eye just to take a peek. A smile creeps on her face slowly, and she looks soft and beautiful. Wonder, that's the word.

I don't know how much of what I'm seeing is her mask and how much is real, but the way she's looking at me is just like that night under the stars, and I believe in it all. Even the façade is Rachel, isn't it?

I close my eye again, lacing my fingers together to form a pillow. "I hope you'll say 'yes.'"

There's a moment of quiet that is warm and nice. She reaches out and places a hand on my stomach. It tickles a little just being there, but it's also comforting.

Her reply is just a whisper; "I think I will."

I keep my eyes closed and just breathe in, trying to savor the moment. It's the closest I've come to feeling like we're at the light house again, the anticipation and giddiness that comes from being close to Rachel, but it's more reserved now.

At least until Rachel straddles me and sits in my lap, at which point it jumps straight to electric and I can just feel my heart start beating double time.

I open my eyes to find Rachel staring down at me, as if inspecting me. "What are you feeling - right now?"

"Sad," I reply.

She cocks her head to the side.

"Because you're going to move to LA."

That earns me a smile again.

"But like things are going to be okay, for real. Like we'll work it all out."

Her thighs press in on my hips, and my ability to breathe takes a sharp decline.

"And now . . . a little turned on I guess?"

Now the glances down my body feel a little more mischievous, and a smirk crops up on her face.

"Oh? Maybe we should work out what we're going to do about that, like we will the other stuff."

"Yeah, maybe we should."

Yes!, alright Max, you're getting the hang of this flirting thing. It's just all about being noncommittal and sarcastic when someone thinks you're cute!

She reaches a hand out, making a grabby motion in the air like a child who can't reach. I unlace my fingers and reach out a hand to hold hers instead, and she gives a satisfied wiggle on top of me in response.

"Now - come here!" I say, and tug her forward. She gives a delighted shriek for a second as she falls on top of me, unable to stop giggling through all our kisses.

When Chloe comes out of the shower, we're both checking our phones, sitting several feet apart and pretending, unconvincingly, that nothing happened. Chloe takes one look at me and quirks an eyebrow. She doesn't buy it for a second.

As much as I'd like to stay up to talk or tease Rachel, I'm exhausted, and promptly drop straightaway to sleep with Rachel spooning me. And it's probably for that exact reason that I don't stay asleep, because when I wake up, I can't feel her anymore. It's the very first thing I realize, and the second is that Rachel and Chloe are talking in low voices near the opposite end of the room.

It's Rachel's voice that I hear, once I can actually make out words. "That's probably what she wanted to talk to me about," she says.

The room is dark, or at least as dark as a motel ever is, and it reminds me just a little of the Tactile Dome.

"Well, how do you feel about that?" Chloe asks.

"Feel about it? I have no idea what I'm supposed to feel about it - I don't really know what you want from me."

"I don't want anything. And I have no idea how you're supposed to feel either - I want to know what you do feel. I want you to trust me, not pacify me."

There's a pause. I think I hear Rachel click her tongue. And then, "Okay, fine. I feel annoyed. I feel like, just when I'm getting things right for once, Max is going to get scared and confused and not want to hurt anybody. I'm not saying you shouldn't have been honest with her, just . . . did it have to be now?"

Chloe's frustrated. "When would have been a good time, exactly? It's not easy for me to be real with people all the time - I'm just kind of riding the wave and seeing where it takes me."

Rachel sighs, but it sounds mad. I hate it when they fight. Should I do something? Would it be better if I intervened, or would I only make things worse?

"Chloe, we're not sixteen anymore. We have to think things through. And I need you to consider my feelings before doing something like this. You could have done this before I realized I had feelings for Max, or you could have waited more than ten hours after I asked her to be my girlfriend!"

Chloe's voice starts to get louder, slipping in and out of the whisper she's trying to maintain. "How was I supposed to know any of that? It feels a little hypocritical of you to ask me to do that when you didn't say anything about how you felt about Max, you just happened to fall in love one week and BAM, I just have to be okay with it."

"I'm not saying you have to be okay with it, I just-" Rachel cuts off, taking an unsteady breath. Is she okay? Is she crying, or just holding in her anger? What's going on?

She continues, "I just really don't want to fuck everything up, okay? I don't want to lose you, and I don't want to lose Max, and I don't want to lose our future together. It just feels . . . so fragile."

"Babe," Chloe whispers, so quiet I can barely make it out. "Max isn't a scared little kid any more. She's not going to run and hide because feelings are hard and confusing, I promise. And just because . . ." her voice drops again, "I love her . . . doesn't mean I'm out if she doesn't feel the same way. I'm in this - the three of us. Whatever it takes. I would do anything for you . . . both of you."

"But that's -" Rachel's definitely crying - I can hear her wipe away tears with her arm. "Dammit, Chloe, I want you to be happy, not sacrifice yourself. I don't. Need. A knight. I just need you."

Chloe shuffles around in her cot, sighing. "You know what would make me happy?"

"What, Chloe?"

She takes a deep breath. "If me loving someone didn't always end up a mistake. If I could just stop hurting the people I care about most."

"Stop it, Chloe."

"Why?"

"Us - our relationship? It didn't end because you loved me. I loved you. I always loved you since - since you got on that fucking stage as Ariel. You've always been such a ride-or-die bitch no matter how ugly or fucked up things got."

They both laugh unsteadily. Then Rachel's voice returns somber; "But things changed. And I knew, I knew if we were going to stay together, we had to play it smart. I didn't want to end up poor, out of gas and money in some motel like this as we tried to run away again, or stuck in that fucking town. But I felt like, if I wanted a future, a good future, if I wanted my life to be what I wanted it to be . . . I couldn't be with you in the present. I would just get lost. I feel like I've come so close, over and over, to losing everything. I can't be that stupid kid anymore. Not if I'm going to look out for us."

It's quiet for a long time. I consider pretending to wake up, slowly, without having heard anything. There is some part of this that I'm missing, stories that don't add up. Whatever relationship they used to have, I've never heard anything about it. This was definitely not what Rachel had suggested things had been like. There were still parts of her, deep down, that couldn't bring herself to tell me the truth, the whole truth. Maybe I would never see Rachel as perfectly as I want to.

Finally, Chloe speaks up. "You know, Max said basically the same thing."

"Hm?"

"She told me today that she had to get over the relationship we used to have. She said she had to if she was going to love me for who I am now."

Rachel chuckles quietly. "What a damn poet Max Caulfield is."

Chloe laughs, too. "She can be like that sometimes, yeah. But I think she's right. We've got to let that go if we're going to move on."

Another silence, this time brief. Chloe continues, back to a whisper. "Do you think you could love me for who I am now?"

Rachel's sigh sounds stressed. "Of course I love you, Chloe."

"No, I mean . . . Do you think you could ever fall in love with me again? Not for the adventures and the freedom and all the stuff we had before. I just mean me, your . . . in-it-for-the-long-haul, star-crossed best friend." Chloe laughs again under her breath. "Max really is a fucking poet."

"I think that one was Shakespeare, actually. Like, pretty sure."

"Yeah? Well, I wouldn't know. Can't say I read another one after The Tempest."

Rachel sounds exasperated. "It's - it's literally Romeo and Juliet."

Chloe doesn't reply - at least not to that. After a pause, she asks, "Could you?"

The seconds drag on, each one more painful than the last. I can't imagine what their faces look like. I can't imagine what it's like to have to answer that question. I can't imagine what it's like to cut your heart out and offer it to someone like that, either. Chloe's a romantic unlike anything I'll ever be.

Finally, Rachel answers, "I don't know. This is all too much. I need to think."

"Okay." Chloe sounds defeated.

Rachel crawls back into bed, and a second later, I can feel her fingers in my hair, brushing it as gently as she can. I do my best to look asleep.

"Whatever else happens," Rachel says, "Promise me you'll take care of her when I'm gone. And stop trying to be a hero or a martyr. Maybe that . . . is a Chloe Price I can fall in love with again."

Chloe doesn't say anything. She just goes back to bed while Rachel props herself up on her side, petting my hair again. I want to find the words to talk to them about all of this, but before I know it, I fall back asleep, with Rachel lying right beside me.

It's official. I'm in love with my two best friends, and I'm terrified. But we're going to make it out of this okay. Love always wins in the end, doesn't it?

[btsiguess]

This Is Just To Say (m) - 2

Summary: To say it’s unusual to have a soulmate is an understatement, and most people desperately wish to have an elegant name scrawled upon their wrist. In reality though, you’d have to say it causes much more issues than it solves.

Pairing: Yoongi/Reader (slight Namjoon/Reader; Jungkook/Reader)

Genre: Fluff, Smut, Angst

Word Count: 3151

Warnings: Philosophy chat (gross), Philosophy major bashing, me guessing over baseball? Having to imagine Jungkook in that baseball uniform *fans self* 

A/N: Wow guys, I’m honestly pretty floored by the notes the first chapter got in just one day! To express my thanks, here’s another chapter, and then after this I’ll be updating probably on a regular schedule? But I haven’t decided if it’ll be once a week or twice a week? Opinions? RIP.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The baseball game was already well underway when you both arrived, and you clutched the ticket Namjoon had insisted on paying for in your hand while you made your way through the stands. Namjoon led the way, his phone out as he texted Taehyung and you felt grateful that you didn’t have to push your way through the crowd by yourself.

Tae raised his hand and waved at you when he spotted you, sending you both a thousand-watt smile.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” He cried as you sat down next to him, Namjoon on your opposite side.

“Baseball is boring and I’m never really sure I know what’s going on. You’d think that after being friends with a baseball player for like, an entire decade I’d know something about the sport. But I just… don’t.” Tae continued.

You and Namjoon both laugh, and Namjoon briefly tries to explain a bit about baseball to you, but you just shrug him off.

“I’m really only here to look at the boys in uniform, I don’t need to know what’s going on!” You tease before turning to the boy on your other side, “Tae, babe, which one is your friend?”

“Ah, Kookie? He’s the pitcher!”

You glance briefly towards the game, but you’re too far away to really make anything out. Just looks like baseball, really.

“Do we get to meet him finally?” Namjoon asks, “After the game? You talk about him a lot!”

“I was honestly beginning to think you made him up to seem cooler.” You laugh.

“You are honestly such a twerp, Y/N. But yes Namjoon, you guys can meet him after if you want. It’s not my fault you’ve never come with me to a game before.”

“Don’t push your luck now,” you say, “we can still get up and leave you to your misery here. Joonie and I are full of spite.”

“You already paid to get in, what you’re just going to waste your money?” He shoots back.

“Actually Joonie paid for me, so I wouldn’t be losing anything.”

“Shut up Y/N we both know you’re too nice to do that to Joonie. You act all tough but really you love us.”

You sigh deeply and smile despite yourself. The little fucker was right and he knew it. There was no point in arguing with him.

Suddenly, the stands around you erupted into cheers, and Taehyung leapt to his feet. You leaned towards Namjoon as the cheering continued, the two of you opting to sit quietly rather than join the crowd.

“Thank you for buying me my ticket, Joonie.” You said to him, “You really didn’t have to.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. I feel like with all you shared with me tonight it was the least I could do.”

As you opened your mouth to protest he shushed you.

“It’s really fine, Y/N. I don’t think you understand how much I appreciate you telling me. Please, don’t make too much of a fuss over this.”

You nod quietly back, and for just a moment you forget where you are. You could definitely get lost in Namjoon’s eyes. He’s so handsome, you think before you abruptly realize where you are and who you’re with. That’s definitely going to be a whole huge can of worms, you think, but decide to do what every responsible adult does with their problems and ignore it.

You turn your attention to the baseball game once more, propping your head on your chin as you try to figure out what’s happening. Both Tae and Namjoon seem satisfied to watch the game as well, and it isn’t long before you’re actually invested in the outcome.

Tae’s friend -- Jungkook, your brain supplies -- is definitely good. You’re not that surprised, though. Tae brags all the time about how good his friend is. But still, even for someone who doesn’t particularly like baseball you’re enthralled with the way the pitcher plays. He basically strikes out everyone that comes up to the plate, and the few that manage to get past Jungkook seem just as surprised as the crowd.

The game passes by rather quickly and you feel a bit relieved when people begin shuffling out of the stands, amicably celebrating your school’s win. Tae jumps up and excitedly motions for you to follow him as he patters down the steps of the stand. He comes to rest behind the exit of the dugout, you and Namjoon close behind. Other people wait there as well, probably hoping to congratulate the players.

Tae makes the biggest scene however, his arms flailing over his head in an attempt to get the attention of his friend. You’re briefly struck with embarrassment, but Tae’s antics do the job and soon enough a boy who you assume is Jungkook comes bounding over.

He’s handsome, you think, but really that’s an understatement. He pulls Tae into a hug and you’re surprised by the effortless way the pitcher picks your friend up and spins him around.

As Jungkook places Tae down his eyes take in you and Namjoon and he smiles a bit at you, giving you a small wave.

“Ah!” Tae exclaims, “Kookie! These are the friends I’m always telling you about! Joonie and Y/N.”

“It’s nice to meet you guys, thanks for coming out! I’m, uh, I’m Jungkook” He rubs his hand along the back of his neck, shyly, and you can’t help but feel a little bit breathless over his arms. What the fuck?

Namjoon seems to notice that your attention is… elsewhere and speaks up first.

“Hey man, good to meet you. I know you probably get it a lot, but you’ve got a hell of an arm on you!”

His arms…

“Thank you, I really appreciate it!”

Tae elbows you discreetly and it snaps you out of your reverie.

“Really!” you say a bit too loudly, cringing internally at your awkwardness, “I don’t know anything about baseball, and even I can tell you’re something special!”

Something special? You cringe again, and pray quietly for the world to literally swallow you whole.

Jungkook, for his part, takes it like a champ; a light blush coloring his cheeks as he thanks you.

“Kookie! Come hang out with us!” Tae crows, wrapping his arms around his friend’s neck and for a moment Jungkook seems embarrassed. Still though the boy grunts out a quiet affirmative before turning to wave goodnight to his teammates.

After Jungkook changes out of his uniform you all decide to head back to Taehyung’s dorm for a bit, since his roommate was out. When you all piled into the little double Tae and Jungkook made a beeline for the room’s Playstation and couch, leaving you and Namjoon to sit on Taehyung’s bed.

“I feel like we are a married couple, watching our children…” you say to the man next to you.

He just chuckles in response.

“Oh please, Y/N, if we had children they’d be much smarter than these two brats.”

Jungkook chuckled as Tae threw his middle finger up without bothering to look away from the game.   

“Well, hey, we know Tae is beyond all hope but who knows? Jungkook might be really smart!” you respond and Jungkook bows his head bashfully.

“He’s not.” Tae says, and Jungkook sputters indignantly.

“Tae!” Namjoon scolds playfully, “Don’t be rude to your brother!”

“Sorry daddy.” Tae shoots back and the room descends into loud laughter and merciless teasing over the fact that Namjoon begins to blush furiously.

As the room begins to calm down, the door opens and Tae’s roommate enters, looking weary at first but brightening when he sees the group.

“Ah! Hey Tae, Kook… everyone else. Hi!”

“Jimin!” Tae cries, “I thought you didn’t get home from practice until later! Not that I’m upset you’re here, but you’re tired when you get home.”

“It’s no worries!” Jimin calls cheerfully, “We got out early since we did so well. It’s a blessing I was with Hoseok since we’re the two best dancers in the class. I’m up for hanging out, so don’t feel the need to rush away on my account!”

Again, Namjoon speaks up, providing your introductions for you. Jimin just smiles and waves in your direction.

“How do you know Tae?” he asks the two of you.

“Oh!” you reply, “We’re all Literature majors together!”

Jimin nods and lightly kicks Jungkook’s thigh.

“Let me play.” he says, “It’s my room.”

Jungkook grumbles as he relents. Looking around the room for a place to sit before you pat the bed next to you. With a slightly panicked look in his eye he settles in next to you, making sure to leave an appropriate amount of room between, a far cry from the way Namjoon was pressed virtually flush against your other side.

“Jungkook,” you say quietly, “what about you? What’s your major?”

Jungkook shuffles a bit, like he’s nervous. Cute.

“Ah! I’m undecided, actually. I’m here on a baseball scholarship. I didn’t originally want to come to college but… Tae convinced me to. I’m glad I came though, I just don’t know exactly what I want to do yet.”

“You should be a literature major with us!” you tease, “We could be like, a squad!”

“Yeah,” Namjoon pipes up, leaning over you to see the younger boy better, “or philosophy is really fun too!”

You make a retching sound in your throat.

“Don’t do that. Oh god.” You plead with Jungkook, “The philosophy majors are literally the worst! They just use their major as an excuse to parade their Nihilism, which like isn’t even cool. Like good job buddy, go not care somewhere else. I mean really, if you’re going to pick a pretentious philosopher to follow, do Gauthier.”

“You would like Gauthier.” Namjoon sighs.

“Gauthier?” Jungkook asks.

“Oh!” you say, “Gauthier’s philosophy was basically like, everyone only does stuff out of their own self interest. Even laws or rules you follow you follow because like, if everyone follows that rule then it’s a benefit to you so you’re just doing it so no one can point fingers. Really he was a selfish son of a bitch, but if we’re being honest? The more selfish the philosophy, the more I like it.”

Jungkook raises his eyebrows at you.

“Well, okay but what if you decide to break the rules anyway?” he asks and you groan.

“Ugh, you’re just like Joonie. Maybe you should be a philosophy major. Damn.”

Joonie laughs and leans forward again.

“You should definitely consider it, kid. There’s not enough of us.”

You quietly hear Jungkook mutter that he isn’t a kid under his breath, but you’re too invested in telling Namjoon that there are definitely enough philosophy majors on this campus (in fact, you would argue there’s too many,) to engage with the boy’s comment.

“Y/N,” Jimin pipes up from the couch, “how do you know all that if you’re not a philosophy major?”

“I had to start learning philosophy on the down low so that the brats in philosophy club couldn’t spout false facts at me in our arguments.”

“Debates.” Namjoon corrects jovially, and you give him a sneer.

“So you’re basically learning a whole entire major just to… prove a point?” Jungkook asks.

“Absolutely.” you deadpan, and the boy laughs at you.

“Why don’t you just double major in Lit. and philosophy?” Jimin suggests.

“Um, because unlike some heathens in this room,” you stare pointedly at Namjoon, “I genuinely like myself too much to sit around with a bunch of hoity toity bitches who think they’re better than me just because they can spell “Nicomachean Ethics” right on the first try.”

“Fair enough.” Jimin responds.

“Yeah but don’t you think the amount of work you’re putting into proving them wrong makes you just as hoity toity?” Tae prods, and you briefly wonder if you could kill him right now without getting caught. Too many witnesses, you think.

Before you can shoot a snide comment back, Jungkook comes to your verbal rescue.

“I think it’s cool she’s passionate enough to learn all that stuff, even if it is out of spite. There’s no bad reason to want to be the best, you know?”

“Damn, Jungkook,” you say, “I knew I liked you!”

Tae snorts. “Kook, you might as well just say you want to fuck Y/N, you don’t gotta take the backroads, buddy. ‘No bad reason to want to be the best.’ God.”

Jungkook’s face turns bright scarlet, and he looks so horrified that you almost laugh. You’re glad you manage to hold it in though, you’re sure the poor boy would’ve died right on the spot and you weren’t kidding when you said you liked him.

Jimin and Tae are sitting laughing at Jungkook, teasing him about you when you manage to pull yourself from your thoughts.

“Go ahead and laugh it up,” you say, “but while you’re laughing remember Jungkook is my favorite out of all of you.”

As you speak you wrap your arms around the broad shoulders of the boy next to you. Jungkook tenses for a moment at your closeness, but you soon feel him relax under your touch. The other boys around you laugh even louder at your actions but quickly lose interest as something important happens within their game. It’s some sort of action cut scene, and even Namjoon is paying attention.

You glance over at Jungkook only to find he’s looking directly at you; your heart thumping a bit faster in your chest as you make eye contact with him.

“Is this okay?” You whisper, referring to your closeness.

He nods quickly, still looking a bit askance. As if he thought any second you might push him away and laugh at him.

You smile at him before shuffling around a bit, so your head is on his shoulder, your hands placed on your lap. Before too long you feel his hand come to rest on the bed behind you, so he’s basically holding you, but not quite. Cute.

As the night draws on, you can’t help but feel a bit overcome by your own fatigue. It’s been a long day, really. Just a few hours ago you were pouring your soul out to Namjoon over your soulmate… and now, here you are in the arms of some boy you hardly know, drifting off to sleep.

“I think it’s sort of slutty” the girls voice from earlier sounds off in your head, “I mean, if you have a soulmate you already know you’re leading someone on.”

Your head quickly shoots up off of Jungkook’s shoulder, and he jumps a bit, blinking wearily. It seems he had been dozing off too.

“Is everything okay?” He whispers, too low for anyone but you to hear.

“Uh, uh, yeah. It is it’s fine. It’s just, uh, it’s getting a bit late isn’t it?” You say back, a bit too loudly.

“Definitely!” Namjoon says from your other side as Jungkook opens his mouth, “It’s nearly one in the morning!”

You gasp, your classes don’t start particularly early tomorrow, but still… you try to make an effort to be in bed at a reasonable time, just so you feel a bit more put together than you actually are.

You glanced apologetically at Jungkook as you extricate yourself from him completely, standing from the bed and reaching your hands towards the ceiling in a stretch.

“I guess that means I should be going, huh?” You say, and Tae gives you a grunt and a wave, still not pausing his game. Ever the gentleman.

Jimin smiles brightly at you, as you wave at him.

“Do you two mind if I crash here tonight?” Jungkook asks.

“Oh you mean like what you do half the time anyway?” Jimin calls, “No, we don’t mind. The couch already has a dent shaped like you though, don’t you ever want to go home?”

“Nah, I’ve got a single, it’s honestly sort of creepy.” Jimin shrugs, and you call goodbye to Jungkook before pulling Namjoon by the hand so the two of you can walk home.

Namjoon insists on walking you to your dorm room before heading back to his and you laugh at his chivalry.

As you walk you catch him peeking over at you.

“What?” You say.

“Nothing really, you just look pretty.”

Your mouth opens a bit in surprise but before you could respond, he continues.

“You were getting sort of cozy with Jungkook in there.” He laughs, “Does somebody have a little crush?”

“What can I say, I’m a sucker for a man in uniform.”

Namjoon runs his hand through his hair, “I mean hell, who doesn’t? And did you see the arms on that kid? Fuck.”

“Oh my god! I know right? It was crazy. I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed!”

“He seemed to have a little thing for you, to be honest.”

“Eh. I think he was just nervous. I wouldn’t get too ahead of myself. Anyway, I’ve only just met him? I don’t quite think he’s my type? I don’t even know him well enough to say.”

“Fair enough.” Namjoon nods.

The two of you walked along in silence for a moment before you felt Namjoon’s hand come out to grasp your own. Neither of you mentioned it, and you quietly felt grateful for that. You didn’t quite want to examine the way your heart sped up when he touched you, or the way you noticed a secret sort of smile passing over his lips as you walked along.

Soon though, you arrived at your dorm, and his hand left yours. You felt an odd pang in your chest at that, but shoved it under the metaphorical rug as soon as it happened.

He turned to face you and for just a moment his eyes flickered down to your lips. Is he going to… but before the thought had even formed completely he was patting you on your head, and wishing you a goodnight.

He stayed put until you entered the building, and you waved at him through the glass doors that lined the entryway.

You watched him walk away, and your phone buzzed in your pocket.

Unknown Number:

Hey! Sorry if this is creepy, It’s Jungkook! I got your number from Tae. I just wanted to check that you’d gotten to your dorm safely! :)

You responded quickly, and saved his number into your phone before heading up the stairs to your dorm room. You tried hard not to think about Jungkook and Namjoon, but really it was a useless attempt.

Maybe you were just a slut, like that girl had said. I mean, sure she hadn’t specifically meant you but… also… she kind of did. And with how pleased you were with all the male attention you were garnering these days, you couldn’t help but think that maybe she was right.

A/N: Oh shit, there you go. Chapter 2. I know it’s a Yoongi fic but oo ooo who’s she gonna sleep??? with sweet Kookie? With our babe Namjoon?? Who do you want her to sleep with let me know pal. Will she ever meet Yoongi? (yes) Who knows???

Again I’d like to thank my beta @gimmesumsuga for being the cutest and also tolerating me as a human. I’m not saying you should follow her but that’s exactly what I’m asking her reactions are to die for???? Cool. Bye.