#that metal jaw guy that was like 4 times her size

[lavendersgirl]

what they had 15 year old vi looking like while she was beating the shit out of silcos grown ass goons

[jamie-leah]

MYC Part 1

Bucky x Reader

Mini-Series

Summary: Life gets complicated when your ex comes back from the dead. How the story goes is up to you...

Word Count: 2115

Warnings: angst, swearing, mentions of alcohol

A/N: I lied in the promo, this is going to be a mini-series but released in 2 day intervals so you won't have long to wait. This is something new I'm trying. This used to be a one-shot that you can find in my masterlist that I had so many requests to carry on and also lots of angry people wanting to make different choices. While I always try to write for myself, this one is for you. Enjoy Lovelies <3

Special Mention: My best friend, Jay, has drawn all the pictures you will see in this series. He is amazing and incredibly talented in lots of styles. He is super friendly so please check him out here! And show some love <3 He is also taking requests!!!

MYC Masterlist

“You know I could kick your ass any day of the week, Buck", you say with a smirk and a sideways glance in the elevator down.

Bucky chuckles and turns to you, “only because you cheat".

You look at him, jaw slack in mock offense, “I do not cheat!”.

“Oh please! Last week you started crying and you know I hate seeing you cry! You knew I had you and you took advantage of the fact I’m your boyfriend”, Bucky says, the smirk never leaving his face.

You toss him one of your own and say, “that’s just good tactics, baby. Use your opponent’s weakness against them".

Bucky tips his head back to laugh and it has you grinning when the doors slide open into the lobby of the avengers building. People are milling about like ants but it’s the commotion at the front desk that has you pausing.

A guy with sandy hair that brushes the tops of his shoulders is shouting at the receptionist, “you need to let me see her!”.

Adrenaline starts to flood your veins and you find yourself approaching without thought as you notice his ripped clothes. His voice scratching familiarly at a door you thought you closed years ago.

He shouts again, “you need to get Y/N down here now, you don’t understand”.

The way your name falls off his tongue is like a sucker punch and it takes everything not to double over from shock. You’re vaguely aware of Bucky murmuring, “is he asking for you?”.

But it’s only you and the guy in the whole of the room right now as you say, “Charlie?”.

Charlie, your ex of 4 years, whips around at the sound of your voice. You take each other in for a full minute before he makes his way towards you.

Instinctively, you take a step back. Your ex was dead. You were there when he died. You went to his funeral. This man in front of you is a ghost.

Charlie doesn’t flinch at your reaction, instead taking another step and talking to you like you’re a frightened animal, “Y/N, it’s okay, it’s me, Charlie. Please baby, you’ve got to believe me. I’ve been trying to get back to you all this time and I’ve finally found you".

You shake your head but don’t move away from him, “h-how?”.

Charlie stretches his arms out towards you, “does it matter?”.

The room rushes back as you see Bucky’s metal arm come between you and Charlie, his voice comes out hard and guarded, “actually, yes it does matter. You’re supposed to be dead".

Your head was spinning far too fast to register the switch in Charlie as he replies with equal wariness and steel, “yes, I realise that. Can I have a moment with my girlfriend”. It was a statement, not a request despite the wording.

Bucky doesn’t budge, “I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask her". Neither of them takes their eyes off each other and you can feel the air get so thick with tension you wonder when the lightning is going to strike.

You shake your head like you can clear away the cobweb of memories. You lay a hand on Bucky’s arm but look to Charlie, “I guess you should come upstairs then”.

It doesn’t take long before you’re standing in the kitchen, a fresh pot of coffee made and silence to settle. You stand leaning against the counter, Charlie sits at the island nursing a mug, and Bucky leans against the entryway watching Charlie’s every move.

After Charlie takes a sip of his coffee, he looks to you with an annoyed but desperate look, “why does he have to be here? This isn’t how I imagined our reunion”.

You look from Bucky to Charlie before saying, “he’s staying, Charlie. Bucky is, well, he’s my boyfriend”.

You realise you’re holding your breath, but you can’t help it as you watch for Charlie’s reaction. You think you see shock, but it’s quickly masked by a guarded face that could only mean he was hurt, “oh, I see”.

Your heart squeezes a little and you find yourself speaking before you think, “it’s not like that, Charlie”.

You see Bucky give you a sharp look and your head starts to spin again. How the hell did you end up in this position? There was a time you couldn’t even get a guy to call you back and now you have 2 boyfriends? Well, kind of.

You scrub your hands down your face and let out a sigh before looking to Charlie, “what happened? I saw you die. Where have you been all this time?”.

Charlie nods like he was expecting these questions, “I don’t have all the answers. One second, I have a gun to my head and I’m watching you knowing my number is up and the next I wake up in a dark cell and get tortured for the next 3 years”.

Before you can say anything, Bucky cuts in with only two words, “prove it”.

Charlie stares daggers into Bucky and it leaves a prickly heat spread across your skin, “what the fuck man?”.

Bucky shrugs, unfazed by the aggressive tone, “I know the story. I was the one that found Y/N at a Hydra base. If you were really kept and tortured by Hydra for the last 3 years, there’d be proof”, Bucky pauses to wiggle his metal fingers, “trust me. I know”.

Charlie scraps the chair against the floor, the sound echoing around the room as he lifts up his shirt. Scars of all shapes and sizes criss cross his chest and stomach. It’s a sight that has you step towards him before you finally catch yourself. Your feelings are all over the place. You don’t even know what’s an appropriate reaction anymore.

Bucky is the one to speak again, “how did you escape?”.

Charlie looks to you, anger clearly blazing in his dark brown eyes, “what the fuck is with this guy?”.

They both look to you and it makes you feel like a mother being asked to pick between her children. You want to scream, you want to run, you want to hide, but you know this situation won’t sort itself out. It’ll still be a mess for when you come back.

You look at Bucky and your trust in him is unwavering, woven into the fabric of why you love him, that unbreakable trust.

You look to Charlie and you know you still love him, the man that grew up with you, the man that was taken from you.

You turn your back on them and place your hands on the kitchen counter. You needed a moment to think, to sort through the jumble in your head, without the feel of them watching everything you do. Without the expectations.

You let your shoulders slump and say without even turning around, “how did you escape Charlie?”.

The room goes quiet for a few moments before Charlie replies emotionless, “they let me go”.

Bucky barks out a dark laugh as you slowly turn to face him again. For the first time since you saw him suspicion starts to bloom, “you expect me to believe they just…let you go?”.

Charlie walks around the island towards you and you can practically feel Bucky like a livewire in the room. Charlie grips your upper arms and looks into your eyes with a sincerity that would be hard to fake, but maybe it was the close proximity that had you all out of whack.

Charlie murmurs, “would I lie to you babe? Give me the hard truth or pass me the hard liquor, remember?”.

You smile briefly at the old saying you used to share as you say, “you don’t know where the hard liquor is”.

Charlie grins, “I wouldn’t need to. It was always the hard truth. And telling you that they let me go is the hard truth exactly because of your reaction. If I wanted you to trust what I said straight off the bat I would have made something more convincing up”.

He had a point and it was hard to argue when he was there, standing in front of you. When he was solid flesh and breathing the same air as you. You feel your resolve crumble a bit as you whisper, “you’re really alive”.

Charlie pulls you into a hug as he nods against you, “yeah babe, I’m really alive and there wasn’t a day I didn’t think about you”.

After a few moments Bucky’s voice fills the silence, “you want to hear another hard truth? It doesn’t make sense for Hydra to just let you go. It would be easier for them to kill you than to let you go unless you were still useful to them”.

You step away from Charlie at the sound of Bucky’s voice and turn to Bucky, “you’re probably right, but we have time to figure that out”.

Bucky shakes his head, looking down at the floor before finding your eyes again, “F.R.I.D.A.Y. can you watch our new guest while I talk to Y/N in private”.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. replies immediately, “of course, Barnes”.

You glance back at Charlie before following Bucky out of the room and all the way down the hall, out of earshot of the kitchen even for a super soldier.

Bucky shakes his head again, “I have a bad feeling about this, Doll”.

You roll your eyes, “I wonder why my current boyfriend has a bad feeling about my ex-boyfriend that was supposed to be dead but has come back?”.

Anger flares in his eyes, “it’s more than that, Y/N. There’s something that isn’t adding up, something we’re missing. You can’t tell me you don’t feel it to”.

You cross your arms, “I don’t actually”.

“Oh come on!-“.

“No, Buck. You come on. Someone I cared about…care about has come back from the grave and yes there are questions that need answers but…I saw him die Bucky, can’t I just have a few moments?”, you start the sentence angry but it ends in a whisper.

Bucky’s face softens at your tone. He wraps his arms around your waist to pull you into him, placing a hard kiss to the crown of your head. You breathe him in and take a moment to thank the stars for someone as understanding as Bucky.

Bucky murmurs into your hair, “I’m sorry, I get it, I just want to keep you safe. Besides, we can talk about it more at dinner tonight”.

You pull back slightly to look up at him, “I mean, we’re not going to dinner now”.

Bucky frowns, “what? Why?”.

You pull away from him to see if he was being serious, “did you not just listen to a word I said?”.

Bucky nods, “yeah, of course I did. But we’ve had this dinner planned for ages, Doll, we can’t cancel it now”.

You shake your head at him in disbelief, “it’s not every day that someone’s ex comes back from the dead, so I think that’s a good enough reason to skip the dinner just this once, Buck”.

You start to walk back to the kitchen when “no!”, bursts from Bucky.

You turn to look at him, anger heating up your skin, “what the hell is the matter with you, Barnes?!”

Bucky exhales heavily, head hung low. When he finally looks up at you, he’s wearing his boyish half grin like he’s just accepted the way life has dealt his hand, “this wasn’t how it was supposed to go, and I can’t believe my own goddamn luck”.

“What’s going on, Bucky?”, you ask, confusion tainting your words.

Bucky takes a deep breath before he pulls out a box. Your heart stops at the sight but it takes a few moments for your muddled brain to register what it is until he opens it. A perfect silver ring sits innocently inside.

Words abandon you as you stare at the man in front of you. Bucky says softly, “I was only pushy about dinner because I was going to propose tonight. I had the whole evening planned and everything. Everyone was involved…but the how and what and when doesn’t really matter. It’s the why. I love you, Y/N. More than I ever thought I could. I honestly don’t deserve you, but you make me a better man and my world is brighter with you in it. So, I want you to stay in it, forever”.

He closes the distance between you, but it gives you little comfort and you will him not to say the words, but he does, and it breaks your heart, “will you marry me?”.

[Are you going to marry Bucky Barnes? Make your choice...]

1st Choice 1 - Yes

1st Choice 2 - No

Taglist: @harrystylesisgolden @stucky-my-ship @savvywords @buckysbaby-doll

[yespolkadotkitty]

I’ll Be by Edwin McCain came on the other day and instantly got me into my Zach feels. Something about it was so him - the mood, the 90s, the flannel. The line “rain falls angry on the tin roof as we lie awake in my bed” in particular sticks with me. If you have time, can I get a little nugget of Zach? Fluff or smut, or fluff with a wee kernel or smut? I love your writing.

Right so as discussed you didn’t ask for a multichapter fic but as I’ve got 4 chapters so far  LET’S DO THIS

So many shoutouts for this so here goes:

THANKYOU @kindablackenedsuperhero for this STUNNING BANNER.

THANKYOU @thestrawberry-thief for US library advice

THANKYOU @heatherbel for the beta and UK library advice

THANKYOU @knittingqueen13 for the encouragement

THANKYOU @pedropascallion  for the library clerk advice!

THANKYOU @disgruntledspacedad and @alienprincesspoop for screaming with me about this fic.

Chapter One

Warnings: Scenes of assault, attempted sexual assault  ~ Words: 1380

Pairing: Zach Wellison x OFC Martha Song

Walk with your keys in your hand and keep a key between each finger.

Watch your shadows and reflections - a split second’s notice is better than none.

If they take you and put you in the trunk, kick out the headlights.

These are all things girls are taught from a young age. Things I knew, almost unconsciously. Things that were smart.

But did knowing these things stop me from taking a shortcut through the park after the sun had set?

No, they did not.

I had my hand in my pocket, around the keys. I did not have headphones on - needed to hear if someone was approaching.

Usually, I did all the safe things at night. Walked in the road if it was appropriate, so someone would have to come out from the pavements and buildings to grab me. Stuck to well lit areas.

But, well, I was tired, and hungry for the Chinese takeout leftovers in my fridge, could already taste the sticky pork ribs in my mind, and I took the lazy, unsafe shortcut.

I’m sure the media would have blamed me for what happened next.

I heard them before I saw them. I turned slightly. Two guys, one wearing a beanie, another with his hood up.

It wasn’t even seven pm, but in January the sun set earlier, and darkness had descended, filling up all the corners that daylight usually illuminated.

I quickened my pace. I’m sure they’re just coming off shift.

“Hey, babe,” one of them called.

I glanced around. No one else in the vicinity, and the park spread flat enough for me to see. A single streetlight ahead beckoned and I headed for it, the bag of books from work on my back slowing me down.

I thought about ditching it, but: books. I value books more than anything. I couldn’t sacrifice them even for my own benefit.

“Not gonna stop and talk?” the other one called.

They’re just cat-callers, nothing to worry about.

It was just shy of seven in the evening - where the fuck was everyone? LA should have been busy, was always bustling, but I had somehow chosen the one time where this section of the popular park was empty.

“Come on baby, spare a little sugar?” the first one called. Their steps got closer. The second one was snickering and I felt the little mouse of fear skitter down my spine.

I clenched my keys tighter. Shouldn’t have taken the shortcut.

The streetlight got closer, and I watched it, saw the first guy’s shadow with a hair’s breadth of notice. I spun as he reached me, the keys poking out between my fingers, but I was scared and all my punch did was piss him off.

“Pretty girl,” he half wheezed as he grabbed for me. “Don’t pretend you don’t want it.”

I struggled. Under the streetlamp I caught a glimpse of the first guy’s face, straggly mousy brown beard, cold eyes. The pit of my stomach fell.

“Let me.” Guy two was at my back, hands on my waist. He smelled of alcohol and something like old food, and bile rose up in my throat. “Loosen up, baby, we only wanna make you feel good.”

I tried to shout, but the noise died on my tongue. Fear had clutched itself around my body and the muscles weren’t responding. My keys fell from my fist.

Help, I thought. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as the first guy slid his hand down my body.

No, no, no.

Then suddenly a rush of adrenaline hit my veins - come on, what would Katniss Everdeen do? - and I shoved my knee up into guy one’s groin. Not as hard as I wanted to, but he cried out, a litany of swear words falling from his lips. I kicked out, but guy two was stronger, and had an arm around my throat before I could move.

“Come on now. Don’t be like that,” he cajoled, his sour breath licking at my cheek.

By then guy one had recovered, his face caught in a snarl, white skin pasty under the streetlight. I felt like I was in a sort of backwards ballet, a dystopian dance where there was no way I could make the right moves.

“Hey, assholes.”

The new voice, deep, with a bit of Texas drawl, made me turn. 

A man, mostly in shadow, a large duffel bag by his feet, wielded what looked like a big section of industrial metal pipe.

Guy two huffed out a laugh. “Oh look, it’s the little soldier boy and he brought a new toy with him.”

“Let her go, man,” the stranger called out, taking a step closer.

Guy one had recovered from my knee to his dick. “Or you’ll do what?” He grabbed for me again, but he was distracted by my would-be rescuer, so I took the opportunity to knee him again, but this time, like I meant it, like my life depended on it.

He buckled, and the release meant I could drive my elbow back into guy two’s kidneys. He was stronger, through, and he tightened his arm around my throat. I grabbed for his wrist, scrabbling, barely noticing the stranger moving out of my sight.

“Duck!” He yelled, and I summoned all my strength to yank my head down.

In a moment, a loud thunk confirmed my suspicions, the sound of metal on flesh and bone, and guy two toppled like a tree.

Breathless, I turned to scoop up my keys, and stared at my knight in - dirty jeans. He was panting, his arms still holding the pipe up.

“You okay?” he asked, and I saw him clearly under the streetlamp, the glow picking out the gold in his brown-sugar hair. A patchy beard, more stubble than anything, hugged his well defined jaw. His eyes were soft, kind, the deep brown of hot cocoa.

“I am thanks to you.”

Below him, guy one writhed on the floor and, feeling too angry to think, I stomped on the part of him closest to me, his hand.

He cried out and I couldn’t have cared less.

“You wanna call the cops?” the stranger asked, but his tone was wary. As if I might have been just as likely to call the law about him as the attackers.

I thought it over. I’d likely be raked over the coals for having the audacity to walk alone at night (as if anytime after sundown could be counted as night) and my attackers would get a wrist slap. If that.

“Nah.” But I stomped on guy one’s wrist again for good measure.

He whined.

“C’mon,” Brown Eyes said. “I’ll walk you to the edge of the park.” He set the pipe on his shoulder and crossed over to the waiting duffle bag. It was the size of his torso. I took in his weathered, unshaven appearance, and wondered if the canvas fabric contained his every worldly possession.

I checked behind me, but the stranger was quick to reassure. “They won’t be back for a couple days.”

“You’ve… seen them before?”

He ducked his head, and in the glow from a nearby streetlamp I saw a faint flush of rose on his cheeks. “I’m... here a lot.”

He’s homeless. But of course I didn’t say it out loud.

We reached the edge of the park. People milled about, some queueing outside a deli popular for its pizza sold by the cheesy, greasy slice.

I didn’t miss the way the stranger’s head jerked up towards the scent of pizza.

How long since he’d eaten?

“Want some pizza?” I asked.

Something unreadable passed over his face. “I’m not a charity case.”

“Oh, but I am?”

His head whipped around. “What?”

“Did you come to my defence just now because you felt sorry for me? Oh look, there’s a woman of colour being attacked, gosh I feel sorry for her-”

“No, of course not, what the-” then he huffed out a laugh. “Touchė.”

“It’s just pizza. And a thank-you. I’m Martha.” I held out a hand.

He looked down at my outstretched palm for a second, as if surprised that I wanted to touch him. Then he shook my hand, his own large, warm, callused. “Zach.”

***********

Tagging: @thegreenkid @reluctantlyresponsibleadult @littlemissthistle @havenforafrazzledmind @myheart-pedro @john-in-the-sky-with-paul @idreamofboobear @rae-gar-targaryen @miulola @abuttoncalledsmalls @buttercup-bee @strangelittlenobody @qseomilk @jazzelsaur @songsformonkeys @mourningbirds1 @pajamasecrets @myoxisbroken @just-the-hiddles @skdubbs @nelba @badassbaker @nelba @f0rever15elf @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @mylittlelonelyappreciation @theravenreads @filthybookworm @aeryntheofficial @toomanystoriessolittletime @lannister-slings-and-arrows (Zach Pit) and @absurdthirst might like this <3

please ask to be added or released from the tags!!

[thedumbguywithaheart43]

Boomlord weird adventure

Chapter 8 what time is it?

It was early morning in the omnispace void. Boomwood had gotten to the kitchen to start brewing coffee as the footsteps of a yawning purple hair woman enter the room."morning Twilight."Twilight mearly gave him a wave before sitting down. Looked at her noticing the look on her face. To be honest she looked exhausted.'ah shit'he quickly poured a shot glass of the Cuban coffee and handed it to her. She stared at the coffee for a minute."I appreciate the gesture but I doubt this is going to do much for me."good Lord gave out a chuckle."Twilight trust me this is Cuban coffee any more than this and you'll be wired."He gave out a chuckle before Twilight downed the shot, unsurprisingly her face scrunched up. This was probably the most bitter thing she ever had."bleh! Why would you drink something so bitter!"Boomlord shrugged."honestly I only drink it for the caffeine. If it helps I think I have some orange juice in the fridge."Twilight just looked down rubbing her head . Not long after the other girls walked in each of them heading into the fridge grabbing various fruits mostly apples. Pinkie pie was the only one who grabbed something else, looks like she found the flan and was in heaven."oh my Celestia this tastes so good!"At least she wasn't breaking the fourth wall again.

2 After everyone ate they all headed to the living room again."ok girls this is it we are heading to the next world. Now before I go this mission is not meant to be dangerous however the world we're entering can be a bit chaotic so be prepared for anything."The rest of the girls nodded they likely had assumed as much from the previous conversations."so where are we going anyway"dash blurted out as boom pulled out his pen."yeah I'm with Dash partner id hate to go in blind."Aj took a step forward to make her point."we're going to a place called ooo I spent a lot of time there and it's the only place I can really say I have friends anymore...."booms voice got deep as a sorrowful look overtook his face for a minute. This was enough to make Applejack back off. Twilight in particular took a mental note of this.'guess friends are a touchy subject for him.' boom grabbed his notepad An drew another circle, in the center he wrote °adventure Time 1°as always the golden electrical ring formed with a blackened middle. Boomlord jumped into the portal and when he landed his feet were on solid ground. Solid green grassy ground. He surveyed the area around him noticing he was in a grassy clear field however the ends of what looks like old nuclear bombs stuck out overtaken by the grassy plains. The girls enter next each of them still in their same outfits however 4 of the girls had notable changes to them . Twilight and rarity each had a sword at their side. Twilight sword with a sleek and purple short sword with her cutie mark on the hilt. Rarity sword on the other hand looked as if it were made of blue crystal with a white metal hilt her cutie mark also on it. Fluttershy and rainbow Dash had also had the return of their wings which Dash took this opportunity to fly up into the air a bit doing a few loops and swirls."Hell yeah I missed this!"boom couldn't help but smile."Real fly girl up there."a few of them awkwardly smile."so where's our destination?"Twilight asked giving him a quick grin knowing that he's trying his best to make everyone feel better about being in a strange world."we're going to see princess bubblegum at the Candy Kingdom."and just like that he found himself lying on the ground being pinned by pinkie pie."DID YOU SAY CANDY KINGDOM! A KINGDOM MADE OF CANDY IS THIS PLACE PARADISE O.M.C O.M.C."Twilight practically had to pry pinky off of him ."yes the entire Kingdom from the trees to the ground is made of candy including the people."He started to brush himself off as pinky smile only widen."but please don't eat the Candy people or I will probably have to stop you"pinky reluctantly nodded.

3"rainbow do you mind taking an aerial view try to find the place that looks like it's surrounded by Pink cotton candy trees.... Well because it is surrounded by Pink cotton candy trees."boom called out before stopping looking at the ground a large Shadow now loomed over them. It was Spike. All the ponies turn to look back in both shock and horror. Spike mostly remain the same with one slight difference... He was absolutely Giant. His whole body in total was about the size of a two sorry house and his wings could probably cover all of them with ease."oh yeah I forgot dragons are huge here but at least he still looks different from them normally they're just Giant tube dragons with big ass butts."The ponies/girls stared for a moment but in silent agreement they chose not to address it not that Spike would mind he was too busy checking himself out."oh crap I'm HUGE you guys look so small from up here!" It was the most adorable giant grin in the world. Rainbow decided now was a good time to take him to the air as she being flapping her wings disappearing above the clouds. Surveying the land below she was able to make out what looks like pink trees and a large structure that looked somewhat like a castle."guess that must be what I'm looking for."she kept looking around noticing in One direction was a rather large tree that almost looks like it had Windows in it and in the opposite direction she noticed tall mountains made entirely of ice."heh heh heh what do we have here"a voice from nowhere stated in a malicious tone from behind her. Is she turned to look behind her she saw a giant monster with a bat like face and long blue limbs with crooked nails.'OH SHIT'at this point rainbow Dash started nose diving down towards her friends with the creature in pursuit who was maliciously chuckling the entire way down. The rest of the group saw the creature and the girls had various reactions. Applejack rarity and Twilight look like they were getting ready to fight with rarity and Twilight pulling out their swords. Fluttershy and Pinky had decided to stick near Spike who is now using his wings to shield them.Then there was boom standing out in the open as dash passed him and he just smiled. Apon seeing him the creature stopped a look of surprise on our face."hey Marceline it's been a while"the creature began to shrink taking on a human form she had pale white skin and incredibly long black hair which reached down to her feet a simple jacket and jeans and her ,guitar-axe strapef to her back and a nice big floopy hat which covered her in a shroud of darkness. She give out a wide smile revealing her fangs before wrapping her arms around boom giving him a hug."holy glob dude!your back it's been like 4 months!"he returned the embrace from his old friend as the rest of the girls started to calm down noticing that whatever that thing was it seemed friendly at least now it did."oh that's right."he turned to the girls and dragon."everyone this is my old friend Marceline... The vampire queen"a few of the girls jaw started to drop."your freinds with a literal blood sucking vampire?"Marceline shrugged at Twilight comment."actually it's just the color I'm after."Marceline started floating on her back around them."so boom what brings you and your new friends back to ooo."Boomlord got quiet."I found it Marcy.... I found the Rose fire and they're here because Twilight here"pointing at the slightly flustered purple pony girl."is the key to everything."Marceline stopped moving for a moment the words settling in her mind."oh we need to get to the Candy Kingdom right away then."then without word Marceline started floating off towards the direction of the Kingdom and boom followed along with the girls and the giant dragon...... Yeah that might be a problem.

4 After a few hours of walking they all managed to reach the candy kingdom with Spike deciding to hide in the trees to avoid unwanted attention. Pinkie pie look like she was about to go crazy or more crazy."o.m.c so m-much candy!"she was practically foaming at the mouth."look pinky just eat the sidewalk or something just please don't start eating random people I don't want to deal with any drama today especially because we need the princess's help."the pony started walking forward into the rather nice town and to boomlord credit every building and every person was made of candy, And many candies citizens passed by. Mr cupcake crunchy punch bowl guy."wow this is actually really fascinating I can't help but wonder what they're DNA is like how do candy people procreate do they need to breathe or eat its quite fascinating"Twilight then begin rambling about a whole bunch of science jargon that boom did not know but he found himself listening to every word she spoke it wasn't until arsenaline tapped his shoulder that he snapped out of his trance."I see you found a real good friend~"she whispered in a teasing tone."w-what no she's just um cool you know for someone who was a horse the other day."Marceline rolled her eyes."horse or not you always did have a thing for a Smart ones~."boom felt his blood pump. "Oh you're one to talk."Marceline then backed off she knew how far she could go before boom would made her regret it. After a while of walking the group then found themselves at the castle as a pink cared and pink skinned princess in a long pink dress noticed them."oh my! Boom you have returned and with.. many female companions huh"princess bubblegum gave a smirk."oh don't you start now too!" Boom was probably going to say more before pb gave him a warm hug."so I assume this has to do with the rose fire."bubblegum look down at him and while she kept a smile her face was full of worry."yeah Twilight here um it's kind of a long story."bubblegum nodded."it always is."about an hour had passed after this meeting and boom had explained to Marceline and bubblegum how we came to meet the girls and discover the fire leaving out the parts where he burned himself or threw a skillet at Twilight."interesting I'll probably have to run a few scans on Twilight then with her permission."Twilight nodded."good we'll start by using the rejuvenation tank to monitor your body and vitals while I conduct a few scans"boom notice that she was pointing to the large tank filled with water and knew that this meant that Twilight was going to have to strip down which he then took his cue to leave. "I'll be back soon gonna check on stuff."and before anyone could say anything he left the room.

(oh and before I forget I'll be opening asks for boomlord and Friends so if they appear in the story feel free to ask them a question ask box is officially open)

[write4tomorrow]

Traitor (Pt. 4)

Word Count: 3250

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Reader

Summary: About a year after The Rise of Skywalker, the Knights of Ren have once more gathered against the Rebellion. You were once an apprentice to Kylo Ren but after the events on Exegol, you were forced into hiding. With some of the remaining Knights of Ren, you work to rebuild what Kylo Ren was fighting to build. Yet, what happens when you are taken by the Rebellion and interrogated by the Best Pilot in the Galaxy turned General? 

Genre: Adventure / Angst / Fluff

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Tag List: @fanboyswhereare-you @pandacookieowo @pinkisokay @roserrys​ @commondazy​ @katshrev​ 

The sound of Vicrul’s laugh was not what you wanted to wake up to. There was a conversation nearby, but as you sat up, the world began to spin around you. The bed under you seemed to be swinging back and forth. A hand pressed against your back in an attempt to steady you. You leaned into the touch.

“Poe?” your voice was rougher and higher pitched than you had anticipated. The room around you was beginning to settle, but you still felt disoriented. Not only was the world around you spinning, but all of the Knights of Ren were in the same room… with you. 

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Cardo’s gruff voice pulled you out of your haze, “he didn’t get away.” He gave you a smile that made your stomach feel as though it had turned upside down. He, Ushar and Ap’lek sat by a little table with Trudgen and waited for you to answer. The room had become strangely quiet, waiting for you to react. You were quiet just a moment too long, though and the silence became uncomfortable. 

“He’s being detained down the hall,” Kuruk explained, “he’ll be ready for interrogation soon.” You knew Kuruk was trying to be helpful, but his words only drove you into a mild panic. He was sitting behind you, slowly rubbing circles into her back as you looked around the room. 

“Hey, Princess,” Vicrul stood by the door, looking at you with a hungry, wolfish smile. He and Trudgen laughed as you looked down at your bare skin. It was then that you realized you still wore your slave costume from your undercover mission with Poe. Your body was painfully exposed and you could feel everyone’s eyes on you. Thankfully, the cloak Poe had given you was still wrapped around your shoulders. As you tried to cover yourself with it, Vicrul walked over to your bedside and knelt down. He roughly grabbed your face and forced you to look at him. You felt the air in the room shift. Cardo, Ushar, Ap’lek and Trudgen sat forward in their seats while Kuruk’s hand tensed against your back. Vicrul must have felt the tension in the air because his smile only widened.

“If I had known that this is what you’d be wearing,” Vicrul spoke in a low tone that made you squirm, “I would have given you over to the Rebellion a long time ago. C’mon, y/n, I want you to get inside my head. Tell me what you see.” Vicrul ran his thumb over your lips before you pulled yourself free from his grasp. 

“Leave the little thing alone,” Cardo leaned back in his chair as he spoke, “after being with Kylo Ren, you’d be nothing but a disappointment, brother.” Vicrul whirled around to face Cardo. You could feel the rage coming off Vicrul in waves. It was overwhelming and you could feel your body tensing for a fight. 

“Look at her, brother. I’m not the only one that thinks about it,” Vicrul’s hand was on his weapon by his hip, but he turned back to face you, “a guy doesn’t have to be force sensitive to know that your little friend thinks about bending you over in his cockpit and making you see stars again and again and again-”

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks,” your words came out of your mouth like bile, “he’s rebel scum. And right now, you’re not any better.” You felt satisfaction in seeing Vicrul’s stunned face upon hearing your words. In an instant, though, that satisfaction was gone. Vicrul slammed you back against the wall with the force. You felt the solid slate of metal behind you before you bounced off like a rag doll. You pushed yourself up to fight, but Kuruk pushed you back down. With a small shake of his head, Kuruk forced you to rest on the bed.

“Atta girl,” Vicrul sneered down at you, “nice and obedient.” You practically snarled in response but Vicrul only laughed. He began to walk out of the room, Cardo, Ushar, Trudgen and Ap’lek moving to follow him. 

“Let’s go talk to the prisoner,” Vicrul left you and Kuruk alone. You glared at Kuruk who only returned your icy gaze. Even though you felt the closest to him, Kuruk was still a Knight of Ren. He was trained to be loyal to the dark side and to be cold and manipulative.

“So all the knights are back together again, huh?” You stood up for the first time since waking up. The cloak was wrapped tightly around you but you still felt exposed. 

“We are stronger together,” Kuruk said in a voice just loud enough to be considered speaking rather than whispering. He escorted you out of the room and led you down the hall, towards the others. 

You realize that you were on a large ship. Not as large as a battle cruiser, but large enough to have several bed rooms along this hall. Kuruk held his elbow out for you. His black sleeve with red embroidery was familiar and welcoming. You recognized the gesture of friendship and wrapped your hands around his elbow, allowing him to lead you down the hall. On the way, he handed both of your lightsabers to you with a small smile. It was the kindest thing you’ve ever seen Kuruk do. Wordlessly, you gave his arm a squeeze and kept walking in silence. However, your steps faltered when the quiet echo of your footsteps were replaced by screaming. 

“Be mindful of your feelings,” Kuruk pinched your arm as you felt dread fill your veins. Suddenly, you knew where Kuruk was taking you. Still, you numbly walked beside him and before long, found yourself in a small dark room. 

The irony of the situation almost made you laugh. You were in a room with one way glass, looking into the room next door. It was an gruesome looking interrogation room. Poe was strapped to a metal slab of a chair in which he was practically standing. His wrists, ankles and torso were bound to the metal slab. This situation was a cruel echo of the interrogation room you were held in when the Rebellion questioned you - when Poe questioned you. 

Poe looked up from the chair and seemed to look through the glass and right at you. With a small gasp, you saw the cuts along Poe’s brow and the black eye for the first time. Kuruk pinched your arm again as you took a step towards Poe. All the other knights in the viewing room seemed to be watching your face for a reaction again. Cardo’s slimy voice tsked at you from a corner of the viewing room. 

“Can he see us?” You asked. Kuruk only nodded and you were terrified to see Vicrul enter the room with Poe. The cruel smile that played over Vicrul’s face as he looked back at you made you furious. You tried to worm your way into Vicrul’s mind but you felt him fighting you. He knew you would try something like this and he was prepared. 

“I should be thanking you,” Vicrul hissed as he looked at Poe, “I would never have gotten y/n to wear such a stunning-” You lashed out and sent a stinging sensation through Vicrul’s spine using the force. He let out a small cry and crumpled in the room. Poe looked at you through the glass just in time to see Cardo deliver a resounding smack to your jaw. 

“Get her out of here,” Cardo said to Kuruk, “she needs to cool off.” Obediently, Kuruk grabbed your arm and pulled you away from the viewing room. You felt Poe’s eyes follow you out of sight. 

With a shove, Kuruk pushed you down the hallway. He shook his head as you stumbled away from him. You didn’t recognize his expression. 

“Go take a nap,” was all Kuruk said before re entering the viewing room. You heard a small cry from Poe and a collection of laughter from inside the room. A plan began forming in your mind. 

Running, you took off towards the bridge of the ship. There seemed to be no one else on board the medium sized craft and you knew that if all of the Knights were distracted right now, you’d have a small window of opportunity. You knew the bridge of the ship would be empty and it gave you the time you needed to find the communication equipment. As quickly as you could, you recorded a transmission. It had the basic information you knew: where you were (you found your coordinates before you started recording), the condition Poe was in, who else was on the ship and how urgently you needed help. You hoped you weren’t forgetting anything and with a few presses of a button, you sent the transmission to any frequency that was open. You hoped that it would reach Finn or Calrissian or even Connix before the Knights found out you sent the message. 

You left the bridge quickly and made your way back towards the room that Poe was in. As you passed each room you began searching for another weapon. Your lightsabers were enough for you to defend yourself, but just in case, you needed a blaster as well. Eventually, you found a couple lying in a makeshift meeting room. You didn’t have enough room on your belt to carry both blasters so you grabbed the larger of the two and left without leaving any other trace. 

As you made your way towards Poe, you knew you wouldn’t be allowed back into the viewing room, so you waited in a room across the hall. You were out of sight but you could hear each of the Knight’s footsteps when they left. It was a couple of hours before they finally and you were tired of waiting, but you were relieved when you counted all six footsteps of the Knights of Ren. As the echo of their feet became more distant, you silently opened the door to Poe’s interrogation room. The door was locked, but with your yellow lightsaber, you made quick work of the door. 

Poe didn’t even notice as you entered the room. He was breathing heavily and his body sagged against the tortue device he was strapped to. His clothes were damp from his sweat and blood. You gingerly approached the rebellion General and carefully lifted his head. Your palms rested against his jaw bone as you cupped his battered face towards the light. You could feel his pulse quicken as his eyes focused on you. 

“You can’t… y/n, they think…” Poe was mumbling as he tried to stay coherent. You looked over his injuries and found that other than some surface level damage, Poe was physically okay. That meant that most of Vicrul’s torture was mental. You knew that Vicrul wasn’t trained like you were - no one was. You could sneak into someone’s mind without them feeling anything. But Kylo Ren did not teach his Knights the same delicate technique. Vicrul had rummaged through Poe’s brain causing intense strain. 

“I told him…” Poe’s eyes slid shut and you knew you needed to act quickly. Using the force, you tried to find ways to repair any damage the Vicrul had inflicted on Poe. It was tedious work and minutes passed by before any clarity began to shine in Poe’s eyes. You kept his head cradled in your hands as you felt the rejuvenating effects of the force flow from you and into Poe. By the time you were done, Poe was looking at you in awe. 

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Poe whispered. His eyes were wide and he seemed back to his normal self. Tired, maybe, but at least he was aware of what he was saying. You ignored him and used the last bit of your strength with the force to undo his restraints. Poe pulled himself free just as you slumped to the ground. The cloak you wore pooled around you as you fell to your hands and knees. You felt out of breath and a little weak. 

“Let’s find an escape pod,” you sighed as you forced yourself to stand. You pressed the blaster you had found into Poe’s hands. At least he had something to arm himself with in case this all went poorly. Poe moved toward you as though he were going to pick you up, but he stopped suddenly. His eyes looked past you and at the door of the interrogation room. 

You felt Vicrul’s presence before you even turned around. 

All of the Knights of Ren were standing outside of the room. You could sense four of them outside the door way and two were in the view room. You knew what was about to happen. You pulled the two lightsabers from your belt and stood in front of Poe. 

“You stupid girl,” Vicrul was almost laughing, “you’re going to fall with the rebellion.” He drew his own weapon and you saw Cardo, Ushar and Trudgen do the same. Kuruk and Ap’lek must be the two people you felt in the viewing room. You didn’t dare take your eyes off of Vicrul though. You knew that the moment you were distracted, he would attack. The advantage of being trained by the same person was that you knew all of your opponent’s moves. 

“I hate these guys,” Poe muttered under his breath. 

“We know about the transmission you sent, y/n.” Vicrul was slowly creeping into the room, pressing you and Poe further into a corner. “The good news is that now the Rebellion's top generals are heading this way in one convenient little ship. They’ll be one easy target for us to wipe out. We’ll end the rebellion and retake what the first order had.” Your shoulders sag as you begin to see the bigger picture. Vicrul had set a trap and you had fallen for it beautifully. You glanced around the room. 

“Poe,” you said slowly, “shoot the glass.” You swung your lightsabers at Vicrul and Cardo before you were even done speaking. Without hesitating Poe shot the glass and began firing at Ap’lek and Kuruk in the viewing room. You felt some small shards of the glass hit the side of your face but you used the pain to give you new energy. 

On a normal day, you may have been able to beat Vicrul and Cardo in a lightsaber battle. You had done it before but you had been well rested and it was a training exercise. Now, you felt drained and you were fighting Vicrul, Cardo, Ushar and Trudgen at once. They attacked you systematically and without mercy. Their weapons slowly came at you from every angle and you did your best to weave and dodge between them. The speed at which they were fighting was dizzying and your lightsabers cut through the air in whirls of yellow and purple. You even employed a few moves that Poe had taught you during training. It wasn’t enough, though. 

A siren began to sound throughout the ship. Suddenly, Ushar, Ap’lek and Trudgen left as Vicrul signaled something to them. You didn’t understand what was happening but the siren distracted you. With a swing of his weapon, Vicrul cut into your side. A gash along your left torso opened so that left a few of your ribs exposed to the open air. You thought you heard Poe say your name in the background of the fight. You cried out, angry and scared and in so much pain. Cardo used the force to press you towards the ground in a kneeling position. You held your side and tried not to think about your blood on the floor.

From the corner of your eye, you saw Poe make a mad dash towards you. Then, all you saw was Poe’s feet hovering above the ground and that Kuruk had him in a force choke.

“The Rebellion has arrived,” Vicrul knelt down next to you and stuck his fingers into the deep cut on your side. You screamed as he touched your exposed rips. With a smile he pressed his fingers to his mouth and licked the tips of them. Your blood was against his teeth and lips. His grin was stained crimson and the pink hue of his teeth made you feel queasy. Suddenly, Vicrul leaned in and kissed you, smearing your own blood against your face. He let out a sick laugh as you spit in his.

“See ya, sweetheart.” Vicrul wiped his hands on your cloak and turned to Kuruk. “Finish them.”

As Vicrul left the room, you closed your eyes and bowed your head. You heard the thud of flesh hitting flesh and looked up in time to see Poe and Cardo in a heap on the floor. You look around and find that Kuruk is looking at you, eyes as cold as ice but… but they were sympathetic. 

Poe tried to make his way toward you, but he was also injured and his limbs were tangled with Cardo’s. You turned back to Kuruk and with a wave of his hand, he bent Cardo’s spine with a crack. You didn’t have the energy to wonder if Kuruk had killed Cardo or not. You looked to Poe who was messaging his neck and trying to disentangle himself from Cardo’s body. He crawled over to you and pulled your body to him. Poe was so warm and his hands felt so large against your cheek. You looked up at Poe who had tears falling through the sweat and blood on his face. 

Kuruk knelt next to you and you realized that you were shivering now. You felt unnervingly cold. Even the heavy cloak couldn’t warm you up. You pressed yourself into Poe as Kuruk reached toward you. 

“Get away from her,” Poe spoke through gritted teeth. Kuruk silently placed his hand against your cut making you cry out again. Poe tried to push Kuruk away but the Knight of Ren used the force to keep Poe from touching you. 

“Are you giving me your pity before you kill me?” You began to feel warmer as Kuruk concentrated on your injury. 

“I don’t pity you,” Kuruk looked at you then with an expression of sadness, “I am hopeful for you.” Kuruk closed his eyes and placed his free hand against your temple. You relaxed as much as you could and felt Kuruk’s emotions through the force. There was anger and hurt and betrayal within Kuruk. When he thought of you he thought of something warm that stilled the cold rage inside of him.

You looked at him as he pulled both of his hands away from you. He stood and helped you to your feet. Poe stood protectively close and without saying a word, Kuruk nodded at him. Some unspoken words passed between the men that you did not understand. Wordlessly, Kuruk left the room. As soon as he was gone, you fell back into Poe’s arms. At his touch, you felt his own overwhelming emotions: protectiveness, hope and something like confusion. 

“Hey, hey,” Poe was doing his best to steady you, “What just happened?”

“He saved us,” you whispered. You pulled away from Poe and tried to collect your thoughts into coherent sentences. “Poe listen, we don’t have much time but please, please know that I would never hurt you. I need you to trust me.”

“Are you kidding,” Poe looked at you like you had grown another head, “You’re my hero. Stars, if I can’t trust you then I am a doomed man, y/n.” He put a hand against the back of your neck while the other rested against your hip. The sensation of his touch had a calming effect on you. His eyes were the deepest brown you’ve ever seen and you felt suddenly overwhelmed by him. He must have noticed because he pulled you into a hug before you could say anything more. You were battered and bruised and probably smelled so horrible but you wrapped your bare arms around the general as tightly as your sore muscles would allow. 

“You’re smothering me,” Poe said with a small laugh. He released you with a smile but you can tell that he was still concerned about your well being. You didn’t have time to worry about that yet. 

“I know what we need to do,” you took a deep breath before leading Poe out of the interrogation room.

A/N: Um wow this chapter was so much longer than I thought it would be. Thank you to everyone for all the kind words! The next two parts will be a lot less angsty and will be out soon. Thank you so much for reading! :) 

[ticklikeabomb]

Grouch - Part 3

Pairing : Bucky x Plus Size Reader ; Avengers x Plus Size Reader

Warning : Language ; Bucky being an ass (again) ; Angst ;  Mention of major death

Word Count : 1.5k

Disclaimer : I do not own the characters, nor the universe where they were created and interact in. This series/fiction is only for entertainment purposes.

A/N : I’m sorry it took so long but hope it was worth it :) 

Steve woke up early. For several weeks now he was incapable to get some good night sleep. He blamed himself for not interfering between you and Bucky when he had the occasion, before it all went south. He blamed himself even more after discovering what Hydra did to you. Your legs and arms were replaced by Vibranium, your memories erased and your reflexes and fighting mode improved, meaning they transformed you as a Super Soldier. In appearance, you were no more but Steve was stubborn and he would not give up on you. He put some clean sweatpants and a tight white T-shirt and made himself ready for a run. After a quick stretch, he began his running routine.

“Did you sleep last night?”, asked Nat entering Tony’s lab. “What’s that?”, he responded ironically. A sad smile formed on her lips for a fraction before looking at him seriously. “You need to rest. We won’t find her if you’re not one hundred percent your best and right now, you look like a mess.” “Wow thanks love”, sarcastically replied the billionaire. “We all want her …” “Look I get it I do but you didn’t see her eyes. Her lifeless look. Her last words towards me.” Nat nodded in comprehension and patted his back. “I know it shook you up but if F.R.I.D.A.Y finds anything, the slight hitch, she’ll warn us. Go get some sleep Tony.” He rubbed his eyes and sighed after the Widow left the room. He decided to take her advice and informed the A.I to wake him up at any news. While the other Avengers were at their occupation, Bucky took refuge at the gym. His punches became more and more violent at each memory of you crossing his mind, especially the time he asked you on a date.

Flashback (4 years ago)

“What do you guys think about spicing this evening up?”, smirked Sam, a beer in his hand. Steve chuckled before taking a gulp of his own drink and letting his gaze wander across the dim lit club. Not getting the reaction he was looking for, Sam stubbornly continued. “Ah come on grandpas. When’s the last time you two got nasty in the sheets?” “Hmm Tuesday”, mumbled Bucky. The other two men looked at him dumbfounded. “You were on a mission on Tuesday”, said Steve. “Exactly”, smirked Bucky. “You did not? The target’s wife?”, choked Sam. Bucky’s grin was enough of a reply for both men to understand. “You could have compromised the whole operation”, commented Steve with a frown to which Bucky rolled his eyes at his friend’s strict policy. “What can I say, she practically jumped on me. I would have been a fool if I left a damsel on distress.” Steve took another gulp of his drink while shaking his head in disapproval.

“Alright, alright, let’s make some bets. Steve, I bet you don’t have the balls to go talk to that lady over there whose been eyeing you since we got here”, grinned Sam. “Ha ha ha very funny and she has not”, counterattacked Steve. Both of Sam and Bucky gave him a knowing look and Steve took a deep breath. “Ok, you’re lost Wilson”, said Steve and marched towards the woman in question and engaged conversation. The Falcon quickly checked his phone before turning towards Bucky with a smirk gracing his features. “I bet you to ask the next lady stepping foot in this club for a date.” “You’re sure you wanna play with me little bird?”, cockily answered Bucky. “Absolutely”, he immediately replied. “Fine”, exclaimed Bucky almost triumphantly. Both of them kept looking at the door until they saw you enter the club. Bucky’s smiled instantly faded away before mumbling through greeted teeth. “You got to be fucking kidding me!” “Seems like you gotta ask the new team member on a date Barnes”, chuckled Sam. “You said the next lady not that”, spat the former Winter Soldier. His friend frowned and turned his way, “What the hell is your problem man? Y/N is a good-looking woman, very nice, with a great sense of humor and sweet. I don’t understand why you’re being such an ass. You don’t even know her and a bet is a bet.”

“Why don’t you date her since you like her so much”, spat Bucky, his clenched fists beside him. “Because I don’t see her more as a friend and besides, I’m sure she’s interested in someone else”, he simply replied. “Who??”, immediately asked Bucky before regaining his composure. “Why? I thought you didn’t care?” “I don’t.” Sam hummed at Barnes’ non so convincing answer. Bucky looked at you up and down and clenched his jaw before drinking the rest of his drink and clear his throat.

You were finishing a line of shots with Wanda and Natasha when you felt a presence at your right. “Hello Barnes, having a good time?”, you asked without looking at him. He chuckled softly before replying, “How did you know it was me?” “I can smell your cologne from a mile away.” He took a deep breath before leaning in closer. “Always on duty I see.” You decided to face him and leaned on the counter, his eyes scanning your cleavage before he realized he was busted. “Danger is everywhere. Gotta stay sharp”, you simply replied. “Can I get you another drink?” You skeptically rose your eyebrow at his attitude. You didn’t know why he was acting that way towards you. Since you joined the team, his constant posture towards you was cold. You shook your shoulders and replied, “Sure, why not.” He kept small talking to you before he asked you on a date making you almost spit your drink out. “Excuse me?” “I figured that I came across as cold and was wondering if we could start over again over a diner?” You hummed in hesitation but eventually agreed. Who wouldn’t? The infamous Bucky Barnes charms didn’t leave you indifferent.

A few days later, after preparing yourself from head to toe, you arrived at the restaurant and were escorted to your table. Bucky wasn’t there yet. “Would you like something to drink Miss?” “No thank you, I’m waiting for someone.” The waiter nodded in comprehension and gave you some space. You checked around the crowded restaurant and it was even more disturbing since your table was in the middle of the room. Your patience began to ran thin when you realized that he was being 15min late. The other client’s looks weren’t helping and neither was the waiter who kept coming back to you. “I’m sorry Miss but it’s been over an hour and we have other clients waiting.” You nodded, fury consuming you. “I understand, I’m sorry.” The term walk of shame never sounded so correct. Shame, embarrassment and humiliation were the exact feelings would describe the state you were in. 

As soon as you entered the compound’s elevator, you retrieved your high heels and took a deep breath, sadness taking over. Arriving at your floor, you heard some noises coming from the living room and cautiously, you decided to check on them. What you saw make your blood go cold. There he was, on the couch, a blond top model dry humping on his leg, his mouth on her neck. Feeling that they were being interrupted, the former Winter Soldier turned his face towards you and smiled, “Oh hey Y/N” “Are you fucking kidding me? I waited for you for an hour”, you spat. “You really believed I would go on a date with you? So naïve. It was all a bet with Sam.” He could as good as stabbed you right through the chest. You were seeing red and retrieved the hidden gun from your chest and pointed at his face, pulling the trigger. He managed to block the bullet with his metal arm at the last second. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”, he screamed while his date began screaming. “Next time I won’t miss”, you exclaimed deeply making him slightly shiver.

Present day

Natasha was the last one to join the team in the kitchen for some breakfast. Something wasn’t right. “Where’s Steve?”, she asked. “I don’t know, probably finishing his early jog”, replied Sam nonchalant. “That’s weird. He should be back by now”, she mumbled to herself. Across the table, Wanda was digging holes at Bucky’s head, who kept himself as quiet and small as he mastered. At that precise time, F.R.I.D.A.Y alerted the compound and turned the TV on. What they saw made them shiver. “No”, whispered Bucky. Hydra projected on all channels and media their last video in which we could see Steve strained on a chair and you, emotionless pointing a gun at him.

“My name is Madame Hydra and this is for the greater cause. Witness our power in action. The day has finally come for the universe to get the scum disappear for good. Isn’t it poetic, an ex-Avenger killing his comrade?” The next second, the sound of you pulling the trigger echoed and Steve’s head bursting backwards. The video ended and the news flash began, declaring Captain America’s death all over the world.

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[yamayamawrites]

This December

A/N: Hi friends! Happy (almost) December! As a treat this year, I decided to write a short fic (and by short, I do mean around 40k - so not terribly short) about the Dekusquad spending a week at a winter cabin! The first chapter will officially go up on my AO3 page (you can find it here!) tomorrow, with updates coming out every Tuesday/Friday for the next 4 weeks, but I decided to post a sneak preview of chapter 1 here early!! Hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, December 01, 20XX

It’s been four years since Izuku graduated from U.A. Four years, and he’s moved three times since then – once, to an agency based in Kyoto, where he lived the longest. He worked many of the smaller cases there, the more personal ones – stopping a villain who’d kidnapped a mother’s newborn; keeping a local corner store from being robbed; catching a stray piece of scrap metal dropped from a crane near a construction site, and saving two children playing tag. He accredits most of his fame to Kyoto, and though it’s certainly not a small city, it feels small when he moves two years later to Hiroshima.

It’s in Hiroshima that Izuku takes on his first major case – ends up working beside Eijirou in the process, and both of them (already well-established and in the high twenties in hero rankings) skyrocket to the top ten after busting the case wide open. It’s a child trafficking ring, where children are abducted and sold for their Quirks. And, just following this case, he has perhaps a hundred offers to other agencies that will pay better or get more exposure. After all, Midoriya Izuku is just past twenty and he’s ranked number four, below Suneater and Lemillion from U.A., and, yet to be overthrown at number one, Endeavor. And while he still hasn’t learned Hiroshima’s roads, nor has he unpacked all his boxes yet, he uproots once more, and heads for Tokyo.

The biggest reason he leaves is because of the agency. Tokyo is crawling with them – agencies nearly on every block – but they’re small, full of sidekicks who haven’t broken one hundred yet, even. But there’s one agency in particular whose letter stands out amongst the rest, because the signature on the offer letter is his old friend Hitoshi’s, and Hitoshi knows just whose names to drop to garner Izuku’s attention – “You would be working side by side with Uravity and Ingenium, and perhaps partnering with Shouto and Ground Zero.”

And now, almost seven months since he’s become acquainted with the Tokyo agency, has climbed past Suneater in the latest ranking, he drums his fingers on Ochaco’s office door. She pops her head up from behind her monitor, still wearing her hero costume from her patrol while she types up a final report before lunch. “Oh!” she says, as though she isn’t expecting Izuku, despite the fact that they always go to lunch together on Tuesdays.

“Ready to go?” Izuku asks, hanging off Ochaco’s door, now. “Tenya coming today, too?”

“Tenya got wrapped up in a petty theft case,” Ochaco rolls her eyes. “Seriously. Who tries to steal a dozen watches in the middle of the morning?”

“People who don’t know Tenya exists?” Izuku shrugs, and Ochaco laughs, pushes herself away from her desk on her rolling chair and hops up. “I need to stop and grab my key card before we go. Hold on.”

Ochaco trails after Izuku down the hall to his office, one with arguably the best view in the building. It overlooks the rest of the city, some of the smaller agencies the size of peanuts from way up here. His door is ajar when he walks up, light still on. Along the right wall is a photograph – himself, at graduation, with Ochaco and Tenya to his left, and Shouto to his right. Behind all of them is All Might, having managed his heroic form just for the click of a camera. They all wear navy graduation gowns, though Izuku’s is unzipped and reveals his hero costume underneath. Shouto’s hair is swept back from his face, his graduation cap in his hands, and he’s actually smiling – Izuku thinks it may be the only photograph in his entire collection of pictures of Shouto where he isn’t frowning. And Ochaco and Tenya are leaning into each other, smiles bright and happy, caps on and hands clasped together.

“Can’t believe you still have this hanging in here,” Ochaco muses as she steps into the room, wandering directly to the photograph.

Izuku spares it a second glance before going to his desk and rooting through the drawers for his key card to get back into the building. “It’s my favorite,” he says with a defensive huff, and Ochaco laughs.

“It’s not a bad thing,” she says. “It’s just that my forehead looks huge in this.”

“Shut up,” Izuku chides, “you look fine. You look great, even!”

“I think you hung this one because Shouto is in it,” Ochaco jeers, because she knows it will get a reaction out of Izuku. And it does; Izuku, who had bent down to check under his desk for the key card, thuds his head on the bottom side of it when he tries to sit up too quickly.

“Th-that isn’t it!” Izuku huffs, rubbing his head. “Stop with that, you know I’m over it.”

“How come you’ve been waiting for the opportunity to work a case with him, then?” Ochaco says, and she sounds innocent, but when Izuku looks over he sees mischief in her eyes, the pure evil of a friend who’s been given explicit information to a secret crush that maybe shouldn’t have been told.

“Is it a crime to want to work alongside a friend?” Izuku says back defensively, still searching for his key card. Eventually he finds it atop a stack of reports he’s yet to take down to the accounting department – the longer he waits, the longer it’ll be until his next paycheck, but seriously, he makes way too much as it is.

“Well, no,” Ochaco says, crossing the room and perching herself on Izuku’s cluttered desk. “I mean, that’s how you ended up working here.”

“Exactly,” Izuku says as a means of ending the conversation, grabbing his wallet off his desk as well (he’d forgotten that, too, it seems) and heading for the door. Ochaco follows after him, realizes he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, and thankfully, after being best friends for almost a decade now, she respects that.

The walk down the road to their usual noodle shop is cold. The first snow hit about a week ago, and the temperature has warmed enough and cooled again since then to freeze mounds of slush at the lip of the roads. The sidewalk is clear of snow, busy despite the cold weather with people walking around downtown.

When they step inside the noodle shop, the warmth floods their cheeks and hands. They’re regulars here, and the waitress seats them as though they aren’t the number three and number sixteen heroes – after all, she gets to have this experience every Tuesday. She does, however, comment on Izuku’s latest search-and-rescue, says she’s glad someone like him was there. And it’s the comments like these that always make Izuku proud of his profession, the ones where he’s not being gushed over for his abs or his good looks (though those still make him blush); it’s the gratitude that Izuku’s presence has made a difference on the scene of a crime, or natural disaster, or whatever the occasion. It’s knowing people are glad Izuku was there.

“So,” Ochaco stretches back in her chair after she finishes her noodles. “Tenya and I have been thinking about taking a vacation.”

“Oh?” Izuku says, folding his hands in front of him on the table. He’d finished his noodles a few minutes ago.

“Yeah,” Ochaco hums, twirling her weightless chopsticks around her fingers idly while she speaks. “We were kind of thinking of inviting a few old friends from U.A. to come with.”

“Oh, so not like a romantic getaway then?” Izuku tilts his head to the side, curious. Ochaco and Tenya have been together since their second year of high school, and vacations for the just two of them aren’t anywhere near uncommon.

“More like a, um, reunion?” Ochaco says, dropping the chopsticks now. “What do you think, Izuku? Are you in?”

Izuku blanches. Somehow, even with Ochaco suggesting friends from U.A. accompany them on their vacation, he hadn’t considered that might mean him. Which is absurd, because the three of them have been best friends since high school began – they even chatted on the phone all the time when Izuku was in Kyoto and Hiroshima. “Of course,” he says after he scoops his jaw up from where it dropped, and Ochaco laughs.

“You seriously thought I wouldn’t extend the invitation to you?”

“That’s not what—”

“Come on, Deku,” she giggles, rolling her eyes. “You can’t lie to me. I know all.”

He laughs, shakes his head. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting it, sorry.”

“Well, you’re obviously the first person on the guest list. Tenya and I have already found a place, too! There’s this beautiful vacation lodge for rent on the edge of the Kiso Mountain chain.”

“That’s almost four hours from here,” Izuku says, suddenly a bit afraid of what might happen being so far from Tokyo. “What if a big villain or something finds out we’re all gone on vacation?”

“You act like our class from high school are the only competent heroes around anymore,” Ochaco rolls her eyes. “C’mon, if anything happened Suneater and Lemillion alone could take them, not to mention Nejire-chan and that wind hero guy.”

Izuku exhales, forcing himself to nod and agree. “I guess you’re right,” he sighs, his smile a tad nervous still.

“What, worried the public will forget about their favorite hero Deku after a week?” Ochaco reaches across the table and pokes at Izuku’s cheek. “Have some faith! And learn to take a vacation! Seriously, when’s the last time you took a break? Never?”

“Never,” Izuku affirms, though in the past he’s been proud of the fact; now he’s a little embarrassed. “How much would I owe you?”

But Ochaco waves off the question, and she grabs for the bill on the table – Izuku doesn’t even remember the waitress dropping it off. “You know more than any of us that money isn’t a factor,” she says, shrugging. “Tenya and I can cover it.”

“Shut up,” Izuku rolls his eyes. “You guys shouldn’t have to pay for everything. At least let me cover gas and groceries?”

It takes a bit of coaxing, but eventually Izuku convinces Ochaco to let him cover grocery costs; the two of them make plans to visit the grocery store together the night before they leave. Ochaco doesn’t reveal the guest list, nor does Izuku even think to ask about it until after they’re walking back to the office, bumping shoulders and laughing over inside jokes from their high school days. And as they ascend the staircase side by side, Izuku finally does ask, and Ochaco laughs, and that’s the most of an answer he gets.

[jovialjudgebonkalmond]

Inevitable, Ch 2

Once again, obvious disclaimer, I don’t own the characters or universe in which the story takes place - yes internet I am that old, thank you.

Summary: Monty is alive, in jail. A recounting of his experiences and memories and basically all those flashbacks we weren’t given in season 4 that I am butthurt about. It is AU in the sense that he is still alive whilst Clay & Co are attempting to frame him for Bryce’s murder. Obvious spoiler alerts if you haven’t seen season 4.

Pairings will be Monty x Winston mainly. So far this is all from Monty’s POV but that may change down the line.

Warnings include violence, sex, drug use, rape, murder, and basically everything graphic and bad you can imagine. Will absolutely contain smut. Oh, and swearing. This chapter has the added benefit of mention’s of suicide (but given the show’s content I’m sure you saw this coming?), and also domestic abuse/child abuse. Oh and homophobic slurs.

Obligatory reminder: This is from Monty’s point of view. Clearly he didn’t view his actions with the totality of how devastatingly monsterous they were. I condemn his actions, he’s a rapist and deserved jail time. As we saw in s3 and in snippets of s4 he didn’t share that point of view. I think Monty is a dynamic character that’s interesting and I relate a lot to his back story. That’s why I was motivated to write this.

Ch 2 word count: 5,554 words (sorry not sorry guys)

Monty braced his hands on the edges of the tiny stainless steel sink, squinting as he gazed into the grimy sheet of metal bolted to the wall that was supposed to function as a mirror. He could see a blur of his skin, and the orange of his  shirt...and that was it. His face was throbbing and he couldn't eat his breakfast. "Fuck." He muttered to himself, inhaling deeply and closing his eyes. He held his breath, his aching ribs adding to the cacophony of pain of his head and hand. His hand was swollen across his knuckles and stiff, the muscles in his right arm trembling just with the effort of hanging on to the sink. He reached up with his left hand and ran it over his jaw. It, too, was swollen. He opened his mouth as wide as he could, gripping his molars with his fingers and placing his thumbs at the base of his jaw. His body shuddered and his stomach growled loudly.

I know, we're gonna fix this.

He jerked his jaw down, over, and then up in a swift, fluid motion. It made a sickeningly loud pop and Monty held back a retch, his body going from hot to cold as he felt his adrenaline pounding through his veins uncontrolled. He took a few choking, deep breaths and began to pace in a small circle, breathing hard through his nose. He dropped to the floor gracefully into a plank position as he had a thousand times for football drills, braced himself on his hands while his broken knuckles screamed at him. He lowered himself to the floor and sucked in a deep breath, his nose almost grazing the concrete. He exhaled and pushed up, hearing his ribs crack loudly as they shifted. They felt wrong inside of him, like they didn't fit where they belonged and it made it hard to breathe. He inhaled and lowered himself again, pushing through the pain. He felt powerless. He carried on, not counting reps as he picked up a smooth and even pace.  He was lost inside himself, no concept of time passing. There were no clocks, save for the one on the microwave in the common room and he wasn't there right now. 

"Your mother, she hasn't stopped crying since they pick you up." His father stated with a heavy accent.He felt a pang of shame in his chest and closed his eyes for a moment, the shackles hanging like a dead weight off his wrists. He swallowed hard, his throat feeling suddenly dry and tight.

"I'm sorry." he said thickly, his back stiff. His fear felt alive inside of him, like it had a mind of its own. He avoided eye contact with his father. He could feel the rage radiating off of him and he felt the all too familiar dread sinking in.

"I bust my ass for this family, and this is what you do?" His father continued, leaning forward. Monty hazarded a glance at him from the corner of his eye, not daring to breathe. He blinked, feeling his mind beginning to reel.

"Answer me!"

Monty jumped and blinked again, feeling stupid and cornered. His heart was racing.

"What? What answer do you want?" He hated hearing the sound of his own desperation in his voice, the way it broke at the end.

"Is it true? What they're saying?"

Monty felt his body stiffen even more, if that was at all possible. He tried to shrug it off, blinking again.

"What are- what are they saying?" He stammered. It felt as though there was a fist clamped around his throat.

"You damn well know."

Monty stared straight ahead of him, feeling the all too familiar sensation of  his blood pounding in his ears and through his veins. He clenched his jaw and stayed silent.

"They're saying that you assaulted a kid. That you sexually assaulted a kid. A boy! That true?" He couldn't help but notice the tone his father's voice took on at the word 'boy'.

"It wasn't sexual assault. I was just...messin' with him." Monty said, shifting his shoulders as though his shuffling could make his actions go away, like an irritating fly tickling his skin.

"You were messing with him?" His dad blinked, his eyes darkening, "The way they said? Why would you do that shit? To a boy? Are you some kind of faggot?!" The disgust in his voice was palpable, but it wasn't the fact that he was being charged with sexual assault that disgusted him so, that much was glaringly clear.

Monty's body felt hot all over, his eyes beginning to well with tears. He clenched his jaw again and stole his resolve.

"What if I was dad? What if I was?" He locked his gaze on his father's dark, furious eyes. The rage and contempt the look he was met with took his breath away.

"You're going to prison. You know what they do to guys like you in there?" He scanned him up and down quickly, as though sizing him up.

"And what do they do? Describe it." He mumbled defiantly, squaring his chin.

"You're going to get beat to shit. At the minimum. They will beat you down."

Monty leaned back, unable to stop himself. What the fuck did it matter now anyway.

"Yeah, well, at least none of them will be my dad."

He could see the storm in his father's eyes, and he was suddenly grateful he was in jail. The chair scraped on the concrete as his dad stood, towering over him with the blackest eyes he had ever seen. Mr. de la Cruz was staring at him as though he had known it all along.

"Are you a faggot?" He asked, with a tone that suggested he already had the answer.

Fuck it, he thought, and fuck you.

He looked up and locked eyes with the man whom he had feared, loathed, worshiped... his whole life.

"Sure."

The moment could have lasted an eternity. His father stared at him in disgusted silence before spitting in his face and walking out, leaving him sitting there alone in his shackles. It hurt more than a fist. He closed his eyes, feeling as though his heart was shattering in his chest. The spit was hot and sticky, burning his left eye it landed on. He clenched his jaw again, his eyebrows furrowing as he fought back his tears. He tried to wipe the spit off of his face but his shackles stopped him from being able to reach. He rubbed the side of his face on his shoulder as though he could wipe away his shame with it, his breathing ragged.

"Hey inmate."

Monty jumped, the voice knocking him back to reality. He stood carefully, his body aching at his lack of forgiveness to it, and looked at the C.O.

"Yes sir?"

"You have an appointment with your lawyer. Come on."

He blinked slowly, following the guard out of his cell. I don't have a lawyer..? 

The guard marched him to a set of doors where he was pat down and shackled once more. They took him down a hallway he had never been down before, the shackles making his strides short and awkward, forcing him to hunch forward. It made him look small. The hall had rooms with windows that opened to the hallway. The guard opened one of the doors and Monty followed him inside.

There was a woman sitting at a large table with several file folders. Her black hair was up in a bun and she was wearing a pantsuit with a blouse. It was jarring, seeing someone outside of uniform or the orange jumpsuit. He shuffled toward the table and she glanced up at him, surveying him quietly with blue eyes he couldn't read. He sat down across from her and tried to shuffle his chair closer to the table with little success.

 The guard stepped in and closed the door. The woman turned her attention from him to the guard.

"You can wait outside." She dismissed him. He looked as though he was going to argue with her but then thought better of it and left. Monty could see him watching them through the glass.

"Hello Mr. de la Cruz." She said, opening one of the files and glancing at it before looking back at him. "I am Eva Guerrero. I am a defense attorney and I work for a non-profit organization, and we were forwarded your case and I am here to offer you legal representation for your trial, if you choose to have one. I have spent some time reviewing your case and I have a few thoughts, and a few questions."

Monty sat there, staring at her for awhile. He blinked while he waited for his brain to catch up. It didn't.

"Okay." He said curtly, instantly on the defensive.

"You presently have two charges filed against you. That is correct? The sexual assault of Tyler Down and the murder of Bryce Walker..?"

Monty stood in the dim light of his bedroom, one of the bulbs in the ceiling was burnt out. It cast long shadows up the dark beige walls. It made the hole he punched in his white door look cavernous. He gazed at his reflection in the mirror, his breathing steady and calm...resolute. Tears trickled silently down his face, pooling on the wooden surface of his dresser. They slipped off the chips and dings in the surface and flowed off of the edge. His arm trembled as it held the cold steel of the gun, pressing into the side of his temple. His finger curled around the trigger, his other hand pressed on the top of the dresser to brace himself. There was only one bullet in the chamber, but he only needed one.

"Where are you, you son of a bitch!" His father roared, bursting into the room and yanking him from his thoughts. His blood pounded in his ears and he rounded on the taller man, not even feeling human anymore.

"You wanna go old man?!" Monty yelled, taking the gun away from his own face and leveling it at the chest of his father, finger still poised on the trigger. The man staggered back, clearly intoxicated. His face flashed shock for a moment before he began to laugh, contempt replacing his former fearful expression as though it had never existed. Monty's heart was hammering in his chest like it was going to explode. His body was moving outside of his control, his desperation having a mind of its own and an appetite for destruction.

"You going to shoot me?" The older man laughed again and muttered derisively in Spanish before closing the space between them, leaning into the gun. "Do it then. You're the man now."

Monty locked eyes with his monster, his boogeyman, and felt his resolve begin to crumble just as he always crumbled under his father's fists and rage. He lowered the gun and made to shove passed him to get through the door but his dad grabbed him roughly around his abdomen and chucked him into it. He heard it crack under his weight and his lungs strained as the wind was knocked out of him. He choked and gasped for a moment, in a heap on the ground still holding the gun.

"You're just a coward." His dad hissed, booting him hard in the ribs. He hated himself for not being able to hold back his whimper at the pain. "Were you fucking crying? Crying like a lady-boy? Like a faggot?!"

He sucked in a ragged breath and dragged himself to his feet, running haphazardly  through the hallway. He needed to get the fuck out of here before this ended in regret. His dad pursued him, hot on his tail, stopping momentarily to grab a bottle of liquor off of the counter.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going you little shit?!"

"I'm getting the fuck out of here!" Monty yelled, opening the front door. His dad grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and yanked him backwards, slamming him against the wall and backhanded him. He tasted blood. He shoved his dad as hard as he could, away from him and ran out the door without looking back. His dad staggered drunkenly and fell over. It didn't stop him for long, just slowed him down momentarily, Monty heard his drunken shuffling footsteps chasing him out the door.

"Come back here you coward!" He yelled, chucking the bottle at Monty. It shattered beside his feet and he stepped on the glass. It crunched under the soles of his shoes, gritty on the gravel driveway. The alcohol splashed up his pants, staining and stinking. He fumbled for his keys, hands shaking and jerking as adrenaline sent his nerves haywire. He popped the safety back on the gun and tossed it in the back storage compartment. He started the Jeep and threw it in reverse, slamming his foot on the gas and gunning it down the driveway. His tires screeched shrilly on the pavement and the SUV lurched with his sudden movements.

He put the Jeep into drive and stomped on the gas, not knowing where he was going. There was nothing but the sound of his engine, the tires rumbling on the pavement noisily and his suspension rattling every so often as he went over a bump or pothole in the road. And his seemingly-endless-blood pounding in his ears-level rage. His vision blurred with tears, the road and lights melted blurs whipping passed him with no recognition. He sobbed, unable to catch his breath. His chest felt empty, like a gaping wound raw and shredded on the edges. Minutes turned into hours and became nothing. Eventually he had no energy left to sob, no tears left to cry.

He eased off of the gas pedal and soaked in the emptiness that consumed him. The air around him was cold and light, the stars dancing above him and the moon hung over it all like a fucking spotlight for his shit show.

He slowed and stopped, realizing he recognized the house he was in front of. His heart skipped a beat. He shouldn't be here. He put the Jeep in park and pushed the door open, stepping out of the vehicle. He left the door open as he walked ponderously along the curb. The house was like a mansion, towering on top of a small expensively landscaped hill. With a huge, wall-like cement fence with wrought iron details on top. Four pillars boarded each edge of the horse-shoe shaped driveway, one of those fancy ones that you can drive in and out of in a  half circle. The pillars had lamps on top made out of matching wrought iron that bathed him in golden light, like a caricature of an angel.

He didn't belong here.

He stood at the mouth of the driveway, his arms hanging limply at his sides. He sighed, turning to go when he saw a figure approaching him. The tall, slender, dark haired young man stepped into the light. His dark, brown eyes were muddied with confusion. He wore a light coat thrown over a grey cable knit sweater and olive coloured slacks, lacking his usual carefully chosen attire. It was evident he just threw it on in a hurry to run outside. His heavy brows furrowed, his expression flipping rapidly from confusion to concern.

"Monty- what are you doing here? My parents are actually home...you probably don't want to- why are you bleeding? Are you ok?!" He stumbled his words in a rush.

Monty stood there with his arms limp at his side for a few moments, trying to feel anything other than the brokenness that consumed him. He knew the desperation showed on his face like an open book and he loathed himself for it. He could never hide it, not in front of Winston. The other boy had a way of running his fingers over his spine and cracking him open like a dam waiting to flood the world. And tonight, he was nothing if not an open wound.

"Monty?!" Winston insisted, taking another step towards him.

"Bryce is dead." He said hollowly.

Winston blinked, glancing back to the house and then back to Monty. He closed the space between them, Monty's heart leaping into his throat. Winston took his hand and ran his fingers over his knuckles and palm with an aching tenderness.

"Okay, let's get out of here then." He said calmly. Damn him. Winston gave his hand a gentle squeeze and tilted his face to lock his warm eyes with Monty's avoidant gaze. Monty looked back at him knowing he wasn't able to hide his pain behind his mask anymore. He returned the gentle squeeze before walking back to the Jeep and climbing in, his heart racing once more. Winston climbed in the passenger seat, doing a double take at the gun in the back.

"Is that a gun?! What are you doing with a gun?! How did you even get a gun?!?!"

Monty clenched his jaw, starting the Jeep with a stuttering rumble. It was an old Jeep, and its age was showing. Monty couldn't help but feel uncomfortable having the boy who was used to so much luxury in his piece of shit SUV. 

Although if Winston had any opinions, he kept them to himself. Monty glanced at the gun in the corner of his eye, barely tilting his face before looking at Winston for a moment and putting the vehicle in drive.

"It was a gift." He muttered, nonchalantly. Winston looked taken aback but didn't ask anymore questions as Monty drove off. Monty turned up the music, indicating he didn't want to talk anymore. Winston reached over and  held Monty's hand that was resting in his lap. Monty didn't fight it or pull away, allowing the other boy to gently stroke his fingers. He felt the pounding rage and anxiety, poised for the attack, slowly recede under Winston's unfairly soft touch.

"They found him in the water...by the docks." Monty said thickly, the dam threatening to break again. "They say he was shot...he was murdered."

"Murdered?! Holy fuck..." Winston gasped, sucking in a quick breath. It was clear he was rattled. "Who would do that?"

"Oh I think I know." Monty said, a clearly menacing tone to his voice. "Cops hauled me in for questioning. Cuffed me and chucked my ass in the back seat and everything. What a fucking show."

Winston looked taken aback.

"But Bryce was your friend?! Why would they think you killed him?!" Winston asked, despite the gun sitting in the back of the Jeep like a verifiable elephant in the room.

"We had a fight before he was killed." Monty grumbled, stepping on the gas a little. "He was killed homecoming night."

Winston took a deep breath, surveying Monty carefully.

"While you were with me?"

"If I was fuckin' there he wouldn't be fuckin' dead right now!" Monty yelled. "I should have been there. I could have stopped it. Someone beat the shit out of him and shot him and threw him in the fuckin' water and I was off getting laid!"

Winston stayed silent for a few moments, gazing at the scenery as it whipped by. If his outburst or speeding bothered him, Monty couldn't tell. He seemed surprisingly unruffled by his rage. After more time passed Monty's resolve and anger subsided, having nothing to feed off of. He took a deep, tremulous breath.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, "I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault I wasn't there for him. It's mine-"

"Monty, don't blame yourself for this either." Winston cut him off. "There was nothing you could have done. You couldn't have known that would have happened and if you had tried to stop it they very likely would have killed you too. It would have taken someone incredibly dangerous to have done this. I didn't know Bryce very well, but he wouldn't have gone down without a fight."

Monty flinched, gripping the steering wheel tightly with one hand and his other hand trembled in Winston's. He drew in a shivering breath and shook his head, his brows furrowing deeply.

"If I had died too so be it. I should have been there, protecting him. I always protected him... he died alone."

His lip quivered as his eyes welled with tears once more. He wanted to punch himself in his own god damned face. He blinked rapidly, pushing his emotions back down and swallowed hard, flipping his turn signal on.

"That's not a road?" Winston said in confusion.

"That's the point." Monty said, his words catching when the Jeep thumped in and out of a rut jerking both boys around inside.

"I've never done this before." Winston said with a small laugh, "Gone off roading."

"What?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Monty shook his head, putting the Jeep into 4x4 and glancing at the other boy. "Rich kids." He muttered incredulously. Winston shrugged and flopped around, his shoulder bumping into Monty's as the Jeep thrashed from side to side over the uneven ground. He laughed helplessly, shaking his head. He was knocked backwards as the SUV lurched upwards and then once again bumped into Monty and then the side of the door as it landed roughly, the suspension audibly creaking.

"Jesus can this thing even handle this?!" Winston wondered.

"It was built for this." Monty chuckled, easily matching his body's movements with the jerking of the Jeep, "How about you, pretty boy, can you handle it?" He almost purred, quirking an eyebrow teasingly. Winston shot him a half exasperated dirty look and shifted his weight surreptitiously and then he smirked, meeting the other boy's challenge.

"I think we both know I like being tossed around a little."

Monty responded by gunning the SUV over a ditch in the dirt road, and Winston grabbed the handle over his head to maintain his balance and ride out the bucking of the vehicle. The two shared a look and Monty grinned devilishly. He pressed the accelerator down slowly and evenly, the Jeep's tires kicking up sand that billowed around them like an angry cloud. He adjusted the steering wheel and pulled the SUV into a tight turn, the force tossing Winston to one side as he held the tires in a rotation. He sped up as the Jeep spun in a circle, the sand flying around them like debris in an explosion. The lights of the city and the moon over the ocean melted together, becoming a ribbon of colours swirling dizzyingly around them.

Monty wasn't watching where the Jeep was going, he didn't have to. He had perfect control of the vehicle's movements, he had done this countless times with the guys. He was watching Winston, couldn't take his eyes off of him if he had even tried. He watched the way his chest moved when he breathed, the way his expressions changed and the way his eyes were just so damned alive. Monty loved the way he would laugh or yelp, and knew exactly how to get each reaction. The thrill of it made his face feel flushed, his blood pounding for an altogether different reason. He bit his lip and closed his eyes for a moment before pulling the Jeep out of the doughnut turn and slamming on the brakes. Winston let out a little shriek as he was once again tossed from side to side, and then also back and forth with his long legs tangling like a clumsy giraffe.

"If I knew it was that easy to make you scream I would have done this a long time ago." Monty laughed, cutting the engine and smirking at Winston, his heart fluttering in his chest. Winston glanced at him through the dark lengths of his eyelashes and moistened his lips. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing was a little ragged after being thrashed around like a rag-doll mercilessly for the last god-only-knows how long.

"I could think of a few other ways you could make me scream." He said breathily. 

Monty yanked his seat belt off and practically dove at him, his hands grabbing the other boy's wavy hair as their lips crashed together. Monty had one leg on his centre console, the other was in between Winston's legs. Winston's fingertips dug into his back as he kissed back, his bruising lips meeting Monty's furious hunger with a relishing eagerness. Monty kissed him and pawed at him like he wanted to devour him and Winston's hands flew to his pants and popped the button with ease and unzipped them, running his hand over the other boy's obvious erection. He wanted to be devoured, consumed, destroyed. Monty gasped and made a soft, strangled sound as he broke their kiss.

"Fucking hell." He hissed grinding his hips into Winston's hand, "I want you." he added, his voice catching. And I shouldn't, he thought, I can't... this is going to be the death of me.

Winston laughed lowly, continuing to run his hand up and down Monty's rock hard length. He kissed him again, biting his bottom lip lightly as he pulled away.

"Take me home." He said flatly, his hand still rubbing Monty's achingly hard cock. 

Monty blinked rapidly, his train of thought thrashing around not unlike Winston was being thrashed around moments ago.

"W...what?" He stuttered, gasping quietly and suppressing a moan with limited success.

"Take me home, Montgomery," Winston said, staring into Monty's eyes as he massaged his balls, "And fuck me properly."

"I don't think I can drive like this." Monty groaned as Winston's hand slipped away, tucking his throbbing cock back into his pants and zipping them back up with some difficulty.

"You're going to." Winston smirked, kissing him deeply and then pushing him away as he adjusted his own bulge in his pants.

Monty swallowed and looked at the lawyer before him. He had declined the legal aide appointed by the court, and he had assumed it was left at that. That he'd be deemed guilty and just rot or die where he fucking belonged.

"I didn't kill Bryce." He said coldly.

"I am aware. We've been contacted by someone who has compelling evidence for your innocence."

"Charlie?" Monty asked, meeting her eyes carefully. He already knew the answer to that question he realized with sickening dread.

"No, Charlie went to the police shortly after you were apprehended and confessed to lying to them to cover for you and that he had no idea of your true whereabouts that night. A boy named Winston Williams... contacted us seeking legal aide on your behalf," The lawyer said, reaching for one of the folders. "He can place you at his house at the time of the murder. He said you made some texts and the cell phone towers would be able to confirm your location which would be quite far from the location where Bryce was killed. He also has an article of your clothing that would possibly be useful, if people can confirm you wore it that night and haven't since."

Monty swallowed hard  against the lump in his throat, willing his face to remain stagnant and leaned back, shaking his head. The betrayal by Charlie stung like the weight of a sword to the hilt of his spine. And then there was the Winston of it all.

"He just doesn't fucking give up, does he?" He muttered with an agonized hitch in his voice despite his best efforts.

"I mean, if I knew someone was innocent of a crime, I would want to speak out."

"Did he tell you I beat the shit out of him the night we met and I called him a fucking faggot?" Monty lashed out, he would have crossed his arms but his shackles prevented him from doing it so he just squared his shoulders and jaw and stared coldly at the woman in front of him who only wanted to help him. But he didn't want her fucking help, or Winston's for that matter.

The woman held his gaze, completely unfazed by his demeanor.

"He did, in fact, tell me that." She said with a quirked eyebrow. Monty was taken aback but tried to do his best not to let that show.

"So why the fuck would he want to help me." He said hollowly. The lawyer shrugged.

"Does that really matter? You're looking at life in jail or worse, right now with these charges."

"Maybe I fuckin' deserve it." Monty said, tilting his head challengingly.

"Maybe you do." She agreed calmly. "But I don't think you do. I think that's an easy way out. I think you're fucking giving up, throwing it away because its easier than facing the person you are and the problems you have. Its easier than admitting your life isn't going where you wanted it to, and that you regret the things you've done." 

She tossed a file in his direction.

"I think life has been unreasonably hard on you, Montgomery, and I think the people and systems that were supposed to protect you and keep you safe didn't. I think you had a violent upbringing, and that you survived for a long time by yourself. I think the fact that you'd rather go to jail for a crime you didn't commit than willingly admit out loud that you spent the night with a boy who's only crime was maybe to love you enough to want to save you is cowardly. I think you feel like you don't deserve his concern, or his love for that matter, so you're running scared from that too. I think you've been scared for your whole life. And I think its time you fucking let that go. Because the people who've helped you become the young man standing before me would love to see you sitting here wallowing in your self pity. They'd love to see you disappear like another fucking statistic. I would like to think that someone who has survived as long as you have, someone who's fought as hard as you have would take all that anger and tell them to fuck themselves and build a real life for himself, and be fucking happy to spite them, in spite of them."

Monty felt his pulse tick in his neck and looked away before fixing her with a glare. That hit a nerve.

"I think you fucking think too much." He snarked, and smirked with a cocky lift of his eyebrow. "What would you know about it anyway."

She smiled calmly, and met his arrogance with her own ego.

"I had a bad childhood." She said flatly, not knowing she was using his own words against him, "I did eight years in federal for armed carjacking."

Monty sat there numbly, dumbfounded for a moment.

"And they let you be a lawyer?" He asked incredulously, "That explains a lot..."

"It wasn't easy, Montgomery, it took me almost twelve years after my sentence to even begin rebuilding my life. They said I would never amount to more than my crime. But I fucking did it and they can suck my dick." She began to collect the folders he hadn't even looked at yet, leaving one in front of him as she stood up.

"You're a lawyer, you're not supposed to talk like that." He mumbled, feeling panic flutter in his chest as his lifeline was packing up and leaving and it was all his own fault for pushing her away.

"Not in front of a judge anyway." She countered, snapping her briefcase shut. 

"Think about what I said. I won't close your case yet, but don't waste anymore of my fucking time. Keep that, and read it." She warned as she walked away. She opened the door where the guard was waiting and he heard the sound of his boots as he came to fetch him.

His mind was reeling, spinning out of control as he shuffled behind the C.O. awkwardly holding his file.

"You have some mail." The C.O. said offhandedly. Monty blinked, wondering what it was. Was it a court summons? Was it Winston? Was it his family..? They stopped at the doors and the man uncuffed him around the wrists and ankles. 

He handed Monty the letter, his expression unreadable.

"It came in awhile ago...but sometimes things here get lost on purpose."

"Why are you being nice to me?" Monty asked, suspicious as he took the letter.

"You're a human being. And I'd like to believe we can help people in here... sometimes."

"You must be new." Monty sighed. He walked back to his cell without a backwards glance. None of the other three inmates he shared a cell had returned yet, they must be at lunch. Monty's stomach growled insistently but he ripped open the letter instead, wanting the privacy to absorb the blow that was about to come. The paper was a file printed from the jails website, someone was requesting the right to visit him and it required his approval or denial.

Charles St. George.

[factoffictionwriter]

Tiva Fic Amnesty #4

Just a few marginally related flirting scenes that were too short of post alone. 

“Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo’s phone,” Ziva chimed into the speaker as she walked toward the bedroom door and pulled it shut, locking it with a wicked smirk on her face. Tony watched her from where he was sitting on the bed, back up against the headboard.

She listened to the person on the other end, slowly walking toward the bed and leaning her knee against it, “I’m afraid he is busy, McGee. Can I take a message?”

She crawled saucily toward him, catching his eyes and maintaining contact as she listened to her former teammates' explanation. She threw a leg across his hips to straddle him when she approached.

She leaned back, making him squirm at the - uh - pressure on his lower stomach, and walked two fingers up his chest as she clucked her tongue in disapproval, “Sorry, Tim. Tony can’t come in to work right now. He’s about to do something very important.”

She traced her fingers down his jaw before feathering them across his cheek, the dark desire in her eyes making heat spread across the back of his neck.

Her hand dropped from his face as she looked toward the clock on the side table, “I suppose I can send him in after he has finished.”

He ran a hand up the back of her thigh, letting it rest just below the curve of her ass.

She looked back at him and smiled at his action, “I will tell him. He should be there in an hour.”

He pulled on her leg, causing her to lean forward, hovering over him as she balanced on her hand place right next to his head. He moved his grip to her waist, causing the thin material of her shirt to ride up and reveal the ever-growing bump on her lower stomach. He ran one of his hands over it, appreciating its size and roundness, before dropping it lower to dip under the fabric of her silky panties.

She bit her lip, blinking several times before she remembered she was on the phone. She held back a groan and exchanged it instead for a content sigh.

“Make that two,” she practically whispered into the microphone before ending the call and leaning over to put the phone of the table.

“Thanks,” he mumbled as he brushed loose hair out of her face.

“For answering your phone?”

“For getting me out of work.”

“Oh, Tony,” she mused as she ducked her head to press her lips to the soft skin just below his ear, “You may not be going in to the office yet, but trust me, you are going to do work.”

---

“I should have gotten one of these years ago. Babies are total chick magnets.”

“Down boy,” she teased as she drew in close to his side, sliding a finger through one of his belt loops, “Am I going to have to put a ring on your finger to keep you subdued?”

His eyes sparkled as he watched her brush a stray curl out of Tali’s face before leaning up to press a kiss to one of her small, fat baby hands, “Is that a threat or a promise?”

She winked at him before holding up her arms, wordlessly asking him to hand over their daughter. He did so reluctantly before bending down to pick up the diaper bag which had been discarded in all the excitement of college girls fawning over the baby.

“I missed you, einayim sheli,” she held Tali up in the air before bringing her down to plant a huge kiss on her cheek, “Did you and Abba have a good day together?”

“Well, she came out in one piece, so that’s good,” he mumbled as he tossed the bag over his shoulder and moved to slip his other arm across hers. Babies weren’t just chick magnets, and he had seen more than one young, good looking college guy turn her way since he handed her Tali.

She rolled her eyes, “I told him you’d be fine. He is a better father than he realizes.”

---

He pushed her back against the metal wall, capturing her lips in a kiss and letting his hands slide up her side, causing her shirt to ride up and expose the soft skin of her lower stomach. 

She responded enthusiastically at first, before seeming to come to her senses and realize where he intended for this to go. She pushed at his shoulders, separating their lips and causing him to move on to licking and sucking on the sensitive skin of her neck. 

“This is not happening. We are not conceiving our child in an elevator, Tony.” 

He moved to face her, amusement brimming in his expression, “Okay. How about the break room?” 

“No.” 

“Copy room?” 

“No.”

“Supply closet?” 

She pushed back against him harder, but the soft smile on her lips told him he wasn’t in too much trouble, and she ran her fingers along the collar of his shirt, “We are going to make this child in a bed, just like we did the last one.” 

“Hm. Are you sure it was in a bed? Because, from what I remember, it could have been the bed… or the shower… or the couch… the kitchen table… the kitchen floor…” 

She pulled his lips to hers, smiling through the whole kiss. She wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled him against her, thankful, yet again, for the gift of being married to a man who was not only her lover, but her very best friend, and the only one who knew just how to make her laugh, no matter how ridiculous the situation. 

She pulled away one final time, untangling his arms from around her and moving to turn the elevator back on. She didn’t say anything as it ascended to the second floor, just straightened her blouse and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to remove the signs of their activities. She felt him step up behind her, not touching her aside from his chest just barely brushing her shoulder while they waited for the door to open. The elevator came to a stop, and he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. 

“You know, the back seat of my car is surprisingly roomy.” 

“The same back seat that we drive our daughter around in?” 

“She sits in a car seat. She doesn’t actually touch the leather. Besides, if we stopped having sex everywhere we put our daughter, we would have to be much better at practicing self-control.”

[brainyxbat]

A Spooky Birthday Ch 2

🎃🎂🦇

Pairings:

Vesabi (Venus x Wasabi) ⬅ Lots of fluff!

Honeygo (Honey Lemon x Gogo)

Fredashi (Fredzilla x Tadashi)

Hints of Chiro (Hiro x Carrie Francess)

Carrie belongs to my friend, @divinejusticespiritual!

A Spooky, Scary Birthday

Ch. 2

-

October 8th, 2032

Before long, when nighttime loomed, a certain theme park area came in view. When the vehicle slowed to a stop in the parking lot, Tadashi made the three-word announcement they were all waiting for, interrupting makeout sessions between two of the three couples inside.

“Here we are!”

The group immediately filed out with their luggage, Venus shoving her game console in her hoodie pocket. “Now will you guys tell me where we are?” She playfully griped. Strangely, they seemed to try to stay in front of her, obscuring her vision. It helped that she was among the shortest in the group, only second to Hiro by an inch.

“Actually,” Tadashi smirked, “We'll just show you.” He and Fred dramatically stepped back to let her see ahead; the lit-up Sleeping Beauty castle!

Her green eyes widened, as her jaw dropped in shock. She couldn't believe it; they had taken her to Disneyland, for her birthday! Just like she had wanted for years! A wide smile grew on her face, before screams of joy escaped her throat, as she hopped up and down with excitement. Her friends and boyfriend watched with wide grins, glad she was happy; even Gogo managed to smirk. Venus hugged everyone in turn, thanking them profusely. But when it was Wasabi's turn, learning he mainly had the idea to come out there for her special day, she took a different approach; she ran and pounced on him, though thankfully he wasn't seriously hurt, and he landed face-up on the concrete, with her on top of him. Before he could say anything, she started covering his whole face with quick, ecstatic kisses. The others watched in amusement, as Wasabi laughed, and playfully shook his head. “Okay, okay, let me breathe,” He chuckled, sitting up with one hand on her shoulder, “We're really glad you're happy, Sunshine.” He kissed her tiny lips for a moment, “Was the wait worth it?”

“Definitely,” She giggled, and helped him back on his feet. He had purple kiss marks all over his face from her lipstick. “Where are we staying?”

“Right there!” Honey pointed to the back of “The Disneyland Hotel” in front of them.

“Awesome!” They all headed for the hotel, dragging their luggage along. Venus smiled at the beautiful area; the gorgeous blue lighting from the two buildings, the palm trees, the tiki bar, and the swimming pools surrounded by lounge chairs made it very cozy. “Wow,” She breathed in awe, and took her phone out of her purse to get a picture, her other hand holding Wasabi's.

He smiled when she perked up at the sight of the Fantasia Gift Shop. She was so cute. “After we check in,” He whispered, and kissed her temple. She blushed, and nodded with a little giggle, and rested her head on his arm. They all walked inside the lobby; it had a “Small World” rug in shades of purple and blue, ivory walls and floors, blue lighting at the front desk, rod chandeliers, a purple plush couch and armchairs, and little tables in front of them. “I'll check us in,” He offered; Hiro and the remaining couples sat on the chairs, getting comfortable fast.

“I'll go with you.” Venus walked with her boyfriend to the shortest line, looking around the beautiful lobby.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long. “Hello! Welcome to the Disneyland Hotel!” The female cast member kindly greeted them. “How can I help you?”

“We have a reservation for a one-bedroom family suite,” Wasabi replied; he stifled laughter at Venus' gasp and jaw drop of surprise. “It should be under Woods, for the birthday girl.” He held her close by her shoulders.

The woman typed and scrolled on her computer, then nodded. “Ah, yes! Here it is. Your suite is ready for you; I'll have a bellhop come for your luggage.”

“Okay, thank you,” Wasabi nodded, then returned to the others, “Our suite is ready; they're getting a bellhop out here.”

“Sweet!” Fred pumped his fists in the air. “You excited to be here, V?”

“Very!” She giggled. “I can't believe you guys did this!”

“Believe it,” Gogo smirked, “You're not dreaming.”

“This is real!” Honey hugged Venus tightly, lifting her off the floor for a moment.

The birthday girl felt her airways blocked for a moment, before they were opened back up. “Thanks so much, all of you. You're the best friends anyone could ask for!” She hugged them one by one again, then turned to Wasabi. “And the best boyfriend ever.” She hugged him tightly, goofily shaking him for a second.

He laughed, and hugged her back. “Anything for you, princess.” He kissed her blushing cheek, ignoring Hiro's gag gesture. He chuckled, and held her when she bashfully burrowed her face in his chest, her dark hair draping like curtains. Her shyness was so adorable; it was one of the many things he loved about her.

Just then, a bellhop with a luggage cart entered the lobby from one of the elevators. “Woods?”

“That's us,” Gogo raised her hand, as they stood up.

“So, we're having a birthday tomorrow?” The friendly man tried to make conversation, as the cart was loaded.

“Yep,” Wasabi nodded, “My beautiful girlfriend, Catherine.” He patted her back, as she unveiled her face. “We drove 6 hours from San Fransokyo to come here for her special day.”

“They didn't tell me, until we arrived a few minutes ago,” She giggled, “The wait was worth it.”

“Good! How old will you be tomorrow?”

“19.”

“Oh, you're 18 right now? I thought you were first entering your teen years,” He admitted sheepishly.

“It's okay,” She giggled, “I get that a lot. I'm so excited to be here!”

“I'm glad!” He nodded, as they headed for their suite. “The Halloween décor is beautiful in person, the treats are amazing, and the merchandise is all fun. Plus, the Haunted Mansion has a Nightmare Before Christmas makeover.”

“Yep,” Venus confirmed, holding Wasabi's hand as they walked, “I'll be riding that, definitely.”

Before long, they arrived at their destination. “Here we are!” The bellhop opened the door for them, then handed Wasabi the key. “I hope the suite's to your liking, folks.”

They looked around the living room in awe, and amazement. The tan carpet had lighter colored swirls, and the beige walls had darker, vertical stripes; it was the same in the bedroom. The drapes by the huge window were brown and blue plaid, and the tan furniture looked very cozy, while the dark wood tables were beautiful. The couch was in front of an adequately-sized TV above a dresser. A round table with 4 blue striped chairs was by the window, and photos of various attractions adorned the walls.

The bathroom had ivory walls, a pair of lamps held by Mickey hands at both sides of the sink mirror, and tan hard floor, while the bathtub had a horizontal row of blue tiles. The beds had gold metallic skirts, white sheets and pillows, and over both beds was a dark wood castle portrait with fireworks.

When Hiro turned it on after the bellhop left with the emptied cart, everyone watched as the fireworks lit up. “Wow!” Honey's eyes lit up with ecstasy. “So pretty!”

After it ended, Venus made a beeline for the bed closest to the window. “Dibs on this bed!” She giggled, and dropped down on the mattress, leaving her sneakers on the floor.

“I guess we're sleeping there,” Wasabi joked with a snicker, and joined her, as the others explored the suite. He grabbed his girlfriend around her shoulders, and fell back on the bed, taking her down with him; she squealed in surprise, and laughed with him, laying on his chest. “You're too precious for this world, Sunshine.” When he noticed her short hoodie was ridden up just a bit, he smirked.

Venus yelped, and burst out laughing, her legs kicking up when he playfully tickled her flat stomach for a second. “Don't!” She giggled.

“Don't what?” He played dumb, teasing her.

“Don't tickle me!”

“What, like this?” He tickled her again, this time with both hands.

Venus squealed with laughter, and squirmed harshly in his arms. “Wasabi! St-stop!” She tried to hug herself for protection, but his shifting hands were in the way.

Wasabi grunted, and laughed when her elbow jabbed his ribs in her struggle. “Okay, okay, I'll stop,” He chuckled, resting his hands at her shoulders, as she caught her breath. “Sorry; you're just adorable.”

Venus blushed, and giggled. “Okay, I forgive you. Thanks; but if you try that again, you'll get elbowed somewhere else, buster.”

“Message received,” He went along with her joke, knowing she wouldn't hurt him on purpose. “So, you like the suite?”

“I love it,” She nodded, “It's beautiful. Can we check out the pool?”

“Sure,” He smiled, “Everyone ought to like that. We all brought swimsuits.” He kissed the top of her head.

After a few minutes of snuggling, Hiro came in the room, agitated. “What's wrong?” Venus asked him.

“Fred, Tadashi, and the girls are all making out in the living room,” Hiro bemoaned.

She heard the subtle noises, and stifled a grin. “Ah. Well uh, we're going to go to the pools, if you all want to check them out.”

“I think that'd be fun,” Hiro nodded, “Anything to keep the loverboys and lovergirls from exchanging saliva.”

Venus giggled. “When you and Carrie are older, you'll understand. But yeah; they oughta have boundaries outside the suite.” She slid down into her shoes on the floor. “I'll tell them our plans.” She walked in, and smirked. Hiro wasn't wrong; both couples were quite engaged. Fred and Tadashi were on the couch, while Honey was in Gogo's lap, in one of the chairs. She could see why Hiro felt awkward. “Hey, lovebirds!” She exclaimed, getting them to separate. “We're going to go down to the pool. You guys want to go?”

“Yeah! Sounds fun!” Honey agreed.

“Okay,” Gogo added.

“Sounds awesome!” Fred nodded.

“Let's do it,” Tadashi chimed in.

“Yay!” Venus cheered, and ran to her luggage in the bedroom to change in the bathroom. The bikini that Honey helped her pick out made her look like a Gothic mermaid; with a black shell halter top, and black scales super high-rise swim bottoms that covered her belly button. After tying a black celestial sarong around her upper chest, she emerged from the room. She stashed a black starry skeletons coffin-shaped towel in her creepy tree drawstring bag, along with her phone and wallet from her purse. “I'm ready!”

Once the rest were changed into swimwear, they exited their suite, Wasabi keeping the key card safe in his wallet, which was in his girlfriend's bag. He was wearing a green floral button-up t-shirt with the Millenium Falcon, and R2-D2 from Star Wars subtly added in, a pair of dark blue swim trunks printed with green pineapples, a kelly green tie-back headband holding his dreadlocks from his face, and black sanuk sandals. He also had a Baby Yoda beach towel slung over his shoulder.

“I love your swimsuit, Honey Lemon,” Venus complimented.

“Thanks, V!” Honey beamed brightly. “I convinced Gogo to match with me too!” The tall, blonde Latina was wearing a one-piece with a skirt-like ruffle on the waist, and a Sally patchwork printing all over. She had white wedge rhinestone flip-flops on her feet, giving her 3 more inches of height.

“She wore me down,” Gogo admitted. Under her dark blue velour dolphin shorts, and black studded muscle tee, was a grey two-tone striped bikini with small Jack Skellington heads, and black/white striped trimming. Her shoes were purple Nike high-tops.

“That's cute!” Venus gushed.

Fred wore a pair of red Hawaiian swim trunks, and a matching cabana shirt, handed down by his grandfather, along with a white and black Captain Fancy graphic ringer tank top, and red Converse high-tops. Tadashi, meanwhile, was wearing black Star Wars galaxy swim shorts, his white and black ninja ringer t-shirt, and light green Converse high-tops.

Hiro was in Spider Man swim trunks, his usual red robot t-shirt, and grey sneakers with yellow laces. “Look at you, in your big boy swim trunks,” Tadashi jokingly smirked.

“Ah, shut up,” Hiro swatted his arm, as his older brother snickered.

“Tadashi, don't tease him,” Honey scolded, “He looks adorable!”

“Okay, Honey,” Gogo urged her to stop, as Hiro facepalmed.

They arrived outside, and made a beeline for the pool with the monorail water slides, all lit up for the night. “Wow!” Venus' eyes brightened. “It's beautiful!” She got another picture with her phone, as did the rest. They gathered at the lounge chairs, and had a seat, the couples sitting together.

When Venus removed her sarong, Wasabi couldn't help but stare, his cheeks flushed; her swimsuit showed her petite, gymnast body build quite nicely, without being too revealing. Evening out the playing field, he undid all the buttons on his shirt, letting his toned chest peek out. She turned to him, and blushed a deep red; he was so handsome. She admired, and appreciated his effort to look good without going too far. She hated for his health to deteriorate.

After a few minutes of relaxing, she stood up on the tile floor, keeping her shoes off. “Hey, Hiro! Want to try the water slides?”

“Sure,” He nodded.

“Yay!” He pulled off his shirt, lazily discarding it on his chair, and ran with her.

The group stayed at the pool for over an hour, having an amazing, relaxing time. Venus and Hiro, alongside Fred and Honey, had turns on the two water slides, all of them having a blast.

Afterwards, they all returned to their suite, tired from the long drive, and their pool time combined. While Venus rinsed the chlorine from her hair to keep her green streaks vibrant, her friends and boyfriend changed into their pajamas. Honey wore a white long-sleeve pajama top with black polka dots, yellow accents, and Minnie Mouse on the left breast pocket, and matching boxer shorts that showed off her long, tan legs, while Gogo went with “Not a Morning Person” black bat pants, and a matching blue tank top. Though having her own hair streaks, she was waiting for her turn in the shower.

Tadashi changed into black and white plaid lounge pants, and a blue Flynn Rider t-shirt with “Can't Stop the Smolder”. Fred had a pair of black tropical Mickey Mouse PJ pants, and a purple Captain Fancy t-shirt. Hiro was in blue Spider Man sleepwear, with a t-shirt and long pants.

Before long, a wet-haired Venus opened the door, wearing one of the white bathrobes provided to them. It was quite baggy on her tiny body. “I'm done! Your turn, Gogo!”

“Thanks.” The tough girl disappeared into the bathroom soon after the birthday girl was out.

Venus sat on the bed, and admired the view from the window; she smiled and blushed deeply when Wasabi sat next to her, wearing only green Star Wars: Last Jedi icons pajama pants. No shirt. She leaned into him when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You having a good time so far?”

“Yep,” She nodded, “And we haven't even been to the parks yet!” She giggled.

“I'm glad,” He smiled, “You being happy is what's important.” They shared a kiss for a second. “This is actually my first trip here.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows raise in surprise. “Well, we've gotta make tomorrow special for you!”

“You don't need to,” Wasabi shook his head modestly, “Tomorrow's your birthday; it should be special for you, babe.”

“It'll be special for both of us,” She insisted.

“Okay,” He gave up with a chuckle, “I know you won't take no for an answer.”

Later, everyone was ready for bed. Hiro had sent a goodnight text to Carrie, and waited until she responded, before going to sleep. Venus wore black boxer shorts with a Disney Villains icons printing, and a grey t-shirt with Maleficent, Ursula, and the Evil Queen (Grimhilde) on the front, and “Bad Girls Have More Fun” in purple letters. After changing, she crawled in the bed, and under the covers, up to her boyfriend. She flopped down on the mattress, feeling exhausted. “Ready for bed?” She asked him.

“Yep,” He nodded, and held her close to his chest. She blushed again, and laid her hand by her face, at his neck. “Excited for tomorrow?”

“Very,” She giggled, “It's going to be the best birthday ever! Heck, it already is.” They had their traditional goodnight kiss, feeling drowsy from the insanely comfortable bed. “G'night, handsome.”

“G'night, my birthday queen.” He kissed her forehead, then drifted off to sleep with the girl he loved more than anything.

By then, everyone was out, deep in peaceful slumber.

-

Pinterest Links:

Vesabi

Venus Lipstick: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575864558994/

Venus Swim Top: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575860808510/

Venus Swim Bottoms: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AQ65xeRCrYFCdwM09LczcJllo6hM9NU4_TyJah4Mx0LcbP1suUUSKTw/

Venus Sarong: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575860875971/

Venus Towel: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575860484229/

Venus Bag: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575864660129/

Venus Pajamas: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575860486408/

Wasabi Shirt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575864507308/

Wasabi Swim: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575861768237/

Wasabi Headband: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575861508681/

Wasabi Shoes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575864586141/

Wasabi Towel: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575865273587/

Wasabi PJ Pants: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575865276189/

Honeygo

Honey Swimsuit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575862094698/

Honey Shoes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575863836843/

Honey Pajamas: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575855394248/

Gogo Shorts: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575864406748/

Gogo Shirt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575864063822/

Gogo Swimsuit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575865273659/

Gogo Shoes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575861509154/

Gogo Pajamas: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575865275977/

Fredashi

Fred Swimsuit/Shirt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575863605092/

Fred Tank (style, no graphic): https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575865273755/

Fred Shoes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575857517833/

Fred Pajama Pants: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575855320867/

Tadashi Swimsuit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575863951842/

Tadashi Shirt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575857523761/

Tadashi Shoes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AXHsUt6L6Ia9TNx9XVzR-MV76gYBTQG9VGW-ZM-T6A_G6e6spRBo-8g/

Tadashi Lounge Pants: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575861012227/

Tadashi FR Shirt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575857839840/

Hiro

Swimsuit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575865273895/

Shirt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575863693699/

Shoes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575862178104/

Pajamas: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/442830575865276173/

[littlesliceofmarvel]

Cuts and Confessions

Request/Synopsis: The reader and Bucky are good friends and one day, she overhears some Shield agents talking badly about her and Bucky comforts her, confessing his feelings in the process.

Warnings: some swearing, barely anything

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

A/N: So.... how beautiful is this gif? This man does things to me. As always, it’s not mine! xx 

“Ouch,” you winced as Tony applied more pressure to the cut on your cheek. You had gotten injured on the last day of the two week mission you were on with Tony, Steve, Bucky, Clint, and Wanda, and you were glad it was the last day because you were finally on your way back to HQ, where you could get medical attention.

“Quit being a drama queen,” Tony rolled his eyes at you, pouring a little bit of alcohol into the wound, making you grit your teeth and ball your hands into fists. You felt the sting throughout your entire body, so much that you could feel your toes tense up as well.

“Hey, here, hold my hand,” Bucky’s soft voice came from beside you, but you couldn’t open your eyes, feeling that squeezing them shut would help you deal with the pain better.

“No,” you groaned, “I’m going to leave bloody nail marks in your skin.”

Bucky chuckled, “No skin on this hand, doll.”

You felt his cold, metal fingers intertwine with your right hand, and you instantly relaxed, opening your eyes slightly to see Tony dabbing a wet cloth on your cheek, the pain lessening by the second. You felt your body relax instantly and even though you knew it was because of Bucky, you didn’t want to admit it. 

“It should be alright for now,” Tony said, throwing the cloth into a bucket, “Don’t smile until we land,” he threw you a wink, causing you to hold back a smile.

You thanked him silently, letting go of Bucky’s hand, but when you tried to pull your fingers away, he gave you a confused look, tightening his grip. You felt your face heat up and your heartbeat become irregular as you saw his expression change from confused to playful.

“I think you should hold on a little longer,” he smirked, “You know, for the pain.”

A laugh bubbled through your throat but you tried not to affect the cut on your cheek, so you simply nodded at him, a playful expression on your face as Steve smiled at the two of you. You had a thing for Bucky, there was no denying it. He was charming, extremely good looking, and ever since he got The Winter Soldier out of his head and joined the Avengers, the two of you had an instant connection. You were almost sure everyone knew about it, including him, but it didn’t seem to repel him, and that gave you a boost of confidence. 

The steady rumble of the Quinjet’s engine came to a halt as Clint landed smoothly, a couple of bumps on the landing strip nearly causing you to lose your balance. When you guys came to a stop, you and Bucky let go of each other’s hands and you stood up, grabbing your guns and putting them in your holster. You couldn’t wait to get this bodysuit off of you. You were thankful Tony designed it the way that he did, but it’s been two weeks. 

The back of the jet opened up and Fury stood there to greet you guys, hands behind his back and Agent Hill by his side. 

“Welcome back,” Fury nodded to the team as you guys stepped off the jet, approaching him with all the files you gathered while away, “Good work you guys.”

“We need to get her stitched up,” Tony nodded in your direction and Fury agreed when he saw your cheek, letting Helen Cho approach you and analyze it quickly.

“Come with me, Agent (Y/L/N),” Helen smiled at you, greeting the team quickly before leading you to the entrance of the med lab. You looked behind you and noticed Fury leading the team the other direction, Bucky looking at you as he flashed you a smile, turning back to the team. You smiled to yourself as Helen let you into the lab, leading you to a chair. She motioned for you to take a seat, which you did, and pulled up a tray of tools. 

“I’m just going to patch up the wound, it seems Stark already cleaned it out,” she smiled at you and you nodded, leaning your head back on the chair and closing your eyes. You were thankful for Tony Stark and his gigantic brain in times like this, because thanks to him, Helen could patch your wound shut without a single stitch, just a cell regenerator. 

You felt the cold sensation of the small machine on your face and the buzzing of the regeneration working on your skin. It stung slightly, but it was nothing compared to getting the wound itself. It lasted for about a minute, and when Helen pulled the machine away from your face, you felt yourself smiling.

“God bless Tony Stark,” you mumbled, bringing your fingers up to feel your face, noticing only a tiny scratch in the place of the wound, the skin still slightly sensitive. 

“I can’t do much about the bruising on your jaw,” Helen said, placing the machine back down on her tray, “But it’s nothing serious so I’m not worried.”

“Thank you so much,” you smiled at her kindly, standing up off of the chair, as she allowed you to leave.

“If you feel any discomfort in the skin, let me know,” she advised you before you stepped out the door. You weren’t familiar with this area of the building, having never really been to the medical lab on that many occasions. You followed the long hallway, a slight skip in your step when you thought about going back to your room at the compound, changing into sweats and a t-shirt, taking a shower, and finally getting to eat a proper meal. Right before you were about to turn a corner, you heard voices, none of which you recognized, mention your name. You stopped and leaned up against the wall, listening in.

“We heard Agent (Y/L/N) was the only one to get injured on the mission,” one voice said, and you could tell it was a female.

“Are you surprised?��� Another one said, also female. A feeling in your gut told you you weren’t about to enjoy this conversation, but you couldn’t pull away. You tried to make as little noise as possible as the voices seemed to retreat down the hallway slowly.

“Not really, I’m surprised Fury picked her for the team,” the first voice said with a small chuckle. 

The second voice laughed, “Right? Honestly, how do you manage to be the only one to get injured?”

It took everything in you not to snap around the corner and give the two women an earful. Sure, you were the only one to get injured on the team, but you saved Wanda and Bucky’s lives. One of the men you were stealing information from threw a knife at the two of them, who were facing away, and you jumped in front to take the blow, shooting at the man. The knife went through your cheek, getting stuck there before you pulled it out, Bucky’s head right behind you. It was instinctive, you were trained here to risk your life to protect your team, and you did. 

Your stomach felt like it had been tied in knots and you leaned your head against the wall, hating how these two women thought so little of you.

“Anyways, I’ve already got bets on when she’s going to be kicked off the team,” one of the two voices sassed. You weren’t able to tell which voice was which anymore, too bothered to differentiate these two. You heard their voices disappear with a slam of a door and you took that as your chance to speed walk down the hallway, wanting nothing more than to go to your room and get out of this. 

You opened the door at the end of the hallway and charged up the stairs to the third floor, where most of the residential rooms were, one for each member of the Avengers. You wanted to go home home, but tomorrow morning you had a briefing and didn’t feel like driving two hours tonight and two more to get back tomorrow morning, so you all decided it was best to stay here. 

“Woah, slow down, ninja,” a soft voice spoke up when you felt yourself run into a body. You glanced over and saw Natasha standing there, sweaty and panting. You could only assume she just came from training.

“Sorry, Nat,” you mumbled and walked down the hallway towards your room.

“Hey, hey, hold up,” she jogged up to you, “We haven’t seen each other in two weeks and you’re just going to brush me off like that?” She joked with a small smirk on her face, “What’s wrong?”

You groaned slightly, knowing you couldn’t hide anything from her. She was a spy, after all, but also your best friend. But right now, you didn’t feel like talking to anyone.

“Sorry, not in the mood, I want to go change,” you gave her a small smile and she nodded, respecting your space. You opened the door to your room and locked it behind you, throwing yourself down on the large queen-sized bed that sat next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. You took this as your chance to rid your body of your suit, removing the guns and weapons, placing them on the table, and throwing on your sweatpants and a large t-shirt. You plopped back down on the bed and almost jumped out of your skin when a loud knock came from the door.

You huffed and got out of bed, walking over to it and swinging it open, revealing a grinning Steve Rogers.

“Movie night tonight at 8, wanna join?” He asked, a hint of excitement in his voice. One of the biggest traditions that came with being an Avenger was movie night. You loved them, without a doubt, but it came to the point where you guys couldn’t decide what movies to watch anymore since you’ve practically seen them all together.

“Sure, I’ll be there,” you smiled and he gave you a thumbs up, taking off down the hallway to knock on Nat’s door. You laughed, closing the door behind him and looked over the clock, noticing it said 4:30. You decided taking a shower would feel amazing, so you went and did just that. After what was probably the most satisfying shower anyone has ever had, you decided to go get something to munch on. You still felt a sour feeling in your gut from before, but you tried your best to push past it.

You walked into the kitchen and got a whiff of something cheesy. You peered around the corner and noticed Bucky making a grilled cheese. Your stomach involuntarily gurgled, giving you away as the soldier turned around a smiled at you. Your heart did summersaults as his eyes lit up upon seeing you.

“Hungry?” He joked, “You can have this one.”

“No, no,” you smiled, “You can have it, I’m going to snack a bit before dinner.” He nodded at you and turned off the stove, putting the grilled cheese on a plate before turning to you.

He walked over to you and placed his right hand on your cheek, thumb tracing over your cut, his finger igniting a small trail of sparks in it’s path, making your breath hitch, 

“I can’t believe you put your face in front of an oncoming knife to save me,” he spoke softly, eyes raking your face, meeting your eyes. You could see so many different emotions flash through the icy blue - guilt, regret, awe, disbelief, and gratitude. 

The comments from earlier rung through your mind again and you pulled away from him, regretting it instantly when the warmth of his palm left your cheek.

“It’s fine, whatever,” you mumbled, turning to the fridge to get something to drink to ease the scratching feeling in your throat. Bucky immediately sensed a change in your tone and placed a firm hand on your forearm. Not enough to hurt you, but enough to cause you to turn around and scan the worried expression on his face.

“What - What’s wrong?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper. You felt a shiver go down your spine at how close the two of you were, and how intense his gaze was.

“It’s nothing, forget it,” you said, a little harsher than you intended, turning back to face the fridge, opening it up and grabbing a soft drink. You were surprised Fury even kept these in the kitchen, on the same floor as the team, but you were grateful that he let you guys do whatever you wanted.

“Hey, look at me,” Bucky said, a little more demanding this time, and you turned to face him, feeling guilty about the way you were talking to him, but you felt so humiliated and stupid. Of course, without doing what you did, Bucky would have been dead, but you couldn’t help but think that if you noticed the guy before he noticed you and done your job correctly, he wouldn’t have been able to attack. You were supposed to have their back.

“Stop asking about the cheek, I’m fine,” you sighed, sitting down on one of the bar stools around the kitchen, not wanting to meet Bucky’s eyes.

He twirled the bar seat around raised an eyebrow at you, a small smile on his face, “You can’t lie to me, (Y/N).”

You looked up at him and let out a deep breath, “I overheard some people talking about how clumsy I was, being the only one getting injured on this mission, and it’s true. I was supposed to keep an eye out while you and Wanda downloaded files, but I missed something and the next thing I know, a knife was being thrown at your head. If it had been a bullet, you’d be dead.”

You looked down, remembering the panic that flowed through your body when you saw the knife aimed towards him, not even thinking twice before jumping in front of him. Bucky placed his metal hand under your chin, forcing your face up, before looking right into your eyes.

“Look, if it was a bullet, I’d be dead, yeah,” he admitted and you felt your heart sink, “But look, you sacrificed yourself to save me, I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am. I’m sorry it had to be you, I want nothing more than to have you safe and untouched, and seeing that knife stuck in your face made me panic more than I thought I could’ve, but you didn’t do anything wrong. Ignore what those people were saying, you’re the toughest one on the team.”

Your breath hitched in your throat when he stepped closer to you and you instinctively spread your legs apart to let him stand between them.

“Please, please don’t doubt yourself, you amaze me,” he said softly, his eyes falling to your lips and you swore your heart stopped, “You always amaze me.” 

You wanted nothing more than to feel his lips on yours and to melt away any worries that you had about what happened, and that’s just what happened. Bucky’s hand made it’s way to the back of your neck and closed the space between you two, fireworks going off in your stomach, replacing any bad feelings you had before. He stood closer, your bodies almost flush, and you could feel his heartbeat against your chest. His lips felt perfect against yours, they were so soft and you could feel so many emotions being poured into this kiss. You ran your hand through his long hair, pulling it out of his face before pulling away, making him pout slightly.

“Well,” you took a deep breath, admiring his now slightly swollen lips, “If I had known that saving your life would have led to this, I might have done it a long time ago.”

He let out a small chuckle, “Believe me, I’ve been wanting to do that for months now.”

Your eyes widened, “What? Really?”

He nodded his head, “Oh, my god, yes. I’m crazy about you, it’s driving Steve insane, he keeps trying to get me to make a move on you.”

You laughed, a feeling of warmth running through you at his confession, realizing maybe this could be something. You had been captivated by this man for a long time, and you couldn’t express how happy you were right now, in his arms, your head against his chest as you listened to his heartbeat, realizing you both felt the same way about each other.

“Well, I guess it’s safe to say I’m crazy about you too,” you smirked, feeling so comfortable around him, all your previous worries going away.

“Oh, thank god,” Bucky mumbled, “Or else this would be extremely awkward.” He leaned in once again, capturing your lips in a loving kiss, the way his touch ignited your skin was driving you wild. His arms wrapped around your waist, colliding your bodies together once again.

“It’s movie night, really?!” Steve’s voice broke you two apart, both of your cheeks going slightly rosy when you looked over to the blond who had his eyes covered.

“We’ll finish this later,” Bucky whispered to you, moving his body away from you, his warmth disappearing as he walked over to Steve, who had a huge grin on his face. You stepped down from the stool and walked over the to the two, Bucky wrapped his arm around your waist, leading you to the couch to wait for the rest of the team.

You couldn’t contain your happiness and right now, the only reason your cheek hurt was because you were wearing the world’s biggest smile.

[dayseternal-blog]

A Hanahaki AU -

Summary: She knit a red scarf for him.  She never gave it to him.  Days turned into months, months turned into too late.

Naruto starts dating. Hinata decides to move on.

A sickness takes root in the heart.

Inspired by SasuSaku fanfic “Medicine” by @grimmjowkurosakidrake

Rating: Mature

Read Chapter 1: Smoke on her tongue

Read Chapter 2: He’s not a ghost

Read Chapter 3: Weeds

Read Chapter 4: Leave himself behind

Chapter 5: She’s always (still here)

The pale of her cheekbones, to the small of her chin, the deep rich of her lashes to the curve of her neck.  Every line of her figure flows soft, the change in her expressions drawing all feeling out of him, centering and settling about her.

She’s always looked like she was cut from the edges of clouds and morning light.  Her voice has always sounded of gentle humming as the village awakens.

So why does she make his chest tighten, his breath lock...?

When he still doesn’t reply, she takes a careful step closer, then another, until she sits down in the chair beside his bed.  His eyes never left her, watching her, and so she waits, even as her worry steadily grows with each passing, silent second.

Like the push of high tide, grains of longing expectations inexplicably build within him.  She’s here, just her, that guy is gone from beside her, and it’s just them.  

“You needed...to talk to me about something?”

And just with that, the tide recedes, farther, drier than before.  He’s reminded that she’s here because Sakura told her to come.  He wills the burning sensation at the base of his throat down, he breaks from his thoughtless staring.  He nods.

His silence is unsettling.  Why is he here in the hospital?  Why does he need to talk to her?  Is something really wrong with him?  Dread shortens her breath.  “What is it?”

He glances back at her and feels her light gaze focused entirely on him, overwhelming him, like his heart is liquifying, flooding his airway.  Just tell her, but...  Her countenance is too delicately fair, as beautiful as dreams rooted in him, and he’s awfully, terribly aware.  Now.  

He can’t go on if she never looks at him again.  

Sakura said he just needs to tell her, right?

She whispers uncertainly, “Why are you here?  Is there anything I can do to help?”  She studies him, notices every wavering flicker of light in his eyes, the furrow in his brow, the drawn up tension in his jaw and neck.  She’s never seen him like this before.

As if his very body is locking down his voice.

He can’t breathe.  

The weight in his chest grows and grows the more he tries to speak.  Tight pain twinges beneath his collarbone.

Just tell her, just tell her, just tell her.

But what if she turns away?  (Her expression refusing him, words unnecessary, she’s always spoken louder with her actions.)

There was a time, once, she said “I love you."  So long ago now, (maybe he’s too late now).  Too much, too late, if she really did love, (she already looked away).

He tries to swallow it down, he doesn’t want to be sick, he doesn’t want this feeling, he doesn’t want to be afraid, he doesn’t want her to see him like this, but it’s no use.  He turns over, desperately trying to hold everything back, but somehow the pain is so much worse.

He blinks back tears.  (He knew it, somehow, that she was special to him).

Large, fully bloomed lilies surge from his throat.  (Ever since back then, maybe even before, he knew she was supposed to be his something special.)

Sharp leaves scrape along his esophagus.  (He knew, but at the same time, somehow he didn’t know- didn’t- did nothing-)

“Naruto-kun!”

He struggles for breath as he feels her fingers firmly pressing chakra points along his back, neck, shoulders, chest.

She watches the shuddering of his body marginally lessen as she loosens chakra points and seals others.  The twisting of his chakra in his chest is violently thick, appearing almost astonishingly solid, with a web of chakra branching across his lungs, piercing throughout his body, up to his brain, down to the weakened fire in his core.  The color in the abnormal pathways is not quite right, its natural blue streaking a warped, flashing, blinding white and florescent green.  She sees the edges of the stalk in his chest fray, weaken, but not quick enough.  She pulses her own chakra into his, hoping to disrupt the connections.

She gasps, eyes widening even more at the unusual sight.  Knots of hard chakra peel and split apart, the numerous webs in his abdomen diffuse back into the main streams of his network, specks of white and green melding to a healthy blue in his system.  The thick branch in his respiratory tract thins into a peculiar string with feather-like extensions intricately stretching over his lungs, all rooted in a stubborn ball of chakra the size of a pebble in the base of his chest.

He takes a large breath, the sudden circulation of air shocking him from the momentary, though all-encompassing, warmth of her chakra.

“Naruto-kun!” she calls again, kneeling lower, trying to see his face.  “Naruto-kun, are you alright?”  She studies him for any discomfort and unseals the chakra points she closed.

“Yeah,” he manages to pant out.  He nods once, and realizes his mind suddenly feels clearer, too, as if a fog in his head dissipated.  Her chakra…?  He feels incredibly lighter, physically and mentally.  No longer sick to his stomach, the sense of impending doom he didn’t realize he felt now a distant, unfamiliar thought.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she breathes shakily.  She checks his system over, panic unsubsiding.

The pebble of chakra is growing.  The web throughout his chest gradually elongating, thickening.  She tracks the stretching ends of his illness, steadily piercing up his spinal cord.  It’s nowhere near the mess of threads that angrily knotted throughout his network from before, but over time…

“It’s getting worse again,” she whispers, shaking her head in disbelief.

And he can sense it, too.  Her focused attentions filling him with an indescribable self-consciousness, an anxiety that she can see more than just right through him.

She unthinkingly presses her fingers to the growing mass of chakra in his chest and floods the pressure point with her own energy.  She watches her chakra mix with his own, disrupting the vivid green coloring, the pebble flaring under her onslaught.  Immediately the roots and unnatural webs retract, returning to earlier.  But it’s somehow not enough.  The pebble still sticks inside him, rooted, strange.  Faint lines of chakra trace along his respiratory tract.  It all almost resembles a tree or plant.

She relaxes her sight and tries to gauge his expression on his downturned face, then notes a shine along his hand...from tears or saliva, she doesn’t know.

And she’s reminded that he was choking; something large was coming out of him.  She turns to the wastebasket, but he grabs at it.

“Don’t- don’t look.”  He’s breathing hard again, his chest heaving in panic against the metal.  He frantically pulls the plastic closed, its sour smell sealed within.  Somehow, for some reason, he can’t stand the idea of her seeing them.  The disgusting evidence of his wrongs.

She frowns, wills herself to look him in the eyes and hold his gaze.  He’s obviously ashamed, likely also embarrassed.  He’s always been too independent, too self-reliant to ask for help.  But he needs to know that he has nothing to be ashamed of in front of her.  “I can help manage your symptoms as much as possible while Sakura-chan finds a cure.”

He moves the basket to the other side, away from her.  “Hinata…”  Just her name is painfully warm.  Uncomfortably soothing like her chakra.  “That’s not-”

“I can easily track your illness, and so I’ll be able to effectively repress its growth whenever necessary,” she continues, intent on convincing him.  “I’m sure Sakura-chan is busy, that’s why she suggested me, right?  And I still haven’t used this year’s personal leave days.  I’ll do anything I can to help you, Naruto-kun.”  She pauses, realizing belatedly how she somehow can’t stop herself from showing him how much she still cares.  However now is not the time for her to regret her words.

Her sincerity leaves him speechless.  His senses numbing like when she first entered his room.  A yearning for more.

But she stands.

“I’ll go tell Sakura-chan that I can help.”

He straightens, instinctively trying to stop her from leaving.

“It’s okay,” she reassures, resisting self-consciousness.  Maybe he doesn’t want to use her... “Don’t feel bad,” for me.  

He’s left sitting there, watching her leave, wondering why he couldn’t stop her from misunderstanding, why he didn’t try to correct her.

Why he could hardly speak at all to her.  He’s hardly himself, hasn’t felt like himself in a long time.

His emotions feel haywire, like any little thing about her tips him off-balance into anxiety.

Practically fear.

Fear of…

Her chakra felt like a hit of bliss to his system.  So warm, so calming, a satisfaction and peace that simultaneously revitalized him for those few seconds.  He missed it as soon as she stopped. Sensed that he needed it.  Her.

Dread fills him, the weight not unbearable like before, but steadily, surely pooling within him.  This temporary period of relief, obviously thanks to her intervention, just further proof to him.  

He gets it now.  But he can barely acknowledge it.

It’s not going to be enough to just tell her.  Nowhere near enough, and that’s...that’s why he couldn’t do it.

*

She exhales, a long breath.

Yes, she was fine.

When it comes to him, she’s always been able to put everything else aside.  In truth, her unrequited love never used to be a problem for her, she never, never expected anything from him.

She’s not sure when that changed, when she started to truly hope...well, it doesn’t matter anyway.

She slides the door to the office open.

Sakura immediately looks up.  She stands abruptly.  “Did he tell you?”

“He didn't tell me about his illness, but I can help him,” she reports.  A determined resolve fills her.  She follows through on her promises.  And this is one she knows she will not fail.

Yet strangely, Sakura’s brows furrow, her mouth falling open in a silent exclamation, her entire expression asking a very confused, “Huh?”

Sakura’s reaction pulls her off-guard, but she realizes that she should report the information she found while using her kekkei genkai.  “His illness seems to respond well to chakra interruption.  I checked and could see his illness significantly receding whenever I shared chakra with him, but it doesn’t go away completely.  It starts growing back almost right away.  I can make sure to repress the worst of his illness until you find a cure.”  She steels herself for what she wants to ask.  “Can you tell me?  How bad is it?  I want to do my best to help him.”

But instead of answering, the medic-nin’s cheeks pull up in disbelief.  She shakes her head slightly as several thoughts apparently rush through her mind.  “Hold on a minute.”  Her voice almost sounds...upset.

Hinata doesn’t have time to question her as Sakura rushes past her and disappears down the hall.

*

He sits up quickly as the door pulls open, but it’s not who he expected.

Sakura’s eyes are wide, livid.  She pushes the door closed firmly.  “Why didn’t you tell her?!”  She marches up to him, her very stance demanding his obedience.

His mind flashes through everything he’s been figuring out.  It’s hard to put into words.  He shrugs, shaking his head.  “I couldn’t.”  He points at the trashcan, hoping that explains everything.

Sakura opens a drawer, pulls out a new bag.  Grabs his mess away for disposal elsewhere, undeterred by his stink body fluids.  “Do you want me to do it for you?”

“No!”

“Well I will if you don’t!”

“No, I don’t want you to do it!”  

“Why not?  All of this will be over the sooner you do it!”

“You don’t know that!  What if she hates it?”  He knows “hate” is a strong word, he’s almost certain Hinata would never “hate” anything, but that terrible doubt is still there, stronger than anything he’s ever felt before, an anxiety that he’s never had about anything before.  “Sakura-chan, if I tell her, and she...she…, I think it really will be over for me.”

Sakura calms, lips pinching into a sympathetic frown.  “Hinata wouldn’t hate it.”

“I know that.”  Logically, he knows.  “But she could still…” Reject me.  Itchiness crawls over him, stress grabbing at his muscles, the weight in his chest doubling, bearing down like he’s going to have a heart attack.

“She won’t.”

He squints at her.  It’s hard to focus, the pain in his chest, in his heart, aches, pinches acutely.

And Sakura stares back, her brows furrowing intensely.  She breathes out in a decided rush, eyes piercingly locked onto his.  “Hinata loves you.”

Jitters rush through him, expectations growing, hopes stretching higher.  Only to be slammed back down with an image of her with him.  Even if they broke up, that doesn’t mean… “She was just in a relationship with someone else.”

“And so were you,” Sakura points out, brow arched.

“But that’s because-!”  He stops.  It feels impossible.  He can’t tell her, after all, he was just in a relationship, too.  She wouldn’t believe him.  She wouldn’t accept him on principle.

“Look, I know how it sounds, but it’s the truth.  She was trying to get over you because you were dating Rumi.”  She pauses, frowning.  “Hinata will hate me for telling you that, but it’s really the truth, and you need to know it.  I think Hinata would forgive me if she knew you were going to die.”

She loves me?  It doesn’t sound real.  She still loves me?  Even after he dated--  “She doesn’t even know I broke up with her.”  It’s really all impossible.  Too many “if”s for a success rate.  He has no idea if Sakura’s telling the truth.  It sounds too incredible anyway.

“So tell her everything.  Or I will.”  Sakura stares at him until he nods.  “I’m going to bring her back in here.  I want this all cleared up by the end of today, Naruto!  Honestly, if you were in my position, you would see how simple this all really is.”

Is it that simple?  Does Hinata really love him?  Still?  For how long?  Why?  Really?  Is Sakura lying to make him feel better?

Sakura lets out a long sigh.  “Are you sure you don’t want me to tell her?  At least about your illness?  She was asking when I left her in my office.”

“No.”  He doesn’t want Hinata to know about any of this, he wishes this disease had nothing to do with her.  “Don’t tell her anything.”

“Then you really do need to tell her, Naruto.”

He feels like he’s been hearing that all day, all night, for a long time, even since before.  He’s been needing to talk to her, talk to someone, tell someone something, and he’s tired.

He’s so tired.

Exhausted.

*

When Sakura barged back into her office, she stepped right up to her.  Hinata was about to step back, but Sakura grabbed her hands, holding her in place.  “Hinata, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“You believe in Naruto, right?”

She nods, trying to follow along.

“No matter what he says today, you need to believe him, okay?”

“Oh-”

“Okay?” Sakura repeats.

She nods, anxiety rising.  “Okay.”

“He really needs you.”

Sakura’s words make her stomach flip, but she tries her best to ignore it.  “How bad is it?” she asks instead.

She shakes her head.  “Naruto doesn’t want me to tell you anything.”

“It’s that bad?” she whispers.  If Naruto doesn’t want her to know, then...

“The solution is easier than it seems.  But it’s up to Naruto.”

She tilts her head in a question.

Sakura doesn’t elaborate.  “It will work out.  Go to him, okay?  If you need to leave for any reason, let me know before you go.”

She nods, fear steadily rising.  There’s no reason she can think of that would possibly keep her from leaving now.  How bad is it?  It’s so bad that he doesn’t want her to know. She rushes to his room faster than any feelings of self-pity could possibly stop her, finds herself at his bedside much more easily than the first time, and hears herself asking her unanswered question once more.  “Tell me how bad it is, Naruto-kun.”

But her question hardly registers.  Suddenly, she’s before him, and he doesn’t feel tired at all.  She loves me?   It’s the only coherent thought he holds, staring at her again.  He feels himself falling into her gravity, his awareness of her hyper-sensitive, as if he can feel her presence pressing onto his skin without even touching her.  He looks away, unnerved.  “You broke up with-” that guy.  “...Susumu.”

She’s jarred away from her thoughts.  He already knew?  “Yes,” she murmurs, wondering why he should concern himself with that now of all times.  

“Why?”  And he’s looking at her again, this time, his gaze searching, and she feels compelled to be honest.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” she answers softly.

He tried to tell her so.  He knew it wouldn’t work out, but now he wonders how much of that judgment was colored by his own feelings.  “...Why?” he asks, unable to stop himself.  “Why did you try with him?”  Was she really trying to get over him by dating someone else?

“W-why?”  She blinks.  “Because he was nice, and…”  She’s told him this before, why is he asking again?  Now, of all times?  “Because he asked, and I...I was trying to-”  She doesn’t need to say it, Doesn’t he already understand?....from that time outside his apartment?...or does he really not know that...?  “I was trying to find love,” she explains quietly.

Her whispered words don’t give him any relief.  It’s sudden, the onslaught of questions that rises in him.  It’s overwhelming, how desperately he wishes to know every detail, how awfully aware he is of his own jealousy, how disgusted he is in himself.  He wants to repress his reactions, he wants to control himself, he wants to listen to the voice of reason he knows he still has.  Yet there’s no relief from any of it.  His emotions drag him under, and he struggles to deny them.

Why didn’t she--?  If I had asked first--?  Just anyone could--?  Because he was nice?  Because I was dating--?  If she loved me, then why didn’t she--?

She watches his glare, a rotten expression directed at the far wall, with increasing concern.  His prolonged periods of silence aren’t like him at all.  “Naruto-kun,” she calls, hoping to bring him out of his thoughts.  “I know I made a mistake, a really stupid mistake, but I’m doing fine.  It’s okay.”

Her calm voice aggravates his nerves, makes him feel sharply that even if she’s okay, he’s not okay.  He hasn’t been okay for a long time, and for her to brush everything off like it was just a...just a mistake?...somehow, it’s not fair…

“I wasn’t okay before,” she murmurs.  She notices how he’s watching, listening, with an intensity that makes her want to shy away, but she forces herself to continue.  If only to affirm herself.  In front of him. “I made a poor choice when I wasn’t ready.  I know that now.  But I’m learning from my mistakes, and now I know not to rush.  Otherwise I’ll hurt others.” She steadies herself under his stare.  “And myself.  But I’m doing better now.  Every day is better than the one before.”

He understands that if she’s fine, then he should be glad for that.  He thinks he knows how he should feel.  But his unjustified anger continues to simmer, bubbling over.  To put words to it would be wrong.  It would be wrong, and he tries to swallow it back, but he feels his temper flaring under his skin.  He doesn’t know if he wants to yell or cry, or just…

He feels sick.

The color in his cheeks flush red.  Then pale white.  She grabs his wrist and pushes her chakra into his skin.  She’s shocked by how quickly his illness reformed in the ten or fifteen minutes she was away, and how quickly the unnatural chakra pathways clear once more with her energy.  “Naruto-kun, are you alright?!”

It’s a wonder.  So close to what he wants, needs, desires.  Her chakra is a medicine that cleans him up, purifies his mind, and soothes all the pains in his body.  But even if she gave him all of her chakra, it would never be enough.

“Naruto-kun?” she repeats.  His blue eyes, usually so lively, appear dull now.  She’s never seen him look so tired.

“Sorry,” he mutters.

“No,” she negates quickly.

He breathes deeply, trying to calm himself, exhaustion settling bone-deep.  He buries his head in his arms, bent over his knees.  He stares at the white sheet, finally finding words to his frustration.  “What about me?”

She leans forward, unsure of his mumbling.

He shuts his eyes tightly.  His hands clench into fists.  He looks up and finds her eyes wide, surprised, at meeting his so suddenly.  “I broke up with Rumi.”  He watches her lashes lift, her eyes widen even more.  “I made a mistake.  I should have never dated her.  I tried to rush things.  I hurt her.  And now look at me.”

She holds his intense gaze, all feeling leaving her.  Like he pulled the floor from beneath her, her body suspended mid-air.  

“What if Naruto and Rumi-chan break up.  What would you do?”  

She doesn’t know.  She hasn’t known. Her mouth opens, she thinks to offer her condolences, I’m sorry to hear that.  After all, isn’t that what he wants from her?  Her listening ear, the endless patience she holds for him?

And she’s said that, before.  When he told her that he broke up with Kanae.  She latched down on her feelings and listened to him describe the situation with his new ex-girlfriend.

He shrugged and frowned.  He said he “didn’t get it.”  She nodded sympathetically.  She told him that if he wanted to talk about it more, she would listen.  He described Kanae and everything he didn’t understand, and she realized that though he was sad about breaking up, he wasn’t really sad about losing Kanae.  For a time, it gave her misguided hope.  She wanted him to see that she would be there for him.  A part of her wanted him to see her, but she didn’t want to take advantage of his wounded self-esteem.  She didn’t ask him out, she didn’t want to be another Kanae, another girl to date...she didn’t want to be just a friend either.

In the end, here, it seems like it was exactly that--he took her constant companionship for granted.

So she’s not sorry.  Naruto didn’t seem sorry to hear about her breakup.  Not for one second.  If anything, his questioning sounded like an “I told you so.”  

He not once supported her efforts, rather he seemed to actively try to discourage her.  Really it’s no wonder that it never worked out with Susumu.  If she had received Naruto’s support, even just once, she would’ve tried harder.  She wouldn’t have kept looking back at the boy she promised herself to move on from.

So she’s really not sorry, either.

It feels hotly wicked of her to even consider.  She knows she should feel sorry for Rumi.  She knows she should feel sorry for Naruto.  But she balls this rare, secret feeling up and holds it close.

And for how contemptible her disinterested feelings are, she can’t really find any fault with it.  After all, she just went through a breakup.  Is it really so wrong of her to not mourn his?

She looks directly into those eyes that used to unnerve her so easily.  His usual bright strength isn’t there.  Whether due to his breakup or his illness, she isn’t sure which is more at fault, but both at the same time would wear anyone out.  Even Naruto.  She understands... “I see you,” she replies.  “I’ve always seen you, Naruto-kun.”  She pauses there, just to feel the impact of her own words.  She keeps that hurt close, too.  It’s her own.  She takes a deep breath.  “I can’t offer you my sympathies this time, and I hope you understand.”  She gives him a small smile, pained.  “You know how I...felt about you, right?”

He stills, every small motion that she unconsciously tracks frozen.  She realizes he stopped breathing, that he’s waiting.

Her heartbeat slows, a dull thud, like time itself is pulling around this one moment.  If not sympathy, she can at least give him honesty.  Maybe if she had just confessed, laid her feelings bare a long time ago, been rejected outright, she wouldn’t still be hung up on him.  Maybe she owes this to herself, too.  Everything she’s held on to, she’s always wanted to give it to him.  Just finally let it go, even if she didn’t plan for this, even if the timing isn’t right or special for either of them, even if it won’t lead to anything, she might not get to hold his attention like this again in private before he moves on to the next girl.  “...You know that I loved you.  I still do.”  Tears shoot up unexpectedly, her throat thickens, and she swallows it down.  “And I know you don’t see me that way.  But I’m not perfect.  I’m still working through my feelings.  So I hope you understand that I can’t listen to you this time.  But I’ll always be your friend no matter what.”

She expects him to nod, at least, in reaction.

His shoulders rise, his face neither upset nor sad, instead rather blank, almost as if her words went through one ear and out the other.

For how focused he seemed before, she wonders if he was listening at all.

His jaw drops, his expression openly processing her words.  “You-”  His gaze centers on hers for a second.  Then enlarge, shuttering panic shocking his eyes, he turns away.

He’s burning.

“I still do.”--trembling words raging in a fever beneath his skin as he empties himself.  His stomach is tight, twisting, turning itself out.  His throat is on fire as he hacks out stiff stems, scratching leaves and long petals unfurling heavily into a soppy puddle soaking through the sheet into his lap.

Vaguely he hears Hinata’s panicked cries, more prominently he feels her soothing chakra seeping into the corners of his being.  A trickling, tickling sensation starting from his back, up his spine, running through him like the sun against his skin in the spring, hot, cold, hot, cold.  It spreads, he can see it behind the dark of his eyelids, glowing brighter, whiter, warmer, until he feels essentially himself.

There’s no question that it wasn’t a disease inside of him--it was a hollowness, an emptiness, that’s finally been filled.

He passed out.  His system is completely clear.  No knots, no webs, no stubborn balls of green and white chakra.

She ignores the pile of sticky lilies over his lower body, intent on watching his lungs expand and compress rhythmically, easily with breath.  From what she can tell, he appears to simply be sleeping.

A nurse ran in, then rushed back out to get Sakura.

Whenever her mind tries to make sense of Naruto’s behavior, she shakes it away to refocus on his physical health.

The rolling of the sliding door and footsteps alert her.

“How is he?!”  Sakura rushes up next to her, freezing at the sight and sickly sweet smell of the blooms over the blanket.

“He’s breathing regularly, his chakra system appears to be clear of the disease, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” she breathes out in a rush.  Although he seems completely undisturbed, the obviously unordinary lilies covering him baffles her to the point that she can’t even question it.  She’s never seen such a phenomenon, and it nags for her attention.  “After he threw up...um...the sickness seems to have disappeared.”

An audible breath leaves Sakura.  She wraps up the mess, tying the blanket together in the corners and dropping it into a waste bin.  Her glowing, green hands hover over his torso, then the pit of his stomach, then up to his forehead.  “He’s clear,” she declares. She lets out another sigh. This one of apparent relief.  “Now we just have to wait for him to wake up.”  She turns around to her, a gentle smile on. “So?”  She tilts her head in a question.  “He must have told you?”

It takes her a moment to focus on Sakura’s question, the sudden change in topics.  What about his vomit?  He’s really fine?  So suddenly?... She slowly nods, remembering how he told her that he broke up with Rumi.  “I tried...but...I couldn’t sympathize with him.”

Just like earlier, Sakura appears openly confused, biting down on her bottom lip, brows furrowing.  “What did you two talk about while I was out.”  An authoritative demand for information, not a question.

Hinata blinks, coming to the conclusion that she’s missing something.  The pieces are here before her--Naruto’s strange behavior, Sakura’s impatience, the mess of lilies, the fact that she was called to help Naruto--  “He, um, told me he broke up with Rumi-san.”

Sakura nods, urging her on.

“And then, then I told him that I couldn’t offer him any condolences.  Because I...I told him that I love him.”

Her green eyes widen, brows raising high enough that wrinkles form on her forehead.  “Hinata, you told him?”

She nods.  “I felt like I needed to tell him so that I can finally move on, and I didn’t know when I’d get another chance to say it.”

Sakura turns away and stares at the sleeping boy, chin pinching upward in a small frown.

“Sakura-chan, is Naruto-kun really okay now?  What’s going on?”

But Sakura just bites her lips and shakes her head.  “I really wish I could tell you, but I don’t have Naruto’s consent.  He should be fine now.  His vitals are normal.  Ask Naruto when he wakes up.”  She turns back to Hinata, a secretive smile now curling her lips and cheeks.  She opens a cabinet and spreads a new blanket over him.  Stretching her arms high above her head, she heads out of the room, little smile still on.  “I should’ve locked the two of you in a room a long time ago.”

“Wha-”

“Don’t leave without notifying me first!”  And Sakura shuts the door.

Unwilling to bother the busy medic any more than she already has, she huffs out her confusion in an agitated sigh.  She can only wait.  She glances back at Naruto, who’s peacefully sleeping, completely passed out.  

He probably won’t wake up for awhile if he exhausted his chakra.

She checks Naruto’s system once more.

All seems well, indeed, his core already burns stronger than before.

What happened?  One moment he was so sick.  The next, it was as if he threw up his disease, and Sakura hardly seemed surprised at all.  

And his reaction to her confession?  

He threw up in reaction?  Or was that just a coincidence of timing?

She frowns once more, brows furrowing.  She really chose a terrible time to confess.  Of all the times to confess again, she decided now, while he was obviously extremely sick in the hospital, was the time to do it, and he threw up right after, then passed out…

Maybe Naruto wasn’t ready to hear it directly from her, after his breakup, and the sudden confession literally shocked the sickness out of him in a pile of...flowers?

It’s too late now, useless to regret the complete lack of passion and meaning in her confession...Why lilies?

Maybe it was all for the best?  If that means he’s better now...Lilies?

There’s no making any sense of it.  She just has to wait for him to wake up.

So she fixes the corners of the blanket, smoothes it out across his body.

Then sits there.

Trying not to look at the golden shine of his lashes and brows.  Trying not to follow the strong line of his jaw to his neck.  Trying not to admire the birthmarks across his skin.

She closes her eyes, sits back, and lets the long morning seep out.

The chair next to his bed is empty.

He sits up and finds her, curled up in a more comfortable armchair against the wall, asleep.

She stayed with him.

She still loves him.

She really said that.

That same tickling, warm feeling rises to his face.  Hinata.  She loves him.  How deeply, how meaningfully, he doesn’t know, but it’s there.  Those words are still inside her, just like Sakura said they were.  That...love...is still there, for him.  She’s here, with him.  And he couldn’t tell it to her before, but now he can.  He can.

Whatever twisted him up before is gone.  That blockage of the mind, that physical confusion in his gut, that solid fear in his chest, gone.  The haze before his eyes, in his heart, in his memories, completely clear.

He hasn’t felt this good in ages.  Focused, capable, purposeful.

And Hinata...he’s been making her wait for...a long time.

“Hinata.”  He clears his throat, trying to find his voice.  “Hinata.”

She stirs, eyes scrunching for a second, flying open the next.  She startles upright.  “Naruto-kun.  You’re okay!”  A relieved smile lights away any dazed remnants of sleepiness.

She really still loves him.

It’s an incredible miracle.  He’s been making her wait, yet, somehow, he’s not too late.  And he doesn’t want to ever be too late.  With the beams of strong sunlight coming in through the window, a few hours passed while he recovered.  He doesn’t want to make her wait a minute more.  “Hinata, I love you.”

She doesn’t say anything.  Her smile hardly changes except for a slight raise of the brows.

He’s not sure if she even heard him.  “I love you.”  The words hold more meaning to him than anytime before.

She looks down at her lap, sorting through her sense of reality, that she’s truly awake.  She blinks, finding the smallest functioning of her body too detailed for a hallucination or dream.  She looks up again and finds his gaze intensifying.

“I love you, Hinata.”

She realizes he’s really saying that.  “Um.”  She looks at where Sakura disposed his mess.  Someone cleared it away while she slept.  “Um.”  Something is very wrong, but she can’t quite name her discomfort.  Somewhere between his disease and this confession, this doesn’t feel quite right.

Her response has him wishing he could pull off his monitor, get out of bed, and close the distance.  But that would set the alarm off.  And an interruption right now is not what he needs.  “I know you don’t believe me.”

Her eyes settle back on his.

“Hinata, I’m telling the truth.  Is that okay?  Can I love you?”

She studies his expression, searches for dishonesty or deceit...but everything about him is real.  Logic of circumstance tells her that this isn’t real at all.  “You..you mean it?”

“Yeah.”  He watches her move to the chair beside him, determination solidifying stronger with her now closer.  “I want to be with you.”

“Naruto-kun.”  Is this how he started dating Kanae and Rumi?  With sweet words any girl would want to hear?  She knows he would never mean to lie.  She knows he would never, never ever mean to hurt her.  But… “You’re not just saying that because I confessed?  Please, if you’re just saying that out of a feeling of indebtedness or sense of duty...”

Indebtedness?  Duty?  “No!”  He grimaces at the implication, that she would assume that of him-

“Or because you don’t want to make me feel bad-”

“No, Hinata!”  He fists the sheet in frustration.  “I mean it!  I love you.”  Not just to say it back, not just to fulfill his wants, not just to be nice or do “what he’s supposed to do.”

She quiets, still unsure.  She wants to believe him. Of course she wants to.  “I’m sorry, I’m just having a hard time understanding...with how sudden all of this is.  You were just very sick, and you weren’t well, and I, I don’t know why...why you’re saying this?  You just broke up with..with Rumi-san, and...”

Naruto averts his gaze.  He didn’t want to explain his disease to her.  It’s mortifyingly embarrassing.  He couldn’t control his emotions.  He was insanely jealous.  His body started attacking itself.  His power, his chakra, was making him sick.  “Hero of the Hidden Leaf.”  “Saviour of this World.”  All just words, but he never quite realized how seriously he took them.  His pride, his dignity…

If there is anyone he wanted to be cool for, it was always her.

But what is his pride if he fails her in this?... He nods, acknowledging her doubts, disbelief he already knew she would have.  “...You told me that you still love me.”  His heart burns at the memory.  His face heats up at voicing it aloud.  A giddiness clamors within him that he wants to revel in.  If she’ll let him.  “That healed me.”

Hinata’s expression squishes into the most confused he’s ever seen her.

And he knows he’ll need to explain more than that.  “My chakra illness was related to my emotions.  I couldn’t handle seeing you with that guy.”  He still can’t handle thinking about it.  He didn’t admit it to himself before, but now he clearly sees that he hates Susumu.  He hates that that guy was with Hinata, he hates that it wasn’t himself.  “I was really mad for a long time about it.  I couldn’t do anything, and I didn’t understand.  And I got sick because I was so messed up.”

She stares at him, his story processing.  He’s really saying all of this.  That he was jealous?  Because she was dating Susumu?  She thinks maybe she should feel pleased, but, “You got sick because of me?”

He pauses at her worried tone, her eyes widening in panic, in guilt.  “No, Hinata, no, it wasn’t because of you!”

She’s not at all convinced.  Because didn’t he just say that seeing her with Susumu made him messed up?

“How do I say this...I got sick because…”  He remembers Sakura telling him that he needed to express his feelings toward her.  He remembers realizing that just confessing to Hinata wouldn’t be enough.  From Hinata’s point of view, she would blame herself, but that wasn’t it.  “I got sick because I have this intense feeling for you.”  He blushes, finding that way more intimate to say aloud than he realized.  “And if I kept holding it in, it had nowhere to go.  I couldn’t talk to you or see you.  I couldn’t act on my feelings.  It made me feel empty.  So it wasn’t your fault.  It’s just that I...”  He bites his lip.  How many times has he said it by now?  And she won’t believe him?  Yet each time has been so freeing.  “...love you.”

She’s breathless.  It’s too much.  His sincere words, his shy expression.  And he loves her?  “Naruto-kun…” You really…?  Her hands come up, covering her mouth, her eyes.  She curls her fingers together just to find some grounding in herself.  She finds his watching gaze again.  She realizes he accepted her feelings, and she realizes that he really does want to be with her.  It’s unbelievable.  But she believes him.  “I love you.”  

Whispered words, but they’re loud enough to make his heart bear down.  “Yeah?”

“Mm.”  She nods, memorizing his lopsided smile.  “I do.”

He reaches his hand out, and she takes it unhesitatingly.

The warmth of his hand, only outmatched by the brightness of his blossoming smile, spreading across his features into something wonderful.  She’s seen it before.  Last year, on his birthday. It’s not new, it’s been there, between them, and she felt it back then, too.

So she didn’t imagine it?

She blinks rapidly, willing back the heat behind her eyes.  “Naruto-kun…”

“Hinata?” he answers, only to realize that she didn’t call for his attention.

She’s gazing at him with so much...so much...it makes him feel antsy, impatience clambering beneath his skin, a need to do more, more, more, yet all he can do is hold her hand tighter.

He needs to get out of this damn hospital.  “I...can’t do much here.  I need to get cleaned up.  And I need to catch up on mission hours.  But I swear that I’ll start proving it to you as soon as I get out of here.”  

She shakes her head.  He really does seem better.  Remarkably so.  But he doesn’t need to prove anything to her.  “You need to rest.”  

He sits up straighter, vehemently shaking his head.  “No, no, you have no idea, Hinata.  I’ve been resting for almost a month.”  Just the thought of lying around any longer makes him feel like vomiting.  Metaphorically.  He pulls the monitor off from under his shirt.

The red light starts flashing, ringing.

“Naruto-kun!”

“I’m done here,” he explains.  He climbs out of bed, looks at her, and smiles.

So she stands, too amazed to be the focus of that warmth to argue, and follows him out.

He’s smiling at her, his eyes so bright and alive, just like before.

Like before, a year ago, when they’d pass each other in the village, and he’d stop to talk to her.  Or before, when they’d eat ramen, sitting with friends, or with just each other.  

He’s warm.  He’s inviting.  He’s easy.

He loves me?

“You can’t leave, yet!!”  A scolding voice.  A nurse, hands spread wide open before Naruto’s shoulders, stopping him.  “Haruno-san may have said you can be discharged soon, but you didn’t receive your final official screening!  Now turn around!  Get back in there!  Go!  Go!”  The nurse is shooing him back into his room much to his complaints.

And she makes to follow him back in.

But left in the hallway with his back to her, with his muted voice within the walls of the room, she takes pause.

He...loves me?

That’s what he said just a minute ago.  That’s what he said… He said he broke up with Rumi.  That he never loved her.  He said that he was sick.  That he hated seeing her with Susumu.  That he was jealous...and he was sick.  Until she told him that she loves him.  

It sounds untrue.

But Naruto doesn’t tell cruel lies.  He’s always been straightforward, someone to tell things the way he sees them.

He’s also always seen things in his own way.  Worked things out on his own time.  And she supposes this could be such a case?

So what makes her not believe him?

It’s just…  She doesn’t know if it’s the suddenness of it all, or if she...just...can’t trust it.  And why.  Why can’t she trust his words?  She used to think, after all, that they had something special.  And here Naruto is, telling her that what she thought was right.  They...do?...have something special…?...

She stares at the floor, emotions of joy, confusion, and worry jostling for space.

Sakura told her to believe him.  No matter what he says today.  And she knows now that this is what Sakura was waiting for her to hear all morning.

It really is too good to be true.  She’ll wake up soon, all of this a fever dream.  Maybe she passed out in front of Neji’s grave.  Maybe she’s living in a genjutsu.  The God Tree grew back.  She knows she’s being ridiculous, but this whole situation has felt ridiculous since she woke-

“I thought maybe you left!”

She looks up from the floor, looks directly at him, and his anxiety settles just that quickly.  When she didn’t follow him back into his room, he thought maybe she went home, maybe she changed her mind, maybe she didn’t want him anymore...but, he can breathe.  She's not looking away.  She's not pushing past him.  She's not ignoring him.

He can breathe.  She’s still here.

[howrry]

ice

a/n: finally! i’m settled into skool lyfe and bella is back in business bitch (we love alliteration) here is that full fic of ice i’ve been hinting at :~)

w/c: 4.2k

warnings: this fic has an age gap of about 4 years and one of the characters is an older teenager! this is totally legal where i’m from but if it’s not where you are or it makes you uncomfortable then maybe don’t read this? also smut

***

Waiting for that one Facetime was like watching a huge pot of water boil. It was cliché, but you were running out of mundane things to do since you’d gotten home from uni. Seriously—laundry, reorganizing your soulless childhood room, even fully unpacking despite having weeks to get comfortable. Of course, as soon as you came back, you had your reunion with your parents and other family, but you hadn’t quite reached the seeing-friends phase of coming home.

At least, not until that lovely ringtone hummed through your room and you pounced on the bed, swiping on Gemma’s beautiful face. “Babe!” you cried.

“Hush,” she joked, crunching on a red apple on her side of the screen. You could hear her turn down the volume by clicking the buttons on her phone.

“Are you ready for me, then?” you asked, bouncing up and down on your tippy toes.

“No, don’t want to see you,” she crunched again, “just wanted to call to see how your mum’s doing. Of course I’m ready, twit!”

“Watch your language!” you chastised. “But I’ll be over in a New York minute.”

Getting ready was a rush—at this point you were just ready to get down the street. You shoved your feet into your Birks and grabbed your phone and keys, and once you’d padded down the stairs, your parents merely got a “be at Gem’s, later!” before you slammed the door.

When you got there, it was Harry who greeted you. You’d knocked and waited, since their house was always locked anyways. He threw the door open so fast that his cross necklace was still swinging when he rested his head on his forearm propped up on the doorframe. “Sorry, we don’t want any Girl Scout cookies,” he joked, smirking around his own jab.

“Ha ha ha,” you sarcastically bit. “Move it, Fisher-Price, I’m here for your sister.”

“I had a great semester, thank yeh for askin’,” he smiled, moving back and letting you in. “What about y’self?”

“It was productive, actually. Good to see you again, H,” you responded congenially. Ahh, the smell of your friend’s home was so nostalgic and inviting. It was fall all year round with the pumpkin in the living room, vanilla in the foyer, pine needles upstairs…

“Likewise,” he winked just before you went upstairs to your friend’s room.

Harry had always been a little charmer. Anne raised him to be very polite and he was naturally entertaining despite his introverted tendencies, but he’d always been Gemma’s annoying little brother to you. He always tried to butt into your hangouts with her, as far back as when he was four and you were eight and he wanted to play outside with you two, up to when he was 15 and you were 19 and he tried to buy beer from Gemma.

But soon, things changed. Harry got taller and his voice dropped and his skin got clear, and suddenly he wasn’t just the annoying little brother anymore. He was almost an adult, and he certainly developed a way with girls. The first time you went to see Gem and Harry had a girl over, something you couldn’t describe churned in your stomach. There’s no way Harry didn’t notice the way you cut your eyes when you initially saw her.

Ever since then, he just took a different light in your eyes. Going to Gemma’s house suddenly had double the benefits since you were seeing your best friend and her stupid hot little brother. If she left you alone for any period of time, you’d do anything to get Harry’s attention. He would chat with this amused smirk, one hand in his pocket and the other fiddling with his cross necklace, as if he knew you were subtly pining.

It was honestly kind of pathetic. He was still in high school, and you were in the home stretch of university. You had a potential hook-up pool that was at least five times the size of his and a much better selection, yet you were yearning for a guy who can’t even buy his own cigarettes.

But you didn’t care, and obviously Harry didn’t either. He humored your goofy flirting and gave it right back to you. For the most part, it was just harmless compliments and light schoolyard jabs and never escalated past that, until, well, it did.

You were going to go to brunch with Gemma that day. She’d gotten a part-time job as a photographer’s intern downtown that year, and invited you to try a new café with her. It was the perfect excuse to wear that flowy Free People dress you got, so you agreed.

While getting ready, Gemma called you in a panic. “Y/N! I forgot my wallet on my vanity at home,” she breathed. “Do you mind getting it before coming over?”

“Not a problem,” you hummed, checking your lipstick.

“Thanks, love. My mum left the front door unlocked when she got in this morning so just make yourself at home looking for it. See you soon!” Gemma blew a kiss into the phone before hanging up.

Her front door was open, just like she warned, and you hopped up the stairs to her room. Unfortunately, Gemma was more of the messy type, so finding her wallet was no easy task. Her vanity was covered in makeup and hair care bottles and papers from the previous semester. Where the hell could the wallet possibly be?

“Looking for somethin’?” Harry asked, leaning on the door frame with a Coke can in hand.

You looked up, pushing the hair that had fallen in your face to the side. “Need your sister’s wallet. It’s brunch time.”

“Ooh, bring me back a ricotta toast,” he ordered, reaching into Gemma’s Louis purse hanging by her door and pulling out her black wallet.

“You’d be lucky if I brought back a napkin,” you sneered, taking the wallet from him and going to shove past him.

He blocked your exit and held a hand up to your shoulder. “Wait, doll. Your earring is twisted backwards.” The hand that stopped you trailed up to softly ghost across your face and fix your earring, which must have gotten tangled in your wild goose chase.

Fuck, he was close. You could hear the soft breaths fanning out from his nostrils, his almost disinterested gaze slowly morphing into his classic smirk, and hand not leaving your skin in a timely fashion. His piercing green eyes rendered you stupidly frozen.

And the tension snapped. Within minutes he had you out of your dress and was fucking you into Gemma’s floral duvet. Everything was happening so fast; you didn’t even stop to think about how wrong it was. The feel of his teeth dragging across your neck and the stretch of his cock inside you were really the only things on your mind at that point.

It was rough and quick and dirty (and quite possibly the hottest thing you’ve ever done) but by the time you two were adjusting yourselves and catching your breath, you were twenty minutes late to lunch. You blamed it on traffic and Gemma didn’t care to push it.

So that’s how it started. It wasn’t anything exclusive, it wasn’t intimate, and it certainly wasn’t something you talked about outside of the bedroom. “The bedroom” being figurative, of course, since Harry and you liked to get it on whenever you had the chance. It wasn’t weird if you ended up bent over a washing machine or on your knees in front of him pressed up against the wall in a hallway.

When you thought about it, like reallypondered in a hot shower, you knew it was fucked up to be doing what you’re doing. It’s not like it was illegal—you just felt like you were betraying Gemma. You were closer to her than anyone else in the world and you were sneaking around with her brother.

He didn’t make it fair, though. He was so poised and smooth and fucked like he wasn’t still in AP Physics. The way he bantered with not only you but his sister and mother was definitely more witty than most boys his age. It only made sense to let him rearrange your guts.

So you had a bit of an internal dilemma. Frankly, if your little affair is well kept from Gemma, it shouldn’t be a problem at all. So you thought.

***

“So, do you have lice or something?” Gemma asked, raising an eyebrow from behind her magazine. The two of you had finally settled into winter break time and were taking turns spending at each other’s houses. Today, it was girls’ night at the Styles’ home.

You froze, one hand ruthlessly digging in your hair. “What? No. There’s just a wicked knot in my hair and I can’t get it out.” It was in the most unfortunate location on the back of your scalp, and your fingers could make no sense of the mat of hair.

“Do you need some help?” she offered, setting down her literature.

You reared back even though she was sitting at her desk across the room. “Gross, you just painted your nails! No thanks. Besides, I think I’m getting it.”

She shrugged and blew on her soft blue nails. “Whatever. I’m getting a yogurt.”

“I want one too,” you hummed, sliding off her comfortable duvet and gently pulling out a few strands of broken hair. A tiny plopaccompanied your feet on the rug and you spun in confusion. The noise was too soft to be a phone, but you still checked that yours was in your pocket. Barely visible in the fibers of the shag rug rested a solid black metallic ring. It was Harry’s.

You stared at it in horror. The ring had been in your goddamn hair. Earlier that day you’d given Harry a blowjob that left him slack-jawed and pink-cheeked and his hands had been so tangled up in your hair that your hair stole his ring. Which just fell out onto the floor in Gemma’s room.

“Is that Harry’s ring?” she hissed, gaze locking on the ring standing out from the white rug.

Oh no. Oh fuck oh fuck fuck fuck—

“He’s such a twat. Why does he leave his jewelry everywhere? You could’ve stepped on that!” she continued, reaching down to pick it up. “I’m gonna throw it in the trash.”

When she moved to her trash bin, your eyes widened and you squealed a “don’t!” That ring was really nice and you knew Harry would be devastated if she threw it out.

Gemma turned slowly. “Why?”

Your mind raced to think of a good excuse. “Because, if you throw out a ring he wears all the time, he’ll throw out something of yours that youcherish.” You gestured towards her vanity where the Tiffany box sat. She’d just bought herself a necklace for doing so well on her exams and you knew that Harry would retaliate with it.

Your best friend eyed the necklace and then the ring in her fingers. “You’re right,” she finally agreed. You let out a huge breath—there was always the risk of being too weird about Harry and blowing your own cover, but once Gemma ducked into her brother’s room and pinged Harry’s back with the ring, you knew the cover was totally intact.

***

God, you didn’t want to party. The break ended next week and soon it’d be books and schedules and debt again. Who could be shotgunning 4Lokos at a time like this?! Plus, none of the bars were open this day of the week so the only option was a freakin’ house party. What uni students over the age of 21 go to house parties?

But Gemma wanted to, and what she wants, she gets. Though you loved her tenacious attitude at times, all you cared about right now was taking off your revealing top and climbing into bed.

You nursed on straight Coke in the kitchen and absentmindedly watched Gemma go hard. You trusted her and vice versa; she knew her limits but still could have a really, really good time. The men of the party were in awe as she threw back tequila and slapped the bag right after, and even the inside of yourmouth was feeling withered just watching her.

“Hey, there,” you heard from off to the side. You casually lulled your head over to see a shockingly attractive guy. He had thick, dark hair with a sprinkling of light brown freckles on the bridge of his nose.

“Hi. You lost?” you joked, moving to make room on the upholstered bench next to you, where the mystery man joined you.

“Not anymore.” Mm. The faint scent of alcoholic breath wafted to your face but this stranger was keeping his composure quite well. “I’m Russell.”

“Y/N, pleasure,” you hummed, shaking his hand.

He started chatting you up, but to be fair, it was in one ear and out the other. He was clearly throwing words to the wind, and not even his good looks or nice cologne could draw your attention. It wasn’t like Harry, who could entice you with conversations about chopped liver if he so wanted to.

Ahh, Harry. You wondered what he was up to right now. He was probably at a party himself, drinking watery beer and flirting with any bird with eyelash extensions that gave him attention. God, why were you getting so jealous of him? You certainly didn’t owe him any loyalty and neither did he. In fact, if you so desired, you could go out and get laid right now and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it!

Your attention drifted back to the cute boy next to you. Somehow, as Russell droned on about his recent physics prof, you started to see Harry in his features. Certainly not in anything coming out of his mouth, but the curls that flopped down into his face were just like H’s after he’s played footy all day. Russell’s hands had prominent veins on them, just like Harry’s hands when they were grabbing at your skin and smacking your ass. Even the way he toyed with his bottom lip while thinking aloud.

Though H was really the last person you wanted on your mind right now, all these physical thoughts were making Russell more and more attractive by the minute. He wasn’t Harry, but maybe he could be Great Value Harry. You reciprocated his flirty chatter and got touchy with him, and things quickly devolved into kissing in the corner of the kitchen you two occupied.

Things were happening surprisingly fast for how sober you were. You went upstairs with him, you made out with him on a random bed, you undressed each other, and before you knew it he was rolling on a condom and pushing himself into you.

It wasn’t necessarily that it was bad sex. Russell had soft lips that kissed your neck as he thrusted and he certainly wasn’t small, but it didn’t really blow you out of the water. Your toes didn’t curl and your eyes didn’t roll back into your skull. He even lasted a decent amount of time, but once you made your mind up about not getting an O, you kinda just wanted it to end.

Once it did, he got busy falling asleep and you tried to not take it personally (c’mon, it’s pretty taxing for a guy to cum). You tugged your clothes back on and went out to look for Gemma, and of course she was upstairs as well, throwing up into a bathroom trashcan.

“Hey, Gem, how you feel?” you asked, rubbing at her back and tucking your hair behind your ears.

“Better now that this is out of me. Wanna go home?” she mumbled, sighing and wistfully staring at the toilet that she was seconds from making it into.

“Yep. C’mon, I’ll call an Uber,” you said to no one, hoisting a lackadaisical Gemma onto your shoulder and out of the house.

Once home, getting Gemma situated was the most difficult part. Her mother worked late and Harry was probably out, but even without the chance of running into one of her family members, she was still heavy. Her choice to not use her legs at all certainly didn’t do you any favors, either.

When the front door opened and the familiar smell of her abode hit Gemma’s nose, she perked up. It became minimally easier to hoist her up the stairs and into her bed. You did your best to scrub at the makeup that had lasted through her dancing and puking without waking her, but she was so tired and lulled to sleep by her drinks that an earthquake wouldn’t make her stir for at least eight hours. You nodded at the unopened cheap water on her nightstand, reminding yourself to get her a reusable bottle.

Your work was done. Gemma was snoring smoothly within minutes with a clean face and a drink waiting for her in the morning. You got laid, even though you were completely sober, it wasn’t exactly a great dick review, and you’re a 21-year-old who got fucked at a house party. Maybe it was just time to go home and accept the night for… whatever it was. You padded downstairs softly despite the minor coma your best friend was in. Common courtesy, you supposed.

Thump.

Face first into a chest. It was totally dark in the house and you definitely didn’t expect there to be a solid torso in Gemma’s living room for you to bump into. A sharp gasp filled your lungs and the figure reached behind and clicked the lamp on. Harry, of course.

“Jesus Christ, you scared the hell out of me,” you breathed, slapping a hand to your chest.

“It’s my house,” he grumbled. As your eyes adjusted to the light, you saw his puffy eyes and messy hair and wrinkled clothes. He’d been sleeping.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you? I thought you’d be out.” Just seeing him in such a soft state made your lower belly swirl.

He shook his head a bit. “What are y’doing here?”

“Went to a party with Gem. She got too wild so I put her to bed,” you bluntly explained.

Harry pursed his lips, crossing his arms and eyeing you focusedly. “Did you have a good time?”

“No,” you answered quickly, because you didn’t. “I didn’t drink and I had to take care of Gemma and I fucked someone.” That last part fell out of your mouth before you had a chance to think twice.

There were a few beats of a heavy silence and you wondered if you made a mistake. “Did they fuck you good, baby?” he finally asked, no emotion inflecting his words.

You couldn’t have been less prepared for that response. “No,” you whimpered, face getting hot at his critical stare.

“Oh, doll, they couldn’t fuck yeh like I can, huh?” His voice was pure sex—every response he had to you threw you off more than the last. Everything he said just floated off his tongue and danced into the room and onto whosever’s ears they were around.

“No, they couldn’t,” you choked out. You felt like your throat was closing. “No one fucks me like you do and I can’t understand it. I shouldn’t be seeing you because it’s so wrong but...” God, shut up shut up shut up. Your word vomit amused Harry beyond belief. The smug look on his face was making you feel even smaller than his height already did.

“Oh, I know what you’re sayin’, doll,” he laughed. “You wanna do the right thing by m’sister but yeh just can’t. Deep down y’know you’ll always come back to me, hmm?” Harry took a step towards you, and you completely froze. You thought that he was about to bend down and kiss you but he surprised you yet again by snapping a hand up and gripping it around your neck. “I own you, y’hear me?”

You nodded, or at least the best you could with his vice grip on you. Every breath you tried to take stopped short in the back of your throat, and it almost felt like your feet were about to lift off the ground. Your own hands flew up to claw at Harry’s hand before his grip finally softened. A thick gasp sucked in and your legs threatened to not support your body, but he grabbed at you and steadied you. His fingers grazed your quivering lips. “Who’s mouth is this?” he asked, intently staring.

“Yours,” it came out as a whisper. Normally he’d be much meaner and wouldn’t accept such a quiet response, but he was feeling generous, apparently. He leaned down and kissed you, sucking in on your bottom lip and biting the red flesh.

The two of you made your way down to the couch, such that you were straddling Harry and he was cupping at your ass. Your hair kept falling in your faces, but he didn’t care and continued to kiss you and grab at your throat.

He took a break and leaned back on the couch, taking his time to lazily cup at the soft skin behind your thighs. “Mmm, and who’s ass is this?” When you breathed out another “yours” he smacked it audibly. “Goddamn right, pet.”

He didn’t take your shirt off, nor any of his clothes. He lifted you just enough for you to tug your shorts and panties down, and for him to pull his leaking cock out of his dark sweats. You tried to tease for a moment, grinding your bare center against him, but he put a stop to that. “Do I even have t’ask if this is mine?” he growled, assertively cupping your cunt with his big hand. You shook your head and he smirked, guiding his tip up and down your slit.

“Nope, because I know it’s mine,” he whispered, letting you slip his whole length inside your wet pussy. He shoved his hands up the back of your shirt, dragging his nails down the soft skin. Once you’d bottomed out and you were desperately grinding your clit against his pubic bone, he put a hand flat on your chest. “Lean back and ride me, pet.”

You obeyed to the best of your ability. You put your hands behind you on his knees and shifted your weight back, allowing him to fully watch himself disappear into you. The coarse, dark curls at the base of his member lightly stimulated your clit on the downstrokes, making you helplessly whimper while you fucked yourself on him.

“Are yeh sure you fucked someone?” he grunted. “So fuckin’ tight, I just don’t believe it.” His fingers snaked down and played around with your clit, which undoubtedly threw off your bouncing. Your hips begged to stay down and enjoy the circles he was tracing over your button, but he wouldn’t let you. His free hand went to your hip, just above where it bent into your thigh, and guided you to start moving again. “Uh-uh. Keep ridin’ me, love. I know yeh can keep a rhythm, hmm?”

So you kept riding. The pressure of his tip ghosting around your G-spot combined with him stimulating your clit was making it difficult to stay quiet. Sure, Gem was asleep, but she wasn’t dead, and if you made a ridiculous amount of noise, she’d definitely investigate.

“Gonna cum, aren’t yeh?” he asked, and fuck, he was right. That knot was already starting to form in your lower belly.. “I can tell. Yeh gonna let go, all over m’cock? Gonna make a mess fo’ me?”

His words caused you to spill over, and you were no longer able to hold yourself up leaning back. He was very forgiving of this, and let you grab at his shoulders while riding out your high. Once you’d stopped shaking and panting into his neck, he thrusted his hips up into you once, twice, three times and came inside of you with a grunt and some more nail-digging, this time into your thighs.

And then it was silent. You meekly got off of him and shakily pulled your shorts back up. You two quietly redressed, Harry nearly dead from his draining orgasm and you weak in the legs from your sexual workout. The only noise was the scratch of fabric on fabric and your shared heavy breathing. Finally, when you were gathering your things to leave, Harry spoke in his sultry, hoarse voice.

“I like when you come around,” he smiled, and you immediately returned it. It didn’t seem like much, but this was Harry’s way of expressing affection. Regardless of how good he was in bed or how witty and charming he came off, he was still a goofy teenage boy who had trouble talking about his emotions.

A little giggle came out of your nostrils. “Thanks, Haz.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, hmm?” he asked, pinning that unconfident noise at the end despite knowing you’d be back. He was already relaxing, crossing his arms behind his head and lazily eyeing you scramble towards the front door.

“Yeah,” you dreamily affirmed, giving a quick wave to Harry (which he goofily returned) and floating out the front door. “Tomorrow,” you said to the empty street in front of you, toying with your car keys in your hands.

[talesofsonicasura]

Stone and Dove

Hello folks and happy pride month! I was scanning through my Google Docs and had forgotten I written this story...or that it was perfectly suited for this particular monthly event.

My first story doing Male X Male pairing! This tale involves my first PlayStation 4 Game Knack and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Particularly, a Jojo OC on my @sonicasura account, Jodari Jonah so check that out when you can! No information about Knack is required! The story will explain some of it.

They say the dove is a symbol of rebirth. For when one life passes, it is reborn anew in a different form. A clean slate just like a pure white dove. Yet, sometimes, rebirth can be a chance to fix something before it could be broken. And to connect two hearts of two different worlds.

Doctor's Laboratory

"I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known. Don't know where it goes. But it's home to me and I walk alone. I walk this empty street on the boulevard of broken dreams. Where the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I walk alone." A voice sang through the halls, rough, slightly rugged but rich with smoothness, balance of husk and baritone.

Walking the halls of the facility belonging to one Doctor Vargas, world renowned inventor for his research on relic fueled devices, was a strange man. He was bulky which was balanced by his frightening height of 7'4. Curly, messy black hair tied at the back with a large white bow of sorts resembling broken wings, one side with an aqua green stripe and the other a bubbly blue.

Heterochromatic eyes with the right blue and the left a verdant green but a line going down the optic starting from the eyelid to the bottom. A bisected line birthmark at the center of his face even going down his nose and lips. He wore a mismatched long coat, the right half a pure white with no sleeve revealing his ripen with muscle arm, black pocket, and featherlike ends, the left being pure black with a long sleeve, white pocket and flat end.

A gray shirt with a large V neck revealing large abs, hot rod leather pants and black boots. The biggest oddity was the nails of his right arm, they were of a stone. The ones on his left were normal as he was carrying what looked like a liquor bottle, which he was currently downing the contents merrily.

He was baffling as he walked through the humble abode like halls unaware of being on camera. The unknown man was wandering in a battle site, while the people on the other side of the glass walls were just baffled. "Um… Doctor, is he another one of your assistants?" "Who is he?" That guy wasn't in the meeting! I'm sure as hell would remember someone dressed like that! Is he literally singing Green Day while drinking vodka?!"

One of the onlookers, a large slightly portly man with a gray frohawk paired with a goatee, chocolate brown eyes and wore a white lab coat was more attentive on the stranger's hand. This man was Doctor Vargas himself, owner of this very facility. "His nails… they are pure red relics! Astounding." The man said while examining the stranger.

Mechanical clanking had the stranger look up from his bottle. Standing at the end of the hall were white and black humanoid robots with red visors for eyes but also wielding swords made out of pure plasma. Doctor Vargas quickly ran to his control console for the robots. "Oh no! I got to shut down before that young man ends up getting hurt!" Vargas exclaimed, ready to pull down the lever.

The lever controlled the battle site which would shut off both robots and obstacles meant for his greatest creation to power through, not an innocent human. Three words was the only thing that stopped him. "Don't underestimate me." Followed by the loud screech of shredding metal. His eyes widened upon the sight before him.

The robot that was ready to slice the stranger in half was laying on the ground. A large hole in its chest dripping out what looked to be alcohol from the damaged circuits. The man had the bottle of alcohol pointing at where the machine once stood, fizz foaming from the entrance of the vodka. "Wow! He...just busted a hole through the robot with a shot of alcohol!!!?"

It wasn't a lie either. Vargas had rewinded the footage on the small monitor of the control panel to the moment before his robot was shot. The stranger pointed the bottle of liquor before yellow electricity began to crackle around his hand. Next thing that happened was a small bullet of the liquor shot sparking with this same energy but it was also spinning!

The spinning orb tearing a hole through the metal circuitry by compressing it with pure rotation into the liquid itself. Sure enough, there was a little ball of metal at the center of the whole, circuits, wiring and liquor compressed into the tiny marble sized orb. "Black Hole Overdrive." Were the words that left the odd man's lips.

Black Hole Overdrive… Vargas didn't know how the young man manipulated the liquid to perform such a feat but it proved the stranger was very skilled if this was an actual technique. "A golem made out of relics?" The stranger said looking at the oddity that greeted him from down the hallway.

This oddity was a humanoid made out of pure relics. Ones acting as the main body were light tan to mimic skin color but also position to form the main body: tipless cone and flat cylinder for the head, cube relics stacked together to form arms, legs, hands and rounder ones to mimic muscles, the gold forming the gumdrop nose, large tusks, small teeth, tips of the ears, and joints from the sphere and triangular pieces located in the shoulder, knee, thigh and ankle areas. Red stone relics forming small wild hair, claws, front and back toes, even fuzz around the chin and on the arms and legs.

The main piece was the large dark gold orb at the center with an aqua blue core. From the two oval obsidian eyes and the red rectangular pieces forming the squinting eyebrows, it was clear the 5'11 golem was surprised by the stranger's appearance. "For something so strange, you are really adorable." The odd man said while giving the subject of his attention a subtle wink.

Vargas, who noticed the wink, almost burst out laughing from seeing Knack, the golem he created jaw nearly dropping to the floor. "This must be a battle site designed for you? Oh dear, looks like I ended up getting lost. Can you please escort me to the exit? I'll follow behind you without any interference." The odd raven asked politely.

Knack merely nodded to the man's request. The relic bound golem could easily protect the stranger from the Doctor's test drones. "Thank you. You're such a gentleman. My name is Jodari, Jodari Jonah. Time to move out, Red~" Knack's core immediately heated up by the raven Jodari's subtle greeting.

Jodari Jonah wasn't exactly normal was a simple thing for everyone to understand. The odd man sidestepped and easily avoided every obstacle that was designated for his golem escort. Leaping across electrified panels in a single step, walking past fast blowing vents undeterred and even dodging the attacks of various machines while drinking from his vodka bottle.

He kept his word of not interfering with Knack's progress while the golem ran the deadly gauntlet. Honestly, Knack was impressed on just how agile this human male was. The raven's presence was bizarrely soothing to him. Sunbathing on the beach or listening to the sound of nature type of soothing.

It didn't take long to go through the last obstacle and escort Jodari back to the human officials alongside the Doctor. One of the women, the chairwoman easily recognized by her well kept silver hair stepped up. "Most impressive Doctor. You call it 'Knack' is that right?" She asked.

A husky, smooth and a touch rough male voice joined in the banter. "Actually, I call myself Knack." Came from the golem, Knack sounding awfully cheeky. "So your name is Knack? Cute, suits a cheeky fellow like ya. 'Knack' for mischief, huh?" Jodari said, voice filled with merry. 'Is he really flirting with a being made of living stone?!' Being the thought of every guest in the facility. "Young man, how did you even get into this meeting?" Heterochromatic eyes bore into the woman as she flinched.

"Goblins didn't just destroy a high tech military base, miss Chairman. They flattened my village first as a mere test run." Any rebound died from Jodari's words. "My dear god. I'm so sorry." Vargas said only for the raven to wave him off. Jodari taking a swig of his liquor before pulling something out of his pocket.

"Don't apologize. You didn't do the deed, Doctor Vargas. For why I'm here is simple. I came to deliver schematics on the few weapons I stole from them bastards but I want to join the expedition." The young man said, handing the man a few pieces of paper. These pages detailed a few weapons from a blaster, mechanized spear and even a small tank.

"And how did you get these schematics?" Questioned a tan skinned man with combed brown hair, trimmed beard, brown eyes and expensive purple suit. "From their corpses, Viktor. Sketched down every single detail of the spoils once I put them in the dirt. Got a problem?" Jodari towering over the man with a heavy glare.

"You wish to join the expedition? Heh. All I see is a drunkard and as for Knack, he seems a little too delicate to me." Viktor said, walking back with nonchalance. "What are you getting at, Viktor?" Vargas questioned eyeing the billionaire industrialist with suspicion. "I brought a few security robots with me. If Knack can get by those, then he'll have a place on the expedition. Jonah can try too."

The golem in question walking up to one of the bots in question. It was cycloptic and humanoid from the built silver armor over the black exoskeleton. "Huh!" Knack barked, the robot flinching in defense from the hostility. Jodari let out a bark of laughter before downing the remaining liquor in his bottle. The raven immediately crushed the bottle with his bare hands before tossing a shard into the eye of Viktor's guard bot.

The shard spinning in velocity before drilling a hole through the green optic and back out hitting the wall behind it. Metal crashed onto the floor as the machine fell dead. Knack inspecting the damage and glass shard in awe. The golem let out a whistle in admiration. "Like that big red~? Call it the Drill Technique. A bit of rotation can turn even a fragile piece of glass into a drill capable of piercing tank armor." Jodari said, grinning at the stone ginger.

"Nice. Hope you can teach me later. Now let's take this to the garden, there's a bit more room. Would you like another escort, Jodari, so you won't get lost?" Knack asked the raven offering his hand. "You are such a gentleman! I would love an escort, Knack!" The odd raven said taking the golem's hand, but after giving him a teasing smack to the ass.

'So bold!!!' Everyone who just witnessed the scene couldn't help but think. Knack's chest orb was scorching hot after the smack. They thought the man was merely poor ass drunk after downing an entire bottle of pure Vodka but to Vargas and to some extent Knack, Jodari was as sober as if he was drinking water. No flush cheeks or slurs, the man was bold and had a thing for gingers. Male gingers because no one knew that Jodari Jonah, was a purely gay male.

The golem and odd man were alone at the moment. Their trial would be held through the maze-like garden, a maze that will soon be littered with machines belonging to Viktor. "Hey Jodari, are those nails of yours pure relics? My chest orb has been picking up on some for a while." Knack asked, the raven looking at said object of attention.

"Yep. I think I was born with them? I honestly don't remember anything past 5 months ago when pops found me, naked and no name." Jodari responded nonchalantly. "You have amnesia? I'm sorry for bringing that up." The relic golem was flustered from being carelessly rude. The raven merely waved it off.

"Oh don't frown, Red~! You didn't know, plus my amnesia never really bothered me. Why focus on the past when you have a future in front of ya? Pops did tell a nice 'wive's tale' once. He said that the nails of your right hand matches the one of your Soulmate. If you don't know, a Soulmate is the person you meant to bond with for eternity. A 'true spiritual marriage' to be appropriate." The golem's jaw dropped immediately.

"M-m-m-arriage?! Soulmate?! NO WAY CAN I BE YOUR SOULMATE! I'M NOT EVEN HUMAN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Knack would continue if Jodari didn't put a finger to the golem's mouth, lips if you count the gold area around the opening of the two stone pieces that make up his head.

"Species doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't even care if my significant other was a goblin. Plus, even if you aren't my soulmate, you are a sweet gentleman and whoever gets ya is very lucky. Handsome face, your ears are cute, the nose makes ya adorable, and the teeth and claws just add the perfect amount of fierce to the incredible mix. Plus, I love strong gingers." Knack felt like his orb was going to explode from this sudden new emotion, felt like deep admiration but way different.

"Thank you. You look nice too. I, uh, like your eyes, they're pretty. And your bow is very nice, Jojo." It was Jodari's turn to slightly blush. "Jojo?" He asked, refusing to stutter like a schoolgirl. The raven wanted to put Knack through the hardcore school of flirting. Nicknames was step one.

"I took the first Jo of your name and put it together with the second one. Hence, Jojo, I figure you didn't want me to continue calling you Jodari since this... Soulmate thing." The redhead explained with sincerity. "How sweet~ You may call me Jojo then, Red. So Knack, before everyone else arrives, why don't we get to know each other's abilities first? Teamwork is a good key to winning battles." That the golem could easily agree on.

It wasn't much longer to reach their destination or everyone to arrive in order to spectate. The two males were starting to see why they seemed likely paired from that wive's tale. Their abilities were very similar. While Knack could channel Sunstone, Jodari had Hamon.

Hamon was a breathing technique that allowed someone to use their lungs to create an energy akin to sunlight, which was what Sunstones were, crystalized sunlight. With Hamon, he can supercharge any water like elements or good conductors like metal to unleash powerful and devastating attacks.

Knack could manipulate his parts to a large extent, shrinking by removing his parts, form a barrier around him, and even expel in a spray fashion or large clusters. Jodari had Spin, a technique that uses the state of perfect or near perfect rotation to produce energy with a lot of applications.

He could bound this energy to any object and fire them with destructive properties. It was how he could make that glass shard drill right through Viktor's robot that easily. Sphere shaped objects can produce more energy than any other one.

Jodari had one more ability but he wouldn't say anything about it. 'If we have cars thrown at us here, then I won't mind showing my ace in the hole in front of everyone.' Was the raven's response while blowing a kiss at the golem. It just made Knack really curious on what this hidden ace was but he wouldn't press on it.

The duo's goal was simple, defeat all the robots while making their way to the end. Apparently the industrialist had two different types of his guard robots which Jodari personally dubbed Goliaths. The thin human size versions which would wield rods, toss boxes or punch at them from what he glimpsed while he was lost in the lab.

He only saw one of the large models which reminded him of a walking fridge. They were very bulky from what the raven could glance, but it wouldn't make Jodari drop his guard carelessly. Apparently it was two bots from the first category that were their first opponents. One had no weapons while the other held a large black bat cops often used.

"Hey Knack, I'll take care of the stick on the machine. Will you be kind to deal with the other one?" Jodari asked before taking something out of his pocket. It was red plastic yoyo with a star on each side, the string was pure metal wire from the golem saw. "You got it." Knack said before reading himself for combat.

The rod wielding robot was the first to attack, leaping at Jodari with the intent of caving his skull in. With a flick of his wrist, Jodari launched the toy part of yoyo at the offender. The string wrapping around the rod tightly and with a gentle tug, sliced the black metal to pieces. "Hup!" And the raven delivered a spin kick to the machine, his right leg glowing a bright yellow aura.

"Shining Sunlight Overdrive!" Jodari's kick sending the robot flying back, his Hamon frying its circuits upon contact. "Raah!" Knack roared lunging forward at his respective opponent. His left arm reared back and claws open for a swipe. The bare handed Goliath went to respond for a punch, but Knack was quicker.

The golem quickly moved the relics of his body to the other side of his opponent's attack, then he brought down his claws on the machine's side. Metal tearing to shreds from red ancient stone piercing its surface, yet he wasn't done. His left arm which was cocked back into a fist upon reforming, Knack delivered a brutal punch to the same place.

The added pressure of his attack to the robot's damaged side was enough to tear it completely in half. Both halves crumpling onto the ground lifeless. "Nice job. Come on, Red~ Let's wreak some true havoc." Jodari said before rolling down his yoyo. He was performing the 'Walk the Dog' trick as they continued onward.

In all his life, Viktor had never felt so humiliated. He had gotten everything he ever wanted without a fuss. The best business dealer in robotics, from advanced airships to robots capable of eliminating any threat. Immense wealth and rich heritage from his noble lineage. But yet…

Here he was, watching his robots getting destroyed. Torn to pieces by the Doctor's pet project and a drunken man fighting with a damn yoyo! A child's plaything was smashing through thousands of dollars of advanced circuitry! However he couldn't deny that, they had his interest.

It was the man that interested him the most between the two. Jodari Jonah, he seemed capable of manipulating pure Sunstone energy without a care in the world. It was an easy feat as Sunstone energy was the same as electricity, conducting would end up in pure electrocution. However the odd man didn't seem affected. He needed more information.

"Black Hole Overdrive!" Jodari tossed a handful of water from his hand at the robot across the stream. Apparently the machines decided to use a blocked off path to chuck empty crates at the checkered pair. Despite it being cheap, it was a good tactic he had to admit. However the crunching sound of metal being compacted into a small marble was enough to explain the results.

Or the large cluster sunstone charged relics that decapitated the other opponent. The head landing in the water separating them with a nice splash. Taking a few steps back after reclaiming his parts, Knack leapt over the guards rail to the other side. "Woohoo!" As Jodari followed the golem with a large jump. The raven easily made it across the opposite rail while Knack grabbed onto the wall.

"Here you go!" Jodari said, helping Knack over the rail. "Thanks." The golem thanked, earning a smile from the young man. Following Knack since he knew the way, the duo encountered three more robots. Only one had a weapon which was another baton rod. Not so hard for the two males to destroy.

"Vibrant Drill Overdrive!" Jodari spun his yoyo into the chest with a bare fisted robot. The toy being charged with Hamon and a mixture transformed it into a spiral drill. This drill tore through the circuitry and metal plating with ease. He wasn't finished though. The yoyo ran a loop around the dead machine through the hole in its chest before effectively wrapping around. "Clutch!"

Jodari then turned at Knack. The relic golem was busy fighting the mechanical staff user but was unaware of the other robot to strike him in the back. "Crimson Revenge Overdrive!" Yelled the raven haired male before tossing the lifeless robotic shell at its former comrade. Mechanical junk began to spiral in vicious red into makeshift top, drilling into Knack's sneak attacker much to the golem's surprise.

"Be careful Red~ You're enemies won't play fair and square. Rather not have my new friend get hurt." Jodari responded softly with a small flirtatious tone. Knack merely gave him a smile and a thumbs up. Cheering could be heard from outside the garden. Apparently the Doctor's guests were enjoying watching the two gladiators wipe out their opponents in style.

Jodari wasn't just enjoying the destruction but he was enjoying the show the golem was putting. Seeing the golem bulk up with relics to increase his size was an incredible sight. He wouldn't lie that he liked guys who were bigger than him. After all, they give the best hugs and cuddles. And Jodari was just ready to give the now 9'7 golem a big ol' hug.

It wasn't long to reach the car lot. The car lot was the halfway point to the end of the garden. Knack had already trashed the robot there with a nice drop kick to the face. However, it seemed a bit too easy for the raven's liking. His suspicion was answered when two of those walking fridge Goliaths he spotted jump down in front of them.

Their hands were way too big to be a normal function, or the fact they were eyeing the cars parked here. "Son of a bitch! Guess I have no choice. Yo Knack, get behind me. I rather not accidentally hit you." Jodari warned. The golem was about to question the raven only to notice how different he seemed.

His eyes were hardened instead of the carefree brightness he saw earlier. A bright reddish violet aura burning around him. Knack didn't question Jodari's words and walked behind the man. "Everyone's got a fighting spirit. Some are weak while some are strong. However, for those whose spirit burns than the sun, it can take a physical form." The raven started.

Raising his right hand to his head and clutched it with his claws. A mad grin tearing across his face as the aura around him exploded in a large burning haze. "The Star! The 17th card of the Tarot Deck's Major Arcana. It symbolizes hope, optitism, and faith for those it blesses and despair to those who oppose it!"

"Take form, the spirit that burns brightly from my starlit soul! Roar to the heavens and show the light that survived absolute disaster! This is my true power! Behold my Stand: Star Platinum Ruin!!!" With a raise of his left hand to the sky, the world around Jodari exploded in a blast of light as a pillar of light shot skyward.

No one expected what would happen next. The violet aura around Jodari separated from bed taking an actual physical form. This aura soon took the shape as what you can describe as an ancient Aztec warrior. Skin a bright violet with a lavender inner tone across his large bulky frame decorated by golden wavy lines spanning down the chest, arms and legs.

Large mane of smoky black hair that waved constantly as if it was pure fire. Bright burning blue eye, a white loincloth but the biggest focal point was what the rest of his body and clothing were made of. They were crafted from pure relics and Sunstones. The left eye was black oval stone amongst the remaining white, ears were just like Knack's but attached to the head, two large gold tusks on the side of his plump lips, red string stone eyebrows paired with a gold circlet and a blue jewel to it but another on his forehead.

Gold and blue jewel necklace that made up part of the neck, two triangular blue jewels on the upper top of his abs, shoulder pads made of pure flat carved Sunstone with red and violet spikes jagged out of it, the center of the arms made out of block stone and gold relics, the outer sides having small wings made out of 6 purple, gold and red relic pieces before ending with yellow Sunstone knife like shards.

Right hand a full trapezoid tan relic with claws made out of red, violet and small gold pieces, left hand fingernails made out of red relics with a gold studded black fingerless glove. A kilt made out of jagged purple and red relics with pieces on the back floating separately, knees made out of tan and gold relics with an aquamarine jewel in the center, floating red back spikes, gold trapezoid shaped feet with three purple and red front claws and one back claw.

The spirit or Star Platinum was large, almost as big as Knack but a foot shorter but the golem could feel it. Immense power pouring from this entity but also some sort of connection. Almost if he was part of Knack himself. Then the entity spoke or to be precise, roared.

"OOORRRRAAAAAAA!!!!!" Star Platinum Ruin howled voice sounding like a mixture of both Knack and Jodari with a bit of static like distortion to it. Feeling threatened, both robots went to grab a car. Too bad they didn't realize how fast this new being was. One second, the left Goliath was fine, then the next it had a large hole in it with Star's arm through it. Knack pitied the second robot for what happened next.

"ORAORAORAORAORA!!" Came an onslaught of punches from the Stand. The bulky machine was form to pieces with every brutal punch, metal scraps flying everywhere until the machine dropped dead. The Goliath was reduced to nothing but few pieces of scrap metal. "Ora!" Star roared in triumph.

"Holy shit." Was all Knack could say at the sight. Jodari and his Stand looked at Knack, the raven had a smile while the hybrid had a look of curiosity on his face. "Come on, Red~ We still have halfway to go. Star Platinum Ruin will be fighting in my place for the rest. Wouldn't be fair to pull him back just for two robots, right, Star?" Jodari said looking at the spirit in question.

"Ora!" The purple goliath chirped with a nod. He seemed very pleased from the odd man's consideration. Regaining his voice from the huge surprise, the golem finally spoke. "Sure. You got it partner. I'll do my best to help out." Knack answered, earning a smile from Jodari.

Making it to the end of the garden wasn't hard with the inclusion of Star Platinum Ruin. The Stand, Knack believes is what Jodari called him, was insanely powerful. Star was fast, tearing apart Viktor's machines left and right with either his fists or claws. Not even one of Viktor's mechanical menaces could so much as touch much less hurt the violet skinned berserker.

He was kind to leave enemies for Knack to fight on his own while keeping the rest from sneak attacking him. Jodari was being his odd self… taking out a flask of alcohol (where did he even get that Knack would never know) and chugging it down while singing Camptown Races.

Finding the end of the garden didn't really take long. The key mark to it is the stone statue of a beautiful woman. A memorial crafted by the Doctor for someone he cared about the most but lost a long time ago. Knack had grown around 13 ft in size at the moment before looking at his strange human companion.

Jodari had stopped singing and drinking. The man merely looked at the statue with honest empathy before walking up to it, Star Platinum Ruin following. The raven stood in front of it before closing his eyes and placing his hands together, Star following suit. Knack knew what he was doing, Jodari was giving a silent prayer, a respect to the fallen.

It was a sincere and beautiful moment, however it became one that would soon rot. One of Viktor's robots had emerged in the garden and aimed its gun at them. It started shooting medium balls of green plasma with no hesitation. Quick to act, Knack ran over to Jodari and pulled him out of the way. A stray shot hitting the base of the statue.

Looks of horror spread on both the Doctor and Jodari, a loud cry of 'No' echoing from outside the garden. A cry came out of Jodari's throat, a phrase Knack didn't recognize. "Za Warudo Riwaindo(The World Rewind/Rewind The World)!!!" Everything around them suddenly greyed out before everything just stopped in place.

Yet, Knack, Star Platinum and Jodari were unaffected. Jodari was immediately shocked at what was going on but Star didn't seem to be. It's almost if the Stand knew...no he was doing this. Next thing other of them knew, their bodies began moving to previous positions, alongside everything else. 'We're...going back in time!!!' The golem thought in pure astonishment.

They then found themselves in their previous spots, 30 seconds before Viktor's robot appeared and attacked. Knack was stunned beyond belief but immediately shook it off hearing the familiar hum of circuitry. Without a thought, the golem spun around and delivered a Falcon Punch into the robot that would've attacked in the past.

The fist decapitating the attacker while it's head went flying to the opposite side of the garden. Jodari spun onto his feet looking up to see more of the drones, ready to drop down on them from the sky. Aiming the small flask of liquor and giving Star three metal ball droppings. "Blackhole Overdrive!!" A shot of spiralling alcohol came out of the flask like a rocket.

Star Platinum Ruin flicked one of the metal droppings with his finger, the item went airborne at the speed of a bullet despite the little movement used. The liquor shot tearing through the chest plate of one Goliath while the metal ball pulverized the head of the other. Both bodies of lifeless dropping down to the ground with a heavy thud.

Two more Goliaths, both with installed cannons came flying from the garden over to their current spot. This was the last wave of machines. "One more push, Star Platinum Ruin! Time to shine bright as the stars above! Knack!" The golem looked at the raven. "Toss me into the air!" Knack looked at Jodari for a moment before nodding.

Picking up the raven, Knack threw Jodari right at the two airborne machines. "Raise your graceful wings, my precious star!" The relic wings on the Stand's arms immediately spread forth, Sunstone energy began to channel between the pieces. What came from it was a large glowing pair of golden Phoenix Wings.

"Saki Spiral!" Channeling Spin into his flask, the raven sent it forward, Star Platinum following by tossing the two remaining metal bearings. The clear liquid created multiple spirals of Saki in two groups from the bearings that grew in the air and with a spark of Jodari's Hamon, they ignited into twin tunnels of fire. Star Platinum Ruin grabbed onto Jodari's arms as the young man shifted into a kicking position with a quickly growing rotation, the Stand sinking into his body with the wings now spread across his host's body.

"Ultimate Technique: Rising Phoenix Overdrive!!!" Jodari roared, now an angelic drill fire and burning rings, with all his might. The raven drilled through the robot in his range and tore a massive hole into it, however it wasn't what finished the machines off. The spirals of fire he created had grown in a viciously large vortex as they travelled, swallowing the remaining robots within its maw.

Using the wings of his Stand, the amnesiac raven descended down like an angel that flew out of battle in triumph, a large explosion of golden fire exploding in the sky. He stood up as the rest of his Stand dissipated before looking at Knack, with the biggest grin on his face. "That was a blast! Looks like we're in!" Knack couldn't help but laugh.

This adventure was going to be very interesting and very bizarre.

This is Knack if you haven't seen him.

[flightfoot]

We’re the Same Chapter 4

Thanks to @mini-minou for betaing, and @dfcfanfics and draxynnic for helping with brainstorming the fight scene!

AO3/FFN

Disclaimer:  This is a Lovesquare fic, with Identity Reveal, Hawkmoth Reveal, and Hawkmoth Defeat. It is NOT a salt fic.

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Marinette quickly scanned her surroundings. There wasn’t much. There was a door they could try to open, maybe regroup, but if Robin had locked it they were sunk. That would still make a good Plan A – bolt through the door, regroup, find supplies and maybe try to fashion a trap of some sort, or even get to Master Fu so they could use other Miraculous – but she needed a Plan B as well.

As her eyes darted to the side, she caught a glimpse of Adrien’s tense expression.

NOPE.

SHE COULD NOT THINK ABOUT HIM RIGHT NOW.

Not with how she’d been snuggling into his chest and he’d been holding her and he was also Chat Noir which meant he loved her back and the soft looks her kitty had given her and-

NO. BAD MARINETTE. THINK ABOUT ADRICHAT LOVE REVELATIONS LATER, CONCENTRATE ON GETTING MIRACULOUS BACK NOW.

Seriously, what was up with Robin?! If he really WAS Robin. At this point she had her doubts. Robin was supposed to be a good guy, and knocking out and kidnapping her and Adri- (CHAT, think of him as Chat, she knew how to function with Chat Noir, she couldn’t afford to get all flustered and clumsy now- ) –Chat, kidnapping her and Chat didn’t exactly scream ‘I’m a good guy you can totally trust’.

Maybe the Robin Lucky Charm hadn’t been a sign that she needed Robin, but a warning to look out for him? She thought she remembered him talking about having important information for them, but she’d been so out of it at the time, she could easily be imagining it.

Whatever, she’d figure it out later. If he was an enemy, they had to take him down and get the Miraculous back. If he was an ally (and if he was she was going to have a TALK with him about how to make friends) then they still needed to take him down and get the Miraculous back, since it was probably part of some stupid test. Either way, her path was clear.

At least they probably didn’t have to worry about him killing or injuring them too badly. If he wanted to do that, he could’ve done it while they were sleeping. Which meant that he probably WASN’T an enemy, because he didn’t have much to gain by doing this if he was.

She was SO yelling at him later if this was a test.

First, time to try the door. She darted over towards it, keeping one eye on Robin. He looked on, appearing bored. He didn’t move.

On the one hand, that was good. He wasn’t attacking right away. Maybe he was waiting for them to get their bearings? It increased in the odds that this was a test and that he probably wouldn’t try to hurt them too much or misuse the Miraculouses.

On the other hand him looking bored meant that he probably didn’t expect her to be successful and- yep, door was locked. If Chat was transformed, that wouldn’t be a problem. But if Chat was transformed, that would solve half the problem in the first place.

No use thinking about “what ifs” – she needed to deal with the here and now.

Ok, so she was limited to what was on the rooftop. What did she have?

Hm… no purse. That limited her options. All she had were the clothes she had on, and she imagined that Adrien was the same way.

On the rooftop itself, there were some bits of trash and debris. Let’s see – some stray candy wrappers, snack bags, plastic bags, some loose metal pipes and screws, probably left over from some sort of construction.

She could work with this. Nothing insanely complicated and convoluted, but she didn’t have time for her usual convoluted plans. Especially since she couldn’t communicate privately.

She darted over to the debris, handing the metal pipe to Chat. “Fight him as best you can, follow my lead,” she whispered.

He nodded. “Always, Milady.”

She blushed. DAMMIT Chat, did he have to look at her with those adoring eyes while unmasked? She’d been able to handle it while he was transformed, she’d gotten used to it from him and whenever those looks got to her, she’d been able to remind herself that she was in love with Adrien.

Knowing that Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person? Seeing those looks from Adrien? He was going to kill her. R.I.P. Marinette, she had a good run. Found dead on a random rooftop at age 14, still red from blushing.

Though… he’d ALWAYS had special looks for her. Chat had his adoring look at Ladybug, but as Adrien he’d often given her that soft look, the one that Alya pointed out in videos and photos of them – the one he’d given her when she’d fallen in love with him all those months ago.

Maybe Adrien hadn’t been in love with Marinette romantically – or hadn’t realized it at least – but he loved her, regardless of the combination of masked and unmasked.

She was beginning to realize that she did as well.

She shook her head. DAMMIT Ladybug, FOCUS! Love life later, battle now!

Chat rushed at Robin, pipe in hand. Hopefully he’d be able to keep Robin occupied, at least for a few seconds.

She snatched up a plastic bag, making sure her back was turned to Robin so he couldn’t see what she was doing, and tucked it into her sleeve. The only thing she had going for her was the element of surprise. She had to make it count.

She edged closer to where Adrien was fighting Robin. Though “fighting” might be a misnomer. Robin wasn’t making any moves towards Adrien. He wasn’t even trying to get away. He just dodged Adrien’s attacks, looking faintly bored.

It kept him occupied. That was good enough.

Robin’s eyes followed her, seemingly curious, but he made no move towards her either.

Not good. The element of surprise was all she had. She couldn’t really regain it now, not by herself.

Luckily she didn’t have to.

Long months of akuma battles had attuned Chat and Ladybug to each other’s movements. She knew her partner and he knew her. She didn’t have time to relay her plan to Chat.

She didn’t have to.

In one fluid movement she pulled the bag from her sleeve, unfurling it quickly. Simultaneously Adrien moved to the side, leaving her opposite himself with Robin in-between them. He aggressively swung the pipe at Robin’s midsection, forcing him to step backwards towards Marinette.

She brought down the bag over Robin’s head. Adrien dropped his makeshift weapon, lunging for Robin’s closed fist.

Just as Adrien made contact with his hand, Robin jumped back, actively putting distance between himself and Adrien for the first time in the fight.

“ENOUGH!”

Adrien and Marinette paused.

Robin shook his head, dislodging the plastic bag.

He narrowed his eyes. “If I’d been fighting back, you’d both have been dead in seconds. The two of you have little sense of self-preservation and no idea how to keep yourself from being injured in a serious fight.”

A smile slowly spread over his face. He turned to face Adrien. “Still… while it was obvious that you were used to battling with a lighter weapon – or at least with enhanced strength so it SEEMS lighter – your technique was passable, taking that into account.”

“As for you Marinette, using the plastic bag to obscure my vision wouldn’t have worked. I can fight blind if I have to. There’s a reason why my costume has a hood when no other Robin’s did – I can afford it. Even if a foe pulls it over my head to blindfold me, I can still fight. Conceptually it was a decent idea, considering what you had to work with.”

He gave them a gap-toothed grin. “You two are overly reliant on your Miraculous. You’re sitting ducks as civilians, and if someone competent guns for you, you’re dead. But you have potential.”

He extended his hand towards them, unfurling it to reveal their Miraculous.

Glaring at him, Marinette and Adrien snatched them back. Slipping her earrings back on, she let out a silent prayer. Please let these be real. Please don’t let this be some cruel trick. Please let Tikki be-

A light shown, expelling itself from her earrings.

“TIKKI!”

She caught the little bug in her hands. “Are you okay? He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”

Tikki shook her head. “I’m fine. I just wasn’t manifested, that’s all.”

Then she seemed to fully take in exactly who all was there. With herself in full view. And talking.

“Uh… meow meow?”

Robin crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

Marinette sighed. “It’s no use pretending, Tikki. Robin’s the one who kidnapped us in the first place.”

“You, a red-and-black spotted bug-like floating creature the size of the hamster, meowed as a way of pretending you were a cat,” Robin stated, drumming his fingers against his arm.

“Hey, it’s worked before!” Marinette cut in.

He gave her a look.

She didn’t waver. This boy had kidnapped her and Adrien, stolen Tikki and Plagg, and he had the nerve to make fun of Tikki afterwards?

No. She would NOT be intimidated by him. She was not going to put up with him looking down on her or her friends.

He wanted to throw shade? Fine. She’d throw it right back.

“You don’t get to criticize Tikki, me, or any of us for making poor decisions. YOU KIDNAPPED US. YOU HAVE NO ROOM TO TALK.”

He snorted. She resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

“I needed to see whether you’d be a help or a hindrance. After seeing how you did without powers, I believe you two could be useful.”

“And why should we help you?” Marinette said through gritted teeth.

Robin looked at Marinette, then Adrien, who had stopped cuddling Plagg and been watching their confrontation.

“Because I know who Hawkmoth is.”

Wait, WHAT?!

Adrien stared at Robin, slack-jawed. He knew? HOW?

Robin looked at Adrien with something like… was that pity?

“I needed to know who you two were, so I placed trackers on both of you. Ducard followed Ladybug while I followed Chat Noir. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste… but that wasn’t all I discovered.”

  Dread pooled in Adrien’s stomach. How could following him home have possibly led to Hawkmoth’s identity? He didn’t have anything to do with Hawkmoth! (Well, aside from the obvious.)

…Right?

Robin looked Adrien in the eyes. “Hawkmoth is your father, Gabriel Agreste.”

Adrien’s heart stopped.

There’s… there’s no way.

“No. No, you’re LYING! I know he hasn’t always been around much, but… but he cares about me! He’s not a bad person, you HAVE to be lying. Or- or maybe just mistaken. Yeah! He CAN’T be Hawkmoth, we suspected that before, but then he was akumatized right afterwards! You’re WRONG!”

He glanced over at Marinette. Why hadn’t she responded, backed him up?

“Right, my Lady?”

She stared blankly ahead, frozen.

Icy tendrils crept up Adrien’s chest. “Marinette, what’s wrong?”

That snapped her out of her reverie. She bit her lip. “Chat… I don’t think we can rule him out based on that. Not after Heroes Day. He had an accomplice, remember? Whoever was using the Peacock Miraculous to create that Sentimonster moth could easily have just switched Miraculous with him. We can’t rule anyone out based on them being akumatized before. And the timing was highly suspicious. He just happens to become akumatized right when we start suspecting him of being Hawkmoth? It might not have been a coincidence.”

“No, that can’t be right! It CAN’T!” Adrien pleaded. Whether it was to Marinette, Robin, or himself, he wasn’t sure.

“It can, and it is,” Robin said. He took out a device from his toolbelt and pressed a few buttons. A holographic display flickered into existence, showing what appeared to be live feeds from Adrien’s house.

Except for one feed.

“…Mother?”

Why… why was she there? They’d never found a body. It made sense for her to be in a coffin, but… it’d been nearly a year since she’d disappeared. She shouldn’t look this… intact.

Adrien’s stomach turned thinking about it, but he knew at least the basics of how decomposition worked. Even if she was embalmed, she still shouldn’t look this good after all this time.

Unless…

Robin met his gaze. “I checked her over while I was down there. I couldn’t detect any vital signs, but based on the lack of any sign of degradation or rot, I believe that she’s not dead either – most likely in some sort of suspended animation, though how that is being achieved, I’m not sure.”

Not dead?

She… she was alive?

His mother was alive?

He could see her?

He jolted, breathing heavily, palms sweating.

Robin had seen her. In person. He’d been close enough to check for vital signs.

“Where is she?” he breathed out, barely above a whisper, eyes locked to the screen.

A white butterfly fluttered past her pod. Then another. And another. The same kind that Hawkmoth used.

“In Hawkmoth’s lair,” Robin said gently. “In a giant cavern beneath the Agreste Manor.”

All this time.

ALL. THIS. TIME.

She was RIGHT THERE.

Right below him.

And he never knew.

How many sleepless nights had he spent sobbing into his pillow, his mother gone with no explanation?

How long had he wondered what had happened to her?

And the whole time she’d been only a few hundred meters away.

His father had never told him.

Never bothered to confess that she was alive, that he knew where she was.

His father who… who was almost certainly Hawkmoth.

Oh GOD. The- the butterflies.

His father was Hawkmoth.

“…Why?” he asked, quivering. Why would he do this? HOW could he do this? This – he’d thought – he’d thought that his father cared about him, in his own way. At least cared about his safety.

But his father was the one putting him in the most danger. Not even counting when he was Chat Noir, his father had deliberately made akumas in his vicinity, where he should have known that he’d be in danger. He’d even made akumas whose MAIN GOAL was to attack him, to hurt him.

And yet he claimed to care about his safety? That that was the main reason why he kept Adrien on such a tight leash, locked away from the rest of the world?

No. That had never been the true reason.

Marinette placed a hand on his shoulder. He was grateful for that. He felt like he’d shake apart without her touch.

His mother wasn’t dead and wasn’t missing. She’d been near him all along

His father was an evil man who had never really cared whether he was safe. Had never cared about him as a person at all.

His world was crumbling, and the only constant-

A low rumble vibrated through his body, different from his usual purrs.

Vaguely he remembered reading that cats purr when they’re happy and content – but also when they were injured in an attempt to help heal.

But there was no healing this.

“Kitty,” Marinette spoke softly, turning so that they were face-to face. “Whatever happens, whatever your father’s reasons, I’m here for you. Never forget that. We’re a team. You and me against the world, remember?”

 “I- I can’t pretend to know how you’re feeling. What it’s like to have everything you thought you knew disintegrate before your eyes. But I won’t leave you.”

Marinette. Ladybug. She- she was still here.

Maybe things had changed. Two of the most important people in his life were the same person. But that didn’t change who she was.

His mother was alive, but still gone, in a way. His father wasn’t who he thought he was, wasn’t the sort of person he had told himself he must be.

But he still had Marinette.

And not just her.

He had Plagg.

He had Nino.

He even had Chloe, though she had a lot of growing to do.

He had people he could rely on.

He wasn’t alone.

With a sob, he collapsed into Marinette’s arms.

She hugged him tight, whispering quiet assurances, stroking his back. He couldn’t even parse what she was saying – she was too quiet and he was too out of it for that – but he appreciated the soft, comforting tone of her voice nonetheless.

After a few moments she shifted, lifting her gaze from Adrien to Damian. “I need to talk with Adrien for a while. Help him process. Plus – well, there’s a high chance of him being akumatized right now. I need to be ready to catch butterflies. We can talk about what to do about Gabriel later. Not much later, Adrien is NOT going to spend another night in that house, but once he’s in a better place.”

Oh. Oh CRAP. He hadn’t even thought of that! The idea of being turned against His Lady…? He shuddered. Surely Gabriel wouldn’t- oh who was he kidding, of course he would. If he thought it would give him half a chance of winning, he wouldn’t hesitate. He’d certainly proven that he was fine with throwing Adrien’s in harm’s way. Making him harm others, harm the people closest to him? Well since when had Gabriel given a crap about Adrien’s feelings or the people he cared about (aside from the people that Gabriel also happened to care about. Probably. At this point Adrien wasn’t sure whether Gabriel had ever truly cared for anyone.)

Adrien would rather die than harm Marinette. She was the person he cared the most about it in the world. Besides, she was more important than him. Without her, Paris couldn’t be restored. The world could survive without Adrien for a little while. Without Marinette? Not so much.

He trusted her to fix everything. To bring him back. She was Marinette after all. She always found a way.

“Tikki, Spots on!”

A pink light ran up Marinette’s body. Bare skin and cotton clothing replaced by a red-and-black suit.

“Hold on, kitty,” she whispered in his ear, gripping him tightly.

He nodded mutely. He’d known that Marinette was Ladybug of course, but seeing it so obviously, so undeniably? He just wanted to sit for another few minutes and process.

If only Ladybug’s secret identity was the only thing he had to think about.

Gripping an arm around his waist (his cheeks pinkened at the sensation), she threw her yo-yo, flinging herself and Adrien away.

[jaspitch]

Five Nightguards At Freddys

Night 1- Storm's Archives

Somehow she knew she had to do it. Make it through the night running around the pizzeria, nobody with her, without any power, or a damn flashlight. Storm had never wanted to work at this shitty pizzeria. But oh no, "We gotta stay to keep Michael safe!" Since when had September ever actually cared about Mike anyways?!

So after surviving only three and a half hours on limited power because the generator wasn't worth crap, Storm found herself in complete darkness. When Freddy had started thumping his way towards the office, Storm knew she couldn't just die like this. So, what's the next best thing? Yep, running into party room four and hiding under a table. It was easy, especially considering she was a short stack, 5'4 to be exact.

However, her special uniform seemed to illuminate her. The jacket, which was oversized and a dark blue due to her ranked status by Henry (Executive manager's first aid), had kept her warm, sure. However, because of her small frame, it would hang right before her knees. Which not only meant it caught on things when she moved, but tripped her up, and the blue was somehow seeable in the pitch dark.

Longing for the original, but less warm, baby blue and gray uniform, seemed stupid. And it would be, if Freddy wasn't currently staring at her, his hand having moved the tablecloth up, and Storm trying her best to untangle the end of her jacket from some ribbons that had been swept under the table. As the brown bear reached over, Storm finally untangled the damn sweater and bolted from underneath the table, running for the entrance to the party room.

Man, weren’t Wednesdays just the best? She kept running down the hallway, hearing the metal of most likely Freddy follow her at a decently slow pace. She turned down another hallway, just to be met with a dead end: the janitor’s closet. Now sweating buckets, Storm started to frantically look around. Something caught her eye in the corner. Looking to it with her dark blue eyes, a small ray of hope blossomed in her chest. It was, by far, the most beautiful thing to be stowed upon her. A vent. A vent that could hold someone at least 6′6 with a weight of 350 lbs. Thank the Lord.

When her hand touched the metal, she drew it back. It was fucking burning hot! The heater was supposed to be off after hours! Her only guess was that Fritz left it on again. Regardless, Storm sucked in a deep breath, and then pulled on the metal, which surprisingly gave in and came off. Dropping the damned hatch, Storm jumped a bit and climbed into the large vent. At first, she felt as if she were burning alive, but that almost went away within ten seconds. Almsot as if on que, Freddy passed by, his eyes glowing a light white. They were pupil sized and had black floating around them. Since when had his eyes not been blue? That just fueled the thought of the pizzeria being haunted.

Eventually the mascot walked away, creaking and groaning as he did so. Sighing, she squinted at her black watch, which lit up with a green light when she tapped it twice. The bright light dialated her pupils and aggrivated her eyes, but she got over it. The time was 4:38. Great, it’s only been what, an hour or so? Staying in the vent wasn’t possible, along with her body heat and extra warm uniform, the heater was starting to overheat the nineteen year old. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, Storm jumped out and placed the vent hatch back on. That, of course, took a good ten minutes because the thing kept turning sideways and not sitting straight.

Finally free from her heated domain, Storm went flying towards the office to try and find the flashlight she had dropped when Freddy had entered the room. After searching for a few minutes, she found the flashlight, noticing the glass had a small crack in it. Whatever, Henry could fix that after he found her dismembered body inside one of the mascot suits. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she didn’t see sunlight. Deciding that staying in the room would be smart, Storm sat under the table, dusting a few cobwebs from her jacket as she glanced from under her hiding spot. This place was the abolute worst, especilly in the dark. Fuck, forget the creepy atmosphere when the lights were on.

With plenty of time to think, Storm started to think of the people in her life. Tall, slender, September Charles. He was the best friend a person could ask for. Despite being self-centered and a total introvert, he did anything Storm asked him to do. Play video games all day despite both of them having work? Sure. Going to a party with only druggies, alchoholics, and underage kids? Yep, perfect. Aside from that, he was especially handsome. That thought made a light blush dust Storm’s cheeks. September had somewhat messy, yet silky, shoulder length ginger-brown hair and stunning bright orangish-brownish eyes. He had thin-framed green glasses that sat beautifully on his lightly tanned face. Everything about him was amazing. 

Who else was there to think about? Mike, alright, her mind flew to Mike. He was her other best friend, who by the way, was in some sort of rivalry with September. Beautiful black hair that was shoulder length, matching his bright blue eyes. He was more of an outrovert, but still kept to himself because of how judgemental people were. Storm remembered the first time she saw him at college- struggling with a math course in the multipurpose room. She had been reading a baking guide for lullaberry pie when she had noticed the taller male run a hand through his silky black hair in frustration. Scooting closer, she noted the advanced algebra course he was taking. Which happened to be the same one she had taken last year. “Hey, need some help?” Storm finally asked, making the blue-eyed male look up. “What?”

“Do you need some help? I’d be happy to, that math course is a bit difficult, huh?” Although Mike had been hesitant at first, he eventually got used to her helping him every Monday and Friday. So when she had graduated after taking a one year Doctorate course, Mike had been left alone. That is, until he got her number and address and started doing zoom calls. Of course they sometimes showed up at each others places. Storm had been laughing her ass off when Mike stepped into her large house, his eyes had widened and jaw dropped. Due to her mother being insanely wealthy (and also gone all the time after divorcing Storm’s dad), she had left all of her assets to her after dying. 

It was almost as funny when September and Mike had met. While chilling at a caffe, Mike walked in, catching the eyes of Storm. September noticed this and raised an eyebrow, asking in his deep, monotone voice, “You know this guy?” She nodded and got up, skipping over to him. After inviting him to her table and paying for his carmel macchiato (He complained about her paying but she didn’t care), they both sat down. A flash of recognition crossed both men’s faces before they both gave eachother a glare. She found out that day that September had been one of the people who had completely ignored Mike all while making him look bad. They had both been in the library when they met, standing in line to check out science books. When somebody who had been goofing around behind Mike pushed him, he knocked into the brunette (who was part of the ‘popular clique’) and pushed the books out of his hands.

Turning around with a fierce glare, September recognised Mike from his science and law classes, then picked up his books, looked back to the black haired male and said, “Why don’t you watch where you’re going, Retard? I don’t want to contract your disease. “ After that, whenever Mike tried to say anything, even ‘sorry’, September would only say one word. “Disease.” That eventually went away when they were forced to get along. Didn’t mean when she wasn’t around that they wouldn’t be at eachothers’ throats.

A creak forced Storm from her thoughts, making her look up. Two orange three-toed feet were walking past, the weird ‘ahHaRgHhA’ sound coming from withing the chiken’s beak. She no doubtly had her head to the side, twitching and spazzing out. Just as she thought her luck could get no worse, the bell rang and the lights flickered on. Storm, now sick and tired of this shit, scrambled from her hiding place, flipped off Chica, and ran towards the doors. William with his beautiful red bow that held his equally gorgeous purple hair was just unlcking the door as Storm rushed by. “Fucking fix this,” is all she said before handing the flashlight over.

After a one hour drive to her property in a brand new red comaro (Yeah, she’s rich and is only working for fun, duh. Jk, she’s just working there until Mike quits, which means she and September can quit, and then move onto software design.), the small female ran into her house, changed into some comfy sweats and a t-shirt, then fell into her silky soft bedsheets. As soon as her head hit the pillows, she fell asleep, snuggly and warm.

Storm’s Archive ends here.