#that's what I did after the baseball incident

[tj-crochets]

I drafted the pattern for the head and wings of the big bat, just the body and ear patterns left to draft, but oncoming migraine means pattern drafting time is over, so time for other thoughts! Mostly, do y'all think I should like pick a theme each week and take photos of the plushies I currently have (mostly ones I've made) that fit that theme? Like, fanciest fauna, or maybe I go in rainbow order, or like one week is dragons or something?

[rottenaero]

They were gonna put Eddie down like a damn dog.

The group had insisted that Steve visit the hospital today, one year and two months after the incident. It was a random day, and he thought, ‘ why the hell not?’

Family Video had been closed for months, doing ‘ repairs’, so he really didn’t have much else to do.

He thought it was weird, the way the group was as far away from the bed as possible, and how when he entered the room, Hopper almost blocked the exit.

He doesn’t question it though, sidling up to the open chair beside Eddie, who was still asleep after all this time, and punching his shoulder lightly.

“ Hey, Hero.”

He’d taken to calling it sleeping instead of what it was, a coma. Sleeping sounded more peaceful, because with sleeping came dreams and relaxation.

Eddie doesn’t respond, doesn’t react. Steve didn’t expect him to.

He turns his head to Dustin, the one who’d called him in the first place. “ So, why’re we gathered here today? Any updates?” He asks, addressing the whole room.

The boy swallows, and something tells him something’s wrong. Really wrong.

“ Yeah, actually. Uhm, since it’s been so long, we were thinking-“ He cuts himself off, crosses his arms and starts tapping his foot. Thinking, probably.

Hopper glances to him, and sighs, deciding to lead. “ We’re gonna have to let Munson go.” He states.

Steve takes a sharp breath.

“ What?”

‘ Let him go’ like this is a job. Like this isn’t him losing his life. He wonders when they decided to do this, in the hospital room for the ten minutes they were waiting.

Eddie doesn’t give any indication he hears what’s being said, the beeps from the heart monitor still steady and even as ever. A constant metronome of the exact same sound on the exact say beat, all the time, always.

Except maybe not always.

Dustin takes over again, arms placating. “ It’s been a really long time, Steve. We’ve come to terms that he probably won’t wake up, and it’s doesn’t have to be sad-“

“ You’re killing him.” He hisses, “ You’re killing him and it’s not meant to be sad?”

Nancy steps forward, seeing it as her time to speak. “ Steve. You barely knew the guy, and you spend all your time here, it’s not good for you.”

“ There’s been no good signs, no nothing, not even when El looks into his brain.” Dustin nods at the girl across the room, who’s fiddling with her fingers.

Steve furrows his brow, “ Oh, so I guess you’re gonna pull the plug on Max too?”

Lucas’s eyes widen, mouth dropping open, and Nancy glares. “ That is not fair, Steve.”

“ This whole situations pretty fucking unfair, so I guess you’re gonna have to explain to me how this is different from Max.” He stands, stance wide as he points to the man in the hospital bed.

“ Max is making progress.” Lucas says weakly, and El sets a hand on his shoulder. The boy deflates.

He turns toward Hopper and Joyce, the latter still not having spoken. The Byers family had moved back to Indiana for God knows what reason, and Steve knows that if he had the money, that he could’ve moved somewhere else long ago.

“ Does Wayne know you’re killing his kid?” He asks.

He’d met the man while visiting, and they’d usually sit in silence and watch baseball or whatever was on. He never questioned why Steve was there, or why he was holding a limp body’s hand and taking off it’s rings and putting them back on.

When they did speak, it was stories he had from Eddie’s childhood, about how he buzzed his head because a spider crawled on him and he was convinced it was hidden in his hair, making babies.

Hopper pinched his nose, like he was being a pest. “ Stop using words like killing, and yes. He said he didn’t want Eddie to have to suffer, and his bills are getting expensive.”

And he blinks, realization dawning.

This hadn’t just been decided, had it? This wasn’t a ten minute decision while Steve was getting ready to come here.

He speaks, his voice low and keeping even through each word, “ You guys had a meeting.” The ‘ without me’ goes unsaid, but still echoes throughout the room like if would’ve if he shouted it.

They’d decided this whole thing beforehand, somehow knowing that Steve would hang on. And he would, will. He can’t let him die, he can’t lose.

Will nods, and next to him Mike and Dustin look ashamed. He would’ve thought they’d hold out more.

He racks his brain for any reason they should keep alive, can’t find one. Somehow, even without one for them, he has a million for himself.

“ If the bills are the reason, I’ll pay the damn bills. He’s fucking alive.” He tries.

“ You don’t have a job, Family Video is closed. Just let it be, Steve. Please.” Robin had been eerily quiet during this entire conversation, and it brings him chills him when she speaks.

His best friend had been in on it.

He crosses his arms, “ I’ll get a job. Listen, I’ve been having dreams,-“ He lies. He lies because there’s nothing true to prove Eddie is getting better. “-dreams that he’s alive in like a dark space, I don’t know- his mind maybe? I just- I really think he’s in there.”

The hope Dustin gets on his face hurts, but he doesn’t care. The guy will wake up and it won’t matter that the ‘ dreams’ never existed.

Maybe it’s because he’s an optimist, and that’s why he’s trying so hard, as pessimistic as he can be sometimes.

“ Why didn’t you tell us?” Dustin asks and Steve licks his lips.

Why didn’t he tell them? “ Despite all this crazy shit, me having dreams that he’s alive still sounds crazy.” He doesn’t look at the boy as he says this, eyes roaming over Eddie’s face.

He looks serene, the bat bite on his face as healed as it can get. The doctors had mentioned swelling on his back shoulder blades, but Steve thinks his would be swollen too if he sat on them for a year.

‘ A year and two months.’ He corrects himself.

He stares at the hair that, occasionally when it got matted, Steve would go through and brush it, not wanting him to wake up to being bald because a doctor seemed it necessary.

Wayne mentioned how much he hated the shaved head, and he wouldn’t put him through that again.

As he looks at him, he thinks ‘ I’m doing this for you, so you better wake up, asshole.’

Dustin’s eyes are wide, staring at the members of Hellfire. Steve could only describe the look as ecstatic.

“ Holy shit, I mean, holy shit!” He laughs, and Mike breaks into his own grin.

Jonathan chimes in, disbelief sketched into the lines all over his face. “ Sorry, but doesn’t that seem too convenient? I’m not saying you’re lying Steve, just… If El didn’t find anything, that’s pretty much it.”

His lips form into a line, determined. “ I told you, I’ll be paying for whatever. It’s no skin off your back, or money out of Wayne’s pockets.”

Joyce nudges Hopper when he goes to speak, and nods at Steve. “ If you wanna try, sweetheart, you can. But I don’t want you visiting too much, it’s doing you more harm than good.” She wraps him in a hug, before leading the ex-chief of police out of the room.

Slowly, everyone vacates, until it’s just Steve, Eddie, and El.

She doesn’t make a move toward the door, eyes locked onto his face.

“ You’re lying.” She whispers like a secret.

He nods.

She looks toward Eddie, nervous, and she messes with the hem of her shirt when she starts to speak again. “ I lied too.”

She doesn’t elaborate, walking out of the room without anymore information, and Steve blinks.

The hospital has to call Wayne to confirm the transfer, that's how he learns of the circumstances. He doesn't say much of anything, aside from a promise of a visit on Tuesday before he hangs up.

That night, that same fucking night, he gets a call.

It's the front desk lady, voice distressed rushing through an explanation.

" Eddies gone...Only blood in his bed...We don't know where he is."

Steve stares at the wall, the rest of the words falling upon deaf ears.

Someone had probably found out where he was being held, murdered him a year later for his crimes, and stashed the body away.

He sets the phone back in its holster without saying anything to the other line. Not even a goodbye, or a thanks.

He thinks, it only for a second, that he should've let them just pull the plug, it would've been far less painful.

A creaking brings him out of it, and his eyes dart to his door.

It's dark, too dark, and Steve's aware the Upside Down fucked him up in incomprehensible ways, and now every shadow looks like something,

But there was definitely someone in his house.

He keeps slumped on his bed, the same position as when he'd answered the call. He doesn't flinch when the door pushes open enough for a body to slip in.

There's the sound of something dragging along the carpet as they come closer, probably a shotgun, or maybe they're gonna beat him with his own nail-bat.

He doesn't care to decipher the shape, instead shutting his eyes.

A hand grabs his, sets it on dry skin. His thumb touches a rough patch, a scar like feeling.

One his hands had roamed over while patching up his stomach, refusing to get looked at. That concave patch of scratchy skin that they tell you eventually will just be soft, scarred, but normal.

The skin stretches, and he feels a cheek.

Somehow, he thinks if he keeps his eyes shut, he doesn't have to face the thing in front of him, that it somehow isn't real.

A scratchy, disused, and croaky voice sounds out.

" ' Hey, Hero.' "

[reyalvr]

RUMORS!

I KNOW YOU HEARD THE RUMORS, YOU MUST GET OVER TO IT RIGHT AWAY!

synopsis ┊ ken sato- a remarkable name in the world of modern baseball- has graced japan with not only his presence, but also his skills as a key player for the yomiuri giants. from press conferences to media endorsements, it’s clear that his stardom has only intensified from his recent move. but what happens when you, his personal assistant, are left to deal with some more… serious rumors?

genre ┊ chaotic fluff, oneshot

pairing ┊ ken sato x gn-PA!reader

warnings ┊ mild cursing, ami is not the reporter depicted!

word count ┊ 2.2k

author’s note ┊ hiya! i recently found time to watch ultraman: rising and this fic was just writing itself in my head hehe… happy reading! (p.s. yes… the title was inspired from the new minions song)

THREE MONTHS. That was how long you had known baseball’s darling, Ken Sato. And in those three months, you had undergone every single PR nightmare you had ever conjured up in your mind prior to pursuing your career. You had worked with celebrities before- doing God knows what ‘til the waking hour on their every beck and call. But Ken, despite presenting himself as a laid back man, was an entirely new… experience. 

From the Kaiju attack at his first game under the Giants, to the continuous streak of losses throughout the first half of the season, it seemed like the Gods were against you as you did your damndest to handle the damage control on his reputation. His ego didn’t aid you either- having to spin and twist multiple incidents to get reporters and media outlets off his back. You weren’t exactly sure what it was that kept you from quitting all in all, but the longer you worked under him, the thinner your thread seemed to snap. 

You huffed an annoyed sigh into the cold air, picking up the pace as you jogged along the designated path by the bay. Your days off were scarce- not because of Ken’s schedule, but because of your own decision to be up to date with his spontaneous actions. Despite the rarity of solitude, you always managed to savor your time off. The music played at a mellow volume in your ears, the morning sun starting to warm your surroundings as you watched its rays splash hues of orange across the sky. 

Your felt your watch beep against your skin, signaling the end of your morning run. Pausing by the railing, you leaned against the old metal bars as you checked your stats. You swiped absent-mindedly on the screen of your smartwatch, scrolling once you were sure that everything was in order. There was one thing that caught your eye, though, as you noticed the red notification bubbles on your message app were continuously going up. It was odd, yes, but not odd enough to be out of the ordinary- at least in your line of work. 

Deciding not to bombard yourself this early in the morning, you opted to give everything a once-over once you made it back to your apartment. Whatever it was could wait- you were on your time and your pace. Besides, it couldn’t be that bad. Could it now?

IT DEFINITELY COULD, AND IT DEFINITELY WAS. You pushed on the gas as hard as you could, your tongue poking into your cheek as you continued to drive to Ken’s house. Of all the days that he decided to make perhaps the stupidest decision in his career, he chose today. Doing your best not to see red, you dialed his phone once more. The ringing played throughout your car as you maneuvered through the roads, and you swore for what felt like the umpteenth time that morning when you heard the tone of his voice message. 

Hey, it’s Ken. Leave a message after the beep, and I’ll be more than happy to ignore it! Said his usual arrogant tone playing before the generic beep. You gripped the steering wheel harder, huffing angrily as you sharply turned a corner. 

“Kenji Sato answer your goddamn phone right now! I’m ten minutes away from your house and when I get there, I better not be greeted with your supposed secret love child!” You yelled, pushing the red button once you finished your message. 

Ah yes. The centerpoint of your current rage: Ken’s “leaked” one-on-one with a reporter about juggling baseball and his homelife. Someone on Ken’s staff had sent the article in your shared work group chat, and nearly all of his personnel had directly messaged you about the issue. It was inevitable for celebrities to get into a scandal once or twice, but one on this level would not be an easy fit to overcome. 

You don’t exactly remember what you were doing prior to receiving the messages- all you knew was that you needed to get to Ken as soon as possible. Of course it just be a misunderstanding, hell it could even be a hoax! But knowing Kenji, anything could be possible. You neared the hill of his private property, driving past the gates as the security recognized your car.

You parked haphazardly at the front of his house, your feet stomping into the gravel as you made your way to his front door. His estate had numerous smart tech installed throughout his home, so you knew that each and every one of your moves were either being recorded or observed. You crouched slightly to be in frame with the doorbell’s camera, your anger slightly toned down.

“Ken.” You paused to narrow your eyes. “Open the door.”

For the next minute and a half you swore you could hear some sort of clash and bang from inside the house. You kept your arms crossed, raising your eyebrow from time to time when the clashing seemed to grow louder. After what felt like an eternity, the front door opened slightly. Not all the way, but just enough for Ken to peek out and smile at you- albeit nervously cocky.

The nerve.

“Hey, [Y/N]! What uh- what are you doing here?” He manages to cough out, roughly combing a hand through his hair. “I thought it was your day o-”

“Save it.” You reply, your gaze sharp enough to slice through whatever excuse he had at the ready. You held up your phone then, the article’s headline prominently bolded:

OUT OF LEFT FIELD: Ken Sato Strikeout? Nope! Love Child Home Run!

Ken’s head bent down to get a good look at what you were showing him, and you watched carefully as his eyes scanned over the article not once, but thrice. You let out an impatient hum, your mouth forming into a slight scowl as the both of you stood in silence. With your head tilted to the side, you dropped your hand back down and crossed your arms. 

“Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to start explaining to me what the hell you’ve been up to these past twenty-four hours?” You question, moving past him as you enter the house. 

Usually you would wait for Ken to let you in, but stalling would only hinder you from coming up with what to do next. The article had already been up for two hours, and you halted any statements from being made before you could get an explanation from Ken himself. He quickly tailed after you, nearly stumbling over himself as you stopped at his kitchen. You gripped the marble countertop, closing your eyes momentarily before you turned to face him once more. 

“[Y/N] I swear, it’s not as bad as you think it is,” Ken says as he tries to add reassurance to his tone, but it doesn't mask the lingering tinge of falsehood.

“Oh, really?” You say, your eyebrows raised in disbelief. “Because in the span of two hours I have had thirty news outlets blowing up my- your management team for a response!”

He opens his mouth to speak, but stops again midway when you continue. “The headline I showed you was local. I want you to tell me exactly how and why you were on the phone with a reporter talking about your private life at God knows what hour. Now.”

You can see him swallow, licking his lips after as he tries to form the right words. He blinks a bit before pinching the bridge of his nose, tilting his head up as he lets out a deep sigh. When he opens his eyes he’s still greeted with your restive stance. Still he remains slightly hesitant, but he does end up recalling the remnants of his conversation with a reporter he had met at one of the parties he attended. Ken goes on to explain that he had only seeked out advice. His schedule, his personal life- he needed an outlet. You can feel yourself slowly untense, though you continued to listen to make sure all your facts were straight.

When he finishes his retelling, he puts his hands up slightly- as if he were trying to put you at ease. “I swear, that’s all I said. I thought,” He pauses, his brows furrowing in a way that made you slightly mad at yourself from blowing up at him. “I just thought I could have a normal conversation for once. ‘Guess I was wrong.”

The warm lights cast a sombre shadow on his features, and from this angle you notice the worn out expression painted on his face. The bags under his eyes are darker than usual, not to mention the fading bruises from his latest altercation with one of players from his opposing team. In front of you was not Ken Sato, this was Kenji; Simply a man who was thrust into a new life without the needed support. 

“Well, no shit.” You say, finally breaking the silence, you fix your posture against the counter as you tone down the anger in your voice. “Jesus Ken, sometimes I wonder how you were able to maintain your career before me.”

At that he lets out a soft laugh, his dull expression slowly fading. “Yeah, I do too.”

You give him a puzzled look before you reply. “Are you mocking me?”

“No! No, I was being serious.” He says, his smile dropping slightly. “I know I haven’t been an easy task, hell you’re here on your day off for Christ’s sake.” 

You hum at his words, narrowing your eyes slightly as you push yourself off the counter with another awkward cough. In all ninety days of working under Ken Sato, never has the man gotten this sentimental with you. You decide not to linger on his words, your attention going back to the problem at hand. 

“Right, well,” You sigh, whipping your phone out in the process. “I need you to give me the name of that reporter. I’ll get the legal team to draft an NDA breach.” 

He furrowed his eyebrows then, looking at you as if you’d said something odd. “I didn’t make him sign an NDA though?”

You only give him a smile, a hint of confidence plastered on your lips. “I know. I have my ways, Sato.”

“You’re a pretty good assistant, then.” He replies, the corners of his lips going up slightly as he keeps his arms crossed. 

“I’m an excellent assistant.” You correct without looking at him, your fingers tapping away at your phone as you prepare the next steps of your plan. 

Ken can only chuckle in agreement, tapping his fingers on his forearm as he awaits your next set of instructions. Within the next twenty minutes you’ve sent out the necessary details to your team, your legs kicking as you sit on one of his bar stools. He’s stood across from you, leaning on the countertop looking at you intently as you explain the response plan. 

“And lastly,” You say, sliding out your hand. “Give me your phone.”

 His head tilts, the same confused expression on his face. “Why?”

“Just do it,” Your hand curls, motioning for him to hand his phone over. “No, I am not installing a monitor.” You add when you see his mouth open to interrogate you. 

He slides his phone over with a defeated huff, and you open a new contact page on his contacts. “If you need to talk, do it with someone who won’t leak your shit.” You say, sliding back his phone when all your details are settled.

“I have your number though, don’t I?” Ken questions, looking over at the number you inputted. 

“You had my work number. Now you have my personal phone.” You point your finger at him before continuing. “Don’t abuse it. I’m still your assistant.” “Wasn’t gonna, sweetheart.” He says, an amused smirk mixing in with his addled look. 

You quirk your eyebrow at the nickname. You shake your head, hopping off the stool as you make your way back to the front door. Ken follows behind you, hands in his pockets as he watches you leave. Before you can open the door though, you look back at him one last time. 

“I mean it, Ken.” You say, making sure it gets through his head. “You have a problem, tell me. You need a solution, you tell me.”

“I know, I know.” He gives you a tight-lipped smile, nodding towards the door. “Go enjoy the rest of your day off before I start thinking you care about me.”

“I do. It’s my job to care about you, Ken.” You reply, giving him a look before you open the door. “Whether you like it or not, I’m your lifeline. At least until you get rid of me, which won’t be happening for a good while.”

“Oh yeah?” He jests, his cocky demeanor slowly coming back. “‘You so sure about that?”

“Extremely sure.” You’re standing outside now, slowly walking backwards. “Twenty minutes ago people thought you had a secret love child and that you were a terrible father. Now you’re back on the face of KFC as baseball’s darling.” 

He’s taken aback. Was he actually booted off of his collaborations? He hastily checked his phone, scrolling through all his platforms. To his surprise, he was greeted with… his usual feeds. No sight of the article, no lingering gossip. His ads had doubled, his partnerships boosted on the products he had endorsed. He looked back up to say something, but you had already started your car. You backed out his estate, giving him a smile through the tinted glass of your windshield. 

He let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. You were right. But who was he kidding?

You always were.

[phantom-howl]

@a-scary-lack-of-common-sense made a Gravity Falls au (the HWINEBHABWNAJCAHOWEEATOWEUB au and yes that's the short form of the au title lol) that I really like the concept of. Hopefully I didn't break logic or anything but wrote it a small little oneshot. Enjoy ^^

Bill blinked, slightly disoriented. He always felt disoriented when someone summoned him. You would too if you ever experienced it. It's like being pulled through a vacuum, but with less wind and more spinny.

He looked around. He was in someone's shadow. No, not someone, something. The thing seemed to be the shadow of a large pine tree. While a plant's shadow wasn't the preferred option, he did rather like being a tall shadow. 

Bill looked directly beside him. One of Ford's great grand kids was there. He hadn't known them long enough to be able to tell the difference. "Dipper and Mabel are their names" he'd been reminded by Ford several times. 

This one had short hair, most of it tucked underneath a baseball cap. The child wasn't looking at Bill, but rather something in the distance. Bill could make out that it was some kind of beast with horns and a lot of hair. He looked back at the kid. 

"Hey kid, what'd you need me for?" Bill asked, watching the kid's eyes snap from the beast to him. 

"Help," the word was barely above a whisper. Fear grew in the kid's eyes as they darted between Bill and the beast. 

"I dunno what you want me to do kid. Can't exactly do a lot as a shadow," Bill shrugged. The beast approached. He saw the kid produce a pen from the jacket he was wearing. It was one of those pens he'd seen Ford using while writing his journals. Ford must've given one to the kid. 

Checking over their shoulder constantly the kid clicked the pen on and started carving directly into the tree Bill was borrowing the shadow of. Suddenly, he felt disoriented again. He gathered his barings to see the kid had carved an eye into the pine tree. 

He could also feel everything the tree felt. The fact several branches were ready to snap, that one woodpecker nest, the beehive further upwards, the snapped root several miles underground. It was overwhelming but he got adjusted fairly quickly. 

Bill looked back over at the beast, of which he got a better view of now. It looked like a minotaur. He'd seen his fair share on Earth, but he didn't know they lived this far west. No matter, it looked fairly stupid. 

He felt the kid hide behind the tree. Probably for the best. After all, if he hurt Ford's kids he'd never hear the end of it. 

The minotaur got closer and closer. Bill had a deviously gleeful look in his eye as the beast finally was within reach. With a satisfying snap, one of the branches of the tree fell off and hit the minotaur's head. It went down.

"Okay run kid," Bill said but the kid seemed frozen in place, staring at the tattooed minotaur. 

"Are you waiting for an invitation?" the kid dug out a small notebook, quickly scribbling something down with the pen, before running off. Bill didn't bother to try and figure out what that meant. The kid was probably like Ford. He seemed to share the same chaotic scientist energy, even if the kid was more subdued. 

Least now he had an experience with one of the kids kinda properly. The "Pine Tree Incident" as he decided to call it.

—

"Hey Pine Tree, other one," Bill waved to the kids through the small artist model Ford had summoned him to.

"Pine Tree?" the two asked, all three humans confused.

"I gotta have some kind of way to tell you two apart until I can remember who's who," Bill laughed. Pine Tree slapped his face with his palm and the other one laughed with Bill.

[headfarintheclouds]

Kenji Sato As A Boyfriend HC

I finally had some time to sit down and write something TuT Hope you'll like it :D If there is any Gramma mistakes I apologize, English is not my first language ToT

Ken would put you first no matter the situation. Sure he loves Baseball and all, but if you got hurt or sick he would totally skip practice or the game to be with you. Even if you insist on him leaving, after all Mina is more than capable of taking care of you.

Before getting together with him you lived in a normal apartment near the city center. But after the news of you dating spread out Kenji swooped in and all but made you live with him in his mansion. His reason being, that he wanted to keep you save from the journalists and Kaiju's but deep down you knew he was waiting for the opportunity to have you for himself 24/7.

If you don't speak Japanese he will teach you. He finds it absolutely adorable whenever you try to pronounce an especially hard word. Your accent makes it so much more endearing for him.

He has multitude of nicknames for you. There is rarely time when he uses your real name when addressing you. Baby girl, Princess and Doll are definitely his favorite ones. If he's feeling especially sappy he'll call you Darling or Beautiful.

He's clingy. Not overly so, but he tends to hover over you or hold your hand whenever the two of you were in public. At first you thought he liked the PDA and you weren't wrong, but the hand holding was purely because he was scared. "I know it's stupid, but I always have this irrational fear of your disappearing like my mom did. And I can't function without you by my side, princess."

Ken is a great cook ! He would totally make you breakfast in bed after his morning training session. Dinner made by him was a rare treat you learned to enjoy, after all he was juggling being a baseball star and a superhero. Not to mention he was an adopted daddy to a very adorable Kaiju living underneath your guys' house.

Speaking of Emi. If you thought she was a daddy's girl you are solely mistaken, because as soon as you enter the room she looses all interest in Ken all together. Of course she still adores him, but you are by far her favorite human ! She chirps and claps her hands in excitement whenever you enter the base. I melts Ken's heart whenever he sees the two of you interacting with one another. He has so many photos of you and Emi saved on his phone !

He loves to see you in his clothes, especially with his jersey on. He still has an old one from the time he played for Dodgers and you use it as a nightie. It's comfortable ! And it does things to him too... God the first time you put it on. Let's just say you couldn't walk for a day or two after ;)

We all know Kenji is rich-rich. So it's no surprise he buys you expensive gifts all the time. You once mentioned that you liked a specific car, and guess what ? The week after that there was a new shiny (dream car) in your favorite color, parked outside the mansion. After that incident you stopped mentioning things you liked or wanted to buy in fear of him going bankrupt. He told Mina to hack your Amazon Wishlist and bought you all of the items just to spite you.

If you work or study he will support you every step of the way. Just like you support him during his games. If you are a university student he will sit down with you and ask you some questions, help you study and keep an eye on you. He wants you to be successful yes, but you still need to sleep and eat !

Kenji likes to mess with you in his Ultraman form, much to his fathers disapproval. Whenever he takes care of Emi he has to transform, and he uses every opportunity to pluck you from the ground and place you on his shoulder. The first time he did it you screamed like a banshee making poor baby Emi jump in fright. Thank God she doesn't really speak human language, you would die of shame if she repeated any of the words you called Kenji that time.

After a year of being together he'll start carrying a small velvet box around. And inside would a ring his father proposed to his mother with, something she gave him long time ago. He would wait patiently, looking for the best way and time to pop the question. But until then he'll enjoy your company and make more memories with you and Emi by his side :)

I hope ya'll liked it ! I feel really good about this one ngl :D GOD I LOVE THIS MAN !

[mintyys-blog]

bucky barnes x fem! reader: miscommunication

WARNINGS: accusing Bucky of cheating

You knew something was up. Bucky Barnes, your charming super-soldier boyfriend with a penchant for brooding and smirking at inappropriate times, had been acting weird lately. Suspiciously weird.

It started with the whispered phone calls in the middle of the night.

“Yeah, it’s going to be perfect… No, no, she has no clue…”

She has no clue? What, exactly, did you not have a clue about? The new fling he was secretly meeting? The way you were glaring daggers at his oblivious back suggested you were this close to finding out.

“Who was on the phone just now?” you’d asked when you caught him whispering in the hallway.

“Just Steve,” he replied quickly, shoving the phone in his pocket like it might self-destruct. “We were talking about… uh… sports.”

“Sports?” you’d repeated, eyebrows raised. The man barely knew the difference between football and baseball. But fine, you let it slide.

Then came the times when he’d disappear for hours with no explanation. He’d leave the apartment muttering something vague—“just need to run an errand, doll”—and come back looking… shifty.

Then came the mall incident.

You weren’t proud of it, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The next time he left the apartment, you followed him.

It wasn’t hard; Bucky might be a super-soldier, but he wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to avoiding his girlfriend. You trailed him to the mall, heart pounding, ducking behind mannequins and oversized potted plants as he made his way to…

A jewelry store.

What the hell?

You watched as Bucky approached Natasha Romanoff, who was already inside. They greeted each other with a quick hug before heading straight to the display cases.

Your heart sank faster than Steve’s Brooklyn accent when he got serious. There they were, Natasha slipping rings onto her slender fingers as Bucky studied them closely, nodding. You knew that those two are pretty close, working with each other on missions and such, however you know Natasha and she wouldn’t ever be Bucky’s mistress. Right? You aren’t exactly best friends with her but she has been polite and modest whenever you did speak to her. Then there was Bucky, you’ve been together for a number of years. You knew he loved you with all his heart; you’ve seen all kinds of sides of him, the good, bad, and the ugly.

“Too flashy?” he asked.

“Maybe. Try something a little more subtle,” Natasha replied.

Subtle?! Who was this for? And why was he dragging Natasha into it? Did he think you wouldn’t notice if she flaunted your ring around her finger before you even knew what was happening?

This was it. He was either leaving you or, worse, cheating on you.

Bucky and Natasha examined ring after ring, chatting quietly. At one point, Natasha slipped a diamond ring onto her finger, holding it up for Bucky to see. He nodded, smiling in approval.

You stumbled back, almost tripping over your own feet. It all made sense now—the phone calls, the secretive errands, the cologne excuse. He wasn’t just seeing someone else; he was proposing to someone else.

Your chest tightened as you stormed out of the mall.

“Uh… hi?” Bucky said, shrugging off his leather jacket like nothing was wrong.

“Don’t ‘hi’ me. Who is she?”

“Who is who?”

“You know who! The woman you’ve been sneaking around with!”

Bucky stared at you like you’d just sprouted a second head. “Wait. What?”

“Don’t play dumb, Barnes. The secret calls. The mall. The jewelry store! Natasha helping you pick out rings—oh, my God, are you marrying someone else?!”

Bucky blinked, mouth opening and closing as he tried to process what you’d just said. “Wait, wait, wait. You think I’m cheating on you?!”

Bucky groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Oh my God. Doll… you’ve got it all wrong.”

“Do I?!”

“Yes!” he exclaimed, stepping closer. “I wasn’t sneaking around because I’m cheating on you. I was sneaking around because I was planning a surprise for you!”

“What else am I supposed to think?! You’re always sneaking off, whispering on your phone, and don’t even get me started on the rings—”

“—which were for you,” he interjected, the faintest hint of amusement curling at the corners of his mouth.

You froze. “…What?”

Bucky sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve been planning a surprise, doll. I was trying to find the perfect ring to propose. That’s why Natasha was with me—she knows more about this stuff than I do. She was excited and offered to help me.”

Your jaw dropped. “You… you’re not cheating?”

“No!” Bucky groaned, exasperated. “Why would I cheat on the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”

“Okay, but why were you so sneaky about it?” you shot back, still on the defensive.

“Because I wanted it to be a surprise!” he said, throwing his hands up. “And now it’s ruined because someone jumped to conclusions!”

You opened your mouth to argue but stopped. Maybe he had a point.

“…Oh,” you mumbled, cheeks flushing. “Well, this is embarrassing.”

“It gets worse,” Bucky muttered, digging into his pocket.

Before you could ask what he meant, he dropped to one knee.

“Since the cat’s out of the bag,” he said with a smirk, holding up the most beautiful ring you’d ever seen, “I might as well make it official. Y/N, you drive me crazy in the best way possible, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

Your heart felt like it had exploded in your chest. “Oh my God, yes!”

Bucky grinned as he slid the ring onto your finger and stood, pulling you into his arms. “See? Told you there was nothing to worry about.”

“I’m still mad you didn’t let me in on the plan,” you muttered against his chest.

He chuckled, kissing the top of your head. “Yeah, well, now I know to avoid surprises. Lesson learned.”

And as he twirled you around the room, you couldn’t help but think that maybe misunderstandings weren’t the worst thing in the world—so long as they ended like this.

[trensu]

It's Will that gives him the idea.

"we don't really celebrate father's day anymore," he had said awkwardly, "but I can't hang out anyway."

"why not?" Dustin demanded. He was gonna end up bored and alone because he didn't celebrate the holiday and everyone else had plans. he had been counting on Will to keep him company.

"I'm gonna get Jonathan a new record and I want to listen to it with him," he said.

"can't he get his own records? C'mon, we could go to the arcade or something."

"no, Dustin," his tone took on a stubborn edge that made Dustin pause. "He's my brother and I love him, and he's the only guy besides Bob who's ever even tried to look out for me. So I'm sorry but I'm gonna be busy on Sunday."

Dustin didn't argue after that but it did get him thinking which is why on Sunday morning he biked all the way over to Loch Nora and started banging on Steve's door.

"what do you want, Henderson?" Steve sighed the most dramatic put upon sigh Dustin had ever heard.

"you're not my dad--"

"wow you really are genius!"

"shut up, shut up, listen to me!"

"okay, geez, I'm listening."

"you're not my dad and I don't want you to be my dad. I don't even really want a dad! Lots of dads aren't even that great and my mom already has the single parent thing down. But you taught me how to do my hair and how to talk to girls - even though that advice sucked, I didn't need it to get Suzie at all - and you're gonna teach me how to drive--"

"woah, hey, no I never said I'd do that, wh--"

"--and you've saved my life but I think we're even because I've saved your life too."

"Henderson don't you have anything better to do than harass me in my own home?" Steve said. he was using that exasperated tone he got when he knew he wasn't keeping up with what was going on but didn't want to admit it.

"actually no I don't but I'm here for a reason," he reached into his backpack and took out the gift he clumsily wrapped with scraps of brown paper bags. He shoved it into Steve's hands. "You're basically the only adult male figure in my life. And I appreciate you."

Steve squinted at the gift and then at Dustin and at the gift again before he said fussily "is this a prank? If something gross explodes from this, I swear to god, I'll--"

"Just open it, Steve!"

"Fine, fine, keep your shirt on," Steve said and tore off the paper. He blinked and in a softer tone said, "Oh."

"I don't know if you even like making models but I know you love cars and this kit looked just like yours, so yeah."

Steve stared at the kit some more. Dustin started to fidget. It was always better to be honest with your feelings but maybe this was too much for Steve. Maybe Steve didn't like him as much as Dustin did. Steve was not as enlightened about these things as Dustin.

"I've never made a model before."

Dustin hunched his shoulders and tried not to feel stupid or hurt. He should have expected this. They weren't even related. This was probably too weird. He reached out to take the gift back.

"it's fine, I can return it, whatever."

Steve raised the kit out of Dustin's reach.

"Hey, this is mine," he said.

"you don't even like it!"

"I never said that! I'm just gonna need a dweeby little nerd to help me build it. You know anybody like that?" Steve asked, batting his eyes innocently.

"you're such a dick," Dustin grumbled, fighting back a grin.

"watch your language!"

"shut up, you're not my dad."

Steve laughed as Dustin shoved his way into the house. Hours later, after much shouting and ribbing and one incident of spilled paint, a small model of the beemer was left to dry while Steve forced Dustin to watch the baseball game on TV with him. It wasn't the worst thing ever, and after Steve mentioned the statistics involved, it got way more interesting ("of course you'd like the math part, you weirdo" "you don't understand the stats do you" "shut up and watch the game, Henderson"). When the paint was dry, Dustin followed Steve upstairs and watched him carefully and deliberately place the model between a couple of sports trophies.

"yeah, I guess it looks pretty cool," Steve said with exaggerated nonchalance. "Now beat it, kid. your mom's gonna freak if you're not home when she gets back from work."

"can you give me a ride?"

"ugh, fine."

Dustin grinned. This had been, hands down, the best father's day ever. From the look on Steve's face when he placed the model, Dustin was pretty sure he agreed.

[solarmorrigan]

Hands Where I Can See Them, Part 5

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Here’s the thing: Jeff isn’t actually a meddler by nature.

He’s perfectly content to let people be. He keeps himself to himself and is happy when others do the same. It’s not that he’s never curious, it’s just that he asks personal questions sparingly. And he’s probably going to ask them even more sparingly in the future, because the last time he’d asked one, he’d accidentally broken up one of his best friend’s relationships.

In fairness to Jeff, that relationship was going to blow up sooner rather than later (that is, in fact, exactly what Eddie had said to him when they’d talked a few days after the incident in question; Eddie had even said that he thinks he’d needed the wakeup call, though he’d have preferred it hadn’t happened the way it did – the way that hurt Steve so much. All the same, he seems determined to make things right, so– maybe not the worst thing in the world?), but still, Jeff feels a little�� guilty isn’t quite the word, but he doesn’t have a better name for the squirm of emotion in his gut when he catches sight of Steve at Melvald’s one evening.

He hasn’t seen Steve in over a week, now – not since he’d abruptly left Eddie’s place after being unceremoniously informed that his boyfriend (Jeff’s pretty sure that’s the train Steve had been on) is apparently not actually his boyfriend.

And it isn’t as though he or Gareth or Oliver had really hung out with Steve sans Eddie before, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be willing; Jeff’s experience with Steve Harrington in high school had been peripheral at best, and though he hadn’t had the best impression of him at first, he’d actually come to enjoy his company since he started hanging around Eddie after that disaster of a spring break. He doesn’t know much about D&D (though Jeff suspects he knows a lot more than he lets on), and he’s not particularly into fantasy or sci-fi, but he does have a bizarrely encyclopedic knowledge of sports, and had been excited to learn that Jeff is into baseball and hockey.

He's just as bitchy as Jeff had always thought he was, but he’s also unexpectedly kind, and funny in a way that had caught all of them off guard, and largely seems like a solid sort of guy.

And Jeff just feels kind of shitty that the last time they hung out had ended the way it had, that’s all.

That is his main excuse for why he approaches Steve in the cereal aisle at Melvald’s at 8 p.m. on a Friday.

He clears his throat. “Hey.”

Steve turns, brows furrowed as he looks to see who’s trying to get his attention, clearly not expecting any kind of social encounter, but his expression clears a bit when he sees Jeff. “Oh. Uh– Hey,” he says. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I don’t seem like the type to eat breakfast cereal?” Jeff teases, and a little bit of the tension in Steve’s shoulders seems to ease away.

“More like I thought I was the only person lame enough to be grocery shopping on a Friday night,” he counters with a smirk.

“You might be,” Jeff says, though he keeps his voice warm. “I just stopped in to pick up some snacks for the weekend after– uh,” Jeff stops short; shit, why did he bring that up?

Steve stares at him for a moment, calculating, and Jeff sees the moment he makes the connection.

“Hellfire tonight, right?” Steve asks, his tone almost unnervingly neutral as he looks back towards the shelves.

“Yeah,” Jeff says, still watching Steve carefully. “Just ended about half an hour ago.”

Steve gives a slow nod. “How was it?”

And – well, there are two options from here. Jeff could take Steve’s polite interest at face value, tell him it was a good session, and let them both awkwardly get on with their nights, or… He could be truthful, and maybe see how Steve’s really doing (which would also be awkward, so it’s not like Jeff really has much to lose).

“To be honest? Not great.” Jeff shrugs. “Eddie hasn’t been in good form lately.”

He can see the curve of a sad sort of smile cross Steve’s face, just briefly.

“That sucks, man. Hope he, uh… gets his head back in the game soon, I guess?” Steve offers.

Whether he does or not will probably be entirely dependent on how his plans to fix things with Steve play out; Eddie hadn’t told Jeff much (apparently, he’s done accidentally flying his dirty laundry for the time being), but he had said that Steve had asked for a little time, and that they would be talking again soon.

“I think he’s working on it,” Jeff says, rather than digging into that particular can of worms. “And, uh… How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Steve says a little too quickly. “I’m fine.”

Jeff pauses for a minute, pursing his lips and staring up at the ceiling. Is he really doing this? On a Friday night at fucking Melvald’s?

“It just sucks,” he finally says, “that…”

“That you all had to see that I’m actually an oversensitive loser when you realized I’d basically made up an entire relationship and then ran out over it like an idiot?” Steve suggests, his tone so false and light that it sets Jeff on edge.

“That Eddie couldn’t see that he had something really good in front of him. That he completely fumbled it,” Jeff corrects him.

It’s only after he’s spoken that he remembers they’re in a public place, and that talking to one guy about his relationship with another guy isn’t particularly safe. He glances around, hoping it’s not too little, too late, and is relieved to find that the store is just as empty as it had been when he’d first stepped in. When he looks back to Steve, he finds him staring, brows furrowed like he’s trying to puzzle something out.

“Isn’t Eddie one of your best friends?” Steve asks at last.

Jeff shrugs. “Makes me qualified to point out when he’s been an idiot.”

Steve says nothing, just pins Jeff with that confused stare for a moment longer before turning back to the shelf, as if he might finally decide on what cereal he wants.

“If it helps at all,” Jeff says, more quietly this time, “the reason we were even talking about it is because I asked Eddie how it was going – the two of you dating. We all thought you were. We were– well, probably not just as surprised as you, but pretty damn surprised when Eddie said you weren’t.”

“That… actually does. A little,” Steve answers softly, cutting a quick glance at Jeff. “Thanks.”

Jeff shrugs. “It’s just– Eddie’s not– he’s not a bad guy. He gets caught up in things, and he forgets to pay attention, but he wouldn’t do something like that on purpose.”

“I know,” Steve says, not quite sharp, but not quite gentle, either.

“Sorry, I’m not… trying to talk him up. I swear I’m not here advocating for him, or whatever.” Jeff sighs. “You’re totally within your rights to tell him to fuck off—hell, you can tell me to fuck off—I just wanted to say that if he tells you he’s sorry, if he says he wants to fix it, he really does mean it.”

“Yeah. I know,” Steve says again, and this time he sounds gentle – a little soft and distant.

Jeff reaches up and clasps one hand over Steve’s shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze before releasing him. “Anyway, if we’re not going to be seeing you at any of the regular places, you should come over and catch a game sometime.”

It seems like a given that Steve won’t be sitting in on anymore Hellfire sessions for a while, or coming to see their gigs at The Hideout like he had been (he’s already missed one, and they had all pretended not to notice the way Eddie had completely ignored the side of the room with the table where Steve would usually sit and watch), but Jeff finds himself unwilling to let go of his friendship entirely.

“Yeah?” Steve asks, glancing over again.

“Sure.” Jeff shrugs. “Offer stands. Gareth and Oliver’d be happy to see you, too.”

“They’re not into sports,” Steve says.

“But they can be bribed with snacks,” Jeff answers, and Steve gives a huff of a laugh.

“Cool,” he says, the first real smile Jeff’s seen from him all night beginning to cross his face. “I’ll give you a call sometime.”

Jeff smirks at him. “Will you have your people call my people?” he teases, and Steve reaches out to give his shoulder a light shove.

“Fuck off, man,” he snickers.

“Only because I have other things to do,” Jeff says, heading back down the aisle the way he’d come. “Night, Harrington.”

“Night,” Steve calls back after him, sounding a bit lighter than when Jeff had found him.

Feeling a little lighter himself, Jeff snags an extra package of Ho Ho’s on the way to the register. He figures he’s earned it.

Part 6

-

Tag List (Now full, I'm sorry! Drop me a line if you want off the ride): @bushbees @y0urnewstepp4r3nt @gleek4twd @hellfireone @westifer-dead @anne-bennett-cosplayer @starman-jpg @mugloversonly @swimmingbirdrunningrock @alycatavatar @y4r3luv @rhapsodyinalto @vinteraltus @lilpomelito @tillystealeaves @noctxrn-e @pearynice @giverobinagfbrigade @novacorpsrecruit @hotluncheddie @strangersteddierthings @alongcomesaspider @theheadlessphilosopher @jettestar @rajumat @garden-of-gay @jamieweasley13 @dam28lh @oldwitcheshat @lololol-1234 @perfectlysensiblenonsense @salty-h0e @r0binscript @mavernanche @back2beesness @a-lovely-craziness @paintsplatteredandimperfect @redbullgivescaswings @emmabubbles @heartstarstar-blog @thesuninyaface @thatonebisexualman @fruitandbubbles @erinharvelle @m-owo-n @theystoodandplayedwithsilence @surroundedbyconfusion @luthienstormblessed @3ldr1tchang3l @pansexuality-activated

[jinxposting]

Jason Todd x Jinx! reader prologue

Origins

Your parents, not unlike a certain Dark Knight, were killed when you were young

Unsurprising given you were born and raised in Gotham

You were then taken care of by distant relatives

Though "taken care" is a generous term

They offered next to no affection nor attention in general, and with no friends your age you were rather isolated

This gave you time to develop the unique hobby of tinkering

Perhaps it was due to the nature of your parents demise (an explosion caused by a fight between the Bat and Bane) but you'd always had an interest in explosives

A morbid curiosity that only further fueled your guardian's distaste for you

And the direct cause of their other child's (your foster sibling) death

Unlike their parent your sibling was warm towards you, always encouraging your talent

The day you finally succeeded in your endeavors turned out to be the worst day of your life

You hadn't intended to hurt anyone

At the very least not them

Your guardian arrived home after work that day, greeted by a pile of rubble where their house once stood

And a corpse where their child once was

Your cries for forgiveness fell on deaf ears as they beat you, afterwards abandoning you in the remnants of your now decimated home

You'll never forget the look in their eyes

Nothing but pure hatred

You spent a few weeks on the streets after that

You survived on dumpster scraps and slept in alleyways

That was until you made the mistake of breaking into an abandoned warehouse

Piles of metal were strewn about, an old metal working mill you concluded

Your morbid fixation only seemed to worsen with the recent incident

You found yourself once again building your dangerous devices

Even more macabre, part of you hoped to go out in the same manor

Then one night, while you were finishing a grenade, you met them

A large group of muscled men filed into the building

They pointed their weapons at you, some guns, others baseball bats, but all directed at you

You should have been scared

But you were too numb to fear

You pulled the pin and threw the grenade as far into the crowd as you could

Blood

And flying limbs

You pushed past the remaining men only to be pulled back

"Just wait till the boss gets a hold of ya"

After a few moments of regrouping what was left of their forces the men greeted their 'boss'

"You mean to tell me this little runt killed a dozen of my men?" ... "Hahaha!"

That laugh

Everyone knew that laugh

Before you stood none other than the Joker

All smiles, he looked down at you

In one hand he held the remnants of your grenade

You could just barely make out the sharp toothed smile you'd doodled onto it

"This is far too crude to be mass produced. You wouldn't have happened to built this yourself, did you?"

You nodded

"Hahahaha!" He continued to laugh with unrestrained joy

"Harley, get a load of this!"

Out came Harley Quinn, the Joker's right hand

She gawked down at you

"This shrimp caused all this damage? Talk about an explosive personality!"

"Yes, precisely." the Joker kneeled in front of you, offering you the scrapped pieces of grenade "Not every day you see a gift like that."

His smile, albeit menacing, brought you a strange comfort in that moment

You took the offered scrap metal

"Where are your parents?"

"Dead."

"Oh? No siblings?"

"Dead."

"Them too, huh? And how did that happen?"

You looked down at the device

You didn't have to speak for him to understand

Another cackle sounded from the man

"Ha! You're quite the jinx it'd seem."

"Hey that's not a bad name, Puddin'!"

He stroked his chin in thought "It does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?"

Joker stood back to his full height, looking off in thought

"You know, Harley. The Bat has his little protege, so who says I can't too?"

"Oh, Mistah J! You mean it? I always wanted us to have a little Joker!"

"Not a Joker, Harls." he turned back to you with a wide grin "A Jinx."

[h3arts4strs]

Birds of a Feather

───────────

K. Sato x fem!Reader

───────────

01 ᯓ★ After years of not seeing or hearing from your old friend, Kenji Sato, it’s announced the player would be making a return to Japan. Although you have decided to leave that life behind, an unexpected encounter is made.

WORD COUNTᯓ★ 1.2K

───────────

“Western baseball sensation, Kenji Sato, is finally coming home.” My attention immediately shifted from what was meant to be a crochet sweater but rather resembled a Thneed from The Lorax, to reach for the TV remote to increase the volume. “It's reported that the famous baseball player will be returning home and joining the Japanese Giants this season! Pretty exciting-“, it was at that point I switched off the TV and let out a sigh. It has been years.

Ken and I had a strong bond in the past, one bound together through child wonder, the thought of something lasting forever and a shared love for Ultraman. I still remember the first day we met, sometimes shamelessly catching myself thinking about the incident. It was a summer afternoon at a primary school baseball game. Due to the sport being newly established at my school and the few numbers at the time, the boy and girl teams had been conjoined to make up for the numbers. I could still recall the lush grass underneath my shoes as I gripped the baseball bat, ready to swing and woo the crowd of students who had stayed after school. The pitcher, a dark-haired boy whose head was too big for his shoulder was getting in position, waiting for the signal from the coach. One, two, three, ball! The ball was hurdling towards me, its speed picking up as it got closer and closer. I kept my eye on the ball then, smack!

I dropped my bat and my hands immediately flew to my right eye, gently applying pressure in a poor attempt to alleviate the pain I felt. How embarrassing. Members of my team were flocking to check my condition as I was still in shock. The team surrounded me as the coach gently removed my hands from my eye, revealing the dark ring that had started to form from where the ball hit me. It was that day that I had met the boy who hit me with the ball, it was that day I had met Kenji Sato.

It was through the baseball incident we started talking and quickly became the best of friends, often going out after all baseball games to get delicious frozen treats or play superheroes in the park. One of my favourite memories with Kenji was, the time he gave me the best advice, something I carry with me every day. It stemmed from primary school and how I would be alienated or made fun of for how I looked. Whether it was for my skin colour, hair, or how I sounded, especially when speaking in broken Japanese, I became the talk of the school. I hated it. I hated how my name was an inside joke to many cliques. I hated myself. The relentless teasing led to me always begging my mom to let me straighten my hair, in an attempt to fit in. Kenji noticed this, prompting the best advice he has ever told me, something that will forever stick with me, ‘kids will talk no matter what, so give them something good to talk about’. It was moments like that that had us stuck at the hip until a forceful separation was made a few months later, Ken was moving to America. 

At that point in time, it felt as if the world had ended at the fruitful age of 11, unbeknownst to what awaited me in my years of adolescence. My best friend would be moving across the North Pacific, to the world of the west, leaving Japan and me behind. We then made it a mission to keep contact, not allowing our friendship to falter and for the first year and a half we did just that. The strength of our bond could not be questioned as it was that strong and not once had I ever been left to wonder are we still friends. It was only until I noticed he messaged less and less and took longer to reply and when he did, it seemed forced. I was naive to think that we would stay the same, to believe that he would get tired of this distance. We were like two slow dancers, experiencing each other's comforting embrace until the song's ending would inevitably force us to part. I can’t blame him. Life happened and we unfortunately never spoke again, leading me up to my present, one where I sit snuggled up in a warm blanket as I attempt to crochet while having the ambience of the TV fill my luxury apartment.

I would love to meet up with Kenji again and see how he’s been doing after all these years but the thought of it being an interaction is nothing short of that awkward tension with constant “oooh”, “That’s cool” and “By the way, sorry for not messaging you anymore out of the blue, I was feeling a bit silly” so it would be best I leave that chapter behind, continue living life as I have been. After coming to my conclusion I decide to retire for the night, getting ready for a busy day as a KDF fighter pilot.

. . . 

As the sun shines through my blinds, I slowly rise, stretching until a satisfying pop noise escapes my back. I go about my regular morning routine and change into my fitness wear which consists of sweatpants, a compression jacket and some trainers. After battling with my hair, I managed to put it into an updo, practical yet adorable. I grab my headphones, phone and house keys and go out for a morning run. 

I had started incorporating morning runs on weekends as a way to remain active when I was not able to surf and enjoy other water activities. As my body carried me on the boardwalk at a steady pace, I listened to my favourite artist and mentally planned out my day, I was going to go home, freshen up and explore the city, discover small shops that hid in the crooks and crannies of the city, have lunch at a cute cafe then return home, it would be the perfect self-care day. 

I continued to run, enjoying the salty breeze that gently blew on my face, the rising sun that warmed me up and the sound of crashing waves I could hear over my music. My mind and body felt amazing, being able to reconnect with nature after a long week of flying and capturing was therapeutic.

After running my routine 5km, I headed towards the nearest smoothie bar to get myself the tasty treat I deserved after doing my run and beating my previous time constraint. I walk into the shop, enjoying the feeling of the AC cooling down my body. I analysed the options on the menu and decided to go with a simple berry smoothie. Once my order had been prepared and I reached over the counter to receive my drink, I felt someone tap my shoulder. When I turned around to see who was behind what they needed, “Hey, it's been a while."

───────────

✮chérie

[byler-endgayme]

Official Lobegate Lore

If you’re new to lobegate, I highly recommend reading this post by @bluearacari

Read that first if you want to understand what lobegate is. It explains lobegate itself, how it started, and the key pieces of lore in order of when they were revealed to the ‘audience’ (Bald Mike nation).

In this post, I’ll explain the full lobegate storyline in (mostly) chronological order. Most of this is based off of anon asks, but I also just made up some of the lore so it flows better. Unfortunately, I couldn’t incorporate every single anon ask, because some of the lore contradicts each other or has loose ends. However, if I missed out on something important or got things wrong, please let me know!

I’ve also made a lobegate playlist, which you can listen to while reading if you like:

Playlist cover is from this hilarious edit by @xoceanstarx011

I’m the anon behind these following identities in lobegate:

Baseball Girl

Will’s Favorite Car / Milkvan

Jesse

U. N. Owen

Duolingo

Other anons:

@dynamicccsworld (Baseball Boy, George Seymour Kent (?), Hawkins Reports)

@your-ivy-grows13 (Tick Tock)

@itwasaseven7 (The New Baseball Girl)

Others (If I missed you and you wanna be tagged, please let me know!)

Bald Mike nation (received anon asks):

@tripleatechie

@clericallyinsane

@dia-depeche

@bluearacari

@pythoness94 (hacked the MMM, allowing Bald Mike nation to hear what occurred within)

@noihavenosanitythanksforasking

@orlastarburst

Others (This is based off activity in the #lobegate tag - if I missed you and you wanna be tagged, please let me know!)

Lobers (started this whole thing)

@somewiseoutthere

@itwasaseven7

@noihavenosanitythanksforasking (?)

Others

@red-raven707 (fooled us into thinking they were a Lober)

Anyways, let’s get into it!

…

Mike was going bald quickly and desperately needed a balding implant. Alas, he couldn’t get on the waiting list for one, so he decided to steal Walter White’s balding implant, becoming the Bald Mike we know and love today. At this stage, Bald Mike did not yet fully comprehend the power of his special, shiny implant to hypnotise people…

Conveniently, nobody knew what happened to Walter White himself, so Bald Mike got a wig and stole his identity for the time being. Only Bald Mike’s best friend, Jesse Pinkman, was in on it. However, Jesse didn’t know about the balding implant yet, and just thought he got a weird haircut.

On November 2nd 2021, at 8:15, Bald Mike took over the Village with Three Waterfalls and reclaimed it as his own. As Jesse stood by his side, holding his hand, Bald Mike revealed his radiant glowing head for the first time. The puny Baseballians didn’t stand a chance against the radiant power of The Light. In the invasion, many Hawkins residents danced in the streets, whilst Baseballians lost their homes. From then on, the Village became known as Hawkins. Because Bald Mike was under the alias of Walter White at the time, this incident became widely known as the Walter White incident.

The loss of the Baseballian village devastated Baseball Boy, Baseball Girl (his cousin), and the New Baseball Girl (Baseball Girl’s twin). They are also known as the Three Waterfalls, named after the iconic landmark from their hometown. Planning revenge on Bald Mike, Baseball Boy formed the Mitochondria Metamorphosis Mob (MMM) with Baseball Girl’s support. However, the New Baseball Girl mysteriously disappeared and was nowhere to be seen…

Over the next couple of months, the MMM recovered from the Walter White incident by recruiting people to join, building a milkshake factory, and establishing their MMM lair. The MMM soon formed an alliance with the Lobers and Duolingo. Duolingo wasn’t much help but made a great pet bird for Baseball Girl, whilst the Lobers adored their holy Lobe. Baseball Boy started the tradition of worship towards the holy Lobe, milkshakes, and baseball bats. He also teamed up with the mysterious Tick Tock, who collaborated with him remotely and helped form many plans. Initially, Baseball Girl supported Baseball Boy’s efforts within the MMM, but gradually she became more and more power-hungry…

Elsewhere, the New Baseball Girl had her own plan to take down Bald Mike. She sneaked off to Hawkins, planning to assassinate Bald Mike herself, but instead stumbled upon a Milkvan in the junkyard who was rusting away. It was Will’s Favorite Car, discarded and forgotten. She repainted him bright blue and discovered he had time travelling powers. Together, they started testing time travel out…

…

Meanwhile, Hawkins was preparing for the upcoming presidential election…

On August 17th, 2022, Bald Mike started his presidential campaign and revealed himself to the world as the bald man he truly was. Entranced by the power of The Light, everyone listened to what he had to say. The citizens put him as their profile pictures and created a large movement in support of Bald Mike. From then on, his supporters became known as Bald Mike nation. Pretty much everyone thought he was a worthy president, and his Baseballian hater minority were nothing to him. At some point in Bald Mike’s campaign, Jesse pointed out that the bald implant had hypnotic powers, with the potential to mess with memories. Surely they could use it to their advantage…

On November 8th, 2022, George Seymour Kent and his partner, U. N. Owen, were scheduled to meet with the new presidential candidate, Bald Mike. They agreed to come - though apprehensively, due to hearing rumours about the Walter White Incident of 2021. They were also surprised that Jesse came to the meeting, seeing that he only stared intently at his watch and seemed bored. At first, George and U. N. Owen’s discussion with Bald Mike went smoothly but then…

At around 4:15 during the meeting, George asked Bald Mike about the Walter White Incident, and everything went awry. Bald Mike didn’t want his dark past to be revealed! In a fit of rage, he ripped off his wig and unleashed the power of The Light unto George. Shocked, George and U.N Owen fought Bald Mike and Jesse. U. N. Owen distracted Bald Mike momentarily with a blow to the cheek, allowing George to escape the office. But poor George’s memories began to jumble up, and he couldn’t escape Bald Mike’s voice in his head…

Soon afterwards, George ran away to Lover’s Lake, suffering from migraines as Bald Mike’s voice became louder and louder. He was seeing the light… he was not himself anymore. All his memories evaporated, replaced only by a vision of that shiny, radiant, bald head. The infection had spread to his brain… he had not long left… and yet the love letter in his pocket was tragically unsent, unread by its intended recipient. With his mind gone, George ripped the envelope open and scrawled a message on the back of the letter. His last words were preserved in golden ink:

HE IS ALL.

THE LIGHT IS NYE.

WE WILL REST UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE. OF THE KING.

REJECT HUMANITY EMBRACE LIGHT.

Back at the office, Jesse wrangled U. N. Owen off Bald Mike and adjusted his watch, changing the time from 4:15 to 7:00. With his time travelling powers, Jesse brought U. N. Owen and himself to a barren wasteland sometime in the far future. This way, Bald Mike would be safe. But mere moments later, Milkvan and the New Baseball Girl appeared out of nowhere and grabbed U. N. Owen from Jesse. They began to U-turn to capture Jesse, but Jesse quickly adjusted his watch from 7:00 to 8:15. Nobody knew when or where he had time travelled to. So, Milkvan, U. N. Owen, and the New Baseball Girl were forced to return to the present.

Milkvan, U. N. Owen, and the New Baseball Girl now stood in front of the MMM lair. Suddenly, the New Baseball Girl bolted off into the woods - finding these two randos was not part of her plan…

When the original Baseball Girl found Milkvan and U. N. Owen outside, she welcomed them into the MMM with open arms. Milkvan and U. N. Owen didn’t know she was a twin, so they assumed she was the one who saved them. Soon, they formed an undying loyalty to Baseball Girl. Besides, U. N. Owen was intensely worried about George. He still hoped George was alive out there somewhere, but nevertheless, he swore to kill Bald Mike himself.

Having recruited more loyal MMM members, Baseball Girl began to ruminate over leading the MMM herself… without Baseball Boy…

…

Bald Mike suffered an imprint on his cheek where U. N. Owen had hit him. And now he was left alone, without his best friend Jesse. But Jesse’s words from the Walter White Incident kept on repeating in his head…

“I’m gonna save you, my lobe I MEAN LOVE. My sweet, evil, radiant, shiny, goofy, silly, dictator, murderer lobe I MEAN LOVE, you are in grave danger. But don’t worry. Sit tight.”

It was strange that Bald Mike had never remembered him say these words… until just now. It was as if a new memory had just inserted into his brain. Surely, it was one of Jesse’s time travelling antics. In time, everything would make sense. He trusted that one day, his Jesse would return.

…

When The New Baseball Girl had fled from Milkvan and U. N. Owen outside the MMM lair, she bumped into another girl in the woods.

El… wearing a big yellow Benny’s t-shirt. Instantly, the New Baseball Girl fell in lobe at first sight and listened to her story.

Ever since the Walter White incident of ‘21, El had been providing displaced Baseballians with eggos, milkshakes, blankets, shelter, baseballs, and the other necessities they needed to survive the invasion. But to really help the local Baseballians out, she needed to take her ex, Bald Mike, down… and this would only be possible through the MMM. The New Baseball Girl, tormented by her failed plan to assassinate Bald Mike by herself, agreed to help El. She made El her Queen and did whatever she ordered. Together, they started planning to take over MMM from Baseball Boy and Baseball Girl…

…

For three years, Bald Mike basked in the glory of his presidency of Hawkins. But eventually, the time for re-election came again, and Bald Mike would do everything in his power to ensure #baldmike2025 would become a reality.

However, the MMM and its allies had other plans. During these three years, Tick Tock helped Baseball Boy devise the MMM’s plan to assassinate Bald Mike. First, U. N. Owen was going to drive Milkvan all the way to Hawkins and play a haunting tune to scare away Bald Mike nation. Then, U. N. Owen was going to capture Bald Mike, tie him up, and, most importantly, cover up his bald head with a cloth. After this, they were to drive to the three waterfalls and throw Bald Mike down, finishing him off once and for all. With the plan complete just in time for the 2025 election, the MMM and its allies were ready to begin tormenting Bald Mike nation.

…

On 7th January 2025, the Lobers sent Bald Mike nation claims that Mike and El were in lobe. However, it wasn’t long before the Lobers were caught, causing them to surrender and disappear.

Then, the MMM’s recruitment intensified, and they began to reach out to Bald Mike nation. The MMM began spreading propaganda, claiming that Bald Mike was a terrible candidate, that Lobe was for life, and that the holy milkshakes and baseballs should be praised. When this didn’t work, the MMM began threatening Bald Mike Nation with their powerful alliance with the Lobers and Duolingo. All of these theatrics aimed to take down Bald Mike in the upcoming election. But Bald Mike’s radiance was too strong and Bald Mike nation were unmoved.

Secretly panicking, Baseball Boy asserted himself as the leader of MMM and warned about the Milkvan and his haunting tune. He was still hopeful that the original plan could be carried out, but alas…

…

Many years’ worth of seething jealousy finally awoke from within Baseball Girl. In a burst of frenzied fury, she took over the leadership of MMM, and Baseball Boy was much dismayed to find out that Milkvan’s loyalties lied with Baseball Girl. He surrendered and was kicked out of the MMM. Still, he felt he had to reveal the truth about the Walter White incident, and sent coded messages to Bald Mike nation. Before Baseball Boy could continue, Baseball Girl ordered Milkvan to finish him off by running him over.

With Baseball Boy out of the way, Baseball Girl changed the plan. She wasn’t in contact with Tick Tock, so Tick Tock was uninformed of these changes. As originally planned, U. N. Owen was going to drive Milkvan to Hawkins to capture Bald Mike. But according to Baseball Girl’s plan, U. N. Owen and Milkvan weren’t to kill him right away. Instead, they were to deliver him to the MMM lair, find Jesse, and kill Jesse in front of Bald Mike. This would inflict maximum pain unto Bald Mike. Only then would the MMM kill Bald Mike, and afterwards, they’d send the Milkshake Tsunami (generated at the milkshake factory) to destroy Bald Mike nation once and for all. (But of course, nothing ever goes to plan…)

After the plan revisions, the MMM continued sending out recruit invites and threats to Bald Mike nation. In the background, the baseball manufacturing and milkshake brewing continued too. Milkvan was asleep, charging up for the long trip. U. N. Owen was watching the Hawkins News intently, spying on them for information but also secretly hoping George was still alive. Many news reports about Bald Mike and other affairs began to surface, scaring the local Baseballians in Hawkins.

It was around this time that Jesse began contacting Bald Mike nation with coded messages. He ensured they couldn’t be intercepted by the MMM, for that would allow them to track his whereabouts - in both space and time.

Even with all this going on, everything seemed stagnant for a moment or two… and for good reason. Baseball Girl mysteriously disappeared... but what happened to her?

…

All these years later, under the orders of her Queen El, The New Baseball Girl returned to take over the MMM from Baseball Girl. After all, Baseball Boy’s death weakened the group, and now was the perfect time to strike.

Overworked from leading the MMM, Baseball Girl had let her guard down. This allowed The New Baseball Girl to breach security, knock Baseball Girl out with a baseball bat, and throw her into the milkshake brewer at the milkshake factory.

Now, with Baseball Girl out of the way, The New Baseball Girl claimed leadership over the MMM. She painted Baseball Girl as a coward, claiming she fled the country due to stress from leading the MMM. Bald Mike nation continued to be sent endless baseball and milkshake threats. In these threats, The New Baseball Girl warned about the dangerous truth about Bald Mike, criticised Bald Mike nation for suggesting Baseball Girl was dead, and sympathised with local Baseballians.

…

On the 8th of January 2025, shortly after The New Baseball Girl revealed herself to Bald Mike Nation, she disappeared too. Without a clear leader of the MMM, Bald Mike nation eventually calmed down. However, many questions were still left unanswered. What happened to Baseball Girl? What were the New Baseball Girl’s plans? Is Bald Mike truly safe now? Amidst all the silence, Bald Mike eventually let his guard down.

But of course Bald Mike wasn’t safe yet. Far from it. Because Baseball Girl reappeared, explaining her disappearance. She asserted that she didn’t flee the country, contrary to the New Baseball Girl’s claims. It took her hours to clamber out of the Milkshake pot in the milkshake factory, but finally, she returned. The MMM was officially back in business! But now they had to stop the intake of MMM recruitment for safety reasons. Where would they find new recruits now…

Baseball Girl was ready to commence her plan. Milkvan and U. N. Owen were sent to Hawkins, playing the grim Milkvan tune all the way. With his guard let down, Bald Mike was easy to capture. U. N. Owen tied him up and threatened Bald Mike nation. He managed to further capture 387 citizens and began his drive back to MMM lair. Because of this sudden influx of unpaid, forced recruits (slaves, basically), MMM officially closed recruitment to the public. A news report about these missing citizens was broadcasted on Hawkins television, accurately reporting it was coordinated by Baseball Girl.

…

Meanwhile, Tick Tock finally managed to reach the MMM again after Baseball Boy’s death. But Baseball Girl, still tense after the security breach, mistook Tick Tock for the New Baseball Girl. She demanded that her twin reveal herself at once and fight her at the Milkshake factory. When Baseball Girl arrived there, she found The New Baseball Girl busy sipping on some milkshake samples. So there she was! As payback, Baseball Girl drugged her, ensuring she would be unconscious for at least the next 12 hours. She pretended she didn’t know what happened to the New Baseball Girl, trapped her in a bunker, and patiently waited for the captured Bald Mike to arrived at the MMM lair.

Though tied up, Bald Mike bashed about inside Milkvan and damaged him quite badly. When they arrived at the MMM lair, U. N. Owen began repairs on Milkvan, whilst Baseball Girl was delighted to finally have Bald Mike in her hands. With Milkvan’s time travelling powers on her side, she intended on finding Jesse next. Unfortunately, they faced delays due to Milkvan’s repairs and not knowing where/when Jesse was hiding. It didn’t help that Baseball Girl lacked the braincells to decode Jesse’s secret messages to Bald Mike nation.

With the MMM planning to capture him next, Jesse began to panic. He frantically sent his last messages to Bald Mike nation, resolving not to communicate anymore out of fear of being found by the MMM. After all, of all people, U. N. Owen might know where he time travelled to…

Meanwhile, propaganda - both pro-Bald-Mike and anti-Bald-Mike - continued to circulate. Some messages about The Light praised its saving power, whilst others ominously warned against looking at it. In any case, the overpowering strength of The Light was made clear.

…

Tick Tock contacted the MMM again, disappointed about the changes to the original plan. They disapproved of the capture of 387 Hawkins citizens and the delay in assassinating Bald Mike. They threatened Bald Mike nation, claiming Bald Mike would be in danger if a deal was not made.

But Baseball Girl asserted to Bald Mike nation that she wanted to assassinate both Jesse and Bald Mike. She would drown them both in the milkshake pot at the milkshake factory. Initially, Baseball Girl was apprehensive about collaborating with Tick Tock, not knowing who they were. Nevertheless, she started discussing plans with Tick Tock, requesting to capture Jesse and make Bald Mike watch him die.

Tick Tock didn’t disclose their true identity to Baseball Girl, saying they were only here to make plans. However, they agreed to help capture Jesse.

Baseball Girl asked Tick Tock if they had any ideas as to the time period Jesse was hiding in. She also waited for help from Milkvan or U. N. Owen, but it took a while to get a response from them…

…

At the repair shop, Milkvan’s repairing was delayed, as U. N. Owen’s attention was drawn to breaking news on TV. Three years after George’s disappearance, his body was finally discovered near Lover’s Lake at 5:15. His last written words on the piece of paper were broadcasted on TV, but tragically, the love letter for U. N. Owen on the other side was not shown.

Upon the announcement of George’s death, many years’ worth of pent-up yearning and hoping crashed inside U. N. Owen. Pure grief, regret, and devastation ravaged inside him, and he admitted - too late - his love for his beloved partner. He described how brave, courageous, and justice-seeking George was, and went away to cry for a few minutes.

…

The New Baseball Girl finally awoke from being drugged. She was ultimately powerless, trapped alone in the bunker without any food or water. Nevertheless, she swore that Jesse would be captured, and claimed Jesse was the ‘brains’ whom the ‘stupid’ Bald Mike relied wholly on. Then, she descended into a fit of fury, swearing to fight Baseball Girl. The New Baseball Girl claimed the MMM truly belonged to her and that there was only supposed to be one of them growing in their mother’s womb.

But Baseball Girl ignored her twin’s requests to fight, saying that finding Jesse was more important.

Finally, U. N. Owen stopped crying and finished Milkvan’s repairs. Discussing the plan with the other MMM members, U. N. Owen recounted the traumatic events of the day he and George met Bald Mike and Jesse in the office. Crucially, he remembered that when Jesse was escaping Milkvan, he had turned his time travel watch from 7-ish to 8:15.

Thinking about what 8:15 could mean, New Baseball Girl wrongfully guessed that Jesse was hiding in Hopper’s cabin in Hawkins.

On the other hand, Baseball Girl thought the whole deal about 8:15 was ridiculous.

What they failed to grasp, fatally, was the true significance of this number, of 8:15. Of course, you can’t really blame them seeing that so much time had passed, but still.

8:15 on November 2nd, 2021… it was where it all began.

The Walter White incident.

…

When Jesse had turned his watch to 8:15 all those years ago, he time travelled back to the past, back to this momentous day. It was the day his life changed - the day Mike revealed his bald head to him. It was so radiant, so magnificent, that Jesse full-on fell in lobe. And, of course, his lobe was reciprocated. The two of them held hands and Jesse had never felt happier.

That’s why Jesse knew it was the perfect time period to hide from the enemy. Not only was it a traumatic moment for the Three Waterfalls, but reliving his best moment - the moment he felt so much love - gave him power. Again and again did Jesse experience this blindingly radiant moment, and again and again did Jesse’s power grow and grow.

But finally, after three years of reliving the Walter White incident, Jesse knew it was time to return to the present. Changing the timeline, Jesse told Bald Mike,

“I’m gonna save you, my lobe I MEAN LOVE. My sweet, evil, radiant, shiny, goofy, silly, dictator, murderer lobe I MEAN LOVE, you are in grave danger. But don’t worry. Sit tight.”

Jesse set his watch from 8:15 to 12:00. And all of a sudden, he teleported to the present, now standing at the centre of the MMM lair. Beside him, his belobed Bald Mike was tied up with his radiant head concealed. And in the room also stood Baseball Girl, U. N. Owen, and Milkvan all staring, gaping at Jesse. They were too late; they failed to find him in time.

HE found THEM.

Jesse untied Bald Mike, and they each held the other in their warm embrace. The MMM thought it was a mere act of affection from these reunited lobers. But it was more than that. The two lobers simultaneously ripped off the coverings off each other’s heads - Mike’s cloth and Jesse’s wig, because Jesse is also actually bald - to reveal two perfectly shiny, bald heads. The power of love, accumulated over years thanks to Jesse’s time travelling antics, was more powerful than ever…

At once, they unleashed The Light unto the MMM.

Milkvan spontaneously combusted; U. N. Owen screamed his dead lober’s last message and exploded into golden ink; Baseball Girl transformed into an inanimate baseball. Positively glowing, Bald Mike walked over to the baseball and squashed it into insignificance.

The New Baseball Girl may have survived this attack, being stuck in the bunker, but she too would not survive much longer without food or water. As for Tick Tock, communicating from afar saved their life. But they disappeared, powerless without the MMM to do the dirty work.

And so, on the 9th of January 2025, Bald Mike and Jesse defeated the MMM with the power of love. With all their enemies obliterated and the 387 hostages returned, Bald Mike’s presidential campaign became an unmatched success.

On the 10th of January 2025, Bald Mike officially won the elections, as well as the hearts of Bald Mike nation. Again did the people make Bald Mike their profile pictures, showing off their Bald Mike pride to the world.

Basking again in the ever-radiant glory of presidency, Bald Mike’s head continued to shine throughout the village with the three waterfalls, throughout the valley - all the way to the abandoned Mitochondria Metamorphosis Mob lair, all throughout the drained milkshake factory, all throughout the woods, all throughout the universe - now and forevermore.

[in1-nutshell]

One more before I forget... a delinquent senior in high school Buddy who secretly has a heart of gold, who would defend the kids. They have the mentality of 'You mess with them, you mess with me.' However, it's mostly Jack's and maybe Raf's(?) bullies. And would go against Megatron with only a spiked bat for the kids and for team Prime too. For this scenario, I'd imagine while defending one of the kids against their bullies. They get into a really serious fight with them and practically send the bully to the hospital. So how would the tfp team Prime react to learning this on the drive from school to the base?

Buddy is ready to attack anything that looks at the kids the wrong way.

Hope you enjoy!

Human Buddy protecting the Kids from bullies with Bulkhead, Ultra Magnus, and Bumblebee

SFW, Platonic, Mentions of injury and fights (nothing detailed), Human reader

TFP

Buddy looked like a heartless person.

They had a resting scowl on their face.

But they were one of the sweetest people the kids and Bots knew.

When Buddy found out that the kids went to the same school, Buddy made sure to look out for them.

They insisted on walking each one of them to class.

Jack coming out of class looking both ways in the hallway.

“Hmm—”--Jack

Buddy tapping his shoulder.

“Ready?”--Buddy

“Ack!”--Jack

Miko coming out of her class, sticking close to the wall.

No Buddy in sight.

Buddy looking over her shoulder.

“Who you looking for?”--Buddy

“AHH! How are you so quiet? And how did you even get here so fast? Isn’t your class on the other side of the school?”--Miko

“I have long legs.”--Buddy

Raf coming out of his class.

Buddy waiting for him by the wall.

“You ready for that test?”--Buddy

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”--Raf

Buddy just wanted to look after their friends, especially since they knew there were some awful people in the school.

The day of the incident was one to remember.

Vince had come up with the dumbest stunt yet.

After school Vince and some of his goons had managed to corner Jack.

“Hey Darby.”--Vince

“Vince? What—what are you doing with your… friends?”--Jack

The group slowly formed a semi-circle around Jack and Vince.

“What happened at lunch? You trying to start something? Huh, Dirt bag?”--Vince

“No—I mean—why would I? You tripped over your own foot—”--Jack

Vince punches Jack in the stomach causing him to fall on his knees wheezing.

“Don’t lie to me Darby! You stuck out your foot and made me trip!”--Vince

“I –wheeze—didn’t—”--Jack

Vince kicked him in the gut again.

“HEY!”--Buddy

The group looking at Buddy, Miko, and Raf behind them.

Buddy walking forward with Miko and Raf trailing behind them.

Buddy is standing between Jack and Vince, while Raf is helping Jack up and Miko is eyeing everyone around them.

“I’m only going to tell you this one-time Vince. Back. Off. Don’t come near my friends or me ever. Got that?”--Buddy

“Please. You think that this is going to work? Just come here and talk. I think its time to finally teach these losers a lesson, right fellas?”--Vince

One of the boy’s grabs Raf by the back of the shirt while another two grab Miko.

The ones who grabbed Miko threw her to the ground and started a few kicks to her sides.

Raf has just held tightly by his wrist trying to surpass the little cries from the pain.

Jack tries to help but gets slugged across the face.

“Guys! Vince, let them--”--Buddy

Vince spits in Buddy’s face as one of his goon’s slams Buddy in the back with a baseball bat, making them fall to the floor.

“Buddy!”—Jack, Miko, and Raf

Buddy shakingly got up with a large cut on their forehead and looked at the offender dead in the eyes with their split knuckles.

The goon tried to hit them again, but this time Buddy managed to grab the bat, twisted it from his hold making him let go.

Now Buddy had the bat and they saw red.

Maybe it was because of the blood slowly dribbling down or it was the pure anger they felt.

Buddy was delivering blows to all of them like they were candy on Halloween.

Did they see a tooth fly?

Yes.

Did they care?

No.

The group eventually had enough and ran away.

Buddy was mostly dizzy from the punches and kicks.

Jack, with his slightly bruised face, helped Buddy sit down.

Miko with a busted lip and split knuckles sat down next to Buddy making sure they didn’t close their eyes.

Raf, with some bruising around his wrists, managed to produce some tissues for them.

Buddy with a smile on their beaten face.

One hand still gripping the bat.

“That… that was something.”--Buddy

“We should call the hos—”--Jack

“No hospital.”--Buddy

“What?”--Jack

“Are you insane?! You look like you got beaten up by a monster truck! You need help! We all need some help!”—Miko

“Miko, we can get in trouble with the cops, which leads to them snooping around which can be bad for the bot’s cover. We can’t go.”--Buddy

“As much as I hate it, Buddy’s got a point. None of us need cops on us. How else are our guardians going to get us? We can’t keep asking Fowler for favors like this.”—Jack

“Finally, someone is making…”—Buddy

Buddy shaking their head a bit, blinking hard.

“Buddy?”--Raf

“Head hurts a lot… Maybe having your Mom look at this thick skull isn’t a bad idea…”--Buddy

“You look really bad.”--Raf

“It looks worse than what it is—hold up—okay we’re good.”--Buddy

“What was that?”--Miko

“The world was spinning for a second, but we’re good now.”—Buddy

“Felt that. Literally.”--Miko

“…”—Jack and Raf

“Now to the million dollar question.”--Buddy

“What is that?”--Jack

“How are we going to explain this to the bots?”--Buddy

“…”--Everyone

“Welp… I guess house arrest it is. Good thing I have some Uno cards with me.”--Buddy

Bulkhead

Bulkhead was sent to go get the kids after a rather late mission.

Since he had the most space to have all the kids ride comfortably, he went ahead.

He knew that it was late, so he went slightly above the speed limit.

The first thing he saw was the kids sitting and huddling close together.

This sent warning flags to his mind.

The kids didn’t huddle this close to each other unless something happened, or it was cold, and it wasn’t cold.

He nearly blows his cover when he sees the bruises and blood.

“Miko?! Buddy?! Jack?! Raf?! What in the name of—”Bulkhead

“Shh! Bulkhead someone might hear you!”--Miko

“But what happened?!”--Bulkhead

Jack and Raf helped Buddy into the back seat.

“Shouldn’t you guys go to a hospital?”--Bulkhead

“And…And risk your cover being blown? I don’t… don’t think so big guy.”--Buddy

“But—”--Bulkhead

“Everything we need is at the base in the med kits.”--Buddy

“And my Mom should be at the base by now.”--Jack

“How do you know this?”--Bulkhead

“…She left with Fowler…”--Jack

“If my chest wasn’t hurting too much, I would be laughing so hard right now…”--Buddy

Concerning car noises intensifies by a tenfold.

“Bulk, you okay—Woah!”--Miko

Bulkhead starts speeding to the base well above the speed limit because screw the law the kids are hurt bad.

Bulkhead comms in the base to get the med bay and the human med kits ready. When he is asked further, he just tells them that everyone isn’t looking too good right now.

Was his message cryptic and most likely sent panic to everyone listening?

Yes.

Did he care at the moment?

Not entirely, especially as he is splitting his attention between the injured kids and the road ahead of them.

When Bulkhead gets to the base, he is almost yelling for someone, anyone to help the kids out of the car.

Blame the yelling on the panic, Buddy and Miko looked like they were going to fall asleep.

There is a lot of audial gasps when the kids are taken out of him.

So far none of the kids have said anything. The beatings and adrenaline were wearing off and no one had the energy right now to recall all the events.

Buddy still hasn’t let go of the bat.

Since Raf and Jack were the two that were the least injured they had the task of telling them what happened.

Bulkhead had never had the sudden urge to squash a human than in that moment.

A little while later…

Jack, Miko and Raf are sleeping in their respective med slabs.

Buddy is awake shuffling some Uno cards the best they can with their bandaged hands.

Bulkhead comes into the med bay as quietly as he can.

“Buddy?”--Bulkhead

“Hmm? Oh Bulkhead.”--Buddy

Bulkhead walking a little bit closer to the group.

“How you holding up?”--Bulkhead

“Eh… Got a big pounding in my head and some bandages, but other wise good. You should have seen the other guys.”���Buddy

“Yeah… Raf said they ran away after you went ‘whack a mole’ on them.”--Bulkhead

“Ha! That’s one way to put it.”--Buddy

“Hehe… Thank you.”--Bulkhead

“Thank you?”--Buddy

“For protecting them.”--Bulkhead

“Bulkhead… they got hurt. I didn’t protect them…If I had tried—”--Buddy

“I’m going to stop you right there.”--Bulkhead

“Huh?”--Buddy

“From what Jack and Raf told us, you did everything possible to try and protect them. You went to fight for your friends. I could mistake you for potential Wrecker material.”--Bulkhead

“Ha… don’t let Ratchet hear you say that now.”--Buddy

“Yeah… but my point still stands. You’re a good kid Buddy and you protecting them just proves it even more.”--Bulkhead

Buddy trying to hold in some tears.

“Do you need Ratchet? Does something hurt?”--Bulkhead

“No—I mean I don’t feel good—but… just thanks… I needed to hear that.”--Buddy

Bulkhead gently stroking Buddy’s cheek from the tears.

“No problem, Buddy. Sleep, will ya? You’ll end up looking like those ‘raccoons’ if you don’t.”--Bulkhead

Buddy nods letting their eyes shut softly.

Ultra Magnus

Magnus is one of the bots helping get everyone out of Bulkhead.

He is the one who gets Buddy out.

In all his years holding injured soldiers, his servos shook more holding Buddy’s beaten body.

They were holding a bat in one of their hands.

“Bulkhead! What—”--Magnus

Buddy gently patted his digit.

“Hey Mags… how’s it going?”--Buddy

“Ratchet!”--Magnus

Buddy trying to soothe Magnus.

“It’s okay Mags… everything’s okay.”--Buddy

Concern truck noises intensifies.

Magnus quickly passed Buddy to Ratchet and June.

Jack and Raf retold the whole story.

Magnus was furious at the dirty fighting.

He goes off to the supplies closet to reorganize it, something to keep his mind off of the incident for a bit.

At least till he cools down.

Afterwards, Magnus is hypervigilant of the children after they are all patched up.

Magnus sits on a crate by Buddy’s side as they retell a bit of the story to him.

His servos clench hearing the boy who nearly decked them with a baseball bat.

“I don’t even know where that thing came from. It was like it came out of nowhere.”--Buddy

“Hmm…”--Magnus

Magnus is glaring with hatred at the bat.

Buddy takes notice and gently pats Magnus’s digit in reassurance.

Magnus and Buddy give each other a smile of understanding before Buddy tries to explain the game of Uno to him.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee feels the world stops the second Bulkhead is telling them to get the kids out.

He rushes over to get Raf out, gently cradling him in his servos.

“Beep bep bop?! (Raf what happened?!)--Bumblebee

Bumblebee gently turned Raf’s wrist to see more of the injury.

Immediately stops after hearing Raf take a sharp intake.

A quick little flashback to when Raf had gotten exposed to dark energon.

“Beep! Beep! Beep! (Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!)”--Bumblebee

“Its okay Bee, it just stings a bit.”--Raf

Bumblebee cradles him a bit closer.

Concern Beeping noises intensifies.

Bumblebee feels his spark drop seeing the rest come out of the car, especially Buddy holding on to a bat.

He is slightly hovering by the med bay with the other listening to the story.

He had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting the meathead once and that was enough for him.

He wants justice for the kids.

For Buddy.

He doesn’t leave the kids out of his sight for a while.

Ratchet walking into the med bay.

Bumblebee sitting on a corner of Buddy’s med slab, watching intensely at the human’s sleep.

Ratchet comes over gently placing a servo on his shoulder.

“They’re safe now Bumblebee.”--Ratchet

“Boop bop… bep beep boop bep bop? (I know… but it doesn’t hurt to have an extra set of optics watching them?).”--Bumblebee

“It doesn’t but you need to recharge.”--Ratchet

“Beep—(But--)”--Bumblebee

“They’ll still be here when you wake up. I will personally let you know when they wake up, as long as you go recharge.”--Ratchet

Bumblebee taking one last look at the kids, whispering a gentle ‘Thank you” towards Buddy, and leaves to recharge.

[mmilkbreadd]

—oh my god, they were roommates—

Previous || Masterlist

╰┈➤ when is my heart going to stop beating fast every time i see them?

╰┈➤ someone help me PLEASE.

╰┈➤ call a medic.

notes: tsukishima can’t handle his feelings like a big boy [yes, i ended this fic three years later, so?]

word count: 3.2k

[third and last part]

It’s been three months since the lights went out —when Tsukishima discovered your eyes were stars burning brightly in the night.

Three months where you hadn’t even exchanged anything but a few glances here and there.

Three months where he had definitely been avoiding you.

The three most uncomfortable months of your entire life (and it wasn’t because of the apartment that you were living in; in fact, it was by far the loveliest and calmest place you had ever slept in).

Yet, why was sharing an apartment such a difficult relationship?

But still, did you even have a relationship? A friendship, at least?

Companionship…?

You weren’t even sure what that word meant! But it certainly wasn’t what your ‘rommate-ship’ was about. Besides, you couldn’t point out when it had changed —the ‘lights out incident’ was just a funny anecdote to you: a way to remember some of your first days at your new home.

On the contrary, to Tsukishima, it was as his life had taken a huge turn: a wave of feelings had suddenly hit his heart. His emotions fluttered as he was a hormonal teenager in love. But Kei was never one of the popular jocks who had every person falling for him —he had a few students following him around during his high school days, but they were never that serious—, therefore he had never felt what having feelings for someone meant.

He felt weird around you, like he was making a fool out of himself every time you shared the same air, the same room, the same bathroom! He was out of words whenever you asked him how his day had been.

Him! The Tsukishima Kei! Who would’ve thought? Not even Yamaguchi Tadashi would’ve, to be honest.

Tsukishima didn’t know what to do anymore. His palms were always sweaty, his minds constantly occupied with thoughts about you —he used to be so serious about volleyball practice, but it was completely difficult to concentrate when he knew that he would have to come back to meet you in the apartment! He made so many mistakes during matches that his coach even thought about benching him for a few games afterwards.

So, three months after the lights went out, he made a decision: he was moving in with Tadashi for a few days until his heart calmed down.

His best friend’s apartment was too tiny to fit them both. But a place on the couch had Tsukishima’s name in it and he didn’t bother sleeping on it —even if it was half his size.

And there he was: bag at his feet; baseball cap on his head; mobile phone with three missing calls from his pretty roommate; and his right index finger was pressing the doorbell, repeatedly.

The door opened only to show Yamaguchi wearing his baby blue pajamas; his hair, a tangled mess.

“It’s six in the morning,” he stated the obvious. “What’s going on?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Tsukishima simply said as his best friend moved to the left to let him in.

“So, you decided to pack a bag and just… come over?” Yamaguchi asked after closing the door behind him. “I’m sorry, Tsukki, but I just don’t believe you at all.”

Tsukishima slowly made his way to the small green couch in the center of the living room area. He sat on the left side as his eyes took in his newest home.

A big plasma T.V stood in front of him, along with a coffee table cluttered with magazines, video game controllers, and a few empty snack wrappers. Yamaguchi's apartment was cozy but undeniably lived-in, unlike the sterile cleanliness of Tsukishima’s place.

Yamaguchi sighed, rubbing his eyes before sitting down next to Tsukishima. “Alright, spill it. What’s really going on?”

Tsukishima hesitated, looking down at his hands. He wasn’t good at this—talking about feelings. But he needed to get this off his chest. “It’s my roommate.”

Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow. “The one you’ve barely talked about? What’s wrong with them?”

Tsukishima took a deep breath. “Everything. Nothing. I don’t know. It’s just… every time I’m around them, I feel like I can’t think straight. It’s affecting everything, even volleyball.”

Yamaguchi leaned back, a small smile forming on his lips. “Ah, I see. You like them.”

Tsukishima’s head shot up, eyes wide. “What? No, that's not—

“Tsukki, you’re not fooling anyone. Not even yourself,” Yamaguchi interrupted gently. “It's written all over your face. You like them, and it’s driving you crazy.”

Tsukishima groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I don't know what to do, Tadashi. I can't keep living like this.”

Yamaguchi patted his friend's shoulder. “You need to talk to them. Maybe they feel the same way.”

“I can’t," Tsukishima said firmly. “I don't want to make things awkward. It’s bad enough as it is.”

“Then you need to find a way to deal with it,” Yamaguchi said. “Running away isn’t going to help.”

Tsukishima knew he was right. But the thought of confronting his feelings, and you, was terrifying. “I just need some time away. To clear my head.”

Yamaguchi nodded. “Alright, you can stay here for a few days. But promise me you’ll talk to them eventually. You can't avoid this forever.”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima muttered, though he wasn't sure he believed it himself. For now, he just wanted to escape the turmoil inside him, even if it was only temporary.

As he settled onto the couch, Tsukishima couldn't help but wonder what you were doing right now. Were you worried about him? Angry? Did you even notice he was gone? He pushed the thoughts away, closing his eyes and trying to find some semblance of peace in the midst of his chaotic emotions.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, you were pacing the living room, your phone clutched tightly in your hand. You had noticed Tsukishima’s absence immediately. It was hard not to when the apartment felt so empty without him.

You had called him three times already, each time more frantic than the last. Where could he have gone so early in the morning? And why hadn't he told you?

The morning stretched into afternoon, and Tsukishima remained at Yamaguchi’s apartment, wrestling with his thoughts while Yamaguchi went about his daily routines. The quiet hum of the television played in the background as Tsukishima sat on the couch, lost in contemplation.

Then the afternoon became night, then morning again. And suddenly, two days passed without further notice.

You sat down on the couch, staring at your phone. Maybe you were overreacting. Maybe he just needed some space. But you couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Three months had passed since the ‘lights out’ incident, and in that time, you had grown accustomed to Tsukishima's presence, even if he was distant and aloof. There was something comforting about knowing he was there, in the next room or sharing a meal in the kitchen.

You had tried to break through his walls, to get to know the person behind the cold exterior. But it seemed like every time you made progress, he would retreat even further. It was frustrating, but you were determined to be patient.

As you sat there, you realized just how much you missed him. His snarky comments, his occasional smirks, even the awkward silences. It was all part of the strange, complicated dynamic that had formed between you.

Taking a deep breath, you decided that when Tsukishima returned, you would confront him. You would tell him how you felt and hope that he would finally open up to you.

“What if something happened to him?” you muttered to yourself, biting your lip anxiously. You knew Tsukishima was independent and capable, but the fear of the unknown nagged at you.

Finally, unable to sit still any longer, you grabbed your keys and rushed out the door. Maybe he had gone for a walk to clear his head, or perhaps he was at a nearby cafe. You had to find him, to make sure he was okay.

As you walked down the familiar streets, you replayed your interactions with Tsukishima in your mind. Despite his aloofness and occasional sharp words, you had noticed glimpses of something more beneath his tough exterior. There were moments when his guard seemed to lower, when he would share a small smile or a thoughtful comment.

But now, faced with his sudden disappearance, you wondered if you had missed something important. Had you pushed too hard, too fast? Were you the reason he had left?

Lost in your thoughts, you almost missed the familiar figure sitting alone on a bench in the park. Tsukishima sat with his head bowed, staring at his phone with a troubled expression.

Relief flooded through you as you approached him cautiously. “Kei,” you called softly, unsure of how he would react.

He looked up, surprised to see you there. His expression softened slightly, but there was still tension in his posture. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been worried about you,” you admitted, standing in front of him. “You left without saying anything. Are you okay?”

What the hell? What’s going on with me? Tsukishima thought. Say something!

He hesitated, his gaze flickering away. “I was at Tadashi’s, and then I came to get some air. He lives ten blocks from here.”

“I understand,” you said gently, sitting down beside him. “But you could have told me. I was really worried. It’s been two days.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I didn't mean to cause you any concern.”

“Tsukishima,” you started, gathering your thoughts. “We've been living together for three months now, and... I feel like we barely know each other. I want to understand what's going on with you, but you keep pushing me away.”

He looked at you then, his eyes searching yours. “Am I supposed to be sorry?” he murmured. “It wasn’t my intention or anything.”

Yeah, right.

As you listened to Tsukishima’s response, frustration and hurt welled up inside you. His dismissive tone and lack of remorse grated on your nerves, making it difficult to hold back your emotions.

“You don’t have to apologize, Tsukishima,” you replied, your voice tinged with disappointment. “But a simple ‘I’m sorry for worrying you’ would have sufficed.”

He looked away, a hint of guilt flashing across his face before it was replaced by his usual aloof demeanor. “Oh, forgive me for not realizing I needed to report my every move to you,” he retorted sarcastically.

“Maybe not to you,” you shot back, your patience wearing thin. “But to me, it was. I care about you, even if you don’t seem to care about how your actions affect me.”

You felt a pang of hurt at Tsukishima’s cold response, his words cutting deeper than you expected. His aloof demeanor and sharp tongue were nothing new, but somehow, this stung more than usual.

“We’re not even friends, [Y/N],” he continued, his tone chillingly matter-of-fact. “We’re roommates. We don’t have to get along, it wasn’t on the contract.”

His dismissiveness struck a nerve, and you struggled to contain your emotions. “You’re right,” you replied, your voice steady despite the hurt bubbling inside you. “We’re roommates, but that doesn’t mean we can’t treat each other with basic respect.”

Tsukishima scoffed lightly, crossing his arms defensively. “Respect? Spare me the lecture, please.”

“You know what?” you said, your frustration simmering to the surface. “Maybe I expected too much. Maybe I thought there was more to you than this sarcastic facade. But clearly, I was wrong.”

He glanced at you, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his eyes. “You don’t know anything about me,” he retorted sharply.

“Then why don’t you tell me?” you challenged, your voice tinged with both anger and sadness. “Why don’t you let me in instead of pushing me away at every turn?”

Tsukishima looked away, his jaw tightening as if grappling with his own emotions. For a moment, he seemed at a loss for words, which was rare for someone usually so quick-witted.

“You wouldn’t understand,” he muttered finally, his voice quieter than before.

“Try me,” you urged softly, your frustration giving way to genuine concern. “I want to understand, Kei. I want to know why you’re like this.”

He met your gaze then, his eyes guarded yet holding a hint of vulnerability. “Because it’s easier,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s easier than letting people in and risking getting hurt.”

Your heart ached at his confession, the walls he had built suddenly making sense. “But that’s no way to live,” you said gently, stepping closer to him. “Closing yourself off from everyone… It’s lonely, isn’t it?”

Tsukishima hesitated, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Maybe,” he admitted quietly. “But that’s a me problem. I don’t need your help nor words of encouragement.”

You paused, taken aback by Tsukishima’s sharp rebuttal. His words stung, cutting through the fragile moment of vulnerability he had just shared. The raw honesty of his admission had felt like a crack in his armor, a glimpse of the person buried beneath the sarcasm and aloofness.

“I understand,” you said softly, trying to keep your voice steady despite the hurt. “But sometimes, we all need someone to lean on, even if it’s just a little.”

Tsukishima glanced up at you, his expression guarded once more. “I don’t lean on anyone,” he stated firmly. “I manage on my own.”

Your heart sank at his insistence on pushing you away. “You don’t have to face everything alone, Kei,” you said gently, reaching out to touch his arm lightly. “Let me be there for you.”

He tensed under your touch, his gaze flickering with uncertainty. “Why do you even care?” he asked, his voice tinged with a mix of curiosity and defensiveness.

“Because I see more in you than you see in yourself,” you replied honestly, meeting his eyes with unwavering sincerity. “And because despite everything, I care about you.”

Tsukishima’s expression softened slightly, though his defenses remained intact. “You’re too persistent,” he muttered, almost to himself.

“Then, I’ll cease,” you answered, saddened by his awful attitude. “I’ll be at home. Let me know if I have to start looking for another place to live, though.”

Tsukishima watched you live without even flinching. He saw your move from side to side, and deep inside, he desired for you to turn around. To come back, to beg for him. Was he always this selfish?

He should be the one to be for you, to be for your forgiveness. Three months with nothing but a few words. Three months of ignoring his roommate. Three months with an unnoticed suffering.

“That was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Yamaguchi, arriving from behind Tsukishima. “And I’ve seen you reject multiple people in high school with the most monotone voice and evilness.”

Tsukishima’s expression hardened again as he turned to face Yamaguchi. “I don’t need your commentary,” he snapped, his voice laced with frustration.

Yamaguchi crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you clearly need something. What were you thinking, Tsukki?”

Tsukishima sighed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. “I don’t know, okay? Everything’s just... complicated.”

“Complicated?” Yamaguchi echoed, shaking his head. “You like them, don't you?”

Tsukishima’s eyes widened slightly at the blunt question. “What does it matter?” he deflected. “They deserve better than someone who doesn’t even know how to talk to them properly.”

Yamaguchi stepped closer, his tone softening. “Then tell them that. Tell them how you feel. It’s better than pushing them away and hurting them even more.”

Tsukishima looked down at his feet, the weight of his own insecurities bearing down on him. “I’ll just ruin it all over again. I hate this.” he mumbled.

Yamaguchi’s expression softened further, empathy clear in his eyes. “You’re not going to ruin anything by being honest,” he said gently. “You’re human, Tsukki. You’re allowed to have feelings and make mistakes.”

Tsukishima clenched his jaw, grappling with the swirling emotions inside him. His mind raced through the memories of the past three months—your late-night cleaning sessions, your disdain for cold breakfasts and black coffee, the way you immersed yourself in the volleyball magazines he left lying around, your eyes lighting up whenever you found his name mentioned.

The way your eyes sparkled with genuine interest and admiration—it was something he had never experienced before. Something he didn't know how to handle.

He couldn't help but recall the countless times he had caught himself staring at you, wondering what it would be like to be close to you, to share more than just a living space. But he had built walls around his heart, walls he thought were impenetrable.

Taking a deep breath, Tsukishima straightened his shoulders. He knew what he had to do, even if it terrified him. Yamaguchi was right—he couldn't keep pushing you away and hurting you. He needed to be honest, to take the risk, even if it meant exposing his vulnerability.

As he made his way back to the apartment, he replayed the conversation he wanted to have with you over and over in his mind. He practiced what he would say, how he would say it. But as he reached the door, all the rehearsed words seemed to evaporate.

Gathering his courage, he opened the door and stepped inside. You were sitting on the couch, looking lost in thought. Hearing the door, you looked up, surprise and apprehension flickering in your eyes.

“[Y/N], we need to talk,” Tsukishima said, his voice steady but filled with unspoken emotion.

You nodded, sitting up straighter, bracing yourself for whatever was to come.

He took a deep breath, his eyes locking onto yours. “I’ve been an idiot,” he began, his voice raw. “I’ve been pushing you away because… because I was scared. Scared of getting close to someone. Scared of getting hurt.”

You listened intently, your heart pounding in your chest.

“But the truth is,” Tsukishima continued, his voice softening, “I’ve come to care about you more than I ever thought possible. I’ve been hiding behind these walls, but I can’t do it anymore. I like you, [Y/N]. A lot. And I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you.”

Your eyes widened, tears threatening to spill over. “Kei… I…”

He took a step closer, his gaze never leaving yours. “I know I don’t deserve it, but I want to try. I want to get to know you, to let you in. If you’ll give me a chance.”

A tear slipped down your cheek, and you smiled through it, the weight of the past three months lifting from your shoulders. “I’ve liked you too, Kei. Despite everything, I’ve always seen the good in you. And I want to give us a chance, too.”

Tsukishima let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, relief flooding through him. In that moment, the barriers he had built around his heart began to crumble, making way for something new, something hopeful.

If he was the moon, he hoped the stars would never leave his side again.

[swiftyangx12]

🎃🍭🧁Universal Studios Japan: Halloween Horror Nights! (Not Sponsored!)🍰🍬☠️

[Synopsis]: Kenji and [Y/N] came to celebrate Halloween by visiting USJ for their annual Halloween Horror Nights.

[TW]: Nothing, really.

Venom![Y/N]: Kenji, thanks for planning this date. I always wanted to visit USJ, especially during Halloween.

Kenji: *Adorning with a baseball cap* You always hinted you wanted to come here, so I booked us tickets for tonight.

Venom![Y/N]: Which I’m grateful for. It’s still pretty early since the shows don’t start until around 7.

Venom: “We should try the snacks and maybe taste some “zombies” later on.”

Venom![Y/N]: V, those are scare actors. Not the actual undead.

Kenji: Venom being a pain in the ass, again?

Venom![Y/N]: Don’t worry about it. We should definitely try out some rides and maybe meet Hami-Kuma.

🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️

[7:15 p.m.]

[Y/N]: Just in time, the shows are starting.

Kenji: Your friend hasn’t bother us for a while.

[Y/N]: Oh, I let him out.

Kenji: What?

[Y/N]: No worries, he’s probably hosting someone who nobody would suspect. I even told him we’ll meet up at Mel’s Drive-In at 9.

Kenji: You’re really causal about that.

[Y/N]: It’s not the first time he’s out of my body. Remember how he snuck in your system for quick healing?

Kenji: *Shivers from the reminder* Don’t need to be reminded.

[Y/N]: He’ll come around. Let’s have some fun!

🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️

[One Hour Later]

[Y/N]: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!

[Another Kaiju attack at USJ]

Kenji: Go somewhere safe.

[Y/N]: I’m not going anywhere.

Kenji: You don’t have V with you.

[Y/N]: I can still help. I’ll take everyone to safety.

[The Symbiote host helps the guests and employees to exit out of the park. Meanwhile Kenji transforms into Ultraman and now occupied handling the Kaiju.]

Ultraman: “Could use some reinforcements.” *Holds back the monster*

[A little kid fell over and [Y/N] hurries over to pick them up in their arms.]

[Y/N]: It’s okay, I got you. Where’s your mom and dad?

[A married couple waves at them and [Y/N] sprints towards the two, hurrying their pace. A dark shadow hovers cast over [Y/N] and the kid, feeling panic while trying to speed through. Just a split second, Ultraman pulls the Kaiju away on time as [Y/N] returns the couple’s kid safely. The parents thanked them graciously for saving their child before disaster struck. They left quickly before more damage could be done.]

Venom: *Crawls up behind [Y/N] and merges back in their body* “What did I miss?”

[Y/N]: A lot, V. Ultraman still needs help. Mask!

Venom: “Copy!”

[Venom took control of their body and enters into action to aid Ultraman.]

🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️🎃🍭🧁🐻🍰🍬☠️

[After The Fight]

Kenji: [Y/N], are you alright?

Venom![Y/N]: I’m okay. And V’s with me now.

Kenji: That’s good…Don’t risk your life like that, again. I almost lost you.

Venom![Y/N]: I’m still here, alive. Talking and still breathing. Sorry for scaring you, Kenji.

[Kenji hugs [Y/N] gently and released them from his embrace.]

Kenji: It’s alright. I’m sorry this date is a mess.

Venom![Y/N]: No, Kenji. It just happened so sudden. I had fun before the attack.

[Then announcements came throughout the park.]

“Attention, park-goers. Due to the recent Kaiju incident, shows for Halloween Horror Nights have to be canceled for the night. However, we are still open to be hosting a big celebration for Halloween! Showtime!”

[Ado - Show]

Venom![Y/N]: Kenji, our date isn’t a complete bust.

Kenji: Then let’s celebrate our victory together.

Venom![Y/N]: Shall we dance? *Holds their hand out*

Kenji: Yeah, we’ll dance. *Takes their hand in his*

[The two celebrated Halloween together and enjoyed each other’s company in the remaining night.]

[Reblogs help creators and creates more content]

[starlightwoofwoof]

you know what frick it

I’m making a Spooky Month AU based off of one of my favorite Goosebumps books

anyway for the whole starting point of this, here’s if Skid, Pump, Ross, Roy and Robert attended King Jellyjam’s Sports Camp (and also featuring some skin complexion headcanons as well cause why not heh)

Extra info :

Lila let Skid go to Camp Jellyjam after he saw a sign-up poster for it in town. Not sure why, but she eventually let him go there. Pump kinda just tagged along with Skid-

Skid is always wearing something skeleton related and Pump is always wearing pumpkin related lol

They stay as close to each other as possible, even entering the same competitions just to be with each other

Buddy (the head counselor, you can see him in multiple of my previous posts lol) thinks they’re slightly annoying, but they’re super energetic. He also thinks they should probably try to actually compete instead of them entering the same competitions just so they can be with each other, and letting each other win-

I’m not sure if they would ever meet King Jellyjam in person, but if they did, they would either think he’s super cool, or they would be too distracted by how bad he smells to care about his ‘coolness’-

Skid and Pump had tried to befriend Alicia multiple times, but she’s a bit shy. They were honestly worried about her after she disappeared, but they were happy to see her after everyone was saved.

Speaking of that, the boys were honestly a bit suspicious about the whole thing, especially after Alicia went missing. They weren’t really able to figure it out though before the whole secret came out.

Alright, that’s it for Skid and Pump, I think.

HATBOI TIME

Extra Info :

Okay, first off, Ross. Obviously, of course Jaune let him go-

Ross, despite being a bit of an introvert and also the slight age gap, had made good acquaintances with Elliot

I kinda headcanon Ross liking music, and a lot of bands, so I wanted to give him a band shirt. Problem : I don’t really have any knowledge on any bands, so I just picked my sister’s favorite band-

Also yes, he sharpied a replica of Aaron’s tattoo on his arm-

Buddy thinks Ross could be more sociable, and less nervous when he’s competing, but he thinks he’s kinda cool. Ross doesn’t mind Buddy, but he does think he’s kinda creepy sometimes cause of how happy he is, and his signature grin

Okay, time for Roy. I’m not sure why in the world Carmen or Richard would let him go to a sport’s camp- maybe they saw how ‘expensive’ the playing fields, equipment and dorms were and thought he deserved to go to ‘experience luxury’ lmao

Roy is extremely competitive, despite not really being a sport’s guy. He always tries to win, probably because of an ego thing, or to de-stress, idk

Roy kinda made ‘friends’ with Jeff. (well it was more of a frenemy kind of thing, y’know, them both kinda being bullies and them being competitive)

I didn’t know what outfit to give him honestly, idk what a ‘elegant summer look’ even would be, so I just gave him the outfit from the Mother’s Day 2024 drawing but with the sleeves rolled up lol

Buddy doesn’t like him all too much, thinks he’s incredibly rude, but he does like how competitive he is, and tries to be as friendly as he can to him

Now, as you can see, Roy got 6 King Coins. That means he can go onto the Winner’s Walk :D (and also be a slave for King Jellyjam but let’s talk about that later)

Ross and Robert were extremely happy for him, but they started to worry once they realized he went missing the next day. They practically interrogated Buddy on it, until they gave up, figuring he went home

Roy didn’t go home, though. He was busy cleaning King JJ before Wendy came to save everyone. Luckily, he didn’t die, but that incident might carry with him, along with all his other trauma (poor boy why did I pick you to be the one to suffer ☹️)

A n y w a y, Robert is last. He’s just a little silly :3

He really does like everything- but his personal favorite sports were baseball, soccer, and the Marbles Tournaments

He likes talking about aliens, and other cool things in the spare time he’s not playing sports (which is literally almost never)

Robert also made nice acquaintances with Elliot

Robert misses his siblings tho, he wishes he could at least talk to them :(

He could also been seen with Ross and Roy a lot when they’re not busy with sports

These three were all roommates, along with some kid named Joe. Who’s Joe? JOE MA-

Buddy quite likes Robert, they both think each other is cool

OKAY ENOUGH OF THAT-

okay, to end this off, here’s some more general info I thought up for now :

Since the two medias take place in completely different time periods (assuming the book’s events take place the same year it was released, it would be 1995), I wasn’t sure what to do, but I just picked SM’s time period, around 2012

I don’t think it’ll change too much, honestly, just with the whole pay phones not being there. I don’t think they’ll allow cellphones at Camp Jellyjam anyway- (everybody’s ages will probably remain the same too)

omg just imagine one of the SM adults attended the camp as a counselor

OMG KEVIN

okay I think I’ll shut up now uhhhh

one more thing, here’s something with Buddy

I’m losing it

[keyboardsmashess]

The Siren, or The Heart of the Matter

Chapter Fourteen: The Question, or I'll Make an Avenger Out of You

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Warnings: language, eventual smut, fluff, angst, canon-typical violence MINORS DNI. A/N: I have been SO SICK the last few days, so instead of writing I took a bunch of cold medicine and marathoned the first several MCU movies. I'm not at 100% yet, but I'm at least well enough that the words I type make sense again. At least, I hope they do!

Summary: Cleo gets down to business.

Chapter Directory

The morning after the Quarterflash Incident, as I’ve decided to call it, Steve decides I’ve earned a day off running. I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I respond to his text with a gif of Kermit flopping back and forth in excitement and prepare to grab a few extra hours of sleep. He sends back several question marks, but I leave him on read. When I wake up for the second time, I decide to head to the communal kitchen for coffee. I wasn’t exactly being antisocial before last night, but I figure I might as well double-down on my efforts to bond with members of the team now that they’ve all but named me an Avenger myself.

I can hear the chaos in the common room before I’m even up the stairs. I briefly contemplate turning right around and going back to my room, but I know I’ll have to face whatever’s going on eventually.

I take a deep breath and walk into the mayhem, but everyone falls silent when they see me. Steve, Tony, Nat, Clint, Bruce, and Barnes are all gathered around a holographic screen Tony has hovering over the kitchen bar. A few of them are sipping from mugs, and Tony has a giant bag of grapes he’s snacking on. Instead of heading for the screen, though, I make a beeline for the coffee maker and give her my usual order. 

I look at Tony. “I’ve decided your coffee maker’s name is Betty, and I think she might be my soulmate.” Nobody responds, so I grab my mug and turn to the group with a sigh. “Y’know, it’s totally not suspicious when you all stop talking the second I enter the room.”

Nat elbows Tony, and pretty hard, too, if his expression is any indication. “I told you to just rip the band-aid off, Stark.”

I sigh and round the corner of the bar to join them. “What’s the band-aid this time - another super-secret crystal giving me powers I never asked for?” I laugh. “It’s not like it can get much wor- ”

I freeze when I see the screen.

It’s the cover of a gossip magazine, from the looks of it, featuring two photos: one, a blurry shot of Barnes and me on our run in Central Park and another, clearer picture of him leading me through the paparazzi with his arm around my shoulders last night at the karaoke bar. The headline reads ‘Bucky’s New Babe.’

I squint at the first picture. “Did they photoshop Steve out of this one?” I turn to Barnes. “And I thought you were wearing your stupid baseball hat disguise?”

He scowls at me. “That’s your biggest issue with this? Me taking my hat off for two seconds and some photo editing?”

I roll my eyes. “It was just a question, Barnes. Obviously that’s not my biggest issue - this is invasive and sexist and insane, but I’m trying not to focus on that right now because five out of six Avengers would probably not appreciate it if I started screaming.”

Tony flicks his finger casually to scroll down the page to the bulk of the article. “Not to butt in, but they did call you ‘hot’ at least three times. You know, if that helps.”

I roll my eyes. “Sure, because getting called hot is such a compliment coming from a person taking creep shots of me.” I quickly skim the page, but it’s your typical vague bullshit. A mystery source close to the team reports Barnes has a new flame, blah blah blah. They make a brief note of my crystal (or ‘mystery bling’ - ew), but it’s not even half a sentence before they’re back to speculating on the purported romance. “This is disgusting, honestly.”

Barnes exhales sharply and leaves the room with an unreadable look on his face.

I glance after him before looking back to the article. “Guess he isn’t wild about this, either.”

Clint nudges me with his elbow. “Don’t you think that was a bit harsh? Calling the idea of dating him ‘disgusting?’”

I gape at him. “Jesus, Clinton, who do you think I am? I couldn’t care less if someone thinks I’m dating Barnes or anyone else. What’s disgusting is that this guy sees a woman spending time with multiple Avengers on multiple occasions and - instead of considering that she might, I don’t know, be smart or strong or capable enough to be on the team - his first thought is ‘which one can we say she’s fucking?’”

He has the good sense to look at least a little embarrassed. “Now that you mention it, that does make a lot more sense. Maybe you should tell Buck that, though - just to be safe.”

I roll my eyes. “If he even spends any time considering what I think in the first place - which, by the way, seems very unlikely - I’m sure he knows what I meant.” He gives me a skeptical look, but I ignore him and turn to Tony. “What are we going to do about this?”

He frowns. “What are you asking me for, he’s the Captain!” he says, pointing a thumb at Steve. 

“Yes, but who here has had the most experience handling the press?”

He rolls his eyes. “Fine. But kid, I don’t know that there’s much we can do, short of holding a press conference and announcing you as our shiny new teammate. And we all know you aren’t ready for that. Besides,” he says, popping a grape in his mouth. “We may wanna just ride this out - Barnes has never been more likeable.”

Clint holds out his phone, open to the Twitter homepage. “He’s right, Buck’s trending on Twitter, and this time it isn’t even for threatening a random civilian.”

Nat peers over his shoulder at the screen, muttering, “That only happened once, and even Steve agreed the guy deserved it.”

“Be that as it may,” Tony says, “it’s better for us when the people we’re saving trust us to save them. And apparently, Barnes is a lot more trustworthy with a hot chick on his arm.”

I hope he feels the heat of my glare when I turn it to him. “Tony Middle Name Stark, if I ever hear you talk about me or any other woman like that again, I will take one of your Repulsors and try it out on your favorite part.” I flick my eyes down meaningfully.

“Jeez, okay! I was just paraphrasing the article.” He drops the bag of grapes and holds both hands over his lap. “Also, my middle name is Edward.”

Nat elbows past him to link arms with me. “Wanna go beat the shit out of some heavy bags? We can call ‘em Edward.”

I sigh in instant relief. “This is why you’re my favorite.”

“Hey!” Tony calls after us. “I used to be your favorite!” I flip him the bird over my shoulder by way of answering.

******

After thoroughly exhausting myself with Nat, I retreat to my room so I can return the approximately seventy-two phone calls from Meg.

As always, she answers on the first ring. “So you haven’t forgotten me now that you’re famous! What a relief.”

“‘Hello Cleo, what’s new with you Cleo, are you doing okay Cleo?’” I say, pitching my voice to imitate hers.

“Yeah, yeah,” she says dismissively. “Clearly, we have more important things to talk about.”

I sigh. “Whatever you’ve read, Meg, I am not dating Barnes.”

She scoffs. “Obviously. If you were, I’d have known ages ago. Although, did you see the picture of him on Twitter? You could do worse.”

I put the call on speaker and open the app, seeing that #ThiccBucc is trending. The accompanying photo of Barnes is shot from behind as he stands in line at a food cart, one hip cocked casually. I am definitely going to spend a very normal amount of time looking at it. 

Meg clears her throat. “You still with me?”

I shake my head and swipe the photo away, bringing the phone back to my ear. “Yeah. So if you didn’t think we’re dating, what did you want to talk about?” 

“How we’re going to exact revenge on the little weasel who took stalker pics of you and then made you out to be someone’s girlfriend instead of the badass Avenger you are. Duh.”

I collapse back on my bed with a smile. “Meggie, I love you so fucking much.”

I can hear her grin through the phone. “I know. Now what, pray tell, is our genius plan?”

“Tony says there’s not much to do, aside from holding a press conference to announce I’m an Avenger. And I’m definitely not ready for that yet - everyone agrees.”

Meg hums thoughtfully. “So why don’t you get ready?”

“What?”

She sighs, exasperated. “I’m saying get ready, Cleo. And not for the little shit who wrote the article, either - for you. Have a good old fashioned training montage. Run up a flight of stairs, punch some meat - I don’t know. Do whatever the hell it is people do in those things.”

“You’re aware it doesn’t happen that way in real life, right?”

“Not with that attitude, it doesn’t. Now hang up the phone, put on the Mulan soundtrack, and get to work, babe.”

******

Let’s Get Down to Business

“Don’t get sloppy on me, now.”

I grin and wipe a trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth. “Who says I’m not just luring you into a false sense of security?”

Nat laughs as we continue to circle one another. “If you are, you kind of just gave yourself away.”

I shrug. “We can’t all be Natasha Romanov.” When she rolls her eyes, I feint left with a blow to the head, sweeping low with my leg when she moves to block my arm.

I manage to land her on her back, but she quickly rolls back onto her shoulders, kicking her legs forward and pushing off with her hands to spring into a standing position.

“Okay, you gotta teach me that one.” 

She smirks and whirls, her momentum throwing her foot into my chest with a massive amount of force. It all but knocks the wind out of me, but I manage to grab her foot before she can complete her spin. Gasping for air, I push her foot toward her, throwing off her center of gravity and knocking her backward to the ground.

In classic Nat fashion, though, she’s back on her feet in an instant. We meet in the middle in a flurry of blows - I block a hit with my forearm, she leaps over a kick with ease. She aims low, I push high. I think I finally have her, arm around her middle, when she grips my arm, flips upside down, wraps her legs around my neck, and brings me to the mat. I tap out, climbing to my feet and staggering to the side to chug from my water bottle.

Nat throws me a towel, but I’ve barely wiped the sweat from my brow before her gaze returns to granite. I meet her eyes and sigh.

“Again.”

Tranquil as a Forest

“Bruce, I appreciate the effort, but I think my brain is just broken. Maybe some people just have broken brains and we have to accept that.”

He chuckles, adjusting his position on the cushion. “Cleo, at any given moment, I am seconds away from becoming a giant green rage monster. If I can learn to meditate, I think you can, too - broken brain or not.”

I sigh and nod. “I know, you’re right. And I swear, I’m trying - it’s just… no matter what I do, I can’t get my thoughts to shut up.”

Bruce considers this for a moment and pulls out his phone. “I have an idea. What if we tried some guided meditation recordings to ease you in? Then, as you get more comfortable, you can try it on your own.”

I nod emphatically. “Yes, I love guides. Let’s do that.”

He laughs, and soon my eyes are fluttering closed as a soothing voice tells me to visualize my worries as a rolling wave.

Once You Find Your Center

“Jesus, Tony, I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m full of surprises.” His voice sounds distorted coming through the speakers in the ceiling of the padded room. 

I fold my arms and eye the vase in front of me. “Are you sure I can’t just keep screaming at shit? I think we’re really underestimating the cool factor of screaming at shit.”

Bruce chuckles. “I know it seems intimidating, Cleo, but I’ve run the simulations and I know you can do this.”

“Besides, kid,” Tony cuts in. “Imagine the cool factor of moving shit with your mind.”

I take a deep breath and try to center myself like I would in a meditation. I close my eyes and, like Bruce instructed, attempt to feel the frequencies around me. What does a frequency even feel like? Is it a vibration? Is it a color? You know, if I were a color I bet I’d be teal. Maybe yellow. Something cheerful and fun. Barnes would probably be like a midnight blue, the grumpy asshole. Though, now that I say that, it really is a beautiful -

I open my eyes. “It’s not working!”

“You’re thinking too much, Cleo - you can’t think them into existence. Clear your mind and try again.”

I shake my hands out, releasing some of the tension there, and take another deep breath. I close my eyes and try again. No thinking, just feeling - letting it take the time it takes. Eventually, Tony and Bruce and the room fade away and it’s just me and this moment and the tiny threads criss-crossing the world all around. 

The tiny threads criss-crossing the world all around.

I open my eyes in shock and, to my delight, I can still see them if I unfocus my gaze a little bit. I reach out a tentative hand and pluck one - pluck it like I would a guitar string. The vase shatters. 

We Must be Swift as a Coursing River

My legs are a blur when I hear the unmistakable beeping of a keypad. “Steven Rogers, do not increase -” But he does, and I’m soon racing to keep from being flung off the treadmill like a slingshot. 

He watches me intently as I calibrate my body to the higher speed. We’ve been running in the gym daily for the last few weeks, Barnes being conspicuously hard to find, and Steve is taking advantage of the technology to push me to my absolute limit.

I glance over at him, catching his eye. “What, do I look like a fucking mess? Because I feel like a fucking mess.”

He smiles widely. “Cleo, we just hit 25 miles per hour.”

I freeze, going completely still and forgetting for a moment where I am. What I’m running on. In the seconds it takes my mind to process my mistake, I’ve been rocketed off the back of the treadmill and am hovering about a foot above the ground.

Steve and I meet each other’s eyes once more, wearing identical shocked expressions. He stops his machine and steps tentatively toward me, crouching down and waving his hand through the space between me and the ground.

I look down at him and swallow thickly. “Well, that’s new.”

With all the Force of a Great Typhoon

“Again!” Nat’s voice barely registers as I start running through the obstacle course set up in the gym.

“You don’t have to enjoy this so much, you know,” I say, breathing hard.

Clint’s projectiles come from all sides, preventing me from any additional quips. I vault over a hurdle and wave my hand, sending a missive into the ceiling. I tuck and roll under a wire, closing my fist to crush an arrow before it hits. As I climb a rock wall, three projectiles come my way. Hands busy, I inhale deeply and shriek, disintegrating them into tiny, harmless pieces.

Eyeing the blinking timer projected onto the ceiling, I hurl myself over the top of the rock wall and, instead of climbing down, allow myself to fall. Inches from the ground, I freeze - hovering midair. With a soft thud, I land in front of Nat, breathing heavily.

She grins widely at me, and I exhale in relief at the prospect of a break. She pats my shoulder, leaning in close and I smile tiredly - ready to receive the ‘job well done.’ 

“Again,” she whispers. I stifle a groan and make my way back to the starting point.

With all the Strength of a Raging Fire

“I’m going to look like an idiot,” I mumble, ignoring the chuckle coming from Barnes’ corner of the room.

Steve’s smile is kind. “You’ll be fine, Cleo - we aren’t here to judge you.”

Clint snorts. “Speak for yourself, Cap.” I shove him affectionately, grateful for his refusal to coddle me.

I take a deep breath and shake out my hands. “Okay. Alright. But if this doesn’t work, nobody gets to laugh at me, got it?” Steve nods seriously, but Clint just raises his eyebrows as if to say yeah right. “Here goes nothing.”

I’ve tried everything to activate my mind manipulation powers following the night at the karaoke bar - speaking commands, shouting, even attempting to communicate telepathically - and nothing has worked. I have one final idea, and even though I understand that Barnes needs to be here in case things go south, I’m not wild about trying this in front of him.

I take a deep breath, then quickly turn to Clint. “You know, if you want to back out because of everything that happened with Loki, I -”

“Cleo!” he cuts me off. “Quit stalling and do the damn thing!”

“Ugh, fine.”

I take another meditative breath, centering myself quickly. I close my eyes, focus my intentions, and when I reopen them, I sing. 

“Your exhaustion has grown deep now, that is why you both must sleep now.”

Instantly, Steve and Clint collapse bonelessly onto the padded gym mats, eyes closed. As I venture a step closer, Clint lets out a little snore.

Barnes walks over and stands next to me, examining the two sleeping men.“Shit, Cleo, you did it.”

I exhale a shaky breath, grin, and then - as if possessed - throw myself at the man I’ve barely spoken to in weeks with unrestrained glee.

Arms around his neck, I kick my feet up behind me and laugh. “I fucking did it!”

To my complete surprise, he wraps his arms around my waist and spins me in a delighted circle. “You’re damn right you did!”

I stumble out of his arms when he sets me back on the ground, both of us breathing heavily. Wearing identically wide grins, we simply stand frozen, and I find myself staring intently into his eyes. He keeps my gaze, and my breath hitches when I notice the little flecks of turquoise peppered throughout the deep blue.

“Did it work?”

We jump apart and whip our heads to where Clint and Steve are now awake, sitting up and rubbing their eyes. 

Barnes schools his face back into that familiar icy mask, and I can feel the heat of embarrassment creeping up my cheeks. What the hell is wrong with me?

“I guess so,” I say, fighting to sound chipper.

The two men stand, grinning, and Clint wraps an easy arm around my shoulders. He gives me an affectionate shake. “I knew you could do it.”

I try to ignore the swirling in my stomach as I smile back at my friend. “The real question is, how dumb did I look?”

He shakes his head vehemently. “Not dumb at all, it was cool as hell. Hey, you could call it Siren Song! I’ve always thought ‘mind control’ has too much baggage, anyway, and this way you’re building your brand. We can…”

I allow him to lead me out the door and down the hall, nodding blankly as he talks, and Steve falls into place on my other side. I look back as we round the corner, but Barnes is already gone.

Mysterious as the Dark Side of the Moon

I give up on sleep at around one in the morning, deciding to try a cup of tea in the common room for a change of scenery.

I can see the flickering light of the TV as I climb the stairs, so I make my steps a bit louder than usual to alert my arrival. I know better than to sneak up on an Avenger. 

Barnes doesn’t look away from the muted nature documentary. “You can’t sleep either?”

I head over to the kitchen and make my tea. “What was it you said - ‘at this point, the nights I can sleep seem to be the exception?’”

He chuckles. “Well, you’re welcome to learn about Australia’s gum tree forests with me. That is, if you don’t find it too disgusting.”

I come back over and sit opposite him on the couch with my tea, shooting him a quizzical look. “Why would I find that disgusting? Unless - are there spiders in the gum tree forests? If there are some freaky Australian spiders, I’m out.” He rolls his eyes, and I ignore the nagging feeling in my stomach that there’s something I’m missing. 

We share a quiet moment, just enjoying the show together, and my mind begins to wander to all the other moments we’ve shared. Moments that are always immediately followed by Barnes giving me the cold shoulder. 

Suddenly, I’m speaking before I can stop myself - the words I’ve been wanting to ask for weeks tumbling out of my mouth without restraint.

“Barnes, why don’t you like me?”

He jerks his head up with a shocked expression. “What kind of question is that?”

I turn to face him. “The kind of question you ask a person when you want to know why they don’t like you.”

“Who said I don’t like you?”

“You did.”

He gapes. “I never said -”

I sigh. “It was more of an ‘actions speak louder than words’ sort of thing.”

He shakes his head. “I have no idea what actions you’re talking about - if anything, you don’t like me.”

I put my tea down on the side table. “Barnes, that’s ridiculous. What on earth would make you think I don’t like you?”

“I don’t know, the constant sarcasm and snide nicknames?”

“I’m sarcastic with everyone! And anyway, how did this get turned around on me? I asked you first.”

Barnes frowns deeply, running a hand roughly over his face. “God, you’re absolutely impossible, you know that?”

“I’m aware. Now will you please just tell me? If you’re worried about hurting my feelings, don’t - I’m a big girl. I’ve met plenty of people who don’t like me. Hell, two of ‘em raised me. There’s nothing you can say that hasn’t been said before.”

I think he’s about to respond, to finally give me some clarity on the long-standing tension between us, but instead he stands, hands me the remote, and heads for the door. “Try to get some sleep, Cleo.”

I watch him go before flopping back on the couch with a dejected sigh. I turn my eyes back to the screen, nearly jumping out of my skin at the sight of a large, hairy spider scuttling across a branch. I shudder and turn the TV off. I rub my eyes tiredly.

“Well now I’m never sleeping again.”