#the friends would help take down the lousy three

[scarnemo]

POKEMON MOCHI MAYHEM AU

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[myillicitaffair]

One of your girls part two | Carlos Sainz Jr

Summary: after a fateful outcome, Carlos wants to fix what he unintentionally broke.

Warnings: english not being my mother tongue, angst, alcohol consumption, dirty dancing, small description of throwing up, cheating, mentions of sex, messed up dynamics, slight swearing.

Notes: second part of this fic. i also wanted to say i’m currently taking request, to anyone who might be interested xx.

Credits: the gif used belongs to @neymarhamilton ‘s tumblr account, so all credits belong to them. this part, just like the one before, is inspired by the song “one of your girls” by Troye Sivan.

1.8k

SIX MONTHS AGO:

A chilly night welcomes my friend group as we make our way through a prestigious and crowded restaurant situated in the heart of Madrid.

Being born and raised in Spain´s capital city, the girls now walking into the facilities have been by my side my whole life; faith brought us together our first day of school, just three frightened little kids trying to survive elementary.

I like to believe that we complement each other, even if we hadn´t met all those years ago, life would have found a way to connect us.

A girl’s night out is a rare occurrence between us; always being on the shy side, we very much prefer staying in, drowning ourselves in sweet treats while marathoning our comfort romcoms.

The reason why we´re summoned tonight is quite simple… my very first broken heart.

You see, in an attempt to lighten the mood, my friends brought us to an extremely exclusive eatery, one where we clearly didn´t fit in. The difference was quite notorious, surrounded by leggy models and their handsome companions, I quite frankly begin to wonder why I ever agreed.

With a deep breath, I straighten my back and let the hostess remove my coat. “In for a penny, in for a pound” I think with a resigned shrug of the shoulders.

As we´re carried to our spot, I try and take the essence of the place in. I start noticing its eccentric décor, dim lights brightening the burgundy walls, leather booths scattered all over the classy tile floor.

What makes an ordinary dinner such a big success? Its bizarre modality.

Our table is filled with strangers, completely engulfed in their different conversations. The main reason for my friends to take us to this unconventional location was exactly this; the inexorable need to engage in conversations with foreign people.

The first round of dirty martinis arrives as the last costumers take their places next to me, with a lousy cheer I pour the drink down my throat, feeling its pleasant burning down my body, warming me up, making me forget.

“Easy there tiger”- the man sited by my side chuckles, gesturing towards my empty glass.

I take a moment to wander across his features. Thick eyebrows, big brown eyes, plump lips. Definitely attractive, exactly what I need.

A smile creeps up my face, the wires in my brain getting to work.

I notice an elegantly worn designer shirt hugging his chest, his forearms resting against the wooden surface, his attentive stare trying to read my thoughts.

“And you are?”- I condescendingly tease him.

“Carlos”- his hand travels to mine, embracing me with his warm- “Carlos Sainz.”

The subtle body hair covering his fist tickling my naked skin, igniting a fire deep inside me.

And in that moment, I simply knew there was no getting out, not anybody else as long as he kept staring at me like this, eating me raw with his gaze.

That was the first night I ever came back home with him.

————

FOUR MONTHS AGO:

Carlos is away for the weekend, oceans separating us, palpable distance every time he races through my mind.

I try convincing myself It’s the sex I miss, the obvious physical attraction, the invisible force that pulls us towards the other, the feeling of his warm skin being impossibly closer to mine.

Truth being told, I’m sitting immovable on my bed, nervously waiting for a call.

I can’t help but recall his soft locks intertwined with my fingers, his tongue inching towards my neck, how he never fails to make my blood boil with a simple grin.

My phone brings me out of my daydreams, screaming for attention as a call enters it. His name glistening on the screen, filling me with pure bliss and forcing me to hold my giggles.

Acting like a schoolgirl with a crush while being a full-grown adult… how pathetic!

Two rings go by before i pick up, bitting my bottom lip to keep my voice calm as if I wasn’t desperately clinging to it seconds ago.

“Gorgeous, you got a minute to spare?”- he asks, clear amusement in his tone, abusing the charm he knows he has.

“That depends, Carlos, who’s asking?”

I’m gobsmacked at how composed I sound, nowhere near how I actually feel.

My knuckles turn white from grasping my sheets.

“Don’t be like that, princess, I know you miss me”- his smile visible through his speech.

My heart skips a beat, can his words be revealing my true feelings?

“Oh honey, keep lying to yourself if it helps you sleep at night…”

I’m met with his scandalous laugh filling the line, raising my pulse until it’s beating on my ears.

Everything stops, everything keeps going.

I close my eyes in acknowledgement, being forced to admit what i’ve been denying ever since I met him.

Oh, how screwed I am!

———

TWO MONTHS AGO:

The music rumbles at the disco, throbbing on my skin with its intensity.

Being dragged to a hip party, my friends and I are bundled up in the comfort of our own group, dancing between ourselves.

As I rock my body to meet the pulsating rhythm, I embrace Carlos’s presence behind me, tightly grabbing my waggling hips.

He presses himself into me and I rub against his growing erection, purposely torturing him. His kisses start straying while sucking visible red marks into my neck.

His penetrating cologne invades my nostrils, clinging into my bare skin like a golden tattoo.

The mix of the alcohol I insisted on chugging and his hands shaping my whole body becoming intoxicating.

A foreign touch on my shoulder makes me open my eyes, leaving me to face my friend staring at me like i’ve grown a second head.

“You’re coming with me”- she pronounces as she drags me away from Carlos, who snorts in disbelief.

“What? Why?”- I ask as i’m forced to take a seat at the bar.

“Have you gone mad? You two were literally dry humping each other in the middle of the crowd!”- She hisses worriedly, forcing me to drink the water bottle she bought for me.

As she sits next to me, I prepare myself for the lecture she’s about to impart me, letting my eyes wonder across the dance floor.

I catch a glimpse of Carlos standing against a wall, hemmed by complete darkness, sometimes interrupted by one of the dj's lights.

When the spotlight lands on him, I start noticing the delicate hands hugging his broad shoulders, the almost nonexistent distance between him and the blonde caressing his cheeks.

Bile climbs up my throat, threatening to be ejected thanks to the scene before me.

Her lips all over his neck, staining the collar of his white shirt with lipstick.

Realizing i’m not paying an iota of attention to her, my friends follows my gaze stumbling across the sequence.

Effortlessly, she yanks me away from the enclosed space and into the garden.

Without being able to stop myself, I empty the contents of my stomach into the ground, constantly replaying the flashbacks of their sensual dance.

“Everything’s okay now, love”- My friend states while caressing my tangled up hair. Her fingertips come into contact with my cheeks, brushing my tears away.

Sobs are quick to scape my lungs, becoming more and more erratic as I imagine the second by second unfolding inside the disco.

———

PRESENT:

After running away from Carlos’s house, in the middle of a Madrilenian night, I’m fast to hide into the loneliness of my apartment.

I can’t even find comfort in blaming him as I was the one to agree with our “no exclusivity policy”, believing I could make it work.

How stupid of me to think I would be capable of not being trapped into his nets.

Clearly the only solution I can possibly come up with is crying it out, and that’s how I found myself in this situation; puffy eyes, completely ruined mascara, quivering eyes from shedding way too many tears.

Could I have been more stupid? I can’t even resonate one good reason why I would ever accept what he’s willing to offer me while wanting him in his entirety.

My determination is easily devastated as desperate fists bang against my door.

“Please, open up”- A too familiar voice implores from outside the apartment.

“I don’t ever wanna see you again”- I manage to scream through whimpers.

“I beg of you, please let me in! I swear I can explain.”

Standing right on the other side of the door, I feel my hand toying with the doorknob, trying to determinate whether or not to listen to his pleas.

“There’s nothing to explain, Carlos!”- I say, above a whisper, my voice to fragile for anything else.

“There’s been a while since i’ve been with anyone else, alright? Not since all I could think about was you!”

An unbreakable silence fills the hallways of the building, only the sound of his pantings and heavy breathing interrupting the stillness.

Without much hesitation, I open the hinges separating us.

Clearly, I was nowhere near prepared for the view before me; his full brown eyes now shimmering with unshed orbs, accumulated in his tear ducts.

“How about the girl from the voicemail?”- I ask, almost scared to find out this is all a product of my imagination.

“I know what that seemed like, but I promise you it’s not what you think!”- he says, piercing me with his gaze- “That was my ex girlfriend. She has a hard time letting go of me, even though there’s been more than a year since we’ve last been together. I never answer her calls and that’s why she’s getting more and more desesperate.”

Everything around me stops just to listen to his next words, my heart betting so out of control he might even hear it.

“Back at my apartment you told me you were enamored by me, well, there’s no use in trying to deny i’m in love with you”- he whispers, just loud enough for me to hear- “so much it’s physically painful, it’s all I can think about.”

My brain turned into mush as his confession sinks in. I almost want to laugh at how ridiculous the idea seems to me; the man I love, probably the only one i’ll ever love, stating that my feelings are reciprocate.

A sigh leaves my parted lips as a quiet tear runs down my face.

“I know i’ve made my mistakes and believe me when I say i’ll regret them every minute i’m on this earth, but I promise you, that if you give me the chance, i’ll make it up to you until my dying breath”- his voice sounds shaky, as if he couldn’t believe the words coming out of him.

I don’t think I ever reacted as fast as now, jumping into his embrace, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his torso. Little giggles leave both of our mouths at the ridiculous situation.

“I love you”- He murmurs, muffled by the kisses he’s pressing against my checks.

“I love you too”- I answer back, with our bodies still entwined.

[estelofrivendell]

You’ve Got A Friend In Me (Aragorn x Female Reader)

a/n: clara actually posting a one shot??? shocker, right? anyway, i started this months ago and only finished it now. it’s not really x reader, but oh well. also, there may or may not be inspiration taken from to kill a mockingbird. i won’t elaborate and you will see it when you see it. i don’t really see this as a part three of “a change of heart” but you can if you want to. also, don’t question the toy storyesque title.

summary: you’re convicted of a crime you actually didn’t do and all the odds are against you because of your reputation. aragorn is the only one to believe you are innocent and does what he can to help you get cleared of all charges.

word count: 2,1k

warnings: none really other than mentions of murder

During your first meeting, Aragorn prayed to whatever God was up there to have you locked up for your crimes sooner or later. He never thought it would actually happen considering how lousy the whole system was. Yet the wishes he no longer held were answered, which he thought was only done to spite him. When news of the lords declaring you a fugitive, he prayed you would be guided into safety and away from the authorities before asking why they wanted you.

“Do you need to ask?” A considerably young ranger laughed. “That woman is a menace. It was about time those poor souls were brought to justice, and this is long overdue.”

Aragorn growled. “That does not answer my question.”

The young ranger laughed once more, holding up his arms. “Calm down. They say she murdered one of those great lords in cold blood. Witnesses saw her near the castle when all the mess was going on. Can you believe it?”

No, I do not. She would never do that, not anymore.

Finding you wasn’t so difficult anymore. You were a slippery little snake that it took Aragorn a while to master the task of locating you. Today felt strangely easier than it was and he wondered if that was deliberate and you had been hoping he would find you.

You sure did not expect his visit as you aimed your knife at him, the tip close enough to his chin that it made a small cut, but you lowered it the moment you realised who it really was.

“Aragorn? What brings you here?”

“I believe you know what brought me here. Did you do it?”

“Kill the lord? No, though I would love that honour. I cannot tell you I am entirely innocent in this matter.”

You didn’t change entirely, you see. You still took payments (especially when the money came from a high bidder) and you were more than happy to carry out the execution of the worst of men, and the lord was no kind man. He was someone no one wanted to be around and Aragorn didn’t need to be told that you would love to kill him, yet he felt it in him that if you were going to be arrested for any crime, this was not it.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore,” you said, turning away from him. “You need to get out of here. I don’t want you seen with me and I most certainly don’t want you to be involved in my problems, so do yourself a favour and save your sorry self from a conviction.”

Aragorn raised a brow. “You involve yourself in my affairs, why can I not do the same?”

You shot him a glare. “That is different, I was helping you. And if-”

“You don’t think I’m helping you? I’m telling you I believe you’re innocent, and no matter what you say to make yourself look bad, I’ll find a way to make sure you’re not tried for anything.”

“Then run away with me.” You offered your hand. “A life in the forests away from the city sounds nice. It’s what I always dreamed of as a young girl.”

If he wasn’t destined for something so big, he would not hesitate to take up your offer. Even then, he imagined a life with you and he believed it to be so cozy and perfect. He was no stranger to waking up beside you and he longed for your company that getting to do it every morning sounded like a utopia.

“I… cannot.”

“Why not? You have nothing going for you. Just the same old rangering, nearly getting yourself killed while the people you protect don’t thank you for your service. Would you prefer a life with me, where we have all the freedom we can get? We can explore the world together, unbounded by expectations and obligations.”

“I may not like what I do, but it is still my duty to protect the men of Bree.”

Hurt, you turned away from him and left. “Well, you made your choice and I have made mine. I am sorry they are incompatible, but there is no use to convince you. I wish you all the luck if there is any left.”

-

Each day, Aragorn misses you, but does not regret not following you. He would kill for you, but he would not pick you over the crown. It was the heaviest price he ever paid in his life and he is sure nothing else can compare.

Over time, his life is the same as it was before he met you. Hunt orcs, occasionally meet Gandalf, return to Rivendell, eat and sleep. Rinse and repeat.

It had been three months, shy of Midsummer when he heard about your whereabouts. Expecting neutral at worst news, he ensured to look like he was not paying attention and almost lost his train of thought when they started to go into more detail.

“Word has it that the woman thought to murder the lord had been found by authorities just last week. She put up a good fight, killing the guards and escaped the first time, but they caught her this time, not without issue though. She’s been brought back here for a trial.”

“Here? Why?” A young man asked, stupidly.

“Because this is where the murder happened,” said the man calmly. “I’m more surprised she’s getting a trial in the first place. Murderers like her deserve a lifetime sentence, plus 150 years, without the possibility of bail. In fact, the guillotine will do.”

A young woman around the same age as you spoke up. “There’s no way she’s getting a sentence lower than that. I mean, she steals a lot, and that’s not worth a death sentence in my book, and all those conspiracy murders everyone spoke of had no evidence, but this one did.”

“So, when is the trial?” The young woman asked.

“In two months time, assuming no delays.”

-

After a lot of difficult convincing on his end, side eyes he received, and suspicion that he was someone to not be trusted, Aragorn received the location of the maximum security prison and the specific cell you were held at. The guards asked him a lot of questions before letting him see you, let alone giving you privacy. 

When you saw him, you shot up and clenched your hands around the bars. A friendly face was long overdue. “It’s over, Strider. No point in making me feel better. I lost the moment they found me and there’s no turning back.”

“Don’t say that. Have some faith in yourself. I know you didn’t do it-“

“And do you have proof for that? God, I’m grateful to have you, and I’m grateful that you believe I didn’t do it, but you’re a delusional man. Go home. Find a woman to fuck, marry and have babies with. Forget about me. You’re smarter than this.”

“I know many people that can help you. I’ve been looking around and speaking to them, and they agreed to look into it. Some of them have been given permission to investigate.”

“Strider.” Only until now did you start crying, and Aragorn never saw you cry. He thought you crying was something he never thought he would see. “Stop that. You don’t have to do that.”

“What friend would I be?”

“You’re risking your own life for me.” You sobbed. “I don’t want you to jeopardise your own life to save mine. Please, stop this, go home. You have nothing to do with this.”

Suddenly, the door opened and two guards roughly grabbed Aragorn and pulled him away. “Time’s up,” one of them gruffly said to him as you mouthed “don’t resist.” He reluctantly listened. He was a lot stronger than everyone here combined and could knock them out in one hit, but if he wanted to finish his plan of ensuring you were proven innocent, beating up the guards was not the way to do it.

Once he was thrown out of the prison, he looked at the architecture and noted how miserable it was. He could tell you were losing your mind each passing minute and only hoped that you would recover as soon as you were released.

-

One of the people he paid to investigate the lord’s death had summoned him to a private place at night. 

“I think you need to hear this. Last night, we went over the body and we discovered enormous hand marks on the victim’s neck and marks on his right eye. The hand prints are too big to belong to a woman and the injuries on his eye could mean a left-handed man did it.”

Aragorn has met women with quite large hands, but the news only confirmed that you didn’t kill him, as he was aware you had small hands. You were also indeed right handed.

“With this proof in mind, it’s hard for me to believe she did it. I don’t know who did it, but I don’t believe it’s her.”

-

Aragorn snuck his way in your trial and watched from above, making sure to keep discreet. After the introduction and overview of your charges, and people fighting it out with you remaining silent, you were suddenly asked a question that piqued his interest.

“Can you read and write?”

“Yes, I can.”

Everyone present stared at each other, muttering amongst each other, shocked that a woman who was most certainly not noble and was uneducated knew how to read and write.

You were asked to write out what the judge said, word by word with both hands. The most eloquent speech with advanced words yet you had no struggle writing them down, with your right hand, confusing everyone.

The man that asked you to write remained calm the entire time, as if he was unsurprised, startling you a bit.

“You see, the woman here wrote with her right hand, with perfect handwriting, while her writing with her left hand is nearly illegible. This could only mean she is right handed. The lord was discovered with bruises on the right side of his face, which if we assume she is the murderer, would be probable if she is left-handed. But she is not.”

“Secondly, there were big handprints around the lord’s neck. The woman here has quite small hands. A woman’s strength could only do so much to try and choke a man let alone with small hands.”

The trial went on and on, but came to an end, a good one, since you were cleared of your charges. Due to the everyone’s shock and confusion, and how the evidence countered their expectations, no one cheered nor jeered at the decision. It was dead silent and everyone left without uttering a single word.

Aragorn only smiled to himself, but his smile fell when you ignored him.

-

And life in Bree went on.

Everyone spent a week talking about how they had wrong thoughts of you, while others were still convinced you didn’t do it. A couple others just didn’t care and were annoyed to even hear about you. But after a week, the chatter all died down and everyone minded their own business, unless it was something about their married neighbor beginning an affair with another woman. 

Aragorn found you at your place, cleaning your home with a lot of things packed.

“Going somewhere?”

“Finishing what I did not get to,” you said, not looking at him. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to see if you are well.”

“I am… well, I suppose. I’m not in a shitty cell with a similar embodiment to hell anymore.”

“I don’t expect a thanks or-”

“Thank you,” you suddenly said, finally facing him. “I’m sorry for doubting you. I really did think it was over for me.”

“I don’t blame you for doubting me, but I am your friend. You helped me before and it’s about time I returned the favour.”

“I am still going away for a while. I do not think I want to come back to Bree after a short time with everything that has happened. I understand you do not want to come with me, but I will come back, I promise.”

“About that. I think I decided that I do want to travel with you. It’s that this time, we’re not running away from something terrible.”

You ran towards him to give him a hug, perhaps the biggest hug he ever had in his life, and he heard you start to cry again. This time, you were not crying out of desperation.

No, you were crying of happiness. Happiness because you get to travel around the world with your favourite person, and the only person in your life left that mattered.

[keis-slut]

needy|k.tsukishima

CW: DIRTY TALK, DEGRADING, SLIGHT CUNT SLAPPING

she just couldn't help herself.

the tall blonde barely even noticing her presence as he practiced with his team.

sitting on the bench next to suga, she watches as he effortlessly blocks his opponents spike, nearly melting in her seat. suga notices this, turning to the female.

"you and tsukishima have gotten quite close, huh?"

he blurts, making her turn in surprise, cheeks slightly red.

"i wouldn't say close! but we'll get there…"

she responds, yamaguchi next to suga giving her a look, understanding what she meant.

"that's good. i think it would be nice for tsukishima to have some more friends outside of the team"

suga says, giving a small smile. the girl sends him a gentle smirk.

"i don't think you're picking up what i'm putting down, suga"

she says, making yamaguchi snort.

"y/n..."

suga turns to the girl confused, eyebrow raised.

"what?"

he questions, and she gives him a slight side eye. suga all of a sudden perks up, with eyes that had slightly gotten bigger due to realization, just as the volleyball slams to the ground, grabbing their attention.

tsukishima, visibly frustrated, watches as the ball rolls across his side of the court, after a failed block. his eyes wander from the ball, to the girl seated next to suga on the bench. his stare lasts a few seconds, before he turns his monotone, poker-face back to his opponents.

"that's game"

daichi announces, hinatas team winning with three more points than tsukishima.

"yeah!"

tanaka yells, jumping up to belly bump hinata to their victory in a lousy practice match. the girls eyes wander to tsukishima, seeing the way he just strolls away as if it meant nothing to him, wining or losing.

even though his team had lost this time, she still couldn't help but almost drool at the sight of his strut over to her.

"hi, tsukki! great job out there!"

yamaguchi blurts excitedly, almost leaping out of his seat when tsukishima walks over.

"shut up, tadashi"

He mumbles as he steps over.

"sorry, tsukki!"

yamaguchi nervously chuckles, rubbing the back of his head as he stands up and walks away, heading over to help clean the volleyballs scattered across the gym.

"hey, kei"

y/n greets, his face turning almost irritated at the name as he stepped over to her.

"i told you to stop calling me that"

he announces nonchalantly, bending over to pick up his water bottle placed on the floor next to the bench.

"it rolls off my tongue nice though, don't you think?"

she teases as he lifts himself up, taking a few sips of his water, not bothering to respond. but he gave her a look instead as he drank his water, narrowing his golden eyes and staring her down as he kept silent, making butterflies rattle not only in her stomach, but between her legs shamelessly as she tightens them. fortunately, he notices this, and smirks to himself.

everyone else, however, were already on their way out, calling to tsukishima as a reminder.

"just grabbing my things"

he responds, daichi giving a nod before walking out.

tsukishima then looks back down at the girl, who isn't very good at hiding her arousal.

his eyes travel to the floor in front of her, where his uniform jacket rested on the floor after carelessly throwing it off during a game. but he brought his eyes back up to hers before bending down to get it, right in front of her legs.

"you're not very good at it"

he spits, looking up at her as he got to the floor to grab his jacket.

"at what, kei?"

she questions, the way she said his name making his pants grow only a little tighter in the front, and his stomach to turn just a bit, admittedly in a good way.

"what about me do you like so much?"

he questions abruptly. she sits up and leans forwards a bit, their faces just getting closer to each other's.

"answering a question with another question?" she spits.

he goes to stand up, and sighs.

"i could say the same to you"

he retorts, and she smirks, shaking her head.

"wise ass"

he goes to sit next to her, legs touching.

"don't you want to catch up with everyone else?"

she asks, pointing to the door as her head turns in the same direction.

suddenly, her head is turned back towards him, his large hand grasping at her jaw.

"i'm speaking to you"

he says sternly, her legs twitching at his actions, and the strength of his hand clenching her chin sent an aroused pulse through her body.

"what's in it for me?"

she responds bluntly, pushing his hand off slightly, as it drops dangerously close to her leg.

"who knows? you've been trying so hard to get my attention somehow, haven't you? maybe you'll get what you want"

he says, turning his head away. she thinks before letting out a hum, opening her mouth to speak.

"figure it out, you're smart"

she says, standing up from the bench and strutting away as she speaks. she glides out the door, hearing a small chuckle escape his lips as she heads to the other side of the building.

she steps behind the corner, waiting for him to leave.

finally, hearing footsteps with the door closing behind who she assumed was tsukishima, she peeked out and no one was there. she turns back, and exhales sharply, leaning her head against the wall.

hesitantly bringing her hand from her side, she glides it across her thigh, a sigh of relief emitting from her nose. she hooks her finger on her shorts, slightly moving them over along with her panties, accessing how soaked she was.

she runs a finger along her clit, her knees starting to give out as she held herself against the wall. the night breeze feeling cold against her folds, she cups her fingers along her cunt, a small moan escaping her lips.

pure bliss eroded her body, the feeling of finally getting off making her mind fuzzy. she squeezes her eyes shut, and furrows her eyebrows, her now slick finger just imagined as if it were his.

she lets out another whine, a bit louder than the last one accidentally, with the thought of his hand between her legs instead of hers.

"you're not very quiet are you?"

his familiar voice is heard from in front of her, she lifts her lids slightly to see him staring down at her.

but she didn't stop.

the way he gazed at her so indecently only making her twitch more.

"kei..." she pleaded, her back arching off the wall.

"no"

he spat, stepping closer.

she exhaled sharply as her chest heaved.

"you should be ashamed" he spoke.

"do i look ashamed?"

she answered back, moaning as she pushed a finger in.

“sound ashamed?”

she added with a needy whine.

"cum yourself first, and maybe i'll reward you with another"

he growls.

"don't act like you're against the thought of being knuckle deep inside me right now"

she spits, curling her fingers slightly, making her hips jerk forwards.

being seven inches deep sounds better to me.

"you're so naughty, n’ so bad at hiding it"

he completely changes his words from his thoughts.

"what if i don't want to hide it?"

she moans, her teeth gripping at her bottom lip.

he steps closer, his leg pushing between hers, making her hand slide deeper inside of her. she cries out at the sudden action, him close enough for her to collapse on his chest. he smelt of sweated down cologne, his scent only getting her off more.

"what if i wanted to see you come undone anyway?"

he purrs, his face pressing into the side of her neck, him almost having to break his back to get down to her height.

"fuck, kei..." she moans, begging for his fingers.

"finish first, filthy whore"

he commands, and she cries as her walls tighten to his voice.

"you wanna shamelessly act like a slut? then i'll treat you like one"

he wouldn't stop, degrade after degrade.

"but you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

he adds, bringing his hand between her legs to cup around hers, his other hand roaming to the back of her head, gripping a fistful of her hair as he pulls it back to lift her head up.

he pushes her hand up, her fingers prodding at her own g-spot.

"o-oh! oh god..."

she cries out suddenly feeling his hand against hers, mouth gaping open as he pulls back her head with her hair in his hand.

not thinking through this idea thoroughly, she goes for it anyway, moving her hand out of the way quickly, managing to get his to stroke her cunt ever so slightly.

"oh?...so needy for me...you'd play such a dirty trick like that? pathetic"

he spits, abruptly slapping her pussy. she rolls her hips against as much of his fingers she could get. a few more slaps later, he shoves his two middle digits inside her, unknown to her she'd now be getting it all after acting so desperately.

"oh, yes, please..."

she whines, eyes rolling back after feeling his fingers.

chills wave through her body, stomach and chest swirling with ecstasy as she finally felt the length of his fingers stretch her drooling cunt, just what she’d been waiting for.

"this what you wanted? practically riding my fingers like a bitch"

he growls, leaning into her face, taking his hand from her hair to clench at her jaw and bring her to look up at him. forcing eye contact, he curls his long fingers inside her, feeling how tight she'd get from that sensation, and enjoying it a bit too much.

seeing how her mouth hung open into a perfect ‘o’ with swollen lips, and knitted eyebrows resting above those dangerous doe eyes that could make him crumble in a second.

lucky for him, he’s had enough practice at keeping his composure.

"you needed me to help you finish, yeah?"

he teases, giving her that infamous smirk of his.

her face scrunches as she goes to speak, but barely getting a sentence out as he timed it perfectly with curling his digits.

"y-you fucking!- oh!",

was all she could manage as he goes faster, purposely distracting her from speaking.

"cum on my fingers then, whore. do it"

he orders, feeling her tighten again.

she moans, her back arching against the wall as her chest heaves agains his own.

she finishes on his fingers, but he holds them there for a bit longer after she does, letting her ride out her climax and drip down his fingers.

but suddenly, she brings her hand up to grab at his neck.

"you're such an asshole, i know you wanted that too"

"i never said otherwise”

[mercurygray]

Still working on the 'rules' of this end of the universe, but I think we're getting a good start on The Darkening Sky: MOTA.

"Looks like we've got a couple of ladies around," Gale said, lightly curious as a couple of the ground crews zipped by in jeeps, all chapped faces and pigtails.

"Lousy with 'em," Egan reported, sounding none too pleased about it. "Air crew, ground crew, weatherwomen. I wish that Warren woman had fucking stayed home."

"You know she's from Wyoming?" Gale said, mostly to DeMarco. "Her grandfather was the state governor."

"I don't care if he was the goddamn president of the United States," Egan interjected angrily. "Having women over here ain't helping us do shit."

"What's this - John Egan has a bad opinion of the fairer sex?" Gale could only smile. "John, has someone hurt you since I've seen you last?"

"No," Egan said, though he still sounded mighty sore about it. "We've got a lady looey running the control tower who's a goddamn pain in my ass."

Gale exchanged a look with DeMarco and raised his eyebrows, and DeMarco grinned back. Oh, so that's how it is.

Egan began to drive them back, giving them the tour as they went - runway, taxiway, hard stands - and finally the control tower, checkerboarded against the sky. Egan parked the jeep and took the stairs two at a time up to the observation level. There were four women, stationed inside the glasshouse, each of them wearing headsets and watching the runway from their stations. The single woman standing turned around and glimpsed the three of them through the glass, her neutral face deepening into a frown before she excused herself and stepped outside to the tower's observation deck. (She looked like she was ready to run interference, the way she was standing between Egan and the door.)

But Egan, it seemed, was ready, his hands already up, "Don't shoot, I'm just giving the new fellows a tour. Buck, Ben, this Lieutenant Callaway, our Control Officer. Lieutenant Callaway, this is Major Gale Cleven, and Captain Benny DeMarco."

The lieutenant nodded, keeping her arms firmly crossed over her chest. She was around their age, with dark hair pulled back into a tight roll and was wearing trousers - practical, probably, for the wind they got up here. She had a way of standing that told Buck that she was not in the business of being easily moved - and staring down John with an expression that could only mean that the pain in the ass feeling was mutual. "Sir."

"Does Lieutenant Callaway have a first name, or do you just not feel like being neighborly with it?" Gale asked, trying to be pleasant, looking between the two of them with faint but growing interest.

"It's Cordelia, but I think Lieutenant will be just fine, for now, Major."

Gale nodded, filing that away with John's earlier remarks. "Heard and acknowledged, Lieutenant. Nice to put a face with a voice after the landing. Looking forward to working with you."

Callaway nodded, and returned to her post, though she continued glancing over her shoulder until she was convinced they were all really leaving.

"She seems nice," DeMarco ventured, glancing again at Cleven as they headed down the stairs and back to Egan's jeep.

Egan scoffed. "Nice, ha. She's a goddamn iceberg. Had me written up for handing out a few compliments to her crew one night - said I was unprofessional, and a threat to group morale."

"The way you go through girls, Bucky, you would be," DeMarco said with a grin. "They take stuff like that personally, you know."

Egan rolled his eyes. "Remind me why the hell I'm friends with you jokers?" He looked at the two of them and scowled at two very knowledgeable smiles. "Oh, get out of my jeep. You're walking back." He picked up Gale's flight bag and pitched it out of the front seat, giving DeMarco just enough time to grab his before he'd shifted the jeep into gear and roared off on his own.

"He'll be fine in an hour," Gale predicted, hefting his flight bag back over his shoulder so that he and Benny could continue their long walk back down the airfield towards the dispersal huts and crew quarters.

DeMarco watched the jeep disappear down the runway and scoffed. "So how long do you think he's wanted to fuck her?"

Gale grinned, entertained that it was that obvious to someone else, too. "Since the minute they met, I think." And I get the sense she's not the kind to fall for easy charm.

--

If you liked meeting Cord, you'll love reading more about 'that Warren woman' who is currently in my Band of Brothers fanfic The Darkening Sky. You can read the whole thing on AO3.

[magicalsniper]

The Legacy of Magic

2746 words | Teen | Part 5 of 7 Author's AO3: MagicalSniper Story Link: The Legacy of Magic Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Summary: Balinor, summoned by Uther to negotiate with the Great Dragon Kilgharrah, witnesses the devastating aftermath of the Great Purge of Magic and is forced to escape Camelot, leaving behind a pregnant Hunith. Years later, his son Merlin, who struggles to conceal his magic, becomes fast friends with Prince Arthur. Their bond is tested when Arthur learns the truth about Merlin’s magic, but his loyalty to Merlin remains steadfast, though their relationship is marred by the weight of secrets and struggles for the safety of magic users in Camelot.

The One Where Merlin's Secrets Unravel The voices swirled in Merlin’s head, a cacophony of panic and distress that yanked him from his self-pity session. He froze as they clouded his mind, a frown creasing his brow as he tried to make heads or tails of what he was hearing. 

“Emrys!”  That was one of the younger druids.

“Merlin, stay away!” That was his father’s frantic voice.

Merlin set off towards the at a breakneck sprint, the mossy earth beneath his boots giving way to the frantic pounding of his heart. As he neared the druid camp, the smell of smoke and blood stung his nostrils, and his chest tightened at the sight before him as he broke through the trees. 

He watched in horror as the Knights of Camelot, clad in their gleaming armour and bloodred cloaks, terrorised the druids. Tents were set ablaze, and the air rang with the clash of steel and cries of the men defending the camp. Merlin took little relief that women, children, and those not doing any magic seemed to be spared. 

"Father!" Merlin called out; his voice lost amidst the chaos. His eyes darted across the devastation, searching desperately for Balinor. His father's wise and imposing figure was nowhere to be seen, and an icy fear gripped him. He could see some of the other elders of the camp at the far end, fighting off Leon and someone else Merlin could not identify from his position.

He peered from behind the safety of a sturdy oak and spotted a group of younger druids cornered by knights, their escape cut off. 

Unable to help himself,  a mischievous grin tugged at his lips, and Merlin extended a hand, fingers tracing invisible threads of magic in the air. With a flick of his wrist, a burst of energy sent a knight’s helmet spinning like a top into the sky, followed by the bewildered knight tumbling backwards into a rather undignified heap. Merlin couldn’t help but snicker. The knight was one of Uther’s, as cruel as he was ugly… and he was very ugly.

“Take that, Iseldir,” the boy had snarled playfully as he gestured wildly, sending more knights scattering like started pigeons. “I can take down many men at once.” I just learned it from a sorcerous with a lousy aim… oh, that would have killed with Arthur! Merlin thought with a snicker.

The diversion worked, and the young druids seized the moment to dart into the forest. As they disappeared, Merlin couldn’t help but puff out his chest a bit. There was something immensely satisfying about watching burly men in armour realise they were no match for a skinny sorcerer with unruly hair and a knack for trouble.

"Oops," he exclaimed as another knight found himself relieved of his sword, which now dangled comically from a tree branch overhead just out of jumping reach. "You might want to work on your grip there, Sir Clumsy!"

Still, as much fun as it was to play tricks on the knights, Merlin knew this was no game. The lives of his people hung in the balance, and he couldn't rest until they were safe from harm—even if it meant putting himself squarely in it against Camelot’s finest. With a deep breath, he stepped fully from the treeline. "Come on, then," Merlin said, squaring his shoulders. "Let's see what Camelot’s bravest has got up those chainmail sleeves."

"Enough of this!" bellowed the lead knight, veins bulging in his neck as he pointed towards the figures fleeing into the forest. "After them!"

Merlin's eyes narrowed and with a determined sweep of his arm, an invisible wall shimmered into existence—a forcefield as sturdy as the stones of Camelot itself. The knights, charging headlong, collided with it and fell back, bewildered and groaning.

“Stop this at once!” The command was more a plea than an order, desperation threading the lead knight’s voice.

"Ah, but you see," Merlin retorted, eyes glinting dangerously, "that would be terribly inconvenient for me." With a casual flicker of golden energy from his gaze, the knights around them slumped to the ground, unconscious before they realised what had happened. "You’re the one that needs to stop this."

Momentarily, the battlefield's chaos felt distant as Merlin's gaze locked onto a familiar figure. Time seemed to stretch and slow, swords clashing, becoming a distant echo. There, amidst the turmoil, stood Arthur—his armour dented, his expression one of deep confusion and betrayal.

"Arthur..." Merlin whispered, heart twisting with a mixture of relief and dread. Even as the world crumbled around them, his friend's safety was his first concern; his keen eyes scanned for any sign of injury on the prince's body.

"Merlin?" Arthur's voice cut through the stillness, sharp with disbelief. But Merlin could only offer him a rueful smile, the kind that said, 'We'll laugh about this later... if there is a later.'

"Nice of you to join the party," Merlin joked weakly, trying to mask the gravity of the situation. "Fashionably late as always, you clotpole."

Arthur stood, mouth working as he tried to process his disbelief, before his eyes darkened and growled. “MERLIN!” His voice cracked like a whip across the field as he stormed through the fallen knights towards him. “What are you doing here!?”

Merlin’s heart pounded against his ribs, and he bit his lip. He tried to come up with an explanation, but he came up short. He steeled himself, realising that the only thing he could do was tell the truth. “I’m protecting my people,” he said, the truth ringing clear even if every part of his body seemed to quiver. 

“Your people?” Arthur spat, his confusion giving away to anger. His sword hand twitched, but the weapon remained sheathed. “Camelot’s people are your people! How could you do this to me, Merlin? To us?”

A dark chuckle escaped Merlin’s lips. “Do this to you? God, Arthur, you’re so blind.” He shook his head; the world seemed to tilt on its axis. All he could think about was what he would do now. He had to get his mother out of Camelot.

“Excuse me?”

“Magic is who I am!” Merlin said, burst out, his hands trembling as he held back the urge to allow his magic free. “I could move objects before I was out of the womb, Arthur, the womb! So don’t you dare act like this is something I did to you!”

Arthur stood unmoved, his jaw clenched. But there was something new in his gaze—a dawning realisation.

“Merlin, I—”

"Let me finish," Merlin cut him off. "We have a huge problem. I am going to have to leave Camelot… which I can handle because if it's a choice between Camelot and my magic, I will choose my magic. I am nothing without magic. But Arthur, what’s worse is that I am nothing without you.” Merlin stuttered out a breath. “What am I supposed to do with that?”

There it was, laid bare between them—the core of Merlin's soul, raw and vulnerable.

"Until now, I thought the same about you," Arthur admitted, his voice a mere whisper. A pained look crossed his features, a battle raging within. And then, the resolve in his eyes crumbled, replaced by an emotion Merlin had seldom seen: heartbreak.

"Arthur…" Tears welled up, blurring Merlin's vision as he gazed upon his friend.

"Enough," Arthur muttered, sounding every bit the defeated and wartorn prince. He reached out, grasping Merlin's hand as he dragged him towards where the knights had left their horses. "Just get on the horse, Merlin."

He hauled Merlin onto the horse behind him, their bodies close in a way that belied the turmoil roiling in their hearts. "And wake them up," Arthur added, a final command laced with resignation.

Merlin nodded, his fingers brushing the air as subtle magic weaved around the unconscious knights. One by one, they stirred, groaning, as memory and awareness eluded them like shadows at dusk.

As their steed trotted away from the destruction, Merlin wrapped his arms loosely around Arthur's waist. The silence enveloping them was a stark contrast to their usual banter. 

~o0o~

“Merlin, not that it isn’t great to see you, but where did you come from?” Sir Leon’s voice cut through the silence, thick with confusion as he rubbed his temple.

“Ah, well,” Merlin began, his mind racing for a plausible explanation that didn’t involve forbidden magic or secret identities. "I was—um, in the forest. Searching for... rare herbs! Yes, for Gaius." His voice faltered, and he cursed his ineptitude at deceit. Even Arthur, as angry as he was, had snorted in derision at that. Really, it was a miracle that Merlin kept his magic secret as long as he had.

"Herbs?" Sir Leon furrowed his brow, scepticism clear in his tone.

"Very rare," Merlin pressed on, hoping his nervous chuckle sounded convincing. "You wouldn't believe the lengths I go for Gaius' potions."

The knights exchanged glances, still disoriented, but they seemed to accept Merlin's rambling. Arthur said nothing, his jaw set, hands firm on the reins as they rode.

The horse's steady rhythm was the only sound between them, the clinking of armour and the soft thud of hooves against the earth starkly contrasting with the din of battle they'd left behind. 

Merlin's grip on Arthur's waist was tentative as if afraid too strong a hold might shatter whatever fragile bond remained. He could feel Arthur's muscles tense beneath his touch, and Merlin did all he could to ensure he touched him as little as possible.

Arthur's conflict was palpable; his loyalty to Camelot and ingrained prejudice against magic clashed violently with his friendship with Merlin. Every fibre of his being had been taught to despise what Merlin represented, yet here he was, unsure if he would be able to sever the ties that bound them.

Merlin, too, was caught in the throes of his own struggle. The fear of losing Arthur's trust battled fiercely with the relief of finally revealing his true self. He had always known this day might come, but the reality was more painful than he'd anticipated.

As they approached the outskirts of Camelot, the scenery shifted. Barley and rye fields swayed gently in the breeze, a tranquil sight that did little to ease the tension between the two friends. The setting sun cast long shadows across the land, mirroring the darkening uncertainty in both their hearts.

Merlin couldn't help but let out a small, rueful laugh. "If only hiding my magic was as easy as playing hide-and-seek with your favourite goblet," he muttered under his breath, the sarcasm a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

Arthur's response was a quiet sigh, the unspoken words hanging heavy in the air. They were approaching a crossroads—not just the literal one leading to the castle gates, but also an emotional and moral divide threatening to change everything.

The castle loomed ahead, its grey towers casting long, sombre shadows over the field of flowers that surrounded it. The heavy gates creaked open, allowing Arthur and Merlin passage through the thick walls of Camelot. The familiar clang of metal and murmur of voices greeted them, but the sounds felt distant to Merlin, muffled by the din of his own thoughts.

"Go home," Arthur instructed tersely, dismounting his steed with an air of royal authority that seemed forced in the presence of his confidant. "Wait for me there."

Merlin nodded, sliding off the horse with less grace than usual. He could feel the weight of the castle's many eyes upon him, but their stares were nothing compared to the penetrating gaze of his friend—the prince who now grappled with betrayal and loyalty in equal measure.

Merlin rushed home, nearly tripping over himself to get up the stairs. He startled Gaius and Hunith as he slammed the door open to the Phsycian’s Chambers and closed it behind himself. He fell to the floor in a heap and hid his face into his knees, unable to stop the sobs that burst forth. 

“Merlin, what happened?” Hunith rushed over to her son and knelt beside him, her gentle hand rubbing his back. “Why aren’t you with your father?

Merlin stuttered out what happened at the druid camp, causing Hunith and Gaius’s blood to run cold. 

It would seem that only Gaius was thinking clearly, for he sprang into action, reaching up in one of his cabinets to pull out a leather bag. “We must be quick. There’s no telling what will happen once word spreads.”

“But… Arthur told me to stay here.”

“I’m sorry, love, we can’t risk it,” Hunith said sadly, leaning down to kiss his head. She jumped up and went into his room to gather his clothes from the cabinet and brought them into the room, quickly packing them into the bag. “We will send you back to the druid camp until we figure out the next steps. You’ll be safe there.” She grabbed a handful of potions and placed them between the clothes to keep them safe. 

"Take this," she said, passing Merlin a small bundle. "It's not much, but there is a spell on it that will keep people from noticing you as long as they aren’t looking directly at you.."

"Thanks, Mother," Merlin replied, the corners of his mouth lifting in a melancholy smile as his fingers brushed against the soft fabric.

"Promise me you'll eat," she said, her voice laced with motherly concern, brushing his hair back from his eyes.

"Only if you promise not to fuss over empty chairs and unused cauldrons," Merlin quipped, managing a grin despite the thunderous sorrow in his heart.

Gaius laughed, "Ah, I'd rather have an untidy room than an empty one. But alas, tidiness seems to be part of your escape plan." He handed Merlin a leather pouch bulging with vials. "I've included a sleeping draught; it may be useful, especially on nights when the mind is too restless."

"Restless? With my penchant for trouble, I expect to be asleep before my head hits the ground," Merlin retorted, the mischief in his eyes briefly pushing back the veil of fear that clouded them.

Hunith reached out, gently adjusting the cloak draped around Merlin's shoulders. "You always were too clever by half," she murmured, her hands trembling slightly. "Just remember, cleverness can't replace caution."

The room was filled with the heavy silence of unspoken goodbyes, the kind that lingered like evening mist—felt more than heard. Merlin swallowed hard, feeling the weight of their gazes, the weight of a future shrouded in shadows.

"If any of you need me," he said, the words catching in his throat, "just...send an enchanted pigeon or something. I'll come flying. Well, not literally flying. Not yet, anyway."

"Merlin," Hunith cautioned, though her lips twitched in a reluctant smile.

"Right, no flying. Subtlety is key," Merlin corrected himself, his own smile bittersweet.

"Indeed," Gaius agreed, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "And remember, a sorcerer's greatest strength lies not in the magic at his fingertips but in the love and loyalty within his heart."

"Then I am armed to the teeth," Merlin declared, his confidence a fragile facade they all chose to believe in.

"Go now," Hunith urged her voice firm despite the tremor that threatened to break through. "Before it's too late." She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Be careful, my boy.”

"Careful is my middle name," Merlin lied, pulling away with a brave smile. With one last look around the room, his sanctuary, Merlin stepped out into the corridor.

The castle was quiet. The torches cast long shadows on the walls, their flickering light painting a picture of fleeting normality. He could hear the distant clatter of the night watch changing guard, a reminder of the urgency of his departure.

"Right, off I go then. To boldly sneak where no wizard has snuck before," he murmured to himself, creeping along the corridor with an exaggerated tiptoe. He couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all—the most powerful warlock in the land, skulking about like a naughty child.

As he made his way toward the stables, Merlin's mind raced with thoughts of Arthur, Camelot, and the uncertain path ahead. But somewhere, deep down, beneath the worry and the fear, there was a spark of hope—a belief that, somehow, everything would turn out alright.

After all, he thought with a smirk, I am Merlin. Trouble follows me like a lovesick puppy. I might as well make the most of it.

Part Six

[eldritcmor]

more blurbs!

Storm hummed.

"Clarisse can you answer a question for me?"

Clarisse stiffened but nodded anyway.

"How many Greek demigods are in one generation?"

"About one thousand."

"And how many make it to camp?"

"Four hundred spread throughout a few years."

"How many make it past puberty?"

"One hundred."

"How many live long enough to have children?"

Clarisse snorts.

"If they're lucky. Maybe fifty."

"And why is that?"

Clarisse hummed a moment as if in thought.

"Because we are continuously hunted throughout our entire lives. Mind you, that's not factoring in the other things."

"Like?"

"Three is a sacred number for quests, cause anymore and someone is nearly guaranteed to die. Sometimes parents aren't always understanding of the fact that their children are different and well the baby drowned in the bathtub. Other times, we fight wars for the gods. Run errands for the gods. Or we simply notice the monsters too late. Mostly, we find out what we are and die running for a camp that may not be able to take us."

Storm continued to hammer away at the billet of hot metal on their anvil. Price looked on, a grim set to his jaw.

"Kid."

"Don't captain, just don't. If I wanted to throw my life away, I would walk out those doors and simply stop fighting."

--

Storm took a deep breath and lunged forward. They hadn't seen them yet and now was the time. They quickly scaled the wall nearest to them and slid out the busted window. Glancing back, they briefly made eye contact with what seemed to be the hit squad's captain. A man with some serious facial hair. Someone to watch out for then.

--

Storm desperately pressed their head into ghost's shoulder, breath coming in harsh pants. Their eyes were wide with panic. Their nails drew blood, as they dug into ghost's forearm. Ghost made a quiet noise of pain as he attempted to calm Storm down.

"Storm! Storm!" A quiet whimpered phrase reaches his ears. A continuous chant "trahere eum." Storm kept attempting to curl over their stomach.

--

Storm smiled, a sad bittersweet thing as they watched "they" stalk closer. They tasted blood on the back of their tongue and the iron pipe to the gut certainly wasn't helping. They cooed as "they" leered over them.

"Hello [REDACTED]. It's good to see you again." Storm spoke the forbidden name with a dying man's confidence. They reached up, swiping a thumb along "they"s jaw. Leaving a trail of crimson blood.

"They" no longer looked the part of a healthy human. The illusion that had been so carefully constructed by storm stripped into nothingness. Instead a corpse walked on tree branch limbs. Skin grey from decay and stained a bright red with Oklahoma clay. Their chest cavity was open to the wind, sternum split and guts missing, save for a lump of rotted black flesh that served as a heart.

Storm felt their heart slowing from blood loss, pain becoming a distant haze. Tears trickled down their cheeks in a slow stream.

"I'm sorry [REDACTED], I'm sorry I was such a lousy sibling. But at least now, two will leave instead of one."

The funeral was a quiet affair. Just taskforce 141, Laswell, and a few friends of storm.

--

Gaz hummed as he shuffled a few cards into the deck.

"Question. What exactly do we know about storm?"

Soap cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"Like outside of their military career, what do we know about them?"

"Well they probably have family, right? I mean they're never on base when we go on leave."

Ghost rumbled.

"Depends on the leave. Anything longer than five days and they're off base. Shorter and they stick around."

"Oh right, LT you usually stick to base. What do they do?"

"They train and cook mostly."

"Train? Like in the gym? I thought they mostly used the trails around base to train."

"Don't remind me, training with them is brutal. I still don't know where they got a cow that fuckin angry."

"They stick to the gym a little bit. Mostly using the sparring mats."

Soap snorts.

"To what? Roll around by themselves?"

"No, they use them for sword drills."

"Sword drills? Where the fuck did they get a sword?"

"Never asked."

"So you didn't question why they have a sword?"

"Nope. They usually go till they drop though."

"Drop?"

"Till they can't hold the sword up anymore. Sometimes past that."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"They don't complain about it, even if we have a mission the next day."

"Oh, what do they cook? Cause you said they train and cook?"

"Johnny, who do you think makes those baked apples you like so much?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. They cook a variety mostly and there's always extra portions."

--

Storm stared down at the tiny pair of gossamer wings they had just coughed up. This couldn't be here. It couldn't have infected them again! And yet, they could feel it building under their skin. The pulsing rush of heat and power riding along their nerves. They had to leave. They had to leave now! Storm rushed out of the bathroom and to their room. Yanking on clothes and swiping an empty duffle from under their bed. Basic first aid kit, a couple of knives, a few changes of clothes, a canteen, and any non-perishable food they had on hand. All of it went into the bag. They threw the bag on their back and started walking. A glance at the clock in the common room said it was somewhere around 3:00am. Good, no one would see them go. Probably. They left their phone and wallet on their bunk. No need for them anymore, the power humming under their skin would probably fry them immediately anyways. They climbed into their car and got the fuck off base.

Storm pulled to a stop. The sun was peeking over the horizon now. Their watch said 6am. They had been driving for three hours straight. Taking a mix of back roads and country lanes. They had one goal in mind and one destination. Get the fuck away before the horrible power built too fast and exploded and the reserve lands for the well more human hungry side of things. They could feel the power writhing under their skin. Storm knew their control was slipping and slipping fast. They rested a hand on the hood of their car and released their hold on that burning power. The car crunched under their touch. The frame warped, twisted, and folded inward. The windows imploded under the force. The body crumpled with a horrible screech of metal. The car looked like something had twisted it till it had juiced like an orange. It was barely enough to take the edge off of the power building in Storm's body but it would do for now. Storm booked it into the thick forest around them immediately after. The power rebuilt with each step, until it was too much. Way too much, and the world exploded in a blinding flash of searing lightning. Storm screamed.

--

Price was staring down at his phone. Soap peeked over the captains shoulder to see what was holding his attention for so long.

It was a video. A video of storm in a faded orange T-shirt and jeans pinning someone to the dirt as they fought like animals. There was a big crowd around them, and even others fighting in the background.

A voice comes through the speaker.

"Hi, uh storm kinda just shoved the phone in my hands. I'm uh well just call me spoon. Anyway, yeah we just made into the reunion's grievance portion." The audio is briefly overtaken by someone screaming Storm's full name as they practically tackle them off of the other person. Storm switches to fighting them. "KICK THAT ARES KID ASS STORM! Anyway, yeah uhm I don't know what to say here. How do I stop recording anyway? STORM!"

Storm briefly looks up. "YEAH! WHAT IS IT?"

"HOW DO I STOP RECORDING?"

Storm hollers as they are pinned in the dirt. "RED BUTTON."

"Ah, okay. Red button...red button. There you are." The video cuts off.

Soap Snickers.

"Wait is that why they requested like two weeks of leave? For that?"

Price snorted. "Their reasoning was family reunion. And I guess yeah that checks out."

--

Fingers carded through storm's hair as they slowly come to. Their brain felt fuzzy and their awareness was narrowed down to the fingers scratching and tugging at their scalp. Their eyes felt heavy. Oh so heavy. They don't think they can open them fully right now. The fingers briefly pause before resuming their motions as they grunt in effort from cracking their eyes open.

"Easy Corporal, your safe. Your okay." Everything is fuzzy indistinct shape but that rumble is familiar. Ghost. Guess the team had made it in time after all. Storm relaxes back into sleep, reassured that their team came for them.

--

Storm grinned as they looked Philip Graves dead in the face with a very happy grin.

"You have a very punchable face."

Grave's just blinked in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

Storm just grinned.

"You have a punchable face."

Grave's chuckled nervously.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means I would start running." Soap laughed as he walked by, a cup of tea in hand.

--

Graves stared.

Storm stared.

Graves sighed and looked storm dead in the eyes.

"Okie?" He asked and already Price could see Graves tense.

Storm grinned, something sharp and feral.

"Tex." They stayed. "Good to see ya, man."

Graves sighed with relief. "Good to see ya too, okie. Why ya here?"

Storm hummed as they rocked back on their heels. "Laswell sent me, said somethin' bout a taskforce might be dealin' with what I handle. That and I didn't forget whatcha said bout my ma."

Graves tensed immediately, raising his hands in a surrender motion. "Now now, okie. That was a long time ago."

Storm snorted. "Sure it was. But unfortunately for you, I don't take kindly to shit like that so plain and simple, start runnin' Tex."

--

*141 is trapped in a building that is on lockdown and the lights have shut off completely*

"Have you eaten today?"

"No, why?"

"Damn. Here eat this granola bar."

"Oh. Oh sweet, it's the good granola."

*Storm Munching noises*

"Great, now hold still."

"Wha?"

*A loud slap echos throughout the space and a soft orangey glow eminates from one person.*

"Did you forget that your gift was dubbed glow stick?"

"Little bit yeah."

--

Storm is dead. STORM is dead. Storm IS dead. Storm is DEAD. Simon could feel the anger and panic rushing under his skin. STORM IS DEAD! Their blank eyes stared at him as he attempted to break his restraints. Unfortunately these weren't amateurs who had captured them. Wrists behind him and separated, ankles trapped against the legs, chest secured under several winds of rope, and Storm. Was. Dead. No longer would someone sharpen his combat knives to a razor's edge as they relaxed on their bunk. No longer would someone be on base with him when the rest of the team went on short periods of leave. No longer would food appear at his elbow when he was knee deep in paperwork because they didn't know how to Express themselves with words. No longer would someone intentionally seek him out when he was on the roof to smoke and chat about anything under the sun. Ghost flinched back as Storm's killer crossed into his line of sight. His teeth ached to bite of the fuckers throat. To make the bastard pay for putting a bullet in Storm's head. To pull Storm across his shoulder and make sure they at least still got a funeral.

[lilspidermonkey]

Bakugou x reader Butterfly Chapter III

This one came out a lot sooner than I anticipated!

Spelling/grammar errors = words are hard

It had only been a few days since you joined this class, becoming safe and being able to become your own person. You were becoming more and more comfortable with yourself and those around you, along with your quirk, the training that Aizawa helped you with was completely different from your father's training, it was making you feel more in control of your powers more than ever. Laughing alongside the group of friends you made, you were all sitting around in the common room, relaxing. Seeing Bakugou walking off, you quickly jumped up, “I’ll catch up with you guys tomorrow!” you called, running off to catch up with Bakugou. Getting to the boy, you stopped him, you smiled, “Hey, are we going running again tomorrow?” you asked. The bot groaned, “Are you going to ask me that every single night?” he asked in annoyance. You titled your head in thought, “Well, always good to check just in case. But you go running every morning anyways, so you might as well let me tag along.” You said with a grin. The boy huffed, “Whatever.” He said. You walked in step with him, “Did you finish the homework?” you asked. He glared at you, “Who do you think you're talking to? I finished it the night it was handed out.” He said. You chuckled, “That’s not surprising, I finished most of it, but I need a little help with two or three parts, if you’d maybe help me out?” you asked. The boy scoffed, “You really pushing that babysitting to the best of your ability, aren’t you?” he said, the question rhetorical, but it made you laugh anyways. You put your arms behind your back, acting innocent, “I don’t know what you’re talking about~” you sang. The boy watched you as you giggled to yourself. Seeing him stare, you blinked at him, “What? Something on my face? I swear I’ve been eating more neatly! I even have my own handkerchief and everything!” you said. Bakugou huffed, “You’re really different.” He looked away. “Considering what you were like when you first arrived.” You hummed, looking down, “Guess you’re right. But I feel like the real me is actually coming out. Instead of being constantly afraid of everything, thinking that my father is just going to appear at any minute.” You sighed. “I still have moments where I think this is a dream and I’ll wake up and be back there. Or that he’ll just barge through the door, turn the corner, or just appear in front of me, and I’ll just be dragged right back there.” Bakugou crossed his arms as he waited for the elevator, “Would be pretty stupid for him to appear like that at any given moment, since you’re constantly with either the class, with Aizawa, or with me. No one's that stupid, and if they were, you wouldn’t be taken, not that easily.” He said. You smiled, “Bakugou, if I didn’t know any better, id say you were telling me that you would protect me no matter what! How sweet!” you said, giggling. Bakugou glared, “Shut your trap! I’m your babysitter, and a hero in training, like hell I’d let some lousy villain win like that. It would make me look pathetic.” He said. You grinned, “Sure, sure.” You said, waving his words off. Bakugou was about to fight back, but his elevator arrived, and you turned, “Well, I’m going to go to my room too, goodnight Bakugou! See you in the morning!” you called, skipping away. The boy glared after you, watching you skip away as the doors to the elevator he entered closed, clicking his tongue in annoyance at you.

The next morning, you breathed heavily as you and Bakugou came back to the dorm’s front steps. Your two bottles of water waiting on the steps for you both. Taking your bottle, you took a swig of it and stretched, “Morning air is the best to do some running!” you called. Bakugou huffed beside you, sweat running down his face, “You always have to be so energetic.” He said rolling his eyes. You hummed, “Hey, admit it, you don’t actually hate your time with me.” You said, grinning. The boy avoided your eyes, “I hate it not being quiet anymore.” He said, walking past you and into the dorm building. You scoffed and followed after him, “I’m not that loud.” You said, slightly offended. Bakugou rubbed his ear with his pinkie, “Keep telling yourself that, brat.” He said. Pouting, you huffed, “I’m going to take a shower, see you in a bit.” You said and jogged off. But as you turned the corner, you bumped into something hard. Bouncing off you were flung back, but you were caught midair. Looking to see what you rushed into, you were met with two different colored eyes. You blinked, “Good catch, Todoroki.” You said. The said boy smiled and pulled you up to your feet, “Thanks, sorry about that.” He said. Shaking your head, you waved your hands, “No, no, totally my fault, I shouldn’t have been running inside and not looking where I was going.” You said. Todoroki looked you up and down, “Did you go running?” he asked. You nodded, “Yeah, I do most mornings, I enjoy getting the fresh air and feeling the fresh morning sun.” you said. The boy nodded, “Who did you go running with?” he asked. A pair of red eyes glared at the two-toned boy, “What’s it to you?” Bakugou asked. Todoroki looked to him, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there Bakugou.” He looked the boy up and down as well. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Bakugou’s glare deepened, “The hells that supposed to mean?” he asked. As the tension rose you hopped into the middle of the two, “Okay, well, that’s enough of that!” you said. You walked off from being between them, “I’m going to shower, see you guys later, be nice!” you called. The boys watched you as you rubbed the back of your neck, adjusting your hair and the leggings you wore. Tearing their eyes away, the two boys looked at each other, seeing each other’s slightly dusted pink cheeks and ears. Bakugou glared, and Todoroki just looked away, the two going their separate ways without any words being exchanged between the two.

Soon coming back downstairs, you sat comfortably on the couch, nose in your schoolbooks. Bakugou groaned as he went past and you smiled at him, “Again?” he asked. You titled your head, “Common, it’s just two or three things! I’ve attempted on each one several times, all you have to do is tell me if any of them are right.” You said. The boy grumbled, walking around, and looking down at the book. He reached down, “This one was close, just off by two numbers.” He said. You watched as the boy grabbed your pen and rewrote the numbers, he got closer to you, sitting beside you. Flinching slightly, you could smell how good he smelled, he had just taken a shower, like you did, and whatever it was, his body wash? Maybe his deodorant? Whatever it was, it made him smell really good. The boy seemed to flinch away from you, “There.” He said, shuffling away from you, you could see his ears were dusted pink. Confused by the strange interaction, you shook it off and smiled getting closer to the books, “Right, thank you!” you said. Mina skipped into the room, “Please tell me you’re not going to keep your nose in those books!” she whined. You smiled at her, “If it makes you feel any better, I’m done with these books.” You said. Mina reached over and slapped the books shut, “Nope! No more books!” she announced. You bounced in surprise, and Bakugou glared, “What the hell’s got you so excited?” the boy asked. Mina grinned, “I’m glad you asked!” she said. “We’re going shopping!” she called. At the word, you perked up, “Really?” you asked, all more than excited. Bakugou threw his head back and groaned in retaliation. Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero all filed in, “Common Bakugou! Don’t sound so unenthusiastic!” Sero said. Bakugou glared, “I don’t see why I have to be there if the rest of you idiots are going to be there.” He said, rolling his neck back and forth. You nudged him, “Common, don’t be like that, you’re my designated bodyguard, remember?” you continued to nudge him as you said that. The boy nudged you back to get you off him, “Like I said, babysitter.” He said. You rolled your eyes, “I’m not the one acting like a baby at the moment.” You said averting your eyes. Bakugou glared at you as Mina took your hand and dragged you up, “Common! Let’s go, let’s go!” she chanted. The boys pulled together to drag Bakugou up against his protests, “Let’s go, let’s go!” They chanted along with Mina. You went over to Bakugou and grinned as you joined the boys in dragging the walking bomb, he glared at you, “If you start chanting, I’m going to blow up all your faces.” He warned. You grinned cheekily, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” you chanted. The blonde growled out as you all dragged him along with you all.

At the shopping center, you had the biggest grin on your face. Mina dragged you all to the clothes shops, and beauty stores and almost anywhere girly you could think of. You laughed at some of the makeup in front of you, “Mina, I love all that you’re doing.” You showed her a pink lipstick. “But I really don’t think this is what I need.” The girl smiled and picked up some blush, “Common, makeup is always fun!” she pointed, “They’re having fun.” You followed her point, seeing Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari playing around with some eyeshadows, Sero blew on some loose highlighter that went all over Kaminari, who in turn fell over in surprise, making the other two cackle. You shook your head in amusement, watching as Bakugou started laughing and making fun of the three boys. Going around to other stores, you managed to get a bunch of clothes, you were actually very tempted to change into some of them. Mina smiled, “You totally should! Let’s head over to the bathrooms and get you changed! Asap!” she was more than enthusiastic about it. You giggled and followed after her, making the boys stay where they were. Getting changed, you walked out with Mina, who was giggling beside you, “What do you guys think?” she asked the boys. You were standing in some ripped fishnets, a mini red plaid skirt, and a black crop top that was tight on you, but comfortable tightness. The boys seemed to light up, small blushes on their faces, “You look great!” Kirishima said. Kaminari came up close, “Like really great! It suits you so much better than those old clothes you were wearing before!” he said. You laughed, “I’m not going to take that as insulting as it sounded, considering I didn’t buy them and that they were old.” You said. Sero slapped the back of Kaminari’s head, “Yeah, you’re lucky she’s so understanding, considering how that sounded.” The rest of you laughed. Mina hooked your arm with hers, “You know what you need to go with your new look?” she asked. You raised your eyebrow, “Something tells me I’m about to get dragged to it no matter what I say.” You laughed. She nodded, “New shoes! Let’s go!” And with that, she did drag you off, just as you suspected. Looking at shoes in a new store, you took a moment to sit down and relax, Mina happily looking at some heels, while the three boys looked at some new runners. You looked to Bakugou who was near you, also looking at some runners, “Hey, you’ve been quiet this whole time, what’s up?” you asked. The boy continued to look at the black runners, “This shit is so boring.” He said. You scoffed, “Says the guy who also ended up buying himself some stuff along the way.” You said instigating to the bags in his hands. He looked down at his hands, “Shut up.” He said. You chuckled a little but went back to leisurely watching your friends shop and have fun. Bakugou took a seat beside you, “Everything you were hoping it was going to be?” he asked. Shrugging, you just smiled, “Better, actually. I didn’t expect it to be this tiring, but I’m honestly having so much fun. I love hanging around with them.” You looked to the boy. “And you, too.” The boy looked away, “Why the hell would you enjoy that?” he asked. You nudged him, “Hey, you’re more than just a whiny babysitter.” You laughed at the glare he shot. “I think of you as my friend, just like I do with the others.” Bakugou just watched you, “Why the hell would I seem like a friend?” he asked. You titled your head back and forth, “Well, I know that the only reason that you’ve been constantly around me is because Aizawa designated you as my bodyguard, and I know that you say that you’re only doing it because you don’t want to go against what he says.” You looked at him, “But I feel like it’s more than that, you could’ve actually gone to him and gotten it switched if you really wanted to, but you haven’t.” Bakugou avoided your gaze, “Whatever.” He said. Mina run up to you, “Guys, quick, which one goes better with that new dress I bought?” she asked, showing you some blue heels and a pair of white heels. You hummed, “The white.” Your eyes widened as you looked to Bakugou who did the same to you, you both saying the color at the same time. Mina grinned, “Great!” she said running off. Bakugou got up and looked down at you, “So you gonna buy those black combat boots you were looking at, or are you going to wait till Pinky finds a pair of heels for you to break your ankles in?” he asked. You smiled and got up, running over to the boots. When you all made your purchases, you all sighed happily. Mina giggled, “Nothing like buying a new outfit and a pair of shoes to go with it!” she said happily. You laughed beside her, but as you all started walking past a store, you stopped and looked in the window. The group stopped and looked back at you. The boys seemed to flush red, but Mina grinned, “Spot something you like (Y/n)?” she asked. You smiled, “Can we have a look in here?” you asked, “I know Momo made me some, I really like the sports bra’s I got as well, but I really want more of those frilly ones, like Momo made!” Mina smiled and linked arms with you, taking you into the store. The boys hesitated and Mina turned to look at them, “Aw common, you guys can’t stay out here, what happens if a villain wants to take (Y/n) while we shop do you?” she asked innocently. Bakugou glared, his ears red and cheeks pink, “Who the hell is going to do a kidnapping in a lingerie store?” he asked. Mina shrugged, “You never know! Plus, it’d be unexpected! Something someone would pull maybe one day!” she said. With that, the boys reluctantly joined you both in the store. While you girls looked at some pretty sets, you could see that the boys were bewildered, doing everything in their power to not linger their eyes on anything for too long. Mina handed you a turquoise-colored bra, “What about this one?” she asked. You hummed, “I like it, it’s such a pretty color.” You handed it back to the girl with a smile. “But I feel like it matches your skin tone so well!” Mina giggled, “You’re so right!” she grabbed another one that was her size, “We can have matching!” she said, and you giggled alongside her. Looking at some of the bustiers, they were so pretty. You hummed, not being able to decide which color you should get. Turning to try and find Mina, you remembered she went to the changing room to try some stuff on. Sighing you turned to the closest person and smiled, “Hey Kirishima, Bakugou, which color looks better?” you asked. Kirishima turned bright right, “W-what?” he asked. You took the two ones you really liked and put them against you, “Does the black or the red look better on me?” you asked. Bakugou avoided his eyes, while Kirishima completely flushed so red you almost saw steam coming out of his ears, his eyes glued to the ground. Kirishima cleared his throat, “I-I’m going to a-ah go outside the store for some air!” he yelled and ran out. You blinked, realization clicking in your brain, “Oh wait, shit, my bad.” You said embarrassed. Bakugou groaned, “Just go with the black one and let’s get the heck out of here.” He said and turned around to follow after his friend. You looked down at the black one and bit your lip, holding back a small smile. After buying your stuff you all headed to the food court, getting some food, and you tried some bubble tea, too which you loved. Sero smiled, “Figures you’d any of the fruit-flavored bubble teas.” He said. You hummed, sipping your watermelon-flavored drink, happily bouncing in your seat. Mina laughed, “Just wait till she tries any of the other fruit-flavored drinks!” she said. Having your fills of the food and drinks, you all head off. Kaminari stopped, “Wait, you know what we should totally do?” he asked. You all stopped and looked at him as he grinned mischievously. Kirishima groaned, “For the last time, we are not going make to the store so you can hit on the chick that works there.” He said. Sero patter Kaminari’s shoulder, “She was just not that into you, dude.” He said. Kaminari pouted, “No! We should take (Y/n) to the arcade!” he announced. Kirishima beamed, “That’d be so much fun! Let’s go!” he agreed. You grinned, “Hell yeah! Let’s go!” you said. The group took you to the arcade, it was so much fun. You absolutely loved every second of it, you kicked Kaminari’s butt at air hockey, but then Sero completely kicked your but at DDR, to which Mina avenged you without breaking a sweat. After an intense game of Mario Cart, you went over to the claw machines, seeing a bunch of the toys and how cute they were. Bakugou popped up next to you, leaning against the machine, “You know that these things are beyond rigged, right?” he asked. You smiled at him, “Yeah, I hear that a lot from the others, but I’d love to play, winning something would be so cool and fun.” You said. As you tried out the game, you lost a few times, pouting you shrugged, “Damn, maybe next time.” You said. You were about to walk away, but Bakugou pushed off of the machine, and put in some money. Rounding around him, you watched him win a little bear holding a bubble tea. You smiled, “Oh my god! You did that so easily!” you said. The boy shrugged, “I told you that I’m good at everything.” He said handing you the bear. “I’m not going to use it.” You bit your lip smiling, “Thanks, one second, scootch over.” You said and nudged him to the side. Giving the machine one last try, you struggled. Bakugou came around you, “Move it like this, and then a little closer.” He directed, putting his hands on top of yours, directing you. You could feel the warmth of his hands, but you pushed that to the back of your mind as you pushed the button, the claw taking hold of a different bear, and guiding it over. Holding your breath, you expected it to drop at any second, but the bear was dropped into the prize box. Excitement taking over you, you let out a little squeal. You turned to the boy, “I did it!” you squealed and wrapped your arms around his neck, giving him a hug. Bakugou’s eyes shot wide, his hand reflexively going to your waist. You broke away from him with a smile, going to collect your prize with a grin, “And this,” you said holding out the All Might styled bear to the boy, “is for you.” Bakugou took the bear, still a little taken back by the hug. You smiled, “Now we have won each other something!” you hugged the bear, “Thank you.” Bakugou looked at his All Might bear, “Yeah, sure.” He said. Mina came over, “Common (Y/n), Bakugou, let’s go to the photo booth! It has the cutest filters!” she said.

Getting back to the dorms, you sighed as the others crashed on the couch together. You smiled at them, “Well, I’m going to off and tell Aizawa about today!” you said. Sero reached out, “Probably best to leave out the, ah, lingerie store out of all that!” he called. You laughed as you turned and ran off. Mina took a seat on the arm of the chair Bakugou was sitting on, “Sooooo, today was definitely fun, right Bakugou?” she asked. Bakugou looked off, “Whatever.” He said. Mina bit her lip, looking up at the other boys. Kaminari leaned over, “So much fun that, y’know, I could’ve just given out some amazing hugs.” He said. Bakugou almost jumped, glaring at the other blonde, “What the hell are you talking about?” he practically barked. Kirishima chuckled, “Common dude, we all saw her throw herself around you, giving you the biggest hug, what was that about?” he asked. Bakugou glared off to the side, “It wasn’t anything, she was just happy because she won at the claw machine. She hugs you guys all the time!” he said. Sero shook his head, “Common dude, that was definitely different.” He said. Mina brought out the photobooth photos, “I mean, common, look at these photos, she’s all over you!” she said. Bakugou got up, “Whatever, I’m going to my room to finish the homework.” The boy looked back, “And you guys should too, 'cause I know that you guys haven’t.” The group groaned as he mentioned it and walked away. While Bakugou was in the elevator, he pulled out his potion of the photo booth photos, looking at all his friends being idiots in the photos. He looked at the one where everyone was pulling a silly face. You were smiling with your tongue out while looking at him, your hands squishing his cheats together with your hand as he glared at you lightly. He rolled his eyes, wanting to scrunch up the photos, but he just slipped them slowly and gently into his pocket.

Being in Aizawa’s room, you sat on a spare chair while he watched you from his desk chair. You smiled, “And then Mina wanted to buy some new shoes, so I got myself a pair of runners, some combat boots, and some slippers. Oh! And then they took me to the food court, I got to try some yummy noodles, that I don’t even remember the name of, and watermelon boba! It was so yummy; they’re going to be taking me another time to other places for fruity drinks sometime! I’m so excited about it.” You said. Aizawa smiled, “Sounds like you had a lot of fun.” He said. You nodded, “I really did, they even took me to the arcade.” You pulled out your photobooth photos, “Look!” The man took the photos and had a look. He huffed a laugh, “Looks like you really did have a fun time.” He titled his head. “Looks like you and Bakugou got along really well.” You smiled and took back the photos, “We did, we had a lot of fun, though I’m pretty sure that he’d say otherwise.” You laughed. Aizawa nodded, “I don’t doubt that.” You felt your chest flutter, you put your hand to your chest, the feeling almost weird, but it made you happy of some sorts. Aizawa saw you, “What’s wrong? You feeling unwell?” he asked. You shook your head, “I’m alright, I just get such a weird feeling in both my chest and stomach, and it’s always when it involves Bakugou. It’s so weird, like earlier, when we were at the claw machine together and he was helping me to win something, I tried hard not to think about him being so close, and the way his hands felt on mine, not to mention his arms being around.” You shook your head, “Even when he helps me out with random stuff, the minute he comes close, my heart starts to speed up, and not even with him just being too close, it’s also when we’re talking, it’s so weird.” Aizawa cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, “Ah jeez.” He sighed. You leaned forward, “What? Is it weird? It doesn’t happen with anyone else.” You slumped down, looking up at the man sadly. “Does this mean that I should stay away from him?” Aizawa sighed, “No, you don’t have to, I’m just not sure how exactly to explain this.” He said. You looked confused, “Explain what? Do I need to go see recovery girl?” you asked. The man sighed again, “No, look, this is nothing that needs to be treated, you just seem to like Bakugou.” He said. You raised your eyebrow, “But I like Mina and Kirishima and the others as well, and I don’t get those weird feelings around them?” you said with confusion. Aizawa shook his head, “No, that’s not what I mean, you like him, more than anyone, more than just a friend.” The man rubbed the back of his neck again. “You have a crush on Bakugou.” You flushed, “Oh my god.” You said, realization hitting you. The man smiled, “You don’t have to worry too much about it, feelings happen like this a lot of the time, especially at your age, and even happens to anyone at any age.” He explained. You stood up and paced the room, “This can’t be happening, this is ridiculous.” You said. Aizawa sighed, “Look, it’ll be alright, you should tell him how you feel, you never know what he could be feeling as well.” He said. You turned to him, “No! He can’t know, he’ll avoid me like the plague! I don’t know if I could really take that. I can’t handle losing anyone else, especially when he means so much to me like this. I need to push these feelings down, so far down that they disappear completely.” You panicked. Aizawa stood up, putting his hand on your shoulder, “Hey, it’s okay, calm down.” He said. You looked up at him, “Please don’t tell him.” You asked. Aizawa nodded, “I won't tell him. It’s not my place to say anything like that in any case.” He said. “But you need to know, that these feelings aren’t a bad thing, it’s good. Don’t try to push them down.” You sighed and nodded, “Thank you.” You said. He rubbed the top of your head, “It’s alright, why don’t you tell me a bit more about your day, and then you can go and set up your room with your new things. We can even order some things online together, like a new bed and a bigger dresser for your new clothes, how’s that sound?” he asked. You smiled and nodded, “I’d like that, thank you.” You said. Giving the man a hug, you thought about your feelings about Bakugou, it completely freaked you out, but you were also just happy. Picturing a possible future with the boy, you couldn’t stop smiling.

[she-karev]

Lockdown (Japril Imagine)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of Three

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Ship: Jackson and April

AN: Hey guys Happy Pride Month! I hope you all are proud of who you are and show it on this platform.

Summary: Jackson and Amber adjust to life in quarantine after a shelter in place was ordered.

Words: 1078

March 18, 2020

“Hey, fruit of the day come on.” Jackson tells Amber who is on the couch in her gray shirt and black sweatpants. She is reading a book while he is in the kitchen getting apples for them. Amber looks up from her spot, holds out her hand for Jackson to toss her the red apple that she catches and chomps on getting back to her book. Jackson is in his workout clothes and walks around the couch and positions himself for triceps dips gripping the end table by the armchair for support. He works out with his pants filling the room to Amber’s annoyance who is trying to read.

“You know you don’t have to show off we all know your hot Jackson; everybody wants you and your rippling biceps.” Amber tells him sarcastically.

Jackson grins still working out, “I gotta keep my heart rate up the gym downstairs is closed and if I don’t find something to do I’m gonna go insane from boredom. It’s either this or make bread and I am a terrible cook.” Jackson looks at the book Amber is reading and chuckles at his 20th dip, “The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks author of World War Z? I’m pretty sure things aren’t that bad She-Karev.”

“Funny, I think that’s what they said about the Bubonic plague, and the HIV crisis and the Spanish flu, influenza keeps on evolving. Who’s to say this thing out there isn’t right now and all the sensible human beings will be turned into ravaging monsters roaming the streets our families walk every day?”

Jackson stops dipping to take a breath and looks at her in thought becoming slightly convinced by his roommate’s corona theory, “Let me know if we should get machetes or machine guns in bulk.”

“I will if you shut up and let me read in peace.” Amber tells him with a frown before returning to her book. A few seconds later her open laptop on the coffee table makes a skype sound causing her to groan and put the book down to see Alex calling her. She answers and Alex’s face pops out with his surroundings showing her he is at the house.

“Hey, I wanted to check in on you, how are you?”

“Is that a trick question?” Amber retorts with a glare, “I am limiting the amount of toilet paper I use and I only drink water straight from the fridge instead of bottles because we are running thin on both. And then there’s the horror of coming back to work in two days while a worldwide pandemic is happening. So, all of that plus my relationship crumbling to the ground forcing me to live with my friend who is mocking me right now with his muscles I’m close to jumping out of the balcony.”

“Well things are the same here except for the breakup, Jo is looking up recipes online for bread. She wants to make actual bread from scratch her therapists said it would help her keep her mind centered.”

“Where is Jo?”

Alex faces his laptop to Jo who is on the kitchen table eating cereal she looks up and grins at Amber, “Hey Amber how’s lockdown treating you?”

“Lousy.”

“Me too the only thing keeping me sane is Captain Crunch I cannot get enough of him.” Jo eats a spoonful to prove her point causing Alex and Amber to laugh. Jo talks with her mouth full, “Hey can you ask your very rich roommate if he can get us contraband masks and hand sanitizer. I mean his family money can’t be entirely legal, some kind of backend mafia in Korea has gotta be banking him.”

Jackson yells out from his workout spot, “I am right here, and I heard that!”

Jo widens her eyes at that and chuckles nervously, “I was just kidding, lockdown humor what are you gonna do?”

Amber grins before the doorbell rings and she gets up to answer it with her shirt over face since they don’t have masks yet. She gets up, looks through the peephole to find no one there. She opens the door and finds a small box package on the floor and a delivery man ten feet down the hall who nods to her. She looks at the package suspiciously but picks it up and heads back inside to her spot on the couch.

“What is it?” Alex asks from his end and Amber reads the label.

“It’s from mom.” She opens the box and gasps at what is inside. She pulls out Ziplock bags full of sewn masks in different colors and patterns to her delight. Jackson stops his workout and pulls out a bag full of ten masks, “I knew something good would come from our mother being an obsessive knitter. One bag is labeled Amber, and one is Alex I guess she wanted me to give this to you instead of risking your shady neighbors stealing the goods.”

Alex looks on from the computer in pleasant surprise, “What do you know? For once our mom is helpful in a crisis instead of the cause of it. How is she? Have you talked to her?”

“I talked to her, she said she’s doing okay that she’s isolating with a neighbor coming by to check on her every day. She’s filling the time with reading and knitting since the library is closed. She sounded okay on the phone, but I asked Aaron to call her every now and then when we get back to work.” Amber looks at the masks impressively, “These are nice masks, we’ve got enough to get us through this thing for a year, but I highly doubt it’ll last that long.”

Alex looks at the masks like their money, “Can you give those to me as soon as you can?”

Jackson wipes his sweaty face with a towel, “Actually, I gotta pick up Harriet from April’s maybe I can drop you off on the way and pick you up when I drive back, how does that sound?”

Amber immediately stands up, pulls out a leopard pattern mask and puts it on, “Yes please anything to get me out of this damn place for a bit. I’ll be by later Alex see ya.” Amber hangs up and heads upstairs to change out of her sweats and into a shirt and jeans. Jackson laughs at her eagerness before heading to his bedroom to shower and get ready.

[poyoofthestars]

Terastal Irregularity (a Magopon AU fic)

Chapter 3: Dreams and Tales Lost to the Stars

//Yay! I actually uploaded on my birthday!

//Teal Mask spoilers ahead, be prepared

“Wa? Magolor? What do you mean by that?” Sailor asked, not understanding what Magolor meant. “Is anyone going to tell me anything? What’s happening? I can’t get anything!” She said, wanting to know. Magolor looked like he didn’t want to talk but,Meta Knight did not want a lie. He wanted the truth, and Magolor is going to give it him. He sighs and says, “Well, I suppose I better start talking. You saw how I handled Dipplin earlier. That crystallized state is called ‘Terastallization’. It’s a phenomenon in the Paldea Region.” He pauses, giving everyone time to let it sink in.

“I never thought that I’d open the can of worms this early, but it is what it is. Anyway, this little tale that I’m going to tell you starts in the Land of Kitakami. Well, at least parts that are important. My name was Ogerpon, the so-called Ogre of Kitakami’ but there’s more to the tale. Long time ago, a friend and I were traveling until we came across Kitakami. But because we looked different, we were cast out of the village and we had to stay at a mountain. Honestly, nothing really changed except us staying in one place. No one bothered with us like helping kind, but there was someone that took pity on us. The village mask maker.” Once again Magolor paused, taking the Teal Mask from his head, looking at it for a while then continuing,

“He made the masks, yes the Teal Mask was part of it, so we could attend the Festival of Masks. Soon enough, we were the talk of the festival. Word spread about the beautiful masks here and there. And it only took three lousy Pokemon to ruin it all.” Tears now started to fall from Magolor.

“When I left that fateful day, I never knew it was the last time… I… I would see my friend. I don’t know what happened, and that hurts me! If only I knew… when I returned to the den, I only found… my Teal Mask… and signs of a struggle. It Arceus damned stung!” He said, tears now flowing down, close to a breakdown. Meta Knight may have suspected Magolor hid so much, but he never expected it to be so much. So much to the point that it would trigger an emotional breakdown. “I never thought… that it would be this much. No wonder he didn’t want to share the tale. I can keep Sailor quiet about this. And because almost no one studies that far in time, they would take him for crazy.” Meta thought, shocked at the amount of emotional baggage Magolor had.

“Magolor?” He asked to the mage, who was still crying, blaming himself. “Magolor! Calm down. Take deep breaths, follow my lead. In, out, in, out.” Meta said, trying to calm Magolor. The mage was able to, but he still looked pained. “S-sorry. I-I’ll continue now.” He said, pained by what was going to be said next, but still powered through with it, though Meta Knight tried to make him stop. “Those l-lousy idiots, t-they took the other three masks. The Hearthflame Mask, the Wellspring Mask, and the Cornerstone Mask. I made them pay, pay for that. They were killed by me… and I regretted everything. They were revered as the heroes and me as the villain. Is it so, so wrong to avenge someone?! Ever since that day, that cursed day, I never showed my face to anyone.” Magolor said angrily while also staying calm.

“This little thing between me and the villagers stayed the same… until she came. Juliana, a student from Paldea. The first time I met her was during the Festival of Masks. I could tell she wasn’t a local. So I thought I could interact with her as a child. All went to the drain though, because I accidentally dropped my mask. Not wanting to be suspected, I left. Unfortunately, I was forced to leave the mask. Juliana was really kind, she returned the mask. But somehow, those Lousy 3 came back to life! I got my butt kicked immediately. I’m forever thankful both of them. Carmine.. I hear she used to be harsh, but she mellowed down. As for me, I wanted to go with Juliana, but Kieran, Carmine’s brother, wanted me to go with him.. and he challenged Juliana with a Pokemon Battle that she ultimately won.” He said, looking much better now. Ultimately, he decided to continue.

“Not to brag but, I’m one of the few Pokemon that can Terastallize by will without going berserk. Most Pokemon, like Dipplin here, need help from either the Galapagos idiot or a Tera Orb. Said idiot is not doing his job. Why did Briar get all fired up about the idiot in question is a mystery to me down to this day.”

“What?” Meta Knight asked Magolor.

“An onion.” Magolor snickered, continuing their little conversation. “Well, we should keep moving. The place with the most Tera energy is just around the corner, this way now!” He smiled, leading the way. Magolor himself was now in a good mood and considering the emotional breakdown he had earlier, this was better.

“Well, we’re almost there, prepare your eyes for a heck of a view. Tera energy gathers up in there. So you may see crystallized objects on the way. Aaand here we are! The Terastallized Caves. A.K.A, our destination, and a chunk of the Underdepths of Area Zero.” He said acting like a tourist guide.

“I- wow, it’s beautiful! And the energy clumped themselves into these crystals?! The readings are getting really high! And is that a tree?! How?!” Sailor queried, unable to comprehend the view before them. “Dunno anything about how they form. All I know is that they come from the idiot. I’m sure he’ll love your questions.” Magolor replied, then tapped the tree twice. “All we’ll have to do is wait.” “Umm.. how long?” Sailor Dee asked. Magolor then looked at the direction of the caves, but nothing came. “What in the name of the Original One is going on. Sure he’s an idiot, but he doesn’t completely ignore the code.” Magolor said, moving toward the caves. “Hey! Idiot! You there?! Oh come on. You’ve got to be kidding me.” He said, not receiving any response from Terapagos.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

"Hamster Ball"

Hey, @justashamwithwastedpotential Farmer Skylar! This is a story about you!

"Nowhere to run, you lousy boy..." Like a snake, the Gotoro mage hissed, watching with amusement as Julian's back pressed against the rock wall. Four more thugs, who were standing next to the enemy mage, began to approach Julian closer and closer. He realized that the situation was not very optimistic: the mages' sudden attack on him and Skylar on Ginger Island had taken them by surprise. Neither he nor Sky could figure out what these people wanted from them, but the time to ask wasn't too convenient. There was no one to expect help from (Lance was taking up a post in the Highlands that day), and, divided against their will, each of the farmers tried to escape the chase, but Julian was out of luck - he found himself at a dead end with all escape routes cut off.

"Put down your sword, brat. Or it's going to be bad", one of the thugs grinned sadistically, licking the blade of his dagger as the others approaching even more closer. Numbers were not on Julian's side. He must do something, and quickly! But what he can-

"Look out!"

Before anyone had a chance to react to the warning, Skylar appeared from beneath the jungle thicket... in a strange magical bubble inside. It rolled so fast and with such force that it instantly knocked the mage and their minions to the ground like bowling pins.

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

The three mages running after Skylar, seeing the others lying unconscious on the ground, froze in place for a moment. That moment was enough for Julian to counterattack them while a couple more Gotoro mages chased after Skylar.

However, Skylar changed the trajectories of the "ball" she was in so quickly that the pursuers had to run away from Sky to avoid being crushed by "that damn hamster ball," as one of the downed mages swore. While Julian was fending off sword and magic blows, and Sky was still rolling around and knocking down all the enemies (not forgetting to apologize all the time), a stream of energy formed near everyone present - it was a portal, from which Jolyne, Lance and the rest of The First Slash clan immediately crawled out. The Gotoro mages realized that their cause was lost, and quickly cast their own portal and ran away.

"We sensed the enemy battle magic on the island, and came to the rescue as soon as we could", Lance looked worriedly first at Skylar, then at Julian. "Are you both okay?"

"Yep", Julian answered. "We're fine. Right, Sky?"

"Oooooh... I'm going to be so sick...." Skylar dropped tiredly to the bottom of her magic ball. Julian thought that later he would like to ask his friend to teach her the protective barrier - it was an interesting and useful spell! "Hamster ball", Julian thought cheerfully, but decided not to say it out loud.

[joezy27]

HAWKEYE - "The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same"

A Kate Bishop story by Kelly Thompson

My neighbor across the street is trying to kill us all.

Okay, wait. We gotta go back further. Let’s see…where to start?

I broke my leg.

Actually, that’s inaccurate, Ladder Man broke my leg while I was doing super hero stuff during the pandemic. Oh yeah, the pandemic. Context. Stories have to have context. So let’s go further back. This is the last time, I promise.

Nobody ever expected this to happen. I mean, we were all waiting for the apocalypse of course... a zombie one, a nuclear winter one, even a sharknado one…but the one where you have to stay home for months on end by yourself and watch your life and loved ones slip away either metaphorically or literally or both? Yeah, nobody wrote stories about that. You know why? Because it sucks. And it’s boring. And nobody would sign up for it! I would fight a thousand zombie hordes before I’d be trapped in this uncertainty again. But we do what we have to do for the safety of ourselves and others. Even when the ask is huge. Even when the ask is weird.

And I am who I am, so I wanted to do more, I wanted to help. Heck, I needed to help, it might be compulsive, but let’s put a pin in that for now.

Annnnnnyway, while I’m someone with some very particular and impressive skills, I’m not skilled at everything. In fact, I’m bad at a lot.

The masks I tried to sew? They were bad. Very very bad.

The website I tried to build for Ramone to help her surf shop get through the shutdown? She fired me. Do you know how bad a website has to be to get your best friend—who is not paying you—to fire you? Yeah. It was that bad.

I did successfully donate blood, but there’s only so much blood you can donate, and only so many cookies you can eat. Well, okay, you can probably eat infinite cookies, and have a great time doing it, but not if you ever want to fit into your costume again. Like, a form-fitting costume with hip holes is not forgiving, people.

But it turns out—surprise surprise!—that Super Villains are not exactly great at following the rules. In fact, they see nothing but opportunity in times of crisis. So, yeah, Super Villain activity spiked real fast. Just in Venice Beach alone we were lousy with villains making trouble. I put up some personal bests as far as taking down jerks.

But…and here we get to the relevant leg bit. I was fighting Ladder Man and his ridiculous “stepstool minions” three days ago with Johnny and Ramone Watts, who most people know as Fuse and Alloy, brother and sister Super Heroes, who also happen to be two of my absolute favorite people on the planet. But I digress, Ladder Man, in a deeply Super Villain—deeply jerk move—broke my futzing leg. Small sidebar: he didn’t actually set my leg but I saw Doctor Mole at the hospital and that guy is just terrific, anyone that tells you he isn’t the best part of ‘The Mole Men of Los Angeles Reality Show’ is…well, they’re just plain wrong.

So. The Leg. Compound fracture. Healing time: 3 to 6 months. Total disaster.

And there we have it, after a solid little run of feeling like I was actually doing some good, I’m back to being stuck inside…can’t sew masks, can’t build websites, can’t donate blood, can’t donate money (did I mention I’m broke?), and can’t fight Super Villains. In fact, I’m more dependent than ever on the kindness of friends…and sometimes strangers…aka some guy that works in Ramone’s surf shop brought me a burrito today. Best burrito I’ve ever eaten. That man is a hero.

So I’m back to feeling useless. Or So. I. Thought.

Because the neighbor across the street from me is 100% a Super Villain and now I just have to convince Johnny that I’m right. This should go well. It starts when he finds that the floor by the window (and also his favorite jacket) are soaking wet.

“Kate, why is the floor all wet over here…and wait, what happened to my jacket?”

I wheel my seen-better-days wheelchair toward him, slightly sheepish, “Well. It’s a long story.”

“Ten words or less, please.”

“Ice arrow,” I say.

“All right. You can have more than ten words, explain.”

“I discovered that our neighbor across the street is a Super Villain, and in an attempt to expose him and thwart his evil plans I carved an arrow out of ice and shot it into his apartment.”

Johnny stares at me for a long moment, his mouth slightly open. “I have so many questions. Let’s start with why did you need an ice arrow? You have hundreds of arrows laying around, I am literally constantly getting stabbed by them.”

“Well, he’s got that huge window you see—with all those individual panes of glass. And I needed to break one of those panes…but I didn’t want there to be any evidence left behind that I had done that…so the ice arrow melts. Leaves nothing behind. Cool, right?”

“You learned this from a movie.” He says it. It’s not a question. I want to deny it but he knows me too well. Of course I learned it from a movie. He sighs, “I still don’t understand why it’s wet in here.”

“Well, carving an ice arrow is harder than you might think. A lot of trial and error.”

“Is that why you have eleventy billion Band-Aids on your hands?”

I forgot about the Band-Aids. I raise my hand, “Well, if you must know, some of them are from when I burned myself while making a grilled cheese sandwich earlier.”

“Okay, so you broke into this man’s house?”

I scrunch up my nose, “I feel like it’s more of a grey area than a clear break-in, but sure,” I shrug and shove a pair of binoculars at him, “Do me a favor though and take a good look.” Johnny raises the binoculars to his face and scans the villain’s apartment. A moment later he gasps and in excitement I do as well. “Did you see it!?”

He looks down at me, the binoculars still in his hands, “He has a whole huge closet full of …GASP!...toilet paper! DUN DUN DUN!” My smile fades. Johnny teases me, “Hoarding valuable supplies might make him a terrible member of his community, but I’m not sure it qualifies him as a Super Villain.”

I roll my eyes, “That’s not what you’re looking for dum-dum. Look again. To the left of the closet.”

Johnny scans again with the binoculars; I bump him, pushing the view left, “Left, I said!” After a long pause I can tell he’s found it, so I start babbling, “He’s got one of those creepy ‘Super Villain bulletin boards’ full of his plans—look there’s news articles, schematics, and notes all over…he’s even got little red strings connecting things!”

Johnny lowers the binoculars again, slowly this time. He looks over at me, expressionless and gesturing to the wall beside us, “You mean one of those crazy bulletin boards like this one of yours?”

I follow his gaze to my bulletin board and roll my eyes again, “Uh. That is clearly a crazy super hero bulletin board, not Super Villain. The differences are subtle but important.” His phone pings violently a few times and I try hard to talk over it, “For example my board has a bunch of low level thugs that I’m trying to tie to a bigger fish…whereas his board has the schematics of a local hospital, an insane number of articles on the pandemic, and--”

“Uh-huh,” he says unconvincingly while handing me back the binoculars, “Tell me this, Kate, if it’s really an evil bulletin board, why would he have it out in plain view…and with his shades wide open?”

I sit back in the chair, pleased with myself, “Well, you see, the bulletin board wasn’t visible. I saw just a peek of it last night when he was home looking at it…but then he covered it up with that drape when he left,” I gesture vaguely at the window and Fuse squints his eyes in that direction again. “And then this afternoon, after breaking the window pane with my first ice arrow, I used the second ice arrow to cut the cord to the drape. See how it’s fallen to the ground?”

Johnny squints at the apartment again, still not convinced. “So, you broke this man’s window and then wrecked some of his property because you saw the faintest hint of a Super Villain plan and--”

I interrupt him, waving my hands, “It doesn’t matter why I did it, I was right!”

Johnny glances down at his phone a finger raised that I should wait a moment. I huff out an impatient breath. When he’s done he looks at me. It’s a look full of kindness and compassion, but I can tell he doesn’t believe me. “Maybe he’s just a doctor, Kate.”

I frown deeply. “What doctor has a villain board, let alone schematics of his hospital?”

Johnny smiles at me as his phone keeps pinging, “We can talk more about this later but don’t do anything, okay?” He kisses me on the forehead and walks away from me.

“Wait! You’re leaving?” I roll after him, sliiiightly desperate.

Johnny turns back to me, “Kate. I know you’re going stir crazy in here, but you need to channel yourself in another direction, you already wrecked this guy’s window, don’t push it. It’s too easy for your imagination to run wild with this, but you gotta reign it in before you do something you can’t take back,” Johnny glances at his phone again, “I have to go deal with this horrible thing in Malibu, but I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

I sigh, defeated. And jealous that he gets to leave and deal with something horrible. I wish I could go deal with something horrible.

After the door closes I turn back to the apartment across the street, staring at his crazy villain board through my binoculars. “Guess I’ll just deal with something horrible from here,” I say to myself dramatically.

Four hours and six pop-tarts later I’m struggling to stay awake at my post by the window when my phone pings, jolting me back to full consciousness. A text from Johnny, sent…45 minutes ago!

JOHNNY: Maybe you’re right. It IS weird that a doctor would have schematics of his hospital. I’ll swing by his place on my way home and feel him out a bit. *heart emoji*

“Ahhhhh!” I scream and reach clumsily for the binoculars, which promptly fall off my lap, with my phone. As I reach for them, the light clicks on across the street. My villain is home. I click off my only light and stare. Johnny might need the binoculars, but my eyesight is as good as it gets, I’m a futzing Hawkeye after all. But my eyes are best when I’m holding a bow, so I raise it and nock an arrow for good measure.

Tracking my villain across his apartment feels so right…and also a little bit wrong. What if I am wrong?

My villain looks with a wrinkled brow at his bulletin board, now naked and exposed in his apartment. He moves to the fallen drape and picks it up, confused. He crouches down and touches his carpet—probably still a bit wet from my second melted ice arrow. The crease in his brow deepens and his eyes narrow. He finally clocks the broken windowpane. He comes to the window and examines it. And then he just looks out the window. Directly at my apartment. But it’s dark here and I don’t move. It’s not my first day.

He squints his eyes and it feels like he’s looking right through me. I don’t even breathe. He eventually turns his head and I exhale lightly. But I can’t help but gasp when I see him open his front door to reveal Johnny. Handsome and kind and just trying to do the right thing. A smile in his eyes since his mask covers the one surely on his mouth. Due to the mask I can’t read Johnny’s lips, a skill the other Hawkeye, Clint Barton, has taught me, but I imagine it’s something adorable and heroic, as is Johnny’s way.

The villain gestures him inside and it’s all I can do not to scream. Johnny, being the polite, and very strong guy that he is, goes inside, unafraid and trusting. Before he can even get all the way inside the villain slams a comically huge vase over his head. Johnny is down. I curse his kindness. He could have walked in there made of futzing vibranium…but he probably didn’t want to scare the guy, so he went in made of stupid, highly vulnerable, bones and blood.

Well, my villain has picked the wrong guy to hit from behind with a heavy object. As the villain rifles around in a cabinet (probably looking for something evil), I don’t even hesitate to fire my already nocked arrow. It slams into the fabric of his dress shirt and pins his shirt to the cabinet with a satisfying THWACK. He yells and I can hear it from here thanks to the broken window. He spins wildly trying to see who’s attacking him while also trying to wrench himself free of the cabinet.

As I nock another arrow he manages to spin out of his shirt. Now free, he moves as fast as he can to get away from the windows. I fire my second arrow. It’s not for him.

This arrow crashes violently through not just glass but some of the wood that holds the panes together. It’s a catastrophic structure failure and leaves a gaping open hole to his apartment. My villain looks up from under the arms he was using to protect himself, which is when I release my third arrow. It sails into his apartment almost happily and when it hits some of his cabinetry with a sharp ping it explodes into a hail of lights, temporarily blinding him.

My villain scrambles to his feet and I fire the fourth arrow. It hits him right in the chest. As intended. Safety Foam arrow has a harmless tip and then explodes into a sticky ..well…”safety foam” that—without help—he’ll still be struggling to get out of in three days. I watch for long seconds as my villain struggles and cusses and Johnny remains passed out on his floor. But Johnny is bleeding pretty badly. I pull another arrow and fire it across the street into the wall of the building. I anchor the other end in my apartment.

I grab my phone, re-secure my mask and with a considerable amount of effort heft myself, broken leg and all, out of my apartment window and onto the secured cabling line. Fortunately the villain’s apartment is slightly lower than mine, so with some painful but efficient scooching, I’m able to use my bow and slide down the line straight into my villain’s apartment. I bump up against his building with an impressive but painful thud and sort of half-toss myself off the line and into the apartment. I clear most of the glass. Ouch.

I crawl across the floor as my villain cusses at me and squirms. “Oh, just shut up!” I finally say as I inch past him in his slightly crunchy and slightly sticky safety foam prison. I get to Johnny and yank a towel down off the counter and press it to his bleeding head. He groans, I think, appreciatively.

I lay down next to Johnny, exhausted but pleased. I keep the towel pressed to his head and pull out my mobile phone and dial my very good friend that doesn’t think I’m annoying at all, Detective Rivera.

“Bishop. The world is in extreme crisis, make it fast.”

“I need you to come here…and bring an ambulance, I airdropped you my location.”

There’s a long pause, “This is across the street from your apartment. What have you done?”

“Saved the day, as per usual. I’m making a citizen’s arrest…or an off-duty Super Hero arrest—whatever, you can decide what the paperwork situation is—annnnyway, I am arresting this villain across the street from me that not only hit Johnny with a very heavy vase but also has detailed plans in his apartment about blowing up the hospital…apparently as a way of…” I roll my eyes and raise my voice, “…stopping the virus…is that right, sir?” My villain bangs his head lightly on the floor. He hates me.

Rivera sighs deeply on the other end, “Ambulance is on its way, Bishop. Walk me through the whole thing.”

“Well, you see, Rivera, it all began with this idea I had about ice arrows…”

                                                     FIN

[toriaurorawriter15]

Love Torn: Chapter 7: Ben's Discovery

Lost Boy Harbor is privately owned by Tweedledum and Tweedledee. One of the two is single and enjoying his life as a child in a man's body. The other has found the love of his life, and they gave birth to a daughter named Billy Rae. Once it was time to retire, the brothers have recently reunited and live in Avolan.

Today, Billy has taken over the deck business. The partnership between Bill, Tinkerbell's fairy friends, and Jim Hawkins has allowed the Lost Boy Harbor to expand its voyages toward alternate universes.

King Adam had recently invested some money with Bill. Therefore Ben knows that the owner will help in his investigation. Well, hopefully.

The twenty-year-old man approaches the check-in office, and he is astonished to find a fish-like man staring at him with disinterest behind his bored green eyes.

Ben approaches the buff man with a smile on his face. But the man stares at him with a frown upon his slimy forest-green lips.

"What do you want?" the fish-man states in a nasty tone.

"Is Billy here?" Ben asks in a curious tone.

The man gives the man a deadly glare before replying, "If you are that lousy cooker from the shipper's island, she won't see you."

Ben's hazel eyes look at the man in confusion before thinking of a way to respond to the fish-man's statement. He stares at the green scales on the fish-man's forehead before coming clean.

" Alright, I am here looking for a friend! Her name is Audrey Rose. My friend Chad said that she was taken from her home by the three fairies.

"Billll." The slime guy yells behind the box office.

Within a second, a cat-like woman appears behind the green guy and replies, " Gill, she went out for a bit. What do you want"

"I need your help!" Ben quickly replies before Gill can get another word out. "Do you know if Audrey Rose was on a ship, Miss?

"It's Captin Amelia! she replies with an amused expression, "I have been waiting for you to arrive. And to answer your question, Yes, I was on RLS Legacy with her, and I know everything about your relationship, Your Highness. Would you like to talk about it here or at my office" The lady's cat blue eyes went up with excitement.

Ben comes over the counter and asks, "Can we speak in private, please?"

Captain Amelia nods in agreement before opening the small counter door and leads him toward a set of double doors with two windows on each door.

"Follow me and don't go wandering off." She orders as she leads him into a hallway with several office doors on each side.

Ben follows her instructions without hesitation and keeps his face strictly facing onward.

Once they are in the last office room from the narrow hallway, Captain Amelia bows and says, " First I would like to say condolences on behalf of the agency. We have all been informed about Queen Mal's death today. Second, you know that we must know everything that happens in this universe. It is our way of protecting everyone in all universes. Therefore, Miss. Audrey and I had a private conversation while on our voyage. Anything we communicate today cannot leave this room, do I make myself clear?"

Ben nods in agreement.

Once she sees his response, Captian changes her professional demer into a casual one, "Please sit down and I can answer some of your questions."

Ben obeys by sitting across from her office desk. He then takes this moment to look around her office while waiting for the captain to settle into her desk chair.

It looked like most offices: white walls and one big window that looked out to the harbor. The only thing that stood out was a picture frame of her and some dog-like man with glasses wearing some clothing that resembled wedding attire.

"Go on?" Captain Amelia encourages with a sashuire-cat smile.

Ben redirects his attention to Captain Amelia, and he clears his throat. He tries to get comfortable on one of the two leather single-seater sofas.

"You did say that Audrey was on your ship, right?" He asks while holding back the guilt in his question.

"Before I answer your question. You must know that I cannot tell you Audrey's whereabouts. It is an order given by King Stephen. It was the only way his mother-in-law would allow him to arrange her departure from Aurdon." She comments with sadness behind her tired eyes.

"Okay, I won't ask. Ben vows.

Amelia smiles as she answers, "Audrey was sent on her voyage after the day of your wedding to the Queen."

'Chad and Jane were right!' Ben thought before asking, "Do you know why they sent her away?"

"Oh, you must know that answer." Captain Amelia replies, "May I say? I feel so much pity for the girl. Audrey was distraught, and you could see it in her face after witnessing the announcement."

Guilt enters Ben's heart from Amelia's comment.

Quickly, the King shoves his emotions aside to know what happened to Audrey.

"Did she make any other travels with you?" Ben asks in a serious tone.

Captain Amelia seemed to pick up on his line of questions, and she commented, "With all due respect, your highness. Audrey may have been in love with you. But she made a vow with her grandmother, Queen Leah. She cannot enter this universe until a special occasion occurs. Especially since she is expecting with your child."

Ben's eyes go up in shock before hearing himself whisper in disbelief, "WHAT! Are you certain?"

"We know a royal heir is only allowed within a marriage bond. If Audrey were to deliver the child here, then she could be sentenced to death. Though I didn't believe it at the time, she did throw up in one of the chamber pots we have on the ship before taking off.

'I have a child!' Ben thought as he tried to figure out everything in the captain's tale. Yet, nothing was adding up.

"So you are telling me that King Stephen had his daughter sent out alone in a different universe without me knowing because Queen Leah knew she was carrying my child?" He asks in confusion.

"Yes." Captain Amelia exclaims.

Ben slides out of his seat while his mind analyzes everything he learned today."

'That explains why I couldn't remember why I woke up naked and had a lacy purple bra in my bed.' Ben thought as he stood up for the rest of their conversation.

"Thank you for your time. If you have more information, send me a letter, and my guards will send it my way." He states in a neutral tone while trying to keep his emotions at bay.

Captain Amelia must have responded to his comment, but he went into autopilot shock.

It doesn't take Ben long to find himself outside the Harbor deck.

'Audrey and I have a child!' Ben thought as he found himself in a limousine.

He looks out on a dock as the King vows, "Mal, I am so close to finding your killer.' Ben takes a breath before declaring to Jay," Jane and Chad were right!"

Across from the King's seat, Jay accepts the order and asks," What has Bill told you?"

Ben looks away from his eyes and changes the subject. " We must find Audrey."

"Why?" Jay curiously asks as he tries to get Ben to look in his direction.

Ben doesn't reply. Instead, his eyes stare at the sea line as he makes his second vow,' As a friend, I will find a way to bring you and our child home, Audrey.'

Previous Chapter

[herriblog]

Week 35/36

I am on my second pregnancy. I am in my Week 36. I was having difficulty in sleeping at night. I always had to put two-three pillows under my head to sleep. Somewhere about week 28, I had this same issue, and i slept with two pillows and a neck pillow. After a while, my upper back would hurt so I would remove one pillow and sleep at my side. But this time, everything is not comfortable. I just feel like I am going to die lying down. I even tried to take piriton to calm myself down but I can't. I finally slept at 2plus last night. It brought back memories of my slipped disc. I remember to kill my time during the night, I would randomly chat with people on whisper. But this time, I do not have the mood, motivation to chat with other people especially on whisper knowing that they are there for one main reason; Hook ups. It's very hard to get someone to have a heart to heart conversation without them thinking that you can be something more. Yes, you may say why don't you chat with your spouse? He has had a whole day of working. Busy. Tons on his mind. I am just going to add in more stress to his already stressful day. Even if I share, he is probably going to just say relax, it is all going to be fine. This anxiety is a killer. Reassuring your loved one like that or any other way isn't going to cut it. I did the same thing to him many years ago when he had anxiety, until he switched off sharing what he experiences.

I feel like as though I am too bloated up that causes me to feel this. But at the same time, I am hungry. I don't want to eat because it will make me feel more bloated and feel more breathlessness. I started to have these palpitations every 3-5 mins. I do not know if its normal or should I get it checked out. I googled it and they say its normal. But I never felt like this during my last pregnancy. I know. I know. Every pregnancy is different. I do not want to feel like a hypochondriac. I've already been googling every single symptom that I have. It's not helping.

To add on to my whole emotions, My friend had texted me and told me that the areas that I cover are being distributed out to my other colleagues permanently. So it seems like my boss is trying to get rid of me. Boss actually said that since I have not been around in most of the areas and the department HODs want someone permanent there (which sounds like im always on HL, but she makes it sound like I sneak off somewhere to get rid of work, which i do but i still come back to the departments to check on them in the afternoon). I told her that as much as I feel horrible being in this department and that I plan to leave this area, it should not affect me. I take more leaves than anyone in the department. I do not contribute (I used to but I always get slammed down). And I already have intentions of leaving the department to either do part time nursing or agency nursing. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't feel bad or upset. But I still do. I told my husband about this and he said she shouldn't have texted you this especially at this time. It is causing unnecessary stress on me which I agree to. She clearly knows I am not coming back to work. Why make it sound like my boss is trying to get rid of me. it may mean that I am not going to be around for the rest of the year so she is giving it to others.

So in short, I feel damn lousy. I think I feel depress that I am not going to work and top it off, my son went to school today after almost a week of not going to school so I feel lonely.

I think I should just take up the trip to KL with my husband and be away from all this. But at the same time, I am also worried about my son who has grown attached to me. He is always finding me somewhere in the house to get me to be with him. I wonder if he will be able to sleep with the new helper, Khawl (She is about 1.5 months old). I am so fickle minded.

Thats all for today.

[alignandrealign]

Deep Breaths

Chapter 1

I'm sitting in my best friend's spare bed and my heart is racing. The room around me feels hotter then five minutes ago and I cannot muster the strength to get up and strip myself of my clothing to cool down. It's been three weeks since I walked out of my long term relationship, which means I don't really have a "home" anymore, I'm pretty much just drifting through the motions of my day to day life while stumbling through this unknown territory of being 32 years old and single again.

Being single isn't new to me but where I am now wasn't what I thought my life would look like at this age, especially when I had dreams of meeting my soul mate, travelling the world and making cute babies in a warm comfortable home together. Boy was I wrong.

I was synchronistically introduced to the Audiobook "Single on Purpose" by John Kim just the other day. I started playing it in my car on my way to work to help setup my morning in a positive mindset. Single on Purpose – making a choice to walk away from everything you know and everything that's comfortable, for the promise of growth, a better future, a more fulfilled life or maybe just peace. That's what it was for me, peace. I take another deep breath and kick the covers off my legs and allow my body to cool down. more deep breaths, I centre myself. The choice to jump was mine to make, the big leap of faith into the scary abyss that ended up not really being too scary at all. There's much scarier things than walking away from something that's not for you anymore, even if it's uncomfortable. Staying is definitely scarier. The decision to leave my relationship has lead me into three weeks of deep rest, growth and a chance to experience deep love and support like I have never experienced before, so I know now it was the right choice. Maybe it was meant to be or maybe I just refused to repeat the same patterns any longer. Either way I was out. I was free and I was writing again.

The last three years has been a total whirlwind of a ride. I met Steve just as the pandemic was kicking in for us. We live in Perth, Western Australia so it was pretty much 6 months after the rest of the world got hit. We didn't even think it was real at this point, just a lot of media swirling around about people getting sick and dying with equally as many conspiracy theories about it being fake, an overly dramatic cold or a declaration of biochemical warfare. I was in my own little world, living in a cosy duplex at the end of a cul de sac in Carine, a leafy suburb close to the beach about 20km north of the city. I had worked really hard to get to this place in my life – after several relationships had broken me down, this was now the manifestation of two years of being single and putting my self and my own dreams first. I wasn't about to compromise it all for just anyone.

Steve was someone I met online through a typically lousy dating app called Tinder – I know what you're thinking, what did I expect? You're right, there were so many reservations I had about even dating anyone at this point, but online was the way to do it and Tinder was familiar to me following two years of being single. I wasn't overly active online though, simply hoping on every now and then for a late night swipe in my bedroom before falling asleep. Sundays were also a good time; slow and quiet mornings meant people were laying in, relaxing and reminiscing on their ventures from the nights before – more reflective and open to talking about deeper things rather than what they do for work or how many bitcoins they own. It wasn't some strategy I had, I just felt softer on Sundays and was happy to indulge in lengthly conversation with strangers.

I had seen Steve's photo pop up and I was instantly struck by how mysterious he seemed. His profile consisted of four or five casual photos of him in various locations but none of them were very clear. They were pictures of him at a distance, standing in shadow or with sunglasses on. I could see his face, his stature and his style, but not his eyes. I'm big on eyes. They speak a truth no words or actions could and it's how I like to gauge the depth of a person. I didn't swipe left or right that morning. I read his words and looked through his photos, then read his words again, contemplating whether he was a good fit, even just for a conversation or exchange of energy. I was pretty protective of my energy at this point and didn't want to just give it away in exchange of a fleeting feeling of validation or attention. I reviewed his profile again then closed the app, packed my duffel bag and drove up to mums. We were heading into a lock down and Mum and I both lived alone so we decided to spend it together.

[melandrops]

in common tumblr fashion (by the popular demand of one person) i figured i might as well share what my epilogue consisted of

the epilogue would span three years from 2015-2017

2015 would feature jon and martin's engagement followed by their wedding later in the year, as well as gerry moving out in an attempt to let the newlyweds enjoy their honeymoon. at this point agnes has started university and is working as a tutor for high schoolers. the five of them try to get together once a month for dinner to try and catch up and talk about how things are going. at some point during the year agnes would meet jack and bring him to the dinner bringing their group of five to six. martin and jon end up having a small wedding mostly consisting of the six of them. martin beat jon to the punch and got gerry as his official best man. jon and martin don't really have the money to honeymoon anywhere nice, but they take a few weeks off to enjoy it. gerry for his part has been doing more art and still working his retail job, with a plan to quit if he can get commissions set up. michael works at the university and mostly loves it for the research, but he enjoys the students too. gerry likes to sit in on lectures when he can. when martin saves up enough for top surgery, gerry ends up being the one that drives him home afterward and stays at the apartment as much as he can to help martin in recovery. 2015 marks the first year that michael and gerry got to celebrate their birthdays together, and to have a christmas that wasn't filled with chaos. winters still hit hard, but california summers are less cold and more grey. gerry still refuses therapy but agnes gets him out of the house on bad days.

2016 is marked by jon asking for a favor. georgie, the host of a true crime podcast, has requested to get gerry in for an interview. gerry refuses at first, but jon asks him again, telling him that it might be some closure to be able to tell his version of his story without someone making him out to be a bad person. gerry agrees and georgie flies him out to her studio near atlanta along with michael, who is even more reluctant than gerry. at the studio they meet georgie's girlfriend, melanie, who gerry instantly recognizes and hits it off with. her youtube channel has been doing great, and she moved from her lousy place in alabama to be closer to georgie. the interview goes okay at first, but quickly goes downhill when georgie asks him to recall the night of mary's suicide, triggering a ptsd episode. for the first time in a long time, mary manifests in gerry's view. georgie and melanie freak out and michael intervenes, taking him out of georgie's studio. eventually things wind down and gerry is able to relax. georgie agrees not to publish the episode and jon can't say sorry enough, to which gerry brushes off more out of shock than anything else. michael is less easy to assuage. but like all bad things, it doesn't last. eventually jon and martin announce their baby, and gerry gets the chance to hold his niece. baby zoe quickly takes up jon and martin's lives, and much of gerry's life. he dotes on baby zoe, spoiling her rotten. michael likes to be there when he can, mostly to see the way gerry loves the kid.

2017 begins with a conference in seattle. for the first time in almost five years, gerry and michael get in a car together and head for the open highways up the western coast. they stop in portland along the way to say hello to some old friends, mike and oliver. mike tells gerry that he should have done more than leave a note before he left. oliver just asks if the tattoos work. they spend a night in portland, sharing stories and playing on mike's xbox like nothing has changed. when they get to seattle it's with tired eyes and sore bodies, but there's none of the tension that there used to be. it's peace. later down the line gerry works up the nerve to watch the rest of the tapes that he took from pinhole books, along with the tape that eric recorded for gerry. and so, for a full night michael and gerry sit on their couch and they watch family home videos of a young gerry and his parents. and when summer comes, the family goes to the beach for a sunday afternoon. martin plays with baby zoe in the shallow waves, matching her smile inch for inch. jon sits under an umbrella and reads a book for the most part, but he builds sandcastles with everyone else when the time comes. as the sun sets on the pacific ocean, michael tells gerry how beautiful he is. and things are good.

I just finished Thoroughfare and let me tell you, I am *feral* over it. I want so more more! I totally get stuff happening meaning there won't be an epilogue but gaah, I just want my boys to be blissfully happy!

omg thank you!! i'm so glad you enjoyed it!! if it makes you feel better, i'm working on a kind of prologue to the thoroughfare fic centering terminal velocity (mike/oliver) that will get done at some point soon