#the old one got a lot more popular than expected for a quick draw over so I made a new one lol

[kiroonsmoon]

Aevis Chair Redux

[deadbiwrites]

a video of supergirl grabbing lena luthor's ass starts circulating and it's very embarrassing for sc but extremely funny to their friends

(I am SO sorry. Where do these hide? Why do I never see them? How long has this been here?!

Anyways, have some cute nonsense!)

The day starts like any other, honestly.

Like, sure, Kara’s never thrilled when she wakes up 20 minutes late and has to use superspeed to get through her morning routine and into the office on time, but it happens regularly enough that she’s just sort of used to it by now. Like, the sky is blue, the grass is green, she manages time poorly. Whatever.

But she does get to work on time, with just enough to spare that she can make a brief detour to Nia’s desk for the coffee her protege has already bought for her, thank her profusely (with perhaps minor promising of firstborn children), and slip into the morning meeting just as Snapper, James, and Lena start handing out assignments for the day.

“Well, well, good of you to join us, Ponytail. Let me guess, a family emergency kept you out all night again?”

‘I mean, that Abraxian wasn’t my family, technically, but someone’s family, so…’ “Something like that. Sorry.”

Lena catches her eye and quirks a brow in question, but Kara just shrugs easily and sips her coffee, pulling a silly face at her friend when Snapper’s attention moves away from her. When her eyes uncross, she can tell Lena is fighting not to laugh, eyes sparking with mirth as she bites her lip. Kara takes another sip of coffee, feeling a bit smug that she can get Lena to smile without even having to say anything to her. That’s real talent, right there.

Especially since Lena has to stand up at the front with James, who has been by turns cold, dejected, and surly toward her since their breakup (a big, real, final one) a few weeks prior. Lena had said that the whole thing was a mistake, that she should’ve never gone for it in the first place because she’d been right the first time- they’d had some chemistry, after all, but it certainly wasn’t compatible long-term. 

Which… Kara can certainly relate. Like, a lot.

Especially about the whole… James being kind of wounded about it part. That part had really sucked- when he’d done it with Kara, who he’d gone on like, a date with, it’d resulted in him deciding to become a vigilante. Rao only knows what he’ll do when it’s someone he dated on and off for over a year...

“Ponytail!”

Kara jumps, realizing too late that her wandering attention hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Yes, sir?”

Snapper rolls his eyes. “Great, now that you’ve stopped orbiting Saturn, you wanna go get that article started?”

Kara’s eyes widen slightly in a panic as she realizes that she has no idea what he’s talking about. “Uh…” Behind his back, Lena catches her eye and nods subtly. Thank Rao. “Yes. I super do.”

Lena snorts, James sighs deeply, and the meeting is adjourned.

**

“So what exactly am I supposed to be doing today?” Kara asks Lena as they stroll out of the conference room together.

“Well unfortunately for you, you have to interview a big-time CEO. You have a meeting scheduled with her in three hours.”

“You?” Kara asks hopefully.

“You’re very sweet,” Lena chuckles. “No, Elena Watts. She’s a real estate developer, and she runs a nonprofit organization for homeless youth. It’s one of the articles we’re doing for next month’s spread. Contrary to popular belief, Cat and I weren’t the only women with high-profile jobs in this city. ”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool! Have you met her?”

“Not personally, no, but I have donated to her charity- it’s a very good cause, especially the outreach they do with queer youth.”

Kara elbows Lena gently. “You’re such a softie.”

“Mmm, maybe. But if you tell anyone, you’re fired.”

Kara clutches a hand to her chest, feigning horror. “Why Miss Luthor, what a blatant abuse of power!”

Lena shrugs. “I’m a Luthor, darling, I have to keep up appearances somehow.”

“Ouch,” Kara laughs. “See you at lunch?”

“Only if lunch includes a milkshake- I have a teleconference with both boards today. Unless you feel like joining me?”

“Wow, well as fun as that sounds, I’m gonna go do literally anything else.” Her comms crackle to life, alerting her of a hostage situation downtown, and Kara sighs. So much for a work day. “Alright, well, I’m, um, gonna go… see what I can find on Elena Watts. Maybe over another cup of coffee at Noonan’s.” She widens her eyes a bit, trying her best to convey that she’s going to be on Super-duty for a little while.

Thankfully, Lena picks up on it and grins. “You just want sticky buns.”

“Lena, I always want sticky buns. They’re like, my second favorite thing to eat.”

“Oh? What’s the first?” Lena asks, voice just a bit lower than usual. 

Kara opens her mouth and closes it, flushing slightly as she averts her gaze and adjusts the laptop bag on her shoulder. Stuff like that has been happening more and more, and she’s not 100% sure what to do about it. Because on the one hand, it makes her stomach do flips and tie up in knots and makes her brain do this… staticky thing where nothing filters in or out, just a pleasant buzz of how funny and smart Lena is and how much Kara likes hanging out with her and being flirted with (because that’s definitely what’s been happening, even if neither of them is really ready to address it) and just generally looking at Lena.... who is currently biting her lip and grinning up at Kara, and that buzz makes her kinda dumb, which is just really unhelpful. But on the other hand, it’s also kinda awesome and Kara really enjoys it, and-

“Kara?”

She spaced out again. Crap.

“Um. What time are you free for lunch?”

Lena sighs, seeming slightly disappointed that Kara isn’t flirting back at the moment (and thank Rao Lena can’t read minds), but she smiles back easily enough as they step off of the elevator. “I should be done by two.”

Feeling emboldened, Kara turns so she’s walking backwards in front of Lena and grins. “It’s a date,” she says with a grin, ducking forward to press a quick “friendly” kiss high on Lena’s cheek. She whirls and jogs out the double doors, leaving Lena smiling exasperatedly after her.

**

It is genuinely baffling to Kara that people still commit crimes in National City. It’s not even an ego thing, really, since Kara tries to keep herself humble (even when she manages to wrap up a hostage situation within twenty seconds of arriving on-scene without injuring any of the criminals or damaging the building too badly). Like, yeah, she gets that there’s a certain element of crazies who just sorta gravitate to places with a local hero, the big-bads who have their own suits and geek-toys and abilities. Them, Kara gets. Kinda sorta. But the regular ones, who are armed with like, pistols? Or knives? Just regular man made stuff without even the benefit of magic or kryptonite or something?

Why? 

She’s sure that if she asked, Lena would have some sort of statistical thing about large cities and poverty and all sorts of other factors that would end up making Kara feel like a jerk for being uncharitable to the criminal element of her city, but at the moment she’s mostly too annoyed by the fact that she has to spend her weekdays chasing them around instead of chasing stories.

Once all the hostages are freed and the cops secure the scene, Kara departs, flying into the alley behind Noonan’s and changing into her regular clothes before she heads inside to do a bit of research before her meeting with Elena Watts in a few hours (just because she’d used it as a cover doesn’t mean it was a bad idea…). She finds her favorite little two-person booth tucked into a quiet corner, plugs in her laptop, and gets to work, asking the waitress to please keep both the coffee and the sticky buns coming.

She gets a surprising amount done by the time she needs to leave for the interview, having a good foundation for what she wants to write and who Elena Watts is.

Ms. Watts turns out to be a pretty nice lady around Eliza’s age, if a bit busy and distracted by the steady flow of people in and out of her office. She answers all Kara’s questions with aplomb, happy to elaborate on most every point and eager to draw attention to the rising issue of homelessness among children and teens in the US.

“When I was young, my dad lost his job at the auto plant. It was supposed to be a temporary layoff, but the factory never reopened. We ended up losing the house, and we lived so far from our extended family that staying with them wasn’t much of an option. We lived in our SUV for six months, sleeping at shelters every now and again, if we could find one that allowed families to stay together. We showered at the local YMCA. Five people and a dog, living and sleeping in an old station wagon- even now, it sounds ridiculous. Eventually, we got back on our feet, but I never forgot that. It was just six months, but it was- and remains- the scariest, most uncertain time in my entire life, and it shaped me in a lot of ways I didn’t expect. And there are kids and families who do that for years. I just want to help them the way I wish that someone had been able to help us.”

At the end of the interview, Kara thanks her profusely for her time and for sharing her story before hurrying off to CatCo to type up a draft for Snapper (“What’s wrong with you, Ponytail, why is everything you bring me sappy and sentimental?”), which she finishes an outline of just in time to send it off before running to Big Belly and L-Corp for lunch with Lena.

She greets the newest in a series of secretaries (Anna? Amy? Ava? Lena’s really missing Jess, these days, but from what she’s told Kara, Jess is kicking butt in her new role as VP of Operations and will probably take over for the COO when he retires in a few years), and the girl waves her in distractedly.

And that’s when Kara’s day goes from normal to not, because inside the office are two masked men holding a stone-faced Lena at gunpoint on her balcony and demanding… something, probably. Kara’s a bit distracted by the loaded gun aimed at Lena’s head.

“Hey!” she yells, attracting both their attention. They whirl on her and Lena’s eyes widen in alarm, and Kara suddenly realizes three things- 1) she’s in her Kara Danvers clothes, not the supersuit, 2) she can’t speed into the suit now that they’re both looking at her, and 3) she has no plan.

Crap.

“Who the hell are you?!” one of them demands.

Kara… doesn’t have a good or snappy answer for that, and instead does the only thing she can think of- she throws the large milkshakes she’s carrying at them as hard as she can.

Which, in retrospect, is too hard, apparently because while yes, it is both funny and gratifying to see two grown men get absolutely leveled by a tasty dairy treat to the face, the one closest to Lena manages to elbow her in such a way that she falls backwards over the rail with an instinctual scream that makes Kara’s heart fly into her throat. She whips off her glasses, and by the time she’s out the window and speeding toward Lena’s flailing form, the suit is materialized. She gets under Lena, catching her carefully and dropping a bit further before slowing down (because she’s been made aware that when she doesn’t, the people she’s saving may as well be hitting the pavement), finally coasting to a stop about 20 feet from the ground.

Lena’s face is screwed up in a forced sort of focus, her hands clutching tightly at Kara’s shoulders and cape as she holds her breath.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks quietly.

Lena swallows thickly and nods, eyes still firmly closed. “I’m alright. Thank you- I’ll admit, I wasn’t quite sure how to get out of that one.”

“What was that? What did they want?”

Lena cracks an eye open. “Oh. you know, just my quarterly assassination attempt. I think my mother was starting to miss me, so she wanted to reach out.”

Kara snorts. “That really shouldn’t be funny.”

“Maybe not, but here we are.” Lena shifts a bit in Kara’s arms, cheeks a bit flushed from the adrenaline rush, and clears her throat. “Not to be rude, Supergirl, but do you think that perhaps we could continue this conversation… on the ground?”

“Oh. Oh! Yeah, sorry. I forgot we were, uh, flying.”

Lena chuckles as they ascend slowly back up to her office. “You forgot you were flying?”

Kara shrugs with an easy smile. “I guess you have that effect on me.”

Lena huffs a laugh against Kara’s neck, eyes squeezed shut again. They alight on the balcony, finding the two men still unconscious, covered in Kara and Lena’s lunch. Lena sighs as Kara sets her down, pinching the bridge of her nose. “What a mess.”

“Yeah, sorry, I sorta… panicked.”  

“I was so looking forward to a milkshake too…” Lena laments playfully.

“Well, then I have good news and bad news,” Kara says. She reaches out and gently wipes a bit of her own chocolate shake from Lena’s cheek with the pad of her thumb, tucking it into her mouth on instinct to get a taste of it. “The good news is, you do, in fact, have some shake on you!”

“Whats the bad news?” 

“Also that you have some shake on you.” Kara laughs, gathering the two men in her arms and hefting them a bit so they’re easier to carry. “I’ll get you another one. Be right back.”

She drops the men at the police station with a brief explanation before flying back into the office. Lena hands over her discarded glasses with a wry grin.

“I figured you’d need these before the police arrive.” She’s putting on a brave front, but she’s clearly still more than a bit rattled, if her too-bright eyes and thundering heartbeat are anything to go by. Kara steps closer and opens her arms in invitation, and Lena doesn’t hesitate to step into them. “Thank you,” Lena says fervently, tucking her face into Kara’s shoulder and wrapping her arms tight around Kara’s waist. 

“Always,” Kara promises, daring to press a reassuring kiss to Lena’s temple (and getting a bit of Lena’s strawberry shake for her troubles) before wrapping her up even tighter in her arms. “Are you actually okay?”

“I mean, my fear of heights has been reaffirmed,” Lena jokes, “but aside from that, I’m not hurt.”

“Good. I don’t like, love people pointing guns at you. Just so you know.”

“I’m not a fan either, for the record,” Lena drawls, burrowing even closer. “Even though I know you’ll save me, it still puts a damper on my day.”

Kara huffs a laugh. “Same.”

They stay like that for a few minutes, until Lena’s calmed down enough to stop shaking and calls her assistant (Audra, apparently) in, telling her what’d happened and that the police would be arriving shortly to take her and Kara’s statements, and please advise the security team to let them up discreetly. After the cops arrive, it’s a blur of questions, and Kara has to concentrate on telling the story of how she’d panicked and thrown the milkshakes at the men, and one of them had knocked Lena over the balcony (all true), and Kara had yelled for Supergirl, who had knocked the men out on her way to Lena (also technically mostly true. Technically. Mostly.). The police are sure to tell Kara that next time, she shouldn’t throw things at people with guns, and also to tell them both how lucky they are that Supergirl had shown up when she did.

“She’s always there when I need her,” Lena agrees, throwing a sly wink over the officer’s shoulder at Kara.

Kara just shakes her head and smiles. Even almost dying isn’t enough to make Lena not flirt with her. The woman is truly a marvel.

Kara’s comms crackle again, accompanied by Alex’s custom ringtone on her cell, and after assuring the police that she has no issue with giving another statement if they need her to later, hurries over to the DEO (making a quick stop in the back alley to change into her suit).

**

When Kara arrives, she’s told that J’onn and Alex are waiting for her in the Directors’ offices. She makes her way there, waving to the agents and scientists she knows. But it’s very weird, because every time one of them sees her, they start giggling before quickly hurrying off in the opposite direction. Like, literally everyone is whispering and pointing and giggling, and it’s giving Kara such visceral flashbacks to high school that it’s all she can do to not check her cape for a taped on sign that says ‘Kick me’ or ‘Freak’.

(Kids are mean.)

By the time Kara gets to her destination, she’s fully paranoid, sure that someone’s playing a prank on her, somehow, and that everyone but her is in on the joke. She opens the door with more force than intended and catches it just before the handle puts a hole in the wall, throwing Alex and J’onn a sheepish smile. She closes the door extra gently and leans against it heavily. J’onn and Alex just stare at her, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“Busy day, Supergirl?” Alex asks, and after half a lifetime of spending time with her, Kara recognizes that she, too, is trying not to laugh. 

Kara’s had enough. “Okay, do I have something on my face? Or on the suit? Is someone messing with me?”

J’onn’s brow furrows. “No.”

“Then what’s the deal? Why is the entire DEO like… laughing at me? Did someone accidentally vent the lab fumes out into the main hub again?”

“No.”

“Did someone see me crash into that billboard last week?”

J’onn’s frown deepens. “What?”

“No,” Alex answers.

“Then why is everyone laughing at me?!”

“I mean, if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because of that,” Alex muses, nodding toward the big TV on the wall beside Kara.

She steps back to watch the news coverage of her dealing with the hostage situation this morning and frowns. “What, those guys? That was routine, what’s so funny about tha-”

“No, no, not that. That,” Alex clarifies, cranking up the volume.

“...reports are saying that the CEO of L-Corp, Lena Luthor, experienced an attempt on her life early this afternoon. Sources claim that she fell from a considerable height-”

“Hey, she was pushed,” Kara corrects.

“Shh!”

“...caught by Supergirl, who may have gotten a little… familiar with her.”

And there’s a video (clearly recorded on a cell phone but not the worst quality Kara’s ever seen) of Kara catching Lena and slowing to a stop above the sidewalk, of them talking quietly, of Kara’s hand definitely on Lena’s-

“Oh. Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” Alex drawls, clicking the TV off with relish, a large, evil-big-sister grin spreading across her face. “Congratulations, Supergirl- the world just watched you grope Lena Luthor’s ass.”

“But I’m not- I wasn’t groping, I was catching! My hands weren’t… If it was groping, I’d be all up on her, and I wasn’t!”

“Camera begs to differ. It’s already trending on Twitter in National CIty.”

Kara puts her head in her hands and groans. “Why?! I was trying to save her!”

“You were definitely trying to save part of her,” Alex agrees. “Granted, it’s a very nice part...”

Kara’s head pops up, and she shoots Alex a look that’s between a pout and a glare. “You’re not helping.”

Alex feigns confusion. “Am I supposed to be helping?”

“Alright, enough,” J’onn cuts in before Kara can retort. “We just wanted you to be aware. I don’t think that this is going to be taken for anything more than it is- a humorous moment in the middle of a successful rescue. You shouldn’t worry about the press.”

And truth be told, Kara isn't worried about the press- she’s worried about the fact that she’s going to have to face Lena after this. Lena, who she knows for a fact has google alerts set for herself, Kara Danvers, and Supergirl, a gesture which is normally actually sweet and kind but is right now definitely gonna bite her in the-

“Okay! So, is that all?”

Alex blinks, looks over at J’onn, and shrugs. “I mean, yeah. Try not to make a habit of groping your crush when you’re in the suit.”

“I wasn’t groping her-”

Alex grins. “So you admit you have a crush? Interesting…”

“Alex!”

**

J’onn’s prediction is mostly right- no one seems to be taking the shots of her grabbi- saving Lena as anything other than a funny blip of a moment in their coverage of it.

He was wrong about the sheer scale. The clip had gone totally viral in a matter of hours, and seemingly every major network in the country has run the clip at least once as a bit of filler-fluff, and almost every major network anchor (including the ones at CatCo, the traitors) has made at least a passing joke about Supergirl being ‘Super-Handsy'.

Which means that Kara is very late getting back to Lena’s office with replacement food. But like, she’s been busy, okay? It’s not like she’s avoiding Lena, or something, because she’s embarrassed- which she isn’t, because she didn’t do anything bad or wrong and-

Anyways, it’s well past sunset by the time Kara gets to Lena’s office door again. She hesitates outside it for just a moment before shouldering the door open and knocking tentatively.

Lena’s attention jerks from whatever she’d been absorbed in to Kara, and a relieved smile blooms across her face. “Hey there.”

Kara finds herself equally relieved to not experience a repeat performance of earlier scary situations. “Hi,” Kara says, unable to resist smiling back. She raises the bags and cup carrier. “I bring grease and milkshakes. Again.”

“Oh thank god, I’m starving,” Lena says, rolling her chair away from her desk and rising into a deep and probably much-needed stretch. Kara very determinedly does not stare at the slight sliver of soft tummy that appears between her blouse and skirt at the motion. “I’ve been staring at this screen for several hours. And Sam called to yell at me- she says hello, by the way- she and Ruby are in town next weekend.”

“Good!” Kara crosses the room to the couch as Lena does, easily spreading out the veritable buffet of fast food she’d brought over the coffee table. “I mean, not good that she yelled at you, or that you’re still at work, Miss Luthor,” she says pointedly, receiving only an unapologetic shrug in response. “But good that, um-”

“I get it,” Lena chuckles, resting a hand lightly on Kara’s knee and boy, if that doesn’t make Kara’s brain go fuzzy and dumb again… “Thank you, for checking in.”

“Of course I was gonna check on you, Lena,” Kara huffs. “Plus, I know you probably didn’t get lunch, so…”

Lena hums around a mouthful of burger, chewing until she can politely speak again. “Well it’s delicious. Did you make it yourself?” she teases with a sly grin.

“Oh, yeah, totally. Slaved away over a hot stove for this- I just wrapped it in Big Belly wrappers so you wouldn’t feel bad about it.”

“Very clever.” Lena pops the lid off of her milkshake and drags a fry through it (an advanced culinary delicacy Kara had horrified her with initially but had eventually become a bit of a guilty pleasure). “Although I have to say, traditionally you’d have to buy me dinner before you grabbed my ass.”

Kara chokes on a pickle. “Oh no,” she groans, dropping the burger onto the wrapper on the table and dropping her very red face into her hands as Lena laughs beside her. She peers out from between her fingers. “I am so sorry, I was just worried about you hitting the pavement and like, catching you in the least jarring way and I wasn’t paying attention to where my hands were and I didn’t even notice until I got back to the DEO and-”

“Well I have so say, I feel a bit offended that you didn’t even realize you were copping a feel...” When the only response is another groan and a deep flush spreading from Kara’s neck to the tips of her ears, Lena relents. “Kara, Kara, it’s fine!” she laughs, pulling Kara’s hands away from her face and giving them a grounding squeeze. “Nia’s been sending me memes about it all day, which has improved my mood significantly. On the grand scale of fallout from assassination attempts, this one was at least funny.”

“I know that’s supposed to be comforting, but all it makes me wanna do is wrap you in bubble wrap forever,” Kara informs her.

“Pass on that. But seriously, don’t worry about it- I know it wasn’t on purpose- unfortunately for me, you’re too noble to do something like that,” Lena laments playfully.

And whether it’s the knowledge that Lena is not, in fact, upset, the overall weirdness that has been this day, or this delicious burger fueling it, Kara feels a bit emboldened. “Hey Lena…”

“Yes?”

“What if I wanted to grab your butt? Just, y’know, as a hypothetical. For future reference.”

Lena quirks a brow at her, fighting a smile as she contemplates this. “Hmm. Strictly hypothetically?”

Kara scoots a bit closer on the couch. “Sure.”

 “Well, you’ve already bought me dinner…”

“And lunch, technically. Even if I gave it to the bad guys.”

“True. Plus you saved my life, so that gets you some points, probably.”

Kara pauses in her sly scooching. “Oh, hey, wait, no, that’s not-” 

“Kidding, Kara. I know you’d never use that to your advantage. I, however, have determined that strong moral fibre and nobility do, in fact, earn you more points, which is my choice on the matter and you get absolutely no say in it.”

“Oh. Um, alright, I think.”

Lena stares off into the middle distance, tapping her forefinger thoughtfully against her chin. Finally she shrugs. “Yes, I think you’re fulfilled the prerequisites for a bit of grab-ass today.”

Kara snorts, Lena laughs, and soon enough Kara takes her up on the offer.

**

“Hey Kara, remember that time you grabbed Lena’s ass and it made international news?” Nia asks around a mouthful of mushu pork.

“You mean last week? Yes, I remember,” Kara drawls. Beside her/halfway sitting on her lap, Lena snorts.

“That was the best.”

Alex glares. “Um, excuse you, no. No it was not. I had to sift through so much thirsting over my sister on like, every social media platform. It was the worst day of my life.”

Brainy’s brow furrows. “Surely that cannot be correct, Alex. Statistically speaking-”

Alex holds up a hand, cutting him off. “Trauma can’t be measured, Brainy.”

Kelly chuckles and presses a consoling kiss to Alex’s cheek, and it makes the tough agent melt into a doe-eyed puddle of mush that Kara snorts. And she says they’re gross... Kara sneaks a glance at Lena from the corner of her eye, and she catches Lena looking at her. She leans close and jostles her gently as she drops her head onto Lena’ shoulder. “We’re never gonna live that down, are we?”

“Probably not.”

“We have the worst friends.” When this elicits nothing but a chuckle, Kara tips her head back to see Lena still looking at her, a soft smile playing at her mouth and shining in her eyes. And like, this whole thing they’re doing is new, with the kissing and the actual dates and the... everything else. But the thing where Kara catches Lena looking at her and she doesn’t look away? That freakin’ knocks her out, every single time. “Hey,” she manages.

Lena grins down at her. “Hi.”

So yeah. Maybe the initial circumstances weren’t ideal, and she doesn’t love the mockery that’s been heaped upon her by all of her friends and loved ones (including Winn, who’d sent a missive from the future that literally just said ‘LOL’). But the fact is, Kara muses as she surges up just enough to kiss the corner of Lena’s mouth, that she doesn’t regret a thing.

[britt-writes]

can i have being in a relationship with lucas with a somewhat sorta big age gap with sfw and nsfw?? like completely legal, just what it’d be like to be younger than him? sorry if that’s confusing. you’re work is among the best i have EVER read. love you!

Thank you so much!! 🥺 Seriously, sweet people like you are a huge motivation for writing. Also, not confusing at all; hope you enjoy! 💕 (NSFW portion under the cut)

Quick note: I'm going off on a headcanon that there's at least a 10 year age gap between Lucas and reader.

Dating Lucas with a big age gap

• While the saying 'age is just a number' is true when it comes to your relationship with Lucas, it does play its part here and there.

• While the topic of your ages never really comes up in your day-to-day lives, it can be somewhat noticeable when it comes to some subtle topics.

• One of those is pop culture. There is definitely a slight generational gap between the two of you; Lucas grew up with different movies, bands, games and many other things that you were completely clueless about. The opposite is true, where the defining popular culture that is dear to you may be a bit out of Lucas' grasp.

• But instead of seeing it as an awkward reminder of your age difference or an obstacle, see it as something that helps you connect where you can make each other discover new things. Lucas has shown you plenty of gems from his youth, and you've done the same.

• He's made you listen to so many amazing, older rock bands, watched classics with you and played some retro video games with you that he grew up with.

• Lucas is totally the kind of guy who'll shit on recent generations, but as much as he refuses to admit it, there's plenty of things that he likes from your generation. Thanks to you! Though that still doesn't mean that he's into everything; there's quite a few things he doesn't really care about.

• Now, your relationship will raise a few eyebrows. The shitty part is that everyone will have an opinion about your relationship, and it's not always a supportive one.

• Lucas doesn't have a good reputation— never has and probably never will. So, a lot of people will be quick to assume that he mistreats you.

• That assumption is what makes Lucas the most angry. Does he care about a lot of people? No. Would he start fights with people over the slightest thing? Yes. Does he have a cynical attitude? Yes. Has he done shit? Yes. Would he abuse you? Absolutely the fuck not! It wouldn't even cross his mind to intentionally harm the one person who genuinely cares about him and swept him right of his damn feet.

• Some people question you out of genuine concern with no ill intentions in mind, and even if it's not necessarily any of their business, it's somewhat understandable.

• But that doesn't mean that it's not exhausting to have to explain yourselves to nearly everybody. It's like people can only see the number and not the chemistry between you and Lucas.

• Lucas is much less classy in handling meddling people, often near-snarling at them to fuck off and mind their own business, which may or may not make things worse.

• Even Lucas' own family were somewhat concerned when they first met you, but the more they saw you and Lucas interact, the more they came around. They don't even see the age gap anymore and see you as Lucas' wonderful lover.

• Jack, Marguerite and Zoe are all proud of Lucas for having such a great person in his life. They're really happy for him; they've never seen him so content.

• There's been some rather degrading or just plain dumb comments thrown your way. From people saying that you're just some sugar baby, to people saying that you're jailbait, even though you're completely legal.

• Apparently, Lucas is old enough to be your dad, but uh, you're pretty sure that kids that young don't have children of their own.

• Lucas does draw the line when people start personally insulting you or him, you especially.

• You've had people call you desperate enough to go for someone like Lucas. It took a lot of convincing on your part to keep Lucas from finding that person and sticking them in the hospital.

• On a lighter note, besides the cold asshole side of him that he shows off publicly, Lucas has a pretty childish sense of humour, so it doesn't feel like you're dating a 30-year-old at times.

• But that's okay, the two of you can just let loose and be yourselves.

• Your family actually kind of likes Lucas. They love how smart he is and that he's well-educated with a good university diploma and great job. Sure, he's got flaws and quirks, but everyone does. If you're happy, in love and he's treating you right, then who are they to judge?

• But really, it never really crossed your mind that dating a much older man was weird, and neither did Lucas. You just happened to fall in love with each other, and you couldn't be happier. You're both consenting adults, and you're not harming anyone.

• Now, being an older man, you'd think that Lucas would have a bit more sexpertise, huh?

• Well, not exactly.

• He was pretty undesirable all his life; people avoided him like the plague, so he never really got any romantic experience, let alone sexual aside from shitty porn movies he's watched.

• You were his first, much to his embarrassment of being in his 30's and only now losing his virginity.

• But you found it pretty endearing, and it felt nice to be able to teach him what you knew.

• That's not to say that he hasn't become fucking amazing in bed, especially in the oral area. He knows how to use his mouth and tongue.

• Lucas has always had a high sex drive, and it has not lessened in the years, so expect a lot of intimacy between the two of you. When you're in the mood, of course!

• Your age gap actually does turn him on during sex. He likes the feeling of having some form of authority over you in bed.

• Absolutely drives him crazy if you call him 'sir'. He likes it better than 'daddy'.

• Lucas loves roleplaying scenarios with you, especially anything that has you in a vulnerable, innocent or submissive role.

[givemethatgold]

Fix’er Upper Pt. 8

Pairing: Frankie Morales x F!Reader Warnings: none? Length: 2.1k Notes: I’m sorry, Cyn, I know I said there would be smut but I was just enjoying the slow burn too much. And I just feel like these two NEED this. Not me nervous to write about his p in her v, nooope. Also, I’m wine drunk and did not spell check this bitch, have fun with that. Divider by @firefly-graphics

Series MASTERLIST

The day of the fair had finally arrived and you woke with more than a little excitement churning in your stomach. Multiple meetings at the community center had given you a chance to meet more of the town's population and you'd gained a deeper appreciation for them. Small towns afforded very few entertainments, which had resulted in some of the older kids, driven by boredom, getting into trouble. Minor things like graffiti and trespassing, but the community knew if they weren't careful that things could escalate. So, instead of making the kids feel judged or harshly reprimanded, the town was working towards better programs and facilities to keep them busy.

It was an unseasonably beautiful Autumn day, the kind that carried memories of Summer on the warm breeze. Knowing that cold and snow were just around the corner, these "second summers" made people act a little more recklessly and freely than they usually might. You had a feeling that the crowds tonight were going to be bigger and rowdier than anyone could have hoped for.

Jacquie had stopped by later to offer you a ride to town but you had just sent your baking with her, insisting that you wanted to enjoy the sunshine and bicycle in.

Once you'd entered the main square you were blown away by the effort from the town. Banners, balloons, streamers, and posters were everywhere. A stage for musical acts and a ticket booth had been built and donated by Hank's Hardware, food carts selling anything and everything you could deep-fry were scattered down every road. Carnival games had been set up in rows down multiple, closed-off, streets, as well as people setting up face-painting, balloon animals, and a smaller version of the Saturday Farmer's Market. The high school football field had even been converted to a tiny amusement park with a Ferris Wheel, carousel, and swing ride.

It was still early, and there was still a lot to do before the fair would be open, but the excitement was already palpable. After making sure your pies had been marked down for the auction, you beelined for the water gun race game that you and a lovely woman named Heather had been assigned to operate. 

Too preoccupied with making sure you had the water tanks filled, the pumps were working, and your ticket box was in place you didn't notice how some of the other volunteers were acting strangely, making sidelong glances and meaningful head nods. 

Nothing seemed amiss once Heather had joined you. In fact, you were getting along with her so well the two of you had already made plans to meet for coffee the next day.

Soon, the fair was in full swing. The games booths were a popular stop with families and you were having the time of your life cheering for every child who tried their hand at your game. 

Eventually, there was a natural lull in the festivities as fair-goers drifted from the games towards the food and live entertainment. You were just suggesting making a quick snack run when Heather's phone rang. 

"Sorry, one sec, it's my husband," she grimaced, holding her finger up to stop you from leaving.

In a bid to give her a modicum of privacy, you tallied up the tickets and bunched them into coils for easier counting later. Heather's normally calm voice rose in pitch and urgency, drawing your attention back to her in time to see a look of alarm and annoyance cross her face.  

"What do you mean, burned? Like, burned burned? There's smoke?! Oh, honey, what on earth..." she paused, listening to her husband's voice some more, giving you an eye roll that clearly said 'Men. They're hopeless' and interrupted whatever he had been saying. "Alright, alright. It's slowing down here so I can run home."

Putting her phone back in her purse, Heather turned to you with a huff. "He's burnt dinner, and it sounds like my skillet is toast, too. I'm sorry to do this to you but I need to run to the store and bring dinner home. I've got the only car, so they're stuck."

Assuring her you could manage on your own, you shooed her away and told her to take her time.

Walking backward to wave goodbye, Heather kept spouting numerous apologies and promising she'd make it up to you on your coffee date. Giving one last smile she spun around and immediately ran into old Mrs. Crawley who was being escorted by no other than a very bored and trapped-looking Frankie Morales.

"Oh! Mrs. Crawley! So sorry!" She began, steadying the white-haired octogenarian, "I'm being called home, ditching my post, gotta run, bye!" With that, she was gone, weaving her way through the crowd of people.

Mrs. Crawley had glanced over at you when Heather had mentioned having to leave and was currently shuffling her way towards you, Frankie in tow.

"Frankie, be a dear and help this beautiful lady out while Heather is away."

It wasn't a question but you still felt the need to speak up, giving Frankie an out if he wanted it.

"I can manage-"

"But what about your-"

You'd both spoken at the same time and stopped mid-way through to let the other go first. Mrs. Crawley broke the silence instead.

"My hip is feeling much better, and I think I'll just make my way over to the bandstand," she gave Frankie a meaningful look accompanied by a rather sharper-than-expected slap to his cheek, "alone."

You both watched her walk over to the stage, stopping to wave at Jacquie and Agnes where they were organizing the bake sale.

"What on earth is going on," you thought to yourself while staring daggers at Jacquie from across the street. This had zero effect on her, she was just sending you lewd winks and had the audacity to give Mrs. Crawley a thumbs up. That conniving little-

"Emmmm... hi."

His voice, sounding uncertain and shy, brought your attention back to Frankie. Taking a moment to soak in his presence, you noticed how worn down he looked. "Good," thought the petty part of your brain, but she was easily squashed by the rest of it appreciating the rest of him.

Tight jeans hugging his thighs, the buttons on his shirt working overtime where the material pulled across his back and chest, his hair was long and getting shaggy but when you saw the curls peeking out from under his baseball cap you had to fight the sudden urge to run your fingers through it.

Your eyes traveled up his neck, noting the way his adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly, and across his face. He'd trimmed his beard, filthy thoughts of how it would feel on your skin flashed in your head.

Finally meeting his eyes with your own, you had to take a breath before replying.

"It's nice to see you, Frankie." Your tongue darted out to wet your lips, drawing his gaze "I guess we should talk-"

You were cut short by rowdy laughter and a crowd of people bustling onto the street, another wave of ticket-holders were coming to try their luck and win the huge teddy bear prize each game boasted.

For the next hour, you were kept too busy to talk more than what was necessary for running the booth. You used the time to gather your thoughts and make a list of what you wanted to say, how you wanted to say it, and how you were going to start the conversation casually.

Frankie wasn't sure how he had ended up as Mrs. Crawley's crutch. One minute he was dropping off a crate of fruit for the apple bobbing contest and the next he was walking at a snail's pace listening to the old woman reminiscing about her long-dead husband. 

She was sweet, and he didn't mind the slow meander around the square. No, it was the subject matter that had bugged him. After his divorce was finalized and his daughter was taken from him, which he could see now was the right thing to do at the time, Frankie had accepted the fact that he was alone.

Just him, his trees, and the memories of what he did to end up this way.

Then, you had come along. The first woman to catch his attention in five damn years. It wasn't just your beauty, or your easy smile, or the curves of your body. It was your goodness, your innocence, your ability to worm your way into everyone's hearts and not even know it. 

Listening to Mrs. Crawley and the love she had shared made his chest ache, knowing he'd never deserve it himself he still found himself longing for the same. The first moment he had laid eyes on you, it was like a movie about his life had played in flashes in his mind. The meet-cute at the market, romancing you with thoughtful dates like picnics and driving up to the city’s museums and theatre. Getting married, growing the business, then growing your family. It had all played out in a split second but the impression it had left was immeasurable. 

Then, he'd opened his mouth and ruined the moment. Crashed into your truck and ruined the moment. Spooked and burned you, ruining the moment. Gained your trust, broke down your walls, and then left like a coward in the morning and ruined it.

Shaken by his inward reflecting when Mrs. Crawley was jostled, Frankie froze in place once his eyes were directed to where you stood. You were glaring over his shoulder and refusing to meet his eyes, understandably, yet he still felt his chest contract with the hope you'd look at him and smile. 

The way your gaze had eventually taken him in, once he'd been abandoned by a suddenly spry-looking elder, had flared that longing back into a roaring flame. The sudden need to work the booth gave him plenty of time to plan his speech: begging for forgiveness and admitting to the way he felt. While his mind was busy planning his speech, his heart was bursting at how comfortably and effortlessly the two of you worked with each other, like you’d been doing it for years.

Heather returned, strolling over with a barely concealed smile on her face, not looking at all like she'd just come back from a domestic emergency. This whole town could win an Oscar for their performance tonight, it was mildly humiliating but you knew they were acting out of love.

She thanked Frankie profusely for standing in for her and wouldn't take no for an answer after suggesting the two of you go and enjoy yourselves for a bit. Glancing at Frankie you shrugged your shoulders and made a face that said "why not?". He smiled and nodded back, grabbing your bag and slinging it over his shoulder before joining you on the bustling street.

You walked in comfortable silence for a while, relishing just being near each other and absorbing the jubilant energy surrounding you.

Frankie bought you cotton candy and you made him belly laugh when you showed him the few bottles of cider you'd smuggled in your bag. Seeing the way his face lit up, how he exposed that delicious neck when he threw his head back, hearing the joyous rumble from deep within, sent a realization slamming into you so suddenly it made you stumble.

You loved him.

You might not be in love with him, not yet anyway, but there was a lightness and a warmth in your heart and he had put it there.

Frankie had grabbed your arm when you had stumbled and when you didn't pull away from his touch, his hand slid down your arm and his fingers wove their way through yours.

Walking like this, hand in hand, you found yourselves at the rides.

"I've never been on a Ferris Wheel," he admits to you, craning his head upwards to stare at the top carriage.

Dragging your eyes away from his neck, again, it took your brain a moment to acknowledge what he’d said. "What?!" You expressed with mock horror, already making your way toward the ride’s gate, "Then let's remedy that!"

"I'm- uh this is stupid," he was barely moving with you and adjusted his hat, a nervous tick you'd noticed, "I'm scared of heights."

This admission stopped you in your tracks.

"Frankie." You deadpanned, gripping his hand and pulling on it to emphasize your words, "You're. A. Pilot."

He groaned and you were sure you could see a blush creeping up from beneath his collar, "I know! I know. It's just that, up there?" He stops with a sigh, gazing at the stars wistfully, "I'm in control. I trust myself."

"Do you trust me?" You ask him softly gripping his hand between the both of yours.

Frankie gazed at your face for a breath, not in a way that made you think he was hesitating, it was more like he was pausing so you knew the full weight of his words.

"I trust you with everything."

PART NINE

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[ordinaryschmuck]

Why Samurai Jack is a Fan-Frickin’-Tastic Character

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And today, I’d like to introduce you to somebody:

This is Samurai Jack, from the popular Cartoon Network series Samurai Jack. Jack is a rare case. Where most shows would have a cast of main, secondary, and recurring characters of varying sizes, Samurai Jack is a series that mostly follows its titular character on his own. Sure, occasionally, you'll see the Scottsman or Aku making an appearance once in a while. But for ninety-five percent of the series, it's entirely focused on Jack and whatever oddball bounty hunter he's forced to deal with for the next twenty-two minutes. This type of decision can be risky because without quality writing, strictly following the same character week after week could get boring real quick. Thankfully, Samurai Jack is a series that's packed to the brim with incredible writing and direction, making Jack himself a fan-frickin'-tastic character.

How is that possible? Well, let me count the ways.

1. He’s the right type of overpowered

Jack knows almost every fighting style in the world and uses that knowledge to survive every bounty hunter, demon, and/or robot he faces every episode. On paper, this type of character could seem unbelievable given that he's just a mortal man, and even monotonous to know he always wins. But that's the thing: Even though Jack manages to almost always win every fight he's in, it's quickly explained why in the very first episode. Through a montage, we see Jack learning every fighting style from several teachers, each of them helping him prepare for the ultimate battle against Aku, an unspeakable evil. Through the simple act of showing us a few scenes of Jack learning a new skill, it's easy to understand why he's a difficult opponent to beat and easy to believe when he introduces another fighting style we haven't seen him use yet. Plus, while Jack's fighting is formidable, that doesn't make him--

WRONG SHOW! But it's true.

Despite winning every episode, it is never an easy feat. Nearly every battle results in Jack getting beat up and torn apart (Or, his clothes do, anyway). When this happens, it makes the victory feel earned rather than easily given. Take his fight against the beetles in episode three, for example. All of his traps go off without a hitch, and he makes it out while standing upon a pile of his vanquished foes. However, during the fight, his armor got stripped away entirely, and he's now scratched up and covered in robot oil:

That image alone proves that even though he’s winning, it doesn’t come easy for him. That remains a staple throughout most of the series, throwing in a few instances when he temporarily loses only to make his eventual victory all the sweeter. He may be overpowered, but at least it's still entertaining to watch regardless.

2. He adapts quickly

A bit of background information to those who haven't the show (probably should have done this in the beginning, but live and learn, I guess): Jack is an ancient samurai that gets magically teleported to a future where his mortal nemesis rules the world. Now, Jack is forced into an environment vastly different from his own, and in turn, he's forced to deal with a lot of stuff he doesn't know. Most writers would take advantage of this type of predicament to make a ton of fish-out-of-water jokes as a way to poke fun at the idea of a samurai being in a futuristic "utopia" (Or, at least, in Aku's eyes, it's a utopia). Thankfully, the writers avoid that cliche. In fact, if my memory serves me right, there's only one fish-out-of-water joke in the entire series. Which I'm more than grateful for because having a character getting thrown off and confused by the world around him would have gotten old fast. But it's not just being in a future world that Jack quickly gets used to. It's also being in situations he's unfamiliar with. Whether it's learning to fit in with dance-crazed zombies or being turned into a chicken (yes, that happens), it doesn't take too long for Jack to figure out a way to get through his current crisis. It proves that even though Jack is a strong warrior in battle, he's also a strategic one who can't be so easily outsmarted.

3. He plays off of everyone he encounters

Jack, in almost every sense of the word, is a straight man. Most of his humor comes from interacting with the bombastic temperaments of others due to his own behavior being so stoic and calm. The series accomplishes this feat by having the future world filled with colorful personalities, making almost every character the best comedic partner for Jack. Primarily through Aku and the Scottsman, who, as I mentioned before, are the only characters that make regular appearances. These are characters with personalities that clash with Jack's, what with Aku being bombastic and chaotic and the Scottsman being loud and crash. Every time Jack interacts with either of them, comedy almost always follows. A good thing too because while Jack can have his own humorous moments, it's better to pair a straight man with someone insane if you want the laughs to come frequently.

4. He’s still a ton of fun himself!

That being said, Jack is still a riot when he gets to be. By and large, I'd say he has a dry sense of humor, often shining through when he interacts with someone carrying the chaos for the both of them. But, occasionally, there are moments when Jack lets his goofy side out, and it's always funny. They're rare, but that in itself is why they work. Because since Jack always acts so serious in this series, seeing him suddenly break that character results in a laugh because it's something we wouldn't expect from him. If he always acted like this, it wouldn't hit as hard as it would only just be his usual sense of humor. So seeing him smile like an idiot as he's waiting "for the magic to begin" causes me to bust a gut laughing each time.

5. He lives despite tragedy

But not everything is all fun and games for our protagonist.

Jack has one goal in this series: Get back to the past and stop the future of Aku from happening. Several episodes make it clear how strenuous a task this could be, showing Jack briefly losing hope that he'll even complete it. Hell, a good chunk of the final season is him practically given up. He still fights to stop Aku's minions from wreaking havoc, but you can see that the light has left his eyes, and he is more than willing for it to end. But, despite how hard things get and how tragic his life can be, there is always a spark of hope that reminds him what he's fighting for and gives him a second wind to finish it. Even when he's at his lowest point, when everything is seemingly hopeless, Jack will always get back up to defeat Aku, no matter what timeline they're in. It is truly noble and shows just how much of a hero Jack is. In fact--

6. He’s the definition of what a hero should be

At least, to me, he is.

What do I mean? Well, I always believe that a hero is a person who would do everything they can to do the right thing, refusing to let innocent people suffer no matter what the cost. Jack proves it in every episode, frequently the ones where he's inevitably screwed over by his own selflessness. He could easily finish his quest and finally get back to the past, but because it could mean that someone innocent would be badly affected by it, Jack always doubles back to save them. The best example is in the second episode of season two. Jack gets ahold of a fairy that he heard can grant him any wish that he wants, but it's trapped in this ball of energy and will never get out. Jack can just wish to go back to the past and stop Aku once and for all. He only needs to make one simple wish. And what does he wish for? The fairy's freedom.

Because that's who Jack is. He's not the guy who would bargain for the life of another, even if his quest is more important. You can argue all you want that if saving something as inconsequential as the fairy's life is pointless due to tragedies like it being preventable if Jack successfully goes back in time. But that doesn't matter to him. A life is a life, and Jack is not the person to trade it. He's a hero and a damn good one at that.

There are many reasons why Samurai Jack is a fantastic character, but the one above, and the others I've just listed, prove how he is a fan-frickin'-tastic character.

(Sidenote: Does it bother anyone else that, despite five full seasons, we've never known what his real name is? No? Just me? Ok.)

[jaskiersvalley]

CW: Past child death.

Meeting Cahir had been quite accidental but it was something neither Lambert nor Eskel regretted in the slightest. They were at a party, not quite sure whose though, there were a lot of people there. The invitation had come from Yennefer who'd heard about it from Fringilla who was friends with Letho. It was possibly Letho's birthday but it didn't much matter in a way. A party was a party, that particular one was quite rambunctious, enough so that Lambert and Eskel needed a quick breather. What better way to get away from the noise than to discover Gaetan had brought his husky along and was chilling in the kitchen with someone else. That someone turned out to be Cahir who wasn't really much for parties but had lost a bet against Letho so had to come along and at least pretend to be sociable for a little while.

The first meeting turned into a second and a third hangout session. Over the course of spending time together, Lambert and Eskel learned so much about Cahir yet nothing at all. He didn't drive, had an old as the earth mobile that was near enough indestructible. Technology as a whole seemed to be something Cahir didn't seek out. He worked as an accountant, still preferring to use pen and paper for most situations rather than the computer programs favoured by most accountants. Oddly, it made him quite popular so he had no shortage of clients. However, aside from that all the two knew of Cahir was how he took his coffee (black, four sugars), that he had a preference for sweet things over savoury and that he lived in a house at the edge of town.

As time went on the meeting up became dates which turned into Cahir going over for dinner. Eventually it became Cahir going over for lazy making out session. All too soon Lambert and Eskel knew exactly what Cahir sounded like in bed and also how best to draw those sweet noises from him.

It was all well and good but it felt like Cahir was holding something back, shying away from inviting Lambert and Eskel back to his home. In a way it felt like Cahir keeping them at an arm's length and it hurt. But neither Lambert nor Eskel were very good at words, they didn't know how to ask without it either sounding like they were angry or disappointed. In the end they didn't have to ask. They'd had rough plans to meet up in the evening, Cahir going over to theirs again to probably spend the night in a tangle of limbs. However, he called to say that he couldn't book a taxi because there was some event or other on in town so everyone was already full. Almost shyly, he tacked on, "If you don't mind a bit of a mess, you could come over."

Which was how Lambert and Eskel finally knew his address and eagerly made their way across town, curious to see Cahir's home. Weirdly it was quite anticlimactic. There was nothing strange or unusual about Cahir's home. The tour of the bungalow was quite boring.

"Shoes and coats can be left here." Cahir pointed to the hooks in the hallway. "Bathroom's through that door. That's the kitchen and diner, living room. Door on the left is the bedroom the right it's the spare room." Most doors they could peer through except the spare room, that one Cahir very deliberately didn't open.

"What did you end up doing with the spare room?" Lambert asked curiously.

Sheepish, Cahir ushered them away from the door to the room in question. "What pretty much everyone I know does with a spare room. Filled it up with things."

Not a very satisfactory answer but Lambert let it drop. They had a wonderful evening together, all thoughts of the mysterious spare room gone from his mind. It wasn't the last time Lambert and Eskel visited. In fact, now that they had been once, Cahir seemed to be a bit more brave about inviting them over. Always keen to see their boyfriend, they went whenever invited, even if sometimes weird things seemed to happen in the house. Lambert thought it was some kind of weird practical joke. He knew Cahir had an odd sense of humour from time to time. So finding all the cupboard doors in the kitchen wide open one morning was chalked up to their boyfriend trying to be playful. It didn't stop there though. They stayed over enough times that they ended up with toothbrushes by the sink, a few changes of clothes in the wardrobe and their favourite snacks in the fridge. However, sometimes Eskel would find his clothes and toothbrush near the door. Which was odd because he didn't wake up to either Cahir or Lambert leaving the bed at night which was something he usually would do.

The other strange thing was that, despite being repeatedly told that the spare room wasn't exciting at all, Cahir sure seemed to spend a fair amount of time in there, sometimes even talking by the sounds of it, maybe even singing on one occasion. But it was brushed off. So Lambert and Eskel ignored the odd little things that happened around Cahir's house, misplacing phones, keys and remotes seemed to be the norm. His kitchen doors seemed determined to open at inopportune times despite there being magnets to hold them in place.

"Maybe he's got a lodger?" The various ideas Lambert and Eskel had were starting to get a little more outlandish as time went on.

Eskel shook his head. "I still think a secret child. It would explain the little girl's laughter I swear I heard."

"And the music box playing randomly on his mantlepiece in the middle of the night."

They had no firm ideas about what Cahir could be hiding or why but they agreed it wasn't worth the risk of barging into the spare room to find answers for themselves. If their boyfriend wanted to have his secrets, he was entitled to them.

Answers had a way of coming about in the least expected of ways. The phone call from Geralt was a surprising start.

"We fucked up." He sounded beyond tired and stressed. "Could you come over?"

Of course Lambert and Eskel hopped in the car and race round. Geralt was a lifelong friend and he'd had so much shit thrown at him throughout the years. The worst was probably the death of his and Yennefer's daughter, Ciri. They had taken it hard, quite understandably. She had been the light of their lives, cruelly taken at the age of five. It just wasn't fair. Arriving at their house, Lambert and Eskel knocked. An exhausted looking Yennefer opened the door.

The house was a tip, like a small hurricane had gone through it, things strewn on the ground, broken and ruined. In the living room Geralt sat on the sofa, head in his hands, looking no better than Yennefer.

"What the fuck happened?" Lambert was never one to beat around the bush.

Sad eyes turned to him as Geralt looked up. "We just missed her so much."

Which was no explanation until Geralt gestured to the bookshelf. There sat a doll, like a miniature version of Ciri, obviously custom made.

"You got a doll?"

"She's haunting us." Matter of fact, Yennefer didn't mince her words. "We couldn't let her go and now she won't leave."

Scoffing, Lambert shook his head. He'd heard of many stupid things, knew that Yennefer had frequently explored some occult things but this was taking it too far. A haunted doll? Ridiculous. Even more stupid to think that it was Ciri. Even if the mess left behind did look like one of her more infamous temper tantrums.

"It's okay," Geralt said. "Someone's coming to look at the doll, possibly to buy it."

That was something Lambert had to see, who in their right mind would buy an allegedly haunted doll? He settled on the sofa with Eskel and they took in the destruction around the room. It was quite extensive, whatever Geralt and Yennefer had done, it was a thoroughly done job. They didn't have to wait long before the doorbell went. Yennefer went to answer and an oddly familiar voice struck up conversation with her. Sure enough, Cahir rounded the door in Yennefer's wake. He froze when he saw Lambert and Eskel.

"Is this a joke?" he asked, taking a step back.

At the same time Eskel asked, "Cahir, what are you doing here?"

An awkward silence descended on the room until Geralt cleared his throat. "You still want the doll?"

Hesitant, Cahir cast Lambert and Eskel a glance, cheeks rapidly flushing. However, he gave a tight nod at Geralt's question. Immediately Yennefer was handing the doll over and Cahir looked at it with a small frown. His eyes looked a little unfocused for a moment before he smiled.

"Hello Ciri," he murmured.

"How the fuck did you know her name?" Yennefer growled. "Did you search for us before you came here? Look up the tragedy of our lives just to play some sick game?"

Cahir held a hand up to placate, eyes wide. "No! The doll's haunted, like you said. She's been struggling to let go for some reason." At that Yennefer looked guilty. Thankfully, Cahir didn't let her dwell on it, "I'm happy to take her off your hands. She won't cause you any more trouble."

A frankly ridiculous amount of cash was passed over for what was a porcelain doll that looked somewhat like Ciri. Lambert wanted to ridicule and mock but somehow couldn't find it in himself, too stunned by this revelation.

"Did you get a taxi here?" Eskel asked in the end and Cahir nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. "We'll give you a lift home."

It was obvious that Cahir thought he was going to be interrogated and maybe even dumped. His shoulders sagged, even as he held the doll in one arm like it was a baby.

"Thank you," he murmured. Goodbyes were exchanged with Geralt and Yennefer before they trooped out of the house and piled into the car.

Silence stretched for more than half the ride until Lambert couldn't contain himself anymore. "So, haunted dolls?" When Cahir didn't reply with anything other than a shrug, Lambert pressed on. "What do you get out of them? Is it a weird fetish?"

At least that drew a look of offended horror to Cahir's face. "No! They just need some love, space and understanding. Most people don't care for them properly, so someone needs to."

Which was weird as hell, if Lambert had to give an opinion. Dolls, haunted or not, were still dolls that could be played with or disfigured or binned as the owner saw fit. The haunted aspect was something only idiots tended to believe. And his boyfriend. But it was best not to think about it.

"You might as well come in," Cahir said softly when they pulled up outside his home.

Finally, Lambert and Eskel were allowed into the spare room. Despite their expectations and theories, nothing could compare to the reality. The walls were lined with shelves, on them sat who knew how many dolls, each one with a little card next to it with a name, date and a few notes such as "doesn't like biscuits" and "needs daily brushing".

"What the-?!" Lambert stared, Eskel was similarly astounded.

Looking at them, Cahir shrugged. "As I said, someone needs to care for them as needed."

The door slammed shut to the room, making Lambert jump. Cahir only chuffed out a soft laugh and settled the Ciri doll on a gap in the shelf. He pulled a card and pen from the draw, jotting down the name and date. As the card was put next to the doll, Cahir quietly spoke. "You'll be welcome here, Isobel is your neighbour, she'll help you get settled in."

A saucer crashed to the ground, the plastic clattering. Clicking his tongue in displeasure, Cahir only moved to pick it up. "Honestly, Dara. That's no way to greet a new arrival. We'll be out of your space soon. But Lambert and Eskel wanted to meet you all."

An exaggeration by far but the warning glance Cahir shot them stilled Lambert's tongue. Even if he thought this was all a crock of shit, there was no denying that Cahir took it seriously. Given the way Eskel was staring around, he was having doubts as well. Leaving the room, they settled in the kitchen while Cahir boiled some water for a tea.

"Do you really think they're haunted?" Eskel finally asked, incredulous.

"Yes." Cahir shrugged. "Not all dolls are haunted, some people just say they are for the wow and the money factor. But I don't take those, they don't need me."

"How can you tell which ones are haunted?"

With great simplicity, Cahir said, "I see them."

Which was beyond any rational argument but Lambert didn't know how to refute it without it descending into name calling. In the end, he let out a long breath through his nose and pinched the bridge of it.

"Okay." It was easier than arguing. "I'm glad you have such conviction in your beliefs."

Right on cue the television came on without anyone near it. It cycled through the channels before turning off again. There was an indulgent look on Cahir's face.

"Sometimes Sasha likes to explore."

Determined to prove him wrong, Lambert vowed to check the wirings in the whole house and have a long look at the TV. And fix the cupboard doors so they didn't pop open anymore. And install cameras to prove that the clothes, toothbrushes, and shoes moving around was either done purposefully or through sleep walking. In the end, Lambert didn't know what was worse, that he found nothing wrong with the TV, the cupboard doors were beyond fixing and there was nothing wrong with the wiring or the TV. Or that Cahir gave him a knowing look before his eyes seemed to go a little unfocused and to the left of Lambert before the sound of a child's laughter rang through the air.

[cherrehx]

okay so its 2am right now and I just thought of something really cute hhhh, so basically, how would kaminari, kirishima, todoroki and bakugou react to finding ship art or something of them and their crush?? I love your writing btw, it's so awesome 💕💕

super long wait, i know. half of this was written when bnha was still my hyperfixation, hence why it's one shots. the headcanons were written now, because i felt bad leaving out denki and eijirou. -cherry

katsuki bakugō:

it was just after nine in the afternoon. katsuki had already gone to sleep as per usual, though tonight he was rudely interrupted by loud knocking on his room's door.

"the hell do you want, loser?!", he shouted, still unsure of who was even at his door. everyone knew by now not to disturb him, so who dared to do so anyways?

getting out of bed and proceeding to open the door, the ash blond was slightly less angered when he saw eijirou standing there. said red head looked frantic because of something. bakugou honestly didn't even want to know what had got him so distraught, but he knew he wouldn't get his well deserved sleep otherwise,

"spit it out, shitty hair."

"we were looking at pictures from the sports festival online and we found something that you should maybe see for yourself!", eijirou started, realizing that he wasn't getting his friend's attention, so he added, "it's about you and (y/n)!"

kirishima was the only one that knew about bakugou's secret crush on you. that's why he wasn't laughing like everyone else in the common room; because what they found may cause complications.

after kirishima had mentioned your name, bakugou was swiftly jogging towards where almost all of his class was sitting gathered around a laptop, which seemed to be mina's, judging by all the leopardy and pink stickers on it.

"out of the way extras!", katsuki stomped over to see what all the fuss was about. from the corner of his eye he saw how you were cowering next to one of the couches, face covered by your hands. at first he couldn't understand why, but when he saw a particular piece of artwork displayed on the laptop screen, he figured you were just majorly embarrassed.

the art that his class found on google was from somebody's blog that was all about the 'heroes of the future!'. needless to say, the blog didn't only deal with the heroes, but also the relationships of them. ever since an encounter at the sports festival that a lot of people saw and shared around, you and bakugou had become a popular so called ship. (the girls explained that 'ship' didn't mean anything related to boats when they teased you about mentioned moment in front of him.)

katsuki couldn't help but feel embarrassed himself, but he also had to keep his cool to not seem suspicious. looking at the drawing of you and him one more time, the ash blond walked over to you, ignoring anything his class was saying.

"(y/n), you ok?", he crouched down to your level, poking your head once. his only response was a quiet hum, followed by a hiccup. worried, katsuki grabbed your hand tightly and pulled you outside the dorm.

the air was nice, not too hot, nor too cold. a light wind was blowing as the moon shone brightly.

bakugou gave you a little space and some time to calm down. when you did, he was quick to ask,

"what's the matter? did you get THAT embarrassed by it?"

you shook your head no. it was something more, but was this the right time to tell him?

"i was really embarrassed at first.", you started, "but then i thought about something and cried."

"about what?", the usually loud boy asked softly. silence was all he got for a good minute until you finally responded,

"you know how they say 'life imitates art'? i really wish it w-was like that..."

now you were the one getting silence as a response. did you really just say that?

"idiot, being all cryptic and shit.", katsuki tried to stay calm, even if he was freaking out on the inside, "if you want a kiss you can have it."

shōto todoroki:

mr. aizawa's classes had a pretty strict schedule most of the time: first the class would get an assignment, that they'd do until said teacher falls asleep. after that, everyone would quietly - in order to not wake up aizawa - do anything they want, really.

for shouto this was more or less just plainly boring, as he was one of the few students that actually did what they had to. he'd finish his work and then wait, because he had nothing else to do. he was most likely to bother midoriya, but today he was very into whatever he was writing down in his little book. so shouto settled for observing the classmates behaviour. well, rather your behaviour.

the half and half boy knew it was weird, but he liked watching you. he liked seeing you, especially when you were happy and smiling. todoroki knew what these 'symptoms' were, but he wanted everything to stay as it was for now.

why he had caught those feelings, he didn't know. he figured it was the way you stood out. you didn't get lost in between the others and he liked that.

while todoroki was deep in thought, ashido had walked over to your desk, where you were doing the assignment in peace and quiet,

"(y/n), look! the other's and i thought about how todoroki always stares at you so intensely, so we created these shipnames! which one do you like better?"

you looked at the paper or rather the newly created words and little pictures drawn by some of your classmates and immediately turned red. flailing your hands around a little, you lied,

"none of these, i don't...like todoroki in that way."

mina looked a tad upset at that, but she understood, nodded and walked back to her table. you sort of felt bad, having killed her excitement, but you didn't need anyone knowing about your secret crush on the stoic one.

speaking of the stoic one, he couldn't hear anything you and mina had talked about. he only saw her walking over, showing you something and you freaking out and sending her away. needless to say, he was curious what had caught you off guard so much. when shouto saw mina throwing away that suspicious piece of paper, he decided to look at it when class ended. even if he thought sticking his hand in the trash was a little gross.

the end of class came sooner than expected. shouto was packing his bag slower than usual, waiting until everyone had left. after they did, he skipped over to the trash can, pulling out the latest addition: a piece of paper that embarrassed (y/n)!

he stuffed it in his bag and carried on walking to his dorm room, where he finally felt safe looking at it, " 'ship names'? why would they want to name a boat after (y/n) and i?", he asked himself, before a certain doodle on the page explained your reaction and the girls' name-mixing. even shouto couldn't help but react in some way, thinking about said doodle happening in real life. that's when he got startled by a knock on his door.

"hey, todoroki. i know you always do your work in class, so i thought i'd come and ask you about...", you drifted off, seeing the light blush on his cheeks and his fire side burning, "...umm, am i interrupting something?"

he was hiding a piece of paper behind his back. you could see just the corner of it, but that was enough for you to identify what paper it was.

"didn't take you for the nosey type.", you akwardly laughed in order to drown out your embarrassment.

"sorry, i got curious.", he looked unusually upset, averting his heterochromatic eyes and letting his arms drop on his sides. you confirmed the paper was indeed the one that mina showed you earlier.

"did you dislike it a lot?", shouto asked without thinking.

now it was your turn to blush.

denki kaminari:

-ok hear me out

-his love language has to be physical touch

-so naturally, when you guys and the rest of the bakusquad had a sleepover, you cuddled

-platonically of course (even though both of you had feelings for one another, but shh)

-oh, but mina couldn't let this one slip

-she HAD to take a picture

-in the morning, when you were still only half awake, mina ecstatically showed her phone into your face

-"LOOK, (Y/N), YOU GUYS ARE THE CUTEST!"

-queue embarrassed (y/n) and denki

eijirō kirishima:

-i feel like with him, you had been like childhood friends

-and back in the day, you guys were all like

-"i'm gonna marry you when i'm older!"

-so you engraved a little "eijirō & (y/n)" into a tree

-years and years later you guys go back to that spot

-just because you wanted to reminisce the good old days

-you guys find the carvings

-"you know, (y/n), i still haven't changed my mind."

-"what do you mean, eijirou?"

-"i'd still marry you."

[syndianites]

A Queen Serves and Protects

Chapter Five

First Chapter –> Last Chapter –> Current –> Next Chapter Summary:

Post-Style Queen, Pre-Queen Wasp.

Chloe finds the Bee Miraculous, but instead of finding an obliging, subservient Kwami, she finds the Kwami of Order and Subjugation, and Pollen is not about to let herself be used like Nooroo was.

Granted, the only danger in a teenage girl is the damage she poses to herself. Can Pollen shape Chloe into a hero? Or will she stubbornly refuse to change and remain the bitter, harsh person the city has long since known?

[My take on how Chloe’s character could have developed] ——————————————————————————————

“Okay,” Pollen brought her paws together. “Let’s get this study session started.”

After the debacle of Chloe’s mother walking out on her again, Pollen insisted she get some food and relax for a bit. The two watched some cute cartoons- which Pollen was happily enraptured by- and sat together in pleasant silence.

That hadn’t stopped Pollen from plotting her next move, however.

Floating over Chloe’s tablet, which Pollen had asked her to hook up to the TV, she picked up the tablet pen and began drawing a simple figure. Adding a blonde ponytail, Pollen wrote ‘You’ over the top of the drawing.

“Let’s start with the basics. Emotions!” Pollen wrote out the word. “This is the thing that motivates people the most. Someone spills water on you? You’re angry. You are given a nice gift? Happy. So on and so forth.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. Even she knew this stuff. What was the point of this?

Tapping the pen on the drawing of Chloe, Pollen asked, “Now, what makes you a bad person?”

“What!” Chloe interrupted, “I am not a bad person!”

Pollen put her paws up. “I’m sorry, that was out of line. Let me try again: What makes people not like you?”

Chloe huffed. “I’m better than them and they know it.”

Instead of writing what Chloe said, Pollen wrote ‘you see yourself as above others.’

“Ugh, is this just an excuse to make fun of me? I’m so out.” Chloe made to stand up but was stopped by Pollen.

“Patience, Chloe. Right now, you're doing well. You working with me is a good start..” Pollen beamed at Chloe and she had to look away, lest the warmth blossoming in her chest got any bigger.

“What else makes people not like you?” Pollen asked.

Chloe hummed, trying not to make a sarcastic comment. “They don’t agree with my opinions, even when I’m right.”

Shaking her head, Pollen wrote down ‘You say things that upset people.’

Chloe crossed her arms and muttered, “It’s not my fault that they are upset by the truth.”

Ignoring her, Pollen continued, “Do you have any other ideas?”

Pollen received a head shake in reply. Which was fine, of course.  She could work with this.

Making a new page, Pollen re-wrote ‘You see yourself as above others.’

“So,” Pollen delicately sat on a pillow she had prepared next to the tablet, “Why do you see yourself as above others?”

Chloe scoffed. “That’s easy, it’s because my father is-”

“I said why do you see yourself as better than others, not why your dad is above others,” Pollen interrupted, fighting back an eye roll.

“Fine then, it’s because my mo- I mean,” Chloe gave a light cough as Pollen raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s because I’m rich and they aren’t.”

Pollen, sighing, wrote down ‘lives luxuriously.’

Chloe frowned. “Doesn’t that just mean I’m rich?”

“No, Chloe. Technically, you aren’t rich. Your parents are. You just live in a very comfortable, very nice place that is paid for and maintained by your parents and their employees. Is that something that makes you better than someone else?”

“Uh, yes?”

“No!”

Pollen took a deep breath.

Today was going to be a long day.

“Consider this Chloe.”

“I’m considering it.”

“Consider this, Chloe. Would you still be better than others if you didn’t live in this hotel? If you lived in a three bedroom apartment with your father?”

“Of course.”

“But what separates you from others if you live just like them?”

“Um.” Chloe was at a loss for words. If she was just like the others, how would she be better? “I just am, Pollen.”

“No.”

“Because I’m rich?”

“What if you weren’t?”

“Then it’s because I’m smarter than them?”

“Who is the smartest person in your class?”

“Ugh, fine, it’s because I know better than them.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been misguided before.”

“I’m more talented than them!”

“What are your talents?”

“Shopping, obviously.”

Pollen fought to not scream. Like talking to a brick wall. Well, if Chloe wanted to be a brick wall…

“I’ll ask one more time Chloe, what makes you better than others?” 

“I’m-”

Pollen cut her off by drawing an arrow beneath where she wrote ‘You see yourself as above others’ and wrote, with a deadpan look, ‘Nothing.’

Standing up furiously, Chloe waved her arms about. “What do you mean nothing! Of course I’m above others, that's just how it is! My family has more money, so we get better things, so I have a better upbringing, which means I’m better overall.”

“How often are your parents around?” Pollen stared Chloe down.

“I-, um, sometimes?” 

“How often is your father around?”

“He always picks up when I call.”

“How often is he physically around you, seeing what you do and spending time with you?”

Chloe sat back down. “We eat meals together. He greets me in the morning. And sometimes he brings me gifts. And, and! I sometimes go with him on his campaign stuff.”

Pollen rubbed her eyes in frustration. No wonder this girl had so many problems.

“Alright then, let’s start again. You are not better than others and here is why…”

//////////////

Monday was her first test. Pollen had insisted on making her work on how she talked to people first and foremost. According to her, ‘It will be easier to see others as equals if you treat them as such. The first step in that is to talk to them politely.’

That’s all she had to do. Be polite.

So when Sabrina greeted her as she arrived at school, instead of giving her a curt nod and waltzing past her, expecting her to keep up, Chloe grit out a “Good Morning.”

Sabrina, on her part, took the greeting in stride. “You seem to be in a good mood today, Chloe!”

Ready to walk forward without a response, Chloe almost groaned at the nudge she felt from her inner jacket pocket. “It is a nice day, Sabrina.”

Pollen, from inside the pocket, rolled her eyes. At least it was a response.

The duo walked into school, ignoring the chatter amongst the other students, and made their way to their classroom.

Ms. Bustier kindly greeted Chloe and Sabrina as they walked in and- after a nudge from Pollen- both Sabrina and Chloe greeted her back. Already Chloe was growing tired of this. Is this what people had to do every day? Ridiculous.

Class was the easiest part. Ms. Bustier, as nice as she was, was strict in her classroom. Even Chloe respected her. So the students behaved. All Chloe had to do was not make any biting comments.

‘Just because you say something you think is true,’ Pollen had told her in one of their many ‘Let’s Bee Nice’ sessions, ‘Doesn’t mean it isn’t hurtful. A good hero always thinks about how they affect others with their words.’

That is when someone decided to start shit. Of course.

In the brief period where they had a quiz- nothing serious, just a check to see how well they were keeping up with the subject so far- and had to go up to Ms. Bustier’s desk to turn it in, Lila happened. 

Lovely, lying Lila.

Chloe had taken her paper up, all on her own to Sabrina’s shock, and had been walking back to her seat when she saw Lila pull a quick sleight of hand. From inside her sleeve she dropped a simple, but nice, white hair clip just close enough to Marinette’s stuff to look like she knew it was there. Normally, Chloe would have shrugged and ignored it. But she knew Lila would disrupt the class over some little hair clip.

Did she know Lila had been messing with Marinette for a while now? Yes. Did she care that some of Lila’s stories were far-fetched? No. As Chloe saw it, Lila was just another girl trying to be popular and feel exceptional at school. Compared to Chloe, she would never be exceptional.

She pinched herself. Sitting back down at her desk, she reminded herself of the lesson Pollen had taken to drilling into her head everytime she talked down about someone.

‘What makes you better than others?’

Chloe, each time, had groaned before repeating, ‘Nothing. Everyone is unique in their own right but just as good as someone else.’

Did Chloe believe that? No! Some people were just better than others. All that sweet talk about how everyone was unique? That was just Pollen seeing the best in people. Chloe wouldn’t strain herself looking for something that wasn’t there. Some people just weren’t exceptional.

‘The only exceptional thing about you is your mother.’

Still, Chloe DID like Pollen a whole lot, and what was her speech about how people give other people power? If Chloe thought Pollen’s word was worth something, then clearly it was.

In any case, Chloe decided to keep an eye out for Lila’s next move. She wouldn’t let her cause chaos in Ms. Bustier’s class. She was the best teacher in the school, after all. And that had nothing to do with how nice she was to Chloe. Not at all.

It didn’t take long for Lila to act. As she was returning from Ms. Bustier’s desk, she gasped. “Marinette! Where did you find that hair clip?”

Marinette, unsurprisingly, was confused. “Find what?”

“That clip right there,” Lila pointed it out. “That’s the clip I lost this morning! My dear old grandmother had given it to me as a gift years ago, before she passed it’s-” She teared up a bit then, bringing a hand to her mouth. “It’s one of the last things I have from her.”

Chloe eyed the exchange with disinterest. Lila putting on the waterworks? Check. Marinette having no clue what was happening? Check. The whole class trying to pretend they weren’t listening in on the conversation? Check.

“I didn’t find it anywhere. I hadn’t even seen it until now,” Marinette said, bewildered. 

Taking that as her chance, Lila gasped again. “Marinette… did you steal it? Oh my gosh, no wonder I couldn’t find it! I had looked all over for it after I left my bag here to go get a quick breakfast. My poor mother was too busy this morning to get me anything, but left money for me to get food after wishing me a good day. Did you take it from my bag?”

For a moment Marinette’s eye twitched. Clearly, she didn’t believe the whole tale Lila had just spun. Chloe didn’t care. Lila loved to color her words with as much grandeur as she could. It was like a child coloring in a coloring book- just because the art was good didn’t mean the colors weren’t messy and didn’t clash horribly.

Belatedly, Marinette realized the whole class was listening in on the conversation. “I, uh, I-”

Lila turned to the rest of the class with misty eyes. Immediately, they jumped to her defense.

“Marinette, did you take it?”

“What do you mean you have no idea how that got there? It’s at your desk!”

“It couldn’t have just appeared.”

“It’s highly unlikely for the hair clip to have just made its way to Marinette’s desk on its own.”

Tired of the overlapping voices, Chloe audibly scoffed. “Puh-lease.” The class turned to her. Good. “Dupain-Cheng probably just found it on the floor and picked it up thinking it was lost garbage or something. Knowing Miss Goody-Two-Shoes over there, she was going to give it to Ms. Bustier or lost and found until she remembered that her clumsy, scatter-brained self was about to be late for class.”

There. All Marinette had to do was say, ‘Yes, Chloe! That’s exactly it! Thank you so much.’

Instead, she stared at Chloe just as dumbfounded as before. Lila, realizing she wasn’t going to get anywhere with this anymore, turned back to Marinette happily. “Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would have done if I had truly lost it.” 

“Uh, yeah, you’re welcome?” Marinette gave an awkward smile, eyes moving between Lila and Chloe rapidly.

“Although, I do wonder if you would have done that if you knew it was mine…” Lila wilted dramatically, before sending Marinette a pained smile and walking back to her desk. Leave it to the girl to find a way to still make Marinette a bad person.

Chloe rolled her eyes. Whatever. Now that the class had settled back down, Ms. Bustier could keep teaching and they could go back to making Chloe’s life of being a ‘better person’ easy.

Maybe this nice thing wasn’t so hard.

Pollen, meanwhile, was counting the nice comments versus the mean comments to see if she could count that towards Chloe’s niceness score.

[gucciwins]

Always Be Your Friend

Word count: 8990

 It’s easy to love your best friend but it’s not easy being in love with them.  Harry and Y/N became friends from the moment they first met. Will they take a chance and confess their feelings or will they watch each other fall in love with someone else.  *warning a mention of sexual harassment in the story*

Jeff had invited her to a small gathering at his house so that she could meet a few of his friends being new to the area and all, but when she arrived, she wasn't expecting a backyard full of people mingling and drinking beers. She's counted over twenty people, and she's yet to find Jeff. 

Y/N was about to get herself water from a red cooler when he finally spotted her. Jeff's quick to apologize but promises that everyone is kind, and his girlfriend went a little overboard with inviting her friends. She brushes him off and lets him know she'll be fine. 

If only she believed that lie.

She decides to leave but stays when she finds a small path that leads her to an opening, and she's met with a beautiful view of the sunset. She sits on white clean bench and enjoys the colors the sky is painting. She's lost in thought that she fails to hear the footsteps approaching her, but she doesn't startle when she hears a crunch of leaves breaking her of her trance.  

Her gaze is locked on Gucci loafers, which she assumes are paired with Gucci socks. She slowly starts to move her gaze up to his body, a small smile on her face as she sees the purple flared pants (later on would learn he calls them trousers and soon she would as well). As her gaze reaches his face, she can't help thinking how nice the white shirt he wears shows off his tanned skin nicely. She doesn't let her eyes linger too long on his tattoos, but she thinks they are beautiful. Her favorite part of his outfit might be the blue bandana wrapped around his neck. She finally meets his eyes and decides right then and there that green is her new favorite color. The sunset makes them appear lighter. He's staring at her with a smile on his face, dimples on full display. 

Y/N looks down at herself; she's wearing a wide-leg jumpsuit, a rust color, and if she's being honest, she looks really good. Thankfully, no one wants to make a first impression under-dressed; at least that was what her mother taught her. 

She doesn't turn to look at him anymore and keeps her eyes in front of her. 

"Never seen you before, around from here?" His voice was slow and soothing. His accent is sweet as honey. 

He really surprised her with the accent, that might just have convinced her he must be the most perfect human from his tall, lean stature to the brown curls to the captivating green eyes. 

"I'm new. Jeff is my friend." She pauses. "Acquaintance met him a week ago at work, and we hit it off. I've been here two weeks officially." 

"Jeff's great, although his girl is quite popular."

She laughs and agrees with him. 

"Sorry, I'm Harry." He approaches her with his hand stretched out.

She smiles when Harry repeats her name back as they let go of each other's hands. He then takes a seat, and they fall into easy conversation. 

"I really love your tattoos, do you get them done around here?" She asks, genuinely curious eyes locked on the beautiful mermaid on his arm. 

"Most, done at this shop, a buddy of mine works at. He's really talented, and I trust him. A few, I've gotten when I was traveling."

She hums to let him know she's listening. 

"Got lots more than just these, but might be inappropriate to undress in front of a stranger." He says honestly, not wanting her to be uncomfortable. 

"Here I thought we were becoming friends," she teases.

He laughs, shocked at her response. She smiles, glad they share the same type of humor.

"Got any of your own?" 

"I've got two, but one no one knows about." She answers him honestly.

"I've got three stars behind my right ear." She pauses and looks at him before crossing her left foot across her thigh. She moves her jumpsuit higher and there on her ankle is a peach. "I got a peach when I was eighteen because I wanted a tattoo, and the reason I got a peach is still unknown to me to this day." 

"Peaches are sweet. So are you."

She blushes but stills looks at him. "That's your first impression of me."

He nods. "You could have ignored me and left or not even answered me or worse answered like a jerk for not knowing your name already but instead let a strange walk into your bubble." 

"I like you, Harry. Think the accent won me over."

"Oh, really," He smirks. "Wasn't the dimples or piercing green eyes."

"Eh.." She shrugs

She laughs, and Harry can't help but join her.

On a bench watching a sunset, Harry and Y/N become friends.

~

"Harry!" She screams as she walks through the backdoor. "I've run out of almond butter."

"Broke into my house, why?" Harry replies as he walks into the kitchen, hair wet. He's dressed in grey sweats and a black hoodie. He's got scruff growing, and as much as she loves to tease him about it, Harry knows how much she loves it. 

"I didn't break in." She's spreading Harry's almond butter onto her slice of toasted bread. "The back door was open which means come right in." 

Harry's standing there watching her take a bite of her toast. "Peach, how are you already eating when you've been here less than five minutes?" He narrows his eyes and looks at his unplugged toaster that sits next to his coffee machine that is surprisingly already brewing. "Did you run here with it in your hand?"

She scratches her neck lightly, index finger dragging slowly. "Umm...of course not."

"Right, you wouldn't because you live a thirty minute walk away. Running only means you'd get more germs on it."

She rolls her eyes at Harry's concern. "Are you hungry, I'll make you something. I have time on my hands before I have to run back home." 

Harry grins, allowing her to drop the topic and quickly agrees because he adores her cooking. "I'll have your egg whites special, please."

She nods, kissing his forehead before moving to the fridge to get the things out she'll need. Harry stares at her and thinks back to when he first met her. He thinks it's insane he went so long without her in his life. Harry owes it all to Jeff that he kept bringing her to their outings when she first moved here. Harry will never admit that to him, he doesn't want to have to name his first child after him. 

Harry furrows his brow in confusion. It's Saturday, and she always stays the weekend with him.

"You usually stay over?" He questions as she hands him his plate. "Why do you have to leave?"

"Cassie set me up on a date." She looks down at her nails and frowns seeing a few chipped and she knows it is from all the cleaning she has been doing at home because work has been slow and she needed to keep busy. "I'm going to cancel it." She decides instantly. 

She takes off her sweater and settles herself on the chair next to Harry taking a drink of his coffee. She hums at the sharp taste, one she learned to appreciate after being his friend for years. 

"Just like that," Harry is trying his best to hide his excitement but knows he's failing miserably.

"My nails look atrocious. It's like I'd be showing up naked" She physically shivers at the thought. 

"We can do face masks and each other's nails." Harry says after taking back his coffee, knowing she'd drink it all without meaning to.

She lights up at Harry's suggestion. 

"Yes, oh, can I use the candy apple one?" she asks her eyes locking with his and Harry melts in his seat at the innocent look she's giving him. He doesn't remember a time he's told her no.

As soon as she hears the word yes come out of his mouth, she's racing up the stairs to gather up the things they'll need. 

He hears a thump upstairs and is about to make his way up when he hears an "I'm good." He laughs and washes his plate before heading to the living room. Harry turns the tv on and decides on parks and rec because it's their favorite to watch together.  

"I got you black with glitter. Starry starry night is a beautiful color." She's admiring it as she walks down the steps with her arm full of things they might need, like the nail polish remover they'll need to take off her chipped color. "I know you were hiding this from me, which is why I will be using it on you." 

Harry takes some things from her and sets it on his old coffee table. "I got it a few days ago. Honestly, bought it with you in mind." He confesses. What he doesn't admit is that when he saw it, it reminded him of the first time they laid in his backyard and although that night wasn't clear enough she told him about her favorite constellations and that if she was an artist she'd draw the moons and stars every night. Looking back, Harry can say that is the moment he fell in love with her. Not that he knew that then, no, he realized much later.  

The smile on her face has his heart beating out of his chest. Harry swears she's going to kiss him. She leans in plants a big kiss on his cheek, which still makes his cheeks go pink, but his heart drops because he really wanted her lips on his. 

She pouts when she catches Harry staring at her. "You're staring because I smell right." She narrows her eyes at him as if judging him for making her self-conscious. "If I go shower, will you let me borrow some clothes?" 

Harry knows she has more than a change of clothes in her own drawer in his bedroom, but he agrees, and she's off once more up the stairs.

~

"Are you ready?" She screams walking in through the front door.

Harry had invited her out for Tuesday brunch seeing as she had the morning off, and he thinks he has the right to not be ready. He promised he'd be waiting for her on his sofa so that as soon as she walked in, they'd be off. She walks into the living room as if it's her first time there and smiles at the pictures he has scattered around. She finds a book on the couch and frowns because, of course, it's another Bukowski book. She walks up the stairs to his bedroom and walks in expecting him to be in bed, but instead, she finds him in a 'Women are smarter' t-shirt and a blanket on his lap, and she knows he's got nothing underneath. Harry's got the right earphone in, he's sitting at a makeshift table he made in his walk-in closet talking to his laptop. She assumes he's meeting with a client and is about to walk out when something catches her eye. It's a photo of her on his nightstand. Harry looks at her from the corner of his eye. He starts to fidget with a ring on his middle finger. He focuses back on his client, but he's not really listening, too busy admiring her. She doesn't feel Harry's wandering eyes on her back, but Harry knows he's been staring too long when his client repeats himself.

She approaches slowly as if the item would jump at her any second. She picked up a photo of herself from Los Angeles when they were there together in Autumn. She's smiling brightly at the cinnamon buns they made together when they were helping Jeff move into his house, and she told him she had to test out his oven. She didn't even know he took a picture of her. She's about to turn it over, but it's snatched out of her hand. 

"Hey," she pouts. 

"It's mine. Stop being so snoopy."

"I wouldn't be snoopy if you didn't leave your things out. I look really pretty there. I can see why you want me there to look at every morning."

Harry turns around to hide his blush. "You're there because I sent it to a friend of mine because I think you would be a good match." Harry wants to punch himself because out of all the lies, he had to pick that one. 

She stares at him with wide eyes. She doesn't want a date with a stranger. 

The person she wants to date is standing in front of her. Now, she definitely knows he doesn't like her because he's setting her up with someone else.

 "Is he tall?" Is her first question stopping herself from asking a second. 

"An inch or two shorter than me." 

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Well, that just won't do," she says dramatically. "My Flynn Rider is hmm..your height, or he could be taller. I don't mind." 

Harry chuckles. "He's a fan of ice cream and loves Sudoku." he states two of her favorite things. 

She narrows her eyes at him. 

"Is he a big handsome boss like you?" She jokes.

"He works in marketing in a company that works with us." 

"Marketing, I'm already bored to death." Harry gives her a pleading look. "I'll go, but only if you promise to get Anne to send me her recipe for her mince pie because I want to impress her this Christmas."

"Christmas is months away."

"I know, but I- I tried making some to practice and get better, and it was a disaster. Maybe because I'm not British, it's bad. I want Anne to like me." she says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Peach, my mum loves you. I can assure you. Those sticky buns you made on boxing day were all mum talked about for weeks after you left to spend new years with your brother's."

"Those were good. I haven't been able to make sticky buns that good. It must be the ingredients, we might just have to move to Europe, H."  

"I'll book the flight Peach, just let me know when." 

She walks out, so Harry doesn't see the blush on her face. She really loves this man and might die if she doesn't tell someone soon. 

~

"I brought ice cream!" She yells, walking in. 

She stops in the kitchen but doesn't see him or hear him. She checks his office, and it's empty, the same as his bedroom. She thinks he might be late getting out and starts The Great British Bake Off  because their conversation from days ago is still in her head. Also, it's her comfort show after a shitty date

She hears the door unlocking and is grateful because two hours she had been waiting for him. She stands up eager to greet Harry, but as she turns around, she's met with a pretty blonde she's never met. She's dressed in a black dress that reaches mid-thigh hugging her curves in all the right places with red heels, and the only thing missing is the matching red lipstick. 

Harry walks in with his hand on her back, and that's where she finds the blonde's missing lipstick. It's smudged all over Harry's lips. It’s obvious they had done a lot of kissing. She does her best to hide her shock.

The room is quiet, she thinks she can hear her heartbreaking. She reacts in a matter of seconds. Eyes wide and in panic, but she makes sure to move quickly. She shoots the girl a quick smile. She turns the tv that was on mute off, thankful to have already thrown her trash away.

"What are you doing here?" Harry practically screams at her. "Did you ditch the date?"

She's panicking, and if she doesn't stay calm, she might just pass out or better yet scream at Harry for sending her on the worst date of her life. She already let Sydney know what happened on the date but assured Syd she'd be fine at Harry's. 

Oh, how wrong she was. 

"I'm sorry it didn't go as planned. I'm leaving now." She picks her shoes up at the door and walks out with them in hand. 

Harry follows her out and is hot on her heels. 

"Did you ditch him for ice cream and movies at my house?" Harry's voice getting louder.

Harry's upset. She hasn't seen him this upset since the time she called Harry and told him she was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire and how she didn't have a spare because she kept forgetting going to the shop and buying a new one. He had let a tow truck take her home and proceeded to yell at her when she went to his house two days later. 

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll send him a fruit basket." 

She's in her car and in the next second driving down the street. 

She wants love but not like this, it isn't supposed to hurt like this.

~

Harry wakes up at seven to get ready for his daily run with his Peach when he sees a few texts on his phone. 

Sydney: I know you had good intentions but no more dates for her.

Sydney: Please, just do anything she wants. Give her all the ice cream she wants. 

Sydney: I'm assuming it all went well, and she's still sleeping because she hasn't answered my messages.

Harry's confused and does the only logical things and calls her. 

"Syd, what are your texts about?"

"The date you sent her on. She was supposed to tell you about it once she got to your house."

"I wasn't home. Peach said she ditched him for ice cream and movies at my house." He says, not mentioning the part where he screams at her. 

Syd sighs clearly hearing the strain in his voice, "I know there's some information missing there, but I won't push because she's my friend first. The dude basically met her and said her outfit wasn't revealing enough, but she could make up for it the next time. Then during dessert, he moved to sit next to her instead of across. He tried to put his hand up her dress. She told him to stop." Syd paused. "Then he tried it again, and she jumped up from her seat. She almost bumped into the waitress but he grabbed her waist too tight to let that happen. The waitress saw how upset she was and had the hostess and security walk her to her car.  She walked out crying because she just wanted to punch him but didn't want to cause a bigger mess." 

Harry doesn't know if he wants to scream or cry. He does feel anger pouring through his veins and knows next time he sees this guy he's going to do more than yell. 

"She left last night saying she ditched and that she was sorry. I'm such an idiot." Harry knows Syd will yell at him for what he did next. "I yelled at her because I brought a girl home and she was there. I practically told her the date happened, so she'd give me space."

"You suck. I thought you were better than that. That girl is the kindest person on this planet. She loves you and she always puts your happiness in front of hers."

Harry knows she isn't coming, but a small part of him holds hope she will still show up for their run together.

He sits on his back steps, waiting for her. Texts her multiple times, leaves voicemails. Yet nothing in return. 

Peach: I'm busy.

Harry: Come over, please.

Peach: I can't. My boss asked me to come in. A presentation is due Monday.

Harry: We need to talk, call me or come over whenever. I'm always free for you.

It's almost been two weeks since she talked to Harry, but she's honestly embarrassed about how things happened. Harry implied he set her up on a date because she spent too much time with him. She's giving him what he clearly wanted. She also had to process what happened to her alone. Therapy was good, Dr. Stein was very kind. Dr. Stein didn’t make her problems feel small and it felt nice to let things out instead of letting it all bottle up. 

It felt horrible to be away from Harry so long. Since they became friends they’d never gone longer than a day without communication. She felt empty but the image of lipstick stains on his face kept her away longer than she liked to admit. She’s going to push the feelings aside because that won’t be the reason she loses her best friend. 

She's walking up Harry's steps but stops before she reaches the last one. What if he has the girl over? What if he ends the friendship? All these thoughts are running through her head and she hates having not knowing where Harry and her stand. She always hated confrontation.

As soon as she approaches the door, she sighs but squares her shoulder because she's strong. No one, not even Harry will make her feel weak. She's there to apologize for being in his home and overstepping a boundary. Then hopefully, they’ll talk it out. 

She knocks for the first time in years on his door, and it feels strange, but she sucks it up because this is the correct thing to do. 

She hears his light footsteps and takes two steps back.

He's surprised to see her when the door opens, but the smile he wears is bright before he frowns just as quickly.

"You don't need to knock Peach come in."

She steps in slowly toeing off her shoes carefully.

Harry approaches her and brings her in for a big hug. She stands there with her hands at her side. Harry lets her go when he feels her tense.

"What's wrong, Peach?" He frowns looking her up and down. "I've got lots of apologizing to do, but first, why'd you knock."

She looks up at Harry and pouts when she sees the eye bags he has. "You haven't been sleeping."

"It happens when your best friend is short with you for thirteen days, but it's okay because I deserve it." 

"I didn't mean for that to happen, but I was giving you space because I hadn't realized how much I actually bother you."

"Hey, stop that." Harry looks at her sadly. "That's not what I meant that night." 

"I can read between the lines. You don't have to hide anything. I can handle the truth." 

"Listen to me," Harry guides her head to look up at him. "I was a jerk. I let my dick do the talking. You are the most important person in my life. I love you, and I don't know what I'd do without you in my life. I was going crazy this week. It felt like an entire year went by without you."

That makes her laugh. "Stop lying."

Harry shakes his head with a smile. "I mean it. My days without you are long and boring pretty Peach."

"Well, I'm here now, and I smell something good."

Harry hesitates before opening his mouth to address the reason she was at his house that Friday night.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't be the person you go to when you're upset." She tenses up just as she was about to reach for a chocolate muffin. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk the one night you needed me most. I'm your best friend, and yet I couldn't tell that you had been crying because of an idiot I set you up with." 

She turns around to look at him, and there's no tears or anger in his eyes, only sadness. "One in three women get sexually assaulted. That's what Matt, Sydney's fiance, told me. He's a social worker.  Women have to fear men yet are never believed or seen as a victim. I told them he didn't hurt me, but Matt told me that it was harassment. I tried to belittle it but they told me it was okay to feel unsafe because it went against what I wanted.  Guess I needed someone unbiased to tell me that it's okay to be affected." She smiles. "I went to see my therapist. It felt umm…good to discuss everything that happened." 

Harry has tears running down his face, and he knows they won’t stop. Seeing her in person has made his guilt really come to surface. "I'm sorry sweet Peach. I'm sorry I sent you on a date that led to this. It's all my fault."

"H, don't cry. It's not your fault he doesn't know how to treat a woman. I'm okay. I will be okay." 

She's holding his face gently in her hands, and Harry falls more in love with her at this moment because she's never looked stronger. Although she was hurt, she won't let it break her but guide her. 

He pulls her in and hugs her tight. Harry kisses her head, whispering I love you, and I'm here for you. 

Harry knows this doesn't clear everything, but they will cross this bridge together and come out stronger. 

She squirms out of his hold. "The muffins are getting cold. I want the chocolate chips melting in my mouth."

~

Harry is sitting in the car on another business call. He's wearing a yellow shirt he woke up in and threw his black hoodie on. His sunglasses resting on his head keeping his curls from falling forward. He was in shorts and running shoes because he was supposed to run with Peach on this new trail, except this call prevented him from doing so, and she didn't want to wait around for him. He knows she doesn't like running when the sun is high, so early mornings are their go-to. Except Harry's job calls him too often on Saturday's because they know he's awake.

He's not sure how long he's been talking, but he's upset because he missed taking pictures of her for whenever they reached the top of whatever they were running to. His passenger door is pulled open, and it's Peach plopping herself down. Shoes taken off and on her feet are her Nike sliders. Harry snaps his head back into the call. 

"Look, H, I fell." She comments, not caring that he was still on his call.

Harry turns to look at her quickly and sees her knee pulled to her chest. She's rolled up her grey leggings, and there on her knee is blood rolling down. She's unfazed, and Harry knows she's clumsy but hates he wasn't there to help her up. 

"This girl helped me up and offered to walk back with me, but she could have been a serial killer for all I know and told her I was fine and ran off. Good thing I was on my way down already." 

Harry stares at this girl in disbelief because, of course, she doesn't trust anyone. "I know girls are less likely, but she was looking at my boobs, and I didn't like that." 

"Styles, you with us." His colleague asks. 

Harry looks away from her and stares back at his phone, resting on the steering wheel. 

"Sorry, my girl had an accident, and I got to take care of it." They end after that and Harry takes out the first aid kit she gifted him to have in his car for emergencies. He knew she did it for herself more and who was he to object. Harry missed the blush on her cheeks when he said, "my girl," and she's thankful for that. He cleans her cut gently but quickly with all the practice he's had on her. He puts a bandage on and smiles when he's done. 

"H, it's got daisies" She's smiling wide. She caressed it softly to not bother her injury. 

Harry did get her different types of band-aids because a new design each time makes her smile. 

“Kiss it better then I’ll be healed.” 

The smile on her face has Harry leaning in close. His lips are soft as they touch her skin. She wants to run her fingers through his hair and bring him up to kiss her lips but she settles for just her knee. 

~

"It's baking time, bitch!" She screams as she walks in with her Rapunzel grocery tote. 

Harry knows they are going to bake two or three things from the size of the bag. She huffs a little, placing it on the counter. She begins to take out her items and sections them out. 

"Today, young one-"

"I'm older than you."

She glares at him for interrupting. "Today, smart-ass. We are making banana bread and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies." 

"Can you do it on your own, I'm busy." Harry jokes, expecting a sarcastic reply in return. 

He looks at her, and she's looking sadly at a bag of chocolate chips. He frowned if she did not get the joke. 

"Am I annoying you?" She questions. Harry hates how often she asks him that, but wounds take time to heal. 

"Nope, I'm just a jerk."

She looks at his eyes and stares. "You're not lying to make me feel better." 

"My sweet Peach, it would be an honor to bake with you and will allow you to pick all the movies we watch tonight because I am an idiot who takes a joke too far." 

"Okay, sorry. I'm on overdrive in my head and came here to relax, but got too into my head." 

Harry pulls her into a warm hug, and they stay like that for minutes. He pulls away and pushes her to the sink because they had work to do.

"Your peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are my drug. I watched you make them, but I feel you do something extra when I turn around." Harry says on the couch chewing on his fifth cookie. She's laying with her head in his lap, she's sure she got crumbs in her hair but is too tired to care. 

"I put all my love for you in those cookies." she murmurs close to dozing off.

Harry stares at with a soft look in his eyes. If she had looked up, she would have seen it was love in those green eyes of his. 

"I wish the love you put in the cookies is the love you'd give to me."

She's asleep in his lap. He knows she missed his declaration if he could even call it that. She lets out a small smile. She grabs his hand playing with her hair and pulls it to her chest. "I love you."

Harry freezes, unsure if she means it or what because it didn’t feel like the typical ‘I love you’ that she tells all her friends. Y/N's never talked in her dream before. 

"Peach," he whispers, "you awake." A minute goes by, and he gets no response 

This might be his chance, but it could also ruin everything if she didn't mean it. 

Oh boy.

~

It's been a week since that night on the couch, and Harry is dying inside. He never has the balls to ask.

 It's the first Friday of the month, which means dinner and wine or in her case tea. 

Peach came over and had already cooked dinner claiming she had lots of time on her hand today. It usually means she didn't want to deal with Harry in the kitchen. Then proceeded to order Harry to set the table because he was no help.

The meal as always was delicious. She made spicy lemon pasta with chicken although she told him it was supposed to be shrimp, she didn't think she'd like it. Harry showed her in praise as he does after every meal. Jokes, she needs to open her own restaurant, then she melts Harry's heart by saying, "I only cook for you, darling." 

Harry decided to have some wine, and she settled on tea because she didn't like to drink. Harry was giggly meaning he was a bit tipsy because he hadn't drunk in forever and was half a bottle down. She knew it wasn't fair but decided now would be a good time for some answers. 

"Do you think I'd be a good girlfriend?

"The best," he replies, instantly letting her know he's not lying. 

She blushes and gestures for him to go on. 

"You're kind. A good cook, understanding, incredibly smart, and you've got a cute nose." Harry wants to go on and on but thinks he'd blurt out his feelings if he did. 

"Would you ask me out? If you didn't know me."

"In a heartbeat," his answer shocks her.

Does Harry like her like she liked him? 

She decides to get bold. 

"Why haven't you taken me on a date?" She looks down at herself dressed in black sweats and a blue vintage Mickey Mouse shirt she stole from Harry. "Am I that bad looking?"

"Stop that," Harry murmurs, always hating when she comments on her looks. "I did ask you out, and I got friend-zoned. I didn't pursue more." 

She shakes her head. "Stop shitting me, H." She doesn't believe him. "The first time we went out together, we split the bill." 

"Think back, Peach. We always hung out in groups then I asked you to go out alone, I picked you up, opened your door and then we split the bill because you said friends met in the middle." 

She sits back, her lips mouthing a silent 'oh.'

"I friend-zoned you." She starts laughing. "That's gold." 

She catches her breath and stops to stare at Harry. He's wearing an old white t-shirt and can't help but look at his curls framing his face. It's slowly growing out, and she knows he's growing it out for her. She loves playing with his curls and tying it in a small ponytail that sticks up. "H, if you had told me that during lunch, I would have agreed, but you decided to keep those pretty lips shut." 

Harry smirks, "You think my lips are pretty." 

She sighs, giving up. She stands up. "I'll pick you up at six on Friday. I'm taking you on a date." 

Harry sits there shocked but not surprised at her boldness. 

"How do you even know I like you?" 

Her smirk falters, and her eyes dull. Harry feels like he was just punched in the gut. He put this look on her face. 

"You're right, that was insensitive of me." She's scanning the room, trying not to meet Harry's eyes. "I'm going to go." She rushes out the door in the next second. Harry is sitting there stunned before he jumps up after her. 

"Wait," he screams, hoping she'll stop. She's in a hurry to leave, throwing her bag in the passenger seat. She shuts the door, but to his benefit, the window is down. 

"I'm sorry." he's panting. "I'm an idiot, I know. I didn't mean that. I just like to tease you." He's looking at her, but she's looking straight ahead. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

She takes a deep breath. "That wasn't nice."

He sighs in relief. "I know, hun. I messed up. We were both being honest and vulnerable, and you surprised me by saying you were taking me out." 

"I'm reconsidering taking you out." 

She finally looks over at him, her eyes not shining as bright looking at him. "I’m still going to go." 

"I'll let you go if you say you'll still take me out." 

She looks like she wants to say no. "I'll hang here if I have to as you drive away." 

"Do you.." she pauses, not being able to meet his eyes. Her hand reaches out to play with his pretty witch ring on his middle finger. "like me." she mutters. 

"Hey, look at me." Harry guides her face to look at him, and he's never seen her so vulnerable. So open. What he feels like her heart is on display. "I'm crazy about you." 

She can't help the blush that colors her cheeks. 

"For so long, I've had these feelings, and I've gone on dates, but it's never worked out, and I've always known it was because they weren't you." 

She smiles timidly. "Okay, H. I'll still take you on a date."

He leans his forehead on hers. "I can't wait."

"I really want to kiss you, but I'm a gentleman. and I want to do this right by you." Harry runs his thumb gently over her bottom lip. She releases a small sigh, her breath warming his thumb. 

"Can't tonight count as a date?" She's looking from his eyes to his lips. 

Harry laughs loving the extra attention. 

"I like to be wined and dined, too, Peach." 

She sighs. "I sure know to pick them." 

A kiss to her forehead and he backs away. "Drive safe, Peach."

She drives off a smile on both their faces.

~

"Okay, I know I was the one who was supposed to pick you up, but I really need you to come for me." 

She's sitting next to the steps that lead to her door cradling her wrist to her chest, cursing the last wobbly step she has yet to fix. 

Maybe Harry will help her fix it sometime soon. 

"I'm not going to ask why I'll be there in five," Harry replies.

"I live 15 minutes away!" she screams, "You better be driving safely, or I'll punch you." 

"Sorry Peach, I meant to say see you in ten." 

She hangs up and shoves her phone in her bag and ponders if she should get up or not. 

She pulls her hand away from her chest a little and sees that it looks okay, thankfully she didn't put rings on today; otherwise, they might have been stuck on her fingers. She looks at her nails and smiles because her lilac nails didn't chip. She did them last night because Harry loves this color. 

Harry arrives and gets out in a hurry that he almost trips over her. 

"Watch it, H." She mumbles, playing with a rolly polly that she found next to her bag. "You almost killed Eric."

Harry stares down at her, not sure what's going on, but gives her time. 

"Our date is for you to drive me to urgent care because I've had an accident." She smiles up at him like it's the most normal thing in the world. 

"Can't say I've ever had someone take me there," he answers, his gaze locked on her swollen wrist.

"I know you will remember me forever and ever for this. Now help me up, my butt is officially numb."

He walks her to his car and goes as far as putting her seatbelt on for her. 

"Want to tell me how it happened?" 

"I was walking down the steps, and my shoe got stuck in the bottom step I have yet to fix. Instead of landing on my face, I put my hands out, and now my left wrist is hurting," she pouts, looking at harry. "I was supposed to fix it this Sunday. I got the supplies in the doorway, ready to go.

"Does it hurt?" he asks, concerned because it is swelling up and the bruising only makes it look worse.

"Nope, I got a high pain tolerance," she winks.

"I'll keep that in mind." He jokes, but gosh, that sure got him tight in his pants.

"I know it's not broken because it doesn't look weird but also not a fracture because it would hurt if I touched my fingers, but they move fine. I just want to know what kind of sprain it is. How long I need to keep it rested and all that fun stuff."

Harry looks at her, not at all surprised she knows so much about the injury. 

"I wasn't always accident-prone. I did sports, and high school division one was tough. I went through lots of icing and taping. The trainer and I were on first name bases. I ended up helping her a lot. She made me take this short course where I learned the basics." 

Harry smiles because although this date is unconventional, he sure is learning more about his Peach. 

They are surprised to see the urgent care waiting room pretty empty. She gives her name, and she's handed a clipboard. Harry is quick to take it out of her hand and begins to fill it out. 

"I should be scared that you know my social security but I'm not." 

"Remember, two summers ago, you wanted to go to Lake Tahoe for a week, and we rented that cabin, and we decided to get drunk together because you didn't drink and only wanted to know how it felt. You only felt safe enough to do it with only me. Well, I decided not to get drunk that night so that I take care of you. You swore you were going to die and proceeded to sing your social security to me in a song until I could recite it back to you." 

She nods as if trying to think back to that day. 

"That day is nonexistent to me." she laughs. "Alcohol sucks. Don't need that in me ever."

"I drink it for the both of us to remember." 

"Yeah, cause your tolerance is high; it must be the British in you," she says, bumping his shoulder softly.

She peeks over to look at the question he's on, and it's asking when her last period was. She's about to answer when she sees he wrote in the correct days. She doesn't comment on it. 

"Do you believe in soulmates?." 

Harry turns to look at her with his bright green eyes. “Yeah, it’s a nice thought. Have someone who completes you and understands you like no one else.”

“I know it’s our first date, but we’ve been friends for over three years and since the moment we met I was hit with this ease and safety when I’m around you. I think you might be my soulmate.” 

"Oh yeah, what does being your soulmate entail?" He’s grinning because he knows she’s right.

"Lots of cookies and cinnamon rolls. Hmmm...cuddles laughs and lots of kisses. Like lots of them." 

Harry’s smile goes into full bloom because they haven't even shared the first kiss, and she knows she wants this with him. 

"I can live with that." 

"That’s cool, I wasn't asking." 

Two hours later, they walk out with a small bag from the pharmacy and her wrist wrapped in a bandage.

"Next part of our date is," she pauses and gestures to Harry to do the drum roll "Ice cream!" she shouts, and Harry cheers with her. 

"But there's a twist." she turns in her seat to look at him. "You have to guess the ice cream flavor I'm thinking of, or this date ends now." 

"We're going to Scoops," He sees her nod and continues on, "That is where you like to get a new flavor each time, but I know after an injury, you crave caramel."

"Final answer then, H."

"Gold Medal Ribbon"

She leans back in her seat. "That is correct," she says proudly. "Let's get some pizza too because I need food to take these pills."

"Pizza, ice cream. Then my place or yours." 

She thinks about it real hard. As much as she loves Harry's bed, she needs her favorite blanket tonight. "Let's go back to mine." 

Harry takes off in the direction of their favorite ice cream shop, Scoops, that is conveniently next to the place where they order their pizza. 

They are lying in her bed together, moving there after watching US per Harry's choice. Harry helped her with her night routine and even tried to brush her teeth, but she reminded him she was ambidextrous. A fancy way of telling Harry she was talented with both hands. That caused Harry to go red and leave her standing in her bathroom alone.

 She's getting sleepy, and she blames it on the painkillers. She doesn't want to sleep because then it would mark the end of their date. Although it was not a traditional dinner, she had a great time because it was Harry. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't wine and dine you properly." She's close to tears because no guy wants to go on a date to a hospital then go home to eat pizza. "It's probably been the worst date you've ever been on, and worst I didn't get to walk you to the door and kiss you." 

"Peach," he starts, and she looks at him with glossed eyes. "This was the best first date. It will always be the most memorable because it was with you."

She smiles slightly.

"Want to know a secret" he grins at her nodding her head shyly. "You're my last first date."

She blushes at his words because she knows the meaning behind it. He means she's the one he's going to be with forever.

"Then will you seal the deal, Mr. Romantic, and kiss me."

He pets her hair gently. "I want it to be perfect."

"Every moment with you is perfect."

Harry's heart skips a beat at her words. He's never said no to her before, and he isn't going to start now.

All their first date kisses have led them to this moment, the final one. All the heartbreak they went through was done so that when the right person came around, they would know how to cherish and protect that love. 

She feels her heart beating so fast she wasn't able to catch a proper breath. His head that just seconds ago was declaring his emotions to her was no buzzing with anticipation. She felt his breaths on her cheeks. He watched her eyelids flutter, then close. Then their lips met. 

Romance novels do no justice to how it feels to kiss the person you were waiting on forever to kiss. It's not fireworks and sparks.

It's better, it's much better. 

It feels as if your soul is at peace. A gentleness flows through them at the love that is being exchanged. It's the feeling of coming home, a sense of wanting, and acceptance. It was something explainable, and they can't wait to experience more of that. 

Harry pulls away far enough to look at her shut eyes and smile that's gracing her face. She opens them, and he's met with them shining as bright as the stars outside. 

"Perfect," she whispers, her right hand coming up to gently stroke the dimples on his face. 

Harry turns his head gently and places a kiss on her palm. She sighs in contentment. He settles on his side and brings her hand down to rest on her stomach as he intertwines their hands together. Her left arm elevated on a stack of blankets and pillows as to allow it to heal; her back pressed to his. They fit perfectly. 

There under the light of the moon, they fell asleep with their hearts full. 

It’s the start of a relationship, one with struggles, laughs, and many firsts together but most importantly filled with an ever growing love for one another. 

~

December 2020

"Do you think she'll hug you first or me?"

"I'm her son, Peach," he states as if her question was absurd.

"I bet you 50," she says. 

"Dollars, quid, kisses, or what" he replies with a smirk on his face.

"Spanks," she replies earnestly.

"Kinky" 

 "Start walking, I see your luggage that has all the presents." 

Harry arrives and parks the car, and she all dives out of the car. She rushes to the front door and puts Harry's key in to unlock the door. She knows it's as much her home as it is his. 

"Anne," she shouts, not seeing anyone in the living room. She takes her shoes off but leaves her coat on. 

Anne walks out of the kitchen, she rushes to give her a hug brushing off Harry standing right next to her. She smirks at Harry, and he just rolls his eyes, but honestly, he might just burst from happiness at how much his mom loves his Peach.

"Can you believe our dear Harold brought his girlfriend here to meet you, and he didn't even let you know." She begins her tale trying her best to hold in her smile 

Harry closes the door and is not at all surprised to see his mom pull her closer in a hug, thinking she was serious. 

Well, she was. 

"Hi mum, I would love a hug. Your youngest and only son is home." 

"Is she serious? Where is the girlfriend?" she questions him right away. "Do you have her waiting outside?"

 "You're holding her." He replies honestly to his mum.

Anne pulls back to look at the girl in her arms, and Harry can't help but laugh at his mother's face. She has a million-dollar smile on her face and nods to reassure Anne that it's true. Anne lets out a little scream before bringing her in for a tighter hug. Harry approaches, and Anne pulls him in to join the group hug. It's a lovely welcome home. 

"It's not even Christmas, and this is the best gift I could have received." 

Anne smiles and comes close to crying when seeing them reach for each other, like two magnets being pulled together. Hands intertwined and smiles wide. She sees their love loud and clear. 

"Oh, does your sister know." Anne suddenly worried if she was the last to know.

"Nope, Harry wanted to let you know together." 

"Well, she shouldn't belong. How long have you been together?" 

Harry grins, "Is it crazy to say it feels like forever." Y/N grins up at him and gives him a quick peck on his cheek. "Got together in March. When the klutz got her wrist sprained." Y/N elbowed him fast and hard enough to leave him gasping for air.

There's a knock on the door, and they know it's Gemma's boyfriend because she would have walked right in. 

"Darlin', go into the kitchen. We'll tell Gemma Harry wants to introduce her to his girlfriend, and that'll be your cue." 

Anne's so excited that they do as they say. 

It's safe to say that day was full of hugs, smiles, and laughs. 

It's cold out, but Y/N doesn't seem to mind. She's got a blanket around her as she sits on the back steps of the house. She looks out and knows she'd be happy here forever. 

"Peach, you're going to freeze out here."

"Not if you come sit by me" She smiles knowing he's not going to say no to her. Harry shuffles over to her quickly unwrapping the blanket to wrap them both in the warmth it’s providing.

"I meant it when I said I'd move across the pond with you."

Harry pulls her close and practically has her sitting in his lap. He rests his head on top of hers.

"I know you did." He stops to press a gentle kiss to her hair. "You've got family there and your job. I got mine too." He sighs as if he's trying to convince himself why they shouldn't

"Not to brag or whatever, but I work at one of the best companies. Top two in the nation, I'm sure they'd allow me a transfer or give me an excellent reference because not to brag again, but I'm amazing at my job. 

Harry acts like he's going to drop her causing her to scream, and she wraps her arms around his neck tightly. 

"You also want to expand your company. Who better to run the branch in London than the man himself." 

Harry groans. "You make it sound so easy."

"That's because it is, with you, it always has been." 

She nuzzles her nose into his neck, causing him to smile because it's cold, but he doesn't let her know because he likes having her this close. 

"You'd move across the ocean with me," he repeats as if still not believing it. "What's the catch?" 

"A promise of forever with you," she whispers, kissing his neck softly.

"With you forever seems too short." 

Harry lets her lean in to peck his lips. 

"I'll support you no matter what, I'm all in with you, and I'll always support all your dreams."

She lifts her arm to rest on his cheek, and she strokes him gently. He hums in content, knowing there is no better place in this world than in her arms. 

"I may be your lover now, but I will always be your friend." 

It’s true Harry thinks as much as their relationship has changed she always has his best interest in mind and vice versa. 

Best friends and lovers.

She leans in and brushes her lips to his. She laughs a little because hers have gone a little dry with the cold, but Harry's stay soft and welcoming. He closes the gap wanting to feel the heat her kisses bring him. Their lips move in sync, a dance only they know. It's soft, and slow just like this moment. Harry pours all his love into this kiss and feels her do the same. They pull apart close enough to still feel each other's breath. Small kisses, always being shared. 

There, in Harry's mother's backyard on a cold December night, Harry and Y/N promise forever and more to each other.

Thank you for reading Always Be Your Friend! I love this story that shows a story of two friends who loved each other but were never brave enough to say it until they finally did. A pinch of angst and a load of fluff later I’m still in love with loud  Y/N and workaholic Harry. Thank you to @oh-honey-styles @for-fucks-sake-h @andwhenshesays​ for creating Pick Your Poison Fic Challenge because it was a true joy to take time and write this story (even if there where times I did not like parts of my story.) 

Here’s the pypfc masterlist to check out everyone else’s stories!

please please please let me know what you though of it here.  I love hearing your thoughts it means so much to me. Love you all - Angie

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

And we’re back for the second chapter, which is a lot shorter than the last - only half the size, thank goodness. I have a feeling this will go by somewhat faster than the first chapter, if only because there’s so much less happening per chapter and less worldbuilding to pick at.

Being up to forty followers already is actually really neat - I was expecting this project to go under the radar a bit longer. Thank you for all the likes and comments, and especially the reblogs! 

[No. 2 - Roaring Muscles]

Have to admit that the title page is definitely something - it’s deliberately styled in the same format as Western comic book covers. And in so, you can really see the difference in art style between the Westernized All Might and Horikoshi’s normal style for Izuku. 

The next page is a full body shot of All Might posing (RIP all the pens that died inking that one image), with some background panels covering the basics about the man - that his age and quirk are unknown, and that his strength has made him popular even since his debut. He’s got a lot of merch, branding, magazine covers, newspaper headlines, movie adaptations, etc etc. and, of course, that creepy fucking mask.

If Izuku has one of those, I am both disappointed and completely not surprised. I both look forward to and dread the day someone draws him wearing that monstrosity. Also-

Is that the same keychain Ochako gets during the Secret Santa swap in some hundred and twenty or so chapters? 

Alright, not the same one, but a similar pose. Not surprising, since I doubt Hori even remembered this panel at the point Ochako was given it, but it would have been an interesting little callback if it had been.

Moving on, we learn that since he became active, there’s been a notable decrease in the appearance rate of villains - with a graph showing the decline. His existence alone is a deterrent to villainy, which in no way will cause issues decades down the line. But yeah, basically Izuku confirms that All Might’s earned his title of ‘Symbol of Peace’ - and that the same man with so many accolades just told him he could be a hero.

(That last panel, of just Toshinori and Izuku, which is so uncluttered compared to the other panels… mmm, gotta love it. Makes it feel so much more poignant and dreamlike, which it probably was to Izuku at the time.)

The next page gets right to where we left off, with Izuku on the ground crying his eyes out while his mind plays through all the doubts and negative words thrown at him over the past chapter years. However, he’s finally heard what he’s always wanted to hear from this Alolan Exeggutor lookin’ dude:

Who also happens to be the No. 1 hero and Izuku’s idol. Izuku wonders if he could wish for anything more than that, so of course, Exeg- I mean Toshinori continues on, saying Izuku is worthy of inheriting his power. Which snaps Izuku out of his happy crying to actually look up at his idol, confused as heck.

BABEY.

But yeah, Toshinori laughs at Izuku’s expression and says that it’s a proposal, and that there’s work to be done. Also, this is the first instance of ‘my boy’ shown in the manga - while I know in Japanese it’s supposed to be just a translation of ‘young man’ or something close, I choose to see it in a different manner, as per my Dad Might agenda:

Look, you have to admit things went from 0 to 100 real fucking fast here, I will not take criticism on my interpretation. While we’re on the topic of ‘0 to 100’:

Toshinori please get that checked that’s a lot of blood jesus fuck. But yeah, he offers Izuku his power (which outside a shounen manga is questionable, kids, don’t trust that.) Izuku is still confused, naturally, so Toshinori clarifies he means his quirk. He explains how the tabloids like to guess what his quirk is, while he avoids answering with jokes, because All Might has to come off as a natural born hero.

(Also that dramatic posing, he’s such a fucking loser, I love him so much.)

You can really fucking tell he’s a performer at heart. I feel like it fits with his love of movies too - he probably liked acting out the dramatic hero speeches and fights in old superhero movies. Which I mean, also makes sense since heroes in the current era are as much actors and performers as they are public servants who handle crime and disasters.

Toshinori explains his quirk was passed down to him like the Olympic torch, which Izuku mentally stumbles over, and when that is confirmed, Izuku falls into a dazed rambling over this, completely tuning out of the outside world; he thinks about all the previous theories put out there, then basically confirming that his power being passed on is nothing anyone has ever considered, in part because there’s so little known about quirks, and even the reason ‘quirk’ [which in Japanese is ‘Individuality’] is used, because they’re unique to the person who wields said power. 

(Also, I want to know what the other six mysteries of the world are, Izuku. Why won’t you share that important tidbit with us? Worry about the quirk later!)

Toshinori cuts into his rambling, asking if Izuku really doubts him and that it’s nonsense, he has secrets but he doesn’t outright lie. Izuku does snap out and try to apologize, but Toshinori continues on:

One For All. Certainly a power that comes with no downsides, hidden legacies, or enough mysteries to fill the other six damned slots of the mysteries of the world. Izuku repeats the name slowly, and Toshinori goes on to explain it: 

A small detail to note, there’s eight lights in the background, already revealing how many holders there currently are at this point. Notice how much weaker OFA must have been back at the beginning, compared to the power Toshinori has, and then expand that to what Izuku starts out with. And interestingly, it’s called a ‘crystalline network of power’, and that it ‘links those crying out to be saved and those with brave and true hearts.’ For our first description of OFA, it… sure seems poetic and almost romantic. Wonder if that will hold up in the chapters to come.

Anyways, moving on from that, Izuku asks why him, and Toshinori says he’s been looking for a successor, and that he believes Izuku worthy. Even as someone who is quirkless and a ‘mere hero admirer’, he was more heroic than anyone else there. Izuku tears up again, and Toshinori slaps himself in the forehead, saying it all depends on what Izuku says. 

Izuku gets to his feet and rubs away the tears, thinking about what he’s been told and how Toshinori’s greatest secrets (hah) have been divulged to him. He asks himself if he has reason to refuse, and immediately decides that no, he doesn’t, and tells Toshinori he accepts while reaffirming he’s got no reason to refuse. Toshinori says he expected nothing less than that quick answer. 

Seriously, look at the intensity of that reply, he is down and willing to do this. No second guessing, no hesitation. 

This seems like a good stopping point, since the second half of the chapter is all the training, including the montages, so I’ll finish things up in the next one (yes, I know, not taking five posts to get to the point, who would have thought?) and we can get into the crazy fun stuff. 

[radramblog]

Every Boros Commander, Part 2

Where we last left off, I was shitting on Adriana, Captain of the Guard, who gives ACAB a pretty different meaning. Fortunately, most of the pickings this time aren’t quite as dire.

Depala, Pilot Exemplar (3rd most played as of writing)

Holy shit, a Boros commander with card advantage? It’s niche, but it was a first. Being limited to Dwarves and Vehicles does leave her with a problem a lot of commanders and tribes tend to have, which is being just a smidge under critical mass- but with the upcoming Kaldheim appearing to support Dwarves, and vehicles appearing to be a deciduous mechanic, I feel like it won’t be long before Depala is as powerful as her placement suggests. She is niche and mana-hungry, but basically the only Vehicle commander (and definitely the only Dwarf commander at the moment), so I suspect she’s here to stay for a while.

Tiana, Ship’s Caretaker (15th most played as of writing)

Tiana is possibly my favourite character lorewise in all of magic, frankly. She’s cool and cute and a massive dork and also someone who found her purpose in life, and frankly I love that for her. 

She’s also a really interesting commander to build around, seeing as she has a unique brand of card advantage that leads to the addition of old and weird cards, which I’m always a fan of. I should really get around to building a Tiana deck, to be honest, though I already have 10 commander decks with an 11th in progress, sooooo…

Firesong and Sunspeaker (4th most played as of writing)

I’m surprised to see F&S this high, but the first unique Buy-a-Box card did expand into an archetype previously unseen in the combination in the form of Boros Spellslinger (Dalakos would later return the favour as an Izzet Equipment commander). Previously, you had to go into Pauper EDH and play fellow Minotaur Blaze Commando for this kinda deck. Like Depala, F&S are heavily played despite being niche, though the also have the benefit of being a RW minotaur commander, if you want to play White instead of Black in that deck for…some reason? The siren moo of Boros Reckoner speaks to us all, I suppose.

Sylvia Brightspear and Khorvath Brightflame (17th most played as of writing)

The only partner pair I’m discussing today on account of their monogamy. Knights and Dragons make a weird combination, seeing as there are basically no other cards that help them work together rather than apart. You could almost run them as a goodstuff deck if you wanted, seeing as many of Boros’s best creatures are Knights or Dragons, but largely I think sticking to one or the other is probably for the best. With that in mind, the pair are actually the only real commanders for either tribe within Boros- the only other Dragon is something we’ll get to, and the only knight is…Adriana…so…. The buffs given by either pair are excellent, and not something that either tribe gets easy access to typically, so I can see the appeal of them in that slot. At that point, the extra commander is just a bonus.

Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice (21st most played as of writing)

Oh, another Aurelia, and she’s worse this time. In seriousness, her ability looks like its likely to be targeting herself most of the time, and Mentor just doesn’t do enough in this format. She has enough keywords and power to Voltron, but I’m not expecting much interesting from her outside of that.

Tajic, Legion’s Edge (18th most played as of writing)

Tajic has 4 separate lines of text for some reason, and only one (ok fine two haste is nice) actually matters. Having a damage prevention effect is nice in the zone, but it doesn’t apply to himself, so if you’re planning on turning mass damage one-sided you’re going to need to protect him still. And like, what else does he do? He’s not a good aggro commander at all, his last ability is a joke, why are people playing this card? If I was in a mass damage deck I’d just play Gisela, at least she does something on the off chance she survives. Probably no-one is gonna go out of the way to kill Tajic, at least. Beats out Aurelia for biggest downgrade, imo, even if Aurelia fell from higher.

Feather, the Redeemed (Number 1 most played at time of writing)

Feather is the most popular Boros commander, by over triple the next most popular. It’s not hard to see why: she’s a cheap commander that turns any targeted cantrip into a draw engine, she synergises with so many random powerful cards that you can build her a fair few different ways, and she’s a cool story character getting a card 12ish years after her appearance in the Ravnica novels. She does so much and is so interesting that it’s completely understandable that she’s as huge as she is. I’m still never going to build her though, even with my funky Japanese copies, if only because I’m too much of a hipster.

Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero (13th most played as of writing)

Kinda funny that Gerrard’s little text that made him work in the command zone until recent rules changes is now a strict downside. Gerrard has his niche, with a Second Sunrise in the zone unsurprisingly supporting Eggs decks rather nicely, and synergising with a lot of just random bullshit. I’d probably never build him, and it seems pretty easy to make it degenerate, but I’m glad he’s here and he’s certainly better than the first iteration of the character.

Haktos, the Unscarred (12th most played as of writing)

I’m kinda surprised to see Achilles this high, considering how recent he is. He reminds me a lot of Progenitus, oddly enough, as a commander that would be good at Voltron but can’t get buffed easily by traditional means. I think adding equipment on the off-chance that it fits his heel is a complete mistake, but things like Silverblade Paladin and Exalted cards do exist, so fair play. He’s pretty hard to kill unless you’re boardwiping, and even then damage-based ones probably miss, so I can see the value in that. But that mana cost hurts to look at- hitting 2 mana of 2 different colours on turn 4 was a pain back when I played Trostani, and that was a green deck.

Stet, Draconic Proofreader (No data available)

Okay look, I tried so hard to find a way to abuse this dork’s ability but there’s just no good way to do it. Stet sucks hard enough that even if you are playing with Silver-Bordered cards legal I just don’t know why you’d ever run it. His art is pretty funny, I’ll give it that. We got Alexander bloody Clamilton and Surgeon Commander in the same cycle, keep in mind.

Winota, Joiner of Forces (2nd most played as of writing)

Having menaced standard, Winota is still pretty decent as a commander, even without access to her 7-mana blue payload.  There actually aren’t that many beefy humans to cheat out in general, but considering how easy it is to enable her ability and the fact that she digs *6 cards deep* on trigger, I think you just kinda end up swarming the board distressingly easy with her deck. It’s shocking to see a card from 2020 in the top 5 like this, considering how the year has gone for the format in general, but like. 6 cards.

Zirda, the Dawnwaker (8th most played as of writing)

Look it combos with Basalt/Grim monolith in the command zone isn’t that neat. Zirda is pretty open-ended, but not especially powerful outside of the aforementioned combo. I find them much more appealing in the Companion slot, frankly. With that said, I do like that Boros is the colour pair getting access to Training Grounds in the zone, seeing as it works well with its other themes (Equipment mostly) and opens new archetypes (Cycling, etc.) up as possibilities.

Akiri, Fearless Voyager (7th most played as of writing)

Haha, Brion has more decks than Akiri. That’s probably since it only released a few months ago. Of course, I’m not including the other Akiri, so this is the first time we’ve seen her on the list. But apart from that, Akiri was somehow the first of these commanders to actually say “draw” on it. Her synergies with Living Weapon (and the recent equipment cards that do the same) are pretty sick, though her second ability will end up costing a lot of mana over time if you have to use it. I think its hilarious how much more value this gives you than Adriana for doing the thing Adriana wants you to do, at 2 less mana.

Also, she’s probably the best general for Kor tribal? I guess you could go Akiri/Black partner so you can play Orah in the deck. Someone build this! Kor like equipment, Akiri likes equipment, lets go.

It’s only just occurred to me that Akiri gives you more for attacking other players than Adriana does. Fuckin hell, man.

Bell Borca, Spectral Sergeant (25th most played as of writing)

Bell finally getting a card 15 years after his fictional death was a welcome treat, but the exile-related ability is frankly awkward and abusing it to 1 or 2 hit commander damage is pretty difficult. Still, having impulse draw in the zone makes him probably just the best generic #goodstuff commander. I’m surprised he’s as low as he is, but he only released a month ago (at time of writing) and we got an absolute stack of legends (including 2 other Boros ones and the partners) in the same set.

Reyav, Master Smith (28th most played as of writing)

Reyav is neat since he combines 2 of Boros’s more traditional archetypes, being Aggro and Voltron, into one damage doubling dwarf. I suspect his lack of play is again due to the other legends in the same set and that it only dropped a month ago, because there’s no way he deserves to be below Munda. Also, he’s 2 mana! The only other 2CMC Boros Legend is partner Akiri! How did that happen? I think he deserves better. You can suit him up and get dunking real quick.

Wyleth, Soul of Steel (16th most played as of writing)

Our final general is Boros’s second ever Precon commander, and the only one with flavour text. He’s got the space for it, considering how much work that second line is doing. I appreciate that Wyleth, despite being superficially similar to Akiri, plays pretty differently, as he prefers Voltron while she prefers spreading equipment out. I assume Wyleth would be a lot higher if the precon itself was included, but there’s no way of knowing how many people are playing just the base deck, so who knows.

A CHALLENGER APPROACHES!!!

Koll, the Forgemaster (no data available) This bloke got spoiled between me writing most of this and going to publish it. I can see a few easy combos with his first ability, especially seeing as Grafted Wargear is a card. Playing fairly though, his first ability feels kinda slow, and not being able to protect himself is a huge drag. The second ability feels kinda stapled on, as its a way of giving you a bonus since the first one doesn’t do shit for tokens. But like, just don’t equip them, lmao. Awkward, but has potential.

And that’s the lot of them! Uhhhh yeah that’s all I’ve got, stan Tiana kthnxbai

[beeexx]

TK writes love letters to all his past crushes, these are letters just for him and he has no intention of ever sending them off. Until one day the thing that can't happen does and somehow TK ends up kind of dating Carlos Reyes, star football player, cool, hot and way out of TK's league. His life takes a sudden turn and it will be a year he won't forget anytime soon.

But this is high school, and it's fun and messy and heartbreaking and all over the place all at once, so TK's up for a ride for sure, and he isn't sure it's just the good kind.

The To all the boys I've loved before Tarlos au no one asked for but I wrote anyway.

You can read it here

Here is a snippet:

When Mateo saunters into TK’s room he’s too busy daydreaming to notice it. His walls are full of posters, his desk is overflowing with notebooks and pencils, full of drawings and doodles, clothes are spilling onto the floor everywhere and his bookcase is overfull of everything from trashy romance novels to complex sci fi stories. TK’s at the moment too wrapped up in his own fantasies about hand holding with someone cute and sweet, forbidden kisses and sneaking out at night together to notice anything out of the ordinary. He’s been staring at the same page for a while, he’s read the novel a few times by now, instead he has a distant look in his eyes as he lies on his side, staring into the wall. Mateo rolls his eyes and grabs the nearest pillow and whacks it, hard, straight into TK’s face. 

“Hey!” TK almost falls off the bed, Mateo laughing as he leans against the wall, looking way too proud over his achievement. 

“Are we hanging out or what?” 

“Oh right, yeah I forgot.” He throws a mournful look at his book that has fallen to the floor, picks it up and dusts it off before he gets off the bed. 

“You need to stop living inside your head so much. It’s not good for you.”

“Shut up.” 

“What? It’s true, you need to start living your life.”

“Sure Dr. Phil, I’ll get right onto it.” Mateo laughs and shrugs, like he knows it’s a losing battle, and then they are both interrupted by the clattering of plates downstairs. Mateo lifts an eyebrow.

“Yeah, we should probably go help him.” TK agrees. 

“He doesn’t want the help though.”

“Well, we can set the table.” TK caringly puts his book on the nightstand and then they head downstairs to see if their dad is about to burn the whole house down, which would be ironic since he’s ridiculously thorough when it comes to fire safety. 

“Hi, dad, don’t burn the house down please.” TK calls and Mateo glares at him.

“What?”

“Don’t say that, it will hurt his feelings.”

“No, it won’t.”

Owen Strand, fire captain, father of two, and an altogether good person was standing in their infrequently used kitchen, oven mitts on and way on his way to almost drop the big metallic bowl he’s holding as they make their way downstairs. 

“Dad, how’s it going, do you want any help?” Mateo asks, and then gives TK a look over his shoulder that says ‘this is how it’s done’ like he thinks TK doesn’t know how to be discreet, which is a lie, TK definitely knows how to be discreet. There’s a knock on their door then and before anyone can even open it Paul and Marjan step inside, like they both live here and have done this numerous times before. 

“Hi, fire captain, it smells good.” Paul calls as he steps inside to high five Owen, who delightfully accepts, only to actually drop the bowl on Mateo’s toes. TK snickers meanly into his hands as Mateo jumps up and down, like that will somehow ease the pain. Marjan rolls her eyes but bends down to pick it up, luckily it was empty. 

“Thanks Paul.” Owen says proudly and takes the bowl off Marjan, who looks at Owen like he’s hung the moon. TK loves his friends, but Marjan and Paul are both clearly too dumb to be able to see Owen for who he really is, even if TK were to dangle the mess his father can be in front of their eyes. They love his dad, absolutely adore him and when they come around to hang out, TK and Mateo can expect to be left on the sidelines while the pair relentlessly bother Owen with questions about being a fireman and listen like there’s nothing more interesting to do in life than hear Owen’s stories. TK isn’t too bothered by it, but it bugs Mateo, so TK has taken to intervening from time to time and force his dad to leave the room so they can actually hang out like planned. 

They come over on Saturdays though, every Saturday since they’ve all been friends, and that day is reserved for only listening to Owen talking about being a firefighter, that’s the standing deal they all have. Mateo and TK have given up on trying to change that by now and most of those evenings usually ends with Mateo being the one to cook the actual dinner while TK tries to help and fails spectacularly. He’s a miniature of his dad in the kitchen for sure. 

There was a time when TK used to only refer to Owen as his dad, but since Mateo’s been around ever since TK was 6, Owen is just as much TK’s dad at this point as he is Mateo’s. And Owen is a good dad, in most areas, but not when it comes to cooking or being on time, so Mateo and TK gave up a long time ago trying to change his weird and unbreakable habits. They’ve spent enough time on their own by now to know it’s useless and they are old enough now both to care and to understand that being a fire captain is a serious and very time consuming job. They’ve spent enough time doing homework, and what they used to refer to as sleepovers at the station, which weren’t exactly sleepovers, more like their dad was working night shifts and he couldn’t get Michelle to cover all the time for him during the nights and they were too young to be left on their own, to understand that what their dad does is a very serious job. Michelle who used to babysit them pretty often when they were children are now working with Owen as a paramedic. She’s shown them around the van a few times too and both Mateo and TK are very taken by the whole station and the people working there, but more so Mateo these days than TK. 

Long cooked ribs are soon ready to be taken out of the oven, but TK has the chinese takeout place a ten minute drive down the road on speed dial for emergencies, and he knows his dad, this is going to end up being one.

“Paul, Marjan, how’s school? How are your parents?” While Owen has never been on time once in his life, apart from when he’s on call, he’s good at keeping up with all of TK and Mateo’s friends and their respective families though, and always asks and seems to genuinely care about any news. Owen is popular by default, and it’s not his fault he’s likeable by most people, but it does mean that TK and Mateo don’t get a lot of alone time with him, seeing as when he’s off work he gets pulled in all sorts of directions and he’s basically incapable of saying no. TK has definitely not inherited that quality though as his default answer to doing anything that requires him to spend time outside of this house and away from his precious books and characters is always going to be a no. More often than not Mateo is forced to push and pull him out of the house if he’s going to leave it for anything other than school, which he can’t exactly opt out of. 

“It’s good, and my parents send their hello.” Marjan says as TK tunes them out and turns to Mateo instead so he can be directed towards what he’s supposed to do. He starts to chop carrots up as his dad distractedly starts to hold a conversation with Marjan and Paul while Mateo takes the bowl off his dad completely and starts putting the mostly already cut up potatoes in there.

-------

“It’s supposed to fall off the bone.” His dad whispers sadly as he tries to shake the meat off in an attempt to try and fix the situation. Paul and Marjan look about ready to protest and eat it anyway but TK refuses to risk anyone getting food poisoning and brings out his phone to order takeout while Mateo offers to help Owen clean up.

“It’s fine dad, I’ll just order some food, okay?” Owen looks disappointed but concedes to Mateo while Marjan and Paul try to cheer him up. TK rolls his eyes and dials. 

“It will be ready in 15 minutes.” They’ve done this enough times by now for TK to know everyone’s order by heart and Nigel, the owner of the place, is starting to feel more like a permanent friend of TK’s than someone he just goes to order food from. 

“Oh TK, Judd says his grandmother’s car is fixed up by the way and you can come pick it up at his this week.” TK groans and Mateo shouts out his displeasure.

“Why did TK get a car, he's a terrible driver.”

“I’m not, I just don’t like driving.” 

“You drive like a grandma, I would feel more safe in a car with an actual grandma than with you.”

“At least I have a driver’s license.” He shoots back.

“Yeah, I don’t even know how the driver’s instructor let you through.”

“Feel free to take the bus!”

“Or I can just drive and then we can switch places real quick if we get pulled over.”

“No!” Both TK and Owen shout and Mateo defleats, it sends a pang of guilt through TK though, because while they joke around about this Mateo is genuinely upset that he failed the driving test and TK didn’t which is a bit of an ironic situation because Mateo is a better driver than TK, he’s just really bad when he’s put under pressure and things tend to go wrong then. TK basically passed because he was driving so slow the instructor got so bored he didn’t want to do this with him again. 

“Boys, what I was suggesting was that all you go pick up the food and I stay here and clean up the place.” TK peeks through into the kitchen where Marjan and Paul have started looking through the fridge, the dishes everywhere and the surfaces all full of cutlery, dirty and clean alike looking very much in need of a cleaning. 

“Is TK driving?”

“Who else is going to?” Mateo looks at Paul and Marjan, which both are definitely out of the question and then at TK and just grimaces.

“Fine.”

“You don’t have to come, I can go on my own.” He crosses his arms, a little defensively, because while he isn’t the most comfortable driver, he is the only one out of his friends that actually can do it. 

“No, we’re coming.” Paul declares and Owen ushers them all to the door and hands TK the keys to his car with a reproachful look which makes TK promise that he will drive carefully.

“Be safe kiddos, and tell Nigel hi from me.” 

“Yes dad.” Mateo shouts, already out the door calling for shotgun and rushing up the car with Marjan hot on his heels. When it looks like Mateo is going to make it, Marjan manages to trip him and he falls head first into the car, but just as quickly as he’s hit the side of the door, which doesn’t look to be too painful, he moves to stand in front of Marjan anyway.

“I called it!”

“Kids, settle down.” Paul says, always one for joking around, but definitely more calmer than what either Marjan and Mateo are.

“I called it though.”

“Doesn’t matter, I reached it first.” Marjan says and moves her hands around Mateo’s body to lift him to the side.

“Hey! That is cheating.” Both Paul and TK roll their eyes.

“Because I am the one driving I get to decide who sits beside me, I pick Paul and if anyone objects I won’t pay for your food.” Mateo and Marjan both glare but they get into the back, not before Marjan pushes Mateo again who knocks his shoulder against hers back. TK rolls his eyes again, never fully having gotten on board with their sometimes overly aggressive way of showing affection. He much preferred Paul’s steady presence and occasionally unwanted wisdom and creepy observational skills he forced upon you. But they had all been friends for a long time now, Mateo and TK first, then it had grown into Paul and lastly Marjan who joined their group when they all started high school, for them to even have too many objections about each other by now.  

Once in the car another fight over who gets to decide the music starts and TK shuts them out and puts the radio on while they figure it out, it’s a ten minute drive, fifteen tops when TK drives, and it will take them about the same amount of time to figure out whose phone to connect anyway so he lets them be. 

“Mateo we listened to yours the other day, it’s definitely my turn.”

“No one wants to hear your emo music about sadness and feelings, it’s bullshit!”

“Shut up, my music taste is great.” Marjan whacks him on the head and Paul sighs before he turns around to whack both of them.

“Shut up, I am deciding.”

“How come it’s always you and TK against me and Marjan?”

“Pftt, as if I am getting roped into your category.”

“It’s not even me and TK against you two, it’s me against the both of you knuckleheads.”

“I’m neutral, don’t even try and drag me into this.” TK protests and slows down at the speed bump in front of him. Then he turns right and then they get to the big crossing that leads into town. He slows and Mateo groans.

“This is going to take ages.”

“Shut up.”

“Man you could have totally gone now.” Paul complains and TK glares at the both of them before he turns right again, finally getting onto the main road. 

“No backseat driving.”

“Yeah yeah.” Mateo mutters. 

Ten minutes later, without any accidents, they get to the small family owned Chinese place. It was a popular place, beloved by the town, and almost always full of customers. But Nigel was a sweet man, always took the time to talk to people, and ever since Owen had saved most of the place from burning down many many years ago now, when a newbie was closing it down and forgot to turn off the stove, they were always given extra prawn crackers and spring rolls to go with their food. Or maybe it was because they were here way too often when Owen decided to try new recipes that Nigel knew them well enough to send extra food.

“I drove, I’m not going in.”

“Of course you’re going in, you have the money!” Marjan calls.

“Exactly. You two get to sit in the front seat, and TK has the money, I ain't moving.” 

“Ugh, fine.” He has no energy to argue and Paul just shrugs and gets out. Typical Paul.

“No one steal my seat while I’m gone.” He warns and Mateo and Marjan nods solmely, both aware that Paul could take on the both of them if he decided. 

“Come on, I’m hungry.” TK calls impateniely and Paul jogs to catch up. TK’s phone chimes with a text message and he opens it up, unaware of where he’s really going, doesn’t catch what Paul says and steps straight into what feels like a solid wall, his phone goes flying and so does the person’s takeout in front of him. Paul catches his arm before he also goes flying to the floor and TK looks up and is about to say that he’s sorry only to freeze up, his mouth probably hanging open in shock.

“TK.” Paul shakes his arm and TK almost stumbles again. “What’s wrong with you man?”

What is wrong is that TK is an absolute idiot and the person he just walked into and sent their take out orders and the drinks to the floor, is of bloody course Carlos Reyes. 

Carlos Reyes.

Not that he looks angry or anything, instead he looks something between amused and concerned and a bit like he’s waiting for TK to say anything.

“Erm…”

Paul faceplants and bends down to help pick up the stuff from the ground because TK seems to have broken down completely and Paul at least has some sense about him to act human. 

“It looks like most of it is fine, sorry man.” Paul says and Carlos’ eyes finally move away from TK, thank fuck, because he can breathe again and watches as Carlos smiles at Paul, sending something like jealousy and relief through him. God, what the fuck?

“Oh, yeah, thanks. That’s good.”

“What happened?” A girl says and TK’s eyes move away from Carlos’ to a girl he knows is called Iris, a jumper that has the The Alder high school’s symbol printed at the front in red bold letters, and a size that’s way too big on her to belong to her at all. TK wonders if it’s Carlos.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t see where I was going.” He finally says and her eyes snap to his, recognition sparking in them. She smiles, nicely, and grabs Carlos by the shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure it wasn’t all your fault. Carlos is a known clutz.” Carlos rolls his eyes and TK highly doubts that someone as athletic and fit as Carlos can be clumsy. He thankfully keeps his mouth shut though. Paul hands Carlos the bags and he smiles thankfully, his face stupidly handsome and TK gulps, he hopes it goes unnoticed.

“Sorry, sorry again.” He stutters out like an idiot and when Carlos looks at him and TK feels the air go out of him.

UGH.

“It’s cool, well we better get going, see you sometime.” He says, trying to sidestep TK who misreads the whole thing and steps to the right at the same time as Carlos does, making Carlos chuckle, before he tries again, only to almost step right into TK. Paul groans and then, not too gently, grabs TK’s shoulders to forcefully remove him from Carlos’ path like TK is at the moment incapable of doing it himself. Carlos chuckles again, a deep sound that vibrates through TK, before he waves and drags Iris with him, her eyes sparkling with mischief and before they cross the street TK hears Carlos shush her. TK groans and pulls at the ends of his hair and is met by Paul raising his eyebrow at him, both judginly and fondly at the same time.

“Don’t say a word.” He warns.

“I wasn’t.” Paul opens the door to the place so they can finally get inside, the place smelling wonderfully and the noise level comforting TK immediately. What can he say, he likes the sound of voices to fill empty spaces. 

“Your eyes are saying enough.”

“If they were they would be saying that that was pathetic.”

“Ugh.”

“How long has this crush been going on now? Since middle school?”

“Yeah.” TK lies, because he did meet Carlos ages ago, and he was possibly too young to have a crush then, but then yes, middle school was probably around the time he figured out he was into boys and Carlos was the best looking one he had ever laid eyes on and he was young and dramatic and couldn’t help but latch onto him. 

“He’s not so bad for a jock, you know that right?”

“It doesn’t matter.” The line moves further up ahead and it can’t go quick enough TK thinks. 

“Why?”

“Because! Because?” He ends. Pauls rolls his eyes. 

“Because? These are not reasons.”

“Okay, fine, fine! He’s popular, hot, clever, way out of my league, and, and…”

“These sound like excuses and not reasons.”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He mutters petulantly and is saved by it being their turn, Nigel knowing exactly what they have ordered, smile bright and happy and TK gets busy answering all his questions instead of Paul’s, which he prefers anyway. 

[silveryinkystar]

Some deleted scenes from my latest atla fic!

#1: In which Zuko adopts a dragon, and Mai really should be used to this by now

Just when she thinks he can’t surprise her anymore, Zuko goes and does something that proves her wrong. Like bringing home a baby dragon.

“I’m going to call you Druk,” he coos at the little coiled lump in his hands. “You’re lucky I’m here, otherwise Sokka might have called you something like Firebreather or Noodle.”

Mai has been introduced to Zuko’s turtleducks both before and after his banishment. Sokka’s not the only one who would be tempted to name a dragon Noodle.

“When Ty Lee said you wanted some time away,” Mai says conversationally, “I don’t think this is what she meant.”

He starts badly at her voice, but when he spins around to face her, he’s beaming widely. Spirits, he could light up the entire Fire Nation with that smile. “Mai! I thought you were coming back next week.”

“I got bored,” she repeats, smirking. “I missed Ty Lee, and gave my parents the slip when they said they were taking a detour. Seems like I wasn’t the only one who ran away. You’ve been up to a lot, hm?”

He chuckles. “Kind of,” he admits, and his expression turns serious. “The palace was getting to me, so I needed a break. I wasn’t intending on bringing Druk back, but I don’t mind.”

“Do the turtleducks like him?” she asks dryly.

“They love him. It’s weird, they’ve never actually seen a dragon before.”

“And you have? Before… Druk, I mean.”

He flushes, opens his mouth to speak, and closes it again.

“Zuko, that’s a yes or no question.”

“It’s… confidential?” he squeaks, flicking his gaze to the tiny hatchling winding around his hand, weaving around the limb before lying across Zuko’s shoulders like a very short scarf. It’s adorable.

She exhales. “When it stops being confidential,” she allows, “let me know before the others? And by that I mean the Fire Nation officials. I’m going ahead and assuming the Avatar and your other friends know.”

“Aang knows, but the others don’t,” Zuko corrects. “Of course I’ll tell you the whole story first.”

“Good.” She walks up to her best friend and embraces him tightly. He stiffens momentarily but hugs her back, careful not to dislodge Druk. “I didn’t just miss Ty Lee, you know.”

She can feel his smile against her shoulder. “I know. I missed you too, Mai.” He pulls away and holds her at an arm’s length. There’s a wicked smile on his face that’s somehow also completely devoid of malice. Not that she could ever see malice on him. “But you mostly missed Ty Lee.”

“One more word and you’ll find a knife on your royal person,” she warns.

#2: In which Sokka takes Zuko into the towns outside the Caldera to show him how much the place has changed

“You know what I think?”

Zuko hums and looks over from a scroll to his friend, who’s lounging on the bed with a map held above his head.

“I think the council members are jealous,” Sokka says.

Zuko raises his eyebrow. “What of?”

“Huh?”

“What would they be jealous of?”

“Oh,” Sokka exclaims, blinking in surprise. “They only have a few supporters among the nobility. Mostly in Caldera City. The people love you and your reforms, and your latest repeal of Sozin’s marriage laws won you even more favours among them.”

“There were more dissenters,” Zuko says with a frown. “I thought it was massively unpopular, even if it was the right thing to do.”

Sokka turns over and waves a hand vaguely at him, grinning like a fool. “See, that’s what I mean. You don’t care about popularity. You saw the marriage laws and knew that you couldn’t put boundaries on love, so you changed the rules. You found out why the war was wrong, and you ended it. Not without help, of course, but you did it all. You care about your people, and they know it.”

Zuko doesn’t know what to say to this, so he resorts to throwing a cushion at his friends face for having him confront feelings. His indignant yelp is a sound that leaves him chuckling for a good minute, so he lets it slide.

But the matter isn’t done yet, at least according to Sokka. On the last day of his visit, Zuko finds that there are no meetings scheduled for the day. He thinks he’ll spend some time in the gardens with his friend, like old times, but Sokka seems to have other plans.

“You guys have fun,” Suki says with a kiss to Sokka’s cheek and a clap on Zuko’s shoulder. “I’ll catch you later.”

Sokka pulls Suki into a proper kiss on the lips before he calls out a quick goodbye and drags Zuko out of the palace.

“Have you been to the towns and villages before?” Sokka asks as they make their way down the slope of the inactive volcano housing the capital city.

“Not nearly as much as I’d like,” Zuko admits. “I’ve been around the capital and Ember Island, but there wasn’t any reason for me to go down to the rest of the Fire Nation.” By reasons, he trusts Sokka understands that he means Ozai had strict rules to stay within the city limits.

“Huh. That’s not great.”

“I went to one of the towns once with my cousin, though,” he adds, expecting the familiar pang in his heart at the mention of Lu Ten before it hits him.

“He’s one of the good ones?” Sokka guesses.

Zuko smiles sadly. “He was like an older brother to me. You know, he was the one to tell Mom and Uncle that I was good with swords?”

“No way.”

“Ozai knew that I was leaving for a change in instructors,” Zuko continues, “but he never really cared either way at the time. He only really became a problem when Uncle and Lu Ten left to fight.”

“Ah.” Sokka rests a hand on his shoulder and squeezes lightly, and Zuko knows to draw comfort from the gesture. He misses Lu Ten dearly, but the sting of loss is numbed, now. He can think of his antics with his cousin during his early childhood without the accompanying sorrow threatening to overwhelm him.

They’re at the base of the volcano now, so Zuko slips up his hood. His hair is free of its topknot and falls over his scar so that he can blend with the crowd unremarkably. There’s no sign that he might be discovered, though, and no repercussions even if he is (except perhaps from his guards, but Ming won’t really mind once she understands why).

The first thing he notices are the sounds. There’s laughter, chatter, and the occasional yelling interspersed with off-key music. He’s already taken aback by how different it is from when Lu Ten helped him sneak out one night when his parents were away with Azula.

“I…”

Sokka smiles and loops an arm around his shoulders. “You haven’t seen anything yet, buddy. You’re going to love this.”

The wind blowing around them is cool enough to be uncomfortable, so Zuko tugs up his collar and raises his internal temperature to compensate. Sokka seems to be unaffected by the chill, which is only to be expected considering his friend spent most of his life in harsh southern winters. They stop every few paces to look at what the roadside stalls were selling, and more than once Sokka actively considers the merits and demerits of buying something they sell before deciding against them, moving forward, and darting back only to walk away again.

The fifth time this happens, Zuko finds a permanent solution in the fire-dancers performing in the streets. It’s his turn now to haul his friend over to them, and Sokka is all too willing to oblige as Zuko watches the performers exaggerate their movements with graceful bending.

“You know, this was pretty cool in the Fire Days Festival too – spirits, are you okay?”

From how distressed Sokka suddenly looks upon seeing his face, he automatically reaches up to touch the scar only to find his cheeks wet. He hadn’t even realised he was crying, but he scrambled for an explanation to keep the other boy from panicking.

“I used to watch the fire-dancers with my mother every year when we went to Ember Island,” he says, swiping at his eyes. “I always wanted to learn their bending style, it’s much more flowy than any other form of firebending. And… it’s been a while since the Fire Nation was this happy outside of festivals. And, well, Ember Island.”

Sokka nods slowly, but he doesn’t look any more placated.

“I guess it never really felt real to me,” Zuko mumbles, ducking his head as his eyes start to burn and glaze over once more. “I’m always stuck at meetings or fighting the council to pass a reform that would help my people, but…”

There’s a lump in his throat that stops him from speaking further, but Sokka leads him away from the crowd gently and finishes it for him.

“You never saw how your decisions impacted your people.”

Zuko manages a strangled chuckle. “They’re happy,” he whispers.

Sokka holds him an arm’s length away, hands firm on his shoulders. “That’s what I wanted to show you,” he says. “They’re healing, and they’re happy. I know most of the people you see are the ones who benefitted from the war, but when we were making our way to the capital before the eclipse, we noticed that it had left its mark on the Fire Nation too.”

Zuko nods, thinking about how he’d received news of an important weapons factory suddenly stopping production because of some problem with the river it was located on. He’d investigated it further and had declined to deliver that information to Ozai once he heard how badly the nearby town had fared.

“We’re the ones who instigated the war,” Zuko says, slumping against the wall of some building. “There were so few people who didn’t suffer for it.”

Sokka slides down next to him wordlessly. It’s not self-deprecating for him to say this – it’s the truth, and Zuko’s doing his best to make up for his ancestors’ terrible choices. They weren’t mistakes, not when each tragedy piled up on top of each other with the sickening, deliberate motive painting them red with blood.

He’s going to help the world heal, and if that starts by healing the Fire Nation? Well, that’s all for the better.

[liliesoftherain]

My Hero Academia 3 Main Boys x Reader

Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugou x Reader fic! You're finally getting to attend the school of your dreams, meeting great people along the way. Trying to live up to your fathers expectation without his help may be difficult but you're ready to prove to him and everyone you have what it takes to become a pro hero. You're not looking for any love, but when does that stop it from finding you on it's own?

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

You really couldn't believe the news that was being told to you when you received your digital acceptance letter. You knew you always wanted to go to U.A. considering you wanted to follow in your fathers footsteps, yet you were still so shocked that you completed the entrance exams in second place with 75 points. While you felt you didn't even do too much, your rescue points really did give you a boost seeing as you only had 40 of the villain points in your favor.

You felt happy that you got in on your own accord and not based on your father's recommendation. While you loved him dearly, you wanted to prove that you were going to be a great of a hero, just like he is. So for the rest of the evening you and your father were celebrating your successes, enjoying yourselves before you went to bed, your father telling you in a stern but gentle voice that you needed rest if you were going to do the best you could in your studies. You agreed wholeheartedly, giving your father a goodnight and making your way to you room. You felt no nerves like you assumed you'd be feeling. You felt ready and more determined than ever

When the first day finally rolled around, you knew your hero career finally going to be turning into a reality. You learned you were going to be in class 1-A, and you had 20 other students your class. 21 may have been an odd number but it was still pretty small. 41 students in total had gotten into the hero course at U.A, and you were still overjoyed you made it in with you own hard work.

You walked into the classroom and noticed not many of the other students were here, and many heads turned to look at you. You didn't let it get to you and found an empty seat towards the back of the class room and settling in. Your focus was immediately turned to two other students who began to bicker loudly, and it seemed it was to everyone's amusement.

"Take your feet of off that desk now!" A large boy with a thick set of glasses spoke out.

"HUH?" The other student grinned cheekily back, slanted eyes held some annoyance but he was still brimming with a cocky attitude.

"It's the first day and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property you cretin."

"Wouldn't calling a fellow classmate names also be disrespectful? This is the hero course after all and name calling isn't very heroic." You spoke out before you could stop yourself, and you felt the two boys look over to you.

The taller one flushed heavily, a frown now set even firmer across his face as he held his hand to his chest.

"I-I suppose so yes. You're right" He looked back towards the other boy.

" I deeply apologize, here let me start over. I'm Tenya Iida from the Soumei Private Academy."

"You're kidding me right? You born with a stick up your ass or did Soumei put it up there, since coming from there you obviously think you're better than me." His grin widened even more as he leaned closer, his feet still perched on top of his desk as he continued.

"I'm going to have fun tearing you a new one." You rolled your eyes seeing that the blondie was just as disrespectful as what the Iida kid was claiming, even if it was for different reasons. You saw the door was open, causing you to look over and see another boy who looked very nervous while glancing between the two you were previously looking at. The boy caught your gaze and flushed, making a noise that quickly made all eyes on him. You heard Iida mutter a 'it's him'. Was he popular or something. You really weren't sure.

"UH HI!" The green haired student shouted out, clearly embarrassed by the stares as he looked away, finding something on the roof more interesting than everyone else.  

"Good morning!" Iida shouted, marching his way over to the kid, acting very formal and proper. That academy must of really had done a number on his personality if this was how he always was.

You were trying to get back to focusing on yourself, but overheard that the shy boy was named Izuku Midoryia. You hummed to yourself as you were trying to remember all the names you were going to eventually have to learn. You were terrible with names. You looked up and saw the cold stare the blondie was giving to Midoryia. You didn't like that look, it was pretty sinister.

'Oh well.' You thought, it wasn't your place to interfere.

"If you're just here to make friends you can pack up your stuff now. Welcome to U.A.s Hero Course" A gruff voice echoed throughout the classroom, and you saw a man in a sleeping bag.

"What a weirdo." You heard a mutter from next to you, and when you glanced you saw spiky red hair. He gave you a quick grin, and you smiled politely back. You didn't want to have no friends after all.

You watched the man stand up and take his bright yellow sleeping bag off, talking about how it took 8 seconds to stop talking and how it was unacceptable. He looked dead tired, and you wondered what this guy was doing teaching. Did he actually like this job?

"Hello I am Shouta Aizawa, your teacher." Multiple gasps ring out through the air, and you looked around wondering why it was all that hard to believe. Homeless looking or not, he was too old to be a student.

"Right let's get to it, put these on and head outside." He held up what looked to be gym uniforms. So you all did, changing in the locker rooms then heading outside. While walking out there, you saw the same spiky red head and decided was a good time to introduce yourself.

"Hi!" You walk next to him and saw he looked frazzled at first.

"Oh hey, you sit next to me right?" You nodded your head with a smile.

"My name is (f/n), it's nice to meet you. I wonder what this is all about." He grinned back, holding out his hand for you to shake.

"Likewise, I'm Eijiro Kirishima." You shook hands and he kept walking next to you, keeping the conversation going.

"Honestly I have no idea but I'm ready no matter what, I placed third in the entrance exam and I plan on staying in top three no matter what!" Your eyes widened.

"What no way! That's awesome you placed so high." You let a smug smile adorn your lips, thinking to yourself about if your father was here he'd scold you for bearing an arrogant persona.

"I mean, I guess you'll have to fight with me on that seeing as I got second place." Now it was Kirishima's turn for his eyes to widen, but he didn't get upset, letting out a small laugh and a grin full of resolve.

"Sounds like it! Be ready to be dethroned (f/n)!" His smiled suddenly faltered as he blushed slightly.

"It's uh, alright if I call you by your first name right? You didn't give me your last name." You nodded your head.

"I don't mind as long as I can call you by your first name, I don't give out my last name but it's Hakamata." You didn't see any recognition pop up on his face from your name so you relaxed a bit. He grinned and agreed you both could call each other by your first names, and your conversation was interrupted by Aizawa.

You stopped outside, what seemed to have certain outdoor activities like a track and a throwing area. Aizawa explained to all of you that you'd be having a quirk assessment test, causing a lot of students to raise their voice. It causes you to flinch at the loudness of it all. Were they going to be like this all the time?

Your teacher continued speaking, answering the question from another female student. She looked confused as she expressed her concerns of not being able to attend the opening ceremony that was held for first years, and Aizawa shot back that heroes shouldn't waste time on pointless things. And he'll run his class however he'd see fit.

"Bakugo you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam." You turned to see who he was talking to, and to your surprise it was the Blondie with the sour attitude.

"What was your farthest distance throw with a softball in junior high?"

Bakugo thought back for a moment before responding, a from never leaving his face.

"67 meters I think."

"Right," Aizawa spoke back, "now try doing it again with your quirk."

You watched as Bakugo take his place in the circle of the throwing area, not replying to the teacher as he said anything goes. You looked at Eijiro and he looked back, you both shrugged at each other, wondering what exactly could happen.

"Go on," Aizawa mutters out, getting impatient. "You're wasting our time."

Bakugo finally acknowledges him with an amused face before doing a quick stretch. Getting ready to throw. Bakugo cocked his arm back, and through with all his might, shouting a very lovely sentiment as he did so.

"DIE!" You held up a hand to cover your face with the extreme heat that came from his quirk use, and watched as the ball flew away at an extremely fast speed. You heard that Midoryia kid whisper out a woah, and you couldn't blame him. It was impressive to say the least.

While the class gasped as your teacher showed Bakugo's score, you felt yourself gasping along with them.

"705.2 meters, holy crap." You couldn't help your draw drop as you felt taken aback. You heard the buzz from the other students around you, till a very energetic girl who has a pink skin tone gushed about wanting to give it a try. While everyone was getting hyped, you nudged Kirishima and pointed towards the dangerous look Mr. Aizawa had on his face. Kirishima looked worried as you bite your lip, wondering what was going to happen now.

"So this looks fun huh."

'Crap here it goes.' You thought, the rest of the class quieting down, looking bewildered.

"You have three years at this school to try to become a hero. You think it's all going to be playtime?" He let out a creepy grin.

"Idiots. Today you'll complete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and therefore will be expelled right then and there."

You were taken aback,  but felt a surge of adrenaline going through your body as the prospect of fighting for your right to be here. You grinned to yourself at the thought of making your father proud. You shared another look with Kirishima, it seems you both were thinking the same thing about proving worth.

"Good luck, you better not be expelled, because then that wouldn't give me a good feeling about kicking your ass you know."

"Oh we'll see who kicks whose ass now won't we."

It was time for the first test, the whole class pumped after hearing Mr. Aizawa's encouraging speech.

The 50-meter dash was the first test, and you felt yourself line up along with the brown haired girl from before, and a boy with a tail. You did a light stretch and released any thought you might've had. Now you really haven't perfected using your quirk in this way before.

Your quirk was called Light Manipulation. You are able to take the photons that make up light, and store them into your body as energy. Releasing them when you want. Normally photons are unable to interact with each other, which makes light impossible to grab, however, you are able to turn the light into mass by using light with very short wavelengths and high energies and frequencies. When this type of light is created, you're able to have them smash together to form protons and electrons, which can then make light into a solid matter.

What you were trying to do now was difficult. Since your body is full of light photons, in a sense you can make yourself become light, and move at light speed. You weren't too keen on practicing this since it always made you overheat, which is a drawback to your quirk.

You quickly ran to Kirishima before your race, and saw him standing next to a boy with blond hair with what look like to be a lightening bolt in black in his hair, as well as another boy with large elbows.

"Hey Eijiro can I ask you something real quick." He smiled down and you, his arms crossed.

"Yeah what's up (f/n)?" You handed him a large bottle of water.

"Can you stand by the finish line and pour this on me when I'm finished." You blushed.

"I know it's a little weird but my quirk causes me to overheat and I don't know if I'll be able to do it myself fast enough." Even though Kirishima looked puzzled he took the water and gave you a thumbs up.

"You can count on me dude! Kick some ass." You smiled gratefully and ran back to the starting line. You got into position, and felt yourself began to glow and left off a ton of heat.  The brown haired girl next to you looked at you and started to fan her face.

"Oh jeez you're burning up!" You grinned at her.

"Don't lose focus, run with all you've got!" She was taken aback, but gave you a hard smile, face set for the finish line.

"You too!" You heard the robot start the countdown, and felt yourself get lighten. As soon as the gunshot went off you felt your entire being practically explode, the heat almost unbearable as you sprinted across. You made it to the finish line and fell forward to stop yourself. You almost collided into Kirishima and he was too stunned to move. You felt your body turn back to normal as you gasped for air. Hearing you breath made him snap out of his daze as he poured water onto your frame. Watching the steam roll off in large puffs. You heard the robot yell out your score.

".45 seconds!" You grunted out, proud you were getting faster but tired from the overuse of your quirk. You grinned up at Kirishima as he laughed loudly.

"(y/n) that was amazing!" You stood up and grabbed the empty bottle, throwing it away.

"Thanks for cooling me down, even though I'm still a bit overheated I just need a moment and I'll be fine." You still had some steam rising out of your body, and you looked over to see most of the class staring at you with wide eyes. You saw Iida and waved.

"Sorry to say it looks like I won that one!" He frowned slightly but then quickly gave a sportsman like smile back.

"Well done!"

"That was really amazing! I'm Ochaco Uraraka!" Ochaco grinned as she held out her hand, you shook it and sheepishly rubbed the back of your head.

"I'm (y/n), you did amazing, 7.15 seconds is still really good."

You two stopped your talking as soon as the other students were up for the next round. You all stood off to the side, and met the boys that Kirishima was talking to earlier, learning their names were Denki Kaminari and Hanata Sero respectively. You felt a pair of eyes on you while you were talking to your new friends so you glanced around, seeing Bakugo had a hard stare fixed on you. His arms crossed and jaw tight, and his eyes only narrowed more as you looked at him. You didn't want to feel intimidated but his stare was pretty icy, so you waved back, not waiting for a reply before turning back around. After a few other students, you saw Bakugo going against that Midoryia he seemed to dislike so much. You saw how Midoryia was looking really nervous, more than he should be. Maybe his quirk wasn't really good for this type of stuff?

You assumed you were right as you saw Bakugo take off, creating explosions in his hands while Midoryia ran normally, having beat Ochaco by a couple of seconds. You congratulated Kirishima when he finished his test, teasing him about his time. He scoffed and playfully shoved you.

"Sorry we can't all run at the speed of light." You laughed and you all walked together towards a gym to perform your next task. It was simple enough, but you knew you weren't going to get a good of a sore as you did in the first test. You couldn't really use your quirk for strength.

Even though you tried your hardest at the grip strength test, but sigh dejectedly as you only got around a 60kg.

"WOW! You hit 540kg? You're such a beast!" You looked to see Sero praise another boy of the class who was using three different body parts, all looking like arms.

The next test was the standing long jump, and you were hoping you'd be able to shoot some light form your feet towards the ground to help your momentum. When you got up to the starting point, you did a leg stretch and felt heat make its way to your feet. You let it build for a moment before jumping off, willing your light to become solid to propel you high and far before letting the mass turn back to rays of regular light. You went pretty far before finishing the jump. While you landing was a bit messy, causing you to roll to not break any limbs, you were still happy to make it out of the sandpit that normal students without using quirks would've landed in.

The repeated side to side was more of a challenge seeing as you weren't exactly sure how to use the force of your light to help you. Taking your place, you just did normal side to side jumps without the help of your quirk, feeling embarrassed when you heard one student make a loud comment about your breasts. Your face turned bright red and you completed the task, crossing your arms you grumbled and walked away. You saw a tiny boy with balls on his head being scolded by Iida about making such inappropriate remarks. You stood by Ochaco as that's where you felt the most comfortable at the moment. Telling her you were okay when she rubbed your back reassuringly.

You walked with Ochaco towards the next area for the ball throw, you went and while you were better than back in your old school, it still wasn't anything too impressive. Ochaco congratulated you on your 50 meter throw, saying it was pretty cool to be able to throw that far with no quirk. You thanked her, letting her then gush to you about how excited she was when her turn was coming up.

"Since I can manipulate gravity, I know I got this in the bag!" You laughed with her.

"You better! That'll be awesome to see, my quirk wasn't useful so I had to stick to a regular pitch."

You watched Ochaco take her place in the circle with a small, before touch the ball and throwing it high. It traveled higher and higher, till you could barely see it even while squinting. Kirishima had his hands over his eyes to block out the sun to try to get a better look, while Kaminari was staring with his mouth wide open. If it were even possible, his eyes bugged out even wider and his mouth fell down farther when Mr. Aizawa revealed her score to be infinite. You cheered her on before looking towards your left.

"Midoryia?" He looked over with you a pale face, sweat dripping down the sides of his face.

"Are you okay?" You asked curiously. You wanted to brush it off as just shock that it went so high up, but you don't think that was the case. He was practically shaking, teeth clenched together. Was he scared of going home?

He nodded and gulped, trying to speak but his words coming out short and breathy.

"Ye-yeah fine. Thanks, uh (y/n)." You gave him a shoulder pat and a slight smile. 

"I'm sure you'll do great okay? Don't stress." He gave a wobbly smile back, before looking down, fear still evident on his face. His name  was called and he hesitantly took a stand. You watched as he stared at the softball intently, having some kind of internal battle.

"I wonder if he'll finally show his strength." Ochaco muttered next to you. You looked over at her as she took the place where Midoryia was previously occupying and gave her a questioning stare.

"Oh? Do you know his quirk?" Ochaco shook her head no.

"I don't know the specifics but he was the one who saved me from a zero pointer." You were shocked. He took down a zero pointer, all by himself? All you did was manage to help get someone out of the way, blasting at it only to slow it down, not doing too much damage.

"Wait, he was that one kid everyone was talking about then!?" You asked with wide eyes. Ochaco didn't even need to ask what you meant, she knew what you were talking about and nodded her head.

You were shocked, This scaredy cat was the one who destroyed a zero pointer. Like, crushed the thing.

"If Midoryia doesn't shape up soon he's the one going home." Iida spoke, you looked over at him, wondering if he knew what his quirk was. But before you could ask Bakugo cut you off.

"HUH? Of course he is! He's a quirkless loser!" You made a confused face, the same as Iida.

"He has a quirk!" Iida responded sharply.

"It must be a pretty good one," you interrupted, looking straight at Bakugo. "You didn't hear about what he did during the entrance exam? Everyone was talking about it."

Bakugo looked annoyed and gave you a questioning look, all he could manage was another,

"Huh??"

You were surprised that he didn't know, the way he was glaring at him during the morning class made you assumed they knew each other, or at the very least knew what he did during the entrance exam and thought he was competition.

Before you got to answer, Midoriya was getting ready to throw, and you saw a red light travel along his arm, and as soon as he pitched, you saw the red disappear as the ball rushed off.

Landing only 46 meters. His face filled with dread and yours with curiosity. That was the power that took out one of those huge robots? You saw long ribbons circling around your teacher, cutting off Midoryia as he mumbled to himself.

"I erased your quirk. The judges of this exam were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school. "

"Wait you did what to my..." You shared glances with kids around you, wondering why the hell Midoriya cut himself off and gasped.

"Those goggles! I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers!" You listened to him continue as you had own conclusion. You hear your father mention him once or twice, but you never really cared since he wasn't apart of your fathers agency. But you finally came to the same thought as Midoryia.

"The Eraser Hero: Eraserhead!"

Everyone around you began to talk amongst themselves, wondering who the hell that was.

"He's a Pro Hero who doesn't work in the spotlight." You tell your classmates around you.

"He likes to work on the down low." You continued, stumbling a bit when Kirishima slapped your back.

"Look at you with all the answers!" You pushed him, looking back towards Midoryia and Aizawa, talking about broken bones and battered bodies. Midoryia arguing back before Aizawa wrapped his scarf around the boy, bringing him close and calling him a liability in battle.

The rest of the class looked on in silence. You were nervous, Mr. Aizawa seemed to do and say whatever the hell he wanted, who knew how this would go. He was scolding the boy, and you couldn't hear what was going on.

Aizawa finally let him go, and told him to take his final throw.

"I wonder what he was telling him." You questioned to nobody in particular.

"Probably told him to start packing." Bakugo spoke up from next to you, causing you to look up. His eyes were staring straight at Midoriya, before looking down at you. Eyes still cold.

"What." He asked, his tone wasn't as sharp as his eyes but he still had a gruffness to it.

You just smiled, letting out a chuckle before shaking your head.

"It's nothing." You heard him tsk beside you before your focus melted away, going back to Midoriya. He was mumbling to himself, staring at the ground.

He finally looked up and threw the ball, you didn't see his power activating but the ball went far. You noticed his finger was a bright purple, looking badly bruised, maybe even broken? You felt Bakugo stiffen next to you, and you looked back at him. While everyone was cheering or discussing his quirk, Bakugo's face was full of shock. You admitted it was nice to see that the guy could make another emotion besides anger appear on his face, but maybe you jinxed it when his face contorted with anger.

"HEY!" He shouted, blasting by you with his quirk activated, giving him a boost.

"DEKU YOU BASTARD! TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU'RE DEAD!" Bakugo open his palm and you heard Midoriya scream, or was it Deku?

"Wait!" A futile shout left your mouth as more of Mr. Aizawa's scarf came forwards and wrapped Bakugo up. Bakugo began tugging at it, and Aizawa explained why his scarf was so strong. You really weren't paying attention, too busy rethinking how pissed Bakugo looked and he went full force onto Deku.

You stared at Bakugo's back as he shook in anger, he was glaring harshly at Deku, and you felt scared by his gaze.

The next few tests were easy enough, sit-ups, seated toe-touch, and the long distance run. You were in great physical fitness thanks to sparring and training sessions with your father, and passed them no problem.  You felt good, walking to the scoreboard as Mr. Aizawa pulled up all the scores. You cheered when you saw that you were in the top 5.

"Hey fourth that's pretty good!" You glanced at Kirishima as he walked over with Denki and Sero, you smiled up at him.

"Hey number 9 isn't bad either. Top 10!" You looked at the other two boys who frowned, laughing you punched their shoulders.

"You guys did great too, no one here failed."

"Yea poor Midoriya." Denki muttered, and you looked over at the board to see he was right. Dead last. You looked over and saw Deku gripping his wrist, the hand he held with his broken finger clutched tight as he shook.

Mr. Aizawa smiled as he removed the results screen, turning towards the class.

"Oh I was kidding, no one is going home. I was trying to make sure you guys did your very best on this."

Midoriya went into shock as he went as white as a peace of paper. The girl who one first place, Momo you believe her name was, said how she thought everyone knew and should've said something.

"That was pretty nerve racking huh?" Sero chuckled nervously from your little group.

"Nah I'm always down for a challenge!" Ejiro chuckled, and you raised your fist up just like he did.

"Hell yea! No matter what we should always be giving it 100%!" You both snicker together, before you turn around to see Bakugo lost in thought. He was glaring at Deku, then Aizawa, and when he looked at you, to see you already looking, he huffed and looked away.

"Okay we're done for today, pick up a syllabus and read it over for tomorrow's class."

You watched as Mr. Aizawa handed Deku a nurses pass, before leaving along with the group of friends you made. Besides the fighting between classmates, you felt you had achieved a lot today.

You guys made your way back to the classroom, picking up a syllabus. You turned around and bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize anyone was right behind me." You gave a sheepish smile to the boy behind you. His hair was bi colored along with his eyes. He gave you a once over before humming. Not saying anything he grabbed a piece of paper and walked away. You clicked your tongue in annoyance at being ignored, but you just let it go.

You walked out with the boys, as well as the pink skinned girl from earlier. She introduced herself as Mina, and you got along fairly well. You saw someone else leaving and quickly called out to them, she turned and smiled turning towards you. You managed to give Ochaco a quick goodbye before she sprinted off in front of you, you notice she was catching up Midoriya and Iida.

When you finally get home, you smiled even though your father wasn't there. You made yourself lunch and spent the remainder of your day studying and training. Simple warm ups since there wasn't much else you could do. By the time your father got home you had dinner made and ate together. You told him all about your day and he was very proud of you.

"I know fourth place is amazing, but don't let it go to your head you understand?" You laughed at the irony of placing fourth, but rolled your eyes at his warning.

"I know dad, I'm not. I'm planning on giving it my all, I don't underestimate any of my classmates!" He grinned at you before smoothing your head down. It was his own way of showing affecting.

"Perfect. Now go get ready for bed." You washed your plate before heading upstairs to get do your nightly routine before getting into bed. You were kept awake by the excitement of a successful first day, rolling over onto your side you smiled quietly to yourself.

"I'm ready for whatever happens, bring it on."

[ringcicatrix]

Memory meme @spiderstaff​ said:

♬ - a friend/best friend memory

“Are you okay, Bakura?”

Ryou had been lingering in the classroom at the end of the day, unable to bring himself to go home. His apartment was quiet, empty- but he was used to that, and didn’t mind it. No, that wasn’t what’d been lingering on his mind. Something else was keeping him distracted.

“Hey, Bakura? Are you listening?”

He’d felt panic when he’d seen Mr. Karita back at school, terrified that the man would recognize him as the reason he’d slipped into a coma. But the gym teacher had been no different from how he usually acted, still cruel, but no horrid accusations or vicious words. Not that he didn’t deserve them, but....

“Hey! Earth to Ryou!”

“H-Huh?”

“You were spacing out- is everything ok?”

“O-Oh, yeah. I’m alright.”

He hadn’t even realized that he’d been spacing out enough to draw the attention of the gang, Yugi and Jounouchi standing in front of him trying to get his attention. He smiled, though it felt a bit forced, and simply tried to not focus on his still-bandaged hand.

“You’ve been zonin’ out ever since gym class.” Ryou was surprised that Jounouchi had noticed- it wasn’t like he held a low opinion of the boy, or anything like that, but he simply hadn’t thought anyone would pay attention. “If that jerk Karita said anything, you let me know, okay? It’s like he doesn’t even know who helped him get back to normal!”

“H-Haha... no, it’s not that, I promise. I’m alright.” He gave his best polite smile, trying to ignore the guilt that picked at his heart while his friend attempted to reassure him. Mr. Karita would have every reason to pick on him- he felt lucky enough just that the man hadn’t started threatening to cut his hair again. “I guess I’ve just been tired. A lot’s happened, and with my hand, it can be a bit difficult to fall asleep...”

The others both nodded and offered sympathetic smiles, and Ryou couldn’t help but feel worse. It wasn’t like he was lying to them, but he also... wasn’t telling the complete truth. Because he was scared, and he didn’t want to burden them with anything more after all the trouble he’d already caused.

Together the group left the school, with Ryou hanging slightly to the back while the others spoke. He didn’t want them to worry about him, didn’t want them to notice any of the anxiety that slipped through his face- so if he stayed just slightly out of view, it’d be better. Simpler. He couldn’t possibly be a burden on his friends.

“Oh- I just realized, I forgot something inside.” 

Yugi’s sudden stop led to Ryou almost bumping into him, just barely managing to catch himself in time. The others all nodded, going on ahead at Yugi’s insistence, but Ryou went back with him. Not because he didn’t like the others, but just because... maybe if it was just Yugi, he could ask a couple questions. Try to get at least one thing off his mind. (Even if he failed, it wouldn’t be that big a deal- he’d never been that talkative anyways).

“If there’s something on your mind... I don’t mind talking. You’re our friend, Ryou. We trust you.”

That trust hurt, because it didn’t feel earned. He’d put them through a horrible experience, all because of the ring. They’d been so close to ending up another set of miniatures in his collection, of dolls with souls that could see and hear and feel but who couldn’t do anything but watch.

“I...” He bit at his lip, trying to ignore the pain in his chest and his hand. He hadn’t told any of them about what the ring had done, the way it’d dug itself into his skin like a parasite, as if it needed to suck at his blood to survive. The doctor at the hospital had been confused as to how he’d gotten the injuries, but he’d refused to respond- all that mattered was fixing them. “If Mr. Karita has woken up, then... I think... everyone else should’ve as well.”

Those weren’t the words that he’d planned on speaking, and by the looks of it, they weren’t what Yugi had expected him to say. Or maybe he had expected it, Ryou wouldn’t know.

“That’s good, right? All your old friends should be ok now.”

“I-It is, but... I...” He stopped walking, clutching his school bag a bit too tightly, trying to ignore the way his hand ached. “I... I can’t bring myself to try checking. Because... what if they’re still... unconscious? Or... what if they’re... if they’re...”

Dead.

He couldn’t even bring himself to say the word, but it haunted his mind. He’d died, briefly- he couldn’t remember much other than a warmth and a light, and the faintest echoes of those achingly familiar voices gently telling him that this wasn’t his time, and that he had to go back. He couldn’t stay with them yet, no matter how much he missed them.

“Well... Mr. Karita was okay, right? So I’m sure they must be too!”

“But he was only really out for a day, Yugi. For some of them, it’s been... it’s been so much longer. And... and even if they’re alive, they’ve lost so much time...”

He was a thief. He’d stolen their time, the most precious thing a person could have while alive. Even if it hadn’t been him- he’d befriended them. He’d made a selfish wish.

“Ryou. You can’t blame yourself for what the spirit did, okay?”

His friend wasn’t someone that Ryou would’ve ever called intimidating, but his stare had an intense determination that he felt like he couldn’t escape from. It was a bit like the other Yugi, the spirit of the puzzle- but softer, still very much belonging only to Yugi.

“I... I know it was him, but... but still...”

“You have to have faith in yourself. You didn’t do any of those things. You did everything you could to help us- you would never do things like that.”

He wanted to treat the words like shallow platitudes, tell himself that Yugi couldn’t really know him, because they hardly knew each other, but the shorter boy was hard to ignore. It was the same reason they’d even become friends in the first place- he seemed like he just wasn’t the sort of person who could ignore when another person was hurting. It was admirable, even if Ryou found it... a bit foolish. When it came to him, anyways. He was just bad luck.

He told himself that, and he told himself that, and yet he felt like he wanted to believe Yugi- and all of his friends- regardless of that.

Ryou changed the topic after that, switching to talk about that card game that’d been getting popular in the states recently. Yugi said he’d actually played before, a couple times now- Duel Monsters, it was called now. He’d have to make a deck of his own someday, and maybe he could show it to Yugi and Jounouchi.

When he finally got back home to his apartment, he let out a heavy sigh. Talking to Yugi had helped, and he really did believe that his friends would be there for him if he asked, but... he couldn’t ask them for help with this. He couldn’t burden them with this, not this particular thing.

There was a landline phone in his apartment, at his father’s insistence. He tended to only use it when talking with his father, or when he had to do important things- at current, his hands rested over a small book of numbers and names, frowning.

You have to do this. You have to do this.

He scanned until he saw one of the names on his internal list- Hayato. One of the boys he’d been friends with at his previous school. The last person to go into a coma before transferring. He still didn’t remember how it’d happened- maybe for the better- but it had been the last straw then, he’d been about to break.

Cursed. Cursed. It hadn’t mattered how many times he’d changed schools. Didn’t matter how far he’d moved from his father. He’d never lasted more than a year at any school since he’d gotten the ring. Sometimes it was his father’s work that made them move, other times it was the ring. But the result was always the same.

His fingers hovered above the buttons on the phone, paralyzed by fear. What if he hadn’t woken up? What if they were all still unconscious? And... if he had woken up, what’d happened? Did all of them hate him? They should’ve, after what he’d- the spirit- had done.

Don’t think about it. Just call. Just call, Ryou.

He’d punched in the number and picked up the receiver before he could give himself time to doubt himself once more, listening to the mechanical tones as the line rang. Once, twice, three times. He’d been about to give up, expecting it to go to voicemail- but instead a woman’s voice came on the line.

“A-Ah, I....” 

He startled at her brief introduction, a response which only seemed to make the woman confused.

“Is this a prank call?”

“N-No, Ma’am. I just...” He forced himself to take a deep breath, steadying his nerves. “I-I’m... Ryou Bakura. I’m a... friend of Hayato’s. I... wanted to ask about him... if he’s doing alright....”

The line went quiet for a moment, and Ryou started to wonder if she was going to hang up on him. He wouldn’t blame her- he was the reason her kid had ended up in a coma.

“Actually, he... he just woke up yesterday.” There was a mix of emotions in her voice that Ryou couldn’t fully understand, but the relief and exhaustion were clear. “Would you like to speak with him? I can give you his cell’s number. I’m sure he’d be overjoyed to speak with his friends- he’s still in the hospital for now.”

“I-I... yes, that would be... that would be nice. Thank you.”

She listed it out, and he copied it down dutifully, then they exchanged some quick goodbyes and left Ryou once more alone in a silent apartment. But... he was awake. One friend, at least, was awake.

Then surely, the rest had to be...

He wasn’t able to think long enough to discourage himself from calling his friend’s cell, punching in the number and waiting, praying that he would pick up. He only had to wait for one ring this time, before a voice that felt too familiar came on the line. It’d been a while now, and yet it felt as if the’d only spoken yesterday.

“Yo, this’s Hayato! Who’s there?”

“H-Hi, um... it’s Ryou...”

“Ryou?!” He was loud enough that Ryou had to hold the phone away from his ear, but he wasn’t angry. He sounded surprised, and maybe even a bit excited- but not mad. “Where’d you go, man?! I was talking with our classmates- they said you just up and vanished!”

“I-I... I transferred schools...”

“At the end of the year? That’s a bummer, dude. Your dad really never lets you catch a break, huh?”

There was a noise from the other end, the sounds of voices and surprise, and suddenly there were two more people talking.

“Ryou! You’re alright! We were so worried about you- Ai looked like she was gonna cry when she heard you weren’t at school anymore!”

“K-Kaito, shut up!”

“Ha! You’re blushing! You’re totally embarrassed!”

“Anyways,” Hayato had taken the phone back, apparently, “nobody’s really sure what happened, but all of us just... woke up! The doctors aren’t letting us go yet, just in case- but I haven’t felt this good in ages.”

“Y-You... all of you... y-you’re really... okay?”

“Yeah!”

It was like a floodgate broke- Ryou was crying into the receiver, trying and failing to keep his composure as his friends joked around as if he was still right there, as if nothing bad had ever happened.

They spoke for a while after that, Ryou telling them about Domino high and Domino City and what it’d been like since his move, and all of them talking about the gossip that their classmates had shared with them already in the short time since they’d woken up.

Ryou didn’t know if things would ever really be normal- and he couldn’t bring himself to contact more people, to check on every person because he knew that not everyone could be so happy, and not everyone would want to talk to him. And that was fine- they didn’t owe him that.

But his friends had woken up. They were awake. Even if they drifted apart, they were awake, and that was so much better than having “friends forever” if they were stuck in lead figurines, unable to do anything. And all of it, all of this, was thanks to Yugi and his- Ryou’s too- friends.

For the next week, Ryou spent his time after school working on something, a project that kept his mind busy while he settled into a life without the ring, without the blackouts and fear. it was something he was proud of, and even if working on it made his hand ache after an hour or two, it was worth it.

“There’s something that I want to show all of you.”

He said it with a smile, a genuine smile, as he held a small covered box in front of him. The gang gathered around a desk, curiously trying to inspect it- when he took the cover off, revealing the diorama he’d been working on.

“I made it myself... it’s a diorama of our adventure- a symbol of our friendship.”

He had friends now, friends whom he would never betray, and who he hoped would never betray him. No matter what, he’d do whatever he could to protect all of them, so that he wouldn’t ever lose a friend again.

[nad-zeta]

Match up (◕‿◕✿)

nAdDy sEnpAi if you’re still doing ikevamp matchups, could you do mine pleaseee 👉🏼👈🏼, school’s been really hectic and i need a pick me up 😔😔 here’s my updated info hehe 😚

I’m a female on the libra-scorpio cusp and a Slytherin, I used to be an ENFP but now I’m an INFP. Appearance-wise, I’m 5'2, i’ve brown eyes and caramel brown hair. I also wear glasses and I’m also quite tanned from being out in the sun all the time.

Personality-wise:

- I can be really enthusiastic about stuff I’m really interested in, such as history (especially world war history), sciences (but physics is trash to me) and anime (I’m a closet nerd hehe) .

- I can be really ambitious and competitive, and I would sometimes place unrealistic expectations on myself, leaving me mentally exhausted and stressed, but like i place these unrealistic measures on myself to strive to be the best

- I do try to chill and take it slow, but you know, sometimes i just can’t 😅

- I’m quite an open book to all my close friends

- I also tend to be really possessive, like I dont like people purposely trying to steal my friends (it happened a lot of times before) and i hate it when someone randomly butts into a conversation i’m having with anyone, especially if it’s a deep conversation

- I can be really awkward around people i don’t click with, but around people i click with, i can be pretty wild and will be able to hold conversations with.

- I tend to procrastinate a lot, and people say i look intimidating but i don’t feel like I’m intimidating.

- I can be really sensitive to other’s emotions and i tend to put others before me, so like my close friend always told me that i’m too much of a giver, like I try to please everyone else and ignore myself

- My love languages are physical touch and quality time

- I can’t stand people who are attention seekers or just aim to be public nuisances as i feel that they’re just really irritating and it gets on my nerves, especially those people who are just doing stupid things to be popular (which is lowkey why i think tiktoks dances are dumb, like seriously i dont get the hype, but i do like tiktok meme videos tho)

- I listen to a lot of different genres of music, but i especially love classics (mozart and chopin are my favourites) and pop.

- I can really insecure at times, because i always feel that every other girl out there is better than me and i’m just a plain and ugly, and partially because i got bullied when i was younger about my appearance

- I like dressing up and putting on makeup occassionally, but i do act like a tomboy most of the time (ie. I hate skirts, like i really dont like them and i have no idea why, but jeans are supreme).

- I also love playing the piano and singing as well, even though i’m not that good at it :D

- People tell me that I’m very curious and persistent, constantly pushing until i get answers, but i do know my limits.

- I’m also very passionate about things I love, and i would do anything to protect people that i care and love.

- I’m also very affectionate and supportive towards my close friends and people i love. - I do have trust issues and I often feel like i do not deserve love and that I hate people who betray my trust.

- I’m ok with pda, but not anything overly affectionate, like hand-holding and kissing is ok, but not making out 😳😖

- I also tend to be pretty forgettful, and i’ll not eat for hours to get my work on hand done (whoop pretty unhealthy but :0)

- I’m also really sarcastic when i want to be, and i can’t hold a poker face to save my life (i swear i always start laughing like 2 seconds in) and I tend to sass people a lot, especially if I’ve had a bad day

- I’m also pretty fiesty and I hate people stereotyping me for my gender (i.e like when someone says that “oh you’re pretty good for a girl”) like what does my gender have to do with my ability? Like there is zero correlation

- My sense of humour is kind of twisted at times but i really love memes and i tend to crack inappropriate jokes sometimes

- I’ve been told that i come across as really flirty to some guys but it’s because i can be really touchy feely to my friends

- I’m also quick to anger, especially if i have a bad day, i hate people who nag and i hate people who put down others

- I’m kind of touch-starved, so i really like hugs and cuddles, but I’m also ticklish so my friends tend to tickle me when hugging me

- I can be a daydreamer at times, like I would get stuck in my own fantasy world when i shouldn’t 😂😂

- I’m also a drama queen around my friends, I dont have a lot of them in real life because of some rumours that others spread, so i only have a close circle of friends i really treasure and would do anything for them

- I also tend to bottle up all my anger and negative thoughts, and would sometimes like explode on others even though I don’t mean to

- Sometimes I don’t really think before I say or act, which is why sometimes I can come off as a bit rude or unfeeling but it’s just me and my impulsiveness 

Fun Facts:

- i really love food, especially sweets (dark chocolate and dango is my life)

- i really hate horror movies (I’m usually pretty brave, but horror movies just get to me so much ergh) but i love chick flicks and adventure flims

- I’m also a hopeless romantic, which is why even little romantic gestures can make my heart flutter

- My hobbies are reading, writing and shooting (only air-rifle though)

- I used to be pretty athletic, I still am, but to a lesser extend now, because i injured my left knee playing volleyball in the past. It’s on it’s road to recovery, but it still hurts quite badly when i overexert myself.

- I love artic foxes and cats, dogs are too energetic for me 😅

- I’m also a sneaker hoarder and I love collecting and wearing sneakers hehe, heels are like torture devices for the feet i dont care even if they make me taller

- Coffee over tea anyday, no offense to peoples who like tea, but a fresh cup of brewed coffee is one of the best things in the world 😚

- I’m really terrible at drawing, I’m not gonna kid you. When i was younger, my art teacher threatened to fail me because im really terrible at drawing. 😂

- I’m also very injury-prone and a bit clumsy, which caused me to have bruises occasionally

- I’m kinda bad and math and physics, but like if you take your time to explain to me then I’ll understand a bit more lol, my best subject is like chemistry

- my ideal date would just be cuddling with my boyfriend, and either watching a movie together or bookshop date hehe

uwu i would be super grateful and happy if you did my matchup uwu thank you sm sending you all my love and hugs and cuddles 🥰💖💕

Hi hi, lia! ❤I’m so happy ya requested! 😆Hehe, I hope you enjoy it love, and I hope this cheers ya up! Love ya lots, and I hope you enjoy it! ❤😊

So I match you with……………. Isaac

Oh, the first time Isaac spotted you in the dining room, introducing yourself to everyone, he was paralyzed with fear. You quite possibly looked more intimidating than anyone he has ever met in his whole entire life, and that’s saying a lot considering you were standing right next to his pure blooded vampire, sire. Comte spotted Isaac hiding behind the doorway of the dining room, peaking in to catch a glimpse of their new guest. You instantly turned around when you heard the blond vampire beckon, someone closer, whose name you know all too well. He had been the cause of endless amounts of math and science homework over the years. 

Your eyes locked with his for a split second, but moments after you met his rosy eyes he darted them to the ground. “I-s-saac Newton, n-nice to meet you.” You gave him a shy smile and took his outstretched hand and shook it, before you could even say a word, Arthur budded in and interrupted. An action which caused you to feel slightly irritated, Isaac looked up at your face and saw that you were starting to become awkward with being the centre of attention. The two of you still held hands when the physicist decided to pull you into the kitchen with him to give you a moment of peace. You smiled when he is a very soft meek voice confessed that he didn’t really like crowds or loud people, a little fact that the two of you bonded over. And before you knew it, you and Isaac were now sitting in the kitchen chatting away in a deep conversation about your mutual dislike of overcrowded places, bullies and plain old public nuisances.

The next day you decided to curiously explore the mansion. You came across a great big library, and you felt as excited as a kid on Christmas day. They had every and any book you could possibly wish for. You decided to spend the day doing something you absolutely loved, and that would be... reading. You had found yourself an old outdated science book, and you were honestly so fascinated at how little had changed in terms of scientific principles over the years. You were so invested in the book you were reading you didn’t even hear Issac walking in. He was on the hunt for his little hedgehog. 

You were awoken from your book reading trance when you heard the sound of a vase smash against the floor. Startled you turned your head towards the loud crash only to see a very distressed looking Isaac. You are naturally sensitive to other emotion, and very much a giver, so it only took one glance at Isaac’s troubled face to prompt you into action. You noticed that he had cut himself on the fallen vase and he was now down crouched on the floor trying to retrieve his terrified hedgehog, who had gotten himself caught at the bottom of one of the large bookcases. 

Wordlessly you laid on the floor beside Isaac and peered under the bookcase, when you spotted little Harry cowering in the dark corner tangled in a ball of wool. Your hands and arms were much smaller than Issac’s, so you were easily able to reach under the bookcase and secure the little hedgehog. Both of you sat up as you cradle the scared little animal in your hands, trying to untangle the wool that was wrapped around his body. “My God, Harry, I was worried sick about you, please never disappear like that again.” both you and Isaac breathed a sigh of relief at the now rescued critter.

That is when you looked up and noticed that Harry wasn’t the only hedgehog who had been injured, “Isaac, your hand!” You stood up and offered Isaac a hand up, you then gently took his hand in yours and led him to your room. You sat him down on your bed and gently started treating the injury as Harry had made himself comfortable, now sleeping on your pillow. While treating Isaac’s injury, you started chatting away with him. You could see him blushing profusely from embarrassment so you decided to tell him about the book you were reading before the whole fiasco. At the mention of the science book, Isaac instantly perked up and met your enthusiasm ten fold. After his wound was wrapped and treated, the two of you sat in deep conversation for the second time that week, chatting all about science and your mutual love for the subject. And that my dear friend is how you and Isaac had become good friends

Since that day, it wasn’t uncommon for the two of you to be sitting across from each other in the library, reading away. Usually, Harry would be nestled in your lap as you and Isaac enjoy a quiet afternoon together. Some afternoon the two of you would just simply sit in silence and read while other afternoons were filled with laughter and conversation between the two of you cuties. 

As the days went on Isaac had noticed a very curious fact about you, and that was how forgetful you were. He had noticed that you would go hours and hours without eating or drinking something which strangely enough, was the exact opposite of him, who required minimum routine of five meals a day. It was this curious observation that had started the habit of the two of you dining together every day. Something which both of you really enjoyed, especially now that the two of you were determined to find the best sweets in all of Paris. Every day without fail, at lunchtime you and Isaac would go out to town to try a new cafés for lunch and sweet. These café crawls usually involved Isaac showing you around Paris, visiting book stores together and leisurely walking beside the Seine. You honestly loved spending time with this hedgehog, who had seemed to have completely opened up to you. 

Isaac loved your inappropriate jokes and twisted humour and would bust out into uncontrollable laughter whenever you would crack a joke. One time as the two of you were sitting on the fountain’s edge eating some ice cream, you saw a man falling up stairs. As hard as you tried, you couldn’t keep a poker face, it just wasn't in you, especially when Isaac had just witnessed the exact same scene and was now looking at you and snickering. Of course, being the sweet angels you were, you rushed to see if the man was alright, however, your walk home with Isaac was filled with jokes and endless laughter of the days events. 

Ooh how Isaac had fallen head over heels for you, his favourite thing in the world was to hear you sing and play the piano. He would silently walk into the piano room whenever you played, and just let the beautiful sounds wash away his weariness of the day. He would shower you with endless compliments, even more so, when you would deny them, saying that you aren’t that good. These playful little banter fights usually end with him tickling you. He usually won’t give up until you admit that you are the best singer and piano player in the whole mansion. Cue Mozart walking in like challenge accepted.

The night Isaac finally confessed his feeling for you was on, one warm summers night. The night started of with Isaac taking you out to watch a musical concert. He knew just how much you love music. Before he had met you, he had never really bother taking the time to listen to music, as he had always been far to absorbed with his own work, to stop and smell the flowers. However since meeting you, he found himself utterly enjoying going to the opera and musical concerts and letting himself just get absorbed by the sound of music. He loved the way your eyes gleamed as you watched and listened to the performance. 

After the concert, he lead you out into the garden, where his telescope had been all set up. The two of you sat together and stargazed while Mozart played some romantic classical music in the background, which was arranged by the resident hedgehog himself. Somewhere between the beautiful sight of the stars and the gentle melody playing in the background. Isaac build up the courage to finally reveal to you just how madly in love he was with you. He then produced a bunch of red roses out of thin air and resting in the roses was a card with a hand-drawn meme ( courtesy of Sabastian) asking you in the most hilarious way to stay in the past with him. The two of you met in a sweet kiss and the rest of the evening was spent cuddled in each other’s arms under the stars.

Both of you are pretty touch starved creatures, so expect to be cuddled, snuggled, kissed and hugged whenever Isaac comes across you. Like if Isaac spots you in the garden hanging laundry he will give you the biggest hug from behind, kiss your neck and then tell you how much he loves you, before he is off with Napo to teach the children.  

Don’t worry about your impulsive behaviours, bottled up emotions or a quick temper. Isaac might be new to the whole human behaviour thing but he is very in-tune with your emotions and he will instantly pick up when you are feeling upset or angry. He will aim to fix every and all problems immediately, especially if it is causing you hurt or upset. This also counts for when you are over stressing yourself, about putting too high an expectation on yourself. If he sees you getting angry, stressed or frustrated, he will pull you into his arms and gently stroke your hair, you can’t be angry when you are being so gently held and loved. Isaac will sit an listen to all your troubles. 

He always encourages you to communicate whenever you are having negative emotions so he can help you through it the best way he knows how, with cuddles. He would usually make you a cup of coffee and pull you into his lap and cuddle you, as you unpack everything and anything that had upset you that day. He will patiently listen and leave small little kisses on your cheeks to remind you that he is there for you and will support you no matter what

He loves your competitive side, even more so when you use it to win a bet and beat Arthur. HE also loves how open-minded you are. The two of you often teach each other new skills, for example, you have been teaching Isaac how to shoot while Isaac has been patiently teaching you maths and science.

He low key loves how possessive you are and is just as possessive over you. He absolutely adores you and will remind you of that every single day. 

He loves holding your hands and giving you small kisses on the cheeks whenever the two of you go out together. He honestly can’t believe it when you feel insecure about the way you look, “You are honest to God, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” Will tickle you and shower you with kisses and loving words whenever you are feeling insecure about yourself. 

He will always snicker when your feisty side comes out. Like whenever you sass the men at the banquets for spewing gender based stereotypes and being ignorant. Once they have been put in their place, Isaac while still laughing at the hilarious smack-down you just gave the ignorant men will always give you the sweetest kisses, “God, I love you so much.”

Isaac legit loves everything about you from your quick temper to your clumsy streak. You best be sure this hedgehog is ganna be right by your side whenever you clumsily injure yourself. He will legit sweep you off your feet and nuzzle into your neck, all while making sure you didn’t injure yourself too severely. 

This boy loves you to the moon and back and would do anything to make you happy. If you are overexerting your injured knee you best be sure he will piggyback you to his room and do everything in his power to ease away the pain. Even if that means taking a soothing hot bath with you.

Often the two of you cuties can be found cuddled together, each reading their own book. Both your love languages are physical touch and quality time so Isaac is happiest when you are nestled near him simply spending some good quality time together.

Other potential matches…………. Comte 

I hope you have the best day lia! Sending ya all the hugs! ❤❤🌻 @i-sleep-like-napoleon