#the turtles wouldn’t know what to do almost everything seems to upset her even more

[secretsappyabode]

OOUGH I HAD A THOUGHT

just thinking abt my rott//mnt s/i and the things she’s been thru

how at first she seems super composed and a capable fighter, but then she goes thru a dangerous mission and suddenly it hits her how much she’s been repressing all this time and the depression hits her like a TRUCK 😭

[earlgreydream]

enemies.

| bucky x reader | fluff |

requested by @fitzfiles​ enemies to lovers 

this is technically a highschool au, but only slightly. we love bucky being a loveable ass out here

Your eyes narrowed and you glared at Bucky. You couldn’t stand him. Bucky was popular, flirtatious, and an asshole. He was always flirting with you at school, and you always felt like he was trying to make a joke of you in front of everyone. On top of that, it made other girls envy you, tainting friendships with jealousy.

It seemed like you were the only one who didn’t want Bucky Barnes. 

“You’re such an ass!” You snapped at Bucky, who only laughed in response. You hated when he tilted his head to the side, the stupid smirk you loathed pulling at his lips. 

“Don’t be like that, doll.”

“I’ll do whatever I want! Leave me alone, I’m not going to fall at your feet like everyone else!” You stood up from the library where he had been absolutely intent on distracting you from finishing your homework, the reason for the fight in the first place.

You were the only one who didn’t give him every ounce of attention he desired, and he was determined to get it. 

You sat on your bed, a folder of history homework open in front of you. You studied with music softly in the background, needing a break from trying to study with Bucky bothering you every five seconds. 

“Y/N,” your mom called your name as she walked in the door. 

You looked up, setting down the document on World War II. Your father was behind her, and you grew uneasy, wondering what they possibly felt they needed to both talk to you about.

“We’re worried about you, dear.”

“Worried? Why?” you laughed, surprised by their explanation.

“We’re just concerned that you don’t have the same social life people your age have. You seem to always be up here, studying in your room. We want you to meet some people, and have some fun,” your father explained.

You were confused by the explanation. You spent most of your time at school, and around other students. You did have friends, but you also prioritized your grades. You certainly were not the hermit they were making you out to be.

“You don’t need to worry-”

“But darling, you’ve never dated. One of our friends has the most charming son, and we think he’d be perfect for you. We want to set you up.” Your mother was smiling, and you raised your eyebrows.

“Perfect for me?”

“Yes! He’s so charming, and he’s sweet. He’s also incredibly intelligent, his grades are wonderful. He travels a lot, you know, has that worldly kind of sense. And, he’s beautiful. We were thinking of setting the two of you up, having them over for dinner.”

You couldn’t deny that this sounded too good to be true. The boy they were describing sounded perfect for you, and although you cringed at the idea of your parents setting you up, you were intrigued.

“What is his name?”

“James!” She beamed, and you raised your eyebrows.

“I will go on one blind date with him, if you stop giving me a hard time about my social life.”

“One date. You can meet him at dinner tomorrow, and then the two of you must go on one date. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. But try for us, honey.”

“I will, I promise,” you smiled at your parents, excited and nervous to meet your supposed dream-man. 

You dressed up for dinner once you were home from school. You’d never even seen this boy, and yet your tummy was filling with excited butterflies. Your name was called from downstairs, and you quickly ran down to meet them. 

You nearly tripped over yourself as you stopped dead in your tracks. You were met with an all-too-familiar silver gaze, and the smirk that made you so, so angry.

“Bucky.” 

Your voice was cold, and all of the butterflies shriveled up and died, the excitement fading from you. You were furious that you’d agreed to go on a date with him in addition to sitting through this dinner.

“You two know each other?” His mother asked, surprised.

“Quite well, actually. We have history together at school, right doll?” Bucky was trying not to laugh, only fueling your irritation. 

“It’s Y/N. And we’ve met, yes.” 

This motherfucker. 

Dinner was long and painful, and you were forced to listen to what a perfect prince everybody thought Bucky was. You were surprised to hear about his academic standing, one that competed with your own. It was clear by his expression that he didn’t want the news to get out that he wasn’t a complete anarchist. 

You cringed as your parents praised you too, unsure of who they were trying to impress. You were quiet, not giving a single damn about being polite to the boy you hated. 

“Why don’t the two of you go upstairs?” your mom suggested, and you sighed, holding back a massive eye roll. Being alone with Bucky was about last on the list of things you wanted to do.

You stood up under the pressure of four gazes, and Bucy followed you up the flight of stairs. He couldn’t contain his amusement for the situation, and you walked into your room and sat down on the edge of your bed, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Did you know it was me?”

“No, I really didn’t. But I’m glad it is.” He almost sounded sincere.

Bucky looked around your room, taking in the soft lavender walls, and the white bedspread that you sat on top of. Everything was soft and sweet, like you. Fairy lights hung above the bed, casting a gentle glow over the room. Bucky thought you looked beautiful.

“Quit staring at me,” you snipped, pulling your knees up to your chest.

He smiled, stepping in from the doorway and sitting beside you on the bed. You were angry at yourself for noticing the way the lights seemed to make him look golden, glinting in the reflection of huge silver eyes.

“How could I not?” He breathed, and your heart stuttered in your chest.

No. No, this is not happening. You will not let yourself be seduced by this cocky asshole. 

“Save it for the date,” you rolled your eyes and he smirked. 

“You’re not looking forward to it?” Bucky asked, and you shook your head with a face.

“No, of course not.”

“Come on, I’ll show you a good time. You’ll probably even realize that you’re in love with me.” His grin was infectious, but you fought off the urge to smile back.

“In love with you? Hardly.”

“I’ll give you one night. You’ll change your mind.” 

“You seem confident,” you snarked, rolling your eyes at his arrogance.

“I always am.”

You watched him as his eyes traveled over the room, seeming to take everything in. Bucky noticed every small detail, including the sketch of daisies that leaned against the wall on top of your desk. 

When he was finally called away, he stood in front of you, leaning over you with one hand on the wrought iron bed frame. A soft smile broke onto his face, and you felt warmth spread through your chest, reaching up to your cheeks.

“Goodnight, doll.”

You scowled at the dress that was laid out in the end of your bed when you got home from school. You’d been dreading the date, especially when Bucky winked at you during history class. He didn’t make a show of embarrassing you in front of his friends. You hadn’t even heard gossip about it, so he must not have told anybody. 

You were a bit surprised, you thought that Bucky would seize the opportunity to be the subject of gossip and attention, dragging you into it with him. 

Your parents were out of town for the weekend, and you’d been set up for a friday date after school with Bucky. The doorbell rang, and you went to answer it, your eyes widening a bit when you saw him in jeans and a button down. 

Fuck, he was handsome. 

“Hi James.” 

“Y/N, you look beautiful,” he said honestly, and you couldn’t stop the warmth from blossoming on your cheeks. He held up a bouquet of daisies, and you bit back a smile, taking your favorite flowers from him. You realized he noticed the drawing, and something about that made you feel fuzzy inside. 

It was too bad you didn’t even like him.

“Let me set these down, thank you.” 

You put them in a vase on the table, and he followed you. 

“You didn’t tell everyone at school.” It was a statement, but you meant it as a question.

“Why would I? I knew you wouldn’t appreciate everyone in your business,” Bucky confessed. Despite the amusement he gained from getting on your nerves, Bucky did like you, and he did respect you. The idea of others participate in the teasing, more than just his bit of playfulness, upset Bucky.

He wanted you to like him. 

You followed Bucky outside to his yellow car, one that was sort of vintage. He didn’t drive to school, and you realized you had never seen his car, but it somehow fit him. You got in the passenger seat, and he handed you the chord to play your own music.

You nervously scrolled through your phone, deciding that the safest bet for music was bon iver, and he broke into a smile, leaning forward to turn up the stereo.

“I love this song,” Bucky grinned, surprising you.

“Where are we going?” you asked, leaning forward and watching the buildings pass by as he drove you to an unknown location. 

“Just trust me.”

He parked and was opening your door for you before you could get out. You stepped out and took his outstretched hand, deciding you had to at least give this as much of an effort as he was. 

His hand was soft and he squeezed you gently as he led you inside the huge aquarium in the city. It was your favorite place to go, and you wondered how Bucky knew that. 

“You mentioned it once, in class,” he spoke as if he read your mind, or at least read the bright smile on your face.

“I can’t believe you remembered... Or that you even listened,” you laughed.

“I always listen.”

You walked through tunnels filled with colorful fish, and they swam around you on all sides, even under your feet. You gasped and pressed your hands to the glass, letting go of Bucky as you watched a sea turtle swim by. Bucky watched your delight, smiling at your excited squeal.

“Look!” you pointed, and he grinned.

“I see, it’s so cool,” he indulged you. 

You moved through the tunnel, into a room of separate tanks, all smaller and holding their own creatures. You struggled to see the clown fish in the top, even standing on your toes.

“What’re you doing, doll?”

“Trying to see the nemo fish, but-” you squeaked as Bucky’s hands went around your waist, and he lifted you up so you could see. You blushed and smiled, looking at the fish swimming around. He gently set you down, and you wrapped your hands around his arm, a little bit shyly.

The two of you spent hours looking at the creatures, and you let him wrap his arms around your waist as you stood and watched the jellyfish. 

“They’re so pretty!” you gasped, and Bucky could see the reflection in your wide eyes, and he couldn’t ignore how his heart raced when he looked at you.

You found yourself feeling the same way.

“This was great, James. I didn’t think you’d manage to win me over, but this is the best date I’ve ever been on,” you confessed shyly as you left, the sky already dark. He beamed at you, his silver eyes lighting up when you smiled at him.

“I’m so glad, but we’re not finished yet, doll.”

“You spoil me,” you giggled, and he pulled you to the car.

“Come on, or we’ll miss it,” he hurried you, laughing as he got behind the wheel. 

He drove to a park and got a blanket from the backseat, producing a basket that you hadn’t noticed before.

“Picnicking in the dark?”

“Hush and come with me,” he insisted, laying out the blanket on the grass and pulling the food out. 

You bit into a piece of fruit, leaning against his side. You gasped as fireworks started to go off overhead, and you looked at Bucky, who just smiled back at you. 

“I thought you’d like them.”

You watched the light and colors explode in the sky, enjoying the dinner he brought. You ended up leaning back against Bucky’s chest, wrapped in his jacket when you complained of being chilly. You couldn’t believe that over the course of a few hours, he had managed to work his way into your heart, and you were now in his arms.

“Do you want to come in and stay?” you asked Bucky as he pulled up in front of your house.

“I’m invited?”

“Yes.” 

He smiled, grabbing sweats from his trunk, explaining that he always had a change of clothes, on account of being an athlete. You teased him with a giggle, going inside with him and up to your bedroom. 

You changed into a pajama set and laid on your bed with him, the two of you staring up at the tiny, glittering fairy lights above you.

“You look perfect like this,” you whispered.

“Not as perfect as you.”

“What happens Monday? Do you go back to being an ass and I go back to hating you?” your voice was soft, and although you were joking, the fear behind it was real.

“I was hoping I could call you my girlfriend on Monday.”

You leaned over and kissed him, answering the question. When he kissed you back, it was like a million tiny fireworks exploding inside of you, instead of in the sky overhead. 

“You changed my mind in one night.”

[well-its-not-human-anymore]

Hi! Could I get HC from the guys? 👀 How they would always react to catching the reader seeing them "badly", in addition to the fact that he usually avoids them, but with his brothers it is incredible and they feel bad because they think they do not like him.  But she actually likes them and she looks at them like that because she "studies" them to draw them and she is too clumsy and shy to talk to them, that's why she ends up avoiding them. Until finally he catches her drawing them with lots of hearts or maybe they'll find her notebook with lots of portraits of them.

It's kind of funny because when I study people to draw them, they think that I look at them with hatred xd maybe I should increase my glasses prescription

God, glasses are such a pain in the ass but I have to wear them. If I don't anyone within my near vicinity doesn't have a face. But why they gotta get dirty so easily???? Makes me wanna explode or something

TMNT Headcanons

The boys w/ a quiet reader who is fine with his brothers but acts cold around him and stares a lot

Michaelangelo

mikey couldn't describe his disappointment upon realizing that you didn't want to be friends with him

well, you never actually said that to him

but he was pretty sure it was the case

you'd never made an effort to be friends with him

stared at him an awful lot though, but there was always something off about your gaze when you looked at him

like you were sizing him up, scrutinizing him, like he was an opponent

it kinda worried him

to add to that, you didn't even attempt to look embarrassed when he caught you staring

you'd just stare harder

on your end it was quite the opposite

you always found the brothers fascinating and you LOVED studying their anatomy, you'd confessed this to Donnie early on and he happily indulged in your questions

and you loved how easily you got along with the boys

well, except for Mikey

but it wasn't for a lack of trying

whenever the orange sporting turtle came around your normally flamboyant personality crept back into its little corner and hid

any words of excitement that had previously been with you died in your throat

for the longest time you didn't understand it

and you hated not understanding things, so you turned to your only outlet

that's how you ended up with an entire sketchbook full of the youngest brother in vastly different styles and poses

you had a separate book for the others, none of them as detailed as this

and when you stared to analyze you'd fallen into a habit of not looking away when caught

by your logic, if you stared back hard enough he'd look away first or just assume you'd zoned out

he didn't

and on one hectic day you'd left your sketchbook open on the kitchen table in your rush to get to work

you hadn't even noticed the slip up until Leo texted you to let you know during your shift

instant panic

in truth, Mikey was the one who discovered the book upon waking up from his nap and he'd spent the next three hours analyzing every drawing

when you finally dropped in after work to grab your book the turtle was waiting for you with it in hand

he'd asked you if you hated him

you told him no and accepted your sketchbook from him

he was relieved and screaming excitedly, just in his head

"Do you maybe wanna hang out sometime?"

You sighed in relief and nodded

"If you're cool with it- you don't think I'm weird do you?"

"I mean- you are talking to a turtle..."

you lightly shoved his chest and smiled, although it faded within a second

"Oh hush, 10 o'clock tomorrow? I'll bring snacks."

he was so stunned he could only shoot you finger guns in approval

Donatello

Donnie genuinely couldn't understand your unease around him

he'd followed all the proper expectations of holding a conversation

he was polite and engaging

so why wouldn't you talk to him?

this boy has read so many social blogs to try and figure out what he was doing wrong and he just couldn't put his finger on it

you were fine with the rest of his brothers, you'd stay up for hours laughing and gaming with them

you'd even sat still long enough to listen to Leo explain some old Japanese myth that he'd read about in a book

but with him it was always a quick, cordial greetings and farewells with bland small talk in between

Donnie had picked up pretty quickly that you weren't interested in any sort of interaction with him

and he convinced himself that that was okay

but that didn't explain the staring

he'd caught you in the act several times, eyes narrowed and locked on him

especially when you were alone with him in a room or just in the lair

the poor turtle just couldn't put his finger on it

then he caught you drawing, he noticed early on that you always carried a small sketchbook on your person but he didn't think much of it

and it wasn't so much that he caught you drawing, in fact, he wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't snapped at him while he was trying to do a sudoku puzzle

"Damn it Donnie! Stop moving! If I fuck this arm up one more time I'm gonna decompose!"

he'd quickly moved back into the position he was in prior

"sorry?"

but you'd gone silent again, occasionally glancing up from your work and running your eyes along his frame before looking down again

nearly twenty minutes later Donnie had finished the puzzle and it seemed as though you had finished your drawing

"Uh- can I ask what are you-"

"I'm drawing you but you kept moving your arm and making me mess up. You always do that when I draw you so every damn picture I have of you stays a sketch because you always come out looking like a fucking octopus."

He just stared

"Sorry, I uh- I didn't mean to explode on you like that. I'm just- I'm really bad at talking to you okay? It's so easy with everyone else but you've just gotta be so damn smart all the time and I worry that you'll think I'm boring so I just... don't talk to you?"

Donnie is stunned™

You refuse to show him the drawing until you can complete the line art and color it

But at least he knows that you don't hate him

Leonardo

To be completely honest Leo didn't mind that you were distant from him

You created an aura of calm when you were around and you always managed to distract his brothers while you were present

And he enjoyed the alone time

But after a few months that calm acceptance turned into jealousy

Not that he would ever admit it

He would just push it off and ignore it, that usually seemed to work

So why wasn't it?

And your obvious staring problem didn't help at all

Leo didn't spend much time considering his appearance but something about your gaze made him self conscious

And he hated that with a passion

Why was it that you could hold entire debates with his siblings? Even his dad for gods sake. You'd have hour long conversations on almost everything but whenever he tried to say hello you'd make up some lame ass excuse and scamper away

He just wanted an explanation

It appeared that the answer resided in your sketchbook

You'd left it open on the couch when Raph had called you away to spar with him

Leo very delicately flipped through the pages, careful not to disturb some of the polaroid pictures of his brothers

He was admittedly surprised to find pictures of himself among the pages

One of him in a handstand, another of him meditating, there was even one of him mid sneeze that you'd recreated with pencil and paper

The image of his eyes was the most startling, but the book held no polaroid of his eyes

You drew them from memory

And he was shocked when you returned to the room and didn't immediately panic

But that might have been because he didn't try to withhold your book from you

"It took me three months to color them, your eyes. I could never get the shade of blue just right."

"I'm gonna be honest with you y/n, I really thought you didn't like me."

You had the nerve to roll your eyes and follow it with a laugh

"I don't. I mean- I do but no, you just remind me a lot of myself and I haven't exactly figured out why yet. I thought that maybe if I drew you it'd be easier to figure you out..."

"Well did it help?"

You grinned

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

Raphael

If there was one thing Raph hated it was not understanding something that was right in front of him

which is ironic, as a much younger version of himself probably couldn't care less

and a part of him wishes he didn't care about it so much

he wishes that your blatant avoidance of him didn't upset him

but shit, it got under his skin better than any needle ever could

was it too much to ask for you to just tell him what he said or did wrong?

was he asking too much of you?

but on the same scale you'd never shown obvious dislike towards him, you were never rude and you sure as hell didn't talk shit about him to his brothers

you got along great with them

in fact it was getting more difficult to remember a time before you became a part of his family

he'd become so used to your presence that it no longer put him off when he found you hanging around the lair

but in another sense he was certain that you hadn't spoken more than three sentences to him in your time knowing him or his family

so what was the reason

several months in he finally caught onto the staring, your narrow, glassy gaze locked onto his body and refusing to look away

he stared right back at you

this annoyed you for several reasons

because within five seconds your very peaceful drawing session had turned into a staring contest and your eyes were getting VERY dry

then you exhaled in a half-sigh and looked back down at your paper

"Huh, I guess your head is more of an oblong shape..."

he took offense to this

"What tha' hell is that supposed t'mean?"

now your eyes held more of an amused silent judgement, you begrudgingly held up your sketchbook

"I'm drawing you, you fucking walnut."

"Oh..."

now you rolled you eyes and tossed the book to him, he nearly dropped it and fumbled with the pages

your annoyance was quickly growing

"Careful with that."

He flipped through the pages at a snails pace, assumingly because he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing

you had some real talent

when he looked back up at you he was wearing that crooked smile

"and here I was thinkin' that my eyes were just green."

Hope I was able to get this down pretty well! I really enjoyed writing this one! Thanks for the patience!

-Mars 🌠

[waitimcomingtoo]

In Case You Don’t Live Forever

~chapter five rewritten~

Pairing: Peter Parker x Venom!reader

Synopsis: you are Peters greatest love and Spider-Man’s greatest enemy

Series Masterlist

“Why are you in such a mood?” Ned asked his best friend as they walked to their college campus. Peter had been grumpy all morning and Ned was quick to notice. He usually showed up at Ned’s door exhausted but eager to share the adventures from the night before, but he seemed defeated today.

“I got my ass beat last night.” Peter grumbled as he shouldered his backpack.

“By who?” Ned wondered.

“I don’t even know.” Peter sighed. “I think it was some kind of alien.”

“What’d it look like?” Ned asked. It wasn’t uncommon for Ned to ask a million questions after being told something Spider-Man related. After all, he was the guy in the chair.

“Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Peter said swallowed and tried to push the previous night from his mind. He’d rather focus on this morning, and the moment he had shared with you. Peter felt such a strong connection to you, and he would’ve stayed on that rooftop all day if he could.

“Describe it to me.” Ned pleaded, tearing Peter from his thoughts.

“I don’t know. It was like eight feet tall, black, and bald. And it was super veiny.” Peter grimaced while Ned’s eyes widened.

“Oh my God. You fought Shaquille O’Neal?” Ned gasped.

“Keep your voice down. I did not fight Shaquille O’Neal.” Peter whispered harshly. Ned always seemed one step away from blowing Peters cover. Peter gave bashful smiles to the passing students who gave him weird looks upon hearing Ned’s words.

“Terry Crews?” Ned continued. Peter rolled his eyes at his best friend and starting walking to class.

“No. This is serious.” Peter said, his voice heavy with annoyance.

“I know it’s serious. You got beat up by The Rock.” Ned remarked. Peter fidgeted with the strings on his backpack, still bothered knowing he was beaten so easily by Venom.

“The Rock is Samoan, not black.” Peter corrected.

“I know. But I heard “bald” and I just automatically envisioned The Rock.” Ned defended.

“There’s another thing. It had this huge, gaping mouth with rows and rows of teeth. I keep thinking about it.” Peter shivered. “It came so close to me. And its tongue was super long. It was like a cracked out frog.”

“So a ninja turtle? You got beat up by a ninja turtle?” Ned gawked.

“It wasn’t a ninja turtle.” Peter snapped. “ It was black, remember?”

“So an emo ninja turtle.” Ned deadpanned.

“It kept saying “we”. “ Peter remembered.

“What do you mean?”

“There was only one of them, but they only referred to themself as “we” as if there were multiple of them.” Peter explained.

“Do you think there could be more? Like an alien army or something?” Ned asked incredulously. Peter hadn’t even thought about that.

“Maybe. I remember something else, it’s name was Venom.” Peter recalled. He distinctly remembered those words coming out of the creatures mouth.

“Venom?” Ned repeated, clearly finding it cool.

“Yeah. And I told it my name. I used my regular voice too.” Peter realized. He usually disguised his voice when speaking, but he had been so scared that he forgot to. It haunted him knowing the creature now knew who he was and he wondered if it knew both of his identities.

“Wow. This is so cool. Not cool for you, because you might die. But this is super cool for me.” Ned smiled as he envisioned what Venom might look like.

“Thanks, ned. Actually, wait.” Peter stopped in his tracks. “One more thing happened.”

“What?” Ned whispered as they approached their class.

“Venom was about to eat me but then it started talking to itself. It sounded maybe like it was having a conversation with someone? I’m not sure, I could only hear one side of it.” Peter explained. “It put me down, well it threw me down, and let me go. But before it left, it said something about a girl. I don’t really remember. I was too focused on catching my breath.”

“Catching your breath? Were you running?”

“No. It choked me.” Peter told him as he lightly touched his neck.

“Kinky.” Ned smirked as he took a seat next to Peter in their class.

“That’s gross.” Peter stifled a laugh. “Did I tell you about this morning with Y/N?”

“No. Tell me.” Ned said. He wasn’t disappointed in the change of topic. He was glad Peter had moved on on from Liz, finally. Peter recounted the discussion he had with you that morning, barely getting through it without blushing and laughing at certain parts.

“I really like her, Ned. More than I’ve ever liked anyone. She’s so amazing. I barely know her, but I can tell already. I want to know everything about her. I want to hear her full story. And most of all, I want to be a part of that story.” Peter declared but frowned suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” Ned asked.

“After our talk, we just kinda sat there staring at each other for a while.” Peter began. “She kinda leaned in, and I did too, but then this seagull flew by and scared us half to death. We laughed about it but the moment was gone.”

“So you almost kissed her?” Ned smiled. “Why is that upsetting you?”

“Because what if that was our chance and I blew it?” Peter feared. “What if that seagull was a sign from above that I was in way over my head? Like God was asking me who I was to think I could just kiss the most perfect girl in the world? She’s so cool, Ned. Way too cool for me. She’s already had a boyfriend and I’ve never even kissed anyone.”

“If it’s meant to happen, it will happen.” Ned assured him.

“Or, the same thing that happened with Liz will happen.” Peter argued. “I won’t tell her how I feel and then she’ll be gone forever.”

“Then don’t let that happen.” Ned reasoned. “Tell Y/N how you feel. Do it tonight, before you go on patrol. And if she doesn’t feel the same, then at least you’ll know. Isn’t it better to know?”

“When did you become such a love expert?” Peter teased as the professor walked into the room.

“Since I started dating Betty. She’s opened my eyes to what love really is.” Ned shrugged. “Tell her tonight. Then tell me how it goes. I’m here for you either way.”

Peter nodded and gave Ned a thankful smile before turning his attention to the professor.

On his walk home from campus, Peter spotted you walking down the sideways. Ned’s words of encouragement rang in his ears and he made a brash decision.

“Hey, Y/N, wait up!” Peter called after you, making you turn around.

“Hey Parker. How was kindergarten?” You teased him.

“Alright alright. Majoring in chemical engineering is hardly kindergarten. And I’m only one year younger than you.” Peter reminded you. “I don’t want you to have a heart attack on me, grandma.”

“Watch it, sonny.” You kept with the joke. “I’ll hit you with my purse and then say something mildly racist.”

“Just like my grandma.” Peter laughed in amusement. “We’re gross. And not funny.”

“We really are.” You scrunched your nose. “Couple of gross ass orphans.”

Peter laughed again, feeling comfortable enough with you to joke about a tragic situation.

“Look, Y/N, I really enjoyed our talk this morning. I really enjoyed all our talks so far actually. I guess I just like talking to you. ” Peter began. He looked nervous all the sudden, like he lost his stamina. You raised your eyebrows hopefully, as there were only so many ways this conversation could go.

“I like talking to you too, Peter.” You said honestly, hoping he’d continue. Hoping he’d ask that question. Your answer seemed to give Peter the confidence he needed to go on.

“Really? Um, that’s great cause I really like talking to you too. I already said that. Oh god. I’m crashing. I-“ he began to flail and you calmed him down by taking a few steps closer. You were almost touching at that point. He stopped talking immediately and looked at you with wide eyes.

“Is there someone you wanted to ask me, Peter?” You asked slowly as you looked at him through your eyelashes.

Damn. He was tall too.

“Yes, actually. I, um, will you…would you maybe want to-“

“Hiya kids!” A gravely voice came from the front stairs of your apartment, completely cutting Peter off. Peter looked up and angrily rolled his eyes.

“Don’t look now. It’s Henry.” Peter grumbled. Henry was the creepy neighbor with the foot fetish.

“Oh Dear God.” Peter said in a low voice.

“What?” You panicked when you saw Peters expression change.

“You’re wearing flip flops.” He pointed at your black painted toes and you felt the color drain from your face.

“Run!” He whispered harshly. You bolted into your apartment and Peter ran into his. Once inside, Peter blew out an angry breath. He had been interrupted twice in one day when trying to talk to you, and he worried that it was a sign.

Back at the apartment, you sat on your bed with headphones in. You were prepping for your interview with Cletus Kasady by writing down some questions you wanted to ask him. It was hard figuring out what to ask a serial killer. You looked at your notepad and sighed. All you had written down was “but why tho?” in sloppy handwriting. You tore out the page, crumbled it up, and threw it at the trash can. When you went to write something else down, you noticed the paper ball still stuck to your hand. You shook your hand but it still wouldn’t come off.

“What the hell?” You grumbled as you shook your hand.

“Oh. This might be our fault.” Venom said suddenly.

“What might be your fault?” You asked as you continued to shake the paper off your hand, but to no avail.

“We sort of went inside Spider-Man when we were talking to him yesterday.” Venom said timidly and the paper ball dropped from your hand.

“What?” You demanded and Venom went silent.

“Come out here.” You said, like an owner to a dog.

“We’d rather stay inside.” Venom said softly.

“Get out here now. You need to explain yourself young lady.” You said sternly. Venom slowly manifested and looked at you with sad eyes.

“I’m 600 million years old, by the way.” Venom added. “You can’t call me young lady.”

“What do you mean you went inside Spider-Man?” You ignored her comment.

“When we were choking him we put one of our tendrils inside him and swirled around.” Venom explained. “He didn’t even feel it. We did though. He’s very squishy on the inside.”

“You…what?” You didn’t even know where to start. “How does that explain the paper sticking to me?”

“We think we absorbed his powers.” Venom said. “We used to watch videos of him on YouTube after you went to bed. He can stick to walls and stuff. We think that’s why the paper ball stuck to you.”

“Since when can we absorb powers?” You wondered as you looked at your hands.

“We never had a host before. We don’t really know how it works.” Venom reminded you. “But back on Klyntar, our home planet, the Grandmaster used to tell us we could absorb the powers of superhuman beings. Judging by your newfound stickiness, we think it worked.”

“What else can Spider-Man do?” You asked. “Since you’re such a big fan.”

“He can shoot webs out of his wrists. And he can return lost dogs.” Venom answered, sounding a little annoyed.

“Do you have something against Spider-Man?” You chuckled a little at her tone.

“We hate what he did last night. He thought we were the bad guy, and he let the real bad guy get away. He judged us before he had the full story. We’re not a bad guy.” Venom defended. You were surprised to hear how passionate she was about this and gave her a soft smile.

“Let’s not worry about Spider-Man right now. I want to test out our new abilities. Let’s rock and roll, baby.” You cheered, complete with rock and roll hands. The second you touched your middle finger and ring finger to your palm, a black, web-like tendril shot out from your wrist and stuck to the ceiling. You stared at the web with a gaping mouth, weakly shaking your wrist to see if it would stay attached.

It did.

“Maybe that’s one of our new abilities.” Venom said. You looked back and forth between her and the gooey web coming out of your wrist.

“Oh my God! What’s happening?” You screamed. You took your fingers off your palm and the web retracted back into your wrist. Looking at your wrist incredulously, you made the rock and roll hand again and the same web shot out from your wrist. This time, it grabbed the ceiling fan.

“V-Venom?” You asked. You didn’t know what to say.

“Try to aim it at something.” She suggested. You aimed your wrist and the lamp across the room and touched your fingers to your palm. The black web shot across the room and grabbed onto the lamp. You quickly yanked your arm back to pull the lamp towards yourself. The lamp flew across the room, smashed you in the face, and left you with a bloody nose.

“Ow.” You cried, gingerly touching your nose.

“We see this as a absolutely win.” Venom cheered. You shot her a look and went to get cleaned up.

After about a week of practice, and very little work on your questions for Cletus, you had a better handle on your webbing ability. Of course, the week also consisted of long talks with Peter on the roof, late patrols of New York, the occasional run in with a criminal, late night FaceTime calls with Peter, and beating the shit out of Spider-Man, twice. Venom eventually grew bored of using the new powers around the house, so it was time for the final test.

You stood at the rooftop ledge and looked down, talking a deep breath to calm your nerves.

“It’s a long way down.” You commented.

“Yep.” Venom replied in your head.

“We could die.” You added.

“Yep.”

“Ready?”

“We’re ready.” Venom grinned as you transformed. You stepped off the ledge and fell freely for a while, screaming the whole way down.

“Stop being a little bitch! Shoot a web!” Venom yelled. You aimed a web at a building and began to swing. You were too close to the ground and ended up knocking over a bunch of tables at an outdoor restaurant. People ran away in fear while others took out their cameras and recorded.

“We’re not here to hurt you! Peace and love!” Venom shouted as you continued to swing through the steers of New York. People began to cheer upon hearing your words.

“Do you hear that, Y/N? People are cheering. They love us.” Venom said happily.

“I love us too.” You replied. You were even happier than she was. You knew how much it hurt Venom to be seen as a monster, it was why she hated being called a parasite. You also knew it was why she hated Spider-Man. He was praised for stopping bad guys while Venom was seen as one of the bad guys he needed to stop.

“Hey, what is that thing?” A man called from the street. Venom stopped swinging and landed on the street. You proudly turned to the crowd of people, a massive grin on your face. There it was, our favorite question.

“We…are Venom.” Venom growled. People took pictures and videos of you from a distance.

“You can come closer. We won’t hurt you.” Venom assured the crowd.

“Are you like the anti Spider-Man?” Someone asked.

“Spider-Man is a joke. He can’t protect this city like we can. We are no Spider-Man. We are Venom.” Venom roared. A few people took a step back and you began to feel uneasy.

“Hey, King Kong. I want a word with you.” A sassy voice quipped from the crowd. A man in yellow sunglasses and a suit stepped forward, and you bet your ass you recognized him.

“My name is Tony Stark. Heard of me? Of course you have. Would you mind coming back to my tower with me?” He asked, but it felt more like a demand. The people in the crowd slowly dispersed and soon, you stood there alone with Tony.

“Be nice. Say yes.” You told Venom.

“Who is this guy?” She asked out loud.

“I just said my name.” Tony said, slightly annoyed.

“He’s a really famous inventor. I’ll explain later. Just follow him please.” You begged. Venom gave Tony a once over and followed him to a limo.

“Yea, you’re gonna ride up top big guy.” Tony said, patting the roof of the car.

“Girl.” Venom growled. Tony looked surprised.

“My apologies ma’am.” He raised surprised eyebrows. You rode on top of his car all the way to his tower, wondering what he could possibly want with you.

The inside of his tower was huge. Tony lead you to a lab that was bigger than yours and Peters apartments combined.

“I’ve seen videos of you on YouTube. Seems like you and Spider-Man aren’t the best of friends.” Tony remarked as he pulled out an iPad.

“We will crush his bones and snort them like cocaine.” Venom growled. Tony was just as surprised to hear that as you were.

“Now that’s a visual.” Tony smirked. “I’ll have you know, Spider-Man is a friend of mine. He’s not your biggest fan either but from what I’ve seen, you’ve done this city some good since you’ve been here. How long has that been?”

“Two weeks.” Venom answered.

“I thought so. I’d never seen you before then. And since your arrival, petty crime has dropped significantly in Queens. Criminals are too scared of getting eaten to do anything. Don’t get me wrong, I love Spider-Man and I’ll kill you if you tell him that, but no one fears him. He gets the job done, but there’s always another job to do. With you, on the other hand, your mere presence is preventing crime before it even happens.” Tony smiled to himself, like he was just given a new toy. “You’re scary, is what I’m trying to say. But you’re a good guy. It’s rare. I want it to stay that way. I want you on my team.”

“Team?”

“We’re called the Avengers. We had a bit of a falling out but the name still stands.” Tony waved his hand. “We fight bad guys together. Really, really bad guys. I think you could us some good. Plus, you’ll be taken care of for life and we’ll only call you in for serious threats. But I need a few things from you first.”

“Like what?”

“Your story.” He pointed a finger at you. “How does a giant, anthropomorphic alien wind up in New York City?”

“It’s a long story.” Venom answered.

“We can trust this man, Venom.” You told her telepathically. “I’m gonna come out okay?” Venom hesitated and Tony looked impatient to know more.

“Are you sure?” She asked you. Tony looked confused.

“Am I sure?” He pointed to himself.

“Not you.” She said. Tony looked around for who else Venom could be talking to and found no one.

“I’m sure.” You decided. “This guy is one of the good guys. We can trust him. I promise. I’m coming out.”

You slowly transformed back into yourself in front of Tonys wide eyes. Venom stayed in her snake-like form and rested on your neck.

“Hello, Mr. Stark. My name is Y/N L/N.” You shyly introduced yourself. “This is Venom. We want to help.”

Tony’s face shifted from shocked to impressed as he looked you over.

“I gotta say, I did not except someone like you to be inside that scary monster.” Tony chuckled.

“We’re not a monster, Mr. Stark. We want to help people.” You reminded him.

“I can see that.” Tony nodded. “That’s why I’ve been developing you a suit.”

“When did you do that?” You wondered. “We just met.”

“Oh, I know. I’ve been designing it while you talked. I want you to have it incase you and Venom get separated. That way, you’ll be protected until you’re back together.” Tony explained as he showed you his ipad. Sure enough, it had a drawing of a suit on it.

“I’ll get started right away. I just need a little piece of Venom. If I make the suit using her skin, you’ll have the total protection you need.” You looked at Venom for consent, who nodded and extended a tendril towards Tony. He quickly snipped a piece off and put it in a container.

“When will the suit be ready? A few months?” You asked as Tony tapped the container. Tony stopped looking at the container and laughed.

“Y/N, I’m a genius inventor. Go get lunch. It’ll be ready when you’re done.” He said.

And he wasn’t kidding. An hour and a half later, Tony presented you with a suit. You ran my fingers over it slowly, not wanted to disturb a single thing. You looked at it in awe, completely speechless at what he had created.

“Go on, try it on.” He shrugged casually. You grinned from ear to ear before rushing to the bathroom to put it on. You came out soon enough with tears in you eyes.

“You like it?” Tony asked. You looked at your covered hands in amazement. The suit was jet black, like Venom was, and hugged your body like a second skin. There was a big white spider symbol on the front, the complete opposite of Spider-Mans small black one. You figured it was a nod to being called the anti Spider-Man and it was perfect.

“Well?” Tony was still waiting for an answer. You looked up at him just as a few tears fell down you cheeks.

“We didn’t celebrate my birthday growing up because it was the anniversary of my moms death. I used to be so upset every year.” You blurted. Tony looked like he didn’t know what to say and you couldn’t blame him. That was something deeply personal and you had only just met him.

“What I’m trying to say is, I get it now.” You explained. “All those missed birthdays were for a reason. I didn’t get gifts those days because I’m getting the ultimate gift right now. This is the most amazing thing I could’ve asked for. I cannot thank you enough Mr. Stark. I’ll never take it off.”

“You can’t take it off anyway.” Tony told you. “When you don’t want to wear it, it absorbs back into your skin like Venom does. And it’s equipped with Venoms essential abilities. It’s bullet proof, knife proof, taser proof, spork proof and so on. And you can still shoot your webby things. You just won’t have super strength, super speed, or that Venus flytrap mouth of yours.”

You tested it out and shot a web towards his desk. You grabbed a pen and caught it with ease, then looked at Tony for approval.

“That’s the best I could do. It’s no Iron Man suit but it’ll suffice.” Tony said casually. You couldn’t take it anymore and rushed towards him to hug him tightly.

“Thank you.” You said into his chest. Tony patted your back awkwardly and you let go.

“It’s nothing. You can thank me by not eating Spider-Man. I know he’s annoying but he doesn’t mean any harm. Now go forth and do good.” Tony requested.

You swung back to the apartment and landed on the roof. You turned back into yourself and made your way down the steps to your floor. After this mornings conversation with Peter and the incredible suit from Mr. Stark, you were having a great day. For the first time in years, you couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

[poeticandors]

Cut to the Feeling Part 4

Poe Dameron x F!Reader (Babysitter!AU)

Summary: After graduating college and needing to have some cash in order to survive while doing an unpaid internship, Y/N decides to take up a babysitting/caretaking job. Little does she know that she ends up working for a familiar face.

Warnings: None!

A/N: Well, damn! It has been a long time but I’m back! Thanks for waiting patiently. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter. 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

GIF by @damerondjarin

Ah, the weekend. Plopping on the couch, you planned for a day of doing absolutely nothing. You were finally able to relax after a long week of observation hours for your internship as well as driving Eva Bey to and from school, to her dance lessons and soccer practice, and whatever errands Poe had you running for him such as trips to the store. 

A few months have passed since you’ve started working with Eva Bey, and you seemed to have gotten into the routine. You got along great with Eva Bey, who was an absolute sweetheart, and Poe was nice as well. There have not been any issues thus far, and you were hoping that it would stay that way. 

Eva Bey really was one of the easiest children you have had the pleasure of working with. She enjoyed any activity you had planned for her, and she had the biggest imagination. If she did become upset, it wasn’t hard to redirect her into another activity or to get her to tell you what was going on. You adored her the more you’ve gotten to know her.

As for Poe… things have been going well. There was never any miscommunication between you both, and you would go as far to say that it was as if the incident never happened. It also made it easier that you would really only see and talk with him at the end of each day when you would be leaving, so conversation was limited. But… you secretly wondered if he ever thought back to it such as you have. 

Shaking your head to stop you from thinking anything further, you grab the remote to your TV and flip on Netflix as you try to find some movie to distract you, only for your phone to ring. Grabbing it, you see Poe’s name flashing on your screen as you furrow your brows. You hoped something didn’t happen with Eva Bey, so you quickly answered. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, I am sorry for calling on your day off. But, is this a bad time?”

“No, I was just trying to find something to watch on TV.” You sit up. “Is everything alright?” 

“Oh, yeah! I am actually calling on behalf of Eva Bey’s request— oh, okay here she is.”

You hear the phone being passed on the other end as well as Eva Bey and Poe’s whispers to one another. 

“Hello?” Eva Bey’s sweet voice calls out, which instantly brings a smile to your face. 

“Hey, Eva Bey! Is everything okay?”

“Yeah! Um, I asked my dad to call you. I have a question.”

“Alright, what is your question?”

“Can you come swimming with us? My daddy said he would take me, but I want you to come too!”

“Oh, um… I mean, I wouldn’t want to ruin your time spent with your dad—“

“But I want you to come. Please?” 

Biting the inside of your cheek, you ponder for a moment until you let out a soft sigh. “Eva Bey, can you give the phone to your dad?”

“Yeah!” 

You hear the shuffling of Eva Bey handing Poe the phone back. “Hey.”

“Hey, um… are you sure it’s okay if I join you guys? I wouldn’t want to be a bother and interrupt any father-daughter time.”

“Oh, no. It’s totally okay with me. Eva Bey was the one who wanted to go swimming since the community pool just opened this weekend. She would really want to see you.”

“Oh, well…” You try hiding the slight disappointment in your voice, internally reprimanding yourself why you thought Poe would be the one to want to see you. 

“And please. Don’t think you’re a bother. You could never be one.” 

Something in the way Poe says that makes your heart flutter in your chest. And because of that, you are almost hesitant to decline— to come up with some excuse. This would be your first time being with Poe outside of professional settings, definitely not counting the first ever encounter between you both. But, if Eva Bey really wanted you to be there and it was her idea…

“…Tell Eva Bey that I am packing my swimsuit right now.”

Poe does so, and so you hear the excited little shrieks from the little girl as you both laugh.

“Just meet us at the house, we can all drive together and it gives me time to get us situated.” 

“Of course, Bye, Poe.”

You hang up, soon getting up from your couch as you head to your bedroom to begin packing up for a nice, relaxing day at the pool. Totally professional, totally just to spend time with Eva Bey. 

Totally.

++++++

Hoisting your bag up, you knock on the door as you wait for Poe to let you in. Packing for this trip was a little stressful for you as you searched thoroughly for a swimsuit and then came to the realization you had no sunscreen, so you had to make a stop on the way. Then, you figured to grab a few snacks for you three while you were there because why not? You even decided to pick out a sea turtle floating toy for Eva Bey simply because you couldn’t resist. 

The door opens up and you smile, taking in Poe’s appearance. This was the first time you had seen him in anything other than a suit and tie, and he looked… nice. His hair was slightly disheveled, probably from getting Eva Bey ready for the day, and he looked comfortable in his t-shirt and swim trunks. 

“Hey, thanks for coming along. Sorry if you had plans or anything.” Poe scratches the back of his head.

“Oh, it’s no problem. You saved me from an entire day of just binging Netflix, anyways. Thanks for the invite.”

Poe smiles, and before he can speak, you hear your name being shouted as Eva Bey rushes over to hug you tightly. 

“Hi, Eva Bey!” You laugh as she pulls back, grabbing your hand. She pulls you inside, as Poe closes the door behind you. 

“My dad says I can wear my new swim suit today.” She beams, as you set your bags down. “It’s blue!”

“Well, I can’t wait to see it.” 

“Do you think you can braid my hair the way you do? My dad doesn’t know how to do it.” 

“Hey, in my defense, it is more complex than the braids I usually do for your hair.” Poe chuckles. “You might have to teach me how to do it.”

“Well… I guess I could teach you. But, I must warn you that these lessons come with a fee,” you tease. 

“A fee, huh?” Poe raises a brow as you shrug your shoulders.

“If you’re good at something, don’t do it for free.”

Poe grins, before Eva Bey begins tugging his hand. “Can we go now?” 

“Yes, Eva Bey. Let’s just get everything packed in the car, okay?”

“Yay!” Eva Bey exclaims, as she looks up at you. “I have my own swim bag packed already!”

“Great! But, I think you might be missing something,” you discreetly pull out a box from one of your bags. 

“What is it?”

“I thought why not bring a big pool floatie with us?” You smile as you show her the turtle, and she jumps up from excitement. 

“You didn’t have to get that,” Poe glances at you. 

“It’s okay,” you wave him off. “I thought it would be fun. I also brought some snacks so you don’t have to pack any.”

Poe slowly nods. “Huh… thanks”  

“It’s nothing.” 

Poe stares at you for a moment, a comfortable silence building between the both of you before clearing his throat. “Let’s get this filled with air, okay? Then we can go.”

“Sounds good. Come on, Eva Bey. Let’s get everything else packed up.”

Eva Bey nods, taking your hand as you both walk outside with your bags while Poe searches for a vacuum to pump up the floatie.  

++++++

After arriving at the pool, Eva Bey practically pulled your arm off while dragging you through to a table in the shade as she set her bag down. You sat in the backseat with her on the ride there, braiding her hair as you sang along with her to plenty of her favorite Disney songs. Poe didn’t even get out of it, as he was asked to sing plenty of the male counterparts in the duets. You and Eva Bey definitely got a kick out of it when he sang along to Gaston, trying to match his deep sounding voice.

It was quite warm today, so you were glad there was at least an open area that was well shaded. A group of children screamed and laughed from excitement jumping into the pool, while parents chased after a few others to try and convince them to wear more sunscreen. 

When Poe set down the floatie and bags of snacks and water bottles, he looked over to Eva Bey. “Let’s get some sunscreen on you, kiddo.” 

“Okay, Daddy!”

Eva Bey stands in front of Poe as he squeezes some of it on his hands, and begins rubbing it all over her shoulders and arms before turning her around. You watch as he carefully rubs it on her face and neck, before setting the bottle down. 

“Okay, you’re all set. Where is your life vest?” 

“Umm… Daddy, I want to try and swim without it today.”

“Oh?” Poe raises a brow. “Are you sure?”

Eva Bey nods, and you can see the slight nervousness in her eyes as she does so. You knew that Eva Bey didn’t know how to swim completely, but also didn’t expect her to want to try to learn right away. 

“Okay, kiddo. But only if you’re sure.”

“I am,” she says more confidently, then turns to you. “Will you help me, too?” “Of course, Eva Bey. Just let me finish getting ready, okay?” 

“We can go ahead and get in the pool while we wait, Eva Bey.” Poe takes her hand, as you begin stepping out of your cover, and put sunscreen on yourself. 

What you don’t see, however, is Poe glancing back at you, slightly freezing. You don’t see how his gaze moves down, observing each and every inch of your body. Poe suddenly has a flash to that night so many months ago, of him touching and kissing along those curves of yours, as well as the sounds he managed to hear from you that tend to patronize his dreams most nights. Poe stops himself from gazing any longer, and he shakes his head as he leads Eva Bey to the pool. 

When you finish getting ready, you make your way over to the steps of the pool that Poe and Eva Bey stopped at. You look down at the little girl, seeing her eyes scan cautiously along the water as Poe steps into the pool, shivering slightly from the chill of the water. 

“You ready, Eva Bey?” Poe holds his hand out, only for her to take a step back slightly.

“Um… I don’t know…”

Poe glances up at you, and you nod slightly as you kneel down next to her. 

“It can be a bit scary, learning how to swim at first. But you know all the first steps to swimming by yourself, don’t you?” 

She shakes her head as you smile, and take her hand. “Well, one of the first things you need to remember is that when it comes to swimming, you can always ask for help. Would you like me and your daddy to help you?” 

“Yes…” 

“How about we take the first step into the water?” 

Eva Bey nods, as you both step into the water, and goosebumps cover your skin as you shiver lightly. Eva Bey also jumps from the cold, as you chuckle. 

“It’s chilly, isn’t it?” “Yeah!” She forces out a nervous laugh as you both take another step, the water feeling more manageable. 

“Alright, we’re in the water,” you look down at her. “Now, this is another important step so I need you to pay close attention. An easy way to keep yourself afloat in the water is to just lay on your belly and keep kicking your feet. Can we try that?” 

Eva Bey looks at Poe, as he smiles. “You got it, baby.” 

You step further into the water, and hold your arms out to her. “I’m right here, okay? I’m just going to hold you. Can you lay on your belly in my arms and fly like a superhero?” 

“Okay…” She moves into your arms and lays down as you smile. 

“You’re a natural! Look at you! Can you kick your feet for me and make some splashes in the water?” 

She does so, and you begin moving her around in a circle, and look up at Poe. He gets the hint, as he holds his arms out, and you pass Eva Bey over to him as she continues kicking. You clap your hands, and Eva Bey gives a toothy smile. 

“Look at you! You’re already a professional!” You laugh softly, as you move over to her. “Next step since you have already mastered lying on your belly and kicking: blowing bubbles.”

“I can blow bubbles!”

“Can you? Well, let’s see!” 

Eva Bey puts her face slightly in the water and she begins blowing bubbles for a few seconds before quickly lifting her head back above the water. Poe holds her up, and you give her a high five. 

“Eva Bey, that might’ve been the best bubble blowing I have ever seen!” 

She grins, looking back at Poe as he nods. “It really was the best.” 

“Okay. Now, this next step might be a little scary, but I promise you that me and your daddy will be there to help you, okay?” She gives you a slight tilt of her head, nervous. “We are going to do all of these steps underwater, okay? The flying like a superhero, the kicking, and the bubble blowing— it’s all going to happen while you are under.” 

“Do you want to practice going underwater, first?” Poe looks down at Eva Bey.

“Yeah…”

Poe turns her around, grabbing under her arms. “I’ll hold you the entire time, okay?”

“Don’t forget to blow your bubbles!” You give her a thumbs up.

She returns the thumbs up, before Poe begins to count to three, and they both go under the water for a few seconds. Poe and Eva Bey come back up, and Eva Bey wipes the water away from her face as you begin to clap. 

“Awesome! That wasn’t so scary, was it?” You flash a comforting smile, as she giggles, shaking her head. “Are you ready to try to swim by yourself? Or do you need some more practice?”

“I… I’m ready!” 

“I like the sound of that,” you chuckle, as you hold your arms out to her. Poe hands her to you, as you begin to take a few steps away from Poe. “Alright, now remember, when you need to breathe, just lift your head up out of the water, take a big breath, and then put your face back in the water. Think you can do it?”

“I can do it.” 

“I know you can.” You give her an encouraging smile. “On the count of three, I’m going to go underwater with you and push you, and you’re going to swim to your daddy. Ready? One… two… three!”

Eva Bey immediately begins kicking as you push her away from you underwater, and you break the surface as you begin cheering her on. 

“Go, Eva Bey!” “C’mon, baby, almost there!” Poe holds his arms out, as Eva Bey moves closer and closer to him, before she finally makes it. 

He pulls her into his arms as she looks at him excitedly. “Daddy! I did it by myself!” 

Pride fills Poe’s eyes, and he kisses her cheek. “I’m so proud of you, Eva Bey.”

You quickly swim over to them, as Eva Bey wraps her arms around your neck, hugging you tightly. 

“Did you see? Did you see me swim?” “I sure did. You are amazing! A professional already!” 

“Thank you for helping me.” 

A gratifying feeling fills your chest, as you hug her back, and Poe can’t help but smile at the two of you embracing. You manage to catch Poe staring at you, returning his gaze as you flash your own smile at him. 

Something lingered in that moment as Poe kept his eyes on you. He couldn’t bring himself to look away or keep himself from moving closer to you. There was a tenderness, one that seemed to continue growing the longer he stared at you. It was something that Poe told himself over and over not to pursue.  

Poe just can’t seem to push that fondness away. Whether it was just the heat of the moment, he knew that there was something there for you. Seeing Eva Bey— the most important person in his life— interact and become so comfortable with you, someone that Poe has only grown more trusting with each passing moment, fills Poe’s heart with something he never felt before. 

But he couldn’t act on those feelings. 

Not only that, but he shouldn’t. You worked for him, you took care of his kid… the boundaries were put up for a reason. The night that plays over and over on repeat in his head would never happen again. You both agreed on that, and that was final.

Poe clears his throat, finally breaking the gaze as he pulls Eva Bey from you, and grins at her. “How about we celebrate with a snack break?”

“Okay, daddy! But I want to swim to the steps by myself.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Poe gently pushes Eva Bey to the steps, and you both watch as she swims towards them by herself. 

“She’s amazing,” Poe hears you say, and looks down at you as you keep your gaze on Eva Bey.

“Yeah… she is.”

Poe quickly looks back, watching as she finally makes it to the steps, and holds her hands up as she stands. “I did it!”

“We’re so proud of you, Eva Bey!” You clap, smiling brightly.

“You both have a beautiful daughter.” 

Looking up, you both see an elderly couple smiling as they stand on the deck, and a slight awkward feeling fills the space between you and Poe. 

“Oh, uh…”

“And I see she gets all her looks from dear old dad, doesn’t she?” The woman chuckles. 

“Actually… we’re not…. I’m not her mother. I’m just her caretaker.”

“Oh! I am so sorry for assuming. How silly of me!” 

“It’s alright.” Poe waves them off politely. “But thank you for the compliment about my daughter. She really is.” 

They only nod in response, before they walk off. You look at Poe, clearing your throat. 

“Well, uh… yeah. I’ll just… help Eva Bey get her towel.”

You quickly swim off, getting out of the pool as Eva Bey takes your hand, and leads you away. 

Poe can only follow, trying to clear his racing thoughts of you as he walks towards your area, and begins to pull out the snacks as you wrap Eva Bey’s towel around her. He can only smile, hearing Eva Bey chatter excitedly about the fact she finally knows how to swim, and suddenly becomes all for trying out for the swim team after discovering it.

++++++

After a fun afternoon of swimming, Poe finally decided it would be best to head home after seeing Eva Bey’s energy begin to dwindle. Poe finished packing up the car as Eva Bey settled in her booster seat, before you both got in the car quietly. 

Poe looks in the rearview mirror as he begins to drive back to his house, seeing Eva Bey begin to doze off. He chuckles lightly as you glance at him.

“Someone had an eventful day,” he nods at the reflection as you peek back, smiling. 

“Oh, this is too cute.”

“Here, take a picture so I can send it to my dad along with the videos I took of her swimming.” Poe hands you his phone, keeping his eyes on the road. 

You snap a picture, before turning back, and setting the phone down in the cup holder. Poe continues driving, the radio playing music at a low volume as a comfortable silence settles between you both, until Poe mutters something.

“Hm?”

“I said thank you. For helping Eva Bey learn how to swim.” “Oh… it’s no problem.”

“It’s a big deal, though. I know she’s been nervous about it, and anytime we would get close to trying she would get scared.” Poe glances at you as he stops at a red light. “Seeing her overcome her fear, becoming so excited, and you helping her… that means a lot to me. Thank you.” 

“Of course. I would do anything for Eva Bey.”

“I know you would.” 

You stare into Poe’s eyes, and the tension only grows in that small space that separates you from him. It was true what you said, that you would do anything for Eva Bey. The young girl had come to mean so much to you the entire time you’ve gotten to know her. She meant so much to you, and you wanted to be there to continue helping her in anyway possible. 

But you also know you would do anything for Poe, too. 

Sure, you knew you would not be able to pursue any feelings beyond that for the sake of professionality and Eva Bey, but you would still do anything you could for him. Part of you thinks he knows that, but you couldn’t outright say it to him. 

Still, something seems to bring you both closer to each other, despite a voice in the back of your head warning you not to cross that boundary. Another tells you that you should cross that boundary, to explore what it could offer and what might blossom between you both.

But you continue to listen only to that first voice, because right now it’s the only one that is keeping you from ruining this. 

The light turns green, and Poe only begins to drive when a car behind him honks, and you look away. The rest of the car ride is quiet, and Poe finally pulls up to the house. Eva Bey stirs awake from the movement, and smiles tiredly. 

“Are we home?”

“We are, Eva Bey.”

Getting out of the car, you grab your bag as Poe helps Eva Bey. She hugs your legs, looking up at you. 

“Thank you for coming swimming and teaching me how to swim!” 

“I had so much fun with you. Thank you for inviting me,” you smile as she pulls back.

“Can’t you stay a little longer?”

“Well, I would. But I have to get home and I’m sure your daddy is tired and wants to spend the rest of the weekend with you.”

“Oh… okay…” She does nothing to hide the dismay in her expression, as you poke her cheek.

“But I will see you on Monday, okay? I have some water beads I thought you might enjoy playing with. Is that okay?”

Her disappointment soon fades away as she smiles, nodding excitedly. “Okay!”

Glancing up at Poe, you give him a small wave, before finally walking off. Poe watches until you drive off, looking down at Eva Bey as she tugs on his hand to lead him inside. 

“Let’s get you ready for a bath, okay? Then I’ll cook us some dinner.” 

“Daddy, do you like Miss Y/N?”

Poe stops, before setting the swim bag down. “Well, of course I do.”

“I think she’s very nice, and very pretty. Don’t you?”

“I… why don’t you go pick out your bubble bath, okay?”

“But—”

“And then we can FaceTime Papa Kes to talk about how you swam by yourself after I make mac and cheese?”

“Fine,” she replies with a hint of attitude that Poe can only laugh at, and she heads to the bathroom.

Poe shakes his head, running a hand down his face as he lets out an exasperated sigh. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, looking through the videos of Eva Bey swimming to you as she pushes off the wall cheering each and every time without fail. Poe looks at your smiling face, and can’t help but pause the video for a moment. 

He did, indeed, think you were very pretty. 

Poe pulls up the messages between you, and begins typing before suddenly stopping himself. Biting his cheek, he decides ultimately to delete the message, and puts his phone down instead.

[smallraindrops-blog]

Part two of A Road to Somewhere

💤

You weren't sure when you fell asleep, maybe after the stop for gas. But when you woke up, the skies had mellowed into soft oranges and pinks.

Hypnos' had his shade tucked into his shirt, and his fingers tapped along the wheel in time to the music.

His face looked relaxed for the first time since the trip began. Your heart tightened with something you couldn't put a name to, even if you were upset with him, you still wanted him happy.

You sat up with a yawn, "Where are we?"

"Moo." Hypnos replied.

"Really? Fine, you are free from the bet or whatever." You waved a hand around.

"We just got into the mountain path, about an hour away from the inn my mom told me about." Hypnos chatted quickly. "And then we are only ten minutes away from the ocean. Which you will be amazed at and will thank me profusely for taking you."

You chuckled, "Did you miss being able to talk my ear off?"

Hypnos shoved your shoulder with a laugh, "Shut up. You just got lucky with that cow."

"You know I've seen pictures right? I know what the ocean looks like." You told Hypnos.

"Oh sure, the pictures are totally the same." Hypnos rolled his eyes, "I told you to trust me how many times now?"

"Okay. Okay. You're right, Hypnos." You said.

"Thank you! See now only if I can get everyone else to see that." Hypnos replied.

It was about two hours of driving on the path and no inn sight when you spoke up.

"I think we're lost." You said quietly as you studied the dark and looming woods. There was no light or signs to guide you. Even the moonlight offered little help.

"We are not lost. Mom probably just forgot how long it takes to get there." Hypnos squinted into the dark, even the high beams struggled to break through the darkness.

You pulled up your phone, and tried to get the google maps pulled up. You gave up after a few minutes and opened up the paper map.

"Told you so." Hypnos murmured.

You opted not to respond as you used your phone's flashlight to read the map.

After a few moments, you found roughly where you were. You could see where the mountain path ended. "It looks like there might be a turn up here to leave the mountains. Maybe twenty miles? Is that where inn is?"

Hypnos nodded, "Yeah, you go past the mountains, keep driving until you can hear the ocean, you should be able to see the inn."

You bit your bottom lip as you watched the dark forest blurred together. You really hoped Hypnos was right about this.

💤

It had been another hour with no end in sight. Only the dark woods remained, an unwelcome present.

Hypnos had stopped talking, his hands tight on the wheel. The air was tense and you could feel how tight your chest was. Normally you could count on Hypnos to break it but Hypnos hasn't been himself for most of the trip. The drunk call at three am, the lack of his phone use and how desperate he was for you to see the ocean; something he never seemed to care about before.

You rolled your head to look at him. He still looked good, even when he was stressed and tired. And you were far too tired to care if Hypnos caught you staring.

"Do you remember what I said I would do if we got lost in the woods?" You asked him, breaking the silence for the first time in a while. "You know, eating your bones and whatnot."

Hypnos' lips quirked up in a small grin. "Why is it that every time when something happens you threaten to eat me? You did it even when we were in the boy scouts together."

"Maybe because I know how tasty you are." You said without thinking.

Hypnos laughed, "I never thought cannibalism would be used to hit on me but here we are."

You went silent, flushed and turned away to stare out the window. "I wasn't…"

"No. No, I know. Just a joke." Hypnos said quickly.

You didn't see the glance Hypnos shot you. The air grew thick with awkwardness that you were unwilling to break.

"Y/N, look I know we haven't talked about-" Hypnos started to say but you shook your head. You weren't doing this, not now, not where there was no privacy to hide your emotions.

"Do you know how much longer?" You asked, trying not to think about what just happened or about anything.

"Not too long, I think the treeline got thinner." Hypnos replied, his voice hurt. You flinched at his tone, and hated yourself for causing it.

Just as he said that, you broke past the woodland into an open field.

And just like that the air in the car changed.

"Oh thank fuck!" Hypnos whooped and you laughed at his manic smile. "Y/N, roll down the windows. Do you hear anything?"

You obeyed him, and tried to listen over the rush of wind. "Nothing yet. No wait...I think I do hear it."

"Just wait until tomorrow. You're gonna love it." Hypnos yawned.

"Let me take over, you've been driving for the whole trip." You told him, watching Hypnos shake his head.

"Thanks but no. I got this. And also look ahead, the inn should be right around there." Hypnos pointed out and once you made it over the hill, you saw it.

Softly lit by warm lights, it looked like it belonged in a storybook. Once you arrived, checked in with the chatty front desk girl and made your way to the room, one with two beds, you sat down with a happy sigh. You kicked your shoes off, watching Hypnos stumbled to his own bed.

Hypnos flopped face down on his bed with a moan. "I love this bed." He slurred. "Best bed ever."

You looked around the room, it leaned into the nautical with soft blues walls and white shells decor. A small white and green turtle figurine stared at you from your bedside table.

"Hey Hypnos?" You asked, staring at the turtle so you didn't have to look at him. "I'm sorry. About what happened in the car."

When you got no response, you glanced at him only to see him soundly asleep. You walked over to him and lightly stoke his hair. Carefully you tugged his shoes off and flipped what blanket you could over him.

And with that you turned off the lights.

💤

"No peeking. I swear I will turn the car around if I see you even try." Hypnos' hand covered your face but you pushed his hand away.

"I've been covering my eyes since we got the car." You replied, a little grumpy at how early Hypnos woke up. The one time you would have wanted to sleep in, Hypnos was up and moving even before the inn started serving breakfast.

"Mom took me and my brothers here once, did I tell you that?" Hypnos sounded excited. "Than got stung by a jellyfish and cried for like three hours."

"You sound way too happy about that." You chuckled.

"He kicked over my sand castle, he deserved it." Hypnos muttered.

You felt the car stopped and with one more warning not to peek, Hypnos got out. Your door opened and Hypnos gilded you out.

His hands rested on your shoulders, warm and big. It took everything not to lean more into the touch.

You heard the sounds of crashing waves and a faint sound of a gull cry.

"Okay... and look!"

It was beautiful. The ocean was so much bluer than you thought possible. You stepped on to the sand and walked forward, Hypnos followed behind you.

You two were the only souls around the hidden patch of beach between the cliffs, and all you can hear is the ocean hitting the rocks.

"Dude! How did your mom find this place?" You asked as you stopped short of the ocean's reach.

"My dad brought her here when they first met." Hypnos kicked off his flip flops and stepped into the water up his knees.

You copied him, only to almost fall backwards when a big wave came but caught yourself at the last second. "Woah, I didn't expect the waves to be so strong."

Hypnos tossed an arm around your shoulders to hold you steady as the waves rolled past both of you. He laughed warmly, "So pictures are totally the same thing huh?"

You smiled, "You're right, the pictures don't do justice."

"Music to my ears, Y/N." Hypnos squeezed your shoulder, "Come on. Let's get set up."

💤

The day went by quickly, sunset had just begun with deep reds and oranges. You could feel the sunburn already on your cheeks. Hypnos' shoulders and back were already burned and you knew you would be hearing him bitch about it later.

You laid on your stomach on the beach towel, lazily watching him build the tower of a sand castle.

Hypnos' tongue was sticking out a little and it made him look boyishly charming.

You looked toward the ocean, the waves lapping away at the footprints left behind. You didn't see the small bucket Hypnos packed tightly with sand or the devious look in his eyes.

You yelped when the cold lid of the bucket touched between your shoulder blades, followed by the sand. You turned your head toward Hypnos who grinned at your offended glare.

He immediately begins adding more on you, patting it down firmly with both hands.

"Hypnos." You said carefully, "If you put any more sand on me, I will kick your ass."

Wordlessly Hypnos scooped up a huge pile of sand in his hand and met your eyes.

"I won every fight we ever had since we were kids, so don't." You warned, eyes narrowed but a grin threatened to break on your face.

With a mad laugh, Hypnos dropped the sand on your back and you promptly tackled him. You were able to push his back into the sand but half a second later, you realized you missed both his arms as they tightened around your shoulders.

Hypnos rolled, pulled you along with him and your back hit the sand. You let out a grunt as you tried to squirm out but Hypnos matched you for every move. You freed one hand only for Hypnos to grab your wrist and pinned it by your head.

He immediately took the opportunity to do the same with your other wrist as he straddled your waist with all of his weight on you.

Hypnos stared down at you, panting slightly. You could tell he looked surprised as you did.

You relaxed under him, and spread out your hands.

"You win." You told him softly. Between the sounds of the waves and how the sunset made Hypnos' eyes even more golden, you couldn't think straight. Or even about how you found yourself in this position again when you swore you wouldn't.

"I win." Hypnos agreed just as softly. He leaned down and kissed you before you could react. For a few minutes, you returned the slow and deep kiss. Hypnos hummed deep in his throat, his chest fully against yours.

Hypnos pulled away, his face flushed and looking at him was what brought you back to reality.

"Nono. No. Hypnos get off now. Please." You begged him. Immediately he moved off and sat down on the sand.

There was an awkward pause as you sat up, not able to speak. A hard wind blew against you, and you shook at how cold and alone you felt.

"Y/N…" Hypnos murmured, his hand reached out to touch you but you moved away.

"No, I'm not doing this again." You said as you curled in on yourself. "Last time almost killed me. Not again."

"What are you talking about?" Hypnos moved closer but didn't touch you, his tone gentle. "Y/N. Look at me. Please. Are… Are you talking about the first time we kissed?"

"What else could I be talking about, Hypnos?" You snapped, "You can't just keep acting like it didn't happen."

"I haven't but you certainly have!" Hypnos' tone turned hard. "I just tried to act like it wasn't a big deal when you made it clear you didn't want a relationship with me."

Hypnos laughed but it wasn't friendly. "And I was the one who brought it up in the car in case you forgot, Y/N."

"Excuse me for not wanting to be your Meg replacement." You snapped at him, not knowing what else to say. You stood to walk away but Hypnos leaped up. His hands grabbed your shoulders and turned you around to face him. His other hand squeezed your biceps.

"What are you talking about?" Hypnos said, his tone desperate.

"You're kidding me right? You've been in love with her since seventh grade when she punched you during gym and gave you a nosebleed." You cried. "I knew you were upset at finding out that your brother is dating her."

Hypnos said nothing for a few moments before he chuckled, "I haven't looked, let alone thought of her that like in years."

You stared, not quite believing what you were hearing. "But you were upset when you found out Thanatos was dating Meg and Zagreus."

"I was upset that he didn't tell me that they had been together for almost a whole year." Hypnos paused. "And that they didn't lock the door. I mean come on. At least a sock on the front door or something."

You laughed slightly, and Hypnos grinned softly. He looked at you with such fondness you had to look away from him to keep yourself from blushing.

"Do you know why I brought you here,Y/N?" He asked carefully.

You opened your mouth only to close it. After a few seconds, you mutely shook your head.

"I want my best friend back." Hypnos said brokenly.

"I had this stupid idea if I could just go somewhere new or different with you, that maybe we could forget what I did to our friendship." Hypnos talked as you stay quiet. "I knew I fucked up, I pushed too hard and too soon but god, I couldn't look away from you anymore and… And I thought you felt the same."

You swallowed, "I thought when you acted like it didn't happen you regretted what happened, regretted me."

"Never, how could I regret you? Y/N, when we weren't talking I was going crazy. I felt like I had a limp missing. Mom was showing me these photos back when we were kids, and you were in almost all of them." Hypnos swallowed. "I just want you back."

You took a deep breath, feeling like you were on a cliff and didn't know if you were to fall forward or backward. "You didn't lose me. I just didn't want to be the thing you used to get over Meg."

"Is that why you didn't want to go out with me?" Hypnos asked and squeezed your arm gently. "Y/N, I don't know if you noticed but I've been crazy about you for years."

"Oh." You blinked. "Oh."

Hypnos smiled, "Yeah. Oh."

"Is it too late? For us?" You asked, heart racing.

"Never." Hypnos cupped your face. "Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes, please." You met him halfway into the kiss, smiling with relief.

Days later, on your way home, Hypnos' hand rested on your thigh as you sat in peace.

It felt like home.

[butgilinsky]

tension // rc

warning; language, underaged drinking, mentions of cheating, mentions of anti depressants but not rly depression, mentions of smut but nothing descriptive, hella angst

summary; you find out the real reason kiara doesn’t hang out with you and the kooks anymore. 

word count; 4.5k+

rafe x reader, platonic!kie x reader, and a sprinkle of rafe x kie

you had been friends with kiara for years. back in middle school, when kiara sat at a table by herself, you shocked your friends by placing your tray directly across from hers and asking her why she chose to sit by herself. 

you knew people that liked kiara, so you knew she wasn’t forced to outcast herself, but you quickly learned that she didn’t like the people at your school. she’d rather save turtles that caught in a plastic bag rather than talk about which swimsuit fit her body the best. 

she wasn’t like your other friends, and you liked that about her. you liked that she didn’t stray from her genuine personality to fit in, like most people on figure eight did. she was authentic and real, and she wasn’t going to jeopardize that for a surface level friendship. 

kiara used to blame her kook year on you. if you hadn’t befriended her in middle school than she wouldn’t have felt so lost when you moved onto high school and she was stuck to finish seventh and eighth grade. the age difference - only two years - never made a difference before, but after spending an entire year with you, her last two years in middle school were hard to swallow. 

the pogues didn’t go to the same school, and with you in high school, she had no choice but to turn to sarah. sarah had been a mutual friend between the two of you, and provided a sense of comfort and familiarity that kiara couldn’t find anywhere else. 

kiara was excited when she began high school. she could start hanging out with you again, coordinating her elective classes to spend more time around you. it was everything she had been looking forward to for the entirety of eighth grade. 

she looked up to you. a girl two years older than her that didn’t care when her friends ragged on her for spending so much time with a freshman. you took her under your wing and made sure nobody gave her shit in high school, and she’d never forget that. even when she spent the entire next year swearing off any and all kooks. 

you never understand the switch she had flipped, thinking she had gotten comfortable with her makeshift life on figure eight. you thought you proved to her that kooks weren’t all that bad. you showed her that for every time topper made a crude remark, kelce was there to interject with a light hearted response. you tried to make her comfortable there, treating her like the younger sister you never had. 

then she flipped on you. when her and sarah had a falling out, you were caught in the middle of it. you’d been dating rafe at the time, which made you biased in a way you wished you didn’t have to be. you couldn’t throw sarah in your rear view mirror like she didn’t mean anything. she was in the heart of your friend group, and despite what you wanted, you were around her too much to cut her out entirely. 

losing kiara hurt. you’d opened up to her about things that nobody else knew about you. you’d slept at her house when things with your parents got rocky. she was there when your brother moved for college, and offered a sense of comfort you couldn’t find in your other friends. 

she didn’t ask you to choose, she simply left without another word. she told you that she’d see you in school but that had to be the extent of it. if she was swearing off all kooks, that had to include you, no matter how much it hurt her to walk away from you. 

your last summer on the island was supposed to be the best one yet. sure, you’d be back for small breaks during the semester, and an entire month between fall and spring, but you were going all the way to south carolina in august. you were determined to have a good time. 

leaving rafe would be hard, seeing as he had just gotten back from his first, and last, year at college, but you were prepared to face the battles, no matter how tough. 

something about this summer felt off from the beginning. you didn’t know what it was, but you tried to shrug it off anytime it came up. you did your part in trying to keep your boyfriend and his goons out of trouble, though that proved easier said than done. 

it didn’t help when sarah dropped off the radar, beginning to sneak around and disappear for long periods of time. she had blown it off every time you asked, despite you promising her that she could trust you with every fiber of her being. you had been her honorary older sister for years, and you dating her older brother only heightened that. 

when she blew off your plans to go to the movie night, you made a mental note to dig into what exactly deemed more important than sneaking drinks during the movie neither of you cared about. 

“hey, kie.” your head turned to follow your boyfriend, eyebrows pulled together when he stepped up to the concessions stand to stand beside the girl you hadn’t spoken to in - you don’t even remember how long. 

you picked up on kiara’s annoyed expression quickly, sensing a small amount of discomfort in the way that she quickly ignored rafe. he didn’t seem to notice, or maybe he just didn’t care, but it captured your interest fairly quickly. 

topper tried to grab your attention, mentioning something about the bottle of burnett’s he scored from his plug earlier that day. you waved him off quickly, eyes firmly locked on the two that stood just a few yards away from you. 

“how are you?” kiara spared you a short glance before practically rolling her eyes, trying to mentally map out an escape plan, no doubt. 

“i’m fine.” rafe nodded, swinging his weight from the balls of his feet back onto his heels. 

“good, good. um, tell your boy that we know what he did.” kiara’s expression stood steady, despite the confusion clear in her eyes that you were sure rafe didn’t pick up on. 

“sorry, what boy are you talking about?” her eyes found yours again, but she could tell you were just as lost as she was, so she looked back at rafe quickly. 

“uh, he’ll know.” kiara rolled her eyes one final time, though the eye contact between the two last just long enough for your fists to clench at your sides before she turned and walked away. 

“bye.” you watched rafe watch kiara walk away from him, his hands shoved in his pockets and back turned towards you. 

there was something in the way that he watched her leave. the way his gaze lingered on her longer than normal. the way he chewed on the inside of his cheek when he spun around to face you. how his eyes were locked on his feet for a short second before he was offering you a bright smile as he returned to the same smiling rafe before he’d seen kiara. 

“what the fuck was that?” you didn’t notice topper pinching the bridge of his nose behind you, shaking his head at rafe’s lack of subtlety. you didn’t see the way that kelce was shaking his hand back and forth, telling rafe to completely deny whatever the hell just happened between him and kiara. 

sure, to anybody else watching it was just rafe and kiara talking. two people that supposedly didn’t like each other, despite their shared title of a kook. two people talking about something very vague and somehow secretive. 

but to you, it was your boyfriend talking to a girl he often didn’t associate with. it was rafe talking to your ex best friend who had left you high and dry after a fall out with your other friend, which you had no hand in. it was the girl who had deemed you guilty by association after sarah had turned her back on the girl. 

it was obvious there was tension between the two of them, but you had no idea why. 

“what was what?” rafe wrapped an arm around your neck, trying to pull you into his chest but you planted your hand flat on his chest to stop the collision. 

“that whole interaction, the tension, what the fuck was that about?” rafe rolled his eyes and moved to press a quick kiss to your forehead, something he knew calmed you down without fail.

“the only tension between kie and i is the same tension between her and the rest of figure eight. she hates me, ‘cause i’m a kook and i mess with her dirty pogue friends.” you wanted to push it further, wanted to say something else, but you couldn’t stop yourself from melting into the boy’s embrace when he pressed another, longer kiss to your forehead. 

“stop stressing, baby. let’s go sit down.” you nodded, accepting the kiss rafe moved to place on your lips. 

the next time you noticed something being off was midsummers. your mind had already been racing when you’d stood beside topper, eyes locked on sarah and john b less than a mile away. you were confused as to why she wasn’t being discrete about it, kissing him during one of the biggest events of the summer. 

your hand found topper’s arm, squeezing it gently before leaning into his side to provide a sense of comfort that he surely needed. you were confused, hurt for topper, and you knew it would inevitably become your job to get to the bottom of it all. 

you were upset that rafe wasn’t ravishing you in your dress, like you had originally planned. he had made a few comments in your ear as the night progressed, especially after the slit in your dress rode up while you crouched behind kelce to hide from your parents while you downed a glass of wine. 

his eyes had been glued to you almost all night long, and while you were drinking it all in and enjoying every minute of it, he’d disappeared at some point and you were now left to comfort a confused and hurt topper. 

when the commotion between jj and the head of security erupted in the middle of the crowd, your eyes found rafe. you knew he had something to do with it. you would’ve blown it off as a casual kook v. pogue rivalry interaction, but the way his eyes were trained on kiara when she began sticking up for jj made your blood boil. 

“you okay?” topper nudged you with his elbow, but you shook your head gently, eyes burning into your boyfriend’s back as he watched kiara run off, despite her parents’ protests. 

“do you know something i don’t, top?” his eyebrows pulled together in confusion, not catching on to what you were asking him. “what’s going on between rafe and kiara?” 

you knew you’d hit something when topper’s face fell. his lips parted as he tried to come up with something. a diversion, a distraction, an excuse, anything. you could tell he was digging through his brain for something to say to you. 

“topper, what the hell is going on?” he started stuttering, falling over his words as he shook his head slowly. 

“n-nothing. why would you- what makes you think that anything’s going on with them? kiara and rafe? pfft, that’s ridiculous, y/n.” your jaw clenched and you put a hand flat on his chest, pushing him back and away from the people stood around the two of you. 

“topper. spill. now.” your voice dropped to an octave you never used with topper. he’d seen you use it with rafe on multiple occasions, and the one time that kelce lied to you about the wine stain on your carpet. he knew it was a tone that you only used for specific situations, and he knew it meant he had no way out of this. 

“i-”

“what’s up with you two?” your head turned towards kelce, the bright smile he held once left his face at the sight of your tensed muscles and hand still pressed against topper’s chest. 

“what’s going on with rafe and kiara?” kelce looked panic, eyes looking over at topper who was shaking his head quickly to say he hadn’t told you anything he was supposed to. “kelce.” 

“okay, okay-”

“kelce, no!”

“top, we can’t hide it from her forever.”

“we can if you shut up!”

“she’s clearly catching on-”

“only because you’re giving her ammo!”

“shouldn’t we tell her the truth if she thinks it’s still happening-”

“still happening? how many times has it happened?” topper let out a heavy sigh, mentally cursing kelce for saying too much. kelce always had a soft spot for you, and that proved to be a weakness in more situations than not. “someone tell me what the fuck is going on, right now, or so help me god-”

“rafe and kiara slept together, okay? they slept together when you two were going through one of your spats.” your hand fell from topper’s chest, an uneasy feeling flowing through you as you tried to process the given information. 

“it happened once when you drilled into him too far and he kind of flew off the rails a bit. he swore it was a one time thing but then they fell into a bit of a routine. it only happened a few times, but-”

“when?” your eyes flicked between the two boys, who were sharing eye contact to decide who was the one who ha to break it to you. “i don’t care who says it, someone just fucking say it!”

“right before rafe graduated.” kelce rushed out, almost out of breath from how fast the words fell off of his tongue. 

you were still friends with kiara then. you’d been dating rafe for over a year at that point, and you were finding out about all of this over a year after it all happened. 

“how long?” topper sighed heavily, hating the position he was currently in. he was friends with both of you, but rafe was his boy. he’d been sworn to secrecy for over a year now and it would’ve been fine if you weren’t so observant, and kelce wasn’t so guilt ridden. 

“a few months, i don’t know. like three, maybe four.” 

you wished the ground would swallow you whole then. you knew it wouldn’t have come to light if you didn’t dig so far, but the damage had been done. you knew now, and there was no way around that. 

everybody had been lying to you. your boyfriend, who you loved more than anything. your ex best friend, who you still cared for immensely. the two boys who had stood up for you for years. the two boys who you cared for like they had been siblings born into the wrong family. 

your eyes stung, maybe from the tears that didn’t often come to you, maybe from the pressure of holding them back. you weren’t entirely sure which caused the burn in them, but it was uncomfortably present. your head started nodding, and your hands found the fabric of your dress, lifting it enough for you to bend your knees and slip off your shoes. 

“what are you doing?” kelce started moving before you could walk away, worried he had just ruined seemingly everything with a simple conversation. a conversation he should’ve steered clear of. 

“i’m going home, kelce.” you turned around, almost running right into the last person you wanted to see. 

“you’re going home?” he spoke gently, eyes locked on your shoes in your hand before looking back up and cupping your face in his hands. “hey, what’s wrong?” 

you grabbed his wrist gently, pulling his hand away from your face and setting it back at his side. he was confused, watching you summon every ounce of self control you possessed in order to stay calm in this moment. 

“i’m going home.” you said one more time, walking around rafe and towards your car, but you felt a hand on your elbow seconds later, only a few feet away from your previous spot. 

“baby what’s going on? at least let me drive you home-”

“why don’t you drive kiara home, rafe?” rafe rolled his eyes, letting out a low groan at the name that slipped from your lips. 

“we’re back on this kie bullshit? there’s nothing going on between kiara and i-”

“there was though, wasn’t there?” rafe paused, his movements stuttering as he stared at you with an unreadable expression. “c’mon, rafe. tell me nothing happened. tell me that you didn’t cheat on me with my best friend.” 

“who told you? was it kelce? son of a bitch. i knew his soft spot for you was going to bite me in the ass-”

“the only thing that bit you in the ass was your inability to keep your dick in your pants, rafe.” you ripped your arm out of his grasp then, eyes wide and filled to the brim with tears that you refused to let surpass your waterline. 

“baby, just listen to me-”

“no, you listen, rafe. i have never loved a person in my life the way that i love you. i have never done anything to hurt you and i would never think of doing something like what you did.

“i have never spent my time thinking about a person the way that i think about you. i never asked you for anything, never asked you to promise me a single thing. i never forced anything onto you, and you couldn’t do me the decency of just staying loyal to me. i would never disrespect you like that.” 

he knew you were right. he’d been at the boneyard when tourons approached you at a kegger. he’d seen you turn every single one down before they wasted their breath on asking. he’d seen you duck and dodge every person’s efforts in any situation, just before you came back to him with an amused smile and another story to tell. 

you kept him out of trouble that way. you were honest and transparent. you could’ve easily turned them down and pocketed the experience, but you told rafe every time. you didn’t know he saw almost every time, but you did it because you were loyal. you didn’t see anybody else the way you saw rafe. you’d do anything to assure him that he was the only one you had eyes for. 

and the icing on the cake was that kiara was involved. meaning that your entire junior year that was spent juggling time between your best friend and your boyfriend, they were spending their free time with each other, behind your back. you would’ve done anything for either of them. you still would. 

“y/n, i love you-”

“i wish i believed that, rafe. i really wish i did.” you shook your head gently, looking back at the other two that were watching with guilt building within them. “i’ve been loyal to the three of you to a fault. i’ve never kept anything from either of you, and-”

you shook your head, looking up at the sky to fight the oncoming rush of tears that continued to build. you refused to wipe them before the fell, but you also refused to let them fall. topper and kelce had never seen you cry, and rafe had only see it a few times. 

“i expected better, which may be my fault. i just- for fucks sake. topper i just watched your girlfriend cheat on you and comforted you for the last hour! how in the hell is that not enough motivation to say something to me about this?” you were screaming now, but there wasn’t anybody around to hear any of you. 

“y/n, i’m sorry-”

“just, forget it. i just want to go home-”

“baby-”

“we’re done, rafe.” his shoulders dropped, along with his jaw as he stared at you in disbelief. “it’s done. whatever this was to you,” you moved your hand between the two of you, gesturing to you as a couple. “whatever the last two years was is over, rafe. we’re over.”

your voice broke, pitching up in the middle of your words. rafe felt his airways constrict as a lump formed in his throat. he felt tears burn his eyes, much like yours had been for a few minutes at this point. he saw you slip through his fingers as you started taking steps back from him, not daring to show any sign of weakness as you squared your shoulders. 

“don’t fucking follow me, any of you.” you threatened lowly, spinning on your feet and walking off before any of them had time to process everything that had just happened. 

you tried to find your car, heavily disappointed and frustrated when you remembered you’d come with kelce. you were supposed to come on your own, given that rafe was being dragged along with his family. 

the frustration was enough to let the first tear slip out of the corner of your eye, falling down your cheek at an excruciating pace. once the first slipped, it was as if the floodgates had been knocked down. 

they came faster than you could wipe them away, which led you to leaving your cheeks a stained and wet mess on your walk home. 

you tried to think of all the times you’d blindly trusted the pair, never questioning their actions or motives a single time in the past. you never questioned people you trusted. it had been one of your faulty traits, being loyal to a fault. you blindly trusted people, but it had never come back to bite you this intensely. 

you rolled your eyes when you saw the pogue’s van on the same road you had been walking down for longer than you could remember. you were sure it’d pass until it didn’t, slowing to an excruciating pace on the road beside you. 

“y/n!” you sighed heavily, fully intending on ignoring the group of kids piled into the van beside you until kie stuck her head out of the passenger side window. 

“y/n, why are you out here all aone?” you turned then, facing the van that then came to a stop, kiara’s eyes locked on your tear stained cheeks. “holy shit, y/n, what happened?” 

kiara had only seen you cry once. it was the summer before you were going into high school, and you’d fallen off of your surf board. you were frustrated, having fallen more than succeeding that afternoon. the pent up frustration tipped you over the edge you’d been teetering on for months. 

you told kiara about the problems you’d been faced with, anxious about starting high school and seemingly losing all the friends you’d had your entire life. you didn’t know what to expect, and you were scared, but you never told anybody that. 

nobody expect kiara. 

“you were my best friend, you know?” you spoke gently, watching as kiara’s face twisted in confusion. “you were my best fucking friend and i trusted you with things i’d never tell anybody else. i told you about my parents almost getting a divorce, and how i almost had to move in with my brother all the way in maine. 

“i told you about almost being put on anti depressants, and confessed every secret i ever had to you. i told you everything. i trusted you with everything. never in a million years did i ever think you would’ve gone behind my back and fuck my boyfriend.” 

kiara’s face dropped, her eyes widened while a chorus of gasps erupted from inside of the van. she moved to step out of the van, pushing the door open after struggling to unlock it and stepping in front of you on the dark and empty road. 

“y/n, you have to listen to me-”

“no, i don’t. that’s why you stopped hanging around, isn’t it? that’s why you ran to the cut, because you went behind my back and slept with my boyfriend for months-”

“y/n, it wasn’t like that, i swear.” 

“then what was it, kiara?” you screamed, your shoulders falling further than they already had while you stared at her with defeat evident in your features. 

“i fell in love with him.” you scoffed, rolling your eyes while a sarcastic laugh dripped from your lips. 

“that’s amazing, kiara. i’m so happy for you. i’m so happy you found love in the one person on the entire island that held my heart in the palm of his hand.” she sighed heavily, anger bubbling inside of her. 

“it’s not my fault i fell in love with him, y/n!”

“did you love him the first time you fucked him? is that why you slept with him, or was it only after you’d snuck around behind my back for months that you started to fall for him?” you raised your eyebrows, your patience for this conversation wearing thin. 

when she didn’t respond, you nodded. you smiled softly, despite the fresh tears rolling down your cheeks as you stepped away from the van and kiara. 

“y/n, wait-”

“get back in the van and never fucking speak to me, ever again, kiara. i don’t want anything to do with you for the rest of my life.” 

kiara felt her heart shatter in her chest. watching you walk away with every ounce of the truth hurt more than the day she’d walked away, shielding you from this heartbreak. 

she knew it was wrong the first time she slept with rafe. she’d been vulnerable, and seeing rafe vulnerable somehow helped. she didn’t love rafe then, but it didn’t take long for her to fall into it with him. their time together had been brief, but it was something kiara would never forget. 

falling in love with her best friend’s boyfriend was never something she intended on doing. she told rafe it was wrong and that they could never be together again after the first night, but she had trouble following her own rules. she’d been heartbroken when rafe broke things off for good. he didn’t want to hurt you anymore than he already had, and kiara had to respect that. 

that had been the leading factor in kiara’s hatred for the kooks. she knew kelce and topper knew. she knew rafe would never tell you, and you’d get to live the perfect life by his side. she hated rafe for stealing her heart and crushing it in front of her eyes. she hated you for living the life she wanted more than she’d care to admit. 

she hated herself for hurting you, even if you didn’t know. she’d covered it up with the story of sarah’s party that night. though that wasn’t a lie, it was dull compared to her betrayal towards you. sarah was never her best friend, you were. you just, unfortunately, loved the same boy. 

you both were in love with rafe cameron, and he chose you. 

but none of that mattered to you as you walked home, tears in your eyes and on your cheeks. you had lost everything in one night, and you didn’t know how to process it. 

one thing you knew for sure is that you couldn’t wait to move off of this island. 

[dessarious]

Balancing Dynamics Prologue

Alright everyone, here’s the beginning of the long awaited Broken Harmony Sequel. Given that most of Broken Harmony was from Damian’s perspective the plan right now is for this to be mostly in Marinette’s. Granted everything is subject to change since I have no idea what I’m doing until I actually write it. But this prologue is sort of a mirror to the one for Broken Harmony so that you get an idea of Mari’s mindset and experiences prior to meeting Damian.

AO3   Beginning

Marinette was six and a half the first time she felt the resonance. They were visiting some of her mother’s family in China and had been there close to a week when it started. When she’d excitedly told her parents what she felt they looked worried and she didn’t understand why. They told her to wait and let her soulmate come to her but they wouldn’t tell her why. But she did as they asked.

She was disappointed when she felt them leave and wondered if they had been waiting for her to look for them instead. Her parents consoled her, told her that they would meet when the time was right. She could feel their relief though and that just confused her. When she asked them why they didn’t want her to meet her soulmate they were surprised. They told her she’d understand when she got older.

Years went by and she still didn’t understand. The resonance never came back and she tried so hard to not be upset by it. She didn’t talk about her soulmate with anyone, not even her friends. Partly because they didn’t have soulmates of their own but mostly it was the way her parents reacted when she’d tried to describe their song. They’d been upset but wouldn’t tell her why. After that it just seemed safer not to talk about it. That was when she started the journals.

She wrote down how their song sounded and how it made her feel. She wrote letters to them so when they finally met they’d know they were cared for. Their song made her think most people around them didn’t. She spent a lot of time concentrating on the bond, both what she felt from it and, she hoped, making her own song comforting for them. It was why she was so clumsy most of the time because she was paying far more attention to the bond than the world around her.

On her eleventh birthday their song changed. It was wrong, muted. It was far more calm and peaceful than it had ever been which should have been a relief. It wasn’t. Her soulmate's agitation had been a constant her entire life. For it to just be gone all of a sudden… she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all. Her parents could tell something was wrong but she wouldn’t talk to them about it. It felt too personal and given the way they always tiptoed around the subject, she didn’t want to give them one more thing to worry about.

Instead she spent even more time concentrating on what she could feel in the bond. She noted down any little change and realized that their song seemed to be reacting to her emotions. Her song seemed to be their only focus. So she did everything she could to stay positive and happy. It seemed to soothe their song.

Almost a year later the wrongness went away. It was replaced with pain and rage so strong she ended up missing school for a week. She did everything she could to keep herself calm but she couldn’t help how worried she was about them. It got better slowly. Within a month it was a far more controlled feeling, like a military march. Every once in a while it would flare into an inferno again, but those were rare.

Master Fu helped her once she broke down in the middle of a training session because of it. He helped her meditate and use that to separate her soulmate’s song from her physical reactions. It wasn’t easy but she was able to make them their own space in her mind where she could still feel them, but not get overwhelmed by it. It helped her stay calm which seemed to help them as well.

When Hawkmoth showed up she was able to compartmentalize well enough to stay off his radar. She was worried about her partner though and told Master Fu as much. He seemed to think her fears were groundless. She offered to teach Chat meditation techniques once but he kept insisting it was a date so she asked Master Fun to go in her place. After that was the first time he sat out a fight to punish her.

Then Lila came. She tried to keep herself together but she couldn’t just do nothing when her friends were being lied to. When the Akuma came for her the first time she thought she just had too many stress points so when Adrien said she should just let Lila be, it seemed the best option. She couldn’t stop her stress from being Ladybug and Master Fu still refused to do anything about Chat. She needed something in her life to change and worrying about Lila seemed the best thing to drop. She didn’t realize how wrong she was until it was too late.

After that everything just got worse. When she had to cancel plans last minute, like she had always done, it was suddenly a slight to Lila. When she had prior commitments and couldn’t go somewhere with the group it was because Lila would be there. They decided that all her decisions revolved around the other girl and Mari couldn’t persuade them otherwise.

She tried so hard to be more available but then Lila would decide not to show up. She did it every time Marinette actually made it to something. After about a month Lila told everyone that Marinette had threatened her to stay away. That happened the day after Master Fu died. It was a Thursday evening and Lila used her absence Friday to make the accusation. When Marinette went back to school on Monday she was only just holding it together. As soon as she entered the gate she was met with hate and anger. She swore she could feel herself shatter.

After that her control all but evaporated. Her soulmate’s rage came back with a vengeance and she couldn’t keep it separate anymore. Chat didn’t know the Guardian had died but for some reason he started becoming more aggressive about them dating. It was all too much. She spent close to a month wielding both the Ladybug and Turtle Miraculous so she could find a private spot to break down while Wayzz shielded her and Tikki took care of the Akumas. She felt so useless.

She became completely withdrawn from everyone around her. Both in an effort to protect herself and because no one seemed to want anything to do with her. She spent all her time trying to keep her emotions contained to not be a target for Hawkmoth. The best she managed was to only have one Akuma a week come for her. She couldn’t get herself together enough to hide her emotions from her soulmate at all. Their song was more agitated and enraged than she’d ever felt before and she couldn’t help. That more than anything was eating away at her. She was making them worse and she couldn’t help it.

The morning she felt the resonance again she panicked. Being this close she felt like her entire body was on fire with their anger. She couldn’t concentrate at all. If she’d been able to pay attention to the atmosphere around her, maybe she would have seen what was coming. She was trying to leave when Alya confronted her. She was so focused on getting out of there before her soulmate found her that she didn’t see the slap coming. She hit the ground and heard their anger explode in her head. All she could do was curl up as it overwhelmed her. She didn’t even feel it when her class started kicking her.

It was only when she heard notes of concern in the rage that she started to become aware of the world around her again. When she heard Adrien tell her to get up and felt her soulmate’s anger spike again, she grabbed onto them on instinct. Suddenly the song in her head was matched with her own. They were so different but somehow they meshed into one cohesive tune. She could suddenly hear which emotions were directed at her and which were directed elsewhere. When she didn’t feel any anger towards herself it caused a wave of relief. Suddenly she wasn’t alone. It was in that moment that she knew everything was finally going to be okay, even if she had no idea how.

AO3     Beginning 

Ko-Fi

[charming-charlie]

Lunch Break

Title // Lunch Break

Pairing // Evan Buckley x Reader

Warnings // Jealousy mostly? Little bit of teasing and some implied oral too.

Summary // Jealousy rears its ugly head at Station 118.

Word Count // 2.5k

Prompt // Buck's reaction when you ignored him because of something // “Come and sit on my lap, baby.” with bucky pls // “I wish I could tell the world.”- “Go ahead.”- “OKAY WORLD GUESS WHAT *insert name here* IS MY FREAKING BOYFRIEND/DATEFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND AND I REALLY-”*A puts hand over B’s mouth*- “I did not mean literally!” reader x evan omg

It was a perfect, beautifully sunny day in Los Angeles. The birds were singing, the air was warm, and life was good. Then again, you were just in a good mood. You had a romantic meal with your boyfriend, Evan Buckley, and he spent the night at your apartment. Nothing sexual happened, unfortunately, but you were okay with that. The dinner was followed by some hard yet serious conversations where the two of you let everything out and shared the most intimate thoughts. By the time you checked the clock, it was two in the morning and Buck had to get some sleep. He had an early shift the next morning.

When you woke up, he wasn’t there, but he did leave a fresh pot of coffee and a sweet text message saying he was looking forward to seeing you later. You figured it should be sooner rather than later, and you took the rest of the morning to shower, get dressed, and go through your morning routine.

It was around early afternoon when you arrived at the firehouse. Apparently, the crew just returned from a call. Chimney was putting equipment away and when he spotted you, his face melted immediately into shock. “Oh no. Who told you?” Chim asked once you finally reached within earshot.

The phrase lingered with a certain dread and you stopped in your tracks to look at him. Giving him a slight head tilt to emphasize your curiosity, you let out a confused smile. “Told me what?”

Chim couldn’t look more like a turtle if he tried. His shoulders hunched as if he were trying to hide or disappear. He turned back to the equipment, grabbing two very menacingly looking hammers and hooking them into one of the compartments on the firetruck. “Told you about our call. Buck and the girl,” he mumbled into the air. You had to strain to hear him, since he was avoiding your gaze completely.

“What girl?” you couldn’t help but ask.

Chimney pursed his lips and he closed his eyes. It was almost like he was trying to rack his brain for something else to say to you, but he sighed in defeat. He turned to look at you. “Buck scored a girl’s number on the last call. He didn’t deny it or said he was seeing someone.”

You were taken aback by that and the wheels in your brain were already turning. You couldn’t see Buck doing that, not after how close the two of you grew, and the sweet text message that was still on your phone. Yet Chim looked worried. Not for Buck but for you. You couldn’t help but think there was some truth to what Chim was telling you, especially given the fact that he was a terrible liar. This didn’t seem like a lie.

The more you thought about it, the more upset you became. Even though he spilled his guts last night, talking about how he transformed from Buck 1.0 to Buck 2.0, maybe that was all an act. Maybe that was just his move, a ploy to get unsuspecting women to fall head over heels for him. Maybe he was Buck 1.0 the entire time.

You nod at Chim, your way of thanking him without saying anything, and you turn on your heels to leave the firehouse. You tried to ignore Chim’s stare into your back but soon got distracted by seeing Buck walk toward you with a smile. He looked so pleasantly happy that for a second, you wanted to believe he has truly changed, and yet you could not bring yourself to smile back.

“Hey babe. Miss me already?” Buck asked you. He reached out to touch you, but you immediately pulled back and walked around him, like he wasn’t even there.

The smile fell from Buck’s face as you walked away from him. You didn’t even acknowledge him. It kind of hurt when you didn’t text him back but now you’re straight up ignoring him? What gives?

He followed the trail that you left behind, and it led him to Chimney, who was still busy restocking the truck with fresh supplies. “Hey Chim, do you have any idea why Y/N seems mad at me? She just walked off without saying anything.”

Chim shut one of the compartment doors with a loud thud, causing Buck to jump at the metallic sound. “I told her about the girl’s number you got earlier,” Chim said. He was now also avoiding Buck’s gaze. His eyes were staring right at the side of the truck, as though it were fascinating and capturing his attention.

“That—wait, what? That girl gave me her number to give to Eddie,” Buck went on the defense, looking defeated and upset, “how did she—I don’t understand. Y/N thinks I would do that?”

It sounded like he was talking to himself now and Chim used that opportunity to slip away and find somewhere to hide. Sure, he may have made a situation worse by not fully understanding what happened, but it was best to get out of there while Buck sorted through his thoughts. Buck thinking could be dangerous sometimes.

He whipped out his phone and starting texting you at lightning speed. He would send one sentence after another instead of a whole wall of text. He did this, knowing you would get every single notification. Your phone would constantly buzz from the incoming messages. You’d have to talk to him.

An hour went by and Buck was running out of things to send to you. He started sending every emoji individually, one by one. By the time he sent the yellow smiley with the halo, his phone rang.

“Y/N,” he answered with a hesitated smile. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, “I knew that would work.”

“What worked?” the voice on the other line was not you, but rather his sister, Maddie.

The defeated slump of Buck’s shoulders would have made a cartoon noise as he sat down in one of the comfy leather chairs at the firehouse. He lied; his hopes were up but the voice of his sister popped them away. He tried to put on a brave face to help mask his saddened voice, but Maddie wasn’t convinced.

“Nothing, what’s—”

“Are you and Y/N okay?”

Maddie interrupted him and Buck leaned back. He hated the fact that you were ignoring him when there was a simple explanation to the situation. Buck opened his mouth and was about to say something, anything, to get his sister off his back, but Maddie retorted with a smooth and confident, “Don’t lie to me.”

How she was able to read her brother over the phone was a mystery unto itself.

“She’s ignoring me,” Buck replied with a sigh. He didn’t really want to talk about it. He wanted to go back and continue texting the entire emoji alphabet to you. It hit him, then, that if you were trying to call him, the call wouldn’t go through since he was on the phone with his sister. Quickly sitting up, he mumbled a super-fast and hardly audible “I gotta go, Maddie. Talk later,” before he hung up on his sister and went back to staring at the phone.

You didn’t text him back and there was no indication of a missed call.

It took everything in his willpower to not chuck the phone at the wall, purely out of frustration. If he were not on duty right now, he’d be at your apartment and talk things out. His hand tightened around his phone, just in time for his best friend to stroll on by.

“You okay?” Eddie asked, looking at Buck with curiosity.

“It’s your fault,” Buck said suddenly. He couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice as he rose to his feet.

“What is?” Eddie asked cautiously. He was walking backwards, away from Buck. When Buck was angry, it wasn’t a pretty sight. There was no violence or anything like that, but tensions did rise high when their resident goofball wasn’t his usual self.

“You and that girl flirting on the call today, and I’m supposed to give you her stupid number that she gave me to give to you and now my girlfriend isn’t talking to me because of you and that girl’s number and I’m going craz—”

Bobby was hearing the commotion and he quickly walked over to the scene. As the captain, he had to make sure his firefighters played nice. “Everything okay over here?” Bobby asked, looking back and forth from Eddie to Buck.

“Did you try calling Y/N?” Eddie interjected while ignoring Bobby’s question. He was unfazed by Buck’s tangent to make a point, something he was pretty used to after working at Station 118 for so long.

Buck stopped and immediately shut his mouth. The resentment on his face changed into something else. What was it? Guilt, maybe?

“What did you do?” Bobby asked while turning to Buck, “never mind, I don’t want to know.” After dealing with Buck and Eddie’s antics at the firehouse, sometimes Bobby needed to pick and choose his battles. He wasn’t going to pick and choose this one.

“Cap, can I…” Buck sheepishly started asking a question, like he was about to be scolded or something. He avoided Bobby’s gaze and let his voice trail off.

Bobby looked at Eddie, who shrugged and raised his hands in surrender, wanting no more part of the situation. Eventually, the Captain exhaled and nodded. “You have one hour, Buck. I’m making this your lunch break.”

With that, Evan Buckley was on a mission. He stopped by the farmer’s market and bought a bouquet of flowers and he raced to your place. The elevator in your apartment building was out of order, forcing the young but thankfully in shape fireman to dash two, sometimes three stairs at a time. He was just there this morning and it already felt comfortable, like he could see himself being more familiar with the apartment building as time went on. He hoped he would, but he just recently learned not to get his hopes up.

He rapped a few times on the door and used the flowers to cover up the peep hole so that you couldn’t see he was standing there.

“Who is it?” you asked through the door.

Buck wasted no time. “Delivery.”

“I didn’t order—” you began until you saw him. He was standing there, looking gorgeous like always. Every bone in your body was telling you to look away, shut the door, and go back to ignoring him. You turned away from him, and he held out the beautiful bundle of flowers.

“Delivery,” he said again, this time in a more apologetic and remorseful tone.

You took the flowers from his grip, and your fingertips brushed over his lightly. If you weren’t mad at him, you would be picturing those fingers brushing over other things, like different body parts.

“Today was a misunderstanding,” Buck said. He was giving you a look, a sweet, innocent look, and it was hard to look away. He knew just how to keep you captivated, how to keep you interested, and you found yourself opening the door to invite him in. He smiled a little and walked into the apartment that he was in only hours before.

It was a small place with one bedroom. Nothing like his two-story loft that he got to enjoy when he wasn’t working. However, the smaller apartment made things seem cozier. Even he couldn’t explain it, but he did like being there.

“The phone number was for Eddie, not me. The whole thing is a misunderstanding. Miscommunication at the firehouse, it’s not exactly uncommon. I wouldn’t do that to you,” Buck was saying. You were hanging on his every word. Sure, you may have taken things a bit extreme by ignoring him, and yet here he was, willing to fight for you and fight for a place in your life. You must give him credit for that.

“You really mean a lot to me, Y/N. I wish I could tell the world.”

“Go ahead.”

Buck stared at you, slowing blinking at your sudden permission to share his feelings. While last night’s deep conversations were perfect, it made the two of you closer to each other. Buck was in denial, but after realizing he could possibly lose you, even over something as a simple mistake, it made things a lot clearer to the fireman.

“Okay world, guess what!” Buck started shouting, catching you off guard, “Y/N is my freaking girlfriend and I really—”

You put a hand over his mouth. He was loud and you had neighbors on both sides of you and the walls were paper thin. The last thing you wanted was to deal with the cops over a noise complaint that your man was professing his love for you in a neighborhood apartment complex.

“I did not mean literally!” you whisper-shouted to Buck.

He was grinning behind your hand. You could feel it. His hidden smile only made you smile in return. Yeah, perhaps you were a tad dramatic today but so was he. Maybe it was proof that the two of you just felt fiercely for each other and needed the clarification that things were going to be okay.

Buck moved away from you and plopped down on your cream-colored loveseat. Your whole body turned to look at him as he relaxed. His eyes never left your gaze. He was staring at you, but not in a way that made you uncomfortable. There was a swirl of emotions in his eyes. He was staring at you, admiring you, like you were a work of art. In his eyes, you were.

“Come sit on my lap, baby.”

You didn’t need to be told twice. You walked up to him and sat down, one leg on either side of him as you straddled his waist, facing him. His hands found themselves pressing into the curves of your waist while your arms snaked themselves around his neck. “Don’t tell me you left your shift for this,” you told him in a whisper. His head seemed to be getting closer and closer to you, and you found yourself gravitating toward his lips.

“I’m on my lunch break,” Buck whispered against your lips.

You pushed your body against him. “Then you better eat something before you go back.”

Buck only smirked as his fingers slipped under the fabric of your shirt. Your little daydream from earlier, the one where you didn’t want to imagine Buck’s fingertips going places, was starting to come back the very moment he touched your bare skin.

“I’m working on it,” Buck replied huskily before letting his lips move against yours in a desperate need to claim them.

The drama from the afternoon seemed to evaporate and a bubble started forming around you and Buck. For now, at least for however long he had on his lunch break, nothing could pop the bubble. You two were in your own little world, safely confined within the walls of your apartment. Too bad your walls were paper thin though. Your neighbors might file a noise complaint after all.

[thelostandforgottenangel]

Turtle’s Naked Challenge

@bloody-weapons-soft-soul13​ @fyreball66​ @lonelyheart-clubband @blossom-skies @narwals14 @betelgeusessonajblog @missbeautyandherbeast @midnightrebel669 @midnight-chocolate-turtle @myheyheyheystuff @nikitaboeve @mistyroselove @waterstar2016 @bluesakurablossom @bayverse-turtle-power @nights-legacy @janna-the-breaker @missmagellanic @darksaphire2002 @aurora-the-kunoichi @moonlightflower21 @queendice98 @infintyfandoms @ravn-87 @bmntgirl @vixie-chan233

This took a while to do considering my daughter after hearing her auntie bae claim I was fucking lazy decided to dump a drink over my flashdrives so I couldn’t use them anymore resulting in losing all my files, stories, and all my asks but as requested here’s some steamy wet turtle nudity

Her boyfriend had gotten to her place after a long strenuous patrol looking so tired and rundown just knowing being the leader could be hard

Being the older brother to three whack job goofy brothers could also do a number on a turtle’s mentality and had her heart going out to him instantly one these nights making her somewhat baby her alpha much to the displeasure on his face

He didn’t like the coddling but knowing how grumpy he could be had the woman wanting to make it better because Leonardo deserved to be pampered like a king when he allowed her to do so

After all he made her feel like a queen every day she could do the same for her leader

Upon offering him her shower to relax and wash the day away but also giving him tons of kisses that pulled a loving smile from her special guy and promising of more once he was done had him swayed easily

Plus he seemed more willing as her hand trailed up his plastron hearing her whispering of maybe some more enticing fun once he was finished he had immediately hopped in to clean up while she got comfortable and started reading her new book he had gotten her a few weeks back

The woman figured he might be a while and he deserved the longest shower he could stand so why not read a few chapters until he was done already having their movie ready to be started and dinner in the stove already prepared knowing he loved home cooked meals

Only the best for her turtle

She was so absorbed in the pages happily following the hero’s tale the water turning off didn’t even register to her nor did the bathroom door squeaking or abnormal soft steps approaching her couch where she was lounged out comfortably

What did was the sopping wet towel that landed on her making her squeak and jump a foot in the air

“Finally reading it – it’s a really good story”

She pulled the cloth off her before freezing seeing her leader standing there proud in front of her in all his glorious perfection steam roving lazily off his leaf green flesh as those blue sapphires set her on fire feeling the room getting warm as she looked him over shifting in her seat as something else started to feel ‘hot’

She was panting and all he was doing was looking at her

The throbbing appendage between his thick thighs had her trying desperately not to look down and she failed miserably as he strolled forward a sly grin on his face his lower lip caught between his teeth before he tilted her head up smelling what he was doing to her and the soft fabric of the blue nightie had him seconds from losing his dominate stance

“Just wondering does that offer still stand or are you just going to sit there drooling all over the book” she apparently didn’t answer him fast enough because the look in his eyes shifted as he got over her growling under his breath “Bedroom now and on your knees before I break the couch again~”

Her body responded this time as he moved back so fluidly walking towards the hallway before letting her pass him a small moan leaving her as the pressure of his fingers on the back of her neck had her bending to his will “Whatever you want Sensei”

He had to be having a bad day cause when he got to her place he was growling, cussing, and mumbling nasty obscenities through his bared teeth

No doubt somebody had pissed him off and being how late it was that list of names was fairly a mile long but not limited to several of the normal characters but after a bit of persuading and lots of affection to her teddy bear she had finally convinced him to go take a hot shower to calm himself

She hated seeing him so upset

She lit the sweet fresh picked strawberry candles on the counter just for him knowing the smell of her newest set always made him feel calm remembering with clarity the first night she got them he had shown up in a rage over something she truly didn’t understand but the second he took a deep breath he had just relaxed curling up with his head on her chest passing out almost immediately purring like a kitten

Every night after if she knew he was coming over she was burning those candles finding he became very affectionate and needy

He tried to coax his love into the bedroom mumbling he just wanted cuddles but she handed him her biggest towel and sent him on his way swearing they could snuggle after he was done for as long as her turtle needed

Not wanting to bother the hothead she had sat down on the sofa to wait knowing once he was done she could drag the turtle into some loving cuddles until he wanted to talk about what happened so maybe when he headed home he was in a much better mood

While he was showering she just knew he would be a while and it was her favorite night so the woman turned on her TV fast to catch up on her crime show and became oblivious to everything in her surroundings

She was focused on her favorite character shirtless grinning like a love sick school girl hardly hearing the bathroom door open so when a towel landed over her head she was a bit shocked quickly pulling it off “Raphie this is the best part what are you-!?”

The woman looked up from her couch to see the massive turtle standing there with a serious look completely stripped of his normal attire leaving her in a dazed stupor upon seeing what was in front of her as he stepped in the way of her TV

Licking his lips Raphael stood holding a smaller towel drying off his neck as water dripped down his naked built body and damn he had her full attention before a smug smile was aimed at her when she couldn’t look away taking in his perfectly sculpted physique realizing now she had never comprehended how big he was

“Ya still wanna watch the show or – ya up ta help me blow off some pent up steam?” he winked still exuding cockiness walking towards her room giving her a great view of his ass making her turn off the TV so fast not caring if she missed her new episodes before jumping over the back of her couch already unbuttoning her blouse

“No sir… Nope not at all” she ran after him hearing that thunderous chuckle as she shut her bedroom door jumping the massive turtle quickly once he was on her bed kissing him hard as the woman was pulled against him knowing she wasn’t going to let Raph leave tonight “I’m all yours baby”

He was late and not answering his phone… of course he was and after she had worked so hard making him his favorite Italian dish and had even gone all out to make a beautiful tiramisu from scratch which was far from easy like the recipe online had claimed but it was all for her loving genius wanting his rare day off to be perfect but after this long she knew he’s be at her window the moment he realized it

As forgetful as Donatello was she knew he wouldn’t stand her up

Almost on cue two hours later the genius was tapping on the frame with that cute bashful smile on his face as he climbed in the window dropping his gear in the chair she had purposely moved there to keep him from just dropping everything on her floor

“Sorry dove the truck was in need of a tune up and then I got distracted by the leaking radiator hoses – it was a big mess but I’m here – and dinner smells amazing”

Her adorkable nerd trying to explain the whole ordeal as if the woman couldn’t tell what had kept her boyfriend was always adorable he wore the evidence of oil and grease all over his skin and pants stained

The woman jumping back as he started moving in to kiss her made him pause hoping she wasn’t mad at him before she stopped the genius with one finger pointing to the problem before heading to her room

He was still looking himself over like he didn’t see the problem when she reappeared handing him a large towel and the clothes he had left last time he had stayed at her place a serious look plastered on her face but the ghost of a smile on her lips told him she wasn’t upset “You are not sitting on the couch or any furniture until every speck of that is off you”

He gave her the cutest pout starting to argue that he was starving and she knew how long it would take for him to actually get off every bit of grease which – actually made her reconsider her words wondering if he had eaten today but moved closer bringing him down by his dirty mask giving him a loving kiss

She promised as soon as he was cleaned up she would have his plate ready before going to the kitchen getting the degreaser scrub she bought after the last time the genius came over covered in oil after fixing the garbage truck seeing him roll his eyes before chuckling as he finally gave stealing one last kiss as he headed down the hallway

It was going to be a little bit with his having to scrub his arms and hands so she turned on her computer starting to check over a few things her boss needed by next week already having it mostly done thanks to having a brilliant boyfriend who explained it in full detail in less then a minute where as her dumbass boss had pulled her into a three hour long meeting to explain it but left her even more confused

But of course the computer was running slower then normal calling down the hall she would need his tech support help to fix it later whining as it tried to shut down on her after working great minutes before

She had just hit save when a soaked towel landed in her lap making her jump nearly spilling her drink on the laptop before snapping around to get onto the turtle but paused her face draining of any anger that had been there to be replaced by a dark blush

A smaller towel draped over his shoulders as he dried his neck and face had her suddenly aware of just how handsome he was without the mask he always wore but him standing there with nothing on but a crooked half smile on his lips and his glasses hanging low on his snout giving her a clear view of the molten honey brown orbs taking her in

“Did I hear somebody needs tech support? I hate to tell you this princess but the price of services goes up on my day off~”

She couldn’t even come up with a single thing to say with him looking down at her, that heated bedroom gaze melting her in her chair as his mates wide eyes drifted slowly over his body left completely breathless by just how sensual he looked

They had been together for a while and Donnie was normally a little shy even around her but right then he was just as confident as any of his brothers “But maybe I could be swayed to give you a discount for the right payment”

His smile widened noticing she was unable to tear her gaze away from his body always loving how she could boost his self confidence so easily

“I’m willing to do a full payment with interest if you’ll fix it by tomorrow morning Sir”

Her eyes finally met his again feeling the heat building in her, she was already well aware of what he was silently commanding closing her computer the second he shifted his weight back, dinner long forgotten before she was hurrying after him catching his hand

She was in his arms seconds later his lips crushing hers just as the door shut never realizing they were on the bed until the thin fabric of her top ripped and he was ravishing her breast

His glasses coming off was her only warning the lovable shy genius was no longer there

She had already pushed all of the furniture out of the way hoping his patrol wouldn’t last too much longer knowing Leo would try to not make him too late but it gave her time to get everything set up along with the three pizzas and his favorite snacks

Having just finished up with everything a smile spread on her lips when he clambered through the main bay window from her balcony already dressed out in his old sweatpants covered in paint stains with all his supplies knowing he had just ran the whole way after getting home his arms immediately placing them on the plastic on the floor before he was behind her wrapping his girl in a tight hug giving all the kisses he could to her

“What do you think?”

Michelangelo had came over to do an art date and being as the wonderful girlfriend she was she had gotten some of the biggest canvases she could find at the craft store for them wanting to do something special for both of them giggling as he kissed down her neck seeing her surprise for him “I love it babycakes! This is perfect!” his excitement only made her smile wider

They were going to do a portrait for one another so she had planned out her painting to the youngest turtle since she had seen his excitement in having a special night at her place like she tried to do often for him

Being Mikey couldn’t go out in public and she knew how much it bothered him that he couldn’t take her somewhere on dates even though she didn’t really want to be in public the woman always tried to come up with fun dates where the only thing that really mattered was being together and making sure he knew his baby didn’t need to be seen out with somebody or go anywhere fancy to love him

All she needed was the loving and attentive turtle who made her feel special every single day

After placing their easels back to back both of them were so ready to get started grabbing one box of pizza to sit between them as he prepared his stuff being overly affectionate with her kissing and holding her just wanting to watch what she was going to do but she shooed him to his side

This had to be a surprise

Two hours later she finished with the layout starting to add color, of course she couldn’t see what he was doing but her normally hyper noisy boyfriend was surprisingly quiet hearing him working hard on whatever he was painting for her made her work even harder wanting it to be perfect for him

Lost in the painting the woman couldn’t stop from smiling the more and more it looked like his shell the deep mahogany blending in with the hints of chestnut and small streaks of orange she had admired since the day she met him giving it a few finishing touches

He called out he was done just as she finished the last major detail making her carefully pick up her painting placing it over on a homemade drying rack when he came over placing his canvas beside hers for the big reveal

Mikey was instantly pressed against her back holding her from behind hearing a surprised gasp at seeing the pattern of his carapace plates up close “Baby! Holy crap it’s – does my shell really look like that?” she giggled as he tried to look over his shoulder before she took in what he had done

On his there was lots of color blended in together making it very bright, happy, and a bit psychedelic the way the splatters brought out the finer details, her name was in a graffiti like cursive style with tiny spots of glitter making it shimmer like a diamond before seeing in the center the imprint of his chest plate was painted there in his own cute signature loving how he had painted in the heart with green and orange so she would never forget him

“It’s beautiful-” she turned to kiss him noticing his sweats on the floor looking back before she exploded in laughter shocked to see the turtle standing there with a wide grin his brow line wiggling before her eyes slipped lower finding him there in nothing

“Oh my god Mikey!” her boyfriend stood there looking so proud of himself, his entire upper half centered more towards his plastron was covered in multiple colors of paint that went all the way down past his waistline which told her he had painted himself and pressed against the canvas he was splattered in every color imaginable across his muscular arms and cute happy face “Did you get any paint on the canvas”

He seemed so offended looking himself up and down before striking a pose in full Mikey fashion giving her a flirtatious wink “Oh baby you see this body it is the canvas” she giggled waving him off before screaming out as he tackled her to the floor kissing her as he smeared some paint on her face

“N-NO MIKEY! STOP!” she was laughing way too much to be taken serious squirming as he pulled at her clothes mumbling she should try painting nude too throwing them off to the side

Biting her lip she tried to stop from moaning her cheeks burned hotly while trailing the streaks of colorful paint that made his body stand out a bit more biting her lip trying to look up blushing and finding it a bit difficult to resist him with the thick shaft already erect and throbbing against her exposed belly as he picked up a brush as he opened her to him pressing close so she could feel him “Now baby girl – I know something I’m about to paint white~”

With him this was what she lived for her arms surrounding him as she kissed her way to his neck not really caring if she got messy when his hands accidently landed in her paints starting to like where this was going as he smeared it over her curves when she fell limp finally submitting as she pointed to a stack of canvases off to the side

“Let’s do something that will only be for your eyes Daddy~”

[flowerfan2]

David x Patrick - Angst-fest with lots of cuddles and h/c reunion fic.

Summary - Being stuck in the Milwaukee airport is bad enough.  Then David realizes that the man who broke his heart is sitting right next to him.  After a rom-com worthy reunion, David decides he’s not going to walk away again.

Chapter 10 (spoiler - Stevie shows up).  A03.  

Patrick really does make David keep his arms around him there in the booth at the diner for an inordinate amount of time.  He knows that David can’t hug his issues away, and it isn’t fair of Patrick to expect him to.  Patrick is going to take ownership of this, and do something about it.  But even though he knows he has to do it himself, it’s also very scary.  And letting himself come to terms with his own revelation is just easier to do with his face in the crook of David’s neck.

They finally separate, and bicker amiably about the check, David sneaking off while Patrick is in the bathroom to order extra muffins to take home and hand over his credit card.  Patrick doesn’t much care for the reminder that he’s unemployed, but David does have a point that he’s living in Patrick’s house at the moment – his parents’ house, but still.  And it seems to make David feel good to treat Patrick, and if there’s anything Patrick can get behind right now, it’s doing everything he can to make this work.

Unfortunately, when they pull up to the house to the sight of a beat up red sedan with an Ontario license plate, Patrick’s heart sinks.

“Patrick?  You said your parents wouldn’t be here until January. They’re very early.”

“That’s not my parents.”

“Well, it’s not Doordash.  As much as I’d applaud planning ahead for dinner, they’re unlikely to have driven all the way from Canada.  Who’s in your driveway?”  David’s voice is rising, and Patrick is entirely too familiar with his agitated-bordering-on-panicked tone.  

“David, don’t be upset.”  Patrick shuts off the car and turns towards David.

“Mmkay, those words usually come before something that’s going to make me upset.”

They get out of the car but before Patrick even makes it to the front door, it opens and Stevie comes out.  

David turns to Patrick, a look of betrayal on his face.  “I can’t believe you did this to me,” he hisses.

“Hi to you too,” Stevie says, her voice flat.  “And don’t you dare blame Patrick, he didn’t do anything.”

“Well I sure didn’t invite you down here.”

“Right, my presence is unwanted, I get that, believe me,” Stevie says.  “But some of us have a job to do-”

“Don’t you dare come at me about work, Stevie, I’m on vacation.”

“And if you had just told me that at the beginning of the week, instead of playing hard to get like a god damned asshole-”

“Okay, that’s enough.”  Patrick finds himself next to David, a hand on his shoulder, glaring at Stevie.  He can feel David trembling under his palm.

“Yeah, like any of this is my fault,” Stevie mumbles.  She’s wearing a familiar flannel over a v-neck t-shirt, but the look on her face is like nothing Patrick has ever seen before.  It’s a deep hurt, and when he turns to look at David, he sees it there as well.  This has got to stop.

“Could we maybe go inside?” Patrick asks, sliding his hand down David’s body to the small of his back, bringing them closer together.  It’s not raining as hard as it was this morning, but the misty drizzle certainly isn’t helping the situation.

David disappears briefly when they get indoors.  “How did you even get into the house?” Patrick asks Stevie, still trying to figure out how to manage this situation.

“The spare key was in a fake turtle next to the front door, it wasn’t exactly hard.”

Patrick resolves to have another conversation with his parents about security, although he supposes their approach is slightly better than their previous practice of leaving the key under the mat.

David returns a few moments later with a different black sweater on, the hood pulled up over his head.  He looks miserable.  Patrick wishes they could go back to the diner and stay there forever, arms around each other and the aroma of pancakes all around them.  His instincts in that regard were apparently spot on.

“Tell me why you’re here,” David says to Stevie, a hand on his hip.  

Stevie backs up a step into the kitchen, fiddling with a tea towel that says “Livin’ the Dream” on it in flowery aqua script.  She looks cornered.  Patrick considers encouraging them all to sit down and have a cup of tea first, like a scene from a British novel.

“Rose Motel Group is always evaluating new territories for growing the business,” Stevie says.  “Since you declared your interest in the southeast U.S., your father suggested I come down here and check it out.”

“That’s ridiculous, I only talked to him about it a few days ago.”

“It was actually the next territory on our list, after mid-Atlantic coastal, he just moved it up.”

“That’s still ridiculous,” David mutters, looking to Patrick for confirmation.  “We hardly do any business in the U.S.”

“We do, we have a dozen motels in upstate New York and New England, and you’d know that if you ever attended the management meetings instead of pretending that your wi-fi has mysteriously gone out.  A middle schooler is better at zoom than you are.”

“Zoom meetings give me migraines.”

“That’ll be a real advantage now that you’re working remotely.”

“Is that what this is about?  I’m not on the moon, Stevie, I’m just in Florida.  It’s hardly going to interfere with my ability to place orders with the same two dozen vendors I’ve been working with for years.”

Patrick finally forces himself to move, stepping in between them.  “How about some tea?”

This causes both David and Stevie to freeze and blink at him like he’s lost his mind.  

“Go on, go sit down,” Patrick waves them towards the living room.

They take up seats on the opposite ends of the couch, hesitantly facing each other like nervous cats.  Patrick never really got to the bottom of what happened between them after his and David’s break-up.  He has a feeling that he’s about to find out.

He busies himself making tea, getting the kettle out of the cabinet and filling it with water and searching in the cabinets for the tea bags and sugar.  But the living room is only a few feet away, and he can hear the silence stretch until Stevie finally speaks up.

“You look good,” she says to David – and Patrick nearly drops the kettle, he’s so surprised to hear these words come out of Stevie’s mouth at this point.

“Thanks,” David says, sounding oddly flattered.  “So do you.”

“When was the last time we saw each other?” Stevie asks.  “Last Christmas?”

“The RMG holiday party,” David agrees.  “Almost a year ago.”

“How’s Alexis?”

Patrick doesn’t understand how they went from biting each other’s heads off to awkward small talk.

“She’s okay.  She needs more clients, but she seems happy enough.”

A pause, and then - “David, if you and Patrick are going to be back together, maybe you and I can-”

“Don’t.”  The suddenly bitter tone in David’s voice pulls at Patrick’s heart.

“But-”

“Give it up, Stevie.  It’s too late.”

“Why, exactly?  Come on, David, I’m the least emotionally mature person I know, after you of course, and even I can see that we don’t need to do this anymore.”

“What, I’m just supposed to ask you to forgive me and we’d be friends again, just like that?”

“You could try it.  And maybe tell me why you cut me off in the first place.”

“It’s better if we just stick to business.”  David stands up and starts pacing.  There’s not much space in the living room, between the couch and the armchair and the coffee table.  It cramps his style.  “That was going fine, at least until you showed up here.”

“Fine?  How is it fine, that we went from being best friends-” Stevie’s voice catches, “to <i>colleagues</i> who only talk when Mr. Rose needs me to get vendor information from you?  How is that fine?”

“I don’t know how this is going to end up,” David says, waving his hands.  “I’ll probably fuck it up again somehow.  No matter how hard I try, that’s always what happens.  I don’t want to, I really don’t want to, but I’m very familiar with my life, Stevie.  I ruin everything.”

Patrick realizes with a pang that David is talking about the two of them.

“And when I do,” David goes on, “Patrick’s still going to need you.  I’m not taking that away from him.  I gave you to him, and it’s going to stay that way.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”  Stevie says, her voice going even quieter.  In Patrick’s experience, this indicates that she is truly furious.  “You can’t <i>give</i> me to someone.”

“I had Alexis.  Patrick didn’t have anyone.  He even lost the store.  He needed you more than I did.  I couldn’t take you away from him.”

“Did it never occur to you,” Stevie says, snapping out each word, “that I might want a say in the matter?  That I might not want to lose either of you?  That maybe, I don’t know, I could stay friends with you both?”

“That’s not how it works in a break-up, and you know it.  Everyone chooses sides.  I needed you to choose Patrick.”

“So you ditched our friendship and stopped returning my calls so I would take Patrick’s side?”

“I wasn’t exactly thinking straight at the time!”  David yells, and Patrick feels like his heart beats out of his chest with pain as David deflates, his head in his hands.  “I just needed you to be there for him,” he says softly.

“You really are a fuck-up, David Rose,” Stevie says, her voice calmer.  “But I’m going to be the bigger person here, and not let you fuck this up any more.”

Stevie stands up and moves over to David, who reluctantly takes his hands away from his face to watch her approach.  As he looks around, David catches Patrick watching them.  His eyes grow wide as he realizes that their conversation has been overheard, and he grabs Stevie’s arm, rapidly ushering her out the front door.

“What the hell, David?”  Stevie protests, but she goes along with him.  

Patrick watches through the kitchen window, unable to drag his eyes away.  David and Stevie are standing near the end of the driveway, and he can see David’s hands waving, and Stevie shaking her head at him.  Then Stevie drags David into a hug, holding him tight as he squirms before accepting it.  David’s head finally drops onto her shoulder, and they stay that way for a long moment.  When they pull apart, Stevie punches him – fondly? – on the chest, then gets into her car and drives away.  

Patrick goes outside, joining David at the end of the driveway as they watch Stevie’s car go around the corner.

“She has an appointment at a motel,” David says.  “She’ll be back in time for dinner.  She told me to order Thai, and get both kinds of satays.”  David seems almost stunned at how he’s able to talk about Stevie like this now.  

Patrick puts a hand on David’s shoulder.  “You okay?”

David shakes himself, looking skyward and then back off in the direction of the road.  “A little… fizzy.”

It’s not a word Patrick’s heard David use before to describe his state, but Patrick thinks he gets it.

“Too much emotion?”

David glares a little at Patrick.

“I’m going to make it worse,” Patrick says, biting back a smile as David’s glare intensifies.

“I really don’t need that right now.”  David takes Patrick’s hand from his shoulder and holds it firmly, walking them back into the house.  This time Patrick actually closes the door behind them, and then turns to David, who is fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater, pulling them down over his fingers.

“David.”  Patrick catches his gaze.  “It takes two people to tank a relationship.”

“Sure.”

“No, really –  what happened between us was my fault, too.  You know that.  You can’t take it all on yourself.  And it’s not all on you to make it work this time, either.”

David purses his lips, looking down at the floor.

“Hey.”  Patrick moves closer, his hands squeezing David’s shoulders.  “I’m in this, too.  As hard as you’re going to try not to fuck this up, I’ll be right there with you, okay?  This is important to me, too.  Really important.”

David nods several times in succession.

“And there’s one more thing.”

David glances at him.  “What?”

“I don’t agree with your methods, but…” His mind flashes back to those days and weeks after their break-up, when it hurt just to breathe, when he was so lost and miserable, save for a friend who showed up with whiskey and ice cream and helped him through it.  

“But what?”

“You gave me Stevie,” Patrick says, gratitude in his voice.  After Patrick broke David’s heart, David gave up his best friend because he still cared about Patrick and didn’t want him to be alone.  <i>That’s not nothing,</i> he hears in David’s voice.

“Are you going to lecture me about that too?”

“No.  I should, but – nope.”

David looks at him, his gaze open and disbelieving.

“And probably Stevie would say she can take care of herself on this point.”

A smile creeps into David’s cheek. “Hmmph.”

“Instead,” Patrick pushes David up against the kitchen island and cups his face in his hands, “I’m just going to say one thing.”

“What’s that?” David asks, his eyes alight.

“I love you, too.”

[midas-or-khaos]

Wrong place, Wrong time. Part 1

God of war x borrower oc story

“-And remember, DON’T touch anything! Reavers aren’t exactly a clean bunch,” a gurgling followed. “Ugh, really bad at keeping anything clean in fact.” The poor man really could be a worry wart at times (and a clean freak as always).

“Sindri, I’ll be fine. I promise! Cross my heart and everything. The whetstone will probably be kept somewhere safe if it’s precious enough to be stolen, so it’ll hopefully be clean when I find it.”

“Oh. Well, I hadn’t thought of that. Just...stay safe ok? And don’t get caught!”

“I won’t, I never do. See you soon!”

Reluctantly the dwarf answered,“See you soon jojo.” But the poor dwarf’s knee couldn’t stop shaking, thinking about worst case scenarios. Jojo knew he’d just have to prove poor Sindri wrong once again. Maybe one of these days he’d actually learn there was no use worrying himself into a frenzy. Taking off, the 5 inch figure wasn’t stopped as he scurried along natural ledges in walls, and began his descent into the heart of the earth.

Jojo didn’t see what all the worry was for. One of the few perks of being a borrower was often big folk like Reavers or monsters were always too busy looking ahead for bean sized people, that they never looked far enough down to see him. He knew the dwarf didn’t like asking him for help, even though the boy often came to Sindri’s shop outside ‘Fafnir’s storeroom’ (or whatever he called it) asking for challenges and new borrowing spots.

Most borrowers would call it suicide to be talking to beans and other big folk, ESPECIALLY with all the new monsters that have started popping up recently. Hel walkers they’re called apparently. But Jojo wasn’t most. He’d sought out his favourite Dwarf and brother when his parents died drowning in the lake of nine when the waters suddenly flooded, leaving their 8 year old son to fend for himself. Not immediately, obviously. No, at that point he was still a weedy little scaredy cat himself, not able to be even in the same area when footstep started to shake the earth. It could only last so long though. He hadn’t been old enough to be taken out borrowing before being left alone, and supplies ran low quickly. So, spurt of the desperate, when he saw the two set up shop outside his home in the foothills, the child decided to stride right out into the open and ask for food.

4 years later and he still never regretted that decision. Still scrawny, “the side effect of being young” said Brok, but definitely more confident. Brok taught him a lot of that confidence (and a whole lot of swear words too, despite Sindri’s attempts to undo his brother’s work) and Sindri taught him kindness and generosity. The generosity was only spent on the brothers, because who else was he going to see? No borrower would trust another that hung around beans, and Sindri wouldn’t let him be found by anyone if he had anything to say about it, but kindness he tried to show all IF he could without getting sliced in half.

Gathering focus for the change in environment, the world became darker. White, natural light was flittering out, slowly being replaced by the ethereal glow of blue crystals bouncing off liquid smooth stone corridors leading into a fatal drop. An underground ravine. Nothing had shown its face yet, though the odd grunt of some undead beastie would make itself known now and then. Being so small meant there was no need to cross the water below, or find ways to get the chain ropes down so as to climb across. All he had to do was stick close to the roof where stalactites could be leapt between till he reached some valley in the wall to rest. Nothing too hard. Looking for the fist place to jump, a low hanging spine was just a couple of feet away (to Jojo); taking a leap of faith, the boy managed to snag the tail end. Right, next one. Leaping like a lemur the drop was easily avoided, and soon something came into view. Sunlight yellow was beginning to mix with the unnatural blue, and Jojo knew there was an opening into the outside world around the corner. Good, finally he would be able to see, though he would be easier to spot in the illumination of day.

Sindri

How had Brok convinced him to let Jojo go treasure hunting alone? So many traps, monsters, ancients even! “He’ll be fine” said Brok when the two had discussed it together during one of their rare ‘chats for important matters’. So nonchalantly Brok threw out, “Kid’s never been seen before, he ain’t gonna be now!” We’ll that was just testing fate wasn’t it! The rhythmic thumping of hammer to metal was doing nothing to take his mind off the matter, and a few too many near misses to his thumb told Sindri he wasn’t going to get any real work done at this rate. Perhaps he should have a break and go visit Ivaldi’s workshop?

“Hey Sindri!”

“Agh!!!!” Both hammer and work went flying overhead, just missing the flat of his skull. The lithe boy in question at least had the gall to go red, abashed as he walked over to the Dwarf’s workbench, scratching at the buzzed fuzz across the side his head.

“Sorry.”

“Well you should be! That could’ve hurt you OR me, and all the infections that could get in-”

“Boy, be careful.”

The source of the voice sat further back up the slate corridor, hidden in shadow, hawkish gold glowed beneath a heavy brow.

“Sorry father.” Atreus called back to the hidden figure.

With meaningful strides, the figure came into the light of day, bleach white skin, jet black beard and a crimson tattoo striped across an eye setting the figure apart as none other than his worst fear. Kratos. Why? Why were these two here?

“What brings you two to my place of work to scare me?”

Leaning on the edge of his (freshly cleaned) work bench, the spritely youth explained with excitement, “We’re gonna get that whetstone you wanted!”

Shit! He’d mentioned that to them, hadn’t he? Why had they come to fulfill that promise now, when they seemed so disinterest in before?

“O-o-ooooohhhhh yeahhhhhhh, THAT whetstone. Well...”

Atreus leaned in with a head tilt and a brow lifted, “...well? What’s wrong, did you find it already?”

“No-“

“-No? Then what’s the problem?”

“Speak clearly, we have come for the promise of improvements.” Straight to the point, both father and son were on edge now.

Damn it, he was digging a hole for himself again. Stupid mouth. Obviously, if the two of them went in those mines, there was a chance his kid would get spotted and wearing that rat skin outfit, either of the pair could mistake Jojo for an actual rat and hit him with something. Oooooo, that’s horrifying, don’t think about that! Ughhhh don’t vomit! Don’t-...But On the other hand, there was a chance that the father/son duo could clear the way and make it safer for his boy to get back. And more searching eyes makes for less work. Sindri would just have to encourage them not to be too... liberal with their killing.

“Yes the offer is still there, but you must heed this warning.”

“You mentioned no warning before, why?” The irritation lacing the bestial man’s tone didn’t keep itself hidden, growls billowing out that barrel chest. The dwarf didn’t shirk away like a turtle. Not at all.

“O-oh-well-I didn’t know before. Bbbbut I got new information...from Brok. He said not tooooooo... kill the ratssssss?”

The growls took a higher pitch.

“Errrrr, ok? Are the rats protected are something?” Quizzed Atreus, bringing the blacksmith off the subject of the terrifying god before him. A perfect excuse.

“YES! Yes, sorry, the rats are the protected subjects of Freya. Wouldn’t want to upset her right?!”

“Oh! Well, she never mentioned that when we met her.” These two met FREYA! Of course they had, who was he kidding, they’d met everyone and probably started a fight with them too.

“Must’ve slipped her mind, now hurry up! Don’t want any drauger or wolves to get their disgusting hands all over it! Otherwise it’ll be so dirty even I won’t be able to clean it!”

The excuse was enough. The two turned (but not before the kid’s enthusiastic good bye) and disappeared below the cramped passage into the inky black mines, their footsteps echoing out.

“Please let this be the right idea.” Huffed out Sindri with stale, held breath, shaking his head at his own recklessness.

Jojo

Making the last of his descent down the sheer cliff walls, vibrant green broke the dead stone and made life at the edge of the darkness. The sweet ache from overworked tendons and muscles began the slow process of slipping away, fresh air and bird song rejuvenating the boy’s ambition to find his prize, a grin pulling at bubbly cheeks. He was halfway now! Strolling through the ivy, form barely making a rustle, sunlight illuminated the boy’s way through the thickets. Brok mentioned that before he reached the main chamber where the actual traps and treasure was kept, there was a ‘small’ field for him to cross with bits of precious metals along the way. Jojo knew he’d need to make height soon in order to know where he was going, but this time it’d have to be calculated; all black stood out in all this greenery. Now where to go? Rocks. He could use the rocks as an outpost to look out: dark coloured, easy to climb and easy to blend into. Just a matter of reaching it. Strolling through the ivy, the speckled light beaming on the crumbled earth was just enough to guide the way forward, boots barely making a sound.

Squawk

Stopping dead, a cold trail prickled along his back. The boy made the slowest tilt back possible to peak throught the canopy, trying to avoid detection. Too late, looking with a ghostly green eye, a monsterous raven was stalking with keen interest, perched almost serenely upon it’s watch point. Ravens weren’t notorious borrower hunters, seeing people like him often as a chore to catch and consume. But rats...rats were their favourite.

And he was dressed as one.

Atreus

“Father, what do you think had Sindri so shook?”

“Anything, boy. The dwarf has a talent for fear.” No denying that, agreed the doe eyed boy. Sindri did fear just about everything.

Crouching did nothing for the chalk giant, disgruntled grunts sounding out amongst the overhead drips of droplets every time his bald head scraped the sandpaper rough ceiling. It’s one of the few examples in life that made Atreus happy to be short. Yowls were coming from further into the mineshaft, but drauger were a minor setback, easily dispatched.

“Be on your guard boy, we are nearing danger.”

Jojo

“Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-“ How could one bird be more persistent then all the drauger in the world?

SSSSSQQQQUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRRRKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!

Too close! Every attack was only wearing the borrower down more; the saving grace from this endless stream of dive bombs was that in the bird’s haste, it made enough flapping to give its location away at all times, making it easier to dodge. But now Jojo was lost, lost and close to just falling down if his quaking limbs were anything to go by.

Atreus

“Well that was easy.”

A sagely look was drawn toward Atreus, not angry, but not impressed, “Easy because there are two of us, boy, but don’t let your guard down because you perceive an enemy as ‘easy’.”

Always one to lecture. “Yes sir.”

The cave entrance as coming into sight, stoic father and brash son walking side by side. With electrical arrows at the ready and frosty axe drawn the odd pair walked into daylight, sun illuminating the thick blood staining their skin and wares. Both were ready for any kind of battle ahead, be it fierce or simple.

Well, except for the kind of battle that they stumbled onto.

“Father? What’s wrong with that bird?” Quizzed Atreus, looking up, but Kratos was busy scanning the wooded field

“It hunts for prey boy, pay it no mind.” No beating around the bush.

“But it looks like one of Odin’s crows.”

The barely there expression of strained, chalk temples and widening, heavy set eyes might as well have been a scream.“Shoot it down.”

This rarity was not lost on the boy, heart pounding in response. If his ever-stoic dad was frightened, this was more of a danger than he had anticipated. Wasting no time, Atreus locked on as the bird went for another dive, and let loose a wizzing arrow. It fired true puncturing the breast and punching through to the other side with a resounding crack of the rib cage. The creature never hit its mark, breaking apart in a surprising burst of green flame, but never actually setting anything on fire. The witchcraft of Odin was strange indeed.

The boy couldn’t feel pleasure out of his elegant kill, still too shaken by what he’d seen. Atreus knew better than to ask his father what was wrong, the man would switch on him like a rabid dog driven mad by rabies if any fear was ever acknowledged.

“We go on, boy.”

Kratos took the lead, heading further uphill into the tree trunk horizon, sun spilling over the crest and illuminating some of the lower valley where the boy stood. Atreus made no move to follow. If he was to get answers, it would have to be now whilst his father charged on unaware. Tip toeing over to where the bird would have fallen, eyes trained on his father, the archer found his arrow wedged fast into the soft earth with wandering hands. Turning his gaze for just a moment to inspect his find, there were signs of burns, suggesting that the animal must’ve been made of pure magic; probably a spy of some kind if Odin had anything to do with it, the man was notoriously suspicious and crafty (even all seeing as his mother had mentioned) so would want to know at all times what was going on in midguard. Hold on... pulling the tip of the spear out, a rat skin sat pierced at the end. Weird thing was though, it was clean, even looking tanned on the inside like some kind of weird miniature hooded tunic! This wasn’t an animal the crow had caught and killed, but clearly was worn by the thing that the bird was after on the ground. Wait... Sindri mentioned not killing any rats, but this one was allowed to die and be made into clothes, meaning Freya wasn’t protecting the rats at all. Sindri was lying, he was protecting whoever wore this tunic-

“BOY! COME!”

Oops. He’d zoned out too long.

“Father, I think Sindri was lying!”

Footstep were coming down behind him in a charge. Curiosity wouldn’t let him leave, but flight was making his feet flitter and shake, ready to take off from the raging bull behind him.

“Did I just not tell you to follow?! The dwarf is of no concern-“ Fighting curiosity won over.

“DAD! Just. Look.”

Turning back and presenting the tunic to the man who’d finally reached him, the golden hue burned brightly with hatful embers down at the find. Just as quickly the gaze focused back on the child. He neither cared nor understood.

“It’s a tunic, made from the skin of a rat. Sindri said the rats here were under the protection of Freya, but if that were true, this one wouldn’t be dead and Odin’s ravens wouldn’t dare go after it. Sindri’s hiding something.”

[purplesurveys]

1273

What was the longest time you’ve had the hiccups for?  Maybe for half an hour? Mine are never that bad.

What type of TV shows are your favourite?  Not a big TV show type of person to begin with since it seems as if my attention span wasn’t built for once-a-week, season-breaks kind of content haha. I do like sitcoms, I guess...bite-sized ones like Friends, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Big Bang Theory, etc. Drama shows I’d bite into if the plot is extremely intriguing to me or relevant to my interests, like The Crown or Breaking Bad.

Have you ever been a complete fangirl/fanboy over anything?  I was before then I wasn’t for a very long time, then I came back just recently with this BTS shit I got myself into.

Do you know anyone who has died in battle?  Hmm. I don’t think so. My great-grandpa lived a few more decades after the war.

When was the last time you went on an adventure?  July. My friends and I spent the whole day driving around and stopping by sooo many spots around the metro. It was a lot of fun and we were fucking b e a t after.

What brand is your vacuum cleaner?  I dunno. My mom mainly uses ours.

Are you good at rapping?  I have a number of songs and verses memorized that I can recite quite okay, but I can’t write any of my own.

Name one world issue that upsets you.  Racism.

How do you feel about tanning?  I never saw the the big deal. I will say tanning beds and salons are such a culture shock to me, though. Are some people really that obsessed with modifying their skin tone?

Have you ever given a public speech? Hmm, just the one time I was entered into a public speaking competition and was given a topic to talk about on the spot. That was honestly a lot of fun and I wish there were more opportunities to do that exact same thing.

Do you read comic books?  No. I tried getting into that whole thing, but didn’t see the appeal.

Do you force your way into conversations in which you are not involved?  Not always but if I’m starting to feel left out or awkward, I will start to ask a question here and there to ease my way into the conversation. But if the topic is clearly none of my business then I do stay out of the way.

Kiss with your eyes open or closed?  Closed.

Do you believe you can change someone?  This isn’t a black and white matter, I think. The idea of changing a person can have a lot of layers; in my org, for instance, I got to pick up a few quirks and behaviors from my friends just by being around them for a long time – in that sense, I changed. But you can also strive to change someone who’s struggling and try to make them become happy, which I tried to do with my ex – which of course I learned the hard way that you can’t change someone if in that context.

How did you react when your first pet died?  I was bummed out but didn’t throw a fit.

Have you ever drawn anime?  No.

Can you use a pogo stick?  I’ve never even seen one in real life. I’m dying to try it out just once.

When’s the next time you’ll see the person that you like?  I don’t like anybodyyy.

Do you like bathing/showering?  I mean...yes? Like I’m not obsessed with showering, but it’s a necessity that I have to regularly do anyway lmao.

Have you ever considered entering a race?  Sure! Just give me a couple of weeks to practice because my endurance and stamina are embarrassing.

Rihanna or Lady Gaga?  Rihanna.

Who was your first good kiss with?  My ex.

What accessory do you want in your bedroom?  SHELVES

What do you take the most pictures of?  My experiences.

What are you always in the mood for?  Starbuuuuuuckssssssss.

What is something that you never turn down?  A day out with friends. I’ll always make time. What is something that you always turn down when offered?  Food, if I’m a guest at someone else’s place.

Name something sexy about your significant other.  I don’t have any.

What is one of your hobbies that you refuse to give up?  Surveys, I guess. I enjoy them too much and have been doing them for nearly a decade.

If you could be a professional in any sport what would it be?  Tennis.

If you could be a professional at any instrument what would it be?  PIANO.

Would you rather be a surgeon or mortician?  Surgeon. I would be too terrified seeing dead people, anyway.

Have you ever been on a subway? Nope.

Are you in love?  No.

Do you like having your lip softly bitten when you’re kissing?  Sure. Softly, roughly...both are fine hahaha.

Do you want to get married when you’re older?  I hope so. I want my turn, too.

What was the last band shirt you wore?  Eh, I don’t own any. I wore a fanmade V-themed shirt yesterday, if that counts.

You can have a milkshake right now. What flavor do you choose?  OMGGGG that sounds so fucking good rn. Chocolate chip cookie dough.

Have you ever given someone flowers?  Mhm, I used to give my ex bouquets whenever it was our anniversary.

What day of the week is usually your busiest day?  Monday like 98% of the time, so I hate them. It ultimately varies, though. Sometimes some days are a hell of a lot more hectic than others.

Do you have any concerts coming up? I mean...obviously not.

Do you like or hate the smell of fish?  Oh yessssssss. The smell of seafood/ocean always makes me fucking drool.

What’s your favorite brand of chips?  Pringles, or this local brand of salted egg chips that I love to get.

Have you ever written a poem and then read it aloud?  Yeah, once. We had to write a poem as our homework and my teacher picked out a couple that he thought were the best-written, and one of them was mine even though I still firmly believe I did a shit job.

Do you like pineapple?  Oh god no. One of the worse fruits I’ve had.

Does your house have a dishwasher?  No. It seems to be just a Western thing.

Do you know anyone who has a flower tattoo?  I probably do, but I just can’t give you a lineup of names. Flower tattoos seem to be trendy these days, especially in the line style.

How many different languages can you say goodbye in?  So I have goodbye, paalam, 안녕히 가세요, adios, auf wiedersehen, sayonara, au revoir...so that’s 7.

Agree or disagree: You like Adam Sandler movies.  Ummmm definitely childish and I can feel that the humor tries so hard sometimes but I do enjoy some of his movies, like 50 First Dates. 

Have you ever had to get a tooth pulled? If so, what for?  Yeah, I mentioned this on a previous survey.

Have you ever dated anyone while they were in jail?  No, I’ve never dated anyone who’s been imprisoned.

If you’ve ever babysat, do you like it?  I ‘babysat,’ but technically all eldest Asian daughters are expected to look out for their younger siblings and cousins anyway. I didn’t actively enjoy it, but sure, it was fun playing with them and it’s always nice to be viewed as responsible.

What is your favorite flavor on sunflower seeds?  I don’t eat sunflower seeds. I don’t dislike them, I just really never seek them out.

Do you get cold easily?  Yes.

Do you get a lot of spiders in your house?  Hmm no. If we do get visited they are almost always too small to be seen.

Do you admire nature?  Yeah, I try to be around it as often as I can.

Name one naughty thing you’ve done.  Had sex while a few people were in the same room. I pay for it now hahaha; those friends who had the misfortune to be in that situation have never let me live it down and it’s one of their go-to stories when I’m being introduced to new friends.

Name two of your favorite things as a child.  I loved everything Bratz. I also liked Play-Doh.

Do you own a Pillow Pet?  No, I’ve never even heard of that.

Do you tend to solve problems with violence?  Never.

Have either of your parents gone to jail?  Nope.

Do you know a hoarder?  I heard my grandma had been one, but I didn’t see traces of it when I used to visit her. I guess she had been when she was younger and stronger. I show traces of hoarding too, but I don’t think it’s at a concerning level; I literally just threw out a bunch of shit in my room I’ve hoarded over the last five or so years.

Do you wax, pluck, or leave your eyebrows?  I don’t touch them; I’m never all that worried about my appearance. On very rare instances, I will shave some of the excess hair off. Do you have any interesting scar stories?  None of them are interesting tbh, just results of my own stupidity.

Do you hate the texture of meatballs?  I don’t hate their texture but I also just don’t enjoy meatballs in general. I find them boring, which has always led me to think if they’re really supposed to be just boring clumps of meat or if I’ve just always been served average meatballs.

Do you get migraines? Yes, I usually get one after work. They’ve decreased in frequency now but one will drop by every now and then to give me a shit time.

Do you like guns?  No.

Are turtles amazing creatures? All animals are. :') < Yes! Except cockroaches.

How much time do you spend taking surveys?  I dedicate an hour or so every weekend. I often wish I can allot more time, but I also have other hobbies and interests I would usually want to catch up on during the weekends. 48 hours is just too short :(

Would you rather visit: The Eiffel Tower or Egyptian Pyramids? Pyramids, in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t even need to think about it.

Would you like to work at a candy shop?  Uh no. If I had to, it would be on the back-end, maybe in the corporate side of things lol.

Do you have feelings for someone?  Nope.

Which one of your guy friends is the best looking?  JM.

Do you have anything to say to your ex bf/gf?  No.

Which band do you have the most of on your iPod/music player?  I don’t use music players anymore but my Spotify always reminds me of how much I listen to BTS whenever they do one of their quirky listening habit reports lol.

Which song describes your mood at the moment?  I want to go with RM’s Bicycle just because I’m feeling quite content and relaxed at the moment.

Which movie(s) do you quote the most?  Eh, I’m not a big movie quoter.

Which one of your best friend’s friends would you most likely date?  I honestly don’t see any of them as date-able.

Would you ever let anybody else drive your car?  Sure. I’ve let Hans and Gab drive it countless times when I’ve had too much to drink. It’s a small car and is fairly easy to use and navigate. I would let Anj use it too at some point, but I want her to perfect her u-turns first hahahaha.

Which one of your friends will be the most successful?  It’s already one of my friends to begin with but I’m not naming names. They come from a privileged background to begin with and their godfather already handed one of his companies down to them, so. They were also told the CEO position is already a sure slot for them.

What store did you last shop at?  I wanna say NCAT, this Korean-themed store that sells trinkets and jewelries and plushies and stuff. They also sell BTS albums so Anj and I dropped by to check out and touch all the albums we can’t afford yet HAHA

Do you think telepathy is real?  No.

When did you last draw something for fun?  Last Saturday when I played an online drawing/guessing game with my uncles and aunts.

Who makes the most in your entire family?  My dad.

Do you like writing essays?  I love essays, it’s my favorite writing piece to make.

Do you think plastic surgery is no big deal?  It turns into one when it gets obsessive, like when people get excessive plastic surgeries specifically to look like another person. I’m looking at you, fucking Oli London.

Do you take your trash to the dump or have it picked up?  It’s picked up.

When you sneeze do you sneeze into your shirt or your hands?  I look away and just sneeze. Sometimes I’ll put up my elbow.

Do you usually have sex in the morning, noon or night time? Erm, I usually had it at night. I only had morning sex when we would spend the night; and I nearly never had noon sex.

Did you ever fail your learners/drivers test?  No.

Would you rather listen to Luke Bryan or Lil Wayne?  Gun to my head, Lil Wayne.

Name someone you’ve become a lot closer to recently:  Reena!!! I’m so grateful Angela introduced us to each other :) We both tend to get shy so we don’t actually actively get chatty when we see each other irl, but I love her presence and I love that she is my friend. I make up for it by being super friendly and wacky in our group chat haha. Does your car have a sunroof?  No. We used to have a car that did, but we had to sell that during the peak of the pandemic.

Are you closer to your mom or your dad?  Dad.

Have you ever had a friend with benefits? No.

Who’s the last person you cuddled with?  My ex.

Are you friends with any of your teachers on Facebook?  Yeup.

[iggy-of-fans]

Of Being a Ladybug 1.5

Happy Holiday’s! Here is my gift to you!

Previous  Masterlist 

The class, Then 

Monday of the attack

Adrien smiled, satisfied that Marinette hadn’t done anything. He shook his head, ‘really, what could she have done?’ he asked himself. Marinette was a great girl and had designed for or worked with a few famous people, but he doubted that they even remembered a lowly baker’s daughter. He sure didn’t remember most of his fans. He shrugged. Alya really should have just fact checked. Probably an over-zealous fan that sent it to one of the actors mentioned. Marinette also wouldn’t do anything that could hurt Alya. He got to the class and stopped short at the door. There were a lot of long faces in there.

Alya was sobbing into Nino’s shoulder.

Rose was quietly heaving into Juleka’s shoulder as well. Not so much sobbing, but still very upset.

Max sat tense, glaring at his phone, looking like he might set it on fire.

Kim glared ahead at the bored.

Mylene, for once, looked stronger than all the class and like she might punch somebody.

Adrien was confused. As far as he knew or remembered, only Alya had a real reason to be this upset. He frowned.

“Nino? What’s going on? Why is everyone so upset?” Adrien asked, completely lacking the social understanding to perhaps ask someone else. Who wasn’t holding their+

3 crying girlfriend. Nino just glared at him.

It was Alix who answered, “Seriously Adrien? Read the fucking mood. And to answer your question, Lila Fucking Rossi.”

“I don’t understand. What did Lila do?” Adrien asked, passing over the first comment. He just wanted answers.

“Marinette was right. Like always, she was right. Lila is a liar, and a bad liar at that. We were idiots and all fell for it. Rose lost her friendship with Prince Ali because she bought Lila’s tales. Alya is being sued for slander. Mylene and Ivan contributed to her “go green” projects, only for none of them to be legit. Max is being investigated by the school for letting Kim cheat off him and Kim got kicked off the team for it. Then the school NERD club got wind of the napkin incident and apparently even Superman and Wonder Woman can’t throw a napkin hard enough to take out somebody’s eye. And me? I was told I would be meeting pro skater Esmee Visser. We should have listened to Marinette” Alix shook her head. Mari had warned them. Warned them not to cheat, not to listen to Lila, to work their own way up. Marinette always worked so hard but made it all look so easy.

The whole class bowed their heads. Mylene had ended her friendship with Marinette on Tuesday the week before, because Marinette had suggested that she and Ivan not give their combined 400 Euros to Lila’s charity. This morning, Mylene had seen the news coverage of over fifteen people suing Lila Rossi and by extension, Alya Cesaire, for slander, defamation and theft. Lila had been going around getting things put onto tabs for famous people to pay off, claiming she was a niece, goddaughter or assistant.

They waited for Marinette or Lila to come into the class. Marinette so they could apologize. Lila so they could beat her up. When the warning bell rang, and Ms. Bustier entered the room, nobody even batted an eye. When the last bell rang, and Marinette still wasn’t there, they worried. When the sound of a car being tossed through a building reached their ears, the students evacuated.

Alya rushed to the scene. The Ladyblog may be shut down, but she could start fresh. Maybe Ladybug would even call on Rena Rouge! When she got to the scene, Vipereon was hidden on a building with… was that… a new fox? Alya almost started crying again. Another hero made her way there. A new bee, it looked like. And another, a new turtle too. When Ladybug arrived with the dragon, the team huddled for a minute before breaking apart to fight. Alya snuck closer as she watched Guilty Conscience coming at the heroes.

“I never wanted to be a hero. I feel horrible when I have to lie to protect my identity because I hate liars. I wish I had never met the Master or been picked to be Ladybug or had managed to give the Miraculous away before I got too serious. I hate what this has turned me into, I wish I could go back to just being Marinette…”

Alya gasped. Oh! OH! She shut off her video and turned. She’d wanted to earn back her title as a journalist. But not like this. She ran back to her apartment. Not like this.

As Tuesday morning dawned, the class was sitting together again. Adrien kept looking at the door expectantly. If Chat Noir payed a visit to the bakery last night, no body would know. Namely because nobody was there. Adrien’s foot bounced. The minute she walked through the door; he would confess to her.

Nino looked sideways at Adrien. He knew his boy was a bit starstruck with Ladybug. Did he really expect her to come to school, though? Nobody seemed to notice that Juleka was also missing.

Class started, only to be interrupted again when the principle announced all classes should turn on their TVs to the news.

“Good Morning Paris. We interrupt your scheduled programming to bring you breaking news,” on the screen was Lois Lane, world renowned reporter. “This morning, the Mayor of Paris was able to welcome for the first time, Justice League Members Batman and Wonder Woman, to Paris. Already, the world’s greatest detective is solving the matter of ‘who is Hawkmoth?’ and ‘where is he hiding?’. The investigation was started early this morning and is still ongoing now, however, the heroes are confident the matter will be resolved by end of day today. League intervention is also being given to the local Parisian heroes, who are being folded into the League system. The now dubbed Miracle Team will be receiving regular training and adult supervision from the American Heroes. On other news… One moment please. We are now going live to the traffic copter, which has caught sight of Wonder Woman storming a mansion in the heart of Paris. Jean, what can you tell us about the current situation?”

“Thank you, Lois! I am here, on scene as Wonder Woman storms the Agreste Mansion. Parisian’s will remember that Monsier Agreste was Akumatized as the Collector a few months ago. He certainly isn’t putting up any fight, it looks like. And there is Nathalie Sancour. Both are coming out with their hands up. It looks like Monsiour Agreste is doing all the talking. Ms. Sancour is going down in what appears to be a coughing fit! Police is also arriving on the scene. An arrest has been made. I repeat. An arrest has been made! A police car is pulling off, and looks to be heading to Francois-Dupont, commonly dubbed the Akuma school. If I am not mistaken, it is the same school that Gabriel Agreste’s only son, Adrien Agreste attends! AH, one moment. It looks like Wonder Woman is going into the mansion. Paramedics are also pulling up on scene. Ms. Sancour is being taken into an ambulance, but the other set of paramedics is running into the mansion as well. Is that?! It is! Lois, and watchers, for those of you who do not know, this is Emilie Agreste, the wife of Gabriel and mother of Adrien. She went missing and was declared dead three years ago. Paramedics are now rushing her prone body to the ambulance…”

The news continued, but the class was distracted by the door being thrust open. Officer Raincomprix and his partner entered.

“Adrien Agreste, you are under arrest for suspicion on working with Hawkmoth. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you” the officer stated, placing the cuffs on a stunned Adrien Agreste. His mouth hung open. What…? And then he heard the whispers.

“He was supposed to start school the day of the first Akuma…”

“Always defending the bully…”

“Never there during attacks…”

He shook his head mutely. NO! He was a hero!

The class watched mutely. Two in two days.

*!!*

Because he was a minor and could prove, behind closed doors, that he was in fact Chat Noir, Adrien was acquitted and sent to live with his Aunt Amilie and Cousin Felix Graham de Vanily. He took off the Miraculous ring. Plagg had told him Ladybug would need her cat. So, he put the ring in the mail to be sent off to Wilhelm with a letter explaining everything. He heard through the news that the Dupain-Cheng family had left Paris in a rush. Nobody was quite sure where they went, though most guessed to China. When he landed in London, Adrien had no idea what to expect. He hadn’t seen Felix since his mother’s funeral. He had also heard that Felix’s father had died not long ago. Felix and Amilie greeted him at the airport with smiles. He smiled and dared to hope.

*!!*

Alya watched the footage of Marinette revealing herself again. She sighed. Adrien Agreste was publicly deemed innocent and sent away. Lila Rossi, while facing several lawsuits, was only being sent to a remedial school at the outskirts of Paris. Lila’s mother, who had been akumatized as Guilty Conscience, almost lost her job. As it was now, diplomatic immunity was the only thing keeping her from being investigated further for child neglect. Alya was still facing the law herself, but being a minor, she was only facing some fines and heavy warnings, but otherwise she was also grounded until she was eighteen. Her parents were disappointed, her sisters avoided her most of the time. School had become her only escape. But even there was no escape from everything that had happened. Marinette was no longer there, and Ms. Bustier was under investigation for the amount of Akumatizations in her class. Mr. Damoclese was as well, for mismanaged funding to the school. Turns out his Owl suit and “weapons” were being funded from donations to the school. The class was split up into different classes too. Divide and conquer. Alya sighed. They weren’t really allowed to interact with each other, for fear of it causing more trouble. But most of the other students didn’t want to interact with them either. Alya had never noticed it, but their class was isolated by the rest of the school.

*!!*

Luka sighed as he watched Marinette walk into the Zeta Tube, her head bowed. Paris had ruined Marinette. He brushed his hair back and looked at Juleka. The news had confirmed that Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth, but he had given his Miraculous to Nathalie to get rid of. They were pawned off to another party, but Gabriel had no idea who, and Nathalie went under and into a coma like Mrs. Agreste.

The League told them that they would be receiving training and supervision, as there were Miraculous everywhere now. They would be needed to step in. Luka being the oldest was made the leader, despite not having the ladybug miraculous. He sighed. What a shit show.

< ( ^ ^ ) >

Bruce closed the journal and replaced it in the secret compartment in the desk. He turned to the bed behind him, where his newest ward was fast asleep, tear tracks staining her young face. He wanted to rage at Diana and Clark. He’d petitioned to have Marinette live with him from the beginning, but had been denied because Diana’s mother had been a Ladybug. Reading about what Diana had done to the poor girl, all with good intentions but completely misguided, Bruce was ready to wage war. Marinette had been through emotional hell. He would make sure to do better by her. He swore then that he would give her a family.

[aurora-the-kunoichi]

For The Love Of Shell - Chapter 40 Unhappy Reunion (FTLOS)

Here is chapter forty of my OC story For The Love Of Shell.

His blue bandana whipped around his green skull snapping and fluttering against his sweat soaked brow. Massive three fingered hands clutched nervously at the blue hilts of his katanas as the plates of his chest heaved with exertion.

Just the sight of his giant exceptionally toned body made every part of her woman hood clench in knee jerk reaction. Besides catching him and bunny foo foo in the street this morning this was the closest she’d come to blue banded terrapin in a year. It was unfair; he still took her breath away and by the extra bulk on his arms and legs he had be dedicated to his self improvement.  

A thin layer of sweat covered his green skin from his earlier victorious battles. The icy blue pools of his intoxicating gaze locked in on her purple ones and for a moment she forgot to breath.  Involuntary she let out a whimper grasping her katana tighter, the leather creaking beneath her strength. She knew there was a chance she would face one of them in here but why, why did it have to be him? And why did he have to look so good? This was going to be harder then she had originally thought.

Almost instantly Leonardo’s famous concentration broke and his blades lowered. “Aurora..” he began sheathing a katana to reach for her. Leo ignored his role in this tournament and tried to talk to her but Aurora shook her head stopping the terrapin before he could continue.

“Don’t Leonardo.” She virtually snarled, “Please…… don’t do that. I can’t deal with you right now. I need to concentrate, we need to concentrate. I don’t want to hear it anyways. You made your point loud and clear this morning.” Not giving him another moment to rethink his strategy Aurora dove for him, blades aimed for the soft spot between his carapace and his plastron. The soft corded muscles that she had loved to touch, to kiss. “Stop that!” she scolded herself concentrating on her fight she was determined to win.

His full name from her lips stung more then he cared to admit. She looked beautiful as ever, the year away had been good to her. He was fascinated with the purple streak in her hair; it seemed to enhance her features but he figured she could have done anything and he would be enthralled. It was true what they say, absence does make the heart grow fonder.

He could feel his body begin to ache. It all came rushing to him realizing how much he missed her, how much he still loved her. Even the harsh tone of her voice made his heart beat faster with longing. There was nothing more he wanted to do then gather her in his arms and kiss her, claim her, mark her. Kiss her deep enough that she would forgot about everything he had foolishly done and be part of their lives again. But there would be no easy fix, he could see the resentment and pain in her eyes, Aurora would have none of it right now, maybe not ever again. Suddenly her eyes darkened, and she lunged for him with such ferociousness that it caught him off guard. The sheer force of her blow sent him stumbling back trying frantically to regain his footing before he fell on his shell.

She was on him in a second, their blades grinding against each other creating sparks from the immense friction. But the large body in front of her made her weak, made it extremely difficult to think clearly, especially being so close to him. Even his god damn smell was distracting! If she didn’t get a hold of herself she was going to lose to him and that just wasn’t an option. Not after everything, she had to win she had to prove to him, to herself she was strong and didn’t need him to be happy. Every ounce of her pain flowed through her, engulfing her in the warmth of her thundering passion for the blue terrapin, fueling her resolve. Focus!

Ue-Sama watched high above the nexus championship his eyes trained in on one battle and one battle only. Aurora attacked Leonardo with everything she had taking the large mutant by surprise. He barely had to time to defend himself as she struck again and again determined to win. It took Leonardo a few minutes to gather himself and start to attack back but Ue-Sama could tell by Leonardo’s reaction time he was not focused on the battle but on the woman. The woman who looked like she wanted to end him with every swing of her blade and thrusting kick of her leg. She had the power within her to do it too, he knew it, saw it when his father tapped into it with his staff. The raw power that flowed within her small frame was enormous and he wanted it, needed it. She had no idea how to harness the power she possessed, and he could mold her into what he needed her to be. Aurora would be a crucial part of his plan and he had to figure out how to keep her here with him. And with how she was looking at the turtle at this very moment he didn’t think it was going to be as difficult as he first thought.

When she was brought to the palace by Gyoji this morning his father had asked where the turtles were. Much to his delight Aurora told them how Leonardo had ended things between them urging her to move on with her life finding normalcy. It had been a year since she had seen them and was trying not to interact with them as much as possible. She knew there was a chance they would meet in battle but hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Now she was wiping the floor with the blue leader wearing him out ready to end the inevitable. Or could it be he was letting her win? He shook his head, it didn’t matter either way she was upset with him and maybe would be inclined to stay with him.  

Moving from the balcony that over looked the battle Ue-Sama sauntered back into the palace and headed towards his wing opening the door to his personal dojo. In the far corner lurked a large cloaked figure it’s glowing eyes fixed on the young prince.

“My lord.” It smiled wickedly stepping into the light, its hulking frame towing over Ue-Sama. “I think this woman will only cause trouble with your plan. If she is anything like the turtles and that blasted rat she will not be persuaded to help you over throw your father as Daimyo. She is growing rather fond of the old coot and I would doubt she’d wish any ill will on him.”

“Quiet your tongue you insect! Remember your place here, you are my counsel nothing more. I do what I want, and I want her. You didn’t see the power, the shear raw energy within her body.  She will be a pivotal part in all of this and she will have to agree. She’ll see what’s at stake and will want her own piece of the pie. Woman always want to be in control, to be part of the power of a Daimyo. My father had no problem finding wives. She won’t be able to resist me once I’m Daimyo.”

The large figure narrowed its eyes in frustration lowering its body’s height in an awkward bow to show submission, “As you wish my Daimyo.” It cooed softly before shifting back into the shadows.

Leo had definitely gotten better since the last time they had squared off; she was out of breath, her chest heaving from the effort she had to put into defending herself. With the back of her hand she wiped the sweat from her brow. Every flex of his impressive biceps or pulse of his thigh muscles sent heat rushing between her thighs. Even his goddamned heavy breathing was affecting her. “Fuck!” she screamed internally. He shouldn’t be affecting her this much. It had already been a year! He swayed nimbly on the balls of his feet, his katanas out and ready before him. She could tell he was ready to strike the coil of his calves gave him away. Ready for his next move Aurora sheathed her katanas and slid forward on her knees ducking below his next attack grabbing a hold of his wrists pulling him down and over. Sailing between his open legs she pulled him into an unsuspecting summersault making him land on his shell. Aurora didn’t give him time to react; she spun him on his carapace to face her and straddled his narrow hips. Pulling a kunai from her thigh holster she brought it down on his plastron.

Before it could connect with the plates of his chest Leo’s eyes widened in shock and his body disappeared beneath her in a blue dust taking him from the competition. As her body settled on the ground Aurora let out a shaky breath closing her eyes holding back unshed tears.

Leonardo reappeared in the medical wing of the palace with Raphael looking down on him with a shit eating grin. “Who took ya out?” he laughed helping Leo to his feet.

“Aurora.”

“Oh shell! Man that’s rough! Did she say anything to you?”

“I tried to talk to her but she wasn’t having any of it. You should have seen her Raph; it looked like she wanted to actually kill me. But shell, it was hard to concentrate having her so close.”

“Well fearless you did break up with her and then the first time she sees you , Asuna has her tongue down your throat. I can’t say I blame her.” The red banded turtle didn’t help as he patted his older brother’s shell.

“Yeah yeah, I got it, I messed up. If I could go back in time I would.” Leo waved his brother’s hands away from his back while they made their way out into the halls of the palace to watch the rest of the games from the contestant’s row.

Donnie lasted two more rounds while Aurora and Mikey dominated defeating each of their competitors with ease. Begrudgingly Donnie took up the seat next to his brothers sitting down with a frustrated huff his arms crossed over his chest. Leo put his arm around his brother pulling him into an awkward side hug before playfully pushing back away with a deep chuckle.

Raph was intently watching their younger brother flip and maneuver around his latest victim, there was no doubt that little shit was faster than the rest of them, and way more flexible to boot. He was without a doubt holding back during practice. He turned his head to face Leo but his eyes remained on the dizzying display of talent just below them. “You know if he wins this thing, we’ll never hear the end of it…..you know that right?”

Leo and Donnie smiled nodding as they watched their little brother use all of his training bringing his nunchaku down ending yet another fight. They watched their orange banded brother search the crowd for their faces hoping they were watching him. The grin that spread over his face when he found each one of them howling for him couldn’t have compared to the brightness of the sun.

He bowed to them and returned his gaze to Master Splinter who had the very familiar proud papa gleam. Mikey bowed to his father as well, a silent think you for giving him the tools he needed to get this far.

As the rest of the matches ended the partitions retracted revealing the last of the contestants. Mikey stood near his brothers in the arena as Aurora was revealed farthest away just as she was sheathing her katanas. A large purple anthropomorphic pig to their left lifted his hands above his head letting out a triumphant roar and crablike alien turned a few times hyping itself up but made no noise. The roaring crowd died down when the Daimyo and Ue-Sama rose.

“Congratulations to our final four warriors! You have come a long way to get to this point. Your skill and stamina is a true testament to the hard work you’ve done to get where you are today. We thank you for sharing your talent with us all this day. Now there are two more matches before we declare a new battle nexus champion and I’m sure you all are excited to see this championship to fruition. When this battle is over and two remain the walls will drop and will go directly into the championship. Good luck to you four.”

Aurora made quick eye contact with Mikey as the partition rose giving her a quick playful wink before he disappeared behind the large wall. This time Aurora wasn’t engulfed by the light and stayed where she was. After a few seconds the blue light swirled in front of her and the crablike alien appeared before her. It looked her up and down all the while snapping it’s pinchers and began to laugh, a deep crackling laugh that reminded her of a sputtering diesel engine.

“This will be easy, a stupid human woman cannot beat Klarkapil!” its pinchers snapped quickly in front of his large awkward body before he shuffled forward on his many thick legs.

Aurora roller eyes at the alien wondering how something so large and awkward could have gotten so far in the tournament? The answer soon came when its pinchers came at her with impressive speed snapping at her throat. With a quick yelp of surprise Aurora dodged the alien crustacean’s snappers rolling to the right pulling her katanas free.

“Yes woman run away from Klarkapil! Tremble with fear at my size and speed!”

This thing was way too cocky and was beginning to annoy her as it circled around clucking about how good it was and how scared she should be. Maybe that was part of its shtick, to annoy her into submission?  Again a pitcher lunged for her this time snapping at her leg but she managed to evade the snapping appendage. She had to be careful this thing was fast and vicious. Despite the alien’s bulky frame it was able to move very quickly and its pincher’ aim was precise.

As it rattled off more sexists insults Aurora figured out how she could avoid its pinches and end the battle. It seemed too concerned with putting her down to come up with any kind of strategy let alone pay attention to what she was devising. He was too cocky and wouldn’t be able to resist her trap. Blocking another pincher she flipped through the air and landed several feet in front of him and sheathed her swords and knelt on the floor closing her eyes and waited.

Almost immediately the crustacean laughed and rushed forward ready to claim his victory. Its pinchers reared up and snapped in preparation before they came down ready to crush the woman below. As they connected with hard ground he gasped in surprise seeing the spot where she had just been empty.

Aurora rolled beneath the large circular body and popped up behind pulling her tantou free from its sheath behind her back. Crouching down she sprung forward onto the aliens back landing just behind’s its head. As she brought her blade down she whispered into the once smug alien’s ear. “You were just beaten by a woman.” Before the blade connected with its shell its scream of dismay disappeared with its large body in a blue dust of defeat. When her feet connected with the ground the crowd roared with a thunderous applause as she stood to her full height. Looking around the spectators she saw happy ecstatic faces, especially from all the females. Sheathing the tantou behind her back once again she took a moment to celebrate and raised both hands into the air with a shout.

Turning around she saw Master Splinter smiling down at her his furry hands clapping with the crowds applause. He looked so proud of her as if he had watched her grown up and develop into the woman she was now. Her heart broke a little at that thought; would she ever be able to spend time with the old rat again? She had a feeling she could still learn a few things from him.

The movement of the walls indicated the match beside her had ended and she was about to see who she would be fighting for the championship.  Soon the familiar green scalp of Michelangelo appeared as the partition began to recede into the ground. Then his baby blue’s framed by his signature orange mask came into view as his eye ridges waging with mischief. She would be fighting the youngest of the turtles for the win, adjusting her stance she placed her hands on her hips waiting for the turtle to be fully exposed to her. Before it was fully recessed in the ground Mikey stepped over the wall and into her space closing the distance between them, his nunchaku hung loosely from his fingers.

“Fancy seeing you here Angel cakes. Long time no see.” He cooed stopping a few feet from her.  

Tears began to prick her eyes threatening to spill as she took in the warm sight of the young turtle. She missed them so much it hurt. Being this close to him was ripping every bit of strength from her tearing away at her sanity. Her lips began to quiver but bit her bottom lip to stop it. She needed to get this over with so she could win or lose and go home. Pulling her katana from her sheaths she readied her stance. Doing her best to blink away the offending tears in her eyes she gave him a small smile. She didn’t want to be mean to him he just didn’t understand how much it hurt to see him and not be able to touch him, hold him, kiss those rosy cheeks of his.

“Hey Mikey, are you ready?”

“For you? Always.” He started spinning his weapons with his wrists. “Ladies first.”

Mikey could see the pain flash over her face as he got close to her, could see the tears welling up glossing over her purple iris’s. It actually pained her to see him and that tore at the very fibers of his being. The last thing he wanted for her to feel in his presence was pain let alone him making her feel that way. Leo needed to fix this and fast. He wanted to touch her to tell her how much he missed her but unfortunately this wasn’t the time. He had a championship to win and Aurora was the only one standing in his way. He wouldn’t like defeating her but if that was the way to prove to his father and brothers he was an equal part of this family then so be it. He had been training for a year for this moment. He wasn’t going to let it pass him by even if it was Aurora in his way of his victory. He could do this.

Leo, Raph and Donnie were standing now with the rest of the audience, there was too much sweet anticipation running through the crowd to stay seated. Below them their baby brother and Aurora were about to fight for the title of Battle Nexus Champion.

“She’s gonna mop the floor with him.” Raph laughed gripping Leo’s shoulder a little too tight.  

“I don’t know Raph, you’ve seen him the past few matches. This is the best I’ve ever seen him. I think he has a chance against her. It might be slim but there is still a chance.” Leo winched feeling Raph’s fingers bite into the soft tissue of his shoulder. His fingers reached up prying the three digits from their perch.

“Oh sorry Leo, just a little excited. Man, I need some popcorn.”

Instead of attacking Aurora began circling the orange turtle, it had been a year since she had taken him on. Leo had improved significantly and had almost won, there was no doubt Mikey had gotten better as well. Hell, he had made it to the end and not his brothers. That alone was a sobering thought. How good had Mikey gotten? This was going to be fun figuring it out.

His eyes never left her as she circled him watching him move. No doubt looking for some sort of tell or a moment when he wasn’t paying attention. But if she was waiting for that she was going to be sorely disappointed, she was the only thing on his radar. She had his full attention. The clink of his chains on his nunchaku while they spun were the only sounds in the arena, the crowd was eerily quiet fixed on the two final warriors of the championship anxious for a winner.

The ball of her boot shifted across the ground scraping against the sand and dirt. Her fingers flexed with the tightly bound leather and silk of her katana handles. Aurora was ready as she’d ever be, it was time. Bending at the knee she dug her foot down and launched forward.

If Mikey had a strategy she couldn’t figure it out. With each attack she doled out his wide but nimble body flipped and darted away. She wasn’t landing nearly as many hits as she wanted too by now. His speed had increased and his ability to perceive what his opponent was going to do next was finely tuned. Mikey was quickly becoming better than his brothers. She was seriously impressed. Even his flexibility had gotten better.

“Jesus Mikey are you made of rubber?” Aurora laughed landing behind him, giving his carapace a swift kick sending him forward onto his knees.

“This turtle got skills yo.” He chuckled lifting his nunchaku up taking the brunt of her katana.

Aurora jumped up and swiped her leg across his body hitting him square in his chest. While he tumbled backwards onto his back she flipped forward landing on top of him bringing her blade down once again “Well color me impressed.”

Catching her blade on the chains of his weapon his legs came forward wrapping around her neck, his feet locking around the back of her head. He heard her startled gasp when he rocked forward bringing her down on her back with his large hand pressing down on her abdomen holding her in place. Her purple eyes wild with shock he raised his weapon above his head ready to make the final strike. Mikey grinned down at her squished face when a smile crept over her flushed checks. She was pinned and could nothing more to stop him, the fight was over. His hand hesitated faulting just above his head.

Her voice broke though his jumbled thoughts. “Do it Mikey, you won, end this.” Her eye filled with pride she nodded but he could tell she was still trying to break free even though he had her immobilized indefinitely.

Bringing down his nunchaku she disintegrated into blue dust eliminating her from the tournament leaving him the battle nexus champion. The crowd broke out into a deafening roar as he stood claiming his title. His eyes found his three brothers in the stands all on their feet screaming for him. They looked so proud.

Aurora found herself lying on the floor of the healer’s quarters in the palace with three healers hovering over her. “I’m fine. No injuries. Just a bruised pride.” She reassured the three concerned healers who nodded and let her be. She sat there for a moment catching her breath with her forearm over her eyes. At least she made it to second place, after all the competitors she saw today, she was lucky to get that far. At least she lost to sweet Mikey, he deserved it, the lovable goof.” Again, emotions bubbled up from her gut, she had been so close to Leo and Mikey reminding her what she had lost a year ago. “Fuck.” She mumbled under her breath holding back tears for the fourth time today. She needed to get out of there, she had no doubt they would come looking for her and that was something she wasn’t ready to deal with just yet. Especially Leo, she knew she couldn’t trust herself around him. Just being a few feet from the tall muscular turtle in blue sent her traitorous body into heat. But the swish of a long tail across the floor told her she was too late. Removing her arm from her face she sat up to meet Master Splinter’s warm stare.  

“You did splendid my dear.” He cooed as he watched her get to her feet.

Retuning her katanas to their sheaths she bowed to the old rat. “Thank you, Master Splinter. Your sons fought well today, they have improved significantly. Your training has paid off.”

Master Splinter’s dark iris’s seemed to flood with emotion as he neared the woman he hadn’t seen in a year. His small furry hands came out and took hers; he could feel her tense a little at the contact. With a little tug he urged her to lower to his height, after a few moments she obliged the old rat and met him eye to eye.

“They have trained hard this year plus the extra patrols around the city because of the rise in crime have kept them in top physical form. Leonardo has been pushing them to better themselves, to keep their minds moving. He has been trying to keep his mind from wandering to something he lost, something he regrets letting go.”

Splinter didn’t need to say it, she knew he was talking about her. Pulling her fingers from his hands she stood back up to her full height and turned her gaze from the old rat. “It was good to see you Master Splinter.” And with that she turned from him and disappeared down the hallway.

She flew down the hallway running for the room she was provided for the tournament by the Daimyo, for some privacy. As she turned down the final hall she ran smack dab into a tall sturdy body. Arms grabbed for her steadying Aurora’s rocketing form. She pulled herself away from the warm body looking up to see red hair and green eyes.

“Ue-Sama. I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking to wh..”

“Aurora I’ve been looking for you. I am sorry you lost to one of those troublesome terrapins. Are you alright?” his hands rested on her hips keeping her close to him.

She didn’t fight it for now, but she still wanted to be alone, and she especially didn’t want to deal with Ue-Sama’s bullshit right now. “I’m fine, Mikey deserved to win, he did an excellent job today.”

“Then why are you running? You seem upset, is there anything I can do to help?”

Aurora put her hands on his chest pressing gently trying to discreetly let the red haired ninja aware she wanted to be released from his grasp. But it went unnoticed; actually it felt like he pulled her a little closer. “I’m not upset because I lost; I’m upset because seeing the turtles for the first time hurts, hurts more than I thought it would.”  Again she pushed, a little harder but his determined hands remained on her hips.

With the speed of a true ninja, his arms shifted from her hips and enclosed around her back spinning them, so he could press her up against the wall. The sheer speed of his movements along with being caught off guard sent her mind spinning unable to stop what happened next. Ue-Sama leaned down and slanted his mouth over hers pressing his tongue into Aurora’s mouth moaning as his questing tongue found hers.

His knee slipped forward parting her thighs pressing up against her core grinding his crotch against her thigh. Her mind reeled at the unwarranted advance. His lips were rough and impatient taking the kiss, nothing like Leo’s. There was no passion, no gentle urging just pressing and pushing, taking. Leo’s kiss sent heat coursing through her body making every part of her tingle with anticipation. This was nothing like that, she didn’t want him, she wanted Leo, god she missed Leo.  

Everything rushed back to her and she panicked pushing against his chest frantically desperate to end the kiss. She tore her mouth from his gasping for breath. “Ue-Sama!” she yelped looking up at him in dismay. Pushing him further from her Aurora glared at the red haired ninja.

“Please, I’m sorry for that, I just can’t help myself. Let me help you, help you forget him, help you forget them.” He moved forward reaching for her yet again.

Aurora held up her hands stopping his advance. “Please stop, I appreciate the offer, but you can’t just do that Ue-Sama. I gave you no indication I wanted to be kissed. Just a few seconds ago I told you that I was clearly not over…… I - I just can’t do this right now.” Without giving him a second to respond she spun around and ran to her room escaping inside.  

Ue-Sama was fuming when he finally reached his room. His hands were clenched trembling with the force of it. A large cloaked figure emerged from the shadows edging up behind the red haired ninja.

“What troubles you my Daimyo?” it smoothly questioned it’s red glowing eyes flashed behind the dark cloak.

With a pained grunt Ue-Sama’s fist collided with the rough walls of his massive room. “I will never have her if those pesky turtles are still around. Even after a year she still has feeling for them, especially Leonardo, curse that turtle! I kissed her, I kiss her with all the passion within me and she pushed me away like I was on fire.”

“Maybe it’s time to let her go my Daimyo? She will never go along with your plan and once she finds out she will tell the turtles and they will do all that they can to stop us. I believe it’s time take care of the meddlesome turtles before they become wise to our plans, while their guard is down as they celebrate. I can send my shadow ninjas to take care of them, take care of them all.”

Ue-Sama strode to his window and looked down at the arena filled with the contestants of his father’s tournament. His heated gaze narrowed in on the four turtles in the center of the arena celebrating with the rest of the competitors. His anger grew as he stared at the turtle in blue patting his younger sibling on the back. How did Aurora find that monster of a mutation attractive and not him? He was a prince in his own right, primed and ready to take over the throne from his father. He had so much more to offer her then a smelly sewer, three brothers and a giant rat? He would have the throne and Aurora with her power if it was the last thing he did. He spun around to face his counsel and growled his order, “Destroy those turtles and you can do what you will with the rat as promised but do NOT harm the woman. After they’re gone she’ll have no one and will fall into my arms. Especially when I am sitting on the throne with the war staff in my hand and control the Battle Nexus Championship.”

@imthegreenfairy88​ @alonia143 @ravn-87 @bluesakurablossom​

Here it is in its entirety 

[mkw-raider]

Fire Ch. 4

Summary: A study session filled with gay panic and revelations.

Chapter 4/4: With A Heart That’s Beating At The Speed Of Light, You’ve Been Waiting For This Feeling All Your Life

Pairing: Chloe/Marinette

AO3     First - Previous - Last

Chloé had never had the Bee Miraculous for long enough to settle into a routine with Pollen. Their lack of routine didn’t stop them from bonding though. She had gotten to know the little kwami in the short time they knew each other, and she did miss her, but their relationship was nothing like the relationship she had with Wayzz. 

Where Pollen had agreed and submitted to Chloé’s every whim, Wayzz expressed his disagreement. He never scolded her, even when she probably deserved it, he instead just made suggestions for things she could be doing, or tried to help her come to the conclusion on her own. Chloé was thankful for him. Even in their short time together, he had made a positive impact on her life. Thanks to him, Chloé had started trying to accept things as they come to her in life. Which is why when Mme. Bustier had paired Chloé with Marinette for a book project, she had kept her freakout internal, and accepted the arrangement with a small smile. The Chloé who felt entitled to the Bee Miraculous probably would have thrown a fit or tried to force Marinette to do everything herself, but the Chloé who was still trying to deserve the Turtle and the trust of Wayzz just sent Marinette a soft smile and accepted that they would be working together.

Ever since Chloé had been appearing on Marinette’s balcony, she had been making more of an effort to acknowledge Marinette in school. A smile here, a wave after class there, and they had been having the most positive interactions between them in years. Chloé didn’t know if the smiling had been enough to make Marinette trust that she wasn’t trying to hurt anyone and was trying to change, but it seemed like the other girl was less suspicious, and she had smiled back at Chloé a few times.

Originally she had been bummed that she had managed at least one positive conversation with everyone else in the class, including Alya which was a miracle that Chloé still couldn’t believe, except for Marinette, but Wayzz had reminded her that progress was still progress regardless of how small it felt.

Chloé rode the wave of hope all the way to her first meeting with Marinette for the project. It had been in a coffee shop between their homes. Neutral ground for them to meet on.

She had arrived half an hour early, in part to find the perfect seat, she figured something closer to the windows so the light could make Marinette’s eyes sparkle, but mostly she needed the half hour to prepare for her first actual nice conversation with Marinette in years. Wayzz had helped her make a list of things she needed to do before they could actually start on the project and they had come up with a plan that had calmed Chloé’s nerves. First she would offer to get Marinette something to drink, as well as something to eat, while she went up to order her own things, so Marinette could settle at their table and they could both have something to occupy themselves with before Chloé moved on to part two. Then, she would apologize, genuinely, for how she had treated Marinette previously and briefly explain that she would no longer behave in the cruel way she had. Wayzz had added a point of expressing that Marinette was under no obligation to forgive her, and though Chloé wanted her forgiveness and friendship, she had to admit that Wayzz was right and had kept it. After her apology, they would work on the project, dividing things in a way that worked for both of them, and working together on what they needed to. If Marinette decided she didn’t want to work with Chloé anymore after her apology, then Chloé would then proceed with part four of the plan, which had been added as a just in case, where she would invite Sabrina over to eat ice cream, cry, and work on their projects so that Chloé wouldn’t be as alone as she would feel.

All in all, it was a simple plan, but having it written on her notebook, tucked safely in her bag beside Wayzz, had made her feel infinitely more calm about the entire project. All that was left now was for Marinette to arrive, and then everything would hopefully go according to plan, bar any akuma attacks that may occur, or epic fights between old rivals.

Chloé had brought her science homework to distract her, and had one airpod in to listen to her work playlist. The other earphone was in the bag with Wayzz, as he had revealed a love of music to her, and she hadn’t wanted him to be bored while he hid in her bag. Chloé became absorbed in her homework, to the point where she hardly noticed the figure who had approached her table, until said figure had cleared their throat. Chloé startled, and found herself looking up at Marinette.

Exactly as Chloé had expected, sitting near the window had caused the natural light to make Marinette’s eyes sparkle. In hindsight, she probably should have sat facing the window as one look into Marinette’s eyes had cleared every thought from her mind, including phase one of her plan. 

Wayzz, hidden from Marinette’s view by the table, had realized his holder had frozen. Briefly poking his head outside of the bag to check for eyes, Wayzz floated himself into Chloé’s lap before lightly jabbing her in the stomach with his paw to get her to refocus herself. If the brief glance and smile he received was anything to go by, he had succeeded. Wayzz slipped back into the bag as Chloé stood.

Gesturing at the other seat, Chloé said, “Can I get you anything? I’m going up to place my order and I figured I could just grab yours while I’m up there.”

“Oh sure! If I could just get a small hot chocolate, and two chocolate chip cookies that would be awesome! I’ll pay you back for it.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be right back.” Chloé’s internal monologue had devolved to prolonged screams. She was not at all prepared for this conversation and she had decided that whatever came out of her mouth was awkward and was making Marinette uncomfortable. She had no proof for this of course, but she was losing her mind with her nerves right now, and she just needed a half hour break to scream into her pillow and remake her plan with Wayzz because she could not do this.

Upon approaching the counter, Chloé quickly went through the motions of ordering her strong blonde roast and usual lemon cake, as well as Marinette’s own order before quickly paying and stepping off to the side. Her attention fell away from the teen working the counter to drift back to the table where Marinette had begun setting up her schoolwork. The light falling on her hair made it appear lighter, and even through a window, the sun had given Marinette’s skin a shine that had Chloé enraptured. Marinette’s hair was in it’s usual style of pigtails and Chloé fell into a daydream of Marinette letting her hair free, while Chloé would run her fingers through the hair. She almost missed the barista calling her name for her order, but quickly grabbed it and rushed back to the table with Marinette.

Chloé made sure to set Marinette’s order down first, before placing hers on the table and plopping back into her seat. She had left her bag hanging on the chair and she could see Wayzz giving her a tiny thumbs up from inside.

Silence stretched between the two girls as they both finished settling into their seats, neither really knowing how to begin. Chloé fiddled with the napkin in front of her, pulling it gently as she watched Marinette raise her hot chocolate to her lips. Momentarily distracted, Chloé blinked herself back into focus, deciding she needed to rip off the bandaid. 

“I’m sorry,” she rushed out. “I’ve treated you like shit over the past few years.” Not her most elegant of starts but the script she had jotted down between classes had slipped her mind. “You didn’t deserve my behaviour, or anything that came with the dumb rivalry I started. It doesn’t matter if I was upset with my life, or jealous over the one you had, I took my feelings out on you and hurt you in the process. You don’t have to forgive me, or believe me, but I know I’ve been terrible and I’m trying to change. I would love a chance to try to be your friend, but if that’s not possible, I totally understand and we can just focus on the project. I just needed to say that first.”

Chloé was actually a little proud of herself. She had spoken fast and she felt like she had rambled a little longer than necessary, but her words had come out clear and now at least Marinette knew. Whatever happened next, Chloé would accept. Even if it was a brutal rejection and she ended up crying with Wayzz later. Chloé promised she would accept the aftermath of her apology with elegance and grace so long as there were other people around to witness her.

Marinette had paused in drinking her hot chocolate, and had listened to Chloé’s spiel with a thoughtful expression on her face. The expression hadn’t changed, but her gaze had shifted from meeting Chloé’s eyes to staring out the window when Chloé had finished. Breath stopped in her throat, Chloé could only watch Marinette’s face for a sign. A subtle movement of her eyebrow, and Chloé’s heart had stuttered, a blink that felt slower than normal and she had almost choked, the smallest of twitches in her jaw and Chloé’s fingers began tapping a nervous rhythm. There was so much to read from Marinette’s expression, but Chloé was unpracticed in her language and could not tell the difference between truth and her own created fiction. 

After what had felt like hours, but could only have been moments, Marinette finally brought her focus back to Chloé. “I believe you. I’ve seen you in school recently, apologizing and trying to be nicer to people, so I believe you’re changing. I don’t know if I can forgive you for everything right now, but I think I’d like to try being friends and see how it goes.”

“Okay.” The relief that flooded through Chloé filled her veins and calmed her immediately. Maybe Marinette would never forgive her, but they could try to be friends, and maybe someday they would be close. For Chloé, it was the best news she had heard all week.

Marinette smiled at her before shifting a notebook between them on the table. “Let’s start breaking the project apart and figuring out what we’re going to do.”

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The coffee shop study date had gone better than Marinette had expected. She was still surprised by Chloé’s apology, but after a moment to process she felt that the other girl was genuine so she had moved on to try to work with the other girl. After only a few minutes of discussion, they had discovered they actually had similar thought processes for their project, and were mostly on the same page already. Chloé had come prepared with a list of how they could break the project into parts that would require the least interaction from both of them if Marinette hadn’t wanted to work with her, so they had used that as a basis for division of work. After creating a schedule that would work for both of them, they had settled into a routine.

They each began writing their own parts of the project, occasionally breaking to discuss ideas and how to connect the two parts together, before falling back into the comfortable silence. Chloé had bought Marinette another drink and two more snacks in the time they had been there before Marinette had convinced Chloé to let her buy the next round of snacks.

The quiet chatter of the coffee shop was the perfect background noise as they worked together. And Marinette had used Chloé’s focus on their project to slip a cookie to Tikki when she had brought back the new snacks.

All in all, Marinette had found herself genuinely enjoying the blonde’s company, though she couldn’t help but compare their current interactions to how Chloé had been when she was Khelone appearing on Marinette’s balcony. The other girl had offered an insight into fashion that Marinette had only managed to find in Adrien, and strangely, Chat Noir’s company, but the new perspective had been refreshing. Chloé had let Marinette go page by page through her book, letting Marinette explain the components of her favourite pieces, and offering thoughts to the ones that Marinette had been struggling with. Their first interaction on Marinette’s had been strange, and had ended abruptly, but every interaction since had genuinely made Marinette look forward to the next time she would see her.

When Chloé was Khelone and interacting with Ladybug, she was more serious. Her hero worship had faded with time, and now she was just a valued part of the team. They hadn’t managed to truly edge their relationship firmly into friendship territory in the months since Chloé had become a hero because Marinette always felt like Chloé was holding herself at an arm’s length from her. Despite proving herself time and time again, Marinette couldn’t help but feel that Chloé still felt the need to prove she should wield the Turtle. Marinette had almost been jealous when Chat Noir had managed to form a friendship with Khelone and she still hadn’t.

When Chloé was visiting Marinette’s balcony it was different. She still had the serious tone, and had actually been very careful about details surrounding her identity, but she was more relaxed. She would laugh more, smile brighter, and often made Marinette forget who was under the mask as they talked. It was a side of Chloé Marinette was unused to seeing, unguarded, relaxed, not afraid to do the cute snort laugh that she only used when she found something truly funny. It made Marinette miss a friendship she had briefly had with Chloé, but she still felt like there was something Chloé was holding back on the rooftop, something more than just her identity.

The Chloé that was sitting across from her was all of the parts, finally complete in one. As Chloé scribbled notes and wrote her part of their project, Marinette could see the seriousness of Hero Chloé. Every so often she would bite the end of her pen, or scrunch her eyebrows while she thought, and Marinette saw Rooftop Chloé. But above it all was the Chloé that Marinette had always known. Beautiful. Confident. But more relaxed, more open. The girl across from her seemed more content and genuine than Marinette can ever recall seeing her, and she was enthralled. 

Though she knew she should have been focusing on her own work, she couldn’t help but stare at the other girl. The more she looked, the more she saw. Logically she had known Khelone and Chloé were the same people, and she had always known that what one did, the other had technically done, but this was the first time she really got it. Chloé had changed from the girl Marinette knew. She hadn’t been paying attention before, but now that she could see it, she regretted not looking closer sooner. Chloé was different. Chloé had defended civilians in front of a coffee shop because it had been the right thing to do. Chloé had apologized. Chloé had sat on her rooftop talking with her about whatever had come to their minds when they strayed from fashion. Chloé’s mannerisms had bled into her interactions with Marinette the entire time she had been with the hero, and Marinette found that she was waiting for familiar movements she would see with Khelone.

But Chloé was the same. Her confidence was still there, though quieter. She still smirked when she was right. She smiled at Marinette when she showed off her drawings. She still caused a blooming warmth in Marinette’s chest that she could no longer pass as camaraderie with a fellow hero. The girl across from her caused the warmth, no matter what form she appeared in.

Chloé had turned to look at Marinette, a question in her eyes, and Marinette understood. Fire filled her cheeks, as her heart stuttered. There was concern in Chloé’s eyes, the same concern Khelone had when Marinette choked on a too large bite of muffin not even a week ago. It had caused Marinette to blush then, happy her rooftop company had cared enough to worry, but now it was Chloé, still just as concerned, though this time because Marinette had stopped working to stare at her, and Marinette truly understood. Her growing crush on Khelone, the sweet hero on her balcony, translated to the girl in front of her as well. She had a crush on Chloé.

Marinette bolted up in her chair before Chloé could speak, stuttering out a quick, “Bathroom!” before almost tripping multiple times as she made her way away from the table and into the bathroom. Dropping her face into her hands Marinette groaned in frustration. Of all the girls to have a crush on, it had to be her ex-rival, turned very recent friend. And she hadn’t even grabbed her purse before she had gotten up, so now she couldn’t complain about her love life to Tikki.

Taking a few minutes to compose herself, Marinette stared into the mirror. Save your crisis for later. Go out there and finish working on your project. Then go home and tell Tikki everything.

Sufficiently composed, or at least as good as she was going to get after such a revelation, Marinette exited the bathroom. Only a brief pause to stare at Chloé, and then she forced herself to carry on. No matter how this day ended, she was going to be normal, she was going to deal with her crush on Chloé in a normal way, and she was going to live a normal life and do highschool homework with her classmate like the perfectly normal girl she was. She could do this.